Chapter 742: Void Victory

Bang!

Nagato gripped Obito’s fist with his right hand, and his left hand punched out quickly. Even though Obito’s Sharingan caught Nagato’s movement, he was still pushed back by the heavy punch Nagato unleashed.

“His taijutsu has improved so much!”

Obito was shocked.

It would have been fine if he was in a normal state, but he had activated Flame Breathing Chakra Mode.

However, Obito’s mentality was still good. Although the taijutsu sneak attack failed, the Flying Thunder God Kunai he just projected with Kamui left Nagato with serious injuries.

Coupled with the Flying Thunder God Kunai stuck in Nagato’s body, the initiative was now in his hands.

“Bansho Tenin!”

Nagato applied gravity to the Kunai stuck in his body, pulling them all out.

Under the effect of a large amount of Yang Release Chakra, Nagato’s injuries recovered extremely quickly, and in an instant, not even a scar could be seen.

Obito:???

Obito’s face was full of question marks. Was he really an all-rounder? He even had such strong healing abilities.

Whoosh!

Obito immediately activated the Flying Thunder God Technique and instantly teleported next to Nagato.

“Shinra Tensei!”

Nagato calmly continued to activate Shinra Tensei.

The powerful repulsive force shot all the Flying Thunder God Kunai onto the wall at the edge of the arena, while Obito dodged the attack by using Kamui’s intangibility in time.

He pushed his abilities to the limit, extending his palm, which carried high-temperature flames, towards Nagato at extreme speed.

But Nagato had been on guard. His arm, condensed with a large amount of Yang Release, swung out at Obito at extreme speed.

Under the gaze of the audience, the palms of the two were about to collide.

The imagined powerful collision did not happen. Nagato’s palm passed through Obito’s body, as if passing through a non-existent phantom.

At the moment of approaching, Obito activated Kamui’s intangibility again.

“Fire Release: Flame Fist!”

When their bodies completely passed each other, Obito materialized and suddenly swung a flaming fist at Nagato.

This time, the Flame Fist was completely different from before. Even before it hit, Nagato felt a dangerous hot aura.

In order to defeat Nagato in one go, Obito consumed most of his remaining Chakra to increase the power of his Fire Release.

However, Nagato, who had learned his lesson, had already guessed Obito’s Kamui. Nagato almost instantly turned around to defend.

Whoosh!

Obito’s body disappeared.

Obito, who appeared behind Nagato, smiled.

During their first taijutsu clash, he had already placed the Flying Thunder God Technique on Nagato’s body.

“You can’t defend against this now, can you!”

Obito smiled and swung his fist, which contained powerful flames.

It was fine for Nagato to predict his Kamui, but Nagato couldn’t possibly react to his Flying Thunder God, could he?

‘Shadow Ball!’

At this moment, a dark energy ball suddenly shot from Obito’s side.

Bang!

Just as Obito’s Flame Fist was about to touch Nagato, the black energy ball hit Obito’s body.

The Shadow Ball’s ability instantly erupted, blowing both of them backward.

However, Nagato was still in Yang Release Breathing Chakra Mode and quickly stood up, with his body’s Chakra rapidly transforming into Yang Release Chakra to repair his body.

Obito, however, automatically exited Flame Breathing Chakra Mode due to insufficient Chakra, struggling to even stand up.

Charizard still couldn’t hold on, which freed up Gengar.

“Damn it, the Third Mizukage is really useless. How did he let Nagato retain so much power?”

Obito looked depressed and did not blame his own Charizard, but rather put the blame on the Third Mizukage.

Because Obito knew that even if his Flame Fist successfully hit Nagato, he might not win.

His Chakra consumption was too high, and Nagato had impressive healing abilities. It was uncertain who would give out first.

“The rules of the arena match also limited me. In a normal battle, I would have won.”

Recalling the battle process, Obito’s sense of loss diminished a little.

If it wasn’t for this being an arena match, when Nagato misjudged the Kamui information in the first wave, Obito wouldn’t have used taijutsu on Nagato. He would have directly absorbed Nagato into the Kamui Dimension.

Then he wouldn’t have to do anything but wait seven days before going in to collect Nagato’s corpse.

This was his invincible Kamui starvation technique!

On the surface, he lost, but in reality, he won!

“Nagato wins!”

Seeing Obito lose his combat ability, the referee quickly announced the result of the battle.

At this point, the Eight Finals ended, and the winning contestants who advanced were the Third Raikage, Ōnoki, Hiruzen Sarutobi, and Nagato.

