An At-Full-Strength Nagato Attacks

Feeling the space around him warp, Ensei Uchiha hurriedly used the Flying Thunder God technique he had been studying for some time.

The Flying Thunder God was a highly complex forbidden jutsu, but at its core, it used Sealing Jutsu formulas to transport the user through space. Ensei had learned Sealing Jutsu fairly well, and he had some talent for sensing space-time, too.

But reflexes and the like were a bit too much to ask of him.

As a result, the Flying Thunder God he had learned was limited to basic point-to-point teleportation. He couldn't use the second stage of the technique or deploy it in combat.

On the other hand, Ensei had practiced point-to-point teleportation extensively and was almost able to perform it instantaneously.

So when he sensed the space-time fluctuations around him, Ensei immediately used the Flying Thunder God to teleport to the nearest marked location.

It wasn't that he didn't want to go farther. The Flying Thunder God required him to sense a Flying Thunder God Mark before he could teleport, and in a critical moment like this, he naturally had to escape danger as quickly as possible.

As it happened, the nearest location was beside his half-destroyed Susanoo.

Back inside the Perfect Susanoo, Ensei quickly checked whether the ocular power within it had been mixed with anything else.

Only after making sure it hadn't did he release the ocular power sealed inside his body and use it to repair the damaged Susanoo.

In the blink of an eye, the Perfect Susanoo appeared once more.

Seeing this through Killer B's eyes, the Eight-Tails couldn't help but exclaim, "I've only ever seen power this terrifying in the Sage of Six Paths."

Killer B froze at that. Ignoring what was happening outside, he asked the beast about the Sage of Six Paths.

Unfortunately, the Tailed Beasts had always kept their mouths shut about the Sage of Six Paths. No matter how much Killer B pleaded, they wouldn't tell him anything.

Meanwhile, when Obito Uchiha sensed the space-time fluctuations, he immediately recalled the terror of being dominated by Minato Namikaze.

Thanks to Ensei Uchiha, Minato had learned everything there was to know. He had utterly crushed Obito.

If Black Zetsu hadn't suddenly come to the rescue back then, Konoha would have captured Obito alive.

"Flying Thunder God... No wonder you were willing to leave Konoha."

Obito quickly composed himself. Looking at the enormous, pale-blue Susanoo nearby, he couldn't hide the envy in his eyes.

Since he only had one eye, Obito couldn't awaken Susanoo.

What he didn't know, however, was that the Susanoo before him wasn't actually a proper one.

The difference was slight, but it was still there.

"Obito, it's ready."

At that moment, a black-and-white figure emerged from the ground, surrounded by numerous wooden spikes that looked almost like decorations.

Ensei had clearly noticed Black Zetsu, too, but unfortunately, he still hadn't found a way to seal him.

Would the Reaper Death Seal work? Maybe he could make a Clone Body in a few days and give it a try.

The thought suddenly occurred to Ensei, and he immediately felt annoyed. He had even forgotten that he hadn't learned the Reaper Death Seal yet.

"Summoning Jutsu: Demonic Statue of the Outer Path!"

At the sound of a somewhat familiar voice, a figure as enormous as the Perfect Susanoo appeared before Ensei once again.

The Demonic Statue of the Outer Path roared as soon as it appeared.

Then, as though it had spotted something delicious, it charged straight at Ensei.

Seeing this, Ensei hurriedly sent the Perfect Susanoo into the air, narrowly escaping the Demonic Statue's attack.

This thing was the God Tree's outer shell. Ensei couldn't risk letting it touch him.

There was a good chance that his Susanoo, made from Byakugan ocular power, would be nothing more than a sweet treat to the Demonic Statue.

Thankfully, the thing couldn't fly.

Just as Ensei was feeling relieved, a cold voice rang out once more.

"Banshō Ten'in!"

Ensei immediately felt his body grow heavy. He didn't fall straight down, but the weight pressing on him only deepened his unease.

But... why was Nagato here? This wasn't supposed to happen.

Had Black Zetsu used Kotoamatsukami on Nagato?

In other circumstances, it would have been hard to say whether Kotoamatsukami could rewrite the will of someone with the Rinnegan. But Nagato's Rinnegan didn't belong to him, and it still bore the restrictions Madara Uchiha had placed on it.

By now, Ensei was already thinking about leaving, though where to go was another question.

"Planetary Devastation!"

A black sphere the size of a fist suddenly appeared beside the Susanoo. Under its tremendous pull, Ensei found himself barely able to move.

Unlike the Six Paths of Pain he had encountered last time, whose attacks had been stiff and sluggish, the assault this time was incredibly swift. And there seemed to be no one else on the battlefield besides Nagato—not a trace of the other six Paths.

Ensei activated the Byakugan's ability to see through things and finally spotted Nagato speeding toward him. He also noticed that, although Nagato was still rather thin, his crippled legs had been replaced with some kind of white substance.

No doubt about it: Black Zetsu had healed Nagato's injuries.

With his body restored, Nagato might not be able to unleash the Rinnegan's full power, but he shouldn't be far off.

With that in mind, Ensei stopped holding back. He poured all his strength into the Susanoo, and its four enormous Chakra blades struck the black sphere of Planetary Devastation all at once.

The powerful attack shattered the black sphere.

By then, Nagato had reached Ensei's side, acting as if the Susanoo surrounding him weren't even there.

As the Susanoo faded away like falling snow, a trace of panic crept into Ensei's eyes.

He didn't know whether the Rinnegan could absorb a proper Susanoo, but it was obvious that his knockoff couldn't withstand the Preta Path's ability to absorb Chakra.

No matter how similar it looked, it wasn't a real Mangekyō Sharingan. The Susanoo Ensei had created was nothing more than a shell filled with ocular power.

"Preta Path..."

Grinding his teeth, Ensei spat out the words and threw a scroll from his right sleeve.

As the Senjutsu Chakra inside the scroll was released, Ensei formed Hand Seals and performed the only Senjutsu technique he had managed to develop.

"Sage Art: Tiger Roar!"

The deafening roar made Nagato's body falter for a moment. Seizing the opportunity, Ensei dismissed the Susanoo and fell toward the ground under the pull of gravity.

Unfortunately, Ensei still couldn't use a flying ninjutsu. But that was fine. He had the Flying Thunder God.

"Bye-bye, everyone!"