Chapter 359: Genjutsu Overwrite

Chapter 359: Chapter 359: Genjutsu Overwrite

Seeing that even after the phantom of the ’King of Hell’ gradually faded away, the four destroyed Paths of Pain still hadn’t emerged from within it, Nagato froze for a moment, a look of astonishment appearing on his face.

At that moment, the forces from Konohagakure, Kumogakure, and the Akatsuki also began arriving one after another.

Jiraiya, who was still in Sage Mode, was the fastest. He arrived almost immediately after the Six Paths of Pain.

Next came Shisui, whose visual prowess had been severely depleted, followed by Kakashi and Guy. After them came the Akatsuki’s Uchiha Shinichi and Biwa Jūzō, with a group of Kumogakure ANBU arriving last.

Once all three sides had gathered, none of them recklessly made a move. Intimidated by the overwhelming might of the Akatsuki leader and the Kamigami leader—two absolute powerhouses—they remained still in the distance, cautiously observing the battlefield.

Seeing the Six Paths of Pain, who had completely overwhelmed him, fail to last even a few moments against the leader of Kamigami—and lose four Paths in the blink of an eye—Jiraiya couldn’t help but be dumbstruck!

Of course, the main reason Hyuga Kagami had been able to instantly destroy four Paths of Pain was because the current circumstances were rather unique.

In truth, because Hyuga Kagami had taken a shortcut by condensing Truth-Seeking Balls through Tenseigan Chakra Mode, both maintaining and controlling them placed an enormous burden on him.

Compared to a true Six Paths-level powerhouse, his control over the Truth-Seeking Balls was still far inferior.

It was precisely because of this that the Truth-Seeking Balls controlled by Hyuga Kagami were actually not very fast.

Had Nagato not been so eager to finish him off and overlooked the threat posed by the Truth-Seeking Balls, then with the abilities of the Six Paths of Pain, under normal circumstances, it would have been almost impossible for the Truth-Seeking Balls to hit them.

Moreover, the maximum range at which Hyuga Kagami could control his Truth-Seeking Balls was only around fifty to sixty meters, less than seventy meters in total. And the farther away they traveled, the more difficult they became to control.

Therefore, as a defensive measure, the Truth-Seeking Balls were one of Hyuga Kagami’s trump cards. But as an offensive technique, they were far inferior to the ’Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion’ and ’Silver Wheel Reincarnation Explosion.’

Jiraiya, however, knew nothing about these underlying limitations.

All he had seen was Hyuga Kagami effortlessly annihilating four Paths of Pain in an instant, so his wariness toward Kamigami had risen to an unprecedented level.

"Nagato!"

A moment later, Jiraiya recognized Nagato, who was being protected within the hand of the Gedo Statue, and realization dawned across his face.

After discovering that the Six Paths of Pain were actually six puppets, Jiraiya had already guessed that someone had to be controlling them from the shadows.

Now that Nagato had appeared before him, the identity of the person secretly controlling the Six Paths of Pain was self-evident.

Fukasaku looked first at Nagato, protected within the Gedo Statue’s hand, then at Hyuga Kagami, whose spirit was being violently torn at by the ’Phantom Dragons Nine Consuming Seals,’ and said solemnly, "Those two are incredibly powerful. The chakra signatures coming from both of them are no weaker than those of the Tailed Beasts!"

Shima asked, "Little Jiraiya, who are those two?"

Jiraiya explained, "The red-haired one is Nagato. He’s the disciple I mentioned before—the one who possesses the Rinnegan. He should also be the true leader of the Akatsuki. As for the one fighting him, judging by his clothes and mask, he should be the leader of Kamigami—’Yama’!"

Standing nearby, Guy remarked, "I never expected Kamigami to launch a surprise attack on the Akatsuki!"

Kakashi said with lingering fear, "It’s a good thing they’re enemies. If these two organizations ever joined forces..."

Kakashi didn’t finish his sentence, but everyone present understood what he meant.

If the two people before them were to join forces, the Five Great Shinobi Villages’ dominant position in the shinobi world would immediately be in jeopardy.

Everyone’s attention had been drawn to the fierce battle between the leaders of Kamigami and the Akatsuki, so none of them noticed the worried expression on Shisui’s face.

At this point, even a complete outsider could tell at a glance that the contest between Hyuga Kagami and Nagato had fallen into a stalemate. And comparatively speaking, Hyuga Kagami, whose spirit was being ensnared and pulled by the ’Phantom Dragons Nine Consuming Seals,’ was clearly in the more passive position.

On the other side, Shinichi watched the battlefield, his eyes flickering thoughtfully.

He was weighing whether he should step in and lend Hyuga Kagami a hand, taking this opportunity to finish Nagato off once and for all. But when he looked at the Gedo Statue protecting Nagato, he hesitated.

He couldn’t explain why, but his instincts told him that the Gedo Statue before him was not something he could easily deal with.

Biwa Jūzō, meanwhile, remained secretly on guard against Jiraiya and the others. He had absolutely no intention of stepping forward to assist Nagato, because he understood perfectly well that a battle at this level was no longer something he could casually interfere in.

On the battlefield.

"Was it his chakra that interfered with my technique?"

Nagato suspected that Hyuga Kagami’s chakra had interfered with his technique, causing the Naraka Path’s ability to fail and preventing it from successfully restoring the four destroyed Paths of Pain.

And so, he activated the Naraka Path once again.

In an instant, controlled by the black receivers, the Naraka Path obeyed Nagato’s will and once again summoned the ’King of Hell.’

As the phantom of the ’King of Hell’ rose from the ground, everyone present turned their attention toward it.

However, even after the King of Hell’s enormous mouth had remained open for quite some time, the four destroyed Paths of Pain still did not emerge from within.

"No... it’s because of that black sphere!"

Nagato quickly realized that there was nothing wrong with his technique. Instead, there was something unusual about the black sphere that had destroyed the four Paths of Pain.

Truth-Seeking Balls contained all seven chakra natures—Yin, Yang, and the five basic elemental transformations—and could completely disintegrate anything they touched at a fundamental level.

Whether it was a physical body or a spirit, there was no exception.

Only those who possessed Six Paths-level chakra or had mastered senjutsu could resist their power.

Therefore, the four Paths of Pain that had been sliced apart by the Truth-Seeking Ball had already been completely destroyed. Even the Naraka Path’s technique was incapable of restoring them.

On Hyuga Kagami’s side, after noticing the arrival of Jiraiya and the others, he realized that he had to find a way to withdraw.

After all, his current identity was the leader of Kamigami, and Kamigami itself was one of the village’s primary targets for elimination. Because of that, he had no way of knowing whether Jiraiya would suddenly attack him.

On top of that, the numbness spreading through his body was becoming increasingly severe.

This numbness was not caused by Nagato’s ’Phantom Dragons Nine Consuming Seals’ tearing at his spirit.

Rather, it was because he had absorbed far too much chakra from the Dragon Vein.

The Dragon Vein’s chakra contained an extremely high proportion of natural energy. Absorbing a small amount wasn’t much of a problem, but once he absorbed too much, the natural energy would continuously accumulate inside his body.

And for Hyuga Kagami, who had yet to master senjutsu, this accumulated natural energy was not only useless to him—it was practically a deadly poison.

If the natural energy accumulated within his body exceeded the limit his body could withstand, then from absorbing too much natural energy, his body would begin to merge with nature itself.

In other words—

He would turn to stone!

In other words, if Hyuga Kagami had mastered senjutsu, then the Dragon Vein would practically be the strongest Tailed Beast, leaving even the Nine-Tails in the dust.

Because the Dragon Vein’s chakra inherently contained natural energy, it would allow Hyuga Kagami to completely skip the process of gathering natural energy, instantly enter Sage Mode, and continuously maintain that state.

But if Hyuga Kagami had not mastered senjutsu, then the assistance the Dragon Vein could provide him would be a whole level below that of any Tailed Beast.

And just as Hyuga Kagami was secretly considering how to deal with the situation, Jiraiya, already in Sage Mode, made his move.

After carefully observing the battlefield, Jiraiya realized that Hyuga Kagami and Nagato had fallen into a stalemate. For the moment, neither could do anything to the other.

And this was his best opportunity to eliminate both the Akatsuki and Kamigami in one fell swoop!

Once he missed this chance, dealing with these two powerhouses who were practically akin to gods would become unimaginably difficult.

Therefore, Jiraiya suddenly leaped onto a nearby high point and shouted in a low voice, "Two Great Sages, I’m counting on you!"

"Gwaa... gwaa... gwaa..."

Fukasaku and Shima immediately nodded. Their stomachs swelled, and an eerie, soul-shaking chorus of frog cries erupted from their mouths.

Seeing this, Hyuga Kagami inwardly exclaimed, "This is bad!"

Hyuga Kagami had a deep impression of this genjutsu Jiraiya used while in Sage Mode. Although he could no longer remember exactly what the technique was called, he clearly remembered that the genjutsu was activated through sound as its medium.

In other words, neither his Tenseigan nor Nagato’s Rinnegan possessed any immunity against this non-dōjutsu-based genjutsu.

He was dazed for only an instant.

But when his senses returned, Hyuga Kagami discovered that he was already standing within a genjutsu space resembling the inside of a toad’s esophagus.

After briefly scanning his surroundings, Hyuga Kagami’s expression darkened.

At that moment, four enormous toads surrounded him, each holding a sword in one hand while extending the other.

The outstretched palms of the four giant toads converged together, forming a barrier that completely trapped Hyuga Kagami within!

Of course, Hyuga Kagami wasn’t the only one trapped.

Nagato was right beside him, caught in exactly the same situation. He too had fallen under the genjutsu, his consciousness dragged into this illusionary space controlled by Jiraiya.

Trapped together in such a cramped space, Hyuga Kagami and Nagato stared at each other.

For a moment, the atmosphere became rather awkward.

At that moment, Jiraiya’s voice echoed from every direction.

"Nagato, as long as you’re willing to turn back, I can guarantee your safety and convince the village to accept you!"

Even now, Jiraiya still hadn’t given up on Nagato.

Nagato showed no signs of panic despite being trapped within the genjutsu. He calmly surveyed his surroundings and said indifferently, "Jiraiya-sensei, you should know very well that’s impossible."

Jiraiya let out a soft sigh.

For Jiraiya, master and disciple being forced to kill each other was simply too cruel. But if he had to choose between Konoha and Nagato, then he could only abandon Nagato.

Immediately afterward, Jiraiya addressed Hyuga Kagami.

"Yama, you’re a wanted criminal of the village, and Kamigami has committed countless crimes as well. I have to put an end to you here!"

Hyuga Kagami remained equally calm and replied indifferently, "If you’re capable of it, you’re welcome to try."

In the real world.

Jiraiya took out a scroll and summoned two enormous stone swords from within it. With the two weapons at hand, he slowly began walking toward Hyuga Kagami and Nagato.

Because both of them had fallen under the genjutsu, Nagato’s ’Phantom Dragons Nine Consuming Seals’ and Hyuga Kagami’s ’Four Symbols Seal’ had both unknowingly been released.

Immediately afterward, Hyuga Kagami unconsciously dropped out of Tenseigan Chakra Mode, and the two Truth-Seeking Balls hovering around him dissipated along with it. Meanwhile, the Gedo Statue that had been protecting Nagato also vanished from the spot in a cloud of white smoke.

It could be said that both Hyuga Kagami and Nagato were now completely defenseless. At this moment, even a genin who had only just graduated from the Ninja Academy could easily kill the two of them.

But Jiraiya was far from the only person present.

Almost the instant his genjutsu successfully caught Hyuga Kagami and Nagato off guard, Shisui, Shinichi, and Konan in the sky all made their moves at the same time.

Konan, who had been keeping a close eye on Nagato, was the fastest.

Descending from the sky like an angel, she immediately wrapped Nagato and the now-uncontrolled Deva Path, which had collapsed to the ground, in her paper. While lifting the two of them into the air, she simultaneously sent countless sheets of paper flying toward Jiraiya.

Countless sheets of paper fluttered through the air like falling snow, instantly throwing the battlefield into chaos.

Jiraiya had no choice but to stop. He temporarily planted the two enormous stone swords in his hands into the ground, then formed hand seals and unleashed ’Sage Art: Great Flame Bullet’!

Amid the flames surging into the sky, Shisui and Shinichi simultaneously rushed toward Hyuga Kagami.

The two exchanged a glance and immediately realized that the other intended to rescue Hyuga Kagami as well. Without needing to say a word, they pretended to fight each other while steadily advancing toward Hyuga Kagami’s position.

Once they had gotten close enough, Shisui and Shinichi secretly attempted, one after the other, to dispel the genjutsu affecting Hyuga Kagami.

But they quickly discovered that ordinary methods were completely incapable of breaking Jiraiya’s genjutsu.

Shisui frowned.

"Lord Jiraiya’s genjutsu is this powerful?"

Shinichi, meanwhile, thought to himself, "Strange... we actually can’t dispel it?!"

Knowing that their window of opportunity was limited and that they couldn’t afford to delay any longer, Shisui steeled himself and activated his Mangekyō Sharingan.

Then, taking advantage of the brief moment when his back was turned to everyone else, he directly cast a Sharingan genjutsu on Hyuga Kagami.

There were many ways to break a genjutsu, and using one genjutsu to overwrite another was an extremely advanced method of dispelling one.

However, this method demanded an extraordinarily high level of mastery over genjutsu from the caster. Across the entire shinobi world, the only ones likely capable of using their own genjutsu to overwrite Jiraiya’s were Shisui and Itachi—the two Mangekyō Sharingan-wielding Uchiha who specialized in genjutsu.

In an instant, as Shisui’s Mangekyō Sharingan spun rapidly, his Sharingan genjutsu finally overwrote Jiraiya’s genjutsu, barely wresting control away from him!

At the same time, within the genjutsu space.

Jiraiya said to Hyuga Kagami, "No one can break this genjutsu. You can’t escape!"

Before Jiraiya had even finished speaking, Hyuga Kagami’s figure gradually began to blur.

Jiraiya was startled.

"What’s going on?!"

Hyuga Kagami naturally understood what had happened. The corner of his mouth curled upward as he said to Jiraiya and Nagato, "Gentlemen, if you’ll excuse me."

Aside from Shisui and Shinichi, Hyuga Kagami actually had another contingency prepared—the Dragon Vein residing within the gourd artifact at his waist.

Therefore, even after falling into Jiraiya’s genjutsu, he hadn’t been particularly worried.

As long as he stalled for enough time, the somewhat slow-to-react Dragon Vein would eventually be able to forcibly pull his entire consciousness out of Jiraiya’s genjutsu space.

Nagato, by comparison, was at a severe disadvantage in this regard.

The Gedo Statue was merely a soulless husk. So although the Gedo Statue possessed many of the same functions as a Tailed Beast, it had no way to awaken Nagato after he had fallen under a genjutsu...