Speedrunning Naruto to the Top

"Leader, what do we do now?"

Seeing the Golem reappear in full fighting shape, barreling toward them, Tobi hurriedly asked, "Do we give up on hunting him, or do we use those trump cards?"

Nagato furrowed his brow, thinking it over. Izayoi's strength had far exceeded expectations. He'd thought this operation would be easy—capture Izayoi, boost Nagato's and the White Zetsu army's power. Never had he imagined there would be someone like Izayoi hidden in the ninja world, besides the moon-dweller Ōtsutsuki Toneri. So young, yet already wielding ultra-high-tier strength—a total monster.

They had battled day and night; Nagato was close to winning. Suddenly, Izayoi—who also knew the Flying Thunder God—chose not to flee but had in fact pre-planned a Wood Clone to siphon the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki's chakra for just this moment. This was cunning—on par with Toneri, who could spy on them from afar.

Moreover, unlike Toneri's Tenseigan—which was similar in power to his Rinnegan—Izayoi's Mokuton at this level could counter many of Nagato's Six Paths abilities. If Nagato weren't merged with Tobi, Izayoi would be an even bigger threat than Toneri.

So, Nagato made his call. "We'll use our trump cards, Tobi. Let's team up and finish him off!"

"Sounds good… Let's do it, Leader!"

Tobi's voice was suddenly brimming with confidence. Then he detached himself from Nagato. Immediately Nagato vanished from the top of the Hundred-Armed Buddha, reappearing on the ground below. Forming hand seals, he slammed his palms down, yelling, "Summoning Jutsu: Gedo Statue!"

…

Meanwhile, in the underground base of Amegakure, where Nagato's Wood Clones were controlling the Edo Tensei forces against the puppet army, they leaped off the Gedo Statue at once. The moment they landed, the statue vanished in a cloud of giant white smoke.

One of Nagato's Wood Clones turned to a dark corner and said, "Use our trump cards."

No reply came, but through his Rinnegan vision, Nagato saw that cluster of chakra fade away.

Izayoi's Wood Clone also perceived the same thing. Suddenly, while Shimura Danzo locked in combat with Tendo Pain—vanished without warning.

Tendo Pain warily scanned the area, searching for Danzo's chakra, but he was gone. A few seconds later, Danzo reappeared and resumed attacking Tendo Pain. Nagato had no idea what Danzo did in those seconds.

…

Rewinding a few seconds: in a fog-enshrouded mountainous area of the Land of Water, Danzo suddenly materialized. His left eye bore the scythe-shaped Mangekyō design. He cast Kamui on a disguised Wood Clone that had absorbed the Six-Tails Jinchūriki's chakra, changed its chakra signature, and took the form of Ōtsutsuki Toneri. He sent it off to Kamui Space.

At that moment, inside Kamui Space stood a handful of figures—Obito, a White Zetsu clone, two of Nagato's Wood Clones, plus two captives.

"That brat forced you to use this trump card?"

"You saw with your Wood Clones: his Mokuton is almost on par with your real body plus Tobi together, and in Sage Mode, your real body can't measure up to him," Obito said gravely. "All this time, Toneri hasn't appeared. Could he be Toneri himself after all? A Wood Clone can disguise its chakra signature too."

Nagato posed a question Obito had once asked: "When he enters Sage Mode, his pupils turn from blue to gold. The Sage Eye you know can revert to a normal state, can it?"

Obito stayed silent, dismissing that suspicion. Neither he nor Nagato realized that a self-evolved "Sage Eye" could revert to normal.

"He's a clever one—sending a clone back via Flying Thunder God to absorb the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki's chakra, just like we prepared."

Nagato's two Wood Clones each grabbed a captive by the throat—absorbing their chakra—and laughed. "But with the Gedo Statue plus Wood Golem working together, it won't matter if he knows Flying Thunder God. He's fated to lose, unless he abandons Konoha and runs off alone."

The two captives, clutched by Nagato's clones, were the Five- and Seven-Tails Jinchūriki. Earlier this year, after returning to full strength, Nagato heard from Tobi that Tailed Beast chakra could restore his own energy.

Indeed, absorbing chakra from the Eight-Tails Jinchūriki had allowed him to hold his own against Toneri. Afterward, Nagato had White Zetsu clones constantly monitoring all Jinchūriki.

Once this final war broke out, Nagato had swiftly dispatched two Wood Clones to Kamui Space with Tobi's Wood Clone to retrieve various Akatsuki members and capture the wandering Five- and Seven-Tails—now used as "portable nuclear batteries" for himself and Tobi.

As Nagato's real power and cunning soared to epic heights, Obito eyed him warily—and fearfully. It was unbelievable. Even with a restored body and mind freed from old constraints, one wouldn't expect him to be this formidable.

He seemed like an entirely different person, a grand schemer. Obito regretted ever helping him regain his strength. He failed to realize that Nagato's Human Path had absorbed so many souls, gleaning so many memories, so once his mind started operating at full capacity, he had a massive store of knowledge and strategies.

Just then, as Nagato's Wood Clones drained the Jinchūriki's chakra, he and Obito—and the White Zetsu clone nearby—went on high alert.

"That chakra is…"

Nagato glared at Obito in fury. "Uchiha Obito, you dare betray me?!"

