Don't Set Up a Flag Before a Battle

"You don't need to argue; you're both just small fries, and it doesn't matter which one," Nagasawa confidently said.

Madara frowned deeply, feeling quite frustrated.

No one could act arrogantly in front of him. Even the Five Kage were like children in his eyes.

However, he refrained from saying anything because he had been defeated by Nagasawa.

But Madara felt that it wasn't about being inferior to Nagasawa; if their strength were on the same level, he was sure he could win!

"I was careless. Once I attain the power of the Six Paths, I won't fail!" Obito said as he shaped the Truth-Seeking Balls into a black sword that resembled a double helix structure.

The black sword was dozens of meters long.

"This is the Sword of Nunoboko, which Sage of Six Paths once used to create the world, and I will use it to defeat you," Obito said coldly.

"When you said you wouldn't fail, you had already failed," Nagasawa replied with a calm smile. It wasn't a good habit to declare victory before a fight.

"Hmph!" Obito snorted and swung the massive Sword of Nunoboko towards Nagasawa. Despite its enormous size, it appeared weightless in Obito's hands, allowing him to swing it around swiftly.

Watching Obito charging at Nagasawa, Madara shook his head and said, "What a foolish kid. However, it's fine. The plan can still succeed."

In his opinion, it was unlikely for Obito to win against Nagasawa, even if he himself stepped in.

Fortunately, Madara had anticipated Obito's betrayal and had several backup plans.

Since Obito didn't uphold his promise to resurrect him, Madara would resurrect himself.

"Zetsu has been monitoring your every move, Obito. You're nothing more than my puppet," Madara thought with a cold sneer.

Rumble!!!

The Sword of Nunoboko was incredibly powerful. Each swing from Obito caused immense destruction, easily creating craters hundreds of meters deep.

However, Obito wasn't well-versed in swordsmanship; he had only used chain as a weapon. So, he was essentially swinging the Sword of Nunoboko like a massive club.

With his extraordinary speed and the tremendous power of the Sword of Nunoboko, Obito could easily kill anyone weaker than him.

But Nagasawa was slightly stronger than him. Furthermore, he was a skilled swordsman, so Obito couldn't even touch him.

"Obito, you're such a moron!" Nagasawa suddenly cursed in the midst of their fight.

This insult caught Obito off guard, leaving him stunned in place. Despite both of them being skilled Shinobi, they generally used more refined language even when insulting each other. Calling someone a "moron" so blatantly was something Obito had never encountered, and it seemed that the simplicity of those two words carried tremendous impact.

"Is this the best you can do when you're cornered?" Obito launched another heavy strike.

"No, I didn't say that earlier because there were people I knew around." Nagasawa revealed the truth.

As they exchanged blows, they were pretty far from the crowd, and there was no one else around.

Nagasawa still had his pride. As the Fourth Hokage from another world, he couldn't afford to use a crude word like "moron," especially when there were people around.

Obito: ...

The image of an overwhelming Nagasawa instantly crumbled in Obito's mind.

Despite being his enemy, Obito held Nagasawa in high regards, as he could stand up against his Six Paths Sage Mode with his ordinary human abilities. However, that image had now crumbled.

"If I hadn't come to this world, I wouldn't have known that the masked man who attacked Konoha was you. Minato taught you so much, and this is how you repay him?" Nagasawa questioned Obito.

He deliberately led Obito over to this area to ask him why he went this far.

Obito remained silent for a moment, then tightened his grip on the Sword of Nunoboko and continued to swing it. "Who do you think you are to meddle in our affairs?"

Nagasawa's Chakra exploded, and even though the black sword in his hand was vastly inferior to Obito's Sword of Nunoboko, he managed to parry Obito's Sword of Nunoboko and leave a wound on Obito's body.

"I'm just a friend of Minato and Kushina!" After injuring Obito, Nagasawa intensified his assault.

"Friend? What do you know about it? Ridiculous," Madara retorted despite his injuries.

"He's known as the fastest shinobi in the world, but he's always late when it comes to his own student. If a person like that becomes the Hokage, it proves that Hokage is nothing special."

Boom!!!

The aftermath of their battle had caused massive destruction, leaving deep craters in the ground.

"You think that Minato should protect you 24/7? He's participating in war! Babysitting you is not his only job. He's also responsible for all the other Konoha Shinobi involved in the conflict. As a Shinobi, you must be responsible for yourself. If you rely on others for everything, can you still call yourself a Shinobi?" Nagasawa argued while unleashing a barrage of slashes.

"You only know about my attack on Konoha, but did you know that when I stood in front of my teacher once again, he actually mistook me for Madara Uchiha? It's laughable! A guy who couldn't even recognize his own disciple is hailed as Konoha's Yellow Flash?" Madara continued to argue, trying to shift the blame away from himself onto Minato.

"As far as Minato knew, you were supposed to be dead. You were taller, covered in a black robe that blocked out even the light, wore a mask, and your voice was completely different. Who would recognize you? Tell me, could your former self recognize that masked man?" Nagasawa's blood pressure spiked upon hearing Obito's words. His energy surged to its peak as he dished out a hundred-meter-high golden flame compressed air blade.

This bright compressed air blade dispersed the darkness around them, illuminating everything in a golden light. After hearing Nagasawa's words, Obito was shaken, and the power of the Sword of Nunoboko was determined by one's resolve.

Crack!

