"Despair… is that it?"
Nagato lifted his head in disbelief, staring at the black shadow slowly descending from the sky. In that instant, he seemed to finally grasp what this man before him meant.
A meteor!
A massive meteor was falling from above, set to engulf him and the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path completely.
Feeling that inescapable, overwhelming pressure, Nagato truly began to doubt.
"Could this man… be a god?"
A god—that was always how he had defined himself.
But in this moment, he realized he was no god at all. The real god was the one soaring in the sky!
"What is that thing?"
"What kind of battle is this?"
"How can this be happening?"
Meanwhile, in Konohagakure, the shinobi who had only just survived their own bitter fights rushed to the village gates, or else stood atop the towering walls of Konoha.
The earlier battles had already gone far beyond their comprehension—perhaps only those who had lived through the Nine-Tails incident could vaguely guess at what was unfolding now.
Yet even that was nothing compared to this.
Staring at the meteor plummeting from above, every shinobi of Konoha panicked.
"Damn it—what the hell is happening now?"
Sarutobi Hiruzen and the others hurried to the wall as well. Seeing that colossal meteor in the distance, their faces went pale.
Cold sweat dripped down each of their foreheads, tracing lines down their cheeks.
If that thing were to crash into their village, the outcome would be disastrous beyond imagination.
"What exactly is going on here?"
Forcing himself to steady his thoughts, Sarutobi Hiruzen asked aloud. At that moment, Kakashi rushed over.
"It's that man…"
He pointed toward the distant figure floating in the sky. Only after a long pause did he lower his voice.
"After Guy and I finished our fight, we came here. That meteor—without a doubt—was summoned by him. And the Akatsuki… it seems he was the one who dealt with them as well."
"Akatsuki?"
Hiruzen froze for a moment, then slowly nodded.
No wonder there were no signs of Akatsuki members. They had already been intercepted?
But then…
"Who the hell is this man?"
"I know."
Tsunade's face was grim. Her gaze never left the meteor looming in the distance, but her voice was low as she spoke.
"Jiraiya received word from the toads. Ōtsutsuki Genshiki is here."
Ōtsutsuki Genshiki?
At that name, Sarutobi Hiruzen's expression changed sharply.
He had heard Chiriku speak of him, and Jiraiya had told him as well—that even the Great Toad Sage of Mount Myōboku had been deeply shaken by this name!
Hiruzen had always taken the owner of that name seriously, yet he had never received further news, nor had he ever laid eyes on the man.
Never had he expected to meet him like this today…
"To think he's already strong enough to freely control meteors? Is he really even human?"
Hiruzen muttered under his breath, his head pounding harder with every passing second.
"Ōtsutsuki Genshiki? Who is this man?"
Ōnoki, having also heard the name, could not help but ask aloud. Even Genji turned his gaze toward Tsunade.
"That man…"
Sarutobi Hiruzen wore a helpless, conflicted expression. He let out a long sigh and shook his head.
"I can't say for sure. The intelligence I've gathered is far too little. But from the looks of things now…"
"This man has already reached a level we never even imagined possible!"
When Hiruzen finished speaking, silence fell over everyone—everyone except Kitagawa Gen, who couldn't help but find it a little amusing.
After all, that "man" was himself!
"No wonder… the Great Toad Sage was so concerned…"
Closer to the battlefield, Jiraiya stared up in horror at the meteor hurtling down from the sky.
In that moment, he seemed to understand something—and that realization only terrified him more.
Since when had the shinobi world birthed such a person? Why would such an existence appear in this world?
Was that even human?
"And… Nagato. Are you his target?"
Jiraiya recognized the two combatants. He still didn't fully understand what was happening, but in a flash of memory he thought of Nagato's Rinnegan.
Could it be… because of that?
...
"A god?"
Just as terror gripped everyone, Nagato suddenly clenched his fists. The Rinnegan in his eyes blazed with unyielding resolve.
Throwing his head back, he fixed his gaze on the meteor plummeting from the heavens and let out a furious roar.
"So what if you call yourself a god?!"
With that roar, he forced the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path to its feet. Raising both arms high, he braced himself as though to catch the meteor head-on.
"Even if you are a god—you cannot do whatever you please."
He muttered under his breath, and a memory surfaced in his mind—an ancient tale.
The Sage of Six Paths had defeated the "Rabbit Goddess," sealed the Ten-Tails, and in doing so saved the world.
He was the inheritor of the Rinnegan. And now, before him, another so-called "god" had appeared.
Didn't this mean he was destined to walk the same path as the Sage of Six Paths—to defeat this so-called god and save the world?
"I will succeed. I'll become the new Sage of Six Paths, and bring peace to this world drowning in despair!"
His whisper was swallowed by the rumble above as he stared at the meteor drawing closer. In the next instant, he unleashed every last drop of his chakra.
"And the despair I've endured—what could you possibly understand?!"
"Shinra Tensei!"
The overwhelming repulsive force erupted in an instant, powerful enough to halt the meteor's descent for a brief moment.
But only for a moment. His Shinra Tensei was soon crushed beneath the meteor's weight. Still, it managed to weaken and slow the falling mass.
Even so, when the meteor finally crashed onto the Demonic Statue, the colossal beast bellowed a heart-rending roar!
"Rooaaar!"
Its wail shook the earth violently. Deep fissures split open like bottomless ravines, racing outward in every direction.
That terrifying force surged across the land, and though Konoha was still some distance away, the village's barrier twisted violently under the strain!
Countless cracks spread across it like a spider's web, covering the barrier in the blink of an eye.
"Damn it! Everyone, prepare your defenses!"
Hiruzen shouted the order at once, but before his words had even fully left his mouth—
[Crack!]
The barrier before him shattered like glass.
"Ninja Art: Flying Thunder God Barrier."
At that moment, Kitagawa Gen's God Tree clone suddenly moved. Forming a seal with one hand, he summoned an invisible "wall" before them in an instant.
That wall was covered with strange runes, and when the violent force crashed into it, it was immediately diverted away!
[Boom—]
[Boom—]
[Boom—]
Everyone stared in shock toward the distance, where the mountain peaks erupted with thunderous blasts, the shockwaves bursting outward with terrifying force.
The next moment, they all saw the peaks collapse, dust and smoke billowing into the sky!
"Gen, are you alright?"
Kakashi asked with urgency, but Kitagawa Gen simply shook his head.
"I can hold on, but have the Barrier Corps repair the defenses immediately."
The God Tree clone had remained here for a reason—so that the shockwaves wouldn't devastate everything around them.
After all, his true body was about to strike with full force.
Yet just as he spoke, another violent shockwave swept through, and the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path roared once more.
"Rooaar!"
With that roar, the colossal meteor was actually held aloft by the Demonic Statue itself!
The earth beneath had already sunken deeply, and Nagato coughed blood again and again. The White Zetsu covering his body had begun to wither.
His face was pale as death, yet at this moment he lifted his head and gave Kitagawa Gen a faint smile.
As if to say—I held it back!
...
'Is this Uchiha Madara's Rinnegan driving him insane?'
Kitagawa Gen couldn't help but let out a wry chuckle at the sight. He didn't answer, but slowly raised the Totsuka Blade in his hand.
"Though I'd love to ask, 'and what will you do about the next one?'…"
[Whirr—]
A luminous halo swirled around the Totsuka Blade like a cyclone. Smiling faintly, Kitagawa Gen looked straight at Nagato and spoke in a cold, distant tone.
"Farewell, lowly creature—Silver Wheel Reincarnation Explosion!"
In the next instant, he swung the Totsuka Blade. A massive storm surged forth, sweeping Nagato into its heart!
"Damn it!"
Nagato instantly felt unease. He forced the already staggering Demonic Statue of the Outer Path to clamp its jaws shut.
The colossal storm raged wildly, tearing the earth apart, and the meteor held in the Demonic Statue's hands was crushed to pieces in that instant.
Endless shards of rock had no chance to scatter before they disintegrated into countless fragments.
The Demonic Statue let out an even more harrowing wail. Its bark-like skin split open in massive cracks, spreading relentlessly across its body.
Its nine eyes could no longer open, its body collapsed to its knees, and fissures continued to crawl across its surface!
...
"What is that…?"
From afar, the shinobi of Konohagakure stared in shock. Whether it was Genji or Ōnoki, both held their breath.
This was something they had truly never seen before.
Even Sarutobi Hiruzen—who had once personally witnessed the battle between Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara at the Valley of the End—was drenched in cold sweat.
Back then, he had hardly understood their fight, but at least it was more comprehensible than this…
[Boom—]
At last, under the relentless sweep of the Silver Wheel Reincarnation Explosion, the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path could endure no longer.
To have lasted this long was already Nagato pushing himself beyond his limits. No matter how great the Demonic Statue's vitality or unbelievable its regeneration, in the end it was still just an empty husk. Its recovery depended entirely on Nagato—and Nagato himself was at his breaking point.
With a thunderous roar, the head of the Demonic Statue split open.
In an instant, the raging winds of the Silver Wheel Reincarnation Explosion poured inside. Almost at the same moment, Kitagawa Gen saw blood spray violently in all directions.
The Demonic Statue let out one final, drawn-out cry before its body slowly began to sink into the ground. At that moment, Kitagawa Gen raised an eyebrow.
[Konohagakure Exclusive Side Quest Complete: I Am the Village's Hope]
[Reward is being calculated]
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