The link to my new story, with a villain MC, is in the comments and on this story's main page! However, in the future, it would be also added to my author's profile page!
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Obito's shadowy figure soon materialized from a relatively small, man-sized portal perched atop the partially demolished high-rise central tower. And concealed behind his unmistakable orange mask, a furrow formed between his brows as he surveyed the devastation and towering trees that encircled the structure, all while detecting strong traces of residual chakra in the air. However, his shock escalated to new heights, and peeked once he caught sight of Nagato himself. The latter was soaring a short distance ahead of the tower, beside Konan, casting a domineering gaze toward him.
The rain had stopped falling in the Amegakure as soon as Nagato decided to leave the shadows and enter the front stages of this world for real earlier. Not to mention that his ordinary sensing ability now could cover the entirety of the Amekagure even without his other sensory techniques.
As he scrutinized Nagato's body with his heightened senses, Obito couldn't help but feel a tinge of vexation at the sheer potency of the chakra and vitality emanating from the figure before him, 'Such formidable power and vitality...? It's very strange and almost irritating... What could've caused this?', As he ruminated on Nagato's current appearance, Obito couldn't help but recall how emaciated and deathly pale the man had appeared just a few days ago. It was difficult to reconcile that image with the robust, powerful figure hovering before him now, 'It's as if the universe itself is conspiring against me, each new development is more daunting than the last...', Obito lamented a bit inwardly.
Only moments earlier, Obito had received intel from White Zetsu. The plant-like creature had reported that his clones had detected an unusual and sizeable surge of chakra emanating from Nagato's residential tower in Amegakure. What's more, the clones had detected traces of Wood Release as well, leaving no doubt that something highly significant was afoot. Therefore, he promptly materialized here with his Kamui portal with his mind consumed by perilous thoughts.
'Those Senju cells again... Hold on a minute! That chakra signature... it's the same as the one I felt from Neji Hyuga and those two girls he was with. Then he must be the one who helped Nagato beforehand! Did he do that out of spite for me? Damn!', Obito realized, his mind racing with the implications of this discovery, 'I must try and deal with Nagato right away with all of my strength!'
"Madara, you will pay for all your recent transgressions. How about we finally determine who is the true leader of the Akatsuki once and for all? Don't flee using your abilities like a coward now. Let's engage in battle!" Nagato's purple Rinnegan gleamed with a cold and resolute light. He was equally eager to exact revenge and eliminate this unwelcome intruder in his and Yahiko's organization. He now believed he had the means to do so, thanks to Neji's assistance. Konan also looked eager for it.
"Heh, don't get cocky now Nagato. Some meager Wood Release won't be able to stop me!", Obito exclaimed with a derisive snort. He paused for a moment to gather his thoughts, then unleashed a powerful vortex-twisting attack from his left eye, aimed directly at Nagato. Their battle had begun.
But, Obito was flabbergasted to discover that his spatial attack portal had been effortlessly bounced off of Nagato's body, passing right beside him while totally avoiding his physical body. Nagato now wore a mocking smirk on his face. Obito could also strangely feel an odd gravitational energy wrapping around Nagato as if he were encased in an impenetrable tight armor of gravity. This was the first time Obito had seen such a technique so he was rendered stupefied for a while on the spot.
"I was right, Madara Uchiha, gravity could truly affect even space-time! I simply moved your portal away from my body just enough to avoid being affected by it. I observed your strange abilities for years already. Even though I don't have enough reaction speed to move your attack after you launch it, I found a way to deal with it by encasing my body with gravity before it happened. I didn't have enough dojutsu power to do that before, however, strangely, now I finally felt that I had it! This means that as long as I have it activated, your spatial portal move is as good as useless against me."
Nagato explained confidently. That strategy was theorized by him a long time ago just like he said. He also moved in front of Konan right away in case his opponent tried to use that attack on her too. The move was simply called "Shinra Tensei: Gravity Armour". It was the offshoot of that base ability. It was like a much watered-down and the passive version of the Shinra Tensei, perfect for this kind of enemy. And that was just what he thought for a defensive purpose against this opponent, he was now probably capable of those other previously imagined offensive techniques with his dojutsu's gravitational Deva Path's abilities as well. He didn't know why, but he could use his Rinnegan now much better than ever before. Additionally, it also felt like its use drained him of less chakra as well.
'So, that's it... That pair of Rinnegan really accepted him completely now! He manage to integrate it completely...', Obito was astounded. Black Zetsu explained to him a long time ago that Nagato previously couldn't use the great Rinnegan to the fullest, despite being an Uzumaki clan member with vast chakra reserves, because the eye simply didn't accept him as its original owner as they have been translated to him by Madara when he was young, they were not inherently his own eyes.
