Chapter 479: Got You

Chapter 479: Chapter 479: Got You

Gazing at the distant night sky, where lightning flashed and thunder rumbled, Nagato’s usually indifferent expression grew slightly solemn.

Konan, standing beside him, also furrowed her brows, her delicate face filled with confusion. "Who pushed Hiruko this far? Could another member of Kamigami have appeared?"

Among all Kekkei Genkai, Storm Release ranked near the very top in destructive power.

And precisely because of that, Storm Release consumed an enormous amount of chakra. Even Hiruko would not casually unleash Storm Release ninjutsu unless the situation had reached a critical point.

Before long, Zetsu emerged from the ground and reported to Nagato and Obito on the cliff, "That guy from Kamigami is unexpectedly troublesome. I’m afraid Hiruko won’t be able to complete the mission."

Obito was somewhat puzzled. "Doesn’t Hiruko have Dark Release? How could he possibly lose to that Magnet Release shinobi from Kamigami?"

Dark Release’s ability to counter ninjutsu-based shinobi was almost fatal.

Unless one possessed a Kekkei Tota as overwhelmingly powerful as the Third Tsuchikage’s, ordinary ninjutsu—and even some Kekkei Genkai techniques—were helpless against Dark Release’s ability to directly absorb chakra.

Zetsu curled his lips. "That Magnet Release shinobi from Kamigami has ridiculously powerful taijutsu. One-on-one, he’s completely suppressing Hiruko."

Konan sighed. "No wonder Kamigami sent him out first. It seems he isn’t some expendable pawn of Kamigami after all, but one of their trump cards!"

Zetsu asked, "What do we do now?"

Nagato stepped forward to the edge of the cliff and said in an even tone, "No matter who it is, no one will stop me from punishing Konoha. I’ll deploy the Six Paths of Pain and completely raze Konoha to the ground."

As he spoke, Nagato turned his gaze toward Obito and ordered, "You go as well. Kill that member of Kamigami and have the Human Path extract his soul.

"This time, I’ll uproot Kamigami completely!"

Obito nodded. His figure flickered before disappearing into a twisting vortex.

Zetsu also began wriggling his body and quickly sank back underground.

......

Konohagakure.

Hiruko stared at Kagami’s right hand, which had caught the lightning barehanded, his expression shifting unpredictably.

"That’s... a bone membrane!?"

Amid several wisps of smoke, Hiruko’s Sharingan caught sight of the white bone membrane covering Kagami’s right hand as it slowly retracted beneath his skin.

"Damn it! His Shikotsumyaku is completely different from Renge’s!"

After witnessing both the sharpness of Kagami’s bone blade and the toughness of his bone membrane, Hiruko immediately realized that Kagami’s Shikotsumyaku was on an entirely different level from Renge’s in the Mist Squad.

The instant that thought crossed his mind, Hiruko flickered backward, retreating rapidly.

For the first time since the battle began, he sensed genuine danger and voluntarily put distance between himself and his opponent.

The severed arm Kagami had sliced off was wrapped in gelatinous tendrils extended from the Chimera Bud and dragged along the ground, retreating into the distance together with him.

"Pfft..."

Kagami spat out another mouthful of blood.

But he paid it no mind.

His movements paused for only an instant before he immediately lunged after Hiruko. There was no chance he would give Hiruko an opportunity to catch his breath.

When Kagami acted, he preferred to eliminate the threat completely!

At this moment, he held a bone blade in each hand, while a razor-sharp bone spike protruded from each elbow.

His entire figure moved like a gentle breeze, neither hurried nor slow, steadily trailing Hiruko as lightning enveloped his body.

And every so often—

Kagami would slash.

Each slash carved away another piece of Hiruko’s body.

"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!"

As Hiruko grew increasingly frantic and enraged, fear gradually began to creep into his heart.

His Steel Release, which had always been virtually unstoppable, was completely incapable of blocking his opponent’s bone blades.

The bone blades in Kagami’s hands were terrifyingly sharp.

Or rather, they seemed to have already transcended the simple concept of ’sharpness.’ It was as though there was something contained within those bones that rendered his Steel Release utterly incapable of resisting them.

Watching Kagami and Hiruko locked in their relentless running battle, Jiraiya and Tsunade stood not far away, utterly dumbfounded.

Jiraiya exclaimed, "So taijutsu alone can actually reach this level...!"

Every movement Kagami made seemed to follow no fixed form.

His attacks appeared natural and almost casual, yet every single move was breathtakingly dangerous.

Hiruko’s taijutsu had already reached an extraordinary level, but against Kagami’s increasingly fierce assault, his slight disadvantage had turned into complete suppression.

Many parts of Hiruko’s body—his arms, shoulders, and more—had already been sliced into separate chunks. If the gelatinous substance of the Chimera Bud weren’t forcibly holding those pieces together, his entire body would have fallen apart long ago.

But even with the Chimera Bud keeping him together, Hiruko couldn’t hold out much longer.

His defeat and death were only a matter of time.

Tsunade, however, watched with a grave expression and said, "Did you notice? The taijutsu style of this ’Furin’ from Kamigami carries a lot of traces of Konoha’s fighting styles. There’s Uchiha taijutsu, Hyuga taijutsu, and even some Konoha-style kenjutsu that looks familiar, yet somehow slightly different."

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Before Jiraiya could answer, a series of thunderous explosions erupted from all around the village.

Immediately afterward, the roars of beasts rang out one after another.

Jiraiya hurriedly leaped onto the ruins of a tall building and surveyed the surroundings.

His expression changed.

Numerous gigantic summoned beasts had broken into the village!

And without exception, every single one of those summoned beasts had the distinctive black rods characteristic of Nagato’s summons embedded in their bodies.

Jiraiya said bitterly and helplessly, "Nagato has finally made his move!"

......

Inside the Hokage’s office.

"Lord Hokage, suspicious individuals possessing the Rinnegan have appeared in the eastern district!"

"Lord Hokage, suspicious individuals with the Rinnegan have appeared in the western district as well!"

"Lord Hokage, the southern district too!"

One Konoha ANBU after another flickered into the office, reporting the latest developments throughout the village to the Third Hokage.

With a grim expression, the Third Hokage asked, "Describe the appearances of these suspicious individuals."

The ANBU immediately gave detailed descriptions of the suspicious figures who had appeared in each district.

After hearing their reports, the Third Hokage thought to himself, "They all have orange hair... It seems these are all human puppets being controlled by Nagato!"

Although their previous surprise attack on Amegakure had failed to deal any real damage to the Akatsuki’s foundation, they had still managed to gather a considerable amount of intelligence on the organization.

One of the most crucial pieces of intelligence they had obtained during that attack was that the’Six Paths of Pain,’ who possessed the Rinnegan, were merely puppets remotely controlled by Akatsuki’s leader, Nagato.

After pondering for a moment, the Third Hokage ordered the captain of his personal guard beside him, "Notify the other four Kage. Tell them to be ready to move at any moment!"

Although Nagato himself had yet to appear, the emergence of the Six Paths of Pain meant that he had already made his move.

At any moment, Nagato himself could descend upon the battlefield!

......

On the battlefield.

Hearing the roars of summoned beasts echoing from all around him and feeling the ground violently tremble beneath his feet, Kagami realized that Nagato had likely made his move.

Because of that, he slightly eased his assault on Hiruko and secretly raised his guard.

But at that very moment—

Without the slightest warning, a spatial distortion appeared directly behind Kagami and began pulling him out of the fabric of space-time!

From within the shadows not far away, Obito stared at Kagami and sneered.

"Got you!"