Darui’s first unit was currently clearing the battlefield, piling up White Zetsu corpses and collecting the bodies and weapons of their fallen comrades.
It was at this moment that Obito arrived, his target being the Amber Purifying Pot, which held some of the Nine-Tails’ chakra.
Obito had already learned from White Zetsu that Konan was not dead and had joined the Allied Shinobi Forces. Obito would show no mercy to traitors.
“Did Li Xing not kill you? Did he let you go? Or did you escape? It doesn’t matter, you’re destined to fail!”
Hearing Obito’s voice from behind, Konan was startled. He had personally come to the battlefield; what did Madara need here?
Konan folded a large shuriken with her hands and turned to throw it at Obito, but Obito easily dodged it by phasing through.
“We were comrades once, attacking without a greeting is quite rude.”
Before Obito could say more, Konan pointed at him with a single finger. The space folded, trapping Obito and rendering him immobile.
The commotion of the fight here also drew the attention of everyone, including Darui, the Ino-Shika-Cho trio, and the reinforcements from Kurotsuchi’s unit.
“Madara? Great, we actually caught him!” a random soldier cheered, thinking the war would soon be over and he could go home to his wife and children.
“Space-time ninjutsu, huh? But trying to trap me with this is child’s play!” Obito let out a cold snort, and a vortex began to appear in his right eye as he attempted to use Kamui to escape Konan’s spatial confinement.
“Don’t even think about escaping! I already understand your abilities! When you absorb yourself, you become solid, and your speed slows down!”
Through her mask, Konan saw Obito’s Rinnegan – Nagato’s eyes. Konan would not allow Obito to use these eyes to start a war.
Konan then folded large wings from paper, enveloped Obito, and rapidly retreated.
Obito, wrapped in paper, intended to ignore it and continue using Kamui. However, the white paper stuck to his body suddenly turned into explosive tags, forcing Obito to use Kamui’s phasing ability.
Konan, positioned high above, looked down at Obito and threw a paper crane into the fray. “This is the power bestowed by God, and I will be God’s angel, delivering His punishment here!”
“Paper Ninjutsu: Godly Paper Fire!” (A Storm Ultimate Combo, Konan and the Deva Path, using a bloodline limit to replace Chibaku Tensei.)
However, Obito was not panicked. He immediately formed a hand seal and summoned the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.
“Summoning Jutsu!”
A humanoid monster larger than a Tailed Beast suddenly appeared, instantly freeing Obito from Konan’s restraint. Obito also took the opportunity to enter the Kamui dimension.
Konan was startled by the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path and threw all her explosive tags at it.
“Earth Style: Earth Spire Jutsu!” Seeing the colossal monster, Kurotsuchi slammed his hands on the ground, raising two large slabs of earth to sandwich the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.
After Konan’s explosion subsided, everyone saw the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path propping up Kurotsuchi’s earth jutsu with its hands. Seeing this, Choza and Choji immediately grew to their giant forms and charged forward together.
The Demonic Statue of the Outer Path used its hands to forcefully break through the Earth Spire Jutsu. Following this with a roar, it sent everyone present flying, including the giant Choza and Choji.
To protect everyone, Konan used countless sheets of paper to envelop each person, but she bore the brunt of the impact. Coupled with her mental and chakra exhaustion, she immediately fainted.
Obito seized the opportunity to approach the Amber Purifying Pot and collected all the ninja tools that had absorbed the Nine-Tails’ chakra into his Kamui dimension. The next moment, he vanished using Kamui, followed by the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path dissipating into smoke.
Without Konan’s spatial restraint, Nawaki was slowly recovering. Then, Choza ordered four shinobi to combine their efforts and use the Four Violet Flames Formation to trap Nawaki.
…
On the desert battlefield, Li Xing had already arrived before Gaara.