'Since I can't use my left eye's Kamui on him, then the best tactic to deal with him is to exhaust his chakra reserves with ordinary Fire Release. Let's waste some time then, and when he couldn't use his gravitational armor anymore, that's when I will finish him...', Obito made a plan and prepared. He was going to use his teleportation to dodge Nagato's possible attacks while wearing him out and preparing for a finishing move after he got depleted of all of his chakra. After all, Obito had Sharingan as well and he immediately realized how demanding that technique was due to all the chakra control necessary. In fact, even though it used less gravitation brute force than Nagato's other known gravity abilities up front, it made up with the chakra required to keep it stable in place.
However, to Obito's surprise, Nagato took the initiative and unleashed his Bansho Tenin. Notably, he could now simultaneously employ both attractive and repulsive gravitational forces, which was a newfound ability he had only acquired earlier today. Additionally, the forces were more potent than ever before. Nagato was confident that he would have been much more successful against Toneri, had he possessed this form at the time of their short but embarrassing clash gravitational clash too.
Konan was surprised too as she was also aware of those Nagato's limitations in the past. Meanwhile, Nagato snorted in response to Obito's move to teleport further away instead of turning intangible as he had intended. Nagato inferred that Obito had realized the danger of using his intangibility in front of him. Nevertheless, Obito's decision confirmed their hypothesis that his ability had a time limit and that he couldn't teleport while the power was active. This made it challenging for Nagato to eliminate him. Despite this, he had the plan to catch Obito off guard and force him to use his intangibility. And the game of cat and mouse between the two soon commenced in the sky above the Amegakure, however, they moved so far above that none of the citizens below could follow on.
Nagato employed his gravitational forces of attraction and repulsion, which Obito skillfully evaded using his teleportation abilities. Occasionally, Obito launched attacks toward Konan's direction, utilizing his left Kamui and Fire Release techniques in an attempt to create an opening to penetrate Nagato's defense. Meanwhile, in addition to his other abilities, Nagato started to summon gigantic trees from the ground that followed Obito's movements closely, further complicating his evasion tactics. Konan also wasn't passive as she occasionally interjected with her own special paper jutsu. Whereas, Obito himself avoided using his Susanoo to preserve his chakra and then outlast Nagato.
Just before those gravitational forces of Nagato reach him, he would teleport to some other place out of reach, in the sky, while also avoiding Konan's paper attacks and Nagato's Wood Release as well. However, unbeknownst to Obito, Nagato was intentionally luring him into a false sense of security by allowing him to believe he had the upper hand in the fight. In reality, Nagato had a significant surprise attack prepared, which he was waiting for the opportune moment to unleash.
And right then, Nagato surprisingly unleashed his "Chibaku Tensei", the strongest attractive force in the whole world. Users of that technique create a black sphere between their hands that they hurl into the sky. When the sphere is activated, it generates a powerful attractive force, pulling everything in the vicinity of it until a large satellite is created. This was Nagato's strongest move for a very long time. Obito looked at this development while immediately attempting to teleport away.
However, Obito suddenly opened his eyes wide in shock as the portal that he created to teleport in, on top of his body, suddenly got pulled away by the small black orb that floated higher above him, 'Impossible! That black orb is strong enough to pull even my Kamui portal!?', He was flabbergasted.
Obito suddenly found himself being drawn toward the black orb along with his portal, which was now situated a bit further from him. He was in a very perilous situation and had no apparent means of escape. Some rubble and metal from the ground in the Amegakure also started flying behind him at the time looking like it was about to encase him once he touched the ominous black object. He tried to create many additional portals, however, they were all pushed above him just before he entered, 'This is really bad! Is this the power of the true Rinnegan!', Obito gritted his teeth in worry, 'Is this why he led me so far in the air!? Now my Susanoo has nothing to lean on to push me back!',
Reacting quickly, Obito summoned his gray Armoured Susanoo to avoid being so defenseless. He then concealed himself within the massive Susanoo encasing him while also secretly replacing his long-range Kamui left eye with an ordinary Uchiha Sharingan eye he had in his possession and always carried with him. He had already prepared himself for the worst possible outcome and was ready to even use the Izanagi if necessary in order to rewrite his own death to survive if necessary. However, he still analyzed that it won't come to that yet because he would stop once he finally reaches the orb after a few seconds and then he could teleport himself away once he gets fixed in place there. However, as if something read his mind, the situation complicated itself for him again.
In those fleeting moments, Nagato meticulously prepared his most potent offensive technique to date, the "Gravity Sword", which finally manifested itself. And as its name suggested, this weapon of immense power was fashioned from the gravitational forces of attraction and repulsion. Combining these two formidable forces, Nagato was able to now forge a colossal sword of gravity capable of obliterating anything in its path. The sheer force of the sword, which resulted from the grinding of these two opposing forces, was sufficient to shatter anything it came into contact with. He used it for the first time just now and that's why it took a few seconds for him to create it now successfully. Nagato looked menacingly as it broke right through the silver Susanoo straight toward his enemy. He positioned his sword right in front of the place where his enemy was being pulled towards. Konan opened her mouth wide as she witnesses the powerful technique that she never saw before.
'What the hell is that attack now? Is this really the same Nagato as before? How is he so powerful with so many new techniques? Damn, I still don't have the Perfect Susanoo, this is about to hit me! I must turn intangible right now, but that is probably what he is waiting for! Damn... I shouldn't have attacked Neji at that time...', Obito thought on a verge of despair after seeing that force that was about to annihilate him. He realized that all of this wouldn't have happened without Neji's activity.
"Ha! You're now finished, Madara! Even you cannot withstand the power of my Rinnegan!" Nagato cackled proudly as he expertly controlled his colossal gravity sword from a distance, holding it in place over the exact spot where Obito had gone intangible. With a deft move, he had trapped his opponent in a cage of his own making, "Let's see what your limits are now!", He added confidently. As soon as his enemy manifested to reality again, he would be broken into countless pieces by him.
"Konan, prepare the most explosive papers of yours that you currently can. I'm not sure if I can keep this technique up during his entire usage duration. We still don't know how long it is and this is quite taxing!", However, Nagato still recollected himself once again, realizing that the fight was still not over, especially against such a formidable and long-lived opponent. Therefore, he whispered to Konan who was beside him still in a daze from all the developments. She had no idea that someone could get that more powerful from a simple injection. All of her earlier assumptions were shattered.
Nagato had previously utilized his Chibaku Tensei technique to capture his enemy, conserving his chakra in order to wield his gravitational sword for a longer period of time and ultimately finish off his foe. The unusual standoff between gravity and intangibility persisted for another five minutes, during which Nagato closely monitored his opponent's physical responses and felt confident in their impending victory. Suddenly, he erupted in ecstasy, realizing that he possessed sufficient chakra to maintain his sword until the final moments of their confrontation. In the end, his enemy's body was really shattered into pieces. Konan also smiled a little in relief after looking at Nagato's happy face. He didn't laugh like that ever since Yahiko died. She quite liked this new version of his.
However, both he and Konan now had their eyeballs nearly popping out of their sockets as the man suddenly materialized again while perfectly fine while those destroyed body parts disappeared too, "What are you laughing about, Nagato? You're just a slightly luckier puppet who managed to get those cells from Neji Hyuga in order to make my life a little harder, however, that is all you still are!",
Obito started mocking them while looking at their incredulous expressions. Thankfully he previously changed his real left eye to another one, unless it would've been destroyed just now by the use of the otherworldly Uchiha clan's Izanagi. And his distinctive mask was still on his face, concealing everything that happened behind it. He would of course choose to hide that kind of information from everyone. They still didn't realize what he did at that moment while inside the Susanoo. It all allowed him to now respawn to another position in the air now while free-falling down effectively escaping from death. He could now even additionally be totally immortal for the next five minutes.
"Unlike normal genjutsu, which applies an illusion to a target's senses, Izanagi manipulates reality itself, granting the user control over what is and is not real for as long as the technique remains active. Typically employed as a defensive measure, Izanagi can negate injuries or even death, with the user's injured or dead self fading away as an illusion while their non-injured self immediately materializes. This powerful technique was one of the Uchiha clan's most closely guarded secrets, alongside the Izanami. Using Izanagi came at a high cost of one awakened Sharingan eye, which would lose its light forever, leaving the user permanently blind in that eye while casting the dojutsu. This held true for the other technique, the Izanami, as well. Izanami is something akin to catching one in an infinite time-loop genjutsu from which one can't escape until a special condition was met.
Nagato went over the scene that he just saw over and over inside of his head but he still couldn't comprehend it fully. Just how could someone come back to life like that after being objectively killed? However, he was still high on alert for any other possible unexpected move coming from this man, 'He's trying to hide it, but I can sense pretty well now. He's nearly out of chakra now just like me!', Nagato suddenly thought about the only fortunate thing about the outcome of their previous clash right now. As an Uzumaki and Senju hybrid now, that information couldn't escape his sensing.
