Sasori paid no attention whatsoever to the provocation in Nagato's words.
Only those who had been in close contact with Uchiha Madara understood what he truly cared about!
"What my goal is, you have no need to know."
"Uchiha Sasuke has already awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan, and the Ichibi within Gaara has already been extracted."
"So what happened in between? No one cares about that."
Sasori spoke softly, then shifted his tone:
"Failing to obtain Uchiha Sasuke's Mangekyo Sharingan... I imagine your standing in that person's eyes will have dropped, won't it?"
Nagato naturally knew who Sasori meant by "that person." A flicker of disdain crossed his face.
Nagato certainly wouldn't let a few words from Sasori cause any emotional fluctuation.
He didn't understand Uchiha Madara, just as Sasori didn't understand Kirigakure's First Mizukage Yuto.
Such petty tricks were useless against him.
"A pity. It seems we'll have to wait until our next meeting to settle this."
Sasori's chakra threads began to retract. With a slight movement of his fingers, the Third Kazekage puppet standing beside him transformed back into a scroll with a puff, landing neatly in his hand.
Even as he spoke, Sasori cast a deep look at Nagato before beginning his retreat. Within a few breaths, his figure had vanished entirely.
Watching Sasori's disappearing silhouette, Nagato made no move to stop him, though a hint of dark resolve flickered in his eyes.
For traitors of the Akatsuki like Sasori, Nagato would settle accounts with each and every one of them eventually.
Just not now!
Uchiha Itachi's Mangekyo Sharingan was powerful, but the late Itachi had pushed it too hard during his lifetime, causing the ocular power of his Mangekyo to deteriorate significantly.
Until he could evolve the Mangekyo Sharingan into the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, Nagato didn't want to overuse it.
As such, Nagato was well aware of his own shortcomings.
The Rinnegan's existence hadn't just ravaged Nagato's body; it had also left his taijutsu sorely lacking.
After all, with the Six Paths of Pain and the Rinnegan's own formidable ninjutsu, there had never been any need for Nagato to fight personally.
This naturally caused Nagato's combat style to become overly reliant on the Rinnegan, to the point where it was set in stone. Once the Rinnegan was removed, the flaws in his fighting approach would be instantly exposed.
Against ninja weaker than himself, it was manageable enough. He could rely on his immense chakra and five-nature ninjutsu to overwhelm them.
But against truly powerful opponents, Nagato found himself somewhat outmatched.
Just then, the sound of footsteps came from the forest behind.
Hyuga Neji emerged slowly from the trees, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, looking rather battered.
Seeing only a cold-faced Nagato remaining in the clearing with Uchiha Sasuke nowhere to be found, Hyuga Neji instantly realized what had happened.
"It seems you weren't able to obtain Uchiha Sasuke's Mangekyo Sharingan in the end, Nagato-sama."
Hyuga Neji walked toward Nagato with unsteady steps, thinking to himself silently.
Clearly, Neji had already figured out that Nagato had used him and Naruto to provoke Sasuke, forcing his Sharingan to evolve into the Mangekyo.
But even so, a hint of frustration and unwillingness lingered on Neji's face.
While being used by Nagato didn't sit well with him, Neji himself had wanted to settle things with Naruto and Sasuke.
"But I still lost."
Neji spoke in a low voice, offering himself no excuses.
A loss was a loss!
"Just win it back next time. Only the one who makes it to the very end is the true victor."
Nagato glanced at the downcast Neji and spoke evenly. The words seemed meant for Neji, and perhaps just as much for himself.
On another front.
Hoshigaki Kisame and Kakuzu had gone all out against each other.
While the others' battles had stalled for various reasons without anyone going full throttle—
The fight between Hoshigaki Kisame and Kakuzu was a genuine life-and-death struggle.
Everywhere the two clashed, the terrain was utterly devastated. They were veritable landscape destroyers.
At this point, Kisame's clothes were in tatters, he was panting heavily, and a pool of blood lay at his feet.
Yet Kisame showed no obvious wounds. It was clear that Samehada's chakra transfer had rapidly healed his injuries.
Meanwhile, beside Kakuzu lay two puddles of strange black liquid.
During their earlier exchanges, Kisame had already destroyed two of Kakuzu's hearts.
"Tch! What a persistent bastard!"
Kakuzu glanced at the Zetsu that had appeared behind him, spat out a mouthful of blood, and slowly reined in the intense killing intent radiating from his body.
Losing two hearts in a single fight stung badly. Unlike the battle-hungry Kisame across from him, Kakuzu was far more pragmatic.
Since Uchiha Madara's objective had been completed, Kakuzu had little desire to keep fighting. He followed Zetsu and swiftly withdrew.
To be honest!
If there was no need, Kakuzu really didn't want to fight someone like Kisame, who only grew more spirited the longer the battle dragged on.
The way Kisame's sword Samehada absorbed enemy chakra while simultaneously healing his own injuries and restoring his chakra was simply nauseating.
Kisame tried to stop Kakuzu, but the man was too fast at retreating. By the time Kisame reacted, Kakuzu and the Zetsu clone had already vanished.
At the same time Sasori and Kakuzu were pulling back, Uchiha Obito also extricated himself from his battle against Kakashi and Yamashiro Aoba.
Obito looked down at the several tears in his clothing and cracked a faint smile beneath his mask.
Kakashi and Yamashiro Aoba were both tactical fighters. As their coordinated attacks grew more fluid over the course of the battle, more and more openings were exposed in Obito's defense.
Obito knew that if the fight continued, it wouldn't just be a few rips in his clothes.
But this battle was about to end.
"Fighting you two has been a genuine pleasure."
Obito looked at Yamashiro Aoba, who was half-kneeling on the ground, and Kakashi, who was clutching his chest with a pale face, and spoke with a light laugh.
In particular, Obito's gaze flickered when it fell on the Sharingan beneath Kakashi's forehead protector.
For whatever reason, though, Obito didn't immediately reclaim that Sharingan from Kakashi.
Instead, after letting out a soft chuckle, Obito vanished into a spatial vortex right before Kakashi and Yamashiro Aoba's eyes.
"Aoba, are you alright!"
The moment Obito disappeared, Kakashi let out a long breath and quickly turned to check on Yamashiro Aoba.
"I'm not dying. Go check on Naruto."
Yamashiro Aoba shook his head and urged him.
Kakashi nodded, did a quick bandaging job, and rushed toward where Naruto had been fighting.
No matter what, nothing could happen to Naruto!
Kakashi was already regretting bringing Naruto along on this mission.
When Kakashi arrived at the spot where Naruto had fallen from the sky, he found Naruto lying in a massive crater.
Kakashi's pupils contracted. He flashed forward and appeared at Naruto's side in an instant.
After a careful examination, he discovered that Naruto had no serious injuries—he had merely lost consciousness. Only then did Kakashi finally breathe a heavy sigh of relief.
[
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