Chapter 361: Operation Failed

Chapter 361: Chapter 361: Operation Failed

With Obito and Zetsu making their eerie entrance, and Nagato getting back on his feet with the aid of a White Zetsu clone, the chaotic battle gradually came to a halt as the three factions regrouped separately.

On the Akatsuki side, Zetsu, Konan, Shinichi, and Biwa Juzo gathered around the two central figures, Nagato and Obito.

On the Allied Forces’ side, Jiraiya in Sage Mode had implicitly become the leader, with Konoha’s ANBU Team 11 and the Kumo ANBU standing behind him.

As for Kamigami, Hyuga Kagami stood alone.

Yet despite that, not a single person present dared underestimate him.

Standing there by himself, his presence was somehow even more overwhelming than that of either of the other two factions.

There was no doubt that with Obito and Zetsu’s sudden appearance, the situation on the battlefield had reversed.

Nagato had yet to completely lose his ability to fight, and with the addition of Obito, whose abilities were strange and unfathomable, Akatsuki had instantly become the strongest faction present.

Hyuga Kagami made no unnecessary movements and continued standing silently where he was.

In truth, the moment his earlier Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion failed to completely kill Nagato, he had already lost his final opportunity to finish him off.

Whether Obito had appeared or not, Kagami could no longer kill Nagato.

Therefore, what he was considering now was no longer how to kill Nagato and seize the Rinnegan.

It was how to get out of here!

Behind the demon mask, his deep gaze swept across Nagato, Obito, Zetsu, and Konan—the Akatsuki members who posed the greatest threat to him—as he silently considered how to make his escape.

Nagato was injured. Even with a White Zetsu clone wrapped around his body, his mobility should still have been severely impaired.

But Obito, Zetsu, and Konan were different.

All three possessed mobility that ranked among the very best in the entire shinobi world. If they realized just how weakened Hyuga Kagami truly was at this moment, escaping would become extremely difficult.

Feeling the numbness continuously spreading through his limbs, Hyuga Kagami’s gaze flickered as he thought, "With the Allied Forces right here, they probably won’t want to fight me until both sides are crippled either!"

Hyuga Kagami understood perfectly well that he had to maintain the image of Kamigami’s leader—someone who stood above all others and looked down upon the entire shinobi world.

Only then would he have a chance to escape.

Otherwise, with most of his body already numb and unable to enter Tenseigan Chakra Mode, there was absolutely no way he could escape Obito and Konan’s pursuit.

Having made up his mind, he took the initiative to break the silence on the battlefield and said calmly to Nagato, "You should know perfectly well that you are no match for me. And those subordinates beside you cannot protect your life either."

Wrapped within the White Zetsu clone, Nagato’s pale complexion was gradually regaining some color.

He stared solemnly at Hyuga Kagami and demanded, "Why did you attack Akatsuki? What is your objective?"

Hearing Nagato’s question, Obito looked astonished.

From what he knew of Nagato, the man who regarded himself as a god would never ask a question that made him appear weak.

Nagato had only one way of dealing with others—

Those who obey prosper. Those who resist perish.

Amid his surprise, Obito gradually narrowed his eye. As he watched Hyuga Kagami, he secretly wondered, "Just who exactly is this leader of Kamigami? To think he could make Nagato wary of him to this extent..."

Earlier, because he had been too far away, Obito had only been able to sense two immensely powerful chakras clashing within Amegakure. He had no idea what the actual battle had looked like.

Thus, while he knew that Kamigami’s leader was undoubtedly an extraordinarily powerful enemy, he had no accurate measure of just how powerful he truly was.

The corner of Hyuga Kagami’s mouth curled upward beneath his mask, and he let out a soft chuckle without answering Nagato’s question.

He understood that the more ambiguous his attitude was, the easier it would be to confuse everyone and mislead their judgment.

Moreover, he was hoping that while he kept Akatsuki occupied, the Allied Forces would hurry up and rescue Killer B, the Eight-Tails jinchūriki.

Seeing Hyuga Kagami standing there with such calm, unruffled confidence, both Nagato and Obito frowned almost simultaneously.

A powerful enemy whose motives were unclear and whose intentions were impossible to discern was undoubtedly the most troublesome kind of enemy for anyone to face.

On the Allied Forces’ side, Jiraiya’s expression was grim.

Akatsuki’s reinforcements had actually arrived before their own.

Jiraiya found the situation utterly absurd.

According to their original plan, the main fighting force of this surprise attack should have consisted of the Third Hokage, the Fourth Raikage, and the Fourth Kazekage—three mighty shinobi who bore the title of Kage.

Yet even now, not one of those three Kage had appeared.

By comparison, Konoha and Kumogakure’s forces were at least somewhat understandable. Both sides had managed to send combat forces into Amegakure.

But as for Sunagakure...

Not even a single person had appeared.

It was as though the entire Sunagakure force had simply vanished into thin air.

At that moment, Kakashi moved closer behind Jiraiya and whispered, "Lord Jiraiya, what should we do now?"

