Chapter 360: A Little Off

Chapter 360: Chapter 360: A Little Off

As Jiraiya, in Sage Mode, made the first move, followed closely by Konan, Shisui, and Shinichi joining the fray one after another, the others who had been watching from the sidelines also sprang into action. In an instant, a chaotic melee erupted.

To rescue Nagato, Konan directly engaged Jiraiya.

Meanwhile, the two Mangekyo Sharingan wielders on the battlefield, Uchiha Shisui and Uchiha Shinichi, began putting on a show of fighting each other beside Hyuga Kagami. Though it looked like they were exchanging blows, in reality, they were guarding Kagami at close range.

As for the only remaining Akatsuki member, Biwa Juzo, he was having a miserable time.

Kakashi, Guy, and a large number of Kumogakure ANBU had all set their sights on him, surrounding him from every direction and beating him down as a group.

Unlike the earlier clash between Hyuga Kagami and Nagato, which had been almost like a battle between gods, the battlefield now finally resembled what a true ninja war was supposed to look like.

Kunai and shuriken flew back and forth. Fire Release, Wind Release, Water Release, and all manner of other ninjutsu erupted one after another. In only a few short moments, the entire battlefield had descended into utter chaos.

Without a doubt, Jiraiya in Sage Mode was the strongest person present aside from Hyuga Kagami and Nagato. Combined with the two Great Toad Sages perched on his shoulders, in terms of sheer combat power, whether it was Konan with her Paper Release or Shisui and Shinichi with their Mangekyo Sharingan, none of them would likely be his match in a chaotic battle like this.

With a flip, Jiraiya narrowly avoided Konan’s Paper Release attack.

His gaze suddenly sharpened.

Konan, who wielded Paper Release, possessed unparalleled mobility. Even after entering Sage Mode, it wasn’t easy for Jiraiya to land a hit on her. So Jiraiya deliberately exposed an opening, then waited for the perfect opportunity.

"Toad Oil Bullet!"

Opening his mouth wide, Jiraiya spat out a massive glob of toad oil.

The viscous toad oil shot through the air like an arrow, striking Konan in midair in an instant and drenching her from head to toe.

Konan’s delicate brows immediately furrowed.

The sticky toad oil was an obvious counter to her Paper Release. Once her body was coated in it, she could no longer freely scatter and reform her paper as she had before.

Having succeeded, Jiraiya didn’t press the attack. Instead, he stopped and shouted, "Konan, I know you’re not some madwoman who craves war! Turn back! If you keep going down this path, you’ll drag the entire shinobi world into hell!"

Konan replied coldly, "Jiraiya-sensei, someone like you, who has never experienced true pain, could never understand!"

With that, Konan spread her wings and charged straight at Jiraiya.

Seeing this, Jiraiya immediately sensed something was wrong and hurriedly dodged to the side.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The moment Jiraiya moved away, Konan’s body slammed violently into the spot where he had just been. In the next instant, her entire body exploded, sending a cloud of smoke and dust billowing through the air.

"A paper clone!?"

Jiraiya frowned deeply. Only now did he realize that the Konan he had drenched in toad oil had merely been a paper clone.

By this point, Konan’s real body had already flown into the sky and reunited with Nagato, whom she had previously lifted into the air with her Paper Release.

From beginning to end, Konan had never intended to fight Jiraiya head-on.

She knew very well that Nagato was the key to everything. As long as she could awaken Nagato, then neither Jiraiya nor the leader of Kamigami would be anything to fear. That was why she had deliberately exposed an opening earlier to draw Jiraiya’s attention. Her true goal had simply been to find an opportunity to rescue Nagato and release him from the genjutsu.

However, after trying several methods, Konan quickly found herself in the same awkward situation Shisui and Shinichi had faced moments earlier. Ordinary methods of dispelling genjutsu simply couldn’t break the technique Jiraiya had cast together with the two Great Toad Sages. And unlike Shisui, Konan didn’t possess the level of genjutsu mastery necessary to overwrite Jiraiya’s genjutsu with one of her own.

Meanwhile, after breaking free from Jiraiya’s genjutsu, Hyuga Kagami immediately entered Tenseigan Chakra Mode once more without hesitation.

In an instant, sky-blue Tenseigan chakra enveloped his body again, and he slowly floated into the air, gazing down upon the battlefield like a god.

Whether it was to conceal Hyuga Kagami’s identity or to protect their own identities as undercover agents, Shisui and Shinichi simultaneously stopped fighting and, as if by mutual understanding, retreated far into the distance.

At first glance, it looked as though the two of them had been so intimidated by Hyuga Kagami’s overwhelming presence that they didn’t even have the courage to fight him and had been frightened into retreating.

Shisui and Shinichi were both wielders of the Mangekyo Sharingan, renowned figures throughout the shinobi world.

Yet even experts of their caliber seemingly lacked the courage to face the leader of Kamigami and had retreated in disarray without even daring to fight him. Naturally, this affected everyone else. Almost as if by unspoken agreement, those caught in the chaotic battle began distancing themselves from Hyuga Kagami’s position.

