"Well then, happy trading."
Takuno said as he withdrew his hand, adding, "Honestly, I'm not like Hanzo, who enjoys threatening people with their loved ones."
He wasn't lying; he disdained such tactics. Unfortunately, the method was incredibly effective, and the other party's lack of cooperation forced him to emulate Hanzo.
The Water Prison Technique requires physical contact from the caster, so when Takuno withdrew his hand, the Water Prison Technique was immediately dispelled.
Nagato was stunned again seeing this. He had expected the other party to release the Water Prison Technique only after taking the Gedo Statue, but they released it now.
Why does this masked man seem a bit... honest?
Nagato thought with a strange feeling in his heart, but at this moment, he finally breathed a sigh of relief. He had no intention of backing out.
If he was such a person, then he should be true to his word and leave immediately after taking the Gedo Statue.
Although Konan was trapped in the Water Prison Technique, she could still hear the conversation outside.
She glanced at Takuno with a complex expression. At this moment, she no longer had any thoughts of attacking again. The previous exchange had made her realize that she was no match for him.
If she were to attack again and anger him, he probably wouldn't bother making an agreement. Not only would she die, but Nagato would likely not escape either.
She simply returned silently to Nagato's side and helped him to his feet.
"You can take the Gedo Statue now, if you have a way," Nagato said, after all, the Gedo Statue was tens of meters tall, and it didn't look easy to take away.
"You don't need to worry about that," Takuno said casually, then walked towards the Gedo Statue.
Soon, he arrived in front of the Gedo Statue, reaching out to touch it. It felt somewhat like rock.
"Watch out!"
Suddenly, Nagato's shout reached Takuno's ears. It turned out that another masked man had suddenly appeared behind Takuno, reaching out his hand towards Takuno.
Although Takuno and they were fighting before and were enemies, Nagato felt pretty good about him, so he gave a warning when he saw this scene.
In fact, this warning was unnecessary.
Because Takuno was constantly on guard against Obito's sneak attack.
Did he let Konan go directly just now because he was truly honest?
Of course not!
According to his usual cautious approach, he would definitely take the Gedo Statue first, and then let Konan go.
But the problem was, he knew that Obito was definitely hiding in the shadows. If he didn't let Konan go, then the other party would definitely rescue Konan immediately, and then he would have to face three people.
So, there was no doubt that Takuno was gambling that Nagato would keep his promise, after all, given the character's portrayal in the original work, this was very likely.
And now, he had undoubtedly succeeded in his gamble, even leaving a very good impression in the other party's heart, which was proven by their warning.
"What a good person," Takuno sighed inwardly. If not for these events, perhaps Nagato and the other two would truly have grown into people who pursued light? What a pity... they aren't the protagonists!
At this moment, Takuno held a Kunai in his hand and suddenly turned to stab Obito.
However, his Kunai passed completely through the other party's body; this was Kamui!
Of course, this Jutsu currently had no name. Obito never named it. It was only named after Kakashi mastered it. Obito had no objections to this and also adopted the name Kamui.
Takuno naturally knew the mechanics of Kamui, but encountering the opponent for the first time, he could only act this way to avoid suspicion.
At this moment, seeing the Kunai pass through the opponent's body, Takuno's other hand instantly formed two hand seals.
In an instant, streams of water emerged from his body, swirling around him like water blades.
"Water Release: Water Blade Rotation Technique!"
Obito did not possess Kakashi's Mangekyo Sharingan, which meant he lacked the ability to use Kamui from a distance. To draw Takuno into the Kamui Dimension, he would have to touch Takuno with his hand.
This process of touching necessarily requires becoming corporeal, and as long as Obito dared to materialize, Takuno dared to use his water blades to directly sever his hand!
Indeed, Obito's hand paused upon seeing this, and he had no doubt about the sharpness of those water blades.
As long as he materializes, his hand will inevitably be cut off. And will a severed hand still be part of his body? Can it still assist his Mangekyo Sharingan in using Kamui to draw the opponent into the Kamui Dimension?
Probably not!
He was a bit surprised at this moment that the other party reacted so quickly. He hadn't expected the other party to know about him from the beginning, because if he had known from the beginning, he wouldn't have used that useless Kunai to stab him first.
Obito's current strength essentially relies entirely on Kamui and the Wood Release after merging with Tobi. Coupled with the short time, Obito had little time to become stronger, so his raw power is inferior to true Kage-level ninja.
Even so, with Kamui, he was able to exchange blows with Minato, though he was beaten quite badly, but this still shows how broken Kamui is!
Takuno pondered, currently, the opponent's long-range Ninjutsu, due to his short growth period, was likely still at the Chunin level, at most comparable to a Jonin in power due to White Zetsu cells.
So he only needed to guard against being pulled into the Kamui Dimension and the opponent's Wood Release to greatly increase his success rate.
"I must create some distance!"
The moment Obito paused, Takuno also gathered a large amount of Chakra at his feet, using the Body Flicker Technique to create distance from Obito.
"Oh my, it turns out I'm not the only one playing the mantis stalking the cicada," Takuno said mockingly as he retreated, looking at Obito.
Immediately, Nagato and Konan's eyes narrowed, especially Nagato. He had managed to spot Takuno, but had completely failed to notice Obito.
Not just this time, but the last time the opponent appeared directly inside their Akatsuki was also like this.
Perhaps, the other party had never left and had always been secretly observing them.
Previously, the other party even talked about cooperating with them. Now, it's hard to say if the other party has other motives, or even if they knew about this trap?
Obito also felt a bit resentful, cursing Nagato and Konan for being too useless. He actually didn't want to come out.
After all, coming out would prove that he had been watching them all along, seeing them being manipulated and their friends killed, which would make future cooperation difficult.
It's not that the other party wouldn't be wary of him without this incident, but the degree of severity would be completely different!
But he couldn't help it, could he? Was he really going to watch Takuno take the Gedo Statue? That was impossible.
So he could only make a move, and he even regretted acting a little too late.
If he had acted to rescue Konan when she was trapped by the Water Prison Technique, he might have gained a good reputation. Now... who would have thought that the other party would not follow convention and directly let Konan go after making an agreement!