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"You—"
Naruto looked at Nagato, who had suppressed his cannibalistic urges, and asked in a solemn tone,
"How do you feel now?"
"I feel great!"
Nagato smiled at Naruto and replied in a relaxed tone, "I've never felt this light before. Thank you for giving me a new life, Uzumaki Naruto."
Nagato could now clearly feel that his body had evolved. Not only had his paralyzed legs returned to normal, but the feeling of being drained every day had also vanished without a trace. The seemingly endless vitality in his body made him feel as if there were no longer any restrictions on using the Rinnegan's ocular power.
More importantly, Nagato could clearly feel that the Rinnegan was merging with his body—no, to be precise, it was being assimilated by his new body, or rather, his body and eyes were moving toward each other, gradually becoming one.
This feeling was more than just a new life; it was a rebirth from the ashes!
"That's good, then."
Naruto nodded slightly at Nagato's words, then said to him in a serious tone,
"Suppressing the desire to eat people is only the first step in controlling this bloodline power.
In the days to come, this desire will constantly tempt and entice you to consume human flesh and blood. If you lose control even once, you will fall into becoming a demon, and when that happens, I will personally kill you!"
In fact, Naruto had another idea for giving Nagato the perfect demon bloodline.
However, that idea required him to confirm that Nagato would truly not be dominated by the demon's instincts before it could be implemented, so he still needed to observe him for a period of time.
"Don't worry!"
Nagato looked at Naruto and said confidently,
"I am someone who has experienced Pain; I will not be defeated by desire!"
"Let's hope so."
Naruto nodded noncommittally at Nagato's confident reply, then said,
"Next, we'll go find that Masked Man. I've let him live long enough!"
"Aren't you going to revive your parents first?"
Nagato couldn't help but ask curiously when he heard Naruto's words.
Naruto had given him this bloodline power precisely so he could use the Rinnegan's ability to revive his parents. Now that he had control of this power, Naruto was no longer in a hurry to revive his parents.
This made Nagato somewhat puzzled.
"Not yet."
Naruto shook his head and said,
"My father's situation is a bit special; his soul is sealed in a certain place. To revive him, we must first release his soul from that place."
Among Naruto's parents, Uzumaki Kushina was fine; she died a natural death, making her resurrection relatively easy.
However, Minato Namikaze's situation was more complex. He didn't just "die"; when he sealed the Nine-Tailed, he used the sealing technique called the 'Reaper Death Seal,' which involved selling his own soul to the Shinigami, allowing the summoned Shinigami to devour the sealed person's soul.
But after the Shinigami devours the soul of the sealed target, the caster's own soul will also be devoured by the Shinigami, and then the souls of both will eternally hate and fight each other in the Shinigami's belly, never to be reborn.
Therefore, to revive Minato Namikaze, his soul must first be released from the Shinigami's belly.
Generally speaking, souls devoured by the Shinigami can never escape from its belly.
Fortunately, Uzumaki Kushina had already found a way to release Minato Namikaze's soul from the Shinigami's belly, but some preparations were still needed.
"Seal?"
Nagato nodded slightly at Naruto's words, didn't ask further, and then said, "Alright, then we'll do as you say and deal with Tobi first."
In the past, Nagato would have been anxious to proceed with his plan because he could clearly feel his life force draining away every day. Now that he no longer had such concerns, he could afford to be more leisurely, so he naturally didn't care what they did first.
"Ugh!~"
At this moment, Konan, who was beside them, suddenly let out a painful groan. She had been injured when Nagato pierced her shoulder earlier and had endured the pain without making a sound. Now that she confirmed Nagato was fine and relaxed, she immediately felt both shoulders filled with pain and couldn't help but make a sound.
"Konan!"
Nagato heard Konan's voice and only then realized she was injured. He immediately used Chakra to heal her wounds, apologizing remorsefully,
"I'm sorry, Konan."
"It's alright, Nagato."
Konan shook her head and said,
"It's just a minor injury, it'll heal quickly—it's really good that you're alright." After speaking, she fainted directly.
