I Punch the Tailed Beast Ball

”Considering the possibility that you might end up fighting Nagato, I should tell you about the Rinnegan’s abilities,” Nagasawa said to Obito, after a moment of thought.

Though having Dual Kamui is strong, very strong in fact, offering both offense and defense, the Rinnegan is an upgraded form of the Mangekyō Sharingan. Its value is unquestionable.

It was only because the Rinnegan Nagato possesses isn’t originally his that he can’t use all of its abilities, he’s limited to the basic functions.

Otherwise, Nagasawa would never have let Obito go face him. That would’ve been like sending a Charmander to fight a Charizard, a total mismatch.

The only reason Nagasawa was confident in sending Obito was because Kamui is unique and powerful, and if things went south, Obito could always escape.

”Because Nagato has limited mobility, he uses the Six Paths of Pain. Each puppet is granted a specific Rinnegan ability.”

”The Deva Path (Tendō Pain) can use three jutsu, First, Shinra Tensei, which generates a powerful repulsive force. Second, Banshō Ten’in, which creates a strong pulling force. And third, Chibaku Tensei, which releases a black sphere that draws in surrounding matter to form a massive rock satellite. It can trap targets and also be used offensively. Tendō is the core of the Six Paths.”

”If a battle breaks out, destroy Tendō first,” Nagasawa advised.

”The second is Asura Path (Shuradō), just treat it as an offensive puppet. Be cautious of the mechanical weapons embedded in its body.”

”The third is Human Path (Ningendō). Not very powerful, but it can extract souls. Be sure not to let it touch you.”

”The fourth is Animal Path (Chikushōdō)...”

”And finally, you need to watch out for the Naraka Path (Jigokudō). Destroy that one early if possible, it can revive the other Pains.”

Nagasawa laid out all the basic Rinnegan abilities, including the ones to be wary of.

”Thank you for the warning. I’ll be careful,” Obito replied seriously with a nod.

After all, this was the Rinnegan, Uchiha Madara’s Rinnegan. Obito didn’t dare take it lightly and memorized Nagasawa’s words thoroughly.

For most ninja, combat was more about intelligence gathering than sheer strength. Whoever held the better intel typically held the advantage.

Take Jiraiya’s fight against Pain, faced with unfamiliar and bizarre abilities, even someone of Jiraiya’s caliber suffered greatly.

Even in Sage Mode, Jiraiya couldn’t defeat the Six Paths.

Of course, had he focused purely on escaping, he might’ve gotten away, but for Jiraiya, some things were more important than his life.

So in the end, Jiraiya sacrificed himself to deliver the intel on Pain to Konoha.

”There’s one more thing you must be extremely cautious about,” Nagasawa added. ”Nagato, as the Outer Path, can use all Rinnegan abilities. If his legs have healed, you’re no match for him as you are now.”

Though in the original timeline Nagato remained crippled until death, things were different now. With Black Zetsu having lost Obito, Nagato might be his only remaining pawn.

It wasn’t impossible that Zetsu would’ve helped restore Nagato’s legs.

In the Shinobi World, miracles were commonplace. Forget healing legs, if Madara climbed out of his grave tomorrow, Nagasawa wouldn’t even be surprised.

If Nagato were to appear in person, Obito would be in trouble. That kind of power gap wasn’t something you could just make up for on the spot.

Obito wasn’t the Ten-Tails Jinchūriki now, he’d only just regained both eyes.

Sure, Dual Kamui Obito was strong, among Kage-level combatants, he was hard to match, but he was up against the Rinnegan.

Unless this Obito had once been the Ten-Tails host and retained fragments of Six Paths power, letting him smash Nagato with Perfect Susanoo, there was still a long way to go.

Even now, mastering Dual Kamui wasn’t instantaneous. He was still far from infusing Kamui into weapons or jutsu.

”If Nagato’s legs have really healed... then yeah, this’ll be tough,” Obito said, expression grave.

His original plan wasn’t to go toe-to-toe with the Six Paths. His goal was to find Nagato, who had to be hidden nearby.

After all, the Six Paths of Pain were merely corpse puppets. Despite their lifelike appearance, they weren’t truly alive.

Their connection to Nagato came from the black rods embedded throughout their bodies, nose piercings, ear studs, all were actually chakra receivers to help Nagato control them.

Because of the signal transmission limits, Nagato had to remain close by to puppeteer them.

Obito’s plan was to use Kamui to search for the hidden Nagato. Once found, the battle would be over. Nagato couldn’t match him in close combat, one Kamui could finish him off.

But if Nagato’s legs were back, the situation would be entirely different. Obito would probably have to Kamui out of there.

”Anyway, if you want to talk him down, be prepared to fight,” Nagasawa said.

Not everyone was like Naruto. Even Naruto had needed the right timing, emotional leverage, and pure luck to succeed in talking people down.

You couldn’t just expect everyone to be touched by words alone, just like with Obito.

Nagasawa had first overpowered him, then shown him the truth using chakra to transmit memories of the future. Only then did Obito realize how far he had strayed.

Without strength and intel, none of that would’ve worked.

Obito hadn’t feared death, he had long considered himself dead already. The only thing that kept him going was his yearning for Rin, and his disillusionment with this tragic world.

If Nagasawa had only been strong and nothing else, he would’ve ended up killing Obito, not redeeming him.

