Saving the Uchiha clan starts with becoming the clan leader.

In a dark corner, Obito Uchiha frowned deeply beneath his mask.

The sneak attack, which he thought had seized a perfect opportunity, not only failed to achieve any effect, but also resulted in Uchiha Munen stabbing him with his stick, almost creating a hole in him. Of course, he was also mentally prepared for the possibility that the sneak attack might fail, and he did not wishfully think that the battle would end so easily.

The problem is,

It wasn't just that his sneak attack failed.

Xiao Nan's surprise attack also ended in failure.

The moment he made his move from underground, Xiao Nan also unleashed a tremendous rain of paper from the sky.

This wasn't about perfect teamwork; it was simply that both of them saw the opportunity when Sogen attacked Nagato and seized that perfect moment to strike. However, Sogen used Hardening Technique to withstand Obito's attack and nearly left Obito with a slap in return.

A rain of paper falling from a height.

They didn't even glance at it.

With a thought, the deep crimson Susanoo rose up.

Such an attack couldn't even break through Susanoo's defenses, even though each piece of paper was actually an explosive tag. The booming explosions echoed deep underground, but unfortunately, it didn't even scratch a hair on Zongxian's head. Compared to this insignificant trick, it was all for naught.

Nagato's counterattack was much more exciting.

As Sogen retaliated by striking Obito Uchiha with his staff, another mechanical arm emerged from behind Nagato. The center of the mechanical arm's palm was filled with extremely bright, high-density chakra. Sogen's Deva Path clone had already experienced the same technique more than once.

【Asura Path - Laser Cannon】

Unlike the Asura Path clone, which requires opening its head and spending time charging up before it can use this move, Nagato can unleash this incredibly destructive attack simply by summoning a mechanical arm. Moreover, the activation speed is extremely fast, requiring almost no charging time.

For this,

There's nothing surprising about that.

This is normal.

The Six Paths clones cannot generate their own chakra; they require the original body to remotely transmit chakra over long distances to supply their consumption. Once transmission is mentioned, the issues of transmission efficiency and transmission loss inevitably need to be considered.

In comparison, releasing all the moves from the main body is much less troublesome.

The charged attack naturally transforms into an instantaneous attack.

A dazzling laser cannon hurtled in.

It pierced through Susanoo's ribs, but the instant that Susanoo slowed down the laser cannon was enough for Sogen to summon the Flame Fan and fan it against the laser cannon, directly absorbing and converting the laser cannon's power into a fierce storm that completely tore the already tattered 'paper wall' to shreds.

"Earth Escape·Earth Flow Wall."

Nagato clapped his hands, abandoning the hand seals to release the ninjutsu, and summoned a towering rock wall to block the oncoming storm. Although the rock wall was almost torn to shreds by the fierce storm, it ultimately withstood the erosion of the storm.

However, the remaining rock and soil could no longer be called a wall; it was merely a mound of earth.

Just as the storm was grinding against the rock and earth walls,

Konan, who was guarding Nagato's side, raised her right hand high.

"The Dance of Paper, Paper Flying Wheel, Bee Swarm".

The white paper scraps, like the endless snowfall in the Snow Country, surged upwards. The numerous scraps, though numerous, gathered together in an orderly fashion, forming rings with sharp, blade-like edges that rotated at an ever-increasing speed. When the fierce wind subsided, the rock wall collapsed.

In just a moment,

Xiao Nan swung her raised right hand down, launching an extremely fierce attack.

Hundreds of rapidly spinning paper wheels hurtled towards the deep crimson Susanoo, the sharp, piercing sound of them tearing through the air echoing throughout the underground space in an instant, however—

Again,

The Rinnegan's field of vision is shared.

There are no blind spots in front of Sogen. The idea of ​​using the rock and earth walls summoned by Nagato to block Sogen's vision and achieve a surprise attack is wishful thinking. He doesn't even need to form hand seals.

Take a deep breath.

Immediately,

Then it unleashed a vast sea of ​​fire.

"Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation".

Even now that he has awakened the Rinnegan, and his mastery of the five nature transformations of chakra has reached its pinnacle, Fire Release... is still the strongest of the five nature transformations!

Paper Flyer

They withstood the flames for less than a moment before turning to ashes.

Even though these papers were specially made of waterproof and fire-resistant materials, they were still no match for the vast sea of ​​fire. Hundreds of paper flying wheels were burned to ashes before they even reached Zongxian.

but,

Such an attack was still no match for Nagato.

Rather, this tactic is actually nourishing Nagato.

