Chapter 514: Falling

Chapter 514: Chapter 514: Falling

Rumble...!

Amidst a deafening roar, the descending meteor drew closer and closer.

The towering flames generated as the meteor tore through the atmosphere dyed the devastated battlefield crimson, making it look like a sea of fire. Even the air itself seemed to scorch, with countless sparks flickering into existence!

Amid the dancing firelight and swirling sparks, Kagami, his entire body enveloped in sky-blue Tenseigan chakra, rapidly charged toward the members of Akatsuki.

Faced with the aggressively advancing Yama, who looked like a god descending upon the battlefield, even the cold Nagato, the arrogant Obito, and the cunning Black Zetsu couldn’t help but reveal traces of panic they had never shown before.

None of them had imagined that the leader of Kamigami could be insane enough to launch another offensive at a moment like this, when both sides should have tacitly agreed to cease fighting.

As a result, almost simultaneously, each of them instinctively reacted according to their body’s reflexes.

Nagato’s figure flashed as he rapidly retreated. Obito immediately entered his ’intangibility’ state. Zetsu silently sank underground, while Konan spread the paper wings on her back and shot into the sky.

Under normal circumstances, the Akatsuki members wouldn’t have feared fighting Yama.

But the meteor that was about to crash down placed far too much pressure on them. At a moment like this, their composure had already been shattered, and they had completely lost the will to fight. That was why, when faced with Yama’s sudden advance, their responses seemed so feeble.

Seeing this, the corner of Kagami’s mouth curled upward.

He knew he’d made the right gamble.

Every one of these Akatsuki members was already rattled. They had begun misjudging both the situation—

and him!

At that moment, Kagami suddenly thrust out both hands. Ignoring Obito, who had entered his ’intangibility’ state, and Zetsu, who had escaped underground, he unleashed ’Wheel of Will’ at full power, dragging the rapidly retreating Nagato and Konan straight back toward him.

Suddenly caught by the tremendous attractive force, Nagato’s retreating figure abruptly stalled before he was pulled uncontrollably toward Kagami. Konan, who had only just flown into the air, was forcibly yanked back down as well, crashing heavily into the ground.

Nagato was just about to use ’Shinra Tensei’ to counter ’Wheel of Will’ when he saw Konan being dragged out of the sky by Yama. His expression immediately hardened, but then a trace of confusion flashed through his mysterious Rinnegan.

"Does he really intend to die together with me? Is it worth it?"

Nagato couldn’t understand why Yama would do something like this.

There was absolutely no meaning in mutual destruction!

But at that very moment, Nagato suddenly sensed a familiar chakra fluctuation coming from the rapidly approaching meteor—

a chakra fluctuation identical to the one emanating from Yama!

"He summoned the meteor?!"

Nagato’s heart jolted in shock!

Nagato had already felt that there was no reason for Yama to suddenly choose mutual destruction. Now that he’d sensed that familiar Tenseigan chakra coming from the meteor, he immediately became certain that this inexplicably appearing meteor had been summoned by Yama!

And if Yama had summoned the meteor, then he undoubtedly had some other means of escaping from it.

"He isn’t trying to die together with me. He’s trying to keep me trapped here and use the meteor he summoned to finish me off!"

The moment he realized this, the last trace of hope vanished from Nagato’s heart.

At this point, it was already too late for him to save Konan and escape together with her. And Yama would undoubtedly flee at the very last moment before the meteor struck.

That meant Nagato had only one choice—

he had to face the falling meteor alone!

Smack!

With a crisp clap, Nagato pressed his palms together and unleashed every last bit of his Rinnegan chakra without reservation, his face even twisting from the strain.

At his current level, if he went all out, stopping the falling meteor wasn’t completely impossible. Now that he’d been driven into a corner, his only choice was to stake everything on one desperate attempt!

Poof!

In an instant, the nearby Gedo Statue vanished in a burst of white smoke and was directly summoned over by Nagato, shielding both him and Konan beneath it.

At the same time, he thrust both hands toward the sky and roared,

"SHINRA TENSEI!!"

As the dojutsu activated, his lustrous red hair rapidly began to lose its color, fading from deep crimson to pale red. His body once again became withered and emaciated, just as it had been when he sat in the wooden cart.

And finally, after overdrawing an enormous amount of chakra and pouring the full power of his Rinnegan into it, Nagato’s Shinra Tensei erupted at the very last instant before the meteor struck!

Like an enormous invisible hand, the repulsive force surged upward to catch the descending meteor!

At that moment, Nagato glanced toward Yama from the corner of his Rinnegan.

He knew that Yama was about to escape through some kind of space-time ninjutsu or reverse summoning technique, so he silently vowed,

"Next time, I definitely won’t let you get away!"

Nagato had no choice but to admit that he’d lost this time.

And just like his previous defeat in Amegakure, he’d lost completely.

But he wasn’t discouraged.

However, with the meteor already crashing down overhead, Nagato suddenly discovered that Yama, who was standing beneath the Gedo Statue alongside them...

seemed to have no intention of escaping at all.

"This...!?"

A stunned thought flashed through Nagato’s mind.

"Don’t get distracted looking at me!"

Noticing Nagato’s sidelong glance, Kagami cursed inwardly.

Although everything had gone according to plan—not only had he managed to keep Nagato here, he’d even maneuvered Nagato into becoming the main force responsible for stopping the meteor—Kagami didn’t feel the slightest bit pleased with himself.

After all, even he couldn’t tell whether Nagato could actually stop a meteor that had been accelerated the entire way by the Giant Tenseigan.

What he was doing was essentially no different from playing with fire.

RUMBLE—!!!

Neither Kagami nor Nagato was given any more time to think.

With Kagami looking deeply apprehensive, Nagato filled with confusion, and Konan utterly terrified—

the meteor struck!

Nagato’s full-powered Shinra Tensei was completely overwhelmed the instant it collided with the meteor!

However, that Shinra Tensei had still greatly reduced the meteor’s falling speed, significantly weakening the force of its impact.

Immediately afterward, the meteor slammed head-on into the thick-skinned and incredibly durable Gedo Statue!

ROAR—!!!

As the husk of the Ten-Tails, the Gedo Statue could be considered one of the toughest things in the entire shinobi world.

Yet even so, the instant the meteor smashed into it, the Gedo Statue unleashed an agonized, heart-rending howl!

Amid that terrible roar, the meteor’s dazzling flames suddenly dimmed.

And immediately afterward—

a colossal mushroom-shaped cloud of dust and smoke erupted into the sky!

The entire earth began to tremble.

Ravines like bottomless valleys tore across the ground, continuously spreading outward in every direction. Viewed from high above, the cracks resembled an enormous spiderweb crawling across the earth.

A shockwave dozens of stories high, carrying a vast cloud of dust and debris, swept outward in all directions!

Even the shinobi of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, who had already fled far from the battlefield, weren’t spared.

The shockwave swept through them, sending them tumbling and scattering in every direction. Even the Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, who had been flying through the air, was violently blown away and sent crashing headfirst into the ruins...