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Time rewound to several minutes earlier.
At that moment, Kagaya was still battling the Paths of Pain. Pain had yet to unleash the Planetary Devastation.
Inside a dark, shadowy room, with Pain's departure, Obito was left alone. He was simultaneously suppressing the Five-Tails, extracting the Five-Tails, and preparing to begin sealing the Five-Tails. Handling so many tasks at once by himself inevitably strained him considerably.
But fortunately, the Hashirama cells grafted onto his body granted Obito immense ocular power and chakra. Although Obito's direct combat strength might not be particularly outstanding, his endurance was absolutely top-tier. With half his body composed of Hashirama cells, when it came to pure chakra reserves, even Kagaya was merely a junior before Obito.
However, because the vast majority of Obito's chakra originated from the Hashirama cells on his body, his chakra control was relatively low. He couldn't convert massive amounts of chakra into massive combat power. He could only treat that chakra as a reserve energy source, used to replenish his consumed chakra.
Take Kagaya, for instance. Although Kagaya's total chakra reserves weren't as large as Obito's, Kagaya could erupt with his chakra to intimidate enemies, something Obito couldn't do. This was precisely due to their difference in chakra control. In this aspect, Obito was far, far inferior to Kagaya.
Of course, what Obito was currently doing didn't require particularly high chakra control. He merely needed to continuously replenish his chakra. Thus, the process was proceeding relatively smoothly.
Within the sealing space of Han's inner world.
"Your chakra... it's being extracted?"
Han lifted his head and looked at the Five-Tails before him.
The Five-Tails furrowed its brow, but there wasn't much sorrow in its expression. The death of a Jinchuriki, followed by being sealed into the next Jinchuriki—this was a process the Five-Tails had experienced many times before. Grief's utmost extreme was a heart turned to ash. Now, it no longer reacted much to such things.
"It is being extracted. I can feel it. It must be a Sharingan. Some Uchiha fellow is suppressing me on one hand while extracting my chakra on the other. Then, he's sealing the extracted chakra into another vessel."
Han inquired. "You have no way to resist?"
The Five-Tails smiled.
"Look at my current state. How could I possibly resist?"
The Five-Tails was now in an even more miserable state than before. Not only was it still crushed by the Hidden Stone's seal—the massive boulders—but now, enormous black chakra receivers had also appeared all over its body. These black receivers were embedded into the Five-Tails' body, firmly pinning it to the ground. These were the same black receivers Pain had earlier stabbed into Han's body. These receivers could suppress both Han's chakra and the Five-Tails' chakra. Their suppressive force, when manifested here before the Five-Tails, took this form: several colossal black rods firmly nailing it down.
The Five-Tails sensed its own body. At this moment, it couldn't muster even the slightest wisp of chakra.
"These black rods... heh. They're the possessions of that great one. To think someone in this era could still reach the realm of that great one."
Han paused, then inquired further. "Which great one?"
The Five-Tails answered.
"Let me think... in your terms, you would probably call him the Sage of Six Paths."
Han couldn't help but show a trace of surprise.
"The Sage of Six Paths? He truly existed? I always thought he was merely a fabricated legend."
The Five-Tails clearly couldn't be bothered to explain to Han and offered a perfunctory reply.
"Who knows? If you believe it's a fabricated legend, then so be it."
Han didn't particularly mind the Five-Tails' dismissive attitude and changed the subject.
"Five-Tails... tell me. Since you know the origin of these black rods... can you break free from them?"
The Five-Tails stared at Han, silent for two seconds, then spoke.
"What's this? Feeling like doing some good deeds before you die? Why are you suddenly concerned about me? Let me put it this way: we Tailed Beasts do not die. We have no need for you humans' concern."
Han also fell silent for two seconds, then spoke.
"Five-Tails... can you promise me one thing?"
The Five-Tails teased.
