Chapter 141: Overwhelming Force
While Kitagawa Gen unleashed a relentless offensive, the battle between Kakashi and Obito was also intensifying.
"Kakashi!"
"Obito!"
Their figures constantly phased between reality and the Kamui dimension, their fight weaving between the tangible and the illusory.
"Damn it... So the offensive side of Kamui is with Kakashi."
Despite Obito's formidable body and his access to Wood Style, he was clearly at a disadvantage in this clash. Kakashi's tactical skill and combat technique far surpassed his, especially in close-quarters taijutsu, where Obito found no edge.
In the past, Obito could rely on Kamui to avoid attacks. But now, Kakashi wielded the same eye—and could even counter him.
And Obito had finally understood how Kakashi's Kamui worked.
"My Kamui specializes in teleportation and defense. To draw a target into the dimension, I need to get close and take risks," Obito calculated as he dodged incoming strikes.
"But Kakashi… he can attack from a distance. That's a huge problem."
While he was deep in thought, Kakashi suddenly threw several lightning-infused kunai. Obito scoffed.
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
It was a basic fire technique, but in Obito's hands, it roared forth with tremendous power. The massive flames engulfed the incoming kunai. Even Kakashi had to drop into a defensive stance, pressing his hands to the ground:
"Earth Style: Earth Wall!"
A stone wall adorned with canine carvings rose up to block the fireball. But as Obito caught sight of those familiar dog-head sculptures, his fists clenched with fury.
"It really was that bastard who taught you this!"
"...?"
Kakashi looked puzzled—though he couldn't see Obito's face behind the wall. The stone wall not only blocked the fireball but also cut off their line of sight.
But in the next moment, Obito phased through the wall and launched a direct attack!
Just as his strike was about to connect with Kakashi, he scoffed again:
"I should've known. Your shameless tricks are exactly the same!"
The "Kakashi" in front of him transformed into a crackling bolt of lightning—just a clone. The real Kakashi erupted from the ground beneath Obito's feet.
But Obito had seen through the trick this time.
He would never fall for the same tactic twice—not against Kakashi.
Twisting the Kamui space, Obito reached out and grabbed the real Kakashi. At the same time, Kakashi activated Kamui as well.
Reality distorted around them.
One tried to enter the Kamui space, the other tried to escape it.
Their struggle caused the world around them to warp—a fusion of the real and the surreal. Ultimately, both were displaced, vanishing from the battlefield.
When they reappeared, they stood in the middle of a barren clearing.
"This is…"
"Here?"
A heavy silence fell.
The location was both familiar and unforgettