Izayoi did not hear the conversation between Nagato and Uchiha Obito.
At this time, he also received real-time information from his wooden clone and was quite surprised.
He hadn't expected that Nagato's trump card would be similar to his own—both had prepared chakra batteries in advance.
However, unlike Izayoi who targeted Yin Kurama, Nagato had captured two Jinchūriki.
This final battle had greatly exceeded Izayoi's expectations.
According to his plan, the final confrontation should have been based in the Hidden Rain Village, with Ōtsutsuki Toneri leading the human puppet army—powered by chakra from Yin Kurama—to completely annihilate the Akatsuki organization.
Yet before Izayoi had even donned his disguise and begun acting, Nagato had proactively come for him, making Izayoi one of the main players in this final conflict.
Although the process had gone off-script, the pace of battle was still under Izayoi's control.
Now that the wooden clone had entered the Kamui space, Uchiha Obito could no longer take Nagato and Afei with him.
The trump cards—like the Outer Path Demon Statue and the captured Jinchūriki—had also been revealed.
The next battle would be a final all-out showdown.
However, in a two-against-one situation, the Wooden Man Arhat would not be able to hold up against the combined assault of the Outer Path Demon Statue and the Hundred-Armed Buddha Statue.
At his current state of sage body and chakra, Izayoi could not unleash Hashirama's "Sage Art Wood Release: True Several Thousand Hands – Buddha."
He needed outside help.
So, without waiting for Nagato or Obito to make a move, Izayoi looked up at the sky and shouted:
"Hey! Ōtsutsuki Toneri, I know you've been watching. If you don't show up soon, I'll run away if I can't win!"
"Do it!"
Nagato, who had just recovered a wooden clone to regain chakra, immediately acted. He used invisible gravitational pull to grab Izayoi from the top of the Wooden Man Arhat.
Uchiha Obito and Nagato's wooden clone instantly returned to the top of the Hundred-Armed Buddha Statue.
Afei, whose chakra had recovered, separated from Obito and attached to Nagato's wooden clone to help control the Hundred-Armed Buddha Statue in support of the Outer Path Demon Statue.
Just as Izayoi was caught off the wooden man, his figure suddenly vanished.
Then the Wooden Man Arhat's eyes flashed with a brilliant golden light, and red sage markings appeared once more at the corners of his eyes.
"Roar..."
In the eyes of the many ninja watching from afar, the Wooden Man Arhat suddenly stretched out both arms. Two wood dragons flew up from the forest below, their heads grabbed like swords, transforming into twin Dragon-Slaying Blades.
Then, the Arhat charged the approaching Hundred-Armed Buddha Statue and Outer Path Demon Statue.
Each step from the three towering monsters caused the earth to tremble. The deafening sounds and violent tremors could be felt by ninja miles away.
"Is this the final blow?"
"It was one-on-one for an entire day and night with no winner. But now it's two-on-one—Konoha's Wood Style user is doomed!"
"I didn't expect the leader of Akatsuki to have hidden such a powerful technique."
"Wait... could that monster be the Outer Path Demon Statue that Ōtsutsuki Toneri mentioned?"
"Outer Path Demon Statue... Demon Statue... h-hurry, report this back!"
Aside from Hinata and Karin, most ninja from various countries were not optimistic about Izayoi's chances.
Yet some sharp minds quickly noticed something off—and suspected that the Outer Path Demon Statue might be the "treasure" that Ōtsutsuki Toneri was after.
Just as these ninja prepared to relay this discovery, the Hundred-Armed Buddha Statue suddenly froze.
"Be careful—Shinra Tensei!"
Nagato's wooden clone sensed something and quickly gave a warning while using repulsive force to blast Uchiha Obito away.
Before Obito could react, red powder suddenly appeared mid-air, followed by a dazzling blue flash shooting toward him.
The invisibility lifted, revealing the shape of the blue light to Obito's Mangekyō Sharingan.
It was a lightning-infused ninja sword—flying as fast as an arrow—aimed straight at Obito's chest.
Had it hit, it would've gone clean through him.
Without hesitation, Obito activated Izanagi, twisted his body into the Kamui space, and fled the battlefield.
As the red powder cleared, Shimura Danzo appeared mid-air, his posture in reverse flight, and activated Kamui on Nagato's wooden clone.
The space near his left arm warped.
Nagato's clone reacted instantly and disappeared just as a black hole formed in the distortion.
If he'd been just fractions of a second slower, both the clone and Afei would've been gone.
"So Obito's other eye is with you," Nagato's clone said as he reappeared atop one of the arms of the Buddha Statue, staring at Danzo's left eye.
Though he failed to take out the clone, Danzo still fell from the air, warping space again with Kamui and tearing apart the Buddha's base structure—disrupting its stability.
Moments later, Danzo vanished using the Flying Thunder God Technique. No one knew where he had teleported to.
Even just this interference was enough to limit the Buddha Statue. That was the terrifying power of the strongest Mangekyō Sharingan.
Meanwhile, the Wooden Man and the Outer Path Demon Statue were locked in battle.
The twin Dragon-Slaying Swords hacked repeatedly.
The Demon Statue raised its arms to block the swords with its bare hands.
With a loud boom, the resulting shockwaves shattered the dense wood below.
Even though the swords were infused with Wind Release and as sharp as the blades of a Complete Body Susanoo—capable of slicing mountains—they could not sever the Demon Statue's hands.
Though the Ten-Tails had been drained of chakra, the Demon Statue—its body—still retained incredible vitality.
Its current strength rivaled a fully transformed tailed beast, including the Nine-Tails.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Suddenly, thunder roared—not from the sky, but from the battlefield.
