Chapter 280: The Demonic Statue’s Contract

"Can’t do it?"

Ning Feng’s eyes widened.

He had spent so much time planning this.

Using both power and Madara’s ambitions to turn Obito against him...

All for one purpose:

To have Obito hand over control of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.

Then Ning Feng could seal the eight Tailed Beasts within his body into the statue one by one.

After that, he would seal the fully restored Demonic Statue—containing all nine Tailed Beasts—into himself.

At that point, he would become the second Sage of Six Paths.

And now...

Obito was telling him it wasn’t possible?

Didn’t that mean all his efforts had been for nothing?

As for Obito himself, Ning Feng didn’t value him all that highly.

Compared to the combined forces of Iwagakure, Kumogakure, and Madara’s faction, only Madara was truly worth worrying about.

The rest of the shinobi were insignificant.

Having Obito on his side was merely icing on the cake.

In fact, a single Obito couldn’t even influence the overall course of the war.

The current Obito lacked the charisma and resolve of the man who would one day launch the Fourth Great Ninja War.

He also lacked the foresight and combat intelligence that later allowed him to manipulate the entire ninja world from the shadows.

The only thing truly noteworthy about him was Kamui.

Even then, it was merely an ability that had briefly impressed Ning Feng.

The ninja world often spoke of Kamui as an unbeatable technique.

But from Ning Feng’s perspective—a level beyond most shinobi—it wasn’t impossible to counter.

First, offensive Kamui had a significant activation delay.

Fast shinobi such as Ning Feng, Minato Namikaze, and Tobirama Senju could simply dodge it through speed alone.

Then there was Kamui’s defensive form.

Setting aside how risky it was to physically touch an opponent in close combat...

Obito’s body had never undergone dedicated physical training.

His taijutsu relied almost entirely on the enhancement provided by Hashirama’s cells.

For a seventeen-year-old Obito, that level of taijutsu simply wasn’t impressive in Ning Feng’s eyes.

Obito’s position had suddenly become awkward.

The only reason Ning Feng had wanted him in the first place was because of his access to the Demonic Statue.

Now that Obito couldn’t hand over control of it...

He had effectively lost his value.

"Because the summoning contract for the Demonic Statue is in Madara’s possession."

Obito spread his hands helplessly.

There was nothing he could do.

After all, even his own ability to use the Demonic Statue had come from Madara’s assistance.

Madara had helped him establish the summoning contract and repeatedly warned him not to attempt controlling the statue without the Rinnegan.

"I imagine he planned to wait until I recovered the Rinnegan that Nagato used for Outer Path: Samsara of Heavenly Life."

"Only then would he let me help him seal the remaining Tailed Beasts into the Demonic Statue."

Obito laughed bitterly.

Now that he had stepped outside Madara’s plan, he could see many suspicious details much more clearly.

On the surface, Madara’s arrangements had sounded perfectly reasonable.

But when Obito actually thought through the process...

Combined with Madara’s actions after his resurrection...

He could easily guess how Madara treated pieces that had outlived their usefulness.

Once Obito sealed the Tailed Beasts and revived Madara, his purpose would be fulfilled.

And a discarded chess piece...

Was something Madara would never look at again.

Having followed Madara for so long, Obito understood this better than anyone.

Madara was exactly that cold-hearted.

"Then there’s no helping it."

Ning Feng sighed.

"Looks like I’ll have to kill Madara first and search his corpse thoroughly for the summoning contract."

This outcome had never been part of his calculations.

According to the original plan, Obito would simply hand over control of the Demonic Statue.

Then sealing the eight Tailed Beasts would proceed naturally.

But now...

A flaw had appeared in Ning Feng’s plan.

As he listened to Obito mention Nagato, he couldn’t help becoming distracted.

"I still don’t know what to do about Nagato..."

Ning Feng sighed.

Nagato’s condition had been completely outside his expectations.

By the time he arrived, Nagato had already been at death’s door.

His eyes had been stolen.

His body had suffered extensive damage.

During treatment, the medical shinobi had already warned Ning Feng that even if Nagato recovered, he would be left with severe lingering injuries.

His strength would likely decrease significantly.

There was even a possibility he would never be able to function as a shinobi again.

Without the Rinnegan, Nagato was nowhere near as powerful as before.

He had always relied heavily on the Rinnegan’s abilities.

Now that it was gone, at least half of his combat strength had vanished with it.

"What do you know about Madara’s next move?"

Ning Feng dismissed his Susanoo and stared directly into Obito’s eyes.

If he knew what Madara intended to do next, he could interfere far more effectively.

And perhaps make Madara’s life considerably more miserable.

"Nothing."

Obito shook his head.

"He’s extremely secretive about it."

"I suspect only Kabuto knows what his next step is."

"I see..."

Ning Feng nodded.

The answer didn’t surprise him.

After all, both Madara and Black Zetsu were extraordinarily cautious.

The fact that they hadn’t revealed their future plans to Obito proved they had already realized his loyalties were wavering.

To Madara, Obito had always been little more than a successor.

Madara understood Obito’s ambitions well enough.

What he hadn’t expected was how quickly Obito would choose to rebel.

Madara had already displayed a great deal of his power before Obito.

Yet Obito still harbored other thoughts.

"Still..."

Obito shrugged.

"Even though Madara currently possesses the contract, he’ll eventually need to extract the Tailed Beasts and seal them into the Demonic Statue one by one."

"So all you have to do is keep searching for Madara’s hideout."

"Once you defeat him, just interrogate him little by little."

"Little by little?"

A strange smile appeared on Ning Feng’s face.

Madara possessed far more valuable things than just the Demonic Statue’s contract.

When the time came, Ning Feng wouldn’t merely question him about the statue.

There were many other secrets worth extracting as well.

But for now, the priority was finding Madara’s hiding place.

Once he obtained the summoning contract and summoned the Demonic Statue himself...

He could seal the eight Tailed Beasts within him into it.

At that point, possessing both the Rinnegan and all nine Tailed Beasts, Ning Feng would undoubtedly become the shinobi closest to the Sage of Six Paths.

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