Sasuke suddenly clutched the curse mark on his neck.
A powerful force coursed through the clouds above.
Countless spiritual energies emanated outward.
Itachi swung the Totsuka Blade, aiming at Sasuke's seal.
Sasuke was unconscious, but his right hand suddenly gripped the blade of the Totsuka Blade.
Itachi froze.
Sensing something unusual, Itachi realized Sasuke was undergoing some kind of transformation.
"Because I have converted the chakra within my body."
"So, when that curse mark is pushed to its limit, it will form a spiritual energy state, thereby stripping Sasuke's chakra and also turning it into spiritual energy."
Orochimaru's Sage spoke her worries aloud.
Sumeru now understood the core of the problem.
"Then, this is the moment for Itachi to make a choice."
Sumeru sighed helplessly.
A powerful force suddenly erupted from Sasuke's body.
Itachi quickly shielded himself with the Yata Mirror, but was still pushed back several steps.
Suddenly, Itachi remembered the box Sumeru had given him earlier.
He took it out from his怀 and eagerly opened the box.
Upon seeing the contents, Itachi froze.
Inside lay a yellow talisman and a golden handgun.
However, Itachi did not know what a handgun was. Fortunately, there was a manual from Sumeru.
"Can one directly kill someone from a distance?"
"If caught off guard, it's a plausible hidden weapon..."
"As for this yellow talisman..."
Upon reading the manual, Itachi fell silent.
It turned out Sumeru had foreseen this situation long ago.
Orochimaru's cultivation was his doing.
How could he not know about the curse mark on Sasuke's neck?
That yellow talisman was precisely to suppress the spiritual energy emanating from the curse mark on Sasuke's neck.
However, if used, Sasuke would become completely useless.
Because Sasuke's chakra was already transforming, and spiritual energy had entered his body.
If Itachi truly used the yellow talisman, Sasuke would be ruined.
As for the handgun, it was likely meant to be Sasuke's last shred of dignity.
"Sasuke..."
Looking at Sasuke, who was transforming before him, Itachi's heart ached.
Sasuke's black hair visibly turned white, and a whirlwind of spiritual energy swirled around his body.
Suddenly, Itachi tore the yellow talisman to shreds. He gathered all the power in his body into the Totsuka Blade and unleashed a single strike.
Heaven and earth trembled.
Sasuke violently spat out a mouthful of blood, and the spiritual energy barrier in front of him instantly shattered.
At this moment, Sasuke regained a brief moment of consciousness.
Simultaneously, Orochimaru's Sage also coughed up blood.
Sumeru quickly produced a pill for Orochimaru's Sage to swallow.
"It seems Itachi made a different choice."
"But what a pity."
"The outcome is the same."
After doing all this, the Susano'o on Itachi's body completely dissipated.
He walked step by step towards Sasuke, blood constantly trickling from the corner of his mouth.
Seeing Itachi approaching, Sasuke retreated in fear, pressed against the wall with nowhere to go.
"Forgive me..."
"Sasuke..."
A golden handgun was suddenly pressed against Sasuke's forehead.
Sasuke's heart raced, and he looked at the person looming over him with utter surprise.
Bang!
A gunshot rang out.
Itachi slowly fell.
Beside Sasuke's head, the wall was pierced by a small hole from the bullet.
He still couldn't bear to do it.
Sasuke gasped for air and then collapsed weakly beside Itachi.
Hearing the gunshot, Kisame seemed to already know the outcome.
He shook his head helplessly, a bitter smile playing on his lips, "Mr. Itachi, you are truly selfish..."
Suddenly, Sasuke's body was enveloped in a halo of light.
He took a deep breath, feeling refreshed. He could now sense the spiritual energy in the air around him.
However, his previous ninjutsu was essentially ruined.
But, his Sharingan could still be used...
The current Akatsuki.
Kakuzu and Hidan had vanished without a trace, taking a large sum of the Akatsuki's money with them.
Zetsu, Kisame, and Uchiha Obito.
Only three remained.
Not including Sasuke before them.
When Obito learned of Nagato's death, he trembled with rage.
"The plan is disrupted, now I have to do it myself..."
He headed for Amegakure.
Obito found Konan, who was guarding Nagato's corpse.
Upon learning that Obito was there to take the Rinnegan, Konan immediately attacked.
"Give up, you are no match for me."
"For the sake of our past teammate relationship, I do not wish to kill you," Obito said slowly, staring at Konan flying in the air.
"Shut up, come at me!" Konan hurled a barrage of paper shuriken.
Obito contemptuously took out a black rod from his sleeve.
"If that's the case, then don't blame me for being ruthless!"
With a swish, Obito threw the black rod straight at Konan in the air.
It knocked away the flying shuriken along the way and then pierced directly into Konan's chest.
Konan immediately turned into scattered white paper.
"Paper Clone Jutsu?"
Behind Obito, Konan threw ten kunai attached with explosive tags.
Obito's body suddenly became intangible, and he reached out from the void, grabbing Konan by the neck.
"Rasengan!"
At a critical moment, Jiraiya descended from the sky, smashing down a Rasengan in his hand.
Obito quickly dodged, and the ground was instantly smashed into a large hole.
"Jiraiya-sensei!"
Konan, seeing Jiraiya, ran towards him excitedly.
"With me here today, Nagato cannot be taken away," Jiraiya said confidently, staring at Uchiha Obito.
Obito suddenly felt the difficulty of the situation.
Jiraiya before him was indeed a formidable opponent, coupled with Konan.
But Nagato's Rinnegan had to be taken.
Otherwise, the next stage of the plan could not proceed.
In the corner, Black Zetsu saw this and let out a laugh, "Is this all you can do? What fools..."
"I still need to step in..."
While Obito, Jiraiya, and Konan were locked in their struggle, Black Zetsu slowly emerged from beside Nagato.
"It's a piece of cake..."
With that, Black Zetsu hoisted Nagato onto his shoulder and burrowed back into the earth, disappearing.
"Let's go, it's already in hand..."
Peeking out from behind Obito, Black Zetsu said with a grin.
"This guy... Nagato has already been taken?"
Jiraiya and Konan simultaneously turned to look. Indeed, only Yahiko's corpse remained there.
"Then, the next time we meet, I will truly have to take you seriously."
"Farewell, the two of you."
A vortex appeared in Obito's right eye.
In an instant, he completely vanished from the spot.
Seeing this, Black Zetsu quickly burrowed into the earth and slipped away.
Konan wanted to pursue, but Jiraiya stopped her, "You should know what they want Nagato's body for, right?"