"What's this? You were always a man of few words in the past. Why so talkative today? As I thought—you're about to die and want to say a few more words, is that it? As for your request... go ahead and say it. But I must remind you, in the days to come, I will surely be sealed again. There isn't much I can do. If your request is something within my power... considering it's your last wish before death, I'll do my best to help you."
Han spoke with solemn seriousness.
"I hope... that you won't seek revenge on the Hidden Stone Village. Can you do that?"
The Five-Tails answered without even a moment's thought.
"I can. Honestly, is that really the request you're making? For a period in the future, I will certainly remain sealed. Even if I wanted revenge, I couldn't take it. Besides... you humans... you are, after all, humans. You are beings that great one valued. What I said earlier about taking revenge on your Hidden Stone... that was merely spoken in anger. That great one bestowed an immense debt of gratitude upon us. Although I deeply despise you humans, in order to repay that great one, I will not wantonly slaughter humanity. Rest assured."
CRACK! BOOM!
As the Five-Tails' words fell, Han leaped up and struck the very center of the cage. Immediately after, those massive boulders crushing the Five-Tails shattered and vanished one after another.
Han... had undone the seal!
The Five-Tails froze momentarily, but then sighed.
"You want to set me free? There's no need. It's already impossible now. Even if the Hidden Stone Village's seal is undone, with these black rods still here, with the Sharingan still here... I cannot possibly escape. Give it up. You're on the verge of death. You might as well sit down and talk a little more before you go."
The boulders had crumbled and vanished. Yet, the black iron rods still firmly impaled the Five-Tails' body. Before these creations of the Six Paths level, even a Tailed Beast was helpless.
Items of the Six Paths level always possessed some terrifying, heaven-defying abilities.
Han tried to attack those black iron rods, but every time he made contact, his entire body would instantly lose all strength, and he would collapse to his knees.
The Five-Tails sighed, holding no hope whatsoever.
"Enough. I don't know why you want to release me, but... it's useless. Don't waste your strength. Prepare yourself. It's time to go to the Pure Land."
Han sat helplessly on the ground.
"Why do you keep bringing up the fact that I'm about to die? Do you really want me dead that badly?"
The Five-Tails denied this.
"What you said is both right and wrong. For us Tailed Beasts, of course we want you Jinchuriki to die. The hatred accumulated from being imprisoned for so many years—that's inevitable. But on the other hand... whether you Jinchuriki die or not doesn't actually affect us Tailed Beasts that much. In the end, we're just moved to a different place and continue being sealed. So... how should I put it? We Tailed Beasts, while wishing for you Jinchuriki to die, are at the same time not particularly concerned with your deaths. Isn't that contradictory? If it feels contradictory, that's only right. You humans wouldn't understand anyway. The reason I keep mentioning your impending death now... how should I put it? It's purely because I have nothing else to do. I'm just incidentally reminding you: in your final moments, don't do anything meaningless."
Han nodded.
"I understand. Five-Tails... tell me. The ones who captured me... they're not from the Hidden Stone Village, are they?"
The Five-Tails answered casually.
"Something like that—you'd definitely know better than me."
"In that case...!"
Han suddenly lifted his head. An invisible, formidable aura radiated from his body.
Outside, the unconscious Han suddenly opened his eyes.
"How... could I... hand over my village's Tailed Beast... to someone else?!"
With a furious roar, Han began exerting every ounce of his strength to break free from the black rods impaling his body.
Faced with Han's furious roar, Obito's expression remained utterly calm. He casually swept a glance at Han, then refocused entirely on sealing the Five-Tails. At the same time, he didn't forget to mock.
"What's this? Jinchuriki and Tailed Beast—mortal enemies for an entire lifetime—reconciling just before death? Making a pact to break free together? Or is it simply that you, the Jinchuriki, are afraid of dying and now want to join forces with the Tailed Beast to escape? But... whatever the case, it doesn't matter. In the end... it's merely the death throes before the end."
The black rods were embedded into all four of Han's limbs, completely suppressing his chakra. At this moment, Han couldn't mobilize even a single wisp of chakra. Even his physical strength was under immense suppression. Simply moving slightly required expending tremendous force.
