Chapter 177: Clash, Wooden Golem vs. Gedo Statue, Wood Dragon vs. Chakra Dragon

The same white light, but the white light from the explosion of the super-massive meteor was not as intense as the white light released during the gravitational pull of the Planetary Devastation, which resembled a solar eclipse.

Though her ears were still ringing, Samui quickly noticed that the white light outside her eyelids had dissipated.

Thus, Samui, covering her buzzing ears with her hands, slowly opened her eyes.

A tall figure appeared before her.

Black long hair fluttered in the wind, and the black robe rustled violently in the gale.

This figure was exactly like the one that had appeared when she was on the verge of despair, facing the combination of the Hundred Faces and Tobi, and was about to give up—a hero descending from the heavens.

"Yagyu-kun..."

Looking at this familiar figure, Samui's eyes couldn't help but glaze over.

Once again, Yagyu had saved her!

First, sparing her life during their first encounter, then saving her like a hero, and now descending like a god...

Though their time together had been short, Samui now owed Yagyu her life three times.

The feelings she had suppressed due to their differing positions and allegiances could no longer be contained.

At this moment, Samui made a decision.

If she survived this war, she would retire after it ended and go to Konoha to find Yagyu, to confess her feelings to the hero and god in her heart.

Regardless of whether Yagyu accepted her feelings, Samui decided she would stay in Konoha, even if it meant becoming Yagyu's servant.

Yagyu, unaware of Samui's thoughts, would have sighed if he knew.

The martial culture of Kumogakure, though somewhat reckless, had its advantages.

At least in decisiveness, even the lively and enthusiastic Ino couldn't compare to Samui.

Looking up at the dust-filled sky, Yagyu saw that the super-massive meteor had not been shattered into hail by the two massive Rasenshuriken but had been completely obliterated into fine powder, spreading like a mushroom cloud. He felt a slight regret.

Even though he had held back, he still managed to obliterate the super-massive meteor.

He was just too powerful!

Yagyu, who had failed to use the super-massive meteor to accidentally kill a wave of Kumogakure ninja, quickly turned to Samui with a smile. "I'm glad I made it in time. Luckily, you didn't throw away the Flying Thunder God kunai I gave you."

"This is something important you gave me, Yagyu-kun. Of course, I wouldn't throw it away."

Having made her decision, Samui spoke without hesitation, though a faint blush appeared on her usually cold and expressionless face.

Yagyu was momentarily stunned by Samui's directness.

"Roar..."

Before Yagyu could recover and continue to charm the icy beauty, an ear-splitting roar accompanied by a storm approached, making Yagyu's hair and black robe rustle violently.

Seeing the Gedo Statue approaching, Yagyu temporarily set aside his romantic thoughts and instructed Samui, "The battle ahead will be extremely intense, far beyond what you can handle. Samui, gather the remaining Kumogakure ninja and retreat. Either leave the battlefield temporarily or head to other fronts to assist other villages."

After saying this, Yagyu turned his back to Samui, confidently facing the Gedo Statue, which moved like a mountain. "The leader of the Akatsuki, I'll handle him."

"Yes!"

Samui nodded obediently, then added with concern, "Yagyu-kun, please be careful."

"Don't worry, I'll win," Yagyu said arrogantly.

"Almighty Push!"

As Samui teleported away to organize the remaining Kumogakure ninja to retreat, Nagato, who had already noticed Yagyu, released a tremendous gravitational force from a distance, pulling Yagyu's body into the air like a cannonball towards the Gedo Statue.

The distance between Yagyu and the Gedo Statue was at least several hundred meters, if not a kilometer.

Yet, even from such a distance, Nagato's Almighty Push could grab Yagyu, showing just how powerful his Six Paths Techniques had become.

With just the Six Paths Techniques and the Yin-Yang Release black rods, Nagato had already secured his position as a super-Kage, comparable to Naruto in Nine-Tails Chakra Mode and Sasuke with his Complete Body Susanoo.

With the Preta Path, he completely countered these two, who relied on chakra to manifest their avatars.

However, compared to the pinnacle of the super-Kage level, Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju, Nagato was still far behind.