From the corner of his eye, Jiraiya glanced toward the enormous sphere floating in the sky—the one sealing Killer B, the Eight-Tails jinchūriki, along with Gamaken—and whispered, "First, we need to find a way to rescue Killer B!"

Rescuing the immensely powerful Eight-Tails jinchūriki was undoubtedly the Allied Forces’ most urgent priority at the moment.

Kakashi frowned. "But..."

Kakashi understood as well that with Akatsuki and Kamigami currently locked in a standoff, this was their best opportunity to break open the Chibaku Tensei and rescue the Eight-Tails jinchūriki and Gamaken.

However, the enormous sphere was suspended high in the sky.

Among everyone present, including Jiraiya, not a single person possessed the ability to fly. There was simply no way for them to reach and destroy the Chibaku Tensei hanging high above them.

Whoosh—!

Just then, accompanied by two piercing sounds of rushing wind, two unbelievably fast figures appeared on the battlefield one after another.

The figure in front was none other than Hiruko, whose entire body was wrapped in bandages.

Only now, he looked rather battered. Several places on his bandages were stained with blood, while a large section of his back had been scorched black, as though he had been struck directly by lightning.

Following closely behind Hiruko was the Fourth Raikage.

The Fourth Raikage was also covered in wounds, and he was panting heavily. His chest heaved like a bellows, clearly showing that his stamina had been severely depleted.

Yet the fierce expression on his face had not diminished in the slightest.

His gaze swept across the battlefield before he immediately demanded, "Where’s Killer B?"

The Kumo ANBU quickly gathered around him, and one stepped forward to answer, "Lord Raikage, Lord Killer B was sealed inside that giant boulder by Akatsuki’s leader!"

The Raikage looked toward the enormous sphere in the sky.

"No wonder I can sense B’s chakra coming from that thing."

Seeing the Raikage finally arrive, Jiraiya’s expression brightened. He stepped forward and said, "Lord Raikage, you finally made it!"

The Raikage glared at Jiraiya and roared, "What are you standing around for?! Let’s move! We’ll wipe out every last one of these bastards!"

Jiraiya hurriedly stopped the Raikage, whose anger was rapidly boiling over. "Lord Raikage, please calm down for a moment."

The Kumo ANBU who had witnessed Hyuga Kagami and Nagato’s strength also stepped forward and quietly explained the current situation to the Raikage, placing particular emphasis on just how powerful Kagami and Nagato were.

Although the Raikage’s personality was somewhat reckless, he had previously sensed the clash between Tenseigan chakra and Rinnegan chakra within Amegakure.

He understood that whether it was Kamigami’s leader or Akatsuki’s leader, both were probably a level above him.

On Akatsuki’s side...

Hiruko, who possessed the Dark Release Kekkei Genkai, quickly identified Nagato through his chakra sensing and realized that this was the true identity behind the organization’s leader, Pain.

He stepped forward, sized Nagato up, and said, "I thought something had happened to you!"

Nagato’s gaze remained firmly locked on Hyuga Kagami across from him, completely ignoring Hiruko.

Following Nagato’s gaze, Hiruko turned toward Hyuga Kagami, and a wave of killing intent erupted from his body.

To Hiruko, Nagato had given him the support and recognition he needed most—and those were precisely the things he had always longed for.

Therefore, within Akatsuki, Hiruko was a die-hard supporter of Nagato.

Seeing that Hiruko intended to make a move, Hyuga Kagami’s heart tightened.

Right now, the thing he feared most was running into a hotheaded idiot who wasn’t afraid of dying.

Not far from Hiruko, Shinichi immediately became alert.

Shisui, standing among the Allied Forces, also tensed, ready to intervene at any moment.

Neither of them believed Hiruko was capable of threatening Hyuga Kagami directly, but if Hiruko attacked, it could very well ignite the entire battlefield and plunge all three factions back into chaos.

And among those three factions, Hyuga Kagami was the only one standing completely alone.

Outnumbered and without support, there was a very real possibility that he could suffer a disadvantage once the battle descended into a free-for-all.

"Stop!"

But just as Hiruko was about to make his move, Nagato stopped him.

Hiruko turned around and looked at Nagato in confusion.

Nagato staggered forward several steps, saying as he walked, "Stand down. You’re no match for him. I’ll deal with him myself. You go take care of the others!"

Konan followed after him and said worriedly, "Nagato, your body..."

Nagato replied resolutely, "I’m the only one who can contend with him. None of you are his match!"

Boom—!

At that moment, another figure descended from the sky and landed on the battlefield.

It was none other than the Third Hokage, who had previously been delayed outside Amegakure by Obito.

Without Obito’s convenient space-time ninjutsu, the Third Hokage had naturally taken much longer to arrive. After him, several surviving Konoha ANBU also began arriving at the battlefield one after another.

Although the Third Hokage’s strength had already declined from its peak, as the Hokage of Konoha—the foremost of the Five Great Shinobi Villages—his reputation throughout the shinobi world remained unparalleled.

Thus, the moment he arrived, everyone’s gaze instinctively turned toward him.

Even Nagato stopped in his tracks.

No one dared ignore a shinobi who bore the title of Hokage.

