"My, my. That is quite a spine-chilling thing to say, Sasuke-kun…"
Orochimaru leisurely reconnected his body. Then, with that long, eerily demonic tongue extended, he looked at Sasuke Uchiha, who had suddenly attacked this place without warning, with great interest.
"In your world, was I killed by you once?"
"If you do not move aside, this will be the second time!"
Although the Rinne Sharingan in his left eye had been injured by Momoshiki Otsutsuki's sneak attack, leaving him unable to use the unique dojutsu residing within it, Amenotejikara, Sasuke Uchiha was still an existence capable of directly confronting powerful beings like Kaguya Otsutsuki, Momoshiki Otsutsuki, and Isshiki Otsutsuki.
Even though Orochimaru's current body was already infinitely close to that of a pure-blooded Otsutsuki, if Sasuke Uchiha truly developed killing intent, he still had the ability to kill him head-on in a short period of time.
"That truly is regrettable."
Orochimaru shrugged, then spoke to Nagato behind him without turning his head.
"It seems I have no way to stop Sasuke-kun's actions… What about you? Can you do it, Nagato-kun?"
"Probably not."
Nagato spread his hands. While continuing to maintain his suppression over the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, which had already broken free of its most primitive form and begun evolving toward the Ten-Tails' mature body, he answered.
"But between us, there does not seem to be any reason we must fight, does there, Sasuke Uchiha?"
"You are already trying to revive the Ten-Tails, and you still say there is no reason to fight?"
The Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan in Sasuke Uchiha's right eye spun rapidly.
While analyzing every factor on the field that might interfere with his attempt to break through and rescue Naruto Uzumaki, he continued questioning them in an icy voice.
"Itachi told me that he learned many things from the Fourth Mizukage about the shinobi world's past history. Whether it was Kaguya Otsutsuki, the true progenitor of chakra, the Sage of Six Paths who founded Ninshu, or even an obscure figure like Hamura Otsutsuki, who went to the moon, the Fourth Mizukage told him all of it without reservation and made him sincerely believe that the Fourth Mizukage was someone devoted to completely transforming everything."
"But now? Simply because Naruto and I arrived and made you feel a certain degree of pressure, he cannot wait to use the so-called Daybreak Conference as cover to revive the Ten-Tails!? As the person who told Itachi about the Ten-Tails, how could he possibly not know what reviving the Ten-Tails means!?"
"Mm. I understand. For a ninja like you, who has already entered the Six Paths level, the commotion just now when the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path absorbed the chakra of the Nine Tailed Beasts did indeed look a little like it was going to fully revive the Ten-Tails and produce the chakra fruit again…"
Nagato touched the red hair hanging down by his temple. Then, with a helpless expression, he pointed at several Jinchuriki whom he had pushed to positions where they would not be affected using Shinra Tensei, as well as the Nine-Tails, who was currently glaring with hostility at the Mangekyo Sharingan in Sasuke Uchiha's eye.
"But if we really were reviving the Ten-Tails, then why would the Nine-Tails, Four-Tails, Three-Tails, and Six-Tails still be watching from the side?"
"Who knows what tricks you are playing!"
Sasuke Uchiha looked at Naruto Uzumaki, whose brows were tightly furrowed and whose body occasionally trembled because of the black rods piercing into his back. His expression immediately became even colder.
"Sigh… People of the Uchiha clan really are prone to stubbornly fixating on what they have already decided."
Nagato shook his head helplessly.
"What must I do to make you temporarily drop your hostile attitude, Sasuke Uchiha?"
"Cut off the black rods between the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path and Naruto. Then return him to me."
Sasuke Uchiha spun his blade once, his gaze fixed firmly on Rei Kaguya, who was sitting together with Naruto Uzumaki, both eyes closed.
"That is probably not possible."
Nagato shook his head. Sage chakra began overflowing from his body. His Rinnegan also began releasing an unsettling ocular power.
"Naruto Uzumaki is currently trying to revive the Nine-Tails. If we casually sever the connection between the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path and him, I cannot guarantee what will happen… And if something happens to the Tailed Beast inside a Jinchuriki, it would be a fatal crisis for the Jinchuriki as well. There is no reason you would not understand that."
"To revive the Nine-Tails, he has to offer himself to the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path as a sacrifice?"
Sasuke Uchiha's brows tightened. His body tensed, and he had already completed every preparation to attack.
"The Tailed Beasts are aggregates of chakra, while the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path is the husk of the Ten-Tails, which was used to contain all chakra. If you do not rely on the Demonic Statue's power, what other method do you have to make an aggregate of chakra 'revive'?"
Nagato's brows also drew tight. The Hashirama cells transplanted into his body to strengthen his ocular power and chakra became active at this moment.
"Then there is nothing more to say."
The moment those words fell, Sasuke Uchiha burst forward like a bolt of lightning tearing through the sky.
Swinging the Kusanagi Sword wrapped in Chidori Current, he slashed toward the black rod between Naruto Uzumaki and the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.
After letting out a helpless sigh, Nagato likewise flashed forward and met Sasuke Uchiha with overwhelming force.
"Shinra Tensei."
Although it was only one of the Rinnegan's basic abilities, with Nagato's current immense chakra reinforcing it, it erupted with power that even Sasuke Uchiha, in his poor condition, had to take seriously.
The blade wrapped in lightning collided with the invisible force field, bursting with hair-raising arcs of thunder.
After his initial assault was obstructed, Sasuke Uchiha immediately used his Mangekyo dojutsu without hesitation.
"Amaterasu!"
"Bansho Ten'in."
Black flames rose in accordance with Sasuke Uchiha's gaze.
But Nagato, who had entered Sage Mode and had a far sharper premonition of danger, seemed to have predicted his action. He used Bansho Ten'in in advance to tear metal and stone from the surroundings, placing them in front of him to block Sasuke's line of sight and stop Amaterasu from striking directly.
"Useless!"
While splitting his focus in two directions, the repulsive force of Shinra Tensei weakened as well.
Sasuke Uchiha's figure closed in again. At the same time, Kagutsuchi activated. The black flames burning the metal and stone Nagato had used as shields abruptly changed shape and attacked Nagato's main body directly.
"Summoning Technique."
The enormous summoned beast called forth by the Animal Path once again blocked the black flame attack reshaped by Kagutsuchi for Nagato.
As for Nagato himself, he wielded a black rod created from Yin-Yang Release and met Sasuke Uchiha, parrying the Kusanagi Sword that the other party had swung toward the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.
"I told you, if you just wait a little while, everything will be fine…"
Nagato looked at Sasuke Uchiha's Sharingan, his calm expression carrying a hint of speechlessness.
"You are already in your thirties. Why are you still as impulsive as a fifteen- or sixteen-year-old brat… Or is this the kind of personality that will never change until death among your Uchiha clan?"
"All I know is that you are hurting Naruto. And I will absolutely not allow anyone to do that in front of me!"
Sasuke Uchiha withdrew part of the energy he had been using to guard against Rei Kaguya and prepared to summon Susanoo to quickly suppress Nagato, whose fighting spirit was not very high.
But just as the enormous blue chakra entity began condensing around him, a voice carrying a trace of teasing and mockery reached his ears at exactly the right moment.
"Oh? So this is how you Konoha people understand a relationship between friends, Sasuke Uchiha?"