The Demon Statue's ten back pillars crackled with electricity, releasing giant bolts of lightning at the Wooden Man Arhat.
The Arhat dropped its swords and shielded its face. It stumbled backward, unable to withstand the assault.
"Roar!"
The Demon Statue let out a deafening roar and opened its massive maw—firing a purple chakra dragon.
Seeing this, Izayoi's expression changed slightly, and he immediately teleported away—abandoning the Wooden Man Arhat.
The chakra dragon pierced the Arhat's chest and exited its back.
Before entering, the dragon was only the size of the Arhat's arm. Exiting, it had swelled to twice the Arhat's combined arm width.
Most of the Arhat's sage chakra was devoured.
This was the chakra dragon's terrifying ability—the most powerful attack of the Outer Path Demon Statue.
It had no physical form, ignored all attacks, and instantly drained chakra and soul from anything it touched.
It was a combination of the Hungry Ghost and Human Realm's powers—super-enhanced!
But this instant-death move had an obvious weakness.
Nagato, standing atop the Demon Statue, had to reinsert black rods into his own back.
He had only gained the Six Paths abilities and black rods from Obito, and could not create chakra tubes like Obito or Madara. He could only use this self-harming method to channel chakra into the Demon Statue and fire the chakra dragon.
Though the dragon failed to instantly kill Izayoi, it did suck the remaining sage chakra from the Wooden Man Arhat.
Just as Nagato prepared to search for Izayoi again, space warped beside him.
His expression changed immediately, instinctively activating the Hungry Ghost Path.
Yet it failed to absorb the distorted space.
With no time to retract the chakra dragon, Nagato had to sever the black rods connected to the Demon Statue and flee. His face paled, and he vanished.
Out of control, the chakra dragon crashed into the ground.
A dazzling white light exploded.
BOOM——
A deafening blast erupted into a massive mushroom cloud.
The ensuing hurricane leveled the forest and swept outward—engulfing even the ninja watching from afar.
Those who failed to anchor themselves with chakra were blown away and smashed into trees or rocks, coughing blood.
Even those who reacted in time were pushed backward despite their efforts.
When the winds died down, the ninja gazed at the mushroom cloud—faces pale, eyes trembling, legs shaking.
"That was insane..."
"I really thought I was going to die. We were so far away and still got caught in it... Is this what they call super-standard combat power?"
"What was that dragon? How did it explode with such power?"
"No wonder Ōtsutsuki Toneri wanted the Outer Path Demon Statue... It's worse than a tailed beast—it really should be sealed on the moon!"
Unknowingly, the explosion was so powerful because the chakra dragon had absorbed the sage chakra from the Wooden Man Arhat.
The more it absorbed, the stronger its blast.
Had the Demon Statue reclaimed the dragon, Nagato wouldn't have lost chakra—he would've gained more.
But there was no "what if." His desire to finish Izayoi quickly caused him to forget Danzo's existence.
The Hungry Ghost Realm couldn't absorb Kamui's spatial distortions. If he hadn't run, he'd be dead.
RUMBLE...
The mushroom cloud's base trembled again.
As the wind cleared the dust, three massive monsters reappeared.
They looked far more battered than before.
Having taken the full brunt of the explosion, the Wooden Man Arhat had lost most of its body—its back and left side were gone, leaving only legs and half a torso.
The Hundred-Armed Buddha Statue was cracked all over but not critically damaged.
The Outer Path Demon Statue remained unscathed.
As the Ten-Tails' body, only Six Paths-level powers, space-time ninjutsu, and sage-enhanced physical force could harm it.
This was the invulnerability of a Ten-Tails Jinchūriki's vessel.
Still, the Demon Statue was humiliated—its limbs bound by branches and red torii sealing its movement.
"Leader, maybe we should run too?"
Afei, now reabsorbed by Nagato, stood on the Buddha Statue's arm, visibly nervous.
His arrogance had been blown away.
Nagato, having expelled all the black rods from his back and recovered via Afei, spoke softly while withdrawing his clone:
"Afei, I'll hold them off. You go."
"Huh? You're not coming with me?" Afei asked, stunned.
"I can't leave anymore."
Nagato admitted:
"One wrong move cost me everything. I planned everything for this battle, but it all came down to Kamui."
"I thought about using Kamui space to store Jinchūriki and as an escape route... but I forgot about Obito's left eye. I also forgot where Kakashi's Sharingan came from."
"Ōtsutsuki Toneri exploited this weakness. My retreat's been cut off. All I can do now is fight."
"So Afei, go. Don't die with me."
As he spoke, there was no fear in Nagato's expression—only relief.
Since returning to full strength, he had been competing with Ōtsutsuki Toneri.
Though they only clashed once openly, they had been outwitting each other the entire time.
Nagato learned Impure World Reincarnation and used the Zetsu duo to raid the major villages' graveyards—building a massive undead army.
In response, Toneri obtained a massive chakra source for his puppets—each at Kage-level—and they battled evenly.
Had Nagato fought Toneri directly instead of chasing Izayoi, their Sage Eyes might have still been evenly matched.
To prepare for any outcome, Nagato even captured Jinchūriki and planned an ambush.
He'd even thought through his retreat.
But his opponent was more prepared.
Shimura Danzo's Mangekyō Sharingan had ruined everything.
Now it was two against one again—but reversed.
One wrong move, and he lost the game.
Seeing Nagato's resolve, Afei didn't argue or flee. He simply sent a message to Black Zetsu.
Receiving it, Black Zetsu—still mentally cursing Obito—suddenly smiled wickedly.
Then he dove underground and disappeared.