The final battle in Amegakure began with white-hot intensity.
The fight between Izayoi and Nagato was no less fierce.
The storm of Repulsion, like a white light engulfing everything, not only destroyed the trees within the barrier but also shattered the Four Violet Flames Formation, which could trap Five Kage-level powerhouses.
The remaining Repulsion storm even continued to spread, causing the towering trees, like small mountains, to tilt and bend. Some were blasted, covered in cracks, with parts of their trunks broken off.
The area where Nagato was located was completely barren.
Rumble...
Nagato's figure floated in the air. Before he could catch his breath, the sound of an earthquake echoed again.
The ground, which had been turned into a barren land and even blasted into a huge basin, once again grew a large number of trees, like giant pythons, wrapping around Nagato.
Nagato no longer used Almighty Push to resist. Instead, he turned his hands into cannons and flew higher into the air, not giving Izayoi a chance to use a barrier to trap him.
At first, the branches still extended in pursuit.
However, as Nagato flew higher and higher, the branches finally stopped pursuing and retracted into the forest.
Realizing that this height was the limit the branches could reach, Nagato stopped ascending. He used Attraction to float, then clapped his hands together. When he opened them, a black sphere appeared between his palms.
"Planetary Devastation!"
Nagato casually threw the black sphere forward.
A terrifying gravitational pull instantly surged down like a tidal wave.
The ground tore apart, and towering trees and rocks of various sizes broke free from the earth and flew upwards.
Izayoi was also within the range of the gravitational pull, rising into the air with a towering tree.
Izayoi was just about to use the Dust Release secret technique to shatter the black sphere, as he had done before.
However, glancing at Nagato, who was unaffected by the gravitational pull and floating not far from the black sphere, and feeling the significant decrease in his Chakra, Izayoi immediately abandoned that idea.
After a round of fighting, Izayoi had confirmed that Nagato's Preta Path could not absorb the Chakra within trees, only energy-based Chakra.
If this Sage Art level Dust Release were absorbed by Nagato, it would definitely restore a significant amount of his blue bar.
Thus, Izayoi crushed the Chakra vortex that had condensed in his palm and instead clapped his hands together, shouting softly, "Sage Art: Wood Release: Wood Dragon Technique!"
"Roar..."
A roar that shook all living beings echoed through the forest.
Then, a Wood Dragon, the size of a small mountain, tore through the earth and soared into the sky from the forest.
Under Nagato's wide-eyed gaze, the Wood Dragon opened its massive mouth and bit down on the Planetary Devastation, which had already turned into a meteorite, like a coiled dragon playing with a pearl. Then, it flicked its tail, carrying the power of distorted airflow, and swept towards the stunned Nagato.
Looking at the dragon tail sweeping towards him like a mountain, Nagato had no time to descend and couldn't use the power of the Asura Path to fly away. He could only release Repulsion to resist.
The next second, an incredible scene appeared.
The distorted airflow acted like an invisible barrier, resisting the sweep of the dragon tail.
But unlike the trees that were suspended in the air, this dragon tail was still approaching Nagato at a steady pace.
The Repulsion storm, which could easily destroy a mountain and a normal forest, failed to shatter this Wood Dragon and could only barely impede the dragon tail's advance.
Just how hard, how heavy, and how much Chakra did this thing contain?
If even a normal charged Repulsion storm couldn't blast it away, didn't that mean that every time he had to resist this level of Wood Release, he would have to waste a certain amount of time charging up?
No, I can't fight this kind of drawn-out battle with him, Nagato thought to himself, then quickly descended into the forest while the Repulsion storm had not yet dissipated.
As he descended, Nagato carefully observed Izayoi, feeling a hint of relief in his heart.
Fortunately, he wasn't the only one consuming a large amount of Chakra.
Izayoi was consuming even more Chakra than he was.
After landing, Nagato was about to form hand seals to create a few Wood Clones, and like Izayoi had done before, use barrier techniques to trap them together, not giving Izayoi the chance to force him to consume a large amount of Chakra to use Almighty Push.
Just then, a spatial vortex appeared next to Nagato.
"Leader, I'm here to help you!"
A comical voice sounded, and Tobi, with his pure white body, flew out of the fist-sized black hole.
"Tobi, you're finally here!"
Nagato's expression immediately brightened. "You came at the right time. Help me take down this guy."
"Yes!"
Tobi saluted, then opened up like a carnivorous plant and attached himself to Nagato's body.
