Just as Tenten was mulling it over, Kakashi suddenly appeared behind her.
"Kakashi-sensei, why are you up here?"
Tenten asked, instinctively glancing toward the rear. "How is Guy-sensei?"
Kakashi gave her a reassuring look. "Guy is fine. With Tsunade-sama and Katsuyu treating him in time, he's out of danger. He just needs to rest for about half a month."
Good. That was a relief.
Tenten nodded, then looked at Kakashi with continued confusion. She didn't believe he had come up here just to chat.
Kakashi hurried on. "A message came from the main camp. Jiraiya-dono and Konan ran into Nagato's Edo Tensei (Impure World Reincarnation) body at the Fourth Division's defensive line. It may be even harder to deal with than the Deva Path back then. They need you to go help."
"Hah. So there's work to do."
Tenten immediately lit up with excitement.
She had just taken a hit to her pride against Uchiha Madara. The kotodama curse had clearly landed, yet Uchiha Madara simply refused to make a mistake for ages and never got "pulled in." It had left Tenten feeling frustrated.
This was the first time since obtaining the Sage of Six Paths' tools that she'd faced something that felt like failure.
But now there was a new job. The pent-up irritation in her chest finally had somewhere to go.
Nagato might be stronger than the Deva Path, but the "Pain" bodies were puppets—something the Six Paths tools couldn't easily handle. Nagato, however, was the original body. That made him easier to deal with.
In Tenten's eyes, it was a small matter.
"Then I'm going. I'll be right back."
As she spoke, Tenten locked onto the formula she had left on Jiraiya and vanished with three rapid flashes.
Thankfully, she and Natsuki had left their formulas on all key figures beforehand, so they could relay messages and provide support at any time. Now it was paying off.
In the next moment, Tenten appeared behind Jiraiya.
"Jiraiya-dono, is that Nagato?"
Tenten looked toward the white-haired Nagato. When she saw the Rinnegan, she could hardly contain her excitement.
Jiraiya's face lit up. "Tenten, your timing is perfect! Quickly, use your Six Paths tools. We need to seal Nagato first!"
Nagato also looked relieved. "So you're Tenten, Natsuki's girlfriend? It's on you now. If not, I'm afraid I'll lose control and use a major technique. The casualties won't be light."
Tenten nodded. The Seven Stars Sword in her hand still carried the kotodama curse phrase "Hashirama"—and for some reason, she didn't really want to use it.
So she took out a scroll and summoned the Kohaku no Jōhei (Amber Purifying Jar).
This was something the Raikage had given her earlier. Not just anyone could use it, but since she held all four of the Sage of Six Paths' tools, she obviously could—so it had naturally been entrusted to her.
Before, she hadn't expected Uchiha Madara to ever fall for it. But Nagato was different.
Nagato's attitude clearly marked him as "one of them." He would cooperate.
Tenten opened the Kohaku no Jōhei's seal and said to Nagato, "I'll call you once. You just answer. Nagato!"
Nagato nodded. "Yes."
In the next instant, Nagato was pulled—against his will—straight into the Kohaku no Jōhei, and the lid sealed itself shut again.
Jiraiya and the others hadn't even processed what happened. For a moment, everyone simply stared in a daze.
That… was it?
Tenten finally exhaled in satisfaction. "Yes! That's the kind of feeling I like. I got stonewalled at Uchiha Madara's side and it pissed me off so badly. Damn Uchiha Madara!"
Only then did Jiraiya snap back to himself. "Tenten, it's over already? That was way too fast!"
Tenten put her hands on her hips. "Heh. Of course. These are the Six Paths tools, and Nagato cooperated. So it's done."
"So… so impressive," Jiraiya couldn't help but say.
And he understood the logic. Nagato couldn't control his actions, but his speech wasn't being controlled—so all he had to do was answer the Kohaku no Jōhei once. That was it.
It sounded simple, but it wasn't.
What wasn't simple were the Six Paths tools themselves.
And they weren't something just anyone could use. It looked like all you needed was to call a name and get an answer, but controlling the Kohaku no Jōhei still demanded real mastery.
Right now, only Tenten could operate the full set of Six Paths tools—she was practically like a successor to the Sage of Six Paths.
Konan approached as well, bringing Yahiko wrapped up like a mummy in layers of paper. "Tenten, thank you for coming all this way. How is the battle on Uchiha Madara's side?"
Tenten shook her head. "Uchiha Madara is strong. Tsunade-sama, the Raikage, and the Tsuchikage fought him and fell into a disadvantage. Then Guy-sensei opened the Eight Gates and forced a stalemate, but the Eight Gates can't last. Not long ago, Natsuki and I swapped in. Natsuki and I used the Six Paths tools to place a kotodama curse on Uchiha Madara, but he knows the tools' intelligence and hasn't taken the bait. It's been infuriating. Right now, Natsuki is the one trading blows with him."
She delivered the situation quickly, but her worry rose again anyway.
Then she added, "I have to go back and take a look. Uchiha Madara might slip up at any moment. My Benihisago (Crimson Gourd) is waiting for him."
With that, she vanished again in a blur.
Jiraiya chuckled in admiration. "She really comes and goes like the wind."
Yahiko agreed. "Yeah. Thanks to her, otherwise this would've been a real mess."
Konan rarely smiled, but she did now. With Yahiko beside her, she felt genuinely satisfied. And with Nagato sealed, once Kabuto was killed, maybe they could even be released to reunite—if only briefly.
Still, she couldn't keep Yahiko like this. She had to seal him too, otherwise moving afterward would become difficult.
So she looked at Jiraiya. "Jiraiya-sensei, please seal them. The Raikage and the Tsuchikage can handle the sealing of Rasa."
Jiraiya nodded, then asked his two students if they had anything else they wanted to say. Only after confirming there were no more words did he move to seal them away.
Thus, the battle on the Fourth Division's defensive line came to an end.
Meanwhile, along the coastline where the First Division's line was holding—
Uchiha Obito expelled Ino's consciousness from his body and regained control.
He immediately tried to reassert control over the last remaining Jinchūriki, the Six-Tails, but Yamato had already bound Utakata tightly with Mokuton (Wood Release). He was using vines to yank the black rods out, and the two sides were locked in a tug-of-war.
At the same time, Neji's Hakke Kūshō (Eight Trigrams Air Palm) came flying in. Uchiha Obito quickly turned intangible—he could only cover one side and neglect the other.
He successfully avoided Neji's strike, but he didn't have time to force Utakata into another Tailed Beast transformation. And Yamato had already yanked out one of the black rods, causing a disruption in Utakata's control signal.
This was bad.
All four "Pain" bodies could no longer be controlled.
And as the rods were removed, the four Jinchūriki regained their awareness. As Edo Tensei (Impure World Reincarnation) bodies, they wouldn't die—those rods had only suppressed their souls and turned them into puppets temporarily. Once the suppression was lifted, their consciousness naturally returned.
But they had been resurrected by Kabuto.
They were still the enemy's forces.
Their actions were still not under their own control.
Rōshi shouted immediately, "Quick! Seal me!"
Yugito also called out, "Darui! Bring the Kohaku no Jōhei! That's the easiest way to deal with us!"
(End of Chapter)
[Get +30 Extra Chapters On — P@tr3on "Zaelum"]
[Every 300 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter Drop]
[Thanks for Reading!]