But what did Obito have that could save Nagato?

Overwhelming power? No.

Deep intelligence? No.

So Nagasawa was pessimistic about the idea of Obito converting Nagato.

Still, he hadn’t expected success, he just wanted Obito to scope out the situation in the Rain Country.

”Here, take these two Summoning Steel Talismans. In a pinch, they can be used in battle. They’re pretty strong,” Nagasawa said, pulling two talismans from his ninja pouch and handing them over.

Obito took the talismans and thanked him again.

In truth, he wasn’t familiar with Summoning Steel Talismans or their power.

But Obito had seen enough of the world to recognize that these talismans were special. Forged from alloy, they had a noticeable weight and presence.

”Unleash your Susanoo. I want to see what level you’re at,” Nagasawa said.

With that, he immediately used Flying Thunder God to teleport Obito outside of Konoha.

Though Orochimaru’s base was spacious, the true power of Obito’s Susanoo was unknown. If he accidentally destroyed the place, that would be... awkward.

Obito’s case was unique, he’d awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan early but could never use Susanoo due to only having one eye.

In the original timeline, Obito never used Susanoo. Instead, Kakashi, after inheriting Dual Kamui and a bit of Six Paths power upon Obito’s death, unleashed Perfect Susanoo for the first time, an epic cheat-mode moment.

Now standing in the forest, Obito took a deep breath. The pattern in his blood-red eyes began spinning wildly, immense ocular power flaring, and his chakra surged.

Thick blue chakra began to manifest around him, growing rapidly.

In the blink of an eye, a towering tens-of-meters-tall armored blue giant stood in the deserted woods.

”Stage three... That’s good enough,” Nagasawa nodded.

Susanoo, when broken down, had multiple stages,

First, skeletal frame, like a bony outline.

Second, flesh on the bones.

Third, armored half-body.

Fourth, full-body Susanoo.

Fifth, Perfect Susanoo, towering with wings.

Obito had reached the final step of stage three, a half-body Susanoo, complete with armor and muscle.

This was his first time using it. Before, he couldn’t activate it with only one eye.

Now, as Obito realized that he could control this gigantic form as if it were his own body, a strange sensation welled up inside him.

He raised the massive blue arm, then lowered it, and finally dispelled the Susanoo.

Originally, he had wanted to punch the ground to test its strength, but with Nagasawa nearby, that felt a bit too immature. So he refrained.

”How’s the chakra consumption?” Nagasawa asked.

Susanoo was infamous for consuming massive amounts of chakra, the entire construct was made of it, after all.

”It’s alright. Shouldn’t be a problem in normal battles,” Obito replied.

Though Kakashi had been given subpar Hashirama cells, Obito had received Madara’s personally cultured Hashirama cells inside the Gedo Statue.

Overall, Obito had more chakra to work with.

That said, he was still a unique case. Half his body had been crushed, and Madara had essentially rebuilt him.

”If the discussion with Nagato fails, don’t insist on fighting. Just bring back intel. I’ll deal with Nagato myself,” Nagasawa said.

Obito nodded. But something about it felt strange, he hadn’t even left yet, and Nagasawa was already assuming he’d fail and end up fighting Nagato.

Not to brag, but Obito was pretty persuasive. Didn’t he once recruit Nagato, Konan, Kisame, and others to work under him?

Still, he appreciated Nagasawa’s concern.

Having wrapped up the matter, Obito didn’t linger and quickly departed for the Land of Rain.

---

### Meanwhile...

”It’s good to get out and walk around more often,” Itachi murmured, strolling down a cobbled road in a small town.

He was using Transformation Jutsu, aging himself up into a young adult with a handsome yet cold appearance.

This had been Nagasawa’s advice, after all, having an eight-year-old kid wander around with a backpack screamed ”trap.”

So Itachi not only transformed into an adult, but also wore his Konoha forehead protector openly.

His route led toward the capital of the Land of Fire, known for its economic and technological development. He moved northwest at speed, passing towns without stopping.

His plan was to start his travels in the northern regions, then later revisit the skipped areas.

As he moved northwest, the number of settlements visibly increased. This area was unlike the forests and hills around Konoha.

Itachi had once believed Konoha was the most prosperous place in the Land of Fire, but now he saw that it was just a regular town.

One of the cities he passed had streets far more bustling than Konoha, with every type of shop imaginable, some that didn’t even exist in Konoha.

He couldn’t even name some of the things he saw.

Still, Itachi didn’t care much about luxury. He wasn’t one to chase material comfort.

Konoha’s streets weren’t as lively, and the Uchiha compound was quieter still, but what he truly sought was peace, not prosperity.

Perhaps because of his visible ninja headband, his journey had been smooth, no one tried to rob him or cause trouble.

Or maybe he was just moving too fast for trouble to catch him.

He decided to treat this northern town as the first stop in his travels, he would stay here, observe the locals, and watch what unfolded.

It was already close to the capital, just one more city away, according to his map.

Putting it away, he found a regular inn and booked a room, planning to eat dinner soon.

But Itachi didn’t realize, in an unnoticed corner of town, a black-and-white, yin-yang figure was watching him with cold eyes.

And even Zetsu didn’t realize, among the evening crowds near the inn, a plain-looking man was lingering suspiciously, like an idle drifter... or someone searching for something.