The Sword of Nunoboko, which was hailed as the weapon to create all things, couldn't withstand Nagasawa's overwhelming attack and snapped in two. At the same time, Obito suffered severe damage, making it impossible for him to float in the air, and he crashed to the ground.

Nagasawa pointed his sword at Obito. "You've lost."

At this point, most of Obito's body was charred from the flames. This was how terrifying Sun Breathing was when combined with Senjutsu Chakra as it could even injure the Six Paths Sage Mode.

"I was truly upset and wanted to kill you when I hear your words. But you're not the same Obito from my world, so I'll leave Minato to deal with you." Nagasawa sheathed his sword.

Obito remained unfazed as he stared blankly at the Red Moon on the sky. Even after attaining Six Paths Sage Mode, why did he still fail? Was he truly incapable of accomplishing anything? Why did Nagasawa's words make him feel like he was in the wrong?

"Believe it or not, even after what you did to Minato and Kushina, Minato will still spare you when he sees you in this state. Heck, he may even protect you," Nagasawa said.

"Why?" Obito looked at Nagasawa in confusion. He didn't know who Nagasawa was but judging from his words, he should be somewhat close with his teacher even though he was from another world.

However, he found it hard to believe that Minato would do as Nagasawa described. Obito was the one responsible for Minato and Kushina's deaths and had initiated this devastating war. It was unlikely that Minato would protect him after what he had done.

"Even though you say nasty things to him and blame everything on Minato for not arriving in time, Minato is a compassionate person, and he may truly see this as his own fault." Nagasawa replied.

Just then, Nagasawa sensed that someone on the battlefield was dying. The next second, he was surprised as it was Naruto. He was quick to act, grabbing Obito and rushed quickly toward the God Tree.

He saw Hashirama was immobilized by Madara's Black Receivers, Tobirama missing an arm, and Minato holding the unconscious Naruto. Madara, with only one Rinnegan, stood tall near the God Tree alongside Black Zetsu.

"What happened?" Nagasawa inquired as he approached Tobirama.

"That bastard Madara is too cunning. Just now, my brother almost sealed him, but suddenly, a black creature sprang out and attacked Naruto, transplanting the Rinnegan to him. Then Madara used Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique to resurrect himself," Tobirama explained with a frustrated look on his face.

"That black creature sure is mysterious. I couldn't even detect its presence at all, even when it was right there. It was as if it didn't exist," Nagasawa said, nodding in agreement.

He had a rough idea of what happened. Hashirama should have been able to handle Madara especially with Tobirama on his side, but since Hashirama gave him so much Senjutsu Chakra, coupled with the element of surprise from Black Zetsu, the tables had turned!

"Since you win your battle, the overall situation won't be too bad," Tobirama added upon noticing Obito's injuries.

"Didn't I tell you that you can't defeat him on your own? Let's join forces. Do you remember that I'm the one who taught you everything? We can lead everyone into that perfect dream world together," Madara Uchiha sneered on Obito's defeat and extended his hand once again.

"Have you forgotten the pain you've endured? There's no longer any need for this world! We can create a new world without war and peace for all," Madara continued, trying to tempt Obito.

However, Obito ignored Madara's words and turned to Minato, "All of this started because of me. Kill me, Minato. In this state, a mere kunai should be enough to put an end to me. Come on, isn't teleporting with Flying Thunder God Technique and stab your opponent with a Kunai your specialty? Do it already!"

Minato was stunned. He couldn't understand why Obito was suddenly begging to be killed. At that moment, Kakashi, who had gotten slightly better, finally emerged from Kamui dimension. Hearing that Obito wanted to die, Kakashi immediately took out his kunai to strike Obito down.

Kakashi didn't know what happened to Obito while he was in Kamui dimension, but he was certain that Obito was up to no good. He had tried so many times to persuade Obito, but to no avail. At this point, all he could do as a friend was just put an end to Obito's life!

Minato swiftly grabbed Kakashi's hand before the kunai could pierce Obito. 

"Sensei?" Kakashi looked at Minato in confusion.

Minato shook his head and said, "Given how things have turned out, as your teacher, I should take the responsibility. You two were once comrades who fought together. If Rin saw you both in this state, she'd be heartbroken, wouldn't she?"

"Obito is no longer a threat, there's no need to kill him."

Minato's words were genuine, and Minato also prevented Kakashi from killing Obito. Obito had mixed feelings at this point. He wanted to ask Minato loudly, "I'm the one who killed you and your wife, and your son's life is hanging by a thread because of me. Why don't you kill me?"

"Obito, what takes you so long? You're also Madara, my successor. We should cooperate; otherwise, there will never be peace in this world, and your Rin won't be able to be resurrected. Come on, join me once again, and then you, I, and everyone in the world, can find happiness," Madara continued, not giving up on tempting Obito, even referring to him as Madara.

Now that he had been completely resurrected, even with only one Rinnegan, he was much stronger than when he was revived through Summoning: Impure World Reincarnation. On top of that, he had also acquired Hashirama's Sage Art from Hashirama's cells.

If his opponent was Obito in Six Paths Sage Mode, he was confident he could deal with him and defeat him to claim the Ten-Tails for himself.

But if his opponent was Nagasawa, Madara was uncertain of the outcome.

This was the most critical moment. Madara couldn't afford to make any mistakes. He was determined to finish Infinite Tsukuyomi and reach that dream world without war, sadness, where everything was beautiful.

For this goal, he was willing to do whatever it took!