Under the sky, on top of the pillar.
Nagato looked down at Orochimaru quickly approaching him, his face blank.
Being stuck on the bed for so long had made him lose the ability to make basic expressions; his face muscles were paralyzed.
But his Rinnegan eyes now shone with a strange purple light, the eye power strong and about to burst out.
He was now pushed into a corner, about to give his enemy a fatal blow, both angry and excited, his pupils shrunk to pinholes.
But what annoyed Nagato was that even now, Orochimaru's expression was still the same as always.
He was still smiling?
"Chibaku Tensei!"
Nagato clasped his hands together, using all his strength to perform the Rinnegan's ultimate sealing technique, determined to seal Orochimaru into a stone sphere and see if he could still keep up that hateful attitude.
As the Yin and Yang Chakra merged, a black singularity flew from Nagato's palm into the sky, instantly bursting out with extremely strong suction.
Orochimaru jumped toward Nagato's body and was immediately pulled over, without any resistance.
The towering pillar instantly broke into pieces of rock, mixed with soil torn from the earth, burying Orochimaru's huge body.
"This time, I won't give you a chance to do anything."
Nagato poured eye power into the black singularity, his Rinnegan staring at Orochimaru, constantly watching his movements.
But Orochimaru seemed to be at the end of his rope, with no ability to struggle, only able to let the soil bury him.
Outside the cave, Obito looked up at this scene, feeling very happy inside.
But at this moment, Orochimaru, like a clay figure, constantly faded in color, turning into a mud statue in the blink of an eye.
"Earth clone?"
Nagato froze in place, his face twitching uncontrollably.
Chibaku Tensei lost its user's control, and the speed of expansion slowed slightly, but the remaining power had not disappeared, and it was still operating according to the established pattern.
However, success or failure was meaningless, because it did not seal Orochimaru's real body.
"Orochimaru..." Nagato repeated these three words, his rising emotions quickly cooled, and a bitter smile appeared on his face.
As expected of the most survival-minded ninja among the Konoha Sannin, he was not so easy to kill.
On the ground, Obito also noticed this change, his eyes slightly narrowed, his mind working quickly, and he suddenly realized.
In terms of fighting power, without the Ryuchi Cave's summoned beasts to help, Orochimaru was no match for Nagato. And being in Takigakure Village, fighting on enemy territory, there would be no Konoha ninjas coming to help.
Given the situation, the only choice was to escape.
But how to escape with the best chance was also something to think about.
First, he pointed out the location of Nagato's real body. Taking advantage of the flaw in Nagato's mind, he sneaked into the depths of the ground, and then broke through many layers, approaching with an unstoppable momentum.
Nagato would of course panic. Even Obito himself had to admit that he had a deep fear of Orochimaru, and would naturally worry about what other tricks Orochimaru had to carry out a head-cutting action.
He never expected that this series of actions was a disguise.
With the earth as cover, there were too many small actions that could be done.
Obito suddenly thought of the Fourth Hokage. These seasoned ninjas of the previous generation were indeed not easy to deal with.
While thinking, Nagato had slowly descended from the sky, and looking only at his face, he had returned to calm.
"Do you want to continue chasing Orochimaru? With White Zetsu's help, there might still be a chance to find him."
Obito said this, but he didn't have any hope in his heart. Not to mention how long it would take to bring back the White Zetsu distributed in the ninja world, how easy would it be to find someone dozens of meters underground within a hundred miles?
What's more, this guy wasn't standing still.
Nagato waved his hand, "No need, I don't have the ability to fight him again now."
After a series of actions, he had exhausted a lot of power, especially the final 'Chibaku Tensei', which had cost almost the total amount of eye power he had used before.
In this situation, Nagato was unwilling to fight Orochimaru again. He now understood a little that he couldn't handle a losing battle for now.
Obito didn't expect Nagato to give up so decisively, and was slightly stunned, "You don't have to be discouraged. Orochimaru is, after all, one of the strongest ninjas in the ninja world. Being able to do this is only natural..."
"Who said I'm discouraged?"
Nagato looked at Obito and said slowly, "I know Orochimaru is very difficult to deal with, but even so, this time he could only run away in defeat in front of me."
"Next time... I won't give Orochimaru a chance again."
After developing the Rinnegan's abilities, the battles that Nagato had experienced could only be described as crushing victories. Even Hanzo, known as the 'Ninja Demigod', was only an opponent to be defeated in one move.
He hadn't... grown in a long time.
And Orochimaru was undoubtedly a ninja who could be called an opponent.
He was tough and durable, a ninja beyond the norm, not someone who could be easily defeated by simply throwing a few ninjutsu.
Nagato had deeply realized this reality.
"...Then I congratulate you in advance on your next success."
Obito looked at Nagato's back as he flew towards the cave, his eyes flashing with red light.
Contrary to what he thought, this failure did not dampen Nagato's confidence, but instead allowed him to grow.
Tsk, it seemed that he had been underestimating Nagato all along.
He had thought that he was just a child who got lucky and obtained the Rinnegan. If he experienced a few more failures... that would be difficult to deal with.
Obito's expression changed for a while, and he said, "Zetsu, mobilize the White Zetsu and start searching for Orochimaru's trail."
"Yes!" The two leaves of the flytrap closed, and Zetsu sank into the ground, sending messages in all directions through the remaining Divine Tree network.
Nagato's figure paused slightly, stopping in mid-air.
Obito looked at Nagato's back and said slowly, "You gave up, but I will try. After such a long battle, Orochimaru's condition is definitely not good."
Whether it was to eliminate Orochimaru, a powerful enemy, or to erase the catalyst that could stimulate Nagato's growth, a little time and energy spent were worth it.
"Hmph, you won't be able to get rid of him." Nagato flew forward without turning his head, only saying disdainfully, "You'll only be wasting your efforts."
Saying that, he disappeared into the cave.
"...Tsk, his arrogant nature still hasn't changed." Obito retracted his gaze and turned to the earth in front of him.
"Wasting my efforts, huh..."
...
Thousands of meters deep underground, Orochimaru was not in a hurry to escape, but took advantage of the disguise above to dive even deeper.
Obito's guess was correct. He was in very bad shape now. His body, which had been dozens of meters tall, was now just an empty shell.
Although he had swallowed a large amount of the Saint Tree remains, barely filling a part of it, it had been almost completely consumed after this great battle.
He was now extremely hungry and urgently needed to replenish nutrients.
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