"Konan!"
Seeing Konan faint, Nagato's face immediately showed a flustered expression. He frantically checked her and deeply exhaled in relief when he found that she only had excessive blood loss and was not in life-threatening danger.
Konan's injuries were caused by him; if anything unexpected happened to her, Nagato would probably blame himself to death.
After confirming Konan was fine, Nagato left the Human Path and the Naraka Path of Pain to take care of her; he then took the Deva Path, the Asura Path, the Preta Path, and the Animal Path of Pain, and went with Naruto to find the Masked Man, preparing to team up and kill him.
On the other side:
The Masked Man was talking to a strange man who looked like a pitcher plant, with his body divided into black and white halves.
"Obito, that person is a threat. You shouldn't have let him join the Akatsuki Organization."
The black half of the pitcher plant man spoke, addressing the Masked Man.
"I have my own arrangements for this matter; you don't need to worry about it."
The Masked Man heard the pitcher plant man's words and replied somewhat impatiently, then said in a deep voice,
"Also, I told you not to call me by that name again!"
"Alright."
The pitcher plant man nodded, then said somewhat helplessly, "Tobi, what you should be doing right now is figuring out how to revive Lord Madara—"
"Shut up, Zetsu!"
The Masked Man interrupted the pitcher plant man, his scarlet single eye staring at him, and said coldly, "I told you, I have my own arrangements; you don't need to worry about it!"
Lord Madara, Lord Madara— all you talk about is Lord Madara. Without Uchiha Madara, I can still perfectly complete the 'Eye of the Moon Plan,' and I won't revive him to cause trouble!
The pitcher plant man named 'Zetsu' heard the Masked Man's words, and an expression of helplessness appeared on his stiff face. Then he said,
"Alright, even if you don't plan to revive Lord Madara for now, you should at least follow the steps Lord Madara left behind instead of messing around with your own ideas, hmm?"
Zetsu's words were cut short as he suddenly turned to look into the distance and said in a deep voice, "Someone's coming. It's Pain. There are four of them, and that guy too!"
The "that guy" Zetsu referred to was naturally Armored Naruto, who had joined the Akatsuki Organization as the Infinite Empire's Emperor.
"Pain?"
The Masked Man heard Zetsu's words, and his eyebrows beneath his mask furrowed slightly. He quietly said, "What is he here for?"
The Masked Man had only arranged to meet Naruto here, intending for Zetsu to plant some spores on him to monitor him, and also to trick Naruto into doing something else for him. He never expected that Naruto, at some point, had somehow gotten together with Pain without him noticing. This suddenly gave him a bad premonition.
Swish, swish, swish, swish!~
While the Masked Man was pondering, Naruto and Pain's figures had already arrived.
"Pain, you're—"
The Masked Man looked at the arrival of Naruto and Pain, just about to ask Pain why he came here with Naruto, but before he could finish his sentence, he saw Naruto's figure turn into a flash of lightning, charging straight towards him.
By the time he reacted, Naruto's long sword had already slashed at him countless times.
"?"
After Naruto instantly slashed the Masked Man a hundred times, he stopped swinging his blade, then looked at the long sword, Infinite, in his hand with a puzzled expression, and asked in a bewildered tone, "I clearly slashed a hundred times; why was there no effect?"
Naruto clearly remembered that after Infinite was enhanced, there was a one percent chance of releasing a spatial-tearing slash when used.
He had clearly slashed the Masked Man a hundred times just now, so why didn't it trigger a spatial-tearing slash?
Was the enhancement data incorrect, or did he misunderstand something?
"What are you doing?!"
The Masked Man didn't know what Naruto was thinking. After Naruto stopped, he immediately questioned, "Why did you attack me?"
"Oh, just saying hello."
Naruto heard the Masked Man's words and replied indifferently, then said in a joking tone, "Anyway, no matter how much I slash you, you won't be harmed, so I came up with this way of saying hello. How is it? Don't you like it?"
Damn it, how could I like it!
The Masked Man heard Naruto's reply, cursed inwardly, then said, "A very unique way. Don't use it next time."