Under such circumstances, how could Han possibly break free from the restrictions of the black rods?
RUMBLE, RUMBLE...!
A colossal, thunderous roar echoed from the distance. Obito turned his head to look.
"Planetary Devastation? That Nagato... doesn't he even consider the consequences? Well, forget it. After all, the enemy is that Uchiha Kagaya. Going all out like this is understandable. It seems I'll need to relocate as well, or I'll be sucked up too."
With that, a crimson light flickered in Obito's right eye. A swirling vortex materialized.
Since he needed to relocate, his personal time-space dimension was naturally the safest place.
Lowering his head, he looked at Han, who was still struggling against the black rods but making absolutely no progress. Obito sneered.
"What is this? The final performance of you and that beast inside you before death? Honestly, it's not bad. Though I have no interest in watching."
Having said this, Obito once again used his Sharingan to bring his consciousness into the Five-Tails' sealing space.
Toward the disappearance of the Hidden Stone's seal, Obito showed not the slightest surprise. He had sensed it earlier.
Looking at the Five-Tails before him—impaled upon the ground by the massive black rods—Obito wasted no words. His Mangekyo blazed with its unique radiance.
"Next, I'll be pausing the sealing process for a moment. Five-Tails... behave yourself!"
In the very next second, the Five-Tails' pupils transformed into the three-tomoe Sharingan. It had been controlled!
Obito sneered coldly and withdrew from this sealing space.
The swirling vortex gradually expanded. Very soon, it would engulf both Obito and Han, pulling them into his time-space dimension.
Only... in the next instant, the vortex halted. A fist, wrapped in a black glove, slammed directly into Obito's spiral-patterned mask!
"How is this possible?!"
Obito was sent flying by the punch. During the process of using his Mangekyo to absorb objects, Obito had to remain tangible. Thus, this punch had solidly, unmistakably connected with Obito's mask.
Swiftly using his hand to cover the face now exposed by his shattered mask, Obito stared at Han. At this moment, on all four of Han's limbs, there were holes continuously streaming with blood—wounds left from breaking free of the black rods.
"Impossible! Those belong to the Sage of Six Paths! How could scum like you possibly break free?!"
Obito's face was filled with utter disbelief. Immediately after, as if something had just occurred to him, he looked sharply into the distance.
"Right... the Planetary Devastation. Nagato mobilized a massive amount of chakra to execute that technique. So the suppressive force of the black rods he left behind has greatly diminished, hasn't it?! Damn it! Uchiha Kagaya! Back when you invaded the Leaf Village... I should have... I SHOULD HAVE... SLAUGHTERED YOU!!"
At this moment, numerous bloodshot veins even surfaced in Obito's eyes, brimming with sheer hatred.
Obito could endure anything else. But the Tailed Beasts alone—the Infinite Tsukuyomi alone—this plan alone—was the one thing Obito could never, ever allow to be touched!
Rin...
Turning his head, the single eye Obito still exposed blazed with a hint of madness.
"So what if you broke the seal? Uchiha Kagaya... he will absolutely never get the Five-Tails! It's nothing but a mere beast! I'll seal you again right now!"
The sealing space.
"Why go this far?"
The Five-Tails looked at the Han before it and asked, puzzled. Just now, Han's punch that struck Obito's mask had also directly disrupted Obito's control over the Five-Tails.
Han pointed to his own forehead.
"Do you see this forehead protector? On its surface... are there any scratches?"
The Five-Tails examined it carefully.
"There aren't. What does that signify?"
Han turned around.
"When that brat Deidara came to capture me, he said something—'fellow rogue shinobi.' But he didn't see my forehead protector. There are no scratches on it. Even though I left the village... I am still the Five-Tails Jinchuriki of the Hidden Stone! The Steam Shinobi—Han! The people of the village might not care about the Tailed Beast. But I know the Tailed Beast's power all too well. As a shinobi of the Hidden Stone, even if I couldn't make the Hidden Stone accept the Tailed Beast... I shouldn't simply hand the Tailed Beast over to someone else for nothing! If there's ever a chance... tell Deidara this for me: on the forehead protector of the shinobi named Han, not a single scratch ever appeared in his entire life!"
