Konan fell silent after hearing Jie's words.
If she had a choice, she did not want to leave the Land of Rain. She had spent too much effort protecting that place, but right now, she had no room to negotiate.
If she refused, she would die here. Nagato would die here too. The Land of Rain would fall back into war, and everything they had built would disappear.
But if she obeyed Jie, even if she was confined in Konoha for twenty years, at least she could stay with Nagato until the end.
And as long as they were alive, the Land of Rain still had hope.
After a short silence, Konan made her decision.
"I'll go back to Konoha with you, but please save Nagato."
"Please."
Konan bowed deeply to Jie, her voice sincere.
Jie gave a noncommittal nod. Saving one person was saving. Saving two was still saving. Besides, Nagato's life should not end here.
Nagato looked half-dead right now, but his strength was still firmly at the Super Kage level. In the current ninja world, other than Jie himself, Nagato was probably the strongest.
Most of Nagato's power came from the Rinnegan, but even without it, the Uzumaki clan's massive chakra reserves were enough to put him at ordinary Kage level.
Of course, what Jie valued most was not Nagato's strength, but the Outer Path: Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique.
As long as Nagato was alive, and as long as the Rinnegan was in Jie's hands, Nagato was an excellent sacrifice. When the time came to trade one life for another, Nagato would repay him with his own life.
Obito watched Jie settle both Konan and Nagato with just a few words, completely ignoring him. His expression darkened even more.
Konan's life or death did not matter to him, but he had to recover Nagato's Rinnegan. If the Rinnegan fell into Jie's hands, then his Eye of the Moon Plan would be finished.
Thinking of that, Obito gritted his teeth and shouted, "Black Zetsu, go!"
"I'll hold Jie Uchiha back!"
Black Zetsu did not hesitate. Carrying the Rinnegan on Nagato's right arm, he immediately tried to sink into the ground.
Obito did not dare delay either. He activated Kamui at once, placing the spatial vortex between Jie and Nagato to buy Black Zetsu time.
Obito knew trying to suck Jie into the Kamui dimension would not work. Before the vortex could even form, Jie would sense the spatial fluctuation and strike first. If that happened, neither he nor Black Zetsu would get away.
So Obito could only use Kamui to block Jie's path and let Black Zetsu escape first. As for how he would get away afterward, Obito had already thought of a plan.
His guess was right.
The spatial vortex delayed Jie for half a beat. In that single instant, Black Zetsu took the Rinnegan and sank into the ground, vanishing without a trace.
The Thousand-Pupil Byakugan had a three-hundred-sixty-degree field of vision and an extremely long range, but layers of earth blocked the view.
On top of that, Black Zetsu was only a mass of will without a true body. The moment he slipped underground, Jie lost track of him.
He had actually let that thousand-year-old schemer escape.
Jie was annoyed. Obito had caught him off guard, yes, but Jie also knew he had been careless.
If he had stayed fully focused, even with Kamui blocking him, Black Zetsu would not have escaped from his hands.
After gaining overwhelming strength, Jie had started handling many things too casually. With absolute power, everything had gone smoothly for him so far, and nothing had truly gone wrong. But that smooth sailing had planted a trace of carelessness in him.
And because of that one moment of carelessness, he had failed to react in time.
'The ninja world is still dangerous. My strength hasn't reached its peak yet. I can't get reckless.'
Jie silently engraved that lesson in his heart, then turned his gaze to Obito. Since Black Zetsu had escaped, Obito could stay behind instead.
Obito felt Jie's angry gaze land on him, and his heart sank. The joy he felt from Black Zetsu's escape vanished instantly. Black Zetsu had gotten away, but Obito's real test was still here.
He did not dare relax for even a second. He immediately entered his intangible state, then formed hand signs with his remaining hand.
"Wood Release: Cutting Technique!"
Roots burst out from underground one after another and shot toward Jie.
"Wood Release?"
Konan helped Nagato up from the ground. When she saw Obito's move, shock flashed through her eyes.
"Tobi was hiding this much? He can even use Wood Release? That's the Wood Release once used by the God of Shinobi. Can Jie Uchiha really beat him?"
Nagato forced out a faint smile and said gently, "Jie Uchiha already said it. Tobi isn't Uchiha Madara."
"If you want to worry about something, worry about how you'll live after returning to Konoha."
Konan's heart tightened when she heard that. "Nagato, you're coming to Konoha with me. Don't do anything stupid," she quickly replied.
"I've already lost Yahiko. I can't lose you too."
Her voice trembled slightly as she spoke.
Nagato did not answer. He only looked at Konan gently with his remaining Rinnegan, as if remembering those peaceful days from the past.
On the other side, Jie Uchiha looked at Obito's Cutting Technique with open disdain.
"Wood Release really is wasted in your hands."
Obito's current body had fused with a large number of Hashirama Senju's cells, so his Wood Release was much stronger than Yamato's style. But in front of Jie, it still was not enough.
After all, Jie's Wood Release came from the system reward. It was the most complete version of Wood Release.
On top of that, he had an advanced Sage Body and was only one step away from a perfect Sage Body. With that foundation, his Wood Release was already approaching Hashirama Senju's level.
Since Obito wanted to use Wood Release against him, Jie would simply show him what real Wood Release looked like...
"Wood Release: Wood Human Technique!"
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