"What was that just now?", Tsunade asked, her face heavy with tension.
Minato and Pain exchanged a look, both of them possessed highly developed sensory perception.
Never before had anyone given them such a crushing, suffocating pressure.
Even the chakra level itself felt completely different.
Minato shook his head grimly, "I don't know. We'll have to go back and ask Rengoku."
Just as the group gathered together again, Minato's expression suddenly changed.
"Ugh! AHHH!", Pain suddenly let out a scream of agony.
His eyes throbbed with intense pain, and a Shinra Tensei burst out of him!
Konan, Kushina, and Minato, all who were nearby, were blasted away instantly.
The black-and-white Zetsu lunged straight out of the ground toward Pain.
Pain had already released his Transformation Technique, returning to his true form, Nagato.
Right now his eyes burned in agony, his chakra fluctuating wildly. Everyone else had been blown back by Shinra Tensei, no one could possibly save him... what a disaster.
Just as Zetsu was about to touch Nagato, a Nine-Tails chakra cloak flared to life around Nagato's body, and whoosh, he vanished right before Zetsu's eyes.
Zetsu froze, shocked and furious, glancing around wildly, but discovered that Minato had teleported everyone away.
The only ones left on the battlefield were the collapsed Sarutobi Hiruzen and Asuma beside him.
Zetsu glared at the two, then sank into the ground and disappeared.
———
[Konohagakure]
[Uchiha District]
[Orochimaru's Laboratory]
"Try it out," Orochimaru ordered Kabuto.
Kabuto, completely naked, sat up on the examination table as instructed. His body was covered in dark markings, and he looked like a delinquent youth with one unsettling eye.
Closing his eyes, he drew in massive amounts of natural energy that began gathering toward the markings.
A burning pain spread across his body.
Kabuto opened his eyes, "Lord Orochimaru, the natural energy absorption rate has increased by seventy percent."
Orochimaru licked his face with his long tongue, his eyes shining with excitement.
"Rengoku, your theoretical direction is entirely correct."
"If this rate of energy absorption can be maintained, it will indeed raise the body's overall potential by an entire level."
"We'll evolve from the 'Sharingan Era' straight into the 'Tattoo Era'."
Rengoku couldn't help but laugh softly from the side, those were his coined terms, and now Orochimaru was using them.
After learning from Rengoku that the Otsutsuki clan's Kama¹ functioned similarly to his own Cursed Seal state, Orochimaru had thrown himself into researching it.
If the old Cursed Seal was merely an inferior imitation of Sage Mode, using life force as fuel, then the new version he was developing turned it into a tool for drawing in ambient energy.
In Orochimaru's theory, the Kama was essentially a mode that forcefully absorbed energy from the surrounding space, enhancing the user's power in battle.
Although their current Sage Cursed Seal could only draw in natural energy, at least it no longer required sacrificing one's life.
The first threshold of Sage Arts was detecting natural energy; then came efficiency in absorbing it; and finally, converting it into Sage Chakra.
Orochimaru had studied Sage Mode before in Ryuchi Cave, but his talent had fallen short.
Still, once he learned something, he never forgot it. So he'd simply passed Snake Sage Arts down to Kabuto.
And just as Rengoku had predicted, Kabuto was naturally compatible, a true Sage Body of the Snake.
His progress could be described as lightning-fast.
Orochimaru was now using Kabuto's body for various modification experiments.
Once completed, even Anko, who lacked natural Sage potential, would be able to use it.
Rengoku chuckled, "Whether it's Sharingan or tattoos, both are just means to increase strength."
"I'll just wear both, contacts and tattoos! Hahaha!"
Rengoku's eyes still required Orochimaru's bloodline fusion experiments to generate enough Power of All Creations to evolve his Mangekyo into the Eternal Mangekyo.
But since he'd already mastered Sage Mode, he could naturally modify it further.
With Rengoku's clone in hand, Orochimaru had been experimenting relentlessly. After all, that clone was crafted from Rengoku's Mangekyo Sharingan.
Perfect material for testing Sage techniques.
Whether it was Toad Sage Mode or Snake Sage Mode, each had its own compatibility level. After all, these were never meant for humans to use.
Rengoku might have mastered the Toad Sage Mode, but that was thanks to the Star of Bonds, which had skipped the learning process entirely, granting him the end result directly.
In truth, there was still room for improvement. The Sage Mode could be refined into something perfectly compatible with the human body: a Human Sage Mode.
Just as Rengoku and Orochimaru were talking, five figures suddenly appeared behind him.
A pale, near-fainting Nagato.
A worried Konan.
A grave-looking Minato.
And frowning Tsunade and Kushina.
"What's wrong? Something happened?", Seeing their expressions, Rengoku immediately asked.
"First, a mysterious powerhouse appeared," Minato explained quickly, "and then Zetsu took control of Nagato's Rinnegan."
He swiftly recounted everything that had just happened.
Rengoku's brows furrowed deeply.
Nagato's Rinnegan had never been truly his, there were seals inside.
But he hadn't expected that Black Zetsu could actually seize control through them.
As for that other man… clearly, he was an Otsutsuki.
From the fact that he could float in midair, and based on Minato's description of his appearance, Rengoku could confirm, it was Jigen.
However, Jigen right now only had "three tricks" left; without a proper vessel, his body couldn't withstand prolonged combat.
If the fight dragged on even slightly, he'd die on the spot.
That was why he hadn't dared confront Minato's group directly.
Given Minato's current strength, even as an Edo Tensei body, with his limitless Flying Thunder God clones, he could have easily worn Jigen down to death.
But without any intel, Minato hadn't acted recklessly.
Rengoku couldn't understand what had gone wrong, what could have made Jigen specifically come to kill members of the Sarutobi clan.
"…Before that," Minato continued, "the Sarutobi clan summoned a powerful beast."
"It was sealed by Pain's Chibaku Tensei, but then it self-destructed…"
He described the creature, the Nue, in detail.
Rengoku's eyes hardened. [T/N: That's why, you don't play with your food.]
"Zetsu should have fled by now. He can control Nagato through the Rinnegan, but he's no match for you."
"Since Hiruzen carries your Flying Thunder God mark, Minato, Tsunade, go bring him back."
"I need to ask him something."
"Dead is fine too."
Seeing that Rengoku seemed to know more about the situation, Minato exhaled in relief.
He grabbed Tsunade, and in a flash of Flying Thunder God, they vanished toward Hiruzen's location.
Konan, Pain, and Kushina remained.
Meanwhile, Orochimaru was already examining Nagato's Rinnegan.
Nagato, too, was slowly regaining his strength.
Orochimaru frowned, "These Rinnegan, their vitality and pupil power are both abnormally high."
"The seals are embedded right at the core of the eyes, they can't be removed without destroying them."
"Besides…", As he spoke, Orochimaru extended both hands toward the eyes, but when his fingers neared them, the Rinnegan suddenly contracted sharply.
It was as if his hands had struck an invisible wall, they couldn't move an inch further.
Nagato turned toward Rengoku.
Rengoku shrugged, "What are you looking at me for? Best to destroy them, less of a ticking bomb."
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