Chapter 176: Tengai Shinsei, The Divine Descent of Yagyu

"Lord Raikage!!!"

"Big Brother!!!"

Watching the Fourth Raikage being hit by the homing missile, the Kumogakure ninja who were outside the range of the Planetary Devastation and Killer Bee, who was bound by chains and being pulled towards the Gedo Statue, shouted in unison.

"Cough... I'm fine!"

A figure enveloped in thick smoke fell from the flames, though his voice sounded extremely weak.

At this moment, the Fourth Raikage looked utterly disheveled.

One of his arms had been severed by the Third Raikage's Hell Stab, and his entire body was covered in burns. If it weren't for the crude healing he had done using the heat generated by his Lightning Release nature transformation, the Fourth Raikage would have been reduced to a bloody mess.

Even so, after fighting for nine days and nights with little rest, his spirit and energy had reached their weakest point.

Despite this, he was still able to maintain his Lightning Release Chakra Mode, proving his resilience as a true tough guy.

"Ahhh... Damn it, you bastards, idiots..."

Before the Fourth Raikage could even land, the mixed screams of Killer Bee and the Eight-Tails, Gyuki, reached his ears.

"Bee— Damn it, that damn leader of the Akatsuki!!!"

Hearing Killer Bee's catchphrase, the Fourth Raikage's expression turned urgent as he looked up. In the next second, he ignored his injuries and dashed towards the Gedo Statue at lightning speed.

At this moment, Killer Bee had already been pulled in front of the Gedo Statue.

The massive Eight-Tails, Gyuki, which was as large as a mountain, now seemed much smaller in front of the Gedo Statue, the shell of the Ten-Tails.

It was like when Madara Uchiha first used the Complete Body Susanoo, and Sasuke Uchiha used it at the Valley of the End—one was taller than a meteor, while the other was only as tall as a statue.

With its body bound, Gyuki could only move a few of its tentacles, unable to break free from the chains specifically designed to restrain the Tailed Beasts.

Thus, the unwilling Gyuki, now resembling a giant octopus, clung to the Gedo Statue.

The Gedo Statue, however, paid no attention.

From its mouth, nine chains that had replaced the Phantom Dragon Chains were now glowing with a dazzling blue light.

This blue light was the physical manifestation of chakra, flowing from outside into the Gedo Statue's mouth.

And this chakra was being extracted from the struggling Gyuki.

Unfortunately, neither Nagato nor the original Tobi from the story were the true owners of the Rinnegan, and their strength was far inferior to Madara Uchiha's. They couldn't bind multiple Tailed Beasts with chains and instantly drain their chakra like Madara could.

Even the complete Eight-Tails and Nine-Tails were as weak as livestock, easily sealed.

Unable to achieve Madara's level, Nagato could only immobilize Gyuki, much like the Uzumaki clan's Adamantine Sealing Chains. Unless one's strength completely overpowered the target, a chakra tug-of-war was necessary.

Of course, the chains spat out by the Gedo Statue far surpassed the Uzumaki clan's Adamantine Sealing Chains.

For one, the chakra absorption ability meant that once a Tailed Beast was bound, its defeat was assured.

Unless someone killed Nagato, the Tailed Beast's strength would only continue to diminish.

As Gyuki's chakra was rapidly absorbed, its massive, mountain-like body began to shrink like a slowly deflating balloon. Though the change was imperceptible to the naked eye, careful measurement would reveal that it was indeed smaller than before.

Moreover, as its chakra was drained, Gyuki's strength and resistance would significantly decrease.

Over time, the rate at which Gyuki shrank would only accelerate.

"Lariat: Horizontal Chop!"

"Lightning Release: Lariat!"

At this moment, the Fourth Raikage's roar echoed from below.

Realizing that he couldn't attack Nagato, the Fourth Raikage focused on destroying the Gedo Statue from below.

Unfortunately, while his ninjutsu was powerful, it was far inferior to the Third Raikage, who stood at the pinnacle of the Five Kage, and even more so to the divine power of Kamui. He couldn't damage the Gedo Statue, which, despite being a mere husk, was far tougher than steel.

