Saving the Uchiha clan starts with becoming the clan leader.

After all, they both have the Rinnegan. Although Nagato has mastered the Rinnegan for much longer than Uchiha Mugen, Black Zetsu knows perfectly well that Nagato was not the original owner of those Rinnegan. There was always a gap between them, and the fact that he couldn't use techniques like Susanoo is the most direct evidence that he didn't fully control the Rinnegan.

As expected, Uchiha Sogen awakened his own Rinnegan, not only being able to control its power but also freely use abilities such as Susanoo.

If a fight breaks out,

Black Zetsu couldn't immediately determine his chances of winning.

What's worse is that he can't think of anything to do. If Nagato wins in the end, then there's nothing more to say. It's just a matter of the nephew lighting the lantern. We can proceed as planned. But what if Nagato... fails to win?

Thinking about such a future,

Even Black Zetsu couldn't help but feel a chill run down his spine.

It doesn't matter that Obito Uchiha lost to Mugen Uchiha. To be honest, even without Obito Uchiha... it wouldn't be a problem. As long as Nagato collects all nine tailed beasts, the plan can proceed.

But the problem now is, what if Nagato loses?

Then the plan would be impossible to carry out.

"No, this can't go on. We have to think of something, we absolutely have to think of something."

Black Zetsu began racking his brains, while simultaneously, on the vast ruins, Pain and his three other Paths' clones were locked in a fierce battle with Sogen's Deva Path clone, and the Animal Path clone was also fighting Uchiha Chihaya...

but,

It seems that the Animal Path alone cannot subdue Uchiha Chihaya; to be precise, the odds of victory are shifting towards Uchiha Chihaya's side.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

"You can split endlessly if you don't believe me."

"Uchiha Chihaya said softly."

She stood atop Susanoo's forehead, watching the fifty-headed hound rush towards her. Without hesitation, Susanoo obeyed her will, once again wielding its naginata to meet the attack. The sharp blade sliced ​​open the hound's mouth, and with a single sweep, cleaved off more than twenty heads.

No blood splattered.

No severed limbs or missing arms,

The split head split and regenerated once more, and the vicious dog's head became more than seventy. Its body, which was already as majestic as a small building, expanded once more. If at first the vicious dog was small enough to run through those drainpipes, now it was so large that even ordinary streets could not support its enormous body.

Just as the vicious dog was barking,

Just as they were preparing to pounce again.

suddenly,

The vicious dog stumbled, its roar turning into a painful wail.

Its magnificent body began to shrink rapidly, like a balloon with a hole punctured. With increasingly weak and mournful cries, the multi-headed dog shrank back to the size of a calf, lying helplessly on the ground, drooling profusely, its life force as faint as a candle flickering in the wind.

Endless regeneration and division,

This is ultimately impossible.

If it were truly possible to achieve that, what need would there be for tailed beasts? The Animal Path could simply summon a massive army of world-destroying summoning beasts, allowing the entire ninja world to experience the true taste of pain. Perhaps the so-called infinite splitting really exists? But unfortunately, the Rinnegan does not possess that kind of power.

While the Animal Path's [Amplification Summoning Technique] can grant certain summoned beasts the characteristic of 'split and multiplying when encountering a powerful attack,' there is a limit to the number of times it can be used. The exact number of times it can split and multiply depends on the strength of the summoned beast's own foundation. Moreover, once the number of splits and multiplies reaches the limit, it means that the summoned beast's lifespan has come to an end.

because,

The essence of this art is the unsustainable practice of draining the pond to catch all the fish.

A technique similar to burning one's lifespan or even one's soul.

The multi-headed dog was constantly splitting and multiplying as it was repeatedly killed by Uchiha Chihaya. Finally, it reached its limit, and its vitality plummeted. Uchiha Chihaya didn't even need to finish it off, because it was already dead.

The moment the body stopped shrinking,

Then they died completely.

Even the corpses began to dissolve, with flesh and bones turning into a pus-like substance.

Uchiha Chihaya ignored the multi-headed dog and spun her naginata like a wheel in her Susanoo. With two swift strokes, she severed the bull's pair of horns that were about to collide with her naginata, and then chopped off the bull's head with another stroke.

The aftershock of the strike even split the lake water, allowing a glimpse of the scenery at the bottom of the lake for a moment.

The second summoned beast,

He died there.

Without the multi-headed dog that could continuously split and multiply, fearlessly blocking her blade, the remaining summoned beasts were no match for her. Previously, under the manipulation of the Animal Path, the summoned beasts, with the multi-headed dog as the core, cooperated seamlessly, advancing and retreating as one, which was why they were able to hold onto Uchiha Chihaya so tightly.

Now the multi-headed dog is gone.

Even though the number of remaining summoned beasts is not small.

However, without the 'unkillable' meat shield of the multi-headed dog, the rest of the summoned beasts combined could not form a decent lineup. The emerald-colored Susanoo once again raised its hand and brought down its sword. The blade of the naginata pierced through the ground beneath its feet, broke through the giant centipede's carapace, and pierced through the centipede's body like a nail.

and,

This is not finished.

The eye technique called [Shinatohiko] was unleashed inside the centipede's body using a naginata as a medium. The shockwave generated by the storm tore the centipede's body to pieces, and the surrounding ground suddenly rose high along the trajectory of the centipede's body that was hidden underground.

Following the multi-headed dog and the bull, the third summoning beast, the giant centipede, also perished at this moment.

The Animal Path gazed at the emerald-colored Susanoo, its heart heavy.