After briefly assessing the situation on the battlefield, the Third immediately realized that this was their opportunity to rescue Killer B, the Eight-Tails jinchūriki.

Without the slightest hesitation, he instructed Jiraiya, "I’ll send you up!"

With that, without even waiting for Jiraiya to respond, the Third decisively hurled the Adamantine Staff in his hand into the air.

As his disciple, Jiraiya immediately understood his intentions.

With perfect coordination, he leaped onto the upward-pointing end of the Adamantine Staff.

Then, as the staff rapidly extended—

Jiraiya was launched straight into the sky.

Nagato saw through the Third Hokage and Jiraiya’s intentions at a glance.

However, with Hyuga Kagami standing silently across from him, Nagato did not dare divert his attention to stop them.

Besides, in his eyes, a mere Eight-Tails jinchūriki was nothing worth worrying about. If Killer B escaped, then so be it. As long as Nagato wished, he could simply seal the Eight-Tails jinchūriki again at any time.

After using the Adamantine Staff to reach the sky, Jiraiya leaped onto the surface of the enormous sphere created by Chibaku Tensei and shouted, "Sage Art: Massive Rasengan!"

In an instant, an enormous Rasengan appeared in Jiraiya’s hand.

BOOM—!

With a thunderous explosion, the Massive Rasengan infused with senjutsu chakra smashed a gigantic crater into the sphere!

However, despite blasting open such a massive hole, Killer B and Gamaken remained buried deep within.

Nor did the enormous sphere show any signs of breaking apart.

It simply continued floating silently high in the sky.

Seeing this, Jiraiya frowned.

Only now did he truly understand just how difficult it was to destroy the massive sphere created by Chibaku Tensei.

At the same time, he was secretly astonished.

Earlier, Shisui had managed to break through the sphere in mere moments and even caused it to show signs of collapsing.

Worried about Gamaken, Fukasaku said, "Little Jiraiya, let us handle this!"

Jiraiya nodded. "I’m counting on you!"

"Croak, croak..."

In an instant, the two Great Toad Sages perched on Jiraiya’s shoulders drew in deep breaths.

Then, facing the enormous crater created by the Massive Rasengan, they unleashed a series of resonating croaks.

As the two Great Toad Sages continued croaking, waves of sound that were almost visible to the naked eye rippled outward and surged into the crater.

Crack...

Before long, under the continuous vibrations of the sound waves, cracks began spreading across the enormous sphere!

As those cracks rapidly multiplied and deepened, the massive sphere could no longer hold together.

It shattered apart high in the sky, breaking into countless fragments!

Killer B and Gamaken, who had been sealed inside, were finally revealed and began plummeting toward the ground along with the countless pieces of debris.

Noticing that Killer B and Gamaken had both fallen unconscious after being sealed for so long, Jiraiya grabbed the falling Killer B with one hand while simultaneously releasing the summoning contract with Gamaken.

Poof!

Amid a cloud of white smoke, Gamaken’s enormous body disappeared instantly, sparing him the unfortunate fate of falling to his death while unconscious.

Protecting Killer B as they descended, Jiraiya used the falling chunks of rock as footholds. With only a few leaps and flips, he relied on the extraordinary physical capabilities granted by Sage Mode to land safely on the ground.

The Fourth Raikage took the unconscious Killer B from him.

Avoiding Jiraiya’s gaze, he lowered his head and said, "Thank you!"

Seeing the normally unyielding Raikage actually lower his head and express his gratitude, Jiraiya replied, "I only managed to escape earlier because of Killer B, so there’s no need to thank me, Lord Raikage. I’m simply repaying the favor from before."

Because of Hyuga Kagami’s presence, Jiraiya’s entire rescue operation had proceeded without the slightest interference from Akatsuki.

Even though Kagami had done absolutely nothing and merely stood silently in place, his presence alone intimidated every member of Akatsuki so thoroughly that none of them dared divert their attention.

And with the Raikage and Hokage arriving one after another, followed by the successful rescue of Killer B, the Allied Forces’ morale finally began to rise.

The anxiety and unease that had gripped them gradually disappeared.

Seeing this, Obito said to Nagato, "Let’s retreat for now!"

Nagato weighed the situation for a moment before nodding.

After learning that Konoha, Kumogakure, and Sunagakure were preparing to launch a joint surprise attack against Akatsuki, the organization had already made preparations to temporarily abandon Amegakure.

Some of their key personnel and important supplies had been relocated well in advance.

Therefore, retreating now would cost Akatsuki little more than Amegakure itself—their current base of operations.

Soon, Konan carried Nagato into the sky under her protection.

Obito and Zetsu each concealed themselves and disappeared, while Hiruko, Shinichi, and Biwa Juzo withdrew together, calmly leaving the battlefield behind.

On the Allied Forces’ side, the Raikage still wanted to pursue them, but the Third Hokage persuaded him to stand down.

The three Great Shinobi Villages had suffered devastating losses during this surprise attack.

Meanwhile, Akatsuki’s overall fighting strength had not been significantly reduced at all.

Thus—

The surprise attack had ended in complete failure.