With those words, Han drew a deep breath and glanced back slightly.
"Five-Tails... you're free now. Over these many years... thank you for the journey together."
Vitality rapidly drained from Han's body. In just a few short seconds, Han vanished from the sealing space, utterly losing consciousness and falling into a state called "death."
Even though the suppressive force of the black rods had been greatly weakened due to Kagaya's interference, they were still, after all, creations of the Six Paths. Breaking free from them... had still exhausted the very last of Han's life force.
The Hidden Stone's seal had vanished. The black rods had vanished. Obito's control had vanished.
The Five-Tails... was indeed free.
Outside.
Obito had just been about to strike against Han when Han's eyes simply closed. He collapsed directly to the ground, his vital signs completely extinguished.
"Ha! So breaking free from the black rods was just to hasten your own death? Five-Tails Jinchuriki... are you as stupid as that beast as well?"
A massive amount of chakra instantly surged forth from Han's body. In a single moment, an enormous, colossal shadow loomed over Obito. A titanic white beast now stood above Obito, blotting out the very sky and sun.
Obito, however, merely spoke with utter disdain.
"Five-Tails... the Planetary Devastation plus the Jinchuriki's death... and all it bought was your freedom. But so what? It's just a bit more troublesome, that's all. I'll seal you again right now."
BOOM!
The earth trembled. The Five-Tails moved directly, not sparing Obito a single glance. It merely left behind a single sentence, spoken in its uniquely gentle voice.
"Uchiha clansman... I have seen... eyes more powerful than yours."
Immediately after, the colossal entity instantly burst into a gallop. Vaguely, from somewhere unseen, the Five-Tails indeed sensed a familiar chakra—or rather, a familiar ocular power.
It lowered its head slightly and aimed its massive horn at the enormous sphere in the sky. Then, carefully controlling its force so as not to harm the person inside, it rammed forward with explosive power!
CRASH!
The massive sphere instantly collapsed. At the very first glance, the Five-Tails saw a person—a human with eyes bearing complex, intricate patterns. As if recalling something, on pure instinct, the Five-Tails smiled.
"I remember... those eyes of yours."
"Heh. I remember you too. Let's cause some havoc together, shall we? Kokuō!"
"Of course!"
A golden pillar of light shot straight into the heavens. Skeleton, flesh, armor—all materialized in rapid succession. In this moment, even the radiance of the sun was eclipsed. Between heaven and earth, it seemed as if only this dazzling pillar of light remained.
Immediately after, a colossal golden beast emerged. Golden armor encased its entire exterior, making the horn atop the Five-Tails' head appear even more majestic, like the horn of a dragon. The dolphin-like head that had once seemed slightly endearing now, cloaked in golden armor, became exceedingly awe-inspiring and solemn, like a deity itself. Its four legs became even more powerful and imposing, like four colossal pillars of light supporting the very heavens, studded with several sharp, reversed spikes that declared its danger.
On both sides of its body, two broad, sword-like yet armor-like constructs extended, covering its flanks. Their bladed tips stretched all the way to the head, resembling two brand-new horns.
The Five-Tails' original horn pointed backward. But these two new horns pointed directly forward!
Five golden tails swayed ceaselessly behind it.
Armored Susanoo!
If Sasuke and Naruto's Armored Susanoo more closely resembled the Susanoo itself, standing upright and wielding a blade, then Kagaya's Armored Susanoo was like Madara's—more akin to the Tailed Beast itself, four limbs planted on the ground, like the most terrifying colossal beast to ever walk the earth.
"Nagato... I admit it. You have the ability to threaten me. Therefore... I'll go all out as well!"