Moreover, the Gedo Statue had already reclaimed seven Tailed Beasts and was now partially revived. Its defense had reached a level where only divine power could harm it.

The Fourth Raikage's attacks were like a child punching a sandbag—not only did they fail to budge the Gedo Statue, but the rebound force also caused pain in his remaining arm.

Seeing that his attacks were ineffective, the Fourth Raikage immediately stepped onto the Gedo Statue's wooden body, running towards its mouth as if it were flat ground.

If the mouth was absorbing Gyuki's chakra, then he would destroy it or force it shut.

Unfortunately, the Fourth Raikage had no idea how powerful Nagato truly was at this moment.

The Six Paths of Pain were merely individual bodies that separated the Six Paths Techniques.

With their shared vision, the Six Paths of Pain were an impenetrable fortress, a combination stronger than the Five Kage.

The strongest among them, the Deva Path, was a Kage-level guardian capable of destroying a major ninja village alone.

But aside from Yagyu and Tobi, no one knew that the true strongest of the Six Paths of Pain was actually the Outer Path, which didn't belong to the Six Paths.

Seeing the Fourth Raikage trying to disrupt the Gedo Statue's seal, Nagato, with the Fourth Raikage's attention entirely focused on the Gedo Statue's mouth, suddenly severed the tube connecting him to the Gedo Statue and appeared beside the Fourth Raikage in an instant.

"Almighty Push!"

An invisible gravitational force pulled the Fourth Raikage towards Nagato, catching him off guard.

By the time the Fourth Raikage reacted, his remaining arm had been grabbed by Nagato, who ignored the Lightning Release Chakra Mode.

Instantly, the blue-white currents covering the Fourth Raikage's body dissipated.

Simultaneously, the chakra within the Fourth Raikage's body began to flow out like water from a breached dam.

To be precise, his chakra was being rapidly absorbed by Nagato.

The Fourth Raikage instinctively resisted, trying to kick Nagato.

However, his reaction was still a step too slow.

With one hand gripping the Fourth Raikage's wrist and using the Preta Path's ability to absorb chakra, Nagato raised his other hand, from which a sharp black rod extended.

The black rod shot out like an arrow, precisely hitting the Fourth Raikage's right foot before it could be raised.

Another black rod followed, piercing the Fourth Raikage's left foot.

In an instant, the Fourth Raikage could no longer control the chakra being drained, nor could he move his body.

"How is this possible?!"

The Fourth Raikage's eyes widened in disbelief as he found himself completely immobilized.

Nagato ignored him. With Planetary Devastation active, no one could come to interrupt, nor would they have time to do so.

Soon, Nagato had drained all of the Fourth Raikage's chakra.

But Nagato didn't stop there. He placed his hand on the Fourth Raikage's face, which was contorted in agony, and calmly said, "Human Path: Soul Removal!"

As he pulled his hand away, a blue, translucent spirit was yanked out of the Fourth Raikage's body.

This spirit looked exactly like the Fourth Raikage.

"Big Brother!!!"

Gyuki, now less than a third the size of the Gedo Statue, suddenly let out Killer Bee's voice.

Unfortunately, he could only watch helplessly as the Fourth Raikage's spirit was completely extracted and absorbed into a black hole that appeared in Nagato's palm.

Once the spirit was fully absorbed, the Fourth Raikage's body turned pale, his expression twisted, and he fell like a ragdoll.

However, before he could hit the ground, an invisible gravitational force caught his corpse and hurled it towards the Planetary Devastation in the sky, which had transformed from a water sphere into a meteor.

Thus, the first of the Five Kage to fall in the Fourth Great Ninja War was the Fourth Raikage of Kumogakure!

Faced with Nagato, whose physical abilities had returned to their peak and who had regained his feet, reaching a true super-Kage level, the Fourth Raikage, who once stood at the pinnacle of the ninja world, was no different from a genin or an ordinary person.

Nagato's defeat of him was as effortless as Madara Uchiha defeating Sasuke Uchiha—no, even simpler.

"Next, it's your turn, Eight-Tails Jinchūriki."

After easily killing the Fourth Raikage, Nagato teleported back to the top of the Gedo Statue, reconnected the tube, and increased the sealing power.