“The main event is coming. Kage are Kage after all. Among the Four Finals, all but Nagato are Kage.”

The audience in the stands showed expectant expressions.

The battles that followed were truly heavyweight. Even if the tickets were sold for 100,000 ryo, people would still buy one to watch.

“Obito, don’t be discouraged. You were really amazing just now. I feel like you almost won.”

After Obito went to meet up with his companions, Asuma was the first to speak and comfort him.

He didn’t know how Obito did it, but from an audience perspective, Obito and Nagato’s final clash was extremely entertaining.

Obito first used intangibility to dodge Shinra Tensei, then used intangibility again to dodge Nagato’s taijutsu, and finally predicted Nagato’s prediction, using the Flying Thunder God Technique to instantly teleport behind Nagato.

The whole process took less than five seconds, which was truly dazzling to watch.

“It wasn’t ‘almost won.’ If it weren’t for this being a competition, I would have won.”

Obito corrected him.

Asuma:…

He should have known better than to comfort him. Obito didn’t seem like someone who needed comforting.

“Did you win in your own imagination? Losing is losing.”

Kakashi scoffed unceremoniously.

Obito had methods that were not suitable for the arena, but did Nagato necessarily not have them?

One had to know that Nagato’s teacher was the mysterious and powerful Sōsuke.

“Alright then, I did lose this time.”

When Obito heard Kakashi’s rebuke, although he was a little unhappy, he quickly understood the meaning of Kakashi’s words and gave up his imaginary victory.

“Just keep working hard next time. Isn’t this much better than last time?”

Rin Nohara said gently.

Obito subconsciously nodded.

He had lost to Nagato twice, but the process was very different.

The first time he fought Nagato, even with Charizard’s help, he was completely suppressed by Nagato.

This time, he at least fought Nagato back and forth by himself and even injured Nagato.

“Next time, I will definitely avenge myself!”

Obito thought to himself.

One was the practice of Yang Release Breathing, and the other was Chakra volume.

Now, he only needed to make up for these two shortcomings, and his combat power would change significantly.

“Everyone’s fine this time, right? Do you want to go out and have fun tonight?”

Rin Nohara scanned everyone with her gaze and asked with a smile.

Actually, she was mainly asking Might Guy. Everyone else had already gone out twice, and only Might Guy hadn’t come because of his training.

“Yes, moderate fun is also a part of youth.”

Might Guy gave Rin Nohara a thumbs-up, smiled brightly, and agreed.

He had refused before because he didn’t want to have any regrets and wanted to fight those strong opponents in his strongest state.

Now that he had mastered Armament Haki and the battle was over, there was no need to race against time.

Since Might Guy had agreed, it was even more impossible for the others to refuse, and they all agreed.

After agreeing to meet at seven in the evening, everyone returned to the hotel together and then did their own things.

Contestants like Kakashi went back to their rooms and immediately fell asleep.

As for those who didn’t have matches, like Rin Nohara and Asuma, it varied from person to person.

Those who didn’t like moving rested in their rooms, while those who did went to places they were interested in or went to the Training Ground to cultivate.

At seven o’clock, everyone who had finished washing up gathered and went to the busiest night market in Six Paths City.

The group first moved together for an hour and a half, eating, drinking, and having fun everywhere.

Later, to make it easier to play what each wanted, they split into three small teams.

The teams were still according to the first division. Since Shisui and Yamato’s team only had two people, Might Guy was assigned to their team.

Obito was still with Kakashi and Rin Nohara’s team.

“What a coincidence, Obito. You guys are here too.”

Yahiko saw Obito and walked over with a smile to greet him.

Obito turned his head and saw that besides Yahiko, Konan and Nagato were also there, as well as a red-haired young man he didn’t know.

“Yes, good evening.”

Obito replied with a smile.

He wasn’t really a sore loser and wouldn’t deliberately ignore Nagato just because he lost to him in battle.

The two exchanged a few words, found that their destinations were the same, and temporarily moved together.

“Obito, how are your preparations for running for Hokage coming along?”

Yahiko asked curiously.

They had hit it off quite well when they first met and agreed to cooperate once they became famous and powerful, working together for world peace.

“I’m definitely making preparations, but it’ll probably take a long time to become Hokage.”

Obito scratched his head and said.

Muzuki had only been in office for a few years. Normally, he wouldn’t have a chance to become Hokage within twenty years.

This wasn’t a matter of ability; it was purely a matter of one position, one person. If Muzuki didn’t step down, there was no way he could become Hokage, no matter what.

Obito didn’t feel anything about this, though.

