Black Zetsu truly couldn't understand it—couldn't understand it at all!
Over the years, he had seen plenty of so-called prodigies among the Uchiha clan. But even those "geniuses," in his eyes, had only just barely reached the threshold of Uchiha Keizumi!
He simply couldn't figure out how an utterly ordinary Uchiha had grown to this level.
"Figure anything out?"
Obito, as usual, chose the worst possible moment to ask. What was Black Zetsu supposed to say? That he suspected Uchiha Keizumi was actually Uchiha Madara, and that this fake Madara standing right here could just pack it up and disappear?
"Nothing's confirmed…"
Black Zetsu shook his head, forcing those messy thoughts out of his mind.
"How about we take this chance to kill that Uchiha Keizumi?"
White Zetsu, putting his "great intellect" to work, proposed what he believed was a perfect plan.
"Pain and that Uchiha Keizumi are definitely going to fight. When that happens, Obito, you sneak attack him—there's no way he survives that. Wouldn't that solve everything?"
"What if the sneak attack doesn't kill him?"
Obito had something to say about that. Him going after Uchiha Keizumi? Seriously?
He was more worried that he'd get ambushed by Keizumi before he could even make a move.
"Isn't Obito really strong?"
White Zetsu spoke with a completely innocent expression. Seeing that face, Obito couldn't even tell whether the guy was being sarcastic or genuinely thought he was that powerful.
"Let's just watch for now."
Black Zetsu was actually inclined to let Obito take the risk. Not because he himself had been burned to agony by the Flames of Judgment—no, it was simply that if there was a chance to eliminate Uchiha Keizumi from the shinobi world, it would be a good thing.
And just as they were talking, Pain finally made his move.
While he did want to kill off the other Akatsuki members in exchange for recruiting Uchiha Keizumi, that was just a thought—he couldn't actually go through with it.
What if Keizumi really was, as Senju Tobirama described, a "naturally evil Uchiha brat"?
If he wiped out the rest of the Akatsuki and Keizumi turned around and denied everything, Nagato would be taking a massive loss.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
As Pain formed hand seals, figures burst out of smoke one after another, appearing beside him.
These were the other five Paths of the Six Paths of Pain—besides the Deva Path: the Animal Path, the Preta Path, the Naraka Path, the Asura Path, and the Human Path!
For anyone unfamiliar with the Six Paths but aware of the Rinnegan, just seeing that all of them possessed the same Rinnegan as the Deva Path would be enough to make them lose their nerve.
But the Susanoo controlled by Uchiha Keizumi simply strode forward.
With every step of that colossal Susanoo, the ground trembled violently. Yet what drew even more attention was the land it passed over.
At some point, towering ancient trees had begun to erupt from the ground wherever the massive Susanoo walked.
These trees grew wildly, and in mere moments, they formed a massive green dragon. Raising its head high, it surged directly toward Hidan, Kakuzu, and Sasori!
"Hey, hey, hey?"
"I already said earlier—I shouldn't have offended him, right?"
"Why does it feel like that guy is absolutely set on killing us?"
Hidan complained as he retreated alongside Kakuzu and the others. He genuinely couldn't understand why Uchiha Keizumi, while preparing to fight the Akatsuki leader, also seemed intent on casually wiping them out on the side.
"Shut up!"
"If you're reduced to minced meat, I don't believe your Jashin will be able to bring you back!"
Kakuzu's expression turned extremely serious. He had seen this technique before.
Back when he faced Senju Hashirama, Hashirama had clapped his hands together and created a Wood Dragon just like this.
Although Hashirama had stood atop his Wood Dragon the entire time, the one created by Uchiha Keizumi gave Kakuzu a feeling that was no weaker than Hashirama's!
"Why does an Uchiha brat have Hashirama's Wood Release?!"
"And this Wood Release…"
Though confused, Kakuzu's hands moved swiftly through seals. As the small fireball he spat out hit the ground, the area traversed by the Wood Dragon was quickly engulfed in flames.
Fire should have been the natural enemy of wood.
But that Wood Dragon seemed completely unaffected, crushing through the sea of flames as it continued charging toward Kakuzu and the others.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Explosions erupted continuously across the Wood Dragon's body. Only then did Kakuzu and the others realize that Konan had somehow appeared atop the dragon.
With countless explosive tags detonating, Konan herself dispersed into sheets of paper and withdrew.
As for the once-dominant Wood Dragon, it now looked as if its vital point had been seized, struggling violently!
"Summoning Technique!"
On the other side, with all Six Paths assembled, Pain no longer held back.
As the Animal Path formed hand seals, clouds of smoke burst open across the battlefield. When the smoke cleared, a three-headed dog, a grotesque giant bird, and a chameleon appeared.
These summoned beasts were already enormous by normal human standards.
Yet before Uchiha Keizumi's Susanoo, they didn't even reach its knees.
"Just this…?"
With a single sweep of the katana in Susanoo's hand, the three summoned beasts were sliced clean in half before they could even launch an attack.
Naturally, beasts chosen and contracted by Nagato weren't weak.
But Uchiha Keizumi was simply too strong.
Moreover, the battlefield was not far from the sea.
And with his Water Contract, he could convert twenty percent of surrounding moisture into chakra.
This meant that Uchiha Keizumi could even control his Susanoo to perform ninjutsu!
With no shortage of chakra, his Susanoo truly possessed the power to annihilate a nation in a short period of time.
Rumble—!
At the very moment the Animal Path's summons were cut down, the Naraka Path began to act.
A massive King of Hell statue rose behind it. Aside from the three-headed dog, the severed giant bird and chameleon were dragged into the statue's mouth.
Accompanied by a bone-grinding chewing sound, the two beasts were being restored—revived!
At the same time, the Deva Path of Pain didn't remain idle.
An invisible repulsive force spread from his body.
In that instant, the massive Susanoo seemed to be blocked by some unseen power, unable to move even an inch!
"This is the chance!"
From farther away, White Zetsu shouted excitedly!