People in Demon Slayer: The Journey That Began with Demon Slayer

Or rather, Obito never trusted anyone.

Obito did not immediately allow the Gedo Mazo to absorb the chakra of the Eight-Tails and Nine-Tails.

Even if the Ten-Tails were to be resurrected now, Obito would not be able to become its jinchūriki, as he would still be missing a crucial link.

Rinnegan.

Obito returned to the base and reunited with Nagato.

Nagato, Konan, and Obito gathered together.

Now, only three members of the Akatsuki remain.

As for Orochimaru, no one cared whether he lived or died, after all, to them, Orochimaru was just a dispensable person.

“I am ready to connect with Madara Uchiha’s Rinnegan and share my vision at any time, but the moment I connect, Madara Uchiha will inevitably discover my location. If Madara Uchiha has not yet sacrificed the Eight-Tails to the Gedo Mazo, even if I summon it, it will be useless, and I will still be hunted down by Madara Uchiha.”

Nagato is currently in a situation where he's like a blind man touching an elephant.

Without any intelligence, we can only gamble on luck, and we only have one chance to gamble. Failure means being hunted down by Madara Uchiha, while success means obtaining the Ten-Tails and becoming its jinchūriki.

"Obito, didn't you leave a ninjutsu inside Madara Uchiha's body that allows you to sense his location? Can you still sense him now?"

Obito nodded: "I can sense that Madara Uchiha is still moving."

"That means Madara Uchiha hasn't yet absorbed the Tailed Beasts using the Gedo Mazo. Obito, keep a close eye on Madara Uchiha's movements. Report to me immediately once he stops!"

"I see!"

After Obito agreed, he left the base.

Obito was alone in the dimly lit room.

Suddenly, Obito stood up, looked at the empty space ahead, and asked, "Are you going to make a move now?"

Orochimaru's figure slowly rose from the ground: "Of course, now that Nagato's plan has failed, I should also receive my reward for the cooperation."

"Now that you're all prepared, what brings you here?"

"I don't know if Nagato would willingly give up the Rinnegan for Konan. If Nagato chooses to give up Konan, he won't be easy to deal with if he has the Rinnegan."

"So, you want to work with me? And what about the compensation?"

Orochimaru let out a chilling laugh: "Of course I'm ready, Summoning Jutsu!"

A coffin rose from the ground, and Orochimaru lifted the lid.

Upon seeing the figures inside, Obito's body trembled uncontrollably.

The person in the coffin was none other than Nohara Rin, whom Obito had always longed for.

Obito was furious and grabbed Orochimaru by the neck: "Are you looking for death, Orochimaru?!"

Orochimaru, emboldened, said, "Why do you say that? I went to great lengths to find Nohara Rin's body tissue. Judging from your expression, you seem quite satisfied with the reward I gave you."

As a disciple of Minato Namikaze, Orochimaru also had contact with Obito.

Originally, he cherished his friends, was kind, loving, dreamy, and innocent, but he turned into a cold-blooded schemer.

Something significant must have happened.

Therefore, after learning Obito's true identity, Orochimaru continued to investigate Obito.

Based on the Battle of Kannabi Bridge and the clues uncovered afterward.

All the intelligence pointed to one person: Nohara Rin.

Orochimaru then infiltrated Konoha, found Rin Nohara's corpse in the cemetery, and used the Impure World Reincarnation technique to revive her.

"Rin Nohara is just an empty shell now, she has no soul. So, how about it, do you want to cooperate with me?"

Obito frowned deeply: "What do you want me to do?"

“I need an insurance policy. If Nagato chooses to hand over the Rinnegan, then everything will be fine. But if Nagato abandons Konan and chooses to fight me, I am confident that I can defeat Nagato. However, the seal on his Rinnegan is very troublesome. So, while I am suppressing Nagato, I need you to remove the seal on the Rinnegan!”

Obito shook his head and said, "I don't know what type of seal is on Nagato's Rinnegan, so even if you suppress Nagato, I can't remove it."

"Don't worry, I already have a solution." Orochimaru took out a syringe.

"what is this?"

"This is a drug I developed using Yosuke Ubuyashiki's flesh and blood to make someone a demon. My army of demons became immortal demons by injecting this drug. However, I have slightly modified this drug, so after it is injected into the body, it will lie dormant inside and will not turn Nagato into a demon. Instead, it is specifically designed to target his Rinnegan."

"Targeting the Rinnegan?"

"That's right. Destroying the Rinnegan with a sealing technique requires a process. Even if it's just a momentary thing, it still needs to be triggered by the sealing technique, then spread from a localized area to the entire Rinnegan, and finally destroy the Rinnegan. No matter how short this process is, it must go through this process."

The purpose of this potion is to activate the sealing technique the instant it's triggered. The moment the seal causes localized damage to the Rinnegan, the regenerative abilities of the demon within the potion directly repair the damaged Rinnegan until the sealing technique completely fails!

Orochimaru explained the effects of the medicine to Obito.

Chapter 378 Thorough Preparations

Obito looked at the potion in Orochimaru's hand: "Orochimaru, you are really well prepared. From the beginning, you were not choosing between Madara Uchiha and Nagato as your target, but had already chosen Nagato as your target."

Orochimaru said matter-of-factly, "Comparing Madara Uchiha and Nagato is like comparing an adult to a child. Of course, I would choose a relatively weaker target to attack. Moreover, Nagato's plan has already failed, and Madara Uchiha's resurrection of the Ten-Tails is almost a foregone conclusion. In other words, for you and me, the only remaining value Nagato has is the Rinnegan, isn't it?"

