Chapter 483 - 484: Lost Contact

Chapter 483: Chapter 484: Lost Contact

Shizune walked over to the remains of the Asura Path and briefly examined them. She then turned to everyone in the passage and said, "There’s no chakra response anymore."

Izumi asked quietly, "Is he dead?"

Anko forced herself to her feet. Supporting herself against the wall, she staggered over and said, "This should just be one of the Akatsuki leader’s human puppets."

After confirming that the Asura Path had been completely destroyed, everyone’s gaze once again fell upon Rei, who was still collapsed weakly on the ground.

Shizune asked in confusion, "Rei, what happened just now?"

Because the Asura Path had been firing its chakra cannon at the time, everyone’s vision had been obscured by the intense light from the blast. None of them had clearly seen what had actually happened.

Rei shook her head. "I... I don’t know what happened either!"

In truth, even Rei herself wasn’t sure what had just happened.

She only vaguely felt that it might have something to do with the technique Kagami had placed in her left eye a few days ago. But what had happened just now was simply too bizarre. An overwhelmingly powerful enemy they had no hope of resisting had been defeated in the blink of an eye.

That made her reluctant to say too much.

At the very least, before she had a chance to speak with Kagami privately, she didn’t dare reveal anything about it.

Anko glanced around and muttered, "Could there be someone else hiding nearby?"

Shizune immediately became vigilant as well. "Could it be someone from the Kamigami?"

For a moment, everyone in the passage except Rei became suspicious, warily looking around for someone who might be hiding nearby...

...

Above ground.

The instant the Asura Path was destroyed inside the shelter passage, both the Deva Path floating above Konoha and Kagami on the ground sensed the change.

The Deva Path’s cold gaze slowly lowered toward the shelter.

"Was it the leader of the Kamigami? Is he hiding inside Konoha’s shelter?"

A trace of doubt arose in Nagato’s mind.

The Asura Path had been destroyed far too suddenly, without the slightest warning.

Moreover, Nagato was simultaneously dividing his attention among all Six Paths of Pain, with the majority of his focus concentrated on the Deva Path made from Yahiko’s corpse. So when his chakra connection with the Asura Path was abruptly severed, even he couldn’t immediately determine what had happened inside the shelter passage.

But judging from the final information transmitted by the Asura Path, the opponent seemed to have used the very technique Nagato himself was most proficient in—

Shinra Tensei!

There was one thing, however, that he could confirm.

Konoha’s Nine-Tails Jinchuriki was hiding inside the shelter.

After a brief moment of thought, the Deva Path extended an arm toward the shelter...

...

Elsewhere.

"Cough, cough..."

Kagami coughed lightly as he dispersed the curtain of iron sand protecting him.

He had already sensed that Rei had just activated the Wheel of Will he had sealed into her left eye using the Transcription Seal.

"Rei should be inside the shelter. Did something happen over there too?"

As the iron-sand curtain dispersed, a scene of utter devastation entered Kagami’s view.

"Damn it!"

Even though he had expected this, seeing the destruction firsthand still infuriated him.

There was no need to even wonder about it—the little courtyard his parents had left him, situated in a fairly good part of the village, was definitely gone too.

Jiraiya also climbed up from the ground. Looking at the devastation around him, his face was filled with both shock and fury.

At the moment, Kagami and the others were still in the area where Satori had previously invaded Konoha. It was relatively close to the outer wall, on the outskirts of the village.

By the time the Shinra Tensei had spread this far, its power had already weakened considerably. Combined with the protection provided by Kagami’s iron-sand curtain, the surrounding area had suffered far less damage than the center of the village.

Even so, there were barely a few buildings left standing as far as the eye could see.

One could only imagine what the heart of Konoha looked like now.

And for Jiraiya, who loved Konoha deeply, the sight sent his fury through the roof.

"Nagato!"

Staring up at the Deva Path in the sky, Jiraiya roared his name and charged forward without another thought.

Tsunade, who had just climbed out of the rubble, did not rush toward the Deva Path like Jiraiya.

Instead, with a grave expression, she rapidly formed a series of hand seals before slamming her palm onto the ground.

"Summoning Technique!"

At Tsunade’s shout, a cloud of white smoke erupted from the ground.

As the white smoke dispersed, a gigantic blue-and-white slug appeared before Tsunade.

It was none other than the summon of Tsunade, one of the Legendary Sannin—the slug of Shikkotsu Forest, Katsuyu.

Looking at the devastation all around them, Katsuyu was stunned.

"How did Konoha end up like this?"

Tsunade replied solemnly, "I’ll explain everything later. Treating the wounded comes first!"

"Understood!"

At Tsunade’s command, Katsuyu’s enormous body immediately split apart into countless smaller slugs, which scattered throughout the ruins and began treating the injured Konoha shinobi.

Although the villagers had entered the shelters ahead of time and escaped the disaster, there had still been a large number of Konoha shinobi above ground.

As a result, the previous attack had undoubtedly inflicted heavy casualties among Konoha’s forces. If the wounded weren’t treated quickly, the death toll could become enormous.

Kagami paid no further attention to Tsunade. He leapt into the air and took flight.

Right now, the Deva Path had to be dealt with first.

That bastard was practically a human-shaped nuclear bomb. If he was allowed to keep rampaging like this, the entire village of Konoha would be wiped off the map.

...

Outside Konoha.

A majestic hawk was circling the outskirts of the village, searching the surrounding area again and again.

After a long while, it finally approached the high cliff where Nagato’s true body was located.

At that moment, the hawk noticed two figures standing atop the cliff, and a glimmer of intelligence flashed through its sharp eyes.

Folding its wings against its body, it dove toward the cliff at tremendous speed, seemingly intending to get closer and confirm the identities of the two figures standing there.

But at that very instant, countless sheets of paper surged toward it from every direction.

One after another, they attached themselves to the hawk’s body.

Sensing the danger, the hawk did not turn around and flee.

Instead, it tucked its wings even tighter against its body and continued diving toward the cliff at full speed!

Hiss... hiss...

With the sound of explosive tags igniting, sparks of flame appeared across the sheets of paper attached to the hawk’s body.

Yet even with death right before its eyes, the hawk completely ignored the danger. Its razor-sharp gaze remained fixed on the rapidly approaching cliff!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

A moment later, a chain of explosions erupted in the sky, completely engulfing the hawk!

Standing at the edge of the cliff, Nagato merely glanced at it.

Beside him, Konan lowered the right hand she had been using to control her Paper Release and said, "Hiruko already spread a special chemical around this area to drive away birds and wild animals. That hawk just now wasn’t an ordinary bird. Our location has been exposed!"

Nagato replied indifferently, "Don’t worry about it."

...

Inside the underground base of Konoha’s Intelligence Division.

Yamanaka Inoichi suddenly opened his eyes and removed the device from his head. In a weak voice, he hurriedly said, "Quick! Notify the Lord Hokage! I’ve located the target’s exact position!"

Only after speaking did he suddenly notice that the Intelligence Division’s underground base was in complete disarray, with all kinds of equipment toppled and scattered across the room.

At that moment, one of the Intelligence Division shinobi reported to him in alarm,

"We’ve lost contact with the Hokage Building..."