After all, during the Valley of the End battle, Madara had the complete Nine-Tails as a summon and the Uchiha Flame Fan, making his combat power absurdly strong.

Hashirama was even more formidable. If not for Madara summoning the Nine-Tails to assist with the Armored Susanoo, Hashirama's three signature moves alone could have easily defeated Madara, without even needing to use the Sage Art Wood Release: True Several Thousand Hands.

Nagato, whose personal strength was now on par with Naruto in Nine-Tails Chakra Mode, and with the Gedo Statue that had reclaimed eight Tailed Beasts, now surpassed Naruto and Sasuke, who had yet to receive the Sage of Six Paths' power-up.

Facing this, Yagyu's fighting spirit reignited.

He hadn't been satisfied with their previous battle, as the Six Paths of Pain had been instantly defeated by his self-developed Buddha's Palm.

Thinking he would never see Nagato again and that Nagato's death was imminent after the Seven-Tails' sealing, Yagyu was surprised to see Nagato rise once more.

Thus, the boredom from playing with the unconscious Hashirama for nine days and nights was instantly replaced by a surge of fighting spirit.

This time, he should be able to fight to his heart's content, right?

Yagyu thought to himself as he flew towards the Gedo Statue, suddenly clapping his hands together.

In an instant, blue flames appeared out of thin air, as if drawn by a magnet, rushing towards Yagyu and pouring into his body.

In just a few seconds, red markings appeared around Yagyu's eyes, and his pupils, no longer hidden by colored contacts, turned a golden hue.

After instantly activating Sage Mode, Yagyu shouted:

"Sage Art Wood Release... Wooden Golem Jutsu!"

Rumble...

Though his feet didn't touch the ground, the vast Sage chakra seeped into the earth through natural energy.

Instantly, the scarred ground began to shake violently.

The intense tremors even reached the Kumogakure ninja, who were both fighting and quickly retreating from the battlefield.

Almost instinctively, Samui and the other Kumogakure ninja turned their gaze towards Yagyu.

Then, another mythical, otherworldly power that shattered their worldview once again appeared before their eyes.

The ground cracked, and thick tree roots surged out like serpents.

These roots didn't spread out randomly or grow into large branches but instead intertwined and fused together.

In no time, countless massive roots fused to form a colossal Wooden Golem, standing tall on the ground, its size rivaling the Gedo Statue.

The Wooden Golem, composed of vast Sage chakra, had an imposing presence, its eyes glowing with a brilliant white light.

As Yagyu disappeared from sight, breaking free from Nagato's gravitational pull, he reappeared atop the Wooden Golem's head.

The Wooden Golem's eyes suddenly shot out two blue-white lasers, streaking across hundreds of meters towards the Gedo Statue.

Boom——

Nagato was momentarily stunned, recalling how Yagyu had used the Wood Dragon Jutsu to perform ninjutsu.

He hadn't expected the Wooden Golem to also use ninjutsu, and without hand seals at that.

However, unlike in their second encounter, Nagato didn't use the Preta Path to absorb the Wooden Golem's ninjutsu. Instead, he controlled the Gedo Statue to raise its hands and punch forward.

The lasers, whose power was not only comparable to Sasuke's Lightning Release: Kirin but several times stronger, and infused with Sage chakra, were blocked by the Gedo Statue's fists.

However, they weren't instantly dispersed; instead, they struggled against the Gedo Statue's fists for a while before dissipating.

The cost of this defense was that the Gedo Statue's fists, which had ignored the Fourth Raikage's attacks, now bore burn marks.

Clearly, just as Sage techniques worked on Six Paths-level beings, the Wooden Golem's Sage Lightning Release also affected the Gedo Statue.

However, this effect only lasted for a moment.

The Gedo Statue, having reclaimed eight Tailed Beasts, now possessed the Ten-Tails Jinchūriki's immortality. Not only were the burn marks healed, but even severed limbs could quickly regenerate.

In less than ten seconds, the burn marks on the Gedo Statue's fists disappeared.

Rumble...

The earth shook as the Gedo Statue charged towards the Wooden Golem.

"Almighty Push!"

