[Boom—]
The Rasengan infused with planetary power and Nagato's 'Super Shinra Tensei' collided, unleashing a tremendous energy shock.
That invisible force roared, tearing the entire earth apart, while the massive mushroom cloud melted everything around it!
Under the effect of this overwhelming power, Nagato's body was blasted away, and even he found it hard to endure such world-shattering energy.
His body tumbled over and over before he finally managed to land firmly on the ground.
But his clothes were already badly torn, and he was panting heavily.
By contrast, on the other side, Kitagawa Gen's figure had long since vanished.
Only after the torrent of energy had nearly exhausted itself did he leisurely flicker into view, standing atop a heap of ruins.
"Not bad. I admit you've indeed made some progress."
"Hmph."
Nagato gave a cold snort. Seeing Kitagawa Gen unscathed, a chill stirred in his heart.
But he had long known Kitagawa Gen's ferocity, and he also understood his methods, so he quickly steadied himself again.
"Relying on Flying Thunder God truly avoids many troubles. Such space ninjutsu is really a headache."
In Nagato's eyes, Kitagawa Gen's intact state was entirely thanks to Flying Thunder God.
Of course, he would never outright deny Kitagawa Gen's strength.
That earlier special Rasengan, capable of directly contending with his 'Super Shinra Tensei,' had already said it all.
'But that Rasengan was extremely peculiar—what exactly was that power?'
Nagato was deeply puzzled, but he had no time to dwell on it, because Kitagawa Gen had already moved!
Hands pressed together, not a single superfluous seal formed, and at once a vast mass of vines burst up from the earth, wildly intertwining and coiling.
That flood of vines surged toward Nagato, forcing him to dodge quickly.
In no time, towering giant trees rose into the sky, interwoven into what seemed an ancient forest.
And atop those massive trees, countless flower buds swelled, ready to bloom.
With Kitagawa Gen's chakra surging, an enormous wooden figure roared skyward, standing tall. Kitagawa Gen stood upon the head of a wooden dragon coiled around the wooden man's body.
"Nagato, you're no longer the man you were three years ago."
Kitagawa Gen let out a light laugh, controlling the wooden figure as he looked at Nagato's grave expression.
"This also means you're not just some ordinary thug anymore—I have to strike with a heavy fist!"
"?"
Nagato did not understand what being 'not an ordinary thug' had to do with 'striking with a heavy fist.'
But seeing Kitagawa Gen's stance, he knew he couldn't take it lightly.
'But that's fine. Only by surpassing this stumbling stone can I go on to face Ōtsutsuki Genshiki!'
Nagato roared, his power flaring once more, and he charged straight toward the colossal wooden man.
[Boom—]
[Boom—]
[Boom—]
Across the ruins and the gorge, those ear-piercing blasts exploded again, and the ground once more began to quake violently.
"To think they're fighting this fiercely…"
Not far away, Black Zetsu's figure quietly emerged.
Looking at the immense dense forest in the distance and hearing the roars of the wooden giant, even Black Zetsu could not help but sigh.
"Black… such terrifying power."
White Zetsu trembled beside him, seemingly unable to withstand such power.
"That Kitagawa Gen is really incredible, to think he's not even afraid of Nagato as he is now."
"I know."
Black Zetsu nodded. In fact, the stronger Kitagawa Gen became, the better it was for him.
After all, he had also "helped" Kitagawa Gen a great deal. Now, seeing him fight Nagato, he could observe the results of his work.
Only, the more he watched, the more he felt his earlier suspicion might truly be correct!
"No matter how talented, no matter how powerful, ordinary people cannot escape certain inevitabilities—and that is the power of bloodlines."
Without sufficiently strong bloodline power, the limits of being "human" could clearly be seen.
Because the chakra of this world all came from his mother!
Without some connection to his mother, it was impossible to cross that boundary.
'Unless… one takes that nearly impossible path!'
That impossible path was naturally self-fusion of kekkei mōra.
'Kitagawa Gen can master so many kekkei genkai, and his growth seems endless. Even Nagato after recovering finds it hard to contend with him.'
Black Zetsu's fists clenched slightly. He felt he might have uncovered the truth!
'Perhaps he truly possesses the bloodline of the moon—and that bloodline has already awakened.'
'If that's the case…'
Black Zetsu's breathing grew a little hurried, more and more certain of what he needed to do!
"Black, shouldn't we move farther away?"
But just as he was thinking, White Zetsu spoke up again.
"This is dangerous, if this keeps up it's too terrifying!"
"You…"
Interrupted from his thoughts, Black Zetsu grew irritated.
"What are you afraid of? If it really gets dangerous, we can leave. How come you were never this scared when we went to Konohagakure?"
"Hey, hey, can you even compare the two?"
White Zetsu gave an innocent sigh; even he couldn't keep grinning now.
"Going to Konohagakure was just to set up a fake, there was no fighting. But here—"
"Shut up, what fake?!"
Black Zetsu's face darkened, cutting him off harshly.
"I warn you, don't spout nonsense again, understand?"
"Hey, hey, I got it, I got it, don't be so fierce."
Sensing Black Zetsu's foul mood, White Zetsu immediately nodded, though he quickly glanced off into the distance again.
"We really should run—over there it feels more and more dangerous!"
"Dangerous?"
Black Zetsu turned his head in puzzlement—and at once his eyes widened.
...
[Boom—]
[Boom—]
[Boom—]
The thunderous detonations continued. Nagato kept darting through the forest, but now he was truly facing 'enemies in every direction'!
The surrounding vines attacked, the wooden man and wooden dragon kept pressing in on his space.
And Kitagawa Gen's Flying Thunder God was utterly elusive, striking from every angle without pause.
This left him with almost no options—he could only keep trying to use 'Super Shinra Tensei' to cope.
"But for me right now, this consumes far too much—and there's poison as well."
Dodging ceaselessly, smashing apart the relentless vines, Nagato gritted his teeth inwardly.
"I'm not afraid of the poison; it's just that those trees can keep regenerating—is this meant to drain my chakra?"
Looking at Kitagawa Gen standing on the wooden dragon's head and coolly sweeping his gaze over him, he truly felt a splitting headache now.
"Is this you going all out?"
Just then, Kitagawa Gen's voice drifted out.
"Damn it."
Nagato cursed under his breath, but in the next instant Kitagawa Gen had already appeared at his side.
This whole dense forest was constructed from Kitagawa Gen's chakra; you could say his Flying Thunder God marks were everywhere here!
"Ha!"
Nagato burst forth with terrifying repulsive force again, only for Kitagawa Gen's speed to be clearly far faster than his.
Before his repulsion even took effect, his whole body had already been sent flying, crashing into a stretch of ruins!
"It seems…"
The voice faded from near to far; at this moment Kitagawa Gen had returned to the wooden dragon's head again.
"Compared to back then, have you not changed in any notable way?"
Kitagawa Gen's words pulled painful memories to the surface for Nagato; back then, facing Kitagawa Gen, he had also been suppressed with hardly any power to fight back.
He hadn't expected that even now, the situation would still be like this!
This kind of suppression wasn't as despair-inducing as Ōtsutsuki Genshiki's—that had been suppression on every front.
But Kitagawa Gen was targeting his shortcomings, focusing his onslaught on them, giving him absolutely no room to breathe.
The two were different, yet both made it feel as if he simply could not turn the tide.
"Damn it! I will never admit defeat!"
Suddenly, bloodied head and all, Nagato leapt out from the ruins. Staring at Kitagawa Gen, he shouted loudly.
"My fate is not yet fulfilled. I have not yet retraced the path of the Sage of Six Paths—how could I be defeated by your hand?"
As his roar fell, his chakra erupted without restraint. In the next moment, a black sphere imbued with eerie power condensed in his hand.
[Vrrrm—]
And in that instant, a vast suction began ravenously devouring everything around.
As the black sphere rapidly ascended, that boundless power made the entire space twist.
"Didn't you want to see what's changed about me? Then I'll let you see to your heart's content!"
[Boom—]
That immense gravity instantly drew everything in the vicinity to the black sphere.
"Look closely—do I still look anything like before?"
"Chibaku Tensei!"
With Nagato's roar, the Rinnegan's ocular power poured madly into that black sphere.
In that split second, the black sphere multiplied in ferocity; everything atop the ruins was sucked away.
Even Kitagawa Gen's Wood Release was, at that moment, uprooted, soaring skyward together with those shattered boulders!
The sphere kept expanding; before long it completely blotted out the sky. At a glance it seemed just like that colossal meteorite outside Konohagakure back then.
Even the wooden man was drawn up at this moment!
"This time—can you still shatter it?"
Nagato was still pouring ocular power and chakra into it. Staring at the ever-condensing sphere, he clenched his teeth and held on.
Legend had it the Sage of Six Paths used this technique to create the moon, thereby stopping the Rabbit Goddess. He was still far from that!
"Perfect—I'll use you to consecrate this technique. First you, then Ōtsutsuki Genshiki…"
Nagato muttered, but in the next instant his eyes suddenly widened!
In the sky, beneath the shadow of that colossal 'Chibaku Tensei,' a streak of white light flashed.
In the next moment, that white light became a gigantic chakra sphere!
And within that white chakra sphere, there were other colored chakra orbs contained as well.
Those chakra orbs were quietly rotating with a special power—and that rotation set in motion a force beyond words!
"What… is this?"
Nagato's eyes went wide in disbelief, and Black Zetsu—who had long since fled far away to avoid the 'Chibaku Tensei'—fell into deep thought as he watched that tremendous sphere.
"This kind of power… why does it feel unbeatable?"
Not just them—people elsewhere, too, stared blankly at the scene before them; what lay before their eyes was hard to comprehend.
[Vrrrm—]
At the instant that massive Rasengan converged with Nagato's 'Chibaku Tensei,' a shockwave visible to the naked eye howled outward!
Whether it was because the force born of this collision was too vast or not, no one could hear any sound at all.
In this soundless, crushing world, they watched as everything around them went still—then flying sand and rolling stones, surging waves—
That colossal 'Chibaku Tensei' began to collapse without a sound. Countless fragments fell to the ground, and then came earth-shaking tremors like an earthquake!
'Chibaku Tensei' continued to crumble. The sunlight that had been blocked by it now returned as it disintegrated.
But those rays of sunlight falling on Nagato did not warm him in the slightest.
On the contrary, his heart felt as though it had fallen into an icy abyss!
"How is this possible?"
He murmured, his body trembling; it was as if everything had returned to that year.
So much time had passed—why had nothing changed? Why was he still like this?
"Why is it like this? Why?!"
"Then why wouldn't it be like this?"
Just as he roared, Kitagawa Gen's voice suddenly came from behind him.
That ghostlike voice made his heart—already plunged into an ice cave—collapse even further!
"So this is you going all out? To be honest, you disappoint me."
As the words fell—and as the massive Chibaku Tensei in the sky continued to shatter—another Rasengan appeared in Kitagawa Gen's hand.
The Rasengan imbued with planetary chakra swung out, crashing heavily into Nagato!
"Just now you asked me how much you still resemble the past."
"Sorry, but to me, you and before—there's no difference at all."
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