Seeing that a completely empty zone had somehow formed around him, with no one daring to approach, Hyuga Kagami secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

In truth, Hyuga Kagami was already barely holding himself together.

His entire left arm had gone numb, and the numbness was steadily spreading toward his shoulder. Even the sensation in both of his legs was gradually fading.

Without a doubt, after absorbing an excessive amount of Dragon Vein chakra, his body had already begun to petrify.

But Hyuga Kagami couldn’t retreat now, nor could he show even the slightest sign of weakness.

All he could do was grit his teeth and endure!

Because this was the final—and best—opportunity to eliminate Nagato. After all, Nagato was currently trapped in Jiraiya’s genjutsu, had lost the protection of the Gedo Statue, and had only Konan by his side.

If Hyuga Kagami let this opportunity slip away, then this entire surprise attack would become meaningless, and all the combat intelligence concerning his Tenseigan would have been exposed for nothing.

"Just a little more..."

While locking his gaze onto Nagato in the distance, who was being held aloft by sheets of paper, Hyuga Kagami silently gathered the Tenseigan chakra within his body, attempting to condense another Truth-Seeking Ball.

Given his current physical condition, he knew very well that forget condensing a Truth-Seeking Ball—even simply maintaining Tenseigan Chakra Mode was an extremely dangerous undertaking.

His own chakra had long since been completely exhausted, while drawing upon the Dragon Vein’s chakra would only further accelerate the petrification of his body.

Thus, even though he was already risking his body to force the issue, the Truth-Seeking Ball was forming far more slowly than before.

At that moment, the battlefield fell into a strange stalemate.

Unable to dispel the genjutsu affecting Nagato, Konan could only remain vigilant against both Hyuga Kagami and Jiraiya. Naturally, she was even more wary of Hyuga Kagami. After all, while in Tenseigan Chakra Mode, Hyuga Kagami could fly just as she could, allowing him to easily attack Nagato’s real body high in the sky.

Meanwhile, wary of Hyuga Kagami’s terrifying strength, Jiraiya, despite being in Sage Mode, didn’t dare make any rash moves either. He could only divide his attention between Konan and Hyuga Kagami.

Because Hyuga Kagami had to focus on condensing the Truth-Seeking Ball while simultaneously resisting the petrification of his body, he appeared completely calm on the surface, as though everything was firmly under his control.

In reality, though, he was anything but confident. If some fearless jonin were to charge over and fight him to the death right now, there was no guarantee he would even be able to handle them.

And so, the three representatives of Kamigami, Akatsuki, and the Allied Forces entered into a tense standoff.

Time passed little by little.

Before long, Hyuga Kagami finally managed, with great difficulty, to complete the condensation of a Truth-Seeking Ball. A pitch-black orb slowly emerged from between his brows.

Upon closer inspection, however, one could easily notice that this Truth-Seeking Ball was quite different from the ones Hyuga Kagami had created before.

Compared to the previous ones, this Truth-Seeking Ball was noticeably smaller, and faint ripples could be seen across its surface.

Others might not understand what that meant, but Hyuga Kagami knew perfectly well.

The surface of a truly perfect Truth-Seeking Ball should be completely smooth and tranquil. The presence of ripples could only mean one thing—the nature of this Truth-Seeking Ball was unstable, and it could collapse at any moment.

Staring at the Truth-Seeking Ball before him, Hyuga Kagami silently prayed, "Brother, you’ve gotta hold together!"

Unlike Hyuga Kagami, who was inwardly trembling with anxiety for fear that the Truth-Seeking Ball might suddenly collapse on its own, both Konan in the sky and Jiraiya on the ground immediately changed expressions when they saw the ball emerge from between his brows.

Both of them had witnessed how the Truth-Seeking Balls had instantly killed four of the Six Paths of Pain earlier.

They knew that this seemingly ordinary black sphere actually contained terrifying power. Forget trying to withstand it—they couldn’t even afford to let it touch them.

Fukasaku shouted, "Little Jiraiya, be careful!"

Jiraiya nodded, but a suspicion had already begun forming in his mind.

The other party’s target might not be him at all.

It might be Nagato in the sky.

At that moment, Hyuga Kagami slowly raised his right hand, the only arm that had yet to petrify, and gently clenched it.

The Truth-Seeking Ball instantly transformed into a dazzling golden sword and fell into his right hand.

As Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion activated, the chakra remaining within his body was instantly drained dry.

Another massive surge of Dragon Vein chakra poured into him, and large patches of petrification immediately began spreading across his right hand as well.

"Am I pushing my luck a little too far?"

Though Hyuga Kagami was inwardly trembling with anxiety, his expression remained perfectly composed. Suppressing all the distracting thoughts in his mind, he calmly addressed everyone on the battlefield.

"It’s time to end this farce!"

With that, he didn’t dare waste even a single second. He immediately swung the Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion in his right hand, slashing toward Nagato in the distance.