“Long time no see, Gaara. Are you going to kill me here? I’m your benefactor, you know. Look, in this family photo, I’m even there!” Li Xing pulled out a photo and showed it to Gaara, a picture taken with Karura in Sunagakure before.
“I am grateful for what you did for me, but as the Kazekage and the Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Shinobi Forces, I will apprehend you.” Gaara’s eyes showed a flicker of emotion upon seeing the photo, but he remained resolute. The next moment, the sand beneath Li Xing’s feet immobilized him, leaving only his head exposed.
However, Li Xing merely smiled at Gaara and then, in the next instant, disappeared, reappearing on the battlefield behind them.
Coincidentally, Jiraiya was in this unit, regaling two young women from Sunagakure with tales of being one of the Sannin and a Toad Sage.
Li Xing happened to arrive before Jiraiya and witnessed this scene. Li Xing’s mouth twitched; the lecherous old man hadn’t forgotten to flirt even during a war.
“Huh? Li Xing?” Jiraiya was taken aback upon seeing Li Xing, but his reaction was immediate. Li Xing was now affiliated with the Akatsuki; he was an enemy.
“You girls, hurry and leave! Wake everyone up! I’ll deal with him. He’s from the Akatsuki and is incredibly strong!” Jiraiya told the two girls to leave quickly and inform everyone of the enemy infiltration.
Actually, the girls didn't need to alert anyone. Jiraiya’s voice had already woken most people. Gaara, along with the Tsuchikage Onoki, immediately flew towards this location.
“Jiraiya-sensei, I didn’t expect to meet you here, but I don’t want to fight you. Let him fight you instead!” Li Xing clapped his hands, and a coffin emerged from the ground.
“Summoning: Edo Tensei!”
The coffin slowly disappeared, revealing a red-haired man before Jiraiya. Jiraiya’s pupils slowly constricted, and a drop of cold sweat trickled down his cheek. “Nagato…”
The moment Nagato awoke, he saw Jiraiya-sensei and immediately knelt. “Jiraiya-sensei, I’m sorry. I failed your expectations and even killed you. I have no face to see you again, so I chose to escape and entrusted my hope to my junior, Uzumaki Naruto. I am truly sorry to you!”
Clearly, Nagato believed he had died and was seeing Jiraiya in heaven. He immediately knelt to apologize, feeling unworthy to meet Jiraiya and deserving of hell.
Li Xing had initially planned to have Nagato fight Jiraiya to show off, but upon witnessing this, he couldn’t help but cover his forehead. This was utterly embarrassing, having Edo Tensei such a figure.
“Nagato! Get up quickly! This isn’t heaven; this is the real world! You’ve been Edo Tensei’d and are currently in a war!”
Hearing Jiraiya’s words, Nagato was stunned. He looked around and saw shinobi from the five great nations, all wearing the same forehead protectors. It looked exactly like the world of mutual understanding Jiraiya had spoken of.
“This… the Allied Shinobi Forces of the five great nations? This kind of thing actually happened? That means Jiraiya-sensei is alive? That’s great!” Nagato immediately understood the situation. Madara must have instigated the war, and if this war was won, true peace would arrive.
“Sigh, since you’re Konan’s friend, I won’t control you. You can join them. I don’t care how many of you there are!” Li Xing interrupted Nagato and Jiraiya’s reunion, spreading his arms and assuming a stance, ready to take on all the shinobi single-handedly.
Nagato stood up and turned, his eyes widening in surprise upon seeing Li Xing. “As expected, it wasn’t that easy to seal you! How is Konan?”
“Oh? Your first concern is Konan? You don’t care at all why I wasn’t sealed? Don’t worry, Konan is living even better than before.”
Hearing Li Xing’s words, Nagato breathed a sigh of relief. He had genuinely feared that Madara would kill Konan to obtain the Rinnegan. Since she was fine, Nagato had nothing more to ask. He then extended a hand towards Li Xing. “If you won’t control me, then I will seal you once more!”