In an instant, Nagato felt that his Wood Release Chakra and Yang Release Chakra had received an astonishing boost.
The Wood Release, which previously didn't even have the qualifications to carry this forest's shoes, suddenly gained the ability to contend for control over it.
Not only that, but even his physique, which had been enhanced by Sage Mode, was further improved.
If he were to engage in a taijutsu battle with Izayoi again, Nagato, with the enhancement of Sage Chakra, Asura Path, and Earth Release: Earth Spear, would definitely not have fists inferior to Izayoi's Earth Release: Earth Spear + Super Strength Fist.
"Leader, the village has been attacked by Toneri Otsutsuki's Puppet army. Aren't we going back to support?"
Tobi's voice echoed in his ears. While sensing for Izayoi's location, Nagato calmly said, "Toneri Otsutsuki's mission is to retrieve the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path. From our last conversation, it's not hard to deduce that the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path was originally on the Moon, but I summoned it down from the Moon. As long as he doesn't dig out my Rinnegan, no matter where he takes the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, even if he hides it in a different dimension, I can summon it back."
"His mission isn't to retrieve the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path at all, but to retrieve the Rinnegan."
"Right now, he's likely watching us silently from somewhere we can't see, perhaps even hoping that Konoha's Wood Release Ninja will weaken my strength so he can seize the opportunity to strike."
"I've made arrangements. It doesn't matter if the village is destroyed; there are as many Reanimation Jutsu undead as we need, as long as everyone is safe."
"Compared to Toneri Otsutsuki, Konoha's Wood Release Ninja pose a greater threat to us, both now and in the future."
After speaking, Nagato clapped his hands and said, "Let's go, Tobi!"
"Understood! Sage Art: Wood Release: Wood Human Technique!"
As soon as Tobi's voice sounded, two overlapping voices chanted a jutsu name.
Rumble...
The ground shook violently. A hundred-armed Buddha statue, taller than the primeval forest created by Wood Release: Advent of a World of Flowering Trees, estimated to be around 150 meters tall, rose from the ground.
So that's how it's made.
Izayoi hadn't interrupted Nagato and Tobi from beginning to end, instead hiding in the shadows and observing.
Watching the birth of the hundred-armed Buddha statue, Izayoi instantly mastered the Wood Human Technique.
So, he also clapped his hands, pouring his vast, ocean-like Sage Chakra into the ground, and shouted, "Sage Art: Wood Release: Wood Human Technique!"
The ground shook violently again. Even Hinata and Karin, who had rushed over from Konoha and were observing the battle from over twenty kilometers away using their Byakugan and Kagura Mind's Eye, could feel the two tremors.
However, more than the astonishing range of the tremors, what left them dumbfounded and shocked were the two mountain-sized masses of Chakra.
"Such a massive amount of Chakra can actually materialize? That's too incredible!"
Karin, seeing the Wood Human Technique for the first time, said with a slight tremor in her voice.
Moreover, Kagura Mind's Eye is different from the Byakugan's long-range vision and x-ray vision. It can only see blurry features but can sense things the Byakugan cannot.
Within these two mountain-sized masses of Chakra, Karin sensed astonishing vitality and aggressive power.
The former was Yang Release Chakra, and the latter should be the Natural Energy Izayoi had mentioned.
Hinata looked at the Wood Human Arhat that rose from the ground and confronted the hundred-armed Buddha statue, thinking to herself, Izayoi-kun and the Akatsuki leader have both become stronger.
At the beginning of the year, Hinata had seen the hundred-armed Buddha statue used by Nagato and Tobi, and its size was nowhere near as large as it was today.
This wasn't just the amplification of Sage Chakra; the Akatsuki leader's Chakra had also increased significantly over the past six months.
However, this increase was not as astonishing as Izayoi's.
After completing the second Fetal Movement, Izayoi's Chakra volume had already surged. After no longer maintaining Sage Mode for extended periods recently, his Chakra volume doubled again.
His current Chakra volume is much, much stronger than Uzumaki Naruto's.
Even the Akatsuki leader's Chakra is far inferior to Izayoi's.
However, Hinata, whose combat experience and intelligence far surpassed her original counterpart, felt no joy at this moment. Instead, her delicate brows furrowed, and she worried for Izayoi in her heart: If this continues, Izayoi-kun's situation is very bad!
"He really knows the Wood Human Technique too!"
Looking at Izayoi standing on the head of the Wood Human Arhat, Nagato said in a deep voice, "That's good too; the target is even clearer now."
"Leader, should I say hello to him?"
Tobi's voice entered his ears, and Nagato couldn't help but laugh, "Sure, Tobi, go ahead and say hello to him."
"Understood!"
Tobi immediately mobilized the Chakra within the hundred-armed Buddha statue beneath his feet, converting it into five Chakra nature transformations, forming a colorful pillar of flame that shot out from the hundred-armed Buddha statue's mouth, blasting towards the Wood Human Arhat and Izayoi.
Whether it hit or was blocked by a jutsu, this pillar of flame would unleash world-destroying power.
Even the Wood Human Arhat, whose hardness could catch a Tailed Beast Ball with its hands, would be severely wounded by the explosion.
Because the power of this move already surpassed that of a Tailed Beast Ball.
It wasn't Five Release, but... Sage Art: Five Release!
However, Izayoi had more than one way to block this Sage Art: Five Release.
The simplest way was to use the Wood Human Arhat to create a Dust Release secret technique of the same level, which could instantly decompose the Sage Art: Five Release.
But Izayoi couldn't do that.
As long as he released a ninjutsu, especially one of the Wood Human Arhat's scale, Nagato would definitely fly out from the hundred-armed Buddha statue and use the Preta Path to absorb it.
At that time, the Sage Chakra Izayoi consumed would only be providing Sage Chakra to Nagato.
The Tenseigan's Chakra absorption also couldn't be exposed with this identity.
So, Izayoi's finger moved slightly.
"Roar..."
The roar that intimidated all beings sounded again.
The Wood Dragon, which had fallen to the ground after losing control, soared into the air again, spat out the Dragon Ball formed by Planetary Devastation in its mouth, opened its mouth and swallowed the incoming colorful pillar of flame. Its body rapidly expanded, flashing with colorful light, and it was about to charge towards the hundred-armed Buddha statue.
Seeing this, the massive arms behind the hundred-armed Buddha statue immediately extended out and grabbed the flying Wood Dragon.
Boom—
Before the Wood Dragon could be flung back, the expanding Wood Dragon exploded like a balloon, blooming into a dazzling, colorful flame.
The terrifying energy explosion instantly shattered the extending wooden arms and engulfed Izayoi and Nagato on either side.
The Wood Human Arhat raised its hand to help Izayoi block the explosion's heatwave, while Nagato used the Preta Path to block the heatwave and also absorb the Sage Chakra contained within.
As soon as the flame disappeared, the sound of the earth shaking resounded.
The Wood Human Arhat stomped the ground and ran forward, smashing a fist towards the Hundred-Armed Buddha Statue.
The Hundred-Armed Buddha Statue met the attack with its own fist, unwilling to be outdone.
When the two fists collided, a terrifying wave of air, like a hurricane passing through, caused the forest created by Wood Release to sway violently.
The terrifying force also shook the Wood Human Arhat and the Hundred-Armed Buddha Statue back a step each, then they continued to clench their fists and strike again.
As soon as the scene of the two fists colliding appeared, Nagato immediately disregarded martial ethics, raised his hand towards Izayoi, and shouted, "Deva Path!"
A strange gravitational force attempted to pull Izayoi away from the top of the Wood Human Arhat's head.
Unfortunately, a wooden shield rose in time, helping Izayoi break the gravitational restraint.
At this moment, shadows of fists, like meteorites, fell towards Izayoi.
The scene that Hinata felt was bad had still happened.
From the moment Tobi arrived on the battlefield, Izayoi was no longer fighting one-on-one, but one against two.
Nagato used gravity to interfere, while Tobi controlled the Hundred-Armed Buddha Statue.
"A very impressive cooperation, you almost got me... but..."
Looking at the rain of fists covering him, Izayoi just grinned and muttered, "You simply cannot understand how powerful Wood Release is when it doesn't require hand seals!"
As soon as he finished speaking, a square gap appeared on the wooden ground beneath Izayoi's feet, then it turned into a platform that carried Izayoi down into the Wood Human Arhat's head.
In an instant, the Wood Human Arhat's eyes turned golden, as if dotted with the finishing touch, and red eye shadow appeared at the corners of its eyes.
It raised its other hand and slammed it towards the incoming rain of fists. The massive arm grew a large number of branches, forming giant fists that collided with the downpour of fists.
The terrifying force shook the Wood Human Arhat and the Hundred-Armed Buddha Statue back several steps, and their arms shattered.
"Nani?!"