In an instant, Gyuki, now less than a third the size of the Gedo Statue, began to shrink rapidly.

As the Planetary Devastation in the sky stopped releasing its immense gravitational pull and fully transformed into a super-massive meteor, Gyuki finally disappeared, its last remnants of chakra flowing through the nine chains into the Gedo Statue's mouth, fully returning to the Ten-Tails' shell.

Killer Bee, now devoid of Gyuki, fell to the ground, his breathing weak.

He didn't last a minute before his life force completely faded.

This marked the end of the infamous A-B Combo, renowned since the Third Great Ninja War.

"Lord Killer Bee!!!"

Sensing Killer Bee's chakra vanish, many Kumogakure ninja cried out in sorrow.

If it weren't for the White Zetsu clones and the reanimated shinobi army surrounding them, they might have collapsed or knelt on the ground, utterly demoralized.

Even so, their eyes were filled with despair.

In any world, in any war, the loss of a leader would always affect morale.

With the Fourth Raikage and their strategic weapon, the Eight-Tails Jinchūriki, gone, Kumogakure's morale had been utterly crushed.

But more despair was yet to come.

"Roar..."

A roar louder than thunder echoed across the battlefield, reaching even the distant fronts.

A terrifying shockwave erupted from the Gedo Statue's mouth, like a hurricane, stirring up a cloud of dust.

"Such immense chakra... Is this the Eight-Tails?"

Struggling to suppress the now-rampaging Gedo Statue, Nagato's typically expressionless face showed a rare hint of awe.

After sealing the Seven-Tails, Nagato had already realized how absurdly strong the Gedo Statue was.

But now, with the Eight-Tails sealed, Nagato realized he had still underestimated the Gedo Statue.

With the Eight-Tails' return, the Gedo Statue was more like a Tailed Beast than the Tailed Beasts themselves.

Moreover, it had awakened a new ability.

No... it had evolved a new power.

With only eight Tailed Beasts sealed, the Gedo Statue had become this powerful. Nagato couldn't imagine what it would become if the strongest Tailed Beast, the Nine-Tails, was fully sealed.

Even he might struggle to suppress it.

If he could become the jinchūriki of a fully-realized Gedo Statue, Nagato could already envision the power he would gain.

However, thinking of Yagyu, the greatest obstacle in Konoha, Nagato's excitement quickly cooled.

Looking down at the battlefield littered with corpses and the demoralized Kumogakure ninja, Nagato, as if possessing telescopic vision, clearly saw the despair and pain in their eyes.

In response, Nagato slowly raised his hand and calmly said, "Feel the pain, understand the pain, and then die in pain—Chibaku Tensei!"

As Nagato spoke, the massive meteor floating in the sky began to descend towards the battlefield.

The scene was as awe-inspiring as when the Allied Shinobi Forces faced Madara Uchiha's Tengai Shinsei.

"Heh... heh, our power isn't even on the same level."

"Damn it, why are our enemies like this?!"

"Is this the power of the Sage of Six Paths' eyes? Is this the mythical strength?"

"..."

Looking up at the sky-obscuring meteor, the remaining Kumogakure ninja, along with the White Zetsu clones and the reanimated shinobi army, all stopped in unison. Some laughed bitterly, some cursed, and others numbly marveled at the meteor, which, with its friction-induced airflow, seemed like an apocalyptic force.

Samui was among them.

"Is this death?"

Even in the face of death, Samui remained calm, though she expressed a hint of regret. "It's a pity I never got to express my feelings... Farewell, Yagyu-kun."

With that, Samui slowly closed her eyes, wanting to recall that handsome face and the few moments they had shared before her end.

Bzzzz...

At that moment, a piercing buzz reached everyone's ears.

Hearing this familiar sound, Samui's eyes snapped open.

Two energy spheres of different colors, accompanied by a white, high-speed rotating chakra blade, shot into the sky, colliding with the descending super-massive meteor.

Whoosh—BOOM!!!

In an instant, a blinding white light erupted, forcing everyone to shut their eyes.

With the explosion, everyone's ears rang, and they could hear nothing more.

...

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