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Nearly a month had passed since Suigetsu and Jūgo awoke, carrying out their mission back at Obito's side.
Their mission: rescue Nagato and obtain the eyes of Uchiha Fugaku.
The prerequisite for both was simple: get inside Obito's Kamui dimension.
Whether by design or sheer neglect, Obito had never once sucked them in.
With no entry point, the duo could only linger in the Akatsuki's hidden lair, biding their time.
The White Zetsus had swarmed out, hunting for the runaway Killer B and the vanished Naruto. The only one left in the nest to monitor them was the White Zetsu—"Tobi"!
Tobi, the most combat-capable individual among the White Zetsus, had a spiraled face that perfectly matched Obito's mask. In the early days, he and Obito were inseparable.
The lively, irreverent Suigetsu and the playful, unserious Tobi became fast friends. A pair of kindred spirits.
This was Suigetsu's survival instinct. He knew his situation. One wrong move, and his life was forfeit.
So he swallowed his disgust and started with Tobi's favorite topic: "the urge to go." Diving headfirst into the grand, profound subject of shit, he succeeded in winning Tobi's favor. Jūgo, serious and stoic, could only watch with a mix of annoyance and grudging admiration.
That day, Suigetsu had a flash of inspiration. "Hey… Tobi. You said your body can wrap around someone else, right? Share their senses?"
Tobi: "That's right~!"
Suigetsu: "So if the person wearing you… needs to take a shit… you'd feel 'the urge,' wouldn't you?"
A lightbulb literally popped above Tobi's head. "Why didn't I think of that!!"
Suigetsu lured him in. "Wanna try? To be honest… I kinda need to go right now."
The hole in Tobi's right eye stared into Suigetsu's. "You mean… you want to wear me?"
Suigetsu doubled down. "If possible… I'd even like to go inside you. Let you feel that… tight, intimate friction firsthand…"
The crude, wild suggestion made Tobi's heart itch with excitement. Snap! His spiraled face unfurled along its seams.
Suigetsu thought: In that dream Sasuke showed me… that guy Yamato put this thing on and suddenly used crazy-strong Wood Release. It definitely amplifies power…
Whoosh!
Just then, Obito landed from a swirling vortex. He saw Tobi's action.
"Tobi. What are you doing?"
Tobi said, "Suigetsu's going to help me experience 'the urge.'"
The gaze beneath Obito's mask shifted to Suigetsu.
Suigetsu hurriedly scratched his head. "Ah, well… with no tailed beasts to hunt, things get so boring, you know? We're just messing around…"
"It seems I've let you eat too well. Let's put your excess energy to use hunting a tailed beast instead."
Suigetsu: "Huh?? You found it?! The Eight-Tails?!"
Obito withdrew his gaze. "Correct. The White Zetsus located the Eight-Tails. In a very remote place."
Jūgo, who had been silent on the sidelines, stood. "We move?"
Obito: "Kisame has already gone ahead. That location… has no Kamui marker of mine. Therefore, we require a transfer."
A transfer. Use Kamui to jump to the nearest marked location, then proceed on foot.
Obito said, "Come. I'll take you to the battlefield."
Suigetsu and Jūgo approached Obito, hearts pounding. After waiting nearly a month… the chance to enter the Kamui dimension was finally here!
Whoosh!
A black vortex from Obito's right eye sucked them in.
Tobi said, "Is that okay…? Nagato's still in there. And he should still have a breath left in him."
Obito replied, "I placed them in separate zones. Even with the transfer, I'll reach the battlefield in ten minutes. They won't make it to Nagato's location…"
He pulled his black hood up over his mask.
"After the Eight-Tails hunt concludes… I'll dispose of those two. People who know too many of our secrets are a liability."
Tobi shrugged. "My, my. Suigetsu was obviously sucking up to me… but he was kinda fun. What a waste if he dies…"
Obito patted Tobi's shoulder. "Once my Infinite Tsukuyomi is complete… we can play like before. I can be a fun person too…"
Tobi: "I'll be waiting~!"
Whoosh!
Obito vanished into the vortex from his right eye.
Kamui Dimension.