Obito countered, "Since you know that Nagato's only remaining value is the Rinnegan, why didn't you choose to act alone? Why did you tell me your plan and cooperate with me? With your cunning, you should be able to execute your plan, right?"

Orochimaru said bluntly, "Now that almost everything is out in the open, there's no need to beat around the bush. You want the Rinnegan, and I want the Rinnegan too, but the Rinnegan is still with Nagato. If I go to take the Rinnegan by myself, I'm sure you'll either stop me or reap the benefits."

Obito sneered, "So, to prevent me from making any underhanded moves, you've simply come to me for cooperation? And what makes you think you can blackmail me with Irene? All of this is just your speculation. Aren't you worried that I'll go directly to Nagato and team up with him to kill you?"

Obito's Sharingan instantly transformed into the Mangekyou Sharingan, and he stared intently at Orochimaru.

Orochimaru said confidently, "Indeed, Nohara Rin only guessed that she was the most important person to you based on known information, but this is just my reward. Even without Nohara Rin, you would still cooperate with me, after all, we both don't have much time left."

Orochimaru continued, "After Madara Uchiha becomes the Ten-Tails' Jinchuriki, the first thing he will do is definitely take back Nagato's Rinnegan. At that time, none of us will be able to obtain the Rinnegan, so you must cooperate with me. And aren't you waiting for me too?"

Orochimaru looked at Obito with confidence.

Obito was also staring at Orochimaru; this feeling of being led by the nose was really unpleasant.

However, just as Orochimaru said, time is running out. Before Madara Uchiha becomes the Ten-Tails' Jinchuriki, he must obtain Nagato's Rinnegan. Otherwise, even if Obito revives the Gedo Mazo in the Kamui dimension into the Ten-Tails, he will not be able to become the Ten-Tails' Jinchuriki without the Rinnegan.

However, Obito didn't have a good way to deal with the seal on Nagato's Rinnegan.

Obito was indeed waiting for Orochimaru, but not for Orochimaru to ask him to cooperate; rather, he was waiting for Orochimaru to make a move against Nagato.

He specifically told Orochimaru about the seal on Nagato's Rinnegan.

The hope is that Orochimaru can find a way to break the seal on Nagato's Rinnegan.

Based on Obito's understanding of Orochimaru, he would only take action against Nagato if he found a way to break the seal.

As expected, Orochimaru found a solution.

Obito has two plans.

If Nagato were to give up the Rinnegan to save Konan, then Obito could take the opportunity to steal the Rinnegan.

If Nagato abandons Konan and chooses the Rinnegan, he will inevitably fight Orochimaru. Orochimaru will definitely try to break Nagato's seal, and Obito will still be able to take the Rinnegan.

But unexpectedly, Orochimaru came to him seeking cooperation.

Orochimaru's plan was actually quite similar to Obito's.

The only variable is Obito.

Hidden behind the scenes, Obito would never stand idly by and watch someone steal the Rinnegan.

So instead of being timid and hesitant, it's better to just bring Obito along to join the group.

Furthermore, Nagato currently trusts Obito, and Obito's Kamui can approach Nagato silently.

Currently, only Obito is capable of injecting the drug into Nagato's body.

As for who will possess the Rinnegan, Orochimaru still has plans.

Obito was able to dominate the ninja world for so many years because of the power of his Mangekyou Sharingan.

A single spacetime provides an invincible position.

Orochimaru, however, is different from Obito; he has an assistant.

God Lord.

The God Lord traveled from another world to the Ninja World and also has knowledge of space and time.

Therefore, Orochimaru had the God of War study Obito's Kamui.

Recently, the Lord's research has yielded results.

The deity developed a special tool to deal with space and time.

A needle.

The deity named it the Boundary-Breaking Needle.

The moment Obito uses Kamui and distorts space, inserting the Hakata Needle into the distorted space will interrupt the process of Kamui and force Obito's Kamui to become ineffective.

Although there is a time limit, Obito's strength is quite weak without Kamui.

Orochimaru was confident that he could subdue or even kill Obito before the Hakaishin lost its effectiveness.

Obito asked Orochimaru, "When do you plan to carry out your plan?"

"Of course, the sooner the better. Tomorrow I plan to use Konan to force Nagato to carry out the plan."

Since Obito asked when the plan would take place, it means that Obito has already agreed.

Orochimaru threw the injection to Obito.

Obito looked at the syringe in his hand and asked, "What if Nagato chose Konan and gave up the Rinnegan?"

"Anyway, even if I don't cooperate with you, you will still try to seize the Rinnegan. So let's rely on our own abilities. I'm only asking you to cooperate as a precaution. After all, there's only one dose of this injection. If I inject it into Nagato's body, the chance of success is too small, while the success rate is much higher if you inject it."

Orochimaru took out another scroll and threw it to Obito: "The soul of Nohara Rin is sealed inside. After all, I have no use for her. Even if I use her to threaten you into giving up the fight for the Rinnegan, you will not agree. Consider this my sincerity."

After saying that, Orochimaru left Obito's room.

Obito carefully lifted Nohara Rin out of the coffin and placed her on the bed.

Looking at Rin Nohara's face, Obito showed a gentle expression for the first time.

Obito desperately wanted to release Rin Nohara's soul from the scroll right now so he could meet her.