Let's rewind time a little.
When the Edo Tensei ninja with the Rinnegan first appeared, Masked Obito already knew about it through White Zetsu.
He was completely confused and had no idea what was going on.
The Rinnegan dug out from Nagato's corpse—one had been implanted into him, and the other was secretly kept by Black Zetsu.
Logically, there was no way the Allied Shinobi Forces could've created an Edo Tensei ninja with a Rinnegan.
Also, Orochimaru—who knew how to use Edo Tensei—was already dead. Kabuto Yakushi was on their side, so the Alliance shouldn't have anyone left who could use that forbidden jutsu.
"Madara, should we ask Kabuto about this?"
To be honest, Black Zetsu was very nervous at this point.
The plan to resurrect his mother had already reached the most crucial stage.
But this sudden and unexpected event gave him a bad feeling.
Thankfully, they still had Kabuto as an ally.
His Edo Tensei army was way more reliable in battle than the 100,000 White Zetsu troops.
"Alright, let him go check it out. See if he can figure out what's going on."
Masked Obito accepted Black Zetsu's suggestion and disappeared into the Kamui space.
Soon, he arrived at the hidden cave where Kabuto was staying.
No small talk. The moment he saw Kabuto, he went straight to the point.
"I need you to investigate why the Alliance has an Edo Tensei ninja with a Rinnegan."
"I was planning to scout them out anyway."
Kabuto had already been preparing to retrieve his Edo Tensei units.
After observing the Alliance's vanguard forces for some time, he'd more or less figured out their strength.
At night, he planned to have the masked man use White Zetsu's disguise technique to stir things up and scout again.
By tomorrow, they should be able to completely crush the Allied Shinobi Forces.
But through the vision of the reanimated ninjas, he also saw the reanimated ninjas on the Allied side.
The shocking part was that the Allied Forces' reanimated ninjas had Rinnegan.
There were actually ten of these kinds of reanimations on the Allied side.
Of course, as someone skilled in Edo Tensei, he could tell that because of the materials used, the strength of those Rinnegan-reanimated ninjas was a bit lacking.
Still, even if they were weak, they were Rinnegan-wielding reanimated ninjas.
What caught his attention the most was the person on the Allied side using Edo Tensei.
So even if the masked man didn't come to him, he would still find a way to investigate.
"Good. Now you're finally acting like a proper partner."
Masked Obito was very satisfied with Kabuto Yakushi's attitude.
Unlike before—when Kabuto came to propose an alliance—he had been respectful and polite, yes, but Obito still felt like Kabuto was looking down on him a bit.
But now this was much better.
I say something, and you go do it.
"And what about you? What are you planning to do?"
"Me?"
Obito was just about to leave when he heard Kabuto's question. At first, he didn't plan to answer.
But after thinking for a second, he decided it didn't matter.
"I'm going to recover the Six Paths ninja tools. Those can't fall into the hands of the Allied Forces."
After saying that, Obito entered the Kamui dimension and began heading toward the battlefield where the Gold and Kinkakus were.
First Division battlefield.
With the addition of Jiraiya, Tsunade, and six Rinnegan-wielding reanimated ninjas, the First Division easily defeated the reanimated Asuma, reanimated Hizashi Hyuga, and a small number of White Zetsu soldiers.
After taking a short break, all the ninjas gathered to watch as Jiraiya and Tsunade beat down the Tailed Beast Mode Kinkaku.
As they watched from the side, they kept sighing things like "So tragic," "Poor guy," and "What a pity."
"Orochimaru, haven't you finished absorbing it yet?"
Tsunade punched the Tailed Beast-transformed Kinkaku again, leaving a huge hole in his body, then turned to the Edo Tensei ninja beside her and asked irritably.
"Almost done."
As soon as he said that, the other five Edo Tensei ninjas, with Jiraiya's help, successfully absorbed all the Nine-Tails chakra from Kinkaku's body.
After that, those five Edo Tensei ninjas gathered the absorbed chakra into the Edo ninja standing next to Tsunade.
"This Edo body will return to the Allied HQ for now. You guys hurry and get the Nine-Tails chakra from Ginkaku too."
Tsunade rolled her eyes and said to Jiraiya, "Go release Ginkaku."
"No problem."
Jiraiya gave a thumbs up, then turned to go release Ginkaku.
But just then, a sudden space distortion appeared—Masked Obito suddenly popped up right beside the Six Paths tools.
"Can't let you guys succeed."
He had already seen it from the mountain—this unexpected Jiraiya and Tsunade, working with these Edo ninjas with Rinnegan, were absorbing Kinkaku's Nine-Tails chakra.
He wanted to stop them, but it was already too late.
But when it came to Ginkaku, he wasn't going to let them get away with it.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
Masked Obito formed hand signs and directly summoned the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.
He planned to use the statue to stall them while he grabbed the Six Paths tools.
After experiencing the Nine-Tails incident and getting taught a harsh lesson by the Fourth Hokage, Obito wouldn't dare underestimate his sensei's strength.
Especially with not just Jiraiya, but also the Fifth Hokage Tsunade and five Edo Tensei with Rinnegan.
"You guys go play with the statue for a bit. I'll be taking my leave."
The appearance of the Demonic Statue did catch Jiraiya and the others off guard, but they didn't panic at all.
It was just the shell of the Ten Tails—nothing that could really threaten them.
Jiraiya barely even had to do anything. Just Tsunade and Choza alone, using only their physical strength, forced the statue into a retreat.
"Trying to run? It's not that easy."
With a Body Flicker, Jiraiya instantly appeared in front of Masked Obito.
"Oh?"
Masked Obito gave a slight smile and ignored Jiraiya.
As space began to distort around him, it looked like he was about to teleport away with the Six Paths tools.
But just in that critical instant—something unexpected happened.
The distorted space suddenly twisted even faster.
Shocked, Masked Obito had no choice but to cancel his attempt to enter Kamui's dimension and leapt back to avoid it.
But he was just a bit too slow—his right arm was cut off by the warped space.
"Damn it, was it that bastard Kakashi?"
An attack using Kamui, which shared the same origin as his own defensive power—there was only one person he could think of: Hatake Kakashi, who had his left eye.
"Too bad. You guessed wrong."
Obito turned his head toward the voice.
And the moment he saw who it was, his face was filled with shock.
"No way... Why do you look exactly like me?"
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