[Hungry Ghost Path - Sealing Technique Absorption Seal]

Nagato stretched out his hands, as if he had erected an invisible barrier. The vast sea of ​​fire could not cross that line at all. Instead, it rushed towards Nagato's hands. The scorching flames were quickly swallowed up as if they were pouring into a bottomless pit, and were used to replenish the huge amount of chakra consumed earlier.

at the same time,

Zongxian, however, was completely unconcerned about Nagato's act of devouring the sea of ​​fire.

because,

In that instant, a new idea flashed into my mind.

He let Nagato devour the sea of ​​fire, then swiftly retrieved a diving oxygen supply from the scroll and began breathing in the oxygen from the cylinder. At the same time, he flipped his left hand and summoned the Banana Leaf Fan, which he then rapidly and continuously fanned around him.

then,

The rock and soil began to deform under the influence of the banana leaf fan.

Whether it's landing, rising, or moving horizontally, all the surrounding air vents are blocked.

This is an abandoned shelter located deep underground.

it's here,

Air is also a finite resource.

Unlike the open environment above ground, air circulation is not so smooth deep underground.

Although Nagato had absorbed very little of the fire, the oxygen in the vicinity was also depleted. Zongxian had already felt some difficulty breathing before putting on the oxygen device, and now Zongxian had blocked all the airflow channels.

You can easily imagine how scarce the air is here.

after all,

Even the chameleon summoned by Zongxian was forced to reveal itself from the darkness due to difficulty breathing. The chameleon, with its purple wavy eyes, struggled and twisted its body, but could not get the oxygen needed to sustain its life. It looked like it was on the verge of death and would not live much longer.

Seeing the dozen or so chameleons struggling desperately like fish that had just come ashore,

Hidden in the darkness, Obito Uchiha suddenly realized why the sneak attack had no effect on Mugen Uchiha: it was the Rinnegan's shared vision... It's not that he couldn't think of this possibility; he hadn't been able to find these chameleons that blended into their surroundings even with his Sharingan.

Of course, this was also due to the time constraints at the time, which prevented them from examining the document carefully.

If one examines every inch of the land carefully, it is impossible not to discover the chameleons within these individuals whose chakra flows.

but,

You'll regret this later!

Now is not the time to reflect on past carelessness; the battle continues.

At this moment,

Obito Uchiha experienced the feeling of having difficulty breathing once again.

The last time was when he was hit by a falling rock during the battle at Kannabi Bridge, which left him partially paralyzed and bedridden for a long time. However, at that time, his heart and lungs were damaged by the falling rock, causing breathing difficulties. After transplanting White Zetsu's body, he quickly recovered.

And this time,

It's simply because there isn't enough oxygen in the air.

Of course, it's just holding your breath. Most people can hold it for a minute or two. Ninjas like them have even higher endurance. If they don't move, they can hold it for three to five minutes without any problem. But the problem is that holding your breath will obviously affect your ability to fight. The amount of oxygen consumed during exercise and rest is completely different.

Moreover, the longer it drags on, the greater the impact will be.

Even worse, Uchiha Sogen was breathing oxygen from an oxygen tank and was completely unaffected.

With one side gaining and the other losing,

The current evenly matched situation could collapse in an instant.

Nagato and Konan had not anticipated such a situation, nor did they, like Sogen, have prepared the necessary equipment in the scroll to deal with all possible dangers. After Nagato devoured the sea of ​​fire, the difficulty in breathing, which they thought would disappear with the fire, was not resolved.

Instead, it got worse; he couldn't breathe anymore and was only inhaling carbon dioxide.

I could only hold my breath.

Fortunately, although Nagato looked as weak as a consumptive, his still very bright red hair proved that he was far from being at his wit's end. His strong vitality gave him superhuman endurance, and even while holding his breath, he still had the strength to resist Sogen's attacks.

Zongxian was wearing an oxygen mask and was unable to use the series of fire-style techniques he could exhale.

but,

He was holding two fans in his hands.

Leaving aside the fact that the Flame Fan is primarily defensive, the Banana Fan is now displaying its power in Sogen's hands. With the infusion of chakra, a gentle wave unleashes another raging sea of ​​fire, forcing Nagato to once again use the power of the Preta Path to absorb the flames.

However, in this way,

They were unable to spare a hand to break through this 'suffocating world'.

Pain's Deva Path clone was rendered unable to rise again by Uchiha Sogen's Shinra Tensei and had to use the power of the Hell Path to repair itself before it could continue fighting. Now, he was tied down by Sogen, and even the mechanical arm he summoned was engaged in a fierce battle with Sogen.

Xiao Nan was trying her best to bombard the blocked passage with explosive tags, but unfortunately, she dared not use too many explosive tags in this confined environment. She could only use a small number of explosive tags to try to blast a way out.

however,

too slow.

The process is just too slow.

This is truly deep underground; blasting a way out won't be easy.

At this moment—

Obito Uchiha acted decisively, breaking the stalemate.