Although Pain's Six Paths are essentially just one person, the consciousnesses that Nagato separated can think independently to a certain extent. Otherwise, the Six Paths clones would not be able to fight separately. In essence, the Six Paths clones are just more powerful shadow clones. Compared to shadow clones, they are more robust and durable. They share vision and maintain a constant connection in their thoughts and memories. These are just a few of their advantages.

The Six Paths clones seem quite powerful.

However, it can sometimes be quite annoying.

For example, now,

Faced with the rampaging Uchiha Chihaya, the Animal Path felt extremely heavy-hearted, but did not send out any distress signals, because he knew that the other clones were also engaged in fierce battles. The other clones were aware of the Animal Path's predicament, but the problem was that they were unable to spare any resources to support him.

Or rather, given the combat strength of the Hell Path, even if they went to provide support, it wouldn't be of much use.

The Hungry Ghost Path and the Asura Path joined forces with Pain, who represented the Deva Path, to fight against Sogen's Deva Path clone. Although it was just a clone, with the help of Susanoo, the Mangekyou Sharingan's eye techniques, and the two ninja tools, the Flame Fan and the Banana Fan, it managed to fight three opponents to a standstill, without losing any ground.

[Chapter 379. Black Cloak and White Cloak]

"Hmm... Payne's situation doesn't look good!"

Orochimaru stood in the shadows of the rooftop, his body covered by a jet-black cloak, blending almost perfectly into the dark, drizzling environment. He also had a multi-functional telescope installed in his right eye, just like Deidara, allowing him to easily observe the changing situation on the battlefield without being close to it.

"What? Orochimaru, are you planning to go and serve Pain faithfully?"

The one speaking is Scorpion.

Unlike Orochimaru, Sasori wore a pure white cloak.

However, what the two have in common is that even when they are right next to each other, they cannot sense each other's chakra fluctuations at all. If they could not see each other with their eyes, they would only feel a wisp of air next to each other in terms of chakra sensing.

Two cloaks,

One white and one black.

Made by different people and based on different principles, they achieve similar effects and are all top-notch treasures for concealing one's presence. If these items were to fall into the hands of those skilled assassins in the dark, they would definitely be a new milestone in the world of assassination.

"So, Scorpion, what are you planning to do next?"

Orochimaru had a smile on his face.

“Speaking of which… the cloak you’re wearing seems to resemble half of Zetsu’s body somewhat!” He stared at the boy-like Sasori, his eyes filled with undisguised interest. If the current situation weren’t so inappropriate, he would have loved to examine Sasori’s white cloak.

His black cloak was developed by studying Karin's Kagura Mind's Eye technique, extracting cells from the Uzumaki clan, and combining them with some of his cutting-edge research in the field of biotechnology. It almost perfectly achieved the effect of using Kagura Mind's Eye technique in reverse to conceal his own chakra fluctuations.

The black cloak was painstakingly researched and developed specifically for ease of movement in situations like today.

So--

Where did Scorpion get his white cloak?

What principle does it work on? What was it developed for? To be honest, he didn't care about the white cloak itself; what he cared about was the knowledge and secrets contained within it. Unfortunately, the time and place weren't right, so he couldn't go up and 'borrow' it to observe it.

I could only suppress the restless, insatiable greed for knowledge that was stirring within me.

"Humph!"

Sasori snorted coldly, glancing sideways at Orochimaru.

Are you threatening me?

"No, it's just a researcher's curiosity." Orochimaru's smile remained unchanged as he shifted his gaze from Sasori to the irregular strip of cloth wrapped around his back. "Since you don't like talking about this, let's change the subject. How about... we talk about what you're planning to do by capturing Kakuzu? Kakuzu is the treasurer of our Akatsuki organization. Are you planning to abscond with the organization's funds by capturing him?"

As soon as he finished speaking,

The already low temperature seemed to drop even further, and a chilling aura emanated from the scorpion.

Orochimaru and Sasori did not always act together.

During the battle against the Konoha ninja, when they were utterly defeated by Itachi Uchiha's Amaterasu and forced to flee, they both chose to go their separate ways. The two, harboring their own ulterior motives, were not only incompatible with each other, but the timing and place were also wrong.

Otherwise, the two would definitely engage in combat immediately to eliminate an unstable factor.

The shootout didn't happen; both men sped away in different directions at top speed.

however--

I don't know whether to call it fate.

Or are there other factors interfering?

The two, who were going in completely opposite directions, met again. Orochimaru, who was secretly moving around in the dark wearing a black cloak, noticed Kakuzu's extremely weak chakra fluctuations and couldn't help but have his eye on him. Kakuzu, the "immortal ninja," was an old man from the same era as the First Hokage. He had a vast amount of memories and knowledge in his mind and had mastered a kind of immortality technique. It would not be an exaggeration to describe it as priceless.

Although he has already developed his own method of achieving immortality.

However, this doesn't stop him from researching alternative methods of immortality. Perhaps he can learn new knowledge from them and improve his own immortality techniques. After all, his immortality technique has only just fulfilled his dream of immortality, and there is still much room for improvement.

then,

He followed the chakra fluctuations and searched for it.

Then they saw Sasori, cloaked in white, subdue Kakuzu and use sealing techniques to capture the immortal ninja who had lost his human form and was now just a large mass of black tentacles wearing a mask. Orochimaru himself was caught off guard and failed to hide, and was discovered by Sasori.

Because of that white cloak, he sensed Kakuzu's chakra fluctuations but didn't sense Sasori's presence at all.

In addition, environmental disturbances within this rain curtain,

Moreover, Sasori didn't even use ninjutsu to subdue Kakuzu.

They directly used poison to knock out Kakuzu.