Seeing this scene, Tobi could no longer maintain his comical facade and said in disbelief, "The user can hide inside the Wood Human? Did that attack just now not require hand seals?"
"His Wood Release indeed doesn't require hand seals," Nagato said, then asked, "Tobi, can you do that?"
"Impossible, it's simply impossible," Tobi said, doubting his life. "Although I can mobilize the Chakra inside the Wood Human and convert it into Five Release Chakra to release without seals using the Wood Human as a medium, my control over the Wood Human is nowhere near as effortless as his. Moreover, using the Wood Human to perform other Wood Release ninjutsu still requires hand seals, which takes time and preparation. But his Wood Release has no time or preparation at all, meaning he didn't use hand seals. How is that possible?"
"Perhaps... this is the true Wood Release," Nagato could only attribute it to this reason.
"So this is the true Wood Release, it's truly amazing."
Tobi, who had also never seen Hashirama Senju, immediately became excited and shouted, "Leader, we must capture him! As long as we transplant his cells, your Wood Release and mine will become even stronger."
"That's exactly what I was thinking!" Nagato laughed. "I'll leave the Wood Human to you, I'll target his weakness."
"No problem!"
Tobi immediately injected Chakra into the Hundred-Armed Buddha Statue, causing the shattered arms to regrow, and then the Hundred-Armed Buddha Statue moved towards the Wood Human Arhat.
"Roar..."
At the same time, a Wood Dragon soared from the forest, coiling around the Wood Human Arhat.
Immediately, the Wood Human Arhat raised its regrown fist, which was covered in a layer of blue Chakra aura, and then ran towards the Hundred-Armed Buddha Statue.
"Are you kidding me?! He can do that too?!"
Nagato and Tobi exclaimed again.
The Hundred-Armed Buddha Statue immediately stopped moving, and the hundred giant arms behind it extended again, turning into a storm of attacks.
In response, the Wood Human Arhat simply punched out.
Boom—
Terrifying Sage Chakra immediately erupted.
The Wood Human Arhat's version of the Super Strength Fist unleashed a massive wave of air, shattering dozens of the Hundred-Armed Buddha Statue's arms.
The Wood Dragon also flew out, its tail sweeping, carrying a force even stronger than the Hundred-Armed Buddha Statue's giant arms, shattering the remaining arms.
After the Chakra wave shattered the arms, it still contained powerful residual force, engulfing Nagato.
Nagato, who had regained his composure, quickly formed a hand seal with one hand, creating a Wood Clone in front of him, while his main body moved backward.
The Wood Clone spread its hands, creating a transparent white light shield to block the roaring Chakra wave.
In an instant, the Chakra wave seemed to be attracted by a magnet, all converging and pouring into the Wood Clone's body.
Seeing this, Nagato's face lit up with joy, saying, "As expected, it's Chakra, it can be absorbed!"
"Great, we don't have to be afraid now," Tobi also said happily.
"Miscalculation, I forgot about the Wood Human Arhat's size."
Izayoi, hidden inside the Wood Human Arhat's head, thought to himself.
Super Strength Fist is the Chakra burst of the Senju Clan.
Steel Fist is just one way to use it. Like Tobirama Senju and Hashirama Senju, they can also integrate it into their aura, shattering surrounding buildings.
However, it still doesn't change the fact that this is a way of releasing Chakra through Taijutsu, not like the Eight Gates which uses Taijutsu to strike the air and create Ninjutsu effects.
As long as it's Chakra, the Preta Path can absorb it.
The Chakra released by Izayoi wasn't obvious enough, and there wasn't enough time to absorb it.
In contrast, the Wood Human Arhat's Super Strength Fist released a Chakra shockwave with an astonishing area of effect; the 'special effect' was too obvious.
Unless he could find a weakness, he couldn't use a charged punch like the one just now again.
Thus, Izayoi changed his attack method, making Nagato and Tobi feel the gap in Wood Release once again.
The Wood Human Arhat reached out and grabbed the Wood Dragon's head.
In an instant, the Wood Dragon coiled around its body turned into a wooden dragon-slaying blade.
"Cheating, that's too much cheating!"
Tobi cursed loudly, "This flexibility and form change, Wood Release without hand seals, it's really too much cheating!"
Wood Release without hand seals is just that much of a cheat.
It's like the Uchiha Clan's Perfect Susanoo, which is composed of Yin Release Chakra, so it can be freely controlled and can also condense Yin Release Chakra into Samurai swords, Yasaka Magatama, shields, bows and arrows, and other weapons.
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