Suigetsu and Jūgo's eyes met an endless expanse of rectangular blocks. No sign of Nagato. The separate chamber where the Sharingan eyes were stored was nowhere in sight.
However… there was one thing.
A severed octopus tentacle.
A trophy from Kisame recovered by Obito from the Cloud Ravine after the Sixth War.
Obito hadn't even bothered to seal it into the Gedo Statue. He'd just tossed it here, into Kamui!
Suigetsu: "That tentacle looks familiar. Saw it in the dream."
Jūgo: "Forget that. Focus. We don't have much time!"
Suigetsu produced a vial of blood. He poured its contents onto one of the blocks.
Blood Orochimaru had collected from the Rain Tower after the Sixth War. Nagato's blood!
Then, both Suigetsu and Jūgo each took out a mask. They put them on.
As the Jinchūriki of the Reaper Death Seal, Orochimaru could imbue a portion of the death god's power into these masks. Wearing them granted a sliver of that power. Of course… it was a one-time use!
The scattered blocks weren't ideal for drawing a sealing array. That octopus tentacle became the obvious choice for the ritual platform!
Using Nagato's blood as a medium, combining their powers, they would activate the secret technique Orochimaru taught them—'Death Ban: Soul-Hooking Chain'—to forcibly pull Nagato, wherever he was in this dimension, right before them!
"For this moment… we suffered so much! If we get out of this alive, I'm making Orochimaru pay for my emotional damages!!!"
With the masks on, their bodies ignited with a white glow. They formed hand seals in unison.
—Death Ban: Soul-Hooking Chain!
BOOM…!!
A pillar of light descended from above. Nagato landed on the octopus tentacle!!
For nearly a month, without food or water, Nagato was little more than a skeleton. A thin layer of skin stretched taut over bone.
But the Uzumaki clan's formidable vitality, and his own sheer will to live, had kept him clinging to life, maintaining a sliver of consciousness until this very moment!
Crack! Crack!
The spent masks fractured, flaking away.
Suigetsu and Jūgo stared, stunned, at the man on the tentacle.
This… was the true body of that Pain? You've got to be kidding…!?
During their Akatsuki initiation test, they'd briefly faced the Deva Path of Pain beneath the Rain Tower.
They could never have imagined that the nearly invincible leader of Akatsuki in their minds had a true body like this… a living corpse.
Nagato's lips were cracked, his eye sockets sunken, cheekbones protruding. The signature Uzumaki red hair had turned ashen gray. He didn't know what was happening. But the faint sliver of awareness he possessed registered the change in texture beneath him.
His hand moved sluggishly to touch it… That sensation. No mistake.
Meat. MEAT!!!
Driven by primal survival instinct, his Rinnegan eyes snapped open, bloodshot and wild. He didn't care what meat it was. Cooked or raw. Poisoned or not.
To a man starving to death, even if the consequence was eternal damnation, he would choose to feast without hesitation!!
Nagato opened his mouth wide. With his mostly missing teeth, he tore viciously into the Eight-Tails tail meat… The posture was pure, feral beast!!!
CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH…!!!
Before Suigetsu and Jūgo's eyes, the entire tentacle was devoured by Nagato in under a minute. Practically swallowed whole!!
Then.
The impossible happened.
Gurgle gurgle gurgle gurgle…!!
The chakra cloak of the Eight-Tails erupted over Nagato's emaciated, skin-and-bones frame!
But his Rinnegan eyes cleared in that instant.
—Preta Path!
Whoosh!
The tailed beast cloak was sucked into his body, converted into Nagato's own chakra!
Nagato's starved, withered form rapidly filled out, flesh blooming with healthy color. Even his white hair flushed back into vibrant red!
Nagato was restored. But his legs, unused to walking for so long—even with the muscles restored—the 'nerves' remained dormant. He could stand, but not walk.
He lifted his head, frowning at the two stunned figures before him. "I remember you. Uchiha Obito's hounds."
Swish!
He raised a hand. A 'Universal Pull' was coming!
Suigetsu panicked. "Wait…! It's Sasuke! Lord Uchiha Sasuke sent us to save you!!!"
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