Naruto: Passerby and Returnee

Chapter 529 The Missed Battle

While flying in mid-air, a strange green bird appeared in the smoke. The giant bird had bright purple eyes and two pairs of legs, exuding an eerie feeling.

It was fast enough to immediately carry its master away from the danger zone, but light was clearly faster. A straight bolt of lightning blocked its path. The giant bird, unable to dodge in time, collided with the persistent "light" and was instantly split in two in mid-air. It was only by making an emergency turn that it managed to narrowly escape the light with its master.

"We meet again, Nagato-senpai. You look even better than before. Did you manage to wreak havoc on the Three-Tails?" Even though the other side wouldn't answer, Naruto still greeted the enemy.

Being able to fly is so carefree! Naruto flashed right onto Nagato's face, waving goodbye headfirst. Nagato's Shinra Tensei was still on cooldown, so he could only use the Asura Path to deal with it, and a missile shot straight out from the limb that grew from his shoulder.

However, this level of combat intensity is nothing to Naruto. He's someone who manipulates space and time in countless ways, so he doesn't need complicated hand seals. As long as his mind can keep up, he can open a small spatial portal with a simple gesture. This is why he can confidently let his Jinchuriki fight separately, because he can instantly take them away from danger zones.

The missile vanished before it even reached Naruto, and the distance between the two closed rapidly. A fist, whistling through the air, landed squarely on Nagato's abdomen. Nagato had tried to make one last desperate struggle, grabbing Naruto's shoulder before the fist struck, but the Human Path was useless against him, and the fist still landed.

Naruto plummeted down alongside Nagato, managing to pull out the black rod embedded in Nagato's chest before the Edo Tensei could regenerate. That rod was what Obito used to control his puppets; touching it could easily lead to being controlled in reverse, giving the puppet an opening. Naruto wasn't sure if everyone could withstand the rod's control, nor could he guarantee the Edo Tensei would regain their senses after the rod was removed, so he simply didn't share this information, letting them fight freely.

The Edo Tensei can be rebuilt if it's damaged, but it's terrible if a person is gone.

Naruto was observing the reconstructed Nagato. Only the most skilled and daring would dare to stand by and wait for the resurrection. Although he had used the Impure World Reincarnation technique so many times, he had never observed its effects on a soul level. He couldn't observe it himself; the moment he crossed the boundary, this impure body completely belonged to him, leaving not even a trace of Kabuto's chakra.

Madara Uchiha was also not a good subject for observation; his attacks were earth-shattering and clearly unrestrained. Nagato, on the other hand, was significantly different. His soul light was extremely dim, enveloped by a layer of power completely different from his own. That was likely another person's soul, a very thin layer, yet it was the guarantee that the impure spirit could come to the human world.

Tobirama's research shows that only the living can use the Impure World Reincarnation technique, and only the souls of the living can remain in the world of the living. That thin layer of the living soul is a shell used to deceive the boundary between life and death; only the dead, enveloped by it, can cross the boundary and come into the world.

Therefore, killing the caster of the Impure World Reincarnation technique can actually end the jutsu. However, it takes some time for the soul shell to completely dissipate, so the apparent result is that the jutsu is not lifted but is still in effect. In reality, if left unattended for a period of time, these Impure World Reincarnations will naturally dissipate.

A person's soul has its limits. Excessively scattering the soul can lead to symptoms such as memory confusion and cognitive impairment—this was his experience firsthand. During that time, he was obsessed with restoring the planet to its state before destruction, almost disintegrating himself into one whole planet. As a result, the more power he scattered, the more extreme his thinking became. In the end, he almost forgot who he was, yet he still remembered that the Otsutsuki was still alive, and that he should kill that guy and destroy that plundering race.

That feeling was awful; he was almost not himself anymore. It was only after "Sasuke" kept persuading him to give up that this absurd self-imposed exile ended.

However, if the mechanics of the technique are as Naruto observed, then his resurrection of his predecessors was truly accidental. Anyone else trying to maintain the soul shells of so many people would probably go insane. It's only because he possesses a sufficiently powerful soul, capable of freely traversing the boundary between life and death, that he can maintain the resurrection even after death.

Kabuto's extensive use of the Impure World Reincarnation technique will inevitably affect even the strongest soul. As for what kind of impact it will have... could it make him more obsessive and only want to pursue power?

Meanwhile, at the border of the Fire, Field, and Silk Kingdoms, a chaotic battle was still raging.

Snakes have an excellent sense of smell, can detect heat to locate their prey, and can close their eyes to move freely without affecting their vision. These characteristics did allow Kabuto to evade two ninjas who used Sharingan genjutsu, but some of his other abilities were not fully effective in a spacious environment.

That underground cave was the hiding place that Dou had carefully chosen. Who knew that someone would completely disregard the lives of the hostages and shoot through the cave ceiling, forcing him to move to the surface.

Where did the hostage go? The woman he poisoned, who had lost her ability to move, was a burden to him, so of course she was abandoned.

Kabuto had originally intended to use this incident to dampen the arrogance of the two Uchiha, but the expressions on their faces were rather indescribable, and their attacks only intensified. It wasn't until Kabuto crashed into the barrier while trying to dodge the rain of magatama that he discovered the hostage he thought was dead was actually outside the barrier, and someone was giving her first aid!

That's not right. No one should be able to escape his senses. At such close range, there's no way he wouldn't have noticed. Who exactly sneaked in and rescued Hongdou?

Uchiha Shisui's response to this was:

"We are all within Naruto's perception range."

What does that mean? What does "within Naruto's sensory range" mean? Isn't Naruto in the Land of Lightning? He's at least 500 kilometers away! Is that really the range of human perception? And what does this sentence even mean?!

What drives researchers crazy? It's when a solution is only half-written, and they're stuck on the crucial part!

Dou really wanted to turn his grief and anger into strength, but reality was cruel.

These two have no sense of martial ethics; they've been attacking from a distance the whole time, giving him no chance to get close!