He was previously employing only his Deva Path's abilities and some Wood Release as all the other Rinnegan Paths were nearly useless against this kind of nearly invincible space-time dojutsu user. Only his gravity could interfere with his spatial attacks in any meaningful way and allow him to fight on equal footing against him. That's why he lost so much chakra in such a short amount of time. Meanwhile, he theorized that Madara also must've burned his chakra like crazy to turn intangible for so long by probably going over to some other dimension. That kind of connection between different dimensions must've consumed a monstrous amount of chakra to keep for so long as well.
The only thing that truly caught him off guard in that clash was that unexplained occurrence at the end about his enemy coming back to life after being killed. He still didn't have an explanation for it. He was also sure that the opponent couldn't be caught again by his Chibaku Tensei since he already had a half portal activated on himself. His body appeared levitating in some kind of half-real state. In Nagato's estimates, he would teleport right away as soon as his Chibaku Tensei manifests again, 'It seems that he improved right in this battle as well... Madara Uchiha...', He furrowed his brow a bit.
"Nagato... You should still live and remain my puppet for a little bit longer... I give you back the full control over the Akatsuki for now. If we go against one another and break off completely, then none of us would ever be able to collect all the nine Tailed Beasts for our goals. Hence, it's better for us to break and have another fateful battle right after we collected them all in the future. ", Obito's hoarse voice suddenly rang into Nagato's and Konans ears before he completely vanished from their sight. However, as he was leaving those words behind, before dissipating, behind his mask was a wave of endless anger and coldness directed at both Neji and Nagato himself. He would start plotting their eventual deaths, alongside Black Zetsu, right after going back to one of his hideouts subsequently.
And as soon as he left, Konan let out a small sigh of relief while looking at Nagato warmly too while asking, "What do you think of his final words Nagato?", Nagato himself just gazed at the empty space from which he vanished while replying to Konan in his usual stoic voice, "It's alright. After all, it's always best to keep your enemies close. He'll plot against us, however, we will against him as well. Moreover, I agree with him. With his spatial ability, it is impossible for me to gather all the nine Tailed Beats nowadays. However, he is in a worse position than me. I have loyalty over nearly all of the Akatsuki members besides Zetsu and probably Kisame. I can lay a better ambush against him if we plan it right. Moreover, we could even invite Neji Hyuga...", Nagato immediately started plotting.
"Yeah, and we have those six hundred billion paper bombs as well. But, it's a pity we didn't manage to use it against him this time...", Konan suddenly added while remembering her own collection of explosives prepared for that exact person for many years. It was so powerful, in her opinion, that it could even deal with the so-called Six Paths level powerhouse. It's just that it wasn't movable power.
"Don't worry, I could now probably move it around with my gravity. So it could certainly be included in our preparation as well.", Nagato responded as though he understood her current contemplation before continuing, "In any case, go and soothe those citizens down there first. They must be terribly rattled by now. Additionally, this tower of ours has to be reconstructed too. Let's begin making some preparations immediately. I've just come up with a new gravitational technique, so I'm going to attempt to develop rights away. I'm leaving the rest to you.", Nagato just realized a moment ago something regarding the culmination of their preceding battle against that man, a new approach that he could've taken there to make him turn intangible again even after strangely escaping death.
He realized that his Chibaku Tensei didn't need to be so potent and concentrated on just one place. In fact, it could be probably broken into a few smaller and less potent dark orbs thrown in multiple directions, encircling his enemy like a cage, making their bodies break apart from all the different pulling gravitational forces coming at them at the same time. It would be quite a gruesome death. Had he had them placed on top of his gravitational sword as well during that moment in time when Madara revived himself, he could've made him turn intangible and trapped once again for certain.
Konan suddenly Nagato's strong motivation to train and improve even right after finishing a fight of such a scale so she smiled joyfully all of a sudden unexpectedly. Her usually cold face now melted for some reason and her soul was full of happiness. Nagato looked at such an expression and found himself taken aback a little. He was now flying with his gravitational repulsion force while Konan had her paper wings on during their whole fight until now. He realized that she also hadn't smiled like that in decades. His heart was also touched a little and he felt incredibly happy for her as well.
"Thank you for everything Konan... Everything you did in the past, and still do, it all means a lot to me...", Nagato suddenly murmured emotionally for some reason now. However, he was also a bit ashamed inwardly at the way he used to neglect her in the past due to his gloomy and depressed state. However, he finally felt that he could clearly see everything about life once again today, 'Neji Hyuga... I will repay you in the future, for sure...', It seemed that Nagato and Konan's hearts were finally connected for the first time today after she solved her childbirth heartache and he regained his health and overall confidence in his strength and life goal. They suddenly looked at each other without speaking any more, but they understood each other perfectly well at this time due to all the years they spent together. Konan's eyes were a bit teary as she looked at Nagato's newfound kind of gaze toward her and after she heard his previous words of gratitude and small affection toward her.