Nagato once again released a tremendous gravitational force from a distance, targeting Yagyu.

But this time, his gravitational pull failed to drag Yagyu from the Wooden Golem's head.

Upon closer inspection, Yagyu's feet had sunk into the Wooden Golem's head, much like Gaara's False Sleep Technique. Yagyu and the Wooden Golem were one.

For Nagato to pull Yagyu away with Almighty Push, he would need chakra vast enough to lift the entire Wooden Golem.

But clearly, Nagato couldn't do that.

"Sage Art Fire Release: Fire Dragon Jutsu!"

Yagyu quickly formed a single hand seal with his hand hidden in his sleeve.

In the next second, the Wooden Golem raised its hand and spewed a massive fire dragon from its mouth, roaring towards the charging Gedo Statue.

"So that's how it is!"

This time, Nagato finally understood how the Wooden Golem used ninjutsu.

And Yagyu's maneuver gave Nagato an idea.

However, he didn't follow Yagyu's example and have the Gedo Statue perform ninjutsu.

Without trying, he knew that before he and the Gedo Statue could develop a rapport, he couldn't use the Gedo Statue to perform ninjutsu, even though he was now connected to it via a tube and could use it like the Six Paths of Pain.

But the Gedo Statue was ultimately not Nagato's ninjutsu but a special summon.

Unlike Yagyu's Wooden Golem, which was entirely composed of Yagyu's chakra and could be transformed into other nature and form changes at will.

However, Yagyu's maneuver reminded Nagato of another terrifying ability the Gedo Statue possessed.

"Roar..."

Nagato clapped his hands together, and the Gedo Statue let out another roar.

This time, it was two different roars, one after the other.

The Gedo Statue opened its massive mouth and spewed out a blue, transparent chakra dragon, which collided with the roaring fire dragon.

In an instant, a miraculous sight unfolded.

The fire dragon, infused with Sage chakra, was instantly absorbed by the chakra dragon.

The red chakra turned into nothingness, or rather, merged into the chakra dragon, becoming part of it and enlarging its size.

Seeing this, Yagyu's expression changed slightly.

At this moment, he finally sensed the danger and remembered this terrifying, overlooked technique.

Undoubtedly, the chakra dragon was the ultimate technique, more terrifying than the Tailed Beast Bomb.

This jutsu was an instant-death technique.

If struck by the chakra dragon, one would either lose all their chakra or have both their chakra and soul absorbed.

In the original story, if Hanzo hadn't been skilled in the Body Flicker Technique, he would have been instantly killed by the chakra dragon, just like his subordinates.

This technique was a variant of the Wood Dragon Jutsu, specifically countering flashy techniques, and its lethality surpassed that of the Wood Dragon.

Because, in addition to instantly absorbing chakra, this chakra dragon also had the Human Path's ability, essentially combining the Wood Dragon Jutsu and the Soul Possession Technique.

Even if the Wooden Golem were struck by this chakra dragon, it would lose a significant amount of chakra, just as Madara's Complete Body Susanoo had been tormented by Hashirama's Wood Dragon.

If Yagyu were touched by the chakra dragon, he would lose chakra and even be in mortal danger.

He absolutely couldn't be touched by this thing!

Yagyu thought to himself, but he was also curious.

What would happen if the Wood Dragon, which also had chakra absorption, clashed with this chakra dragon?

Thinking this, Yagyu immediately clapped his hands together. "Sage Art Wood Release: Wood Dragon Jutsu!"

"Roar..."

The Wooden Golem raised its hand, and thick tree roots extended from its palm, rapidly forming into the shape of a dragon, letting out a roar that shook all beasts.

Once the Wood Dragon left the Wooden Golem's palm, it rapidly expanded like an inflating balloon.

In the blink of an eye, it grew to the same size as the approaching chakra dragon.

A solid dragon and a chakra dragon, similar in shape and size, collided.

In an instant, a miraculous sight unfolded!

The Wood Dragon emitted an invisible magnetic force, rapidly absorbing the chakra dragon.

But at the same time, Yagyu lost control of the Wood Dragon.

This massive Wood Dragon fell to the ground, becoming a massive, chakra-infused ornament, now ownerless!