"Damn weird vines."
It was precisely because of this damned thing that Obito had no choice but to sit in jail inside Chibaku Tensei.
"Luckily, even if Ryosuke knows our location and knows what we're doing, there's no way he can find us," Yakushi Kabuto said.
They were in low Earth orbit, flying around the ninja world at a speed of 7 kilometers per second, and their orbital position was changing every moment.
No matter how fast Ryosuke was, it was impossible for him to locate them just by following the directional guidance of Hermit Purple.
In Kabuto's view, the only way Ryosuke could catch them was by waiting at a fixed spot and hoping that, at some moment, the sky base would just happen to pass over Ryosuke's location.
But that probability was far too low.
What's more...
"Heave-ho."
Kabuto placed the last large container marked with the number "Nine" in front of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.
At this point, the chakra of the One-Tail through the Nine-Tails had all been gathered.
Obito also tossed aside the towel he'd used to wipe his hands, completing the final adjustments to the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.
The White Snake Sage walked over with a cigarette in its mouth, looked up at the towering statue, bared its teeth in a grin, and said, "Besides, our days of hiding and sneaking around won't last much longer."
"Yeah."
Obito narrowed his eyes as he looked at the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path before him, a flood of emotions surging through his heart.
He thought of the Nine-Tails incident he had caused in the past, of controlling Kirigakure through Yagura, of the wars he had personally ignited one after another, and couldn't help but feel proud.
"Finally made it to this step."
Obito and the White Snake Sage had made many modifications to the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path. The most critical ones were in two areas.
First, its ability to absorb tailed beasts.
Right now, it was only absorbing part of the tailed beasts' chakra. In the future, once Obito became a Ten-Tails Jinchuriki, albeit an incomplete version, he would inevitably need to absorb the tailed beasts to restore the Ten-Tails' full power.
Considering how Ryosuke was like a demon, able to show up with a single Heavenly Delivery Technique, the speed of absorbing tailed beasts had to be extremely fast.
Second, the compatibility between the Ten-Tails and Obito.
Who was the Sage of Six Paths?
A legitimate descendant of the Otsutsuki clan, possessing an incomparably powerful Sage Body.
Although Obito had transplanted parts of Hashirama cells plus White Zetsu cells, compared to a true Sage Body, there was still a significant gap.
Once he became the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki, his body and mind would have to endure tremendous impact.
And now, all preparations were complete.
Everything, absolutely everything, was for this very moment.
Obito closed his eyes. His low voice echoed within the sealed sky base.
"Then let's begin."
Rumble~
The Demonic Statue of the Outer Path slowly opened its massive mouth. From One to Nine, the nine containers, some holding sealed tailed beast chakra, others simply containing living jinchuriki, were all thrown in at once.
Like eating sugar beans, it crunched and chewed them up, crackle crackle, until finally, it swallowed everything in one gulp.
Buzz!
One eye, two eyes, three eyes…
All the tightly shut eyes of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path snapped open. Its body straightened rigidly, countless chakra chains whipping about, clattering loudly.
Its withered wooden skin peeled away. Its body expanded at a visible speed, bursting through the ceiling and exposing the vast emptiness of outer space.
Under the pressure difference, precious materials and equipment inside the room were swept away along with the vanishing oxygen.
But no one cared.
The gazes of the two men and the snake were completely drawn to the changes in the statue.
Flesh tore open on its back, and ten tails covered in bone spikes grew out. Standing on four legs, its enormous body was like a mountain.
Kabuto stared at the Ten-Tails' closed eyes and swallowed hard.
The next second, its eye suddenly snapped open.
A single blood-red eye appeared, bearing both Rinnegan and Sharingan traits.
It coldly stared at Obito before it. Ring after ring of exploding circular chakra waves completely shattered the Chibaku Tensei base.
Obito met its gaze and slowly revealed a smile.
Yes, this was the power.
Only this kind of power was qualified to cast Infinite Tsukuyomi.
Only this kind of power could defeat Ryosuke.
"Now, this power… is mine."
Obito reached out and lightly touched the Ten-Tails.
This newly born Ten-Tails, already bound by numerous restraints set by the White Snake Sage, hadn't even had time to clear its head before it felt an irresistible pulling force. Its mountain-like body flowed into Obito's palm like a breached flood.
In the end... it vanished.
A layer of pure white light appeared around Obito, gradually solidifying and wrapping around him, like an insect about to form a cocoon and emerge as a butterfly.
But it wasn't becoming a butterfly.
It was ascending to immortality.
To safely become the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki, Obito would enter a period of hibernation, using that time to fully master this power.
"When I wake up, it will be the moment the world changes hands. During this time…"
Obito nodded to Kabuto and the White Snake Sage.
"I'll leave things to you."
Kabuto and the White Snake Sage raised their thumbs at the same time, signaling that everything was covered.
Once Obito fully transformed into a smooth, round "egg," the White Snake Sage leaned over, opened its mouth, which suddenly grew enormous, and swallowed it in one bite.
After all this, Kabuto, who had long prepared a spacecraft, grabbed the White Snake Sage and hurriedly fled the scene.
They still had a backup Sky Base No. 2 and needed to escape into it before Ryosuke found them.
During the flight, Kabuto couldn't help but ask curiously, "Even if… Obito becomes the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki and the second Sage of Six Paths, can he really defeat Ryosuke?"
The White Snake Sage grinned and said, "Doesn't matter. He's just a love-brained fool, a piece of cannon fodder who charges at the very front."
"Don't forget, we also have an Edo Tensei army. As far as I'm concerned..."
It looked at Kabuto and said seriously, "You are the real trump card."
"You will become a true sage. Not some Sage of Six Paths, not some Ten-Tails Jinchuriki, but the sage this world truly needs."
The man and the snake looked at each other, nodded, and smiled.
Thump!
A slight bulge appeared in the White Snake Sage's belly, followed immediately by Obito's voice coming from inside, "I'm not asleep yet."
The White Snake Sage's smile turned awkward. It closed its mouth and stopped talking.
———
Ryosuke, Kakashi, Naruto, Hidan, and everyone in the laboratory silently watched the entire process.
Quite a few people even took photos as souvenirs.
"When the White Snake Sage hatches Obito, he'll be a Ten-Tails Jinchuriki, right?"
Naruto rubbed his fists, brimming with excitement. This boy who had just mastered the full power of the Nine-Tails really wanted to clash with the legendary Ten-Tails.
As for the Nine-Tails…
It didn't care anymore.
They'd already fought Otsutsuki.
One more Ten-Tails Jinchuriki didn't matter.
Besides...
The Nine-Tails glanced at Ryosuke.
'With this guy around, what was there to worry about?'
Not every Ten-Tails Jinchuriki was the old Sage of Six Paths.
The Sage of Six Paths' strength wasn't just because of the Ten-Tails, but also because of the bloodline he inherited from Kaguya, his training at Mount Myoboku, and his own mastery of ninjutsu.
What's more, Obito had only absorbed a small portion of the tailed beasts.
The Nine-Tails roughly estimated it, maybe just around Toneri's level. Even if he was strong, he wouldn't be that strong.
'Hmph. Not worth a laugh.'
The Nine-Tails didn't notice that its mindset had gradually shifted from initial arrogance to outright "fox borrowing human authority."
Thinking about it, that made sense.
What kind of miserable days had the Nine-Tails lived in the past?
Either sealed away and despised, or controlled by evil Uchiha, only to get beaten up the moment it appeared.
And now?
As long as the Nine-Tails rubbed its hands together, sidled up to Ryosuke, pointed at the enemy, and shouted, "Brother Ryosuke, it's this bastard!"
That was enough.
Who wouldn't like this kind of immortal life?
Ryosuke had no idea about the Nine-Tails' mental journey. He finished his chanting and writing, then turned to look at Hidan, whose expression was heavy.
"You're very worried about them?"
Hidan nodded slightly. "Of course. The folks of the Evil God White Snake are my brothers, my closest kin, my beloved family."
"One wants to become a Ten-Tails Jinchuriki, one wants to become an immortal."
"I don't have many grand wishes. First, I hope you, Ryosuke, die early. Second, I hope my brothers die early too."
"But none of you die. How could I not be worried?"
After hearing this, Ryosuke fell silent for quite a while before finally sorting out Hidan's logic. He promised, "Don't worry. I'll kill them."
"What about you? Ryosuke, will you die?"
Ryosuke thought for a moment and said, "For now, yes. But…"
He took out the Ascension Star Core.
Brilliant, star-like glazed light spilled from Ryosuke's palm.
"Very soon, I won't."
Golden ripple flames surged from Ryosuke's hand, and at the same time, a system notification sounded in his ears.
[Ripple has been upgraded to the maximum level. Consume Ascension Star Core to activate the Kars Trial mission?]