After speaking, he looked at the four Pains who had come with Naruto, then asked Pain – Deva Path, "What are you doing here?"
Pain – Deva Path heard this, glanced at Naruto, and cast him an inquiring look, as if asking: Should I make a move?
Naruto raised an eyebrow and conveyed a message through his gaze: Don't act yet. I have something to deal with. Just hold him steady for now.
Understanding, Pain – Deva Path turned to the Masked Man and said, "Well, I have a plan… blah, blah, blah…"
After confirming that Pain – Deva Path had stabilized the Masked Man, Naruto mentally sought help from Minato Namikaze:
Dad, there seems to be a problem with my sword. Can you help me figure out what's going on?
After that, Naruto explained the detailed data of the enhanced Infinite to Minato Namikaze.
Before coming here, Naruto had already asked Nagato whether there was any way to break the Masked Man's space-time ninjutsu. Nagato's answer had been no. He understood the Masked Man's ability and even knew its time limit, but he had no method to counter it. Moreover, if the Masked Man chose not to fight and simply wanted to leave, no one could stop him.
After hearing that, Naruto realized that the only way to break the Masked Man's ability was through his own sword.
Originally, he had been full of confidence. He believed that as long as he swung a hundred slashes at the Masked Man, at least one would land—and that one hit would be enough to kill him.
But he never expected that the equipment he had trusted so much would fail at a critical moment.
"Naruto, you misunderstood."
Minato Namikaze immediately explained after hearing Naruto describe the enhanced Infinite's effects.
"A one percent chance of releasing a spatial-tearing slash means that each swing of your sword has a one percent probability of triggering it. It does not mean you are guaranteed to unleash one spatial-tearing slash every hundred swings."
"Huh?"
Naruto froze for a moment after hearing Minato's explanation, then asked in confusion, "Dad… aren't those the same thing?"
In Naruto's understanding, a one percent chance per swing meant that out of a hundred swings, one spatial slash was guaranteed. He was convinced his logic was correct.
"Minato, isn't Naruto's understanding right?"
Uzumaki Kushina couldn't help but speak up after hearing their conversation. Her understanding matched Naruto's, and she also felt that Minato's explanation sounded like the same thing.
Not just the mother and son—even the Nine-Tails shared the same understanding, though it remained silent and simply listened.
Minato Namikaze felt a headache coming on when he heard both Naruto and Kushina. Having a son who struggled with this was one thing, but he hadn't expected his wife to think the same way.
After organizing his thoughts, he patiently explained:
"This one percent chance is like drawing lots. Each ticket has a one percent chance of winning the Vice Admiral. That doesn't mean that out of a hundred tickets, there will definitely be one winner. Do you understand now?"
"Oh, I get it!" ×3
Naruto, Uzumaki Kushina, and the Nine-Tails all understood instantly after hearing the explanation.
Naruto then said gloomily, "So if it's always just a one percent chance… if my luck is bad, then no matter how many times I swing my sword, I might never trigger a slash that can hit him?"
"In theory, yes," Minato replied. "But I don't think your luck is that bad, Naruto."
"That's right!" Uzumaki Kushina added confidently. "Your mom has always had good luck, and since you're my son, your luck definitely won't be bad either."
"Really?"
Naruto's spirits lifted immediately after hearing Kushina's words, but then he quickly slumped again.
"But… I just slashed that guy a hundred times and didn't hit him even once."
"It's fine!" Kushina said, unfazed. "If a hundred times isn't enough, then do it a thousand times—ten thousand times! You'll hit him eventually!"
She clenched her fist and continued encouraging him with absolute confidence:
"I believe in you, Naruto. You can definitely kill that masked bastard!"
"Mmm!~"
Naruto's confidence instantly returned after hearing his mother's encouragement.
"Mom, you're right. If a hundred slashes aren't enough, then I'll swing a thousand times—ten thousand times. I will hit him eventually!"
With that thought, Naruto cut off the mental connection. His gaze locked onto the Masked Man once more, and he tightened his grip on his sword slightly.