After all, that was the omnipotent Sage Muzuki. It was Konoha’s blessing for him to be Hokage.

Even if he stayed in office until he was old before retiring, it would be very reasonable.

“Keep it up. With your current momentum, you still have a lot of hope.”

Yahiko encouraged him.

The goal of the Shinobi Sect was never to dominate the world but world peace. They wished that the leaders of the Five Great Ninja Villages were all peace-loving people, which would make world peace much easier.

“Have we met somewhere before?”

Kakashi proactively asked Sasori.

He had a faint sense of familiarity with Sasori, and he noticed that Sasori paid more attention to him than to others.

Seeing this, Nagato subtly shifted his attention to Kakashi and Sasori, in case a conflict broke out between them.

He wasn’t sure what Sasori’s thoughts on Kakashi were now.

Nagato basically never discussed Kakashi or hatred with Sasori.

Because Nagato himself had experienced the hatred of his parents being killed, he understood the pain.

So even though Nagato hoped Sasori could let go of his misplaced anger towards Kakashi, he never tried to persuade him.

Only those who had experienced it understood that feeling. He didn’t want Sasori to become more anxious because of his persuasion.

“Yes, I’ve seen your matches.”

Sasori replied flatly.

Seeing Sasori calmly communicate with Kakashi, Nagato breathed a sigh of relief and introduced him:

“Sasori is the director of our Shinobi Sect’s Chakra Technology Bureau.”

“The researcher who developed the Puppet Prosthesis?”

Kakashi showed a surprised expression.

The Puppet Prosthesis was not simple. Its appearance led to a revolution in Ninja tools in the Ninja World and was a landmark invention of the new era of the Ninja World.

From a practical point of view, the Puppet Prosthesis also deserved this reputation.

The Puppet Prosthesis not only allowed disabled Ninja to regain a new life but also brought good news to ordinary disabled people.

“Do you want to undergo modification? I think you’re quite likable. I can help you with a full-body modification for free.”

Sasori raised an eyebrow and said.

If he modified Kakashi’s reproductive function away, it would be equivalent to eliminating White Fang’s grandchildren.

Kakashi felt an ominous feeling for some reason and shook his head, refusing:

“Thank you for your kind offer, Director Sasori. I’m very satisfied with my body and have no intention of undergoing modification.”

He had indeed heard that some people, in pursuit of greater strength, replaced healthy limbs with Puppet Prostheses.

However, Kakashi’s pursuit of strength was not that pathological, and the current puppet technology was not enough to enhance his strength either.

“That’s a shame. You can always come to me if you want to undergo modification in the future.”

Sasori said with some regret.

Then they ate something at a famous snack stall together before parting ways.

“That Sasori guy is quite nice. I remember the Puppet Prosthesis isn’t cheap, right? He was actually willing to give you a full-body modification for free.”

Obito watched Nagato and the others leave and said.

“Maybe.”

Kakashi was also a little unsure what Sasori was trying to do.

He had just used Transparent World to look at Sasori and found that Sasori had also modified himself, and the degree of modification was extremely high.

In that case, Sasori helping him with modification might not necessarily be out of malice, after all, Sasori had modified himself.

…

On the other side.

Nagato told Sasori to walk a little faster, creating some distance from Yahiko and the others, and then asked Sasori curiously:

“Sasori, why do you want to help Kakashi with a full-body modification?”

“What else do you think it could be? Of course, it’s to take the opportunity to kill him and get revenge.”

A cold, sinister smile flashed across Sasori’s face as he spoke.

“I don’t think so.”

Nagato shook his head.

Given Sasori’s personality, if he really wanted to kill Kakashi, he might have taken the opportunity to sneak attack just now.

“Tsk, acting like you know me so well.”

Sasori, feeling like Nagato had seen through him, was a bit annoyed.

“Could it be that Nagato actually has a younger brother who was lost since childhood?”

Yahiko looked at Nagato and Sasori from behind, stroking his chin in thought.

One was tall, one was short, and both had red hair, giving off the feeling of a rebellious younger brother and a good-tempered older brother.

“Who knows? As long as they’re happy, that’s all that matters.”

Konan smiled gently.

Just like her, Nagato, and Yahiko, the three of them were unrelated and had no blood ties, but their current relationship was closer than family.

“That’s true.”

Yahiko nodded, quickened his pace to catch up with Nagato, and put his hand on Nagato’s shoulder.

“Nagato, what else do you want to eat? Tonight is to celebrate you, you’re the main character.”

“Sukiyaki.”

“Then let’s go! Konan, hurry up too, don’t fall behind.”