At this point, he couldn’t care less about the Rinnegan anymore.

If he couldn’t eliminate Nagato once and for all, forget collecting spoils of war—whether he himself could escape safely was still uncertain.

Whoosh!

As Hyuga Kagami brought his sword down, the dazzling golden radiance of the Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion descended from the heavens like sunlight piercing through layers of dark clouds and spilling across the earth!

In an instant, before Konan could even react, the golden sword struck Nagato, who was wrapped in layers of paper behind her.

BOOM!

With a thunderous explosion, paper and splintered wood burst in every direction!

Against the Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion, Konan’s Paper Release offered absolutely no resistance. It was no different from ordinary sheets of paper. Even the specially constructed wooden cart beneath Nagato was shattered into pieces in an instant.

Konan stiffly turned her head in disbelief.

"Na... Nagato..."

As the smoke and dust cleared, half of Nagato’s body could be seen plummeting from the sky.

Konan immediately beat her wings and shot toward him, catching Nagato in midair.

At this moment, the intense physical trauma Nagato had suffered allowed him to break free from Jiraiya’s genjutsu through his own power.

His consciousness returned.

Coughing up blood, Nagato weakly said to Konan, "Forget about me... Take my eyes and get out of here!"

Konan didn’t even register what Nagato was saying. Her entire attention was focused on examining his injuries.

She quickly discovered that Nagato had been completely severed in two from the upper thighs down. Everything below that point was gone.

"His internal organs weren’t damaged. He can still be saved!"

Konan’s heart leapt with joy. She immediately manipulated her Paper Release to cover Nagato’s wound, barely managing to stop the bleeding.

Many injuries that would have been unquestionably fatal to an ordinary person could still be treated when it came to members of the Uzumaki clan.

Nagato glanced at Hyuga Kagami from the corner of his eye before saying to Konan, "It’s no use. You’re no match for him. Take my eyes and run!"

It wasn’t that Nagato had completely lost his ability to fight.

Rather, he had been deceived by Hyuga Kagami’s calm and composed appearance. In his severely wounded state, Nagato believed that he was probably no longer a match for Hyuga Kagami.

Konan, however, shook her head.

Yahiko was already dead.

Nagato was the final pillar supporting her will to live. If Nagato died as well, then she would lose her reason to keep living.

With killing intent filling her face, she turned toward Hyuga Kagami.

"Then we’ll die together!"

In truth, Konan still had one final contingency prepared.

However, this contingency hadn’t been prepared for an outside enemy. It had specifically been created to deal with Obito, whose true allegiance had always been impossible to determine.

Ever since Obito first became involved with Akatsuki, Konan had already begun making preparations.

And once she activated it, she could guarantee that not a single person present would survive!

On the ground...

Jiraiya stared blankly at the golden sword that had just swept across the sky and murmured in disbelief,

"Wh... What kind of ninjutsu is that?!"

Fukasaku, perched on Jiraiya’s shoulder, pondered for a moment before saying, "The natural energy surrounding that ’Yama’ seems to be growing stronger and stronger. I’m afraid he may have mastered senjutsu as well!"

Shima, on his other shoulder, nodded. "Pa’s right. There’s no mistaking natural energy this dense. It has to be senjutsu. I just don’t know what kind it is. It doesn’t look like the senjutsu of Ryuchi Cave or Shikkotsu Forest either..."

Listening to the two Great Toad Sages, beads of cold sweat appeared on Jiraiya’s forehead.

The leader of Kamigami was already practically godlike in his normal state. If he had mastered senjutsu on top of that, Jiraiya truly had no confidence whatsoever that he could defeat him.

Yet just as Jiraiya was becoming increasingly wary of Hyuga Kagami, Kagami’s expression beneath his mask was fluctuating wildly.

"It was actually a little off!"

Fortunately, the demon-faced mask concealed his expression. Otherwise, everyone present would have seen the utterly frustrated look on Hyuga Kagami’s face.

When he had swung the sword just now, large-scale petrification had suddenly spread across his right hand, causing a slight deviation in his control of the Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion. Although the strike had still hit Nagato, it had failed to land on a vital point, leaving Nagato with a sliver of life.

And the moment that slash ended, his Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion vanished.

The Truth-Seeking Orb also collapsed into nothingness.

He no longer had the strength to unleash a second strike!

At that moment, Konan slowly descended to the ground with the injured Nagato in her arms, preparing to activate her final contingency without hesitation.

But just then, Zetsu emerged from beneath the ground.

"Leave Nagato to me!"

Konan frowned, then immediately looked toward Nagato.

Nagato, however, didn’t hesitate and simply nodded.

Soon, a White Zetsu clone emerged from beneath the ground and wrapped itself around Nagato’s injured body like a suit of clothing.

And with the support of that White Zetsu clone, Nagato—despite having lost both legs—actually managed to stand on his own again.

At the same time, a distorted vortex suddenly appeared beside Nagato.

Then, from within the vortex stepped a masked man whose entire body was covered in blood...