How Kurama Leads Naruto Astray

"What a mess you're in." Orochimaru looked at Obito and couldn't help but laugh.

Blood was pouring from Obito's body. The deep, ugly wound went down to the bone. If Sasuke's strike had gone even a little deeper, Obito wouldn't be lying here breathing right now.

Seeing that Obito didn't plan on replying, Orochimaru didn't care. He directly injected a strange white liquid into Obito's body, then casually tossed the syringe aside and turned toward Nagato's corpse.

Looking at Nagato's face, Orochimaru couldn't help but glance back at Obito when he saw the empty left eye socket. "Even when you're badly hurt, you still didn't forget to take the Rinnegan. You really are cautious."

He was cautious, no doubt about it.

Obito hadn't been saved this time by space-time ninjutsu—it was White Zetsu who did it.

In that critical moment, White Zetsu used his natural stealth to dive underground with Obito, using his own body to shield and drag him to safety.

If Naruto had been the one on the scene instead of Sasuke, he might have spotted White Zetsu. But unfortunately, Sasuke's sensory skills aren't that sharp unless he's focusing, so he didn't notice him. By the time Sasuke realized what had happened and tried to chase him down, White Zetsu was already gone.

Can't be helped. The Mayfly technique is pretty fast too.

Most likely, White Zetsu took one of Nagato's Rinnegan eyes on the way back, leaving only one for Obito to bring here.

But Orochimaru didn't care. He reached out and plucked Nagato's remaining eye without hesitation. Cold blood still ran down from it, but Orochimaru just stared at the eye with excitement. "What a beautiful pattern."

He couldn't stop himself from licking his lips with his tongue.

This would definitely give him some great ideas.

"Ugh…" Just as he was thinking that, Obito let out a low groan of pain.

Orochimaru instinctively put the Rinnegan away, then sneered. "You're in this kind of shape and still think you can bring the Ten-Tails back? If I hadn't helped you, you'd already be dead by Sasuke's hand."

Obito struggled to look at Orochimaru, his eyes full of coldness. "That's exactly why… I came to work with you."

"Work with me?" Orochimaru gave a cold laugh. "If that's what you want to believe."

Then he turned and started walking away, his voice echoing coldly behind him: "I don't need any Uzumaki corpses for research, so deal with Pain's corpse yourself.

I've got the Rinnegan now. Just call me when it's time for the next phase of the plan."

"I'll be busy studying this eye for a while."

Orochimaru's figure disappeared into the dark hallway.

Obito stared after him coldly. Only after Orochimaru was completely gone did he finally open his mouth and cough up a huge mouthful of blood.

Since his mask was still on, the blood splattered across it, and the strong, metallic smell filled his lungs with every breath—but it didn't matter. His lungs were already full of blood anyway.

A figure slowly rose from the ground. Black Zetsu looked at him without any emotion. "I've already taken the other Rinnegan. Your body needs to recover. I'll have White Zetsu get everything ready. Before we move on to the next step, we'll transplant the Rinnegan into you."

Obito reached up to remove his mask, barely holding himself up against the wall. He didn't care at all about the blood leaking from his chest.

Once the mask came off, his scarred and wounded face was exposed to the air. Under the flowing blood, his face was deathly pale. "What about the One-Tail?"

"I'd like to say nothing went wrong, but something did," White Zetsu said, clearly annoyed.

Obito clenched his fist, blood dripping from his mouth. "Was it Uzumaki Naruto?"

If it really was Naruto, then there was no point in continuing. They had already used up so many cards just to escape from Sasuke. If they ran into Uzumaki Naruto again—especially with that crazy ability to sense chakra that even White Zetsu couldn't avoid—there would be no way to escape.

Luckily, Black Zetsu shook his head. "It wasn't Naruto. It was border patrol ninja from the Hidden Leaf. They're not as strong as Akatsuki, but they're tougher than we expected."

Border patrol ninja are usually pretty skilled. They might not be a match for Akatsuki, but they can still stall them long enough to get Gaara out of there. The three Akatsuki members were held back and couldn't keep chasing.

Obito finally let out a breath of relief and loosened his fist. "Send the rest over. We need to capture the One-Tail as soon as possible."

"They're already on their way," said Black Zetsu. "And… we also sent two of them to hold off Uzumaki Naruto. The longer we delay him, the better it is for us."

"Good work." Obito held his chest, his eyes cold and blank.

Is Akatsuki a match for Naruto?

Obito didn't even need to ask. He already knew the answer.

There's no way those guys can beat Naruto now. His power is way beyond normal. Not even Nagato could stop him.

Those two sent to delay Naruto were probably going to die. But what did that have to do with Obito?

Nothing at all.

Right now, what mattered most was himself. Obito turned to Black Zetsu. "Take me back. I need the Rinnegan transplanted right away so I can absorb the Tailed Beasts. We can't afford any mistakes with the One-Tail."

"No problem\~" White Zetsu replied playfully with a peace sign.

Obito ignored him completely.

Just as they were about to leave, Black Zetsu suddenly looked at Nagato's body. "What about him?"

Obito stopped moving. His eyes instinctively landed on Nagato's corpse.

Technically, they could just throw it away. The body was useless now. That was the original plan anyway.

But… after thinking about all the years they spent working together, and the recent fight with Konan, Obito let out a long sigh. "He lived in this hell for so long. Now that he's dead, let him see a bit of heaven."

"Send him to Konan with one of White Zetsu's clones. Think of it as…" Obito paused. Black Zetsu looked confused before Obito slowly continued, "...think of it as my thanks to the three of them for creating the Akatsuki."

Obito liked to believe he no longer had feelings. He didn't really care about Nagato. He could've dumped the body anywhere.

But just like he said—Nagato also lived in this hell for a long time. Saying he didn't feel anything about his death would've been a lie.

They were all people who lived in the same hell. Helping each other a little wasn't a big deal. Nagato was already dead. It was just a body. Obito told himself it was a small gesture for everything they went through together. Maybe he still had a bit of a heart left.

Black Zetsu smirked. "I thought you'd want Orochimaru to use Edo Tensei on Nagato."

"He'll do it anyway even if I don't ask," Obito scoffed. "You think Orochimaru would pass up someone like Nagato? He's the perfect Edo Tensei body."

Strong, but not so strong that they could break free from control — with such a useful version of the Edo Tensei, there was no way Orochimaru would pass it up.

"True." Black Zetsu nodded in agreement.

As soon as he said that, Obito and Zetsu vanished into the dark hallway.

Only Orochimaru's cold, eerie laughter lingered in the air.

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