"That's impossible. How could he get inside Kamui Space?" Obito blurted out in uncharacteristic panic. Kamui's intangibility and Izanagi were his life-saving trump cards, plus the reason he dared to bring Nagato or others into Kamui Space.

So long as his real body hid there, no one could harm him, and he could appear anywhere via Kamui. But now, a second person had broken in, and Obito was utterly terrified.

Crack crack crack…

Suddenly, several green beams shot from the darkness of Kamui Space.

"Run—don't get separated!" Obito snapped, regaining composure just enough to warp away with the nearest Nagato Wood Clone and the Seven-Tails Jinchūriki.

Meanwhile, the other Nagato clone released the Five-Tails it had been choking and fired a volley of five-finger missiles to intercept the beams.

Missiles collided with those green beams, the blasts fizzled without any real explosion—those missiles' chakra was absorbed by the green orbs.

The orbs then scattered, one of them shooting directly at Nagato. He hastily invoked Preta Path to form a transparent white dome. The beam slammed into it and was itself absorbed, feeding chakra to Nagato. Absorption of a purely "energy-type ninjutsu" was easier with the Rinnegan than the orbs' own "energy-siphon."

But while Nagato was fine, his captive, the Five-Tails Jinchūriki, was not. A beam pierced its body, instantly draining its remaining chakra before retreating as a green sphere into the shadows.

From those shadows, "Ōtsutsuki Toneri" (actually Izayoi in disguise) emerged, holding that green orb, then absorbing it. His own chakra soared.

"How is this possible?" Nagato demanded calmly.

Toneri gave a haughty smile. "It's the difference in our eyes. Nothing in your ninja world escapes the Tenseigan. You monkeys may have decent eyes, but your arrogance blinds you—you never considered retrieving the second eye. Who gave you the courage to leave such a flaw?"

"You can read lips," Nagato instantly realized. His expression darkened. Indeed, Obito had overlooked the possibility that identical Mangekyō techniques could co-exist in both eyes.

A fatal oversight, due to not fully understanding how Mangekyō Sharingan pairs work.

In that moment, Nagato and Black Zetsu, who shared White Zetsu's intel, cursed Obito in their hearts. We don't fear a godlike foe, but a troll ally that kills us. If Obito had realized earlier, they wouldn't have left such a gaping vulnerability.

Fortunately, Obito understood how dire it was. Before Toneri could act, Obito—now wearing a white mask—reappeared beside Nagato's Wood Clone and the Five-Tails, whisking them all from Kamui Space again.

Izayoi's Wood Clone didn't try to stop them. His job was just to cut off their escape route, preventing them from using time-space ninjutsu to flee for good.

But that left Izayoi's real body in trouble. In the forest, a roar thundered as immense white smoke filled the area.

"Urrgh—!!"

A deafening beast-like roar sent powerful shock waves and wind currents, blowing away the smoke. Distant observers watched a monster with the same coloration as Mokuton but shaped more human than the Arhat Golem—ten tall spires protruded from its back, and nine closed eyes adorned its face.

"What in the world is that monster?"

"Is that also Mokuton?"

"Why can't I sense a massive chakra presence there? Is it really a wood-style jutsu…?"

…

Countless ninja watchers from every nation stared aghast, relaying this development back to their leaders.

On the battlefield, the three titans paused. The Arhat Golem halted as if wary of this new foe, and Izayoi put on a grim expression. Nagato's face darkened even more.

Ever since regaining his youthful form, Nagato had shown absolute composure. With cunning intellect and extraordinary power, he even rattled Obito and forced Black Zetsu to plan anew. Even with a day and night of fighting, plus the shadow of Toneri looming, he'd stayed confident. But now, he was on the brink of rage.

At that moment, the air beside him distorted again, and Obito emerged with Nagato's other Wood Clone and the Seven-Tails Jinchūriki, landing atop the Hundred-Armed Buddha. He ignored Nagato's murderous glare, snagged Tobi onto himself, and used Kamui to vanish back into the pocket dimension.

Seconds later, he returned with the first Wood Clone and the Five-Tails. On Obito's back was a large fan with chains—a treasure of the Uchiha clan, forged from the God Tree's wood: the Uchiha Gunbai.

Despite rescuing both Wood Clones, both Tailed Beasts, and even retrieving the Gunbai from Kamui Space, Obito showed no sign of relief. He had only one more chance to return to Kamui Space.

And with Toneri lurking inside, Obito was petrified. Without Kamui's intangibility, he was stuck in a battlefield of super-tier fighters, aware that his own power was just around "Kage elite" at best—still no match for either of these "monsters."

So Obito flickered over to the unconscious Seven-Tails Jinchūriki, ordering, "Tobi, absorb her chakra."

"You're so ruthless—and so weak," Tobi retorted, absorbing the Jinchūriki's remaining chakra. "Your chakra's too puny. If I fuse with you, I might not even manage Deep Forest Emergence."

Nagato wore a look of disgust as well. "Give Tobi to my Wood Clone so it can control the Golem. Then you go support and find that person who holds your other eye."

"My other eye?" Obito echoed, thinking of Kakashi.

"That guy can read lips. He knew who you were the moment you were unmasked," Nagato said coldly. "If your Mangekyō has the same technique in both eyes, you should've retrieved that second eye long ago to remove that weakness."

Obito fell silent. In the original timeline, he was the hidden mastermind shaping the ninja world, yet here, having encountered a forewarned Izayoi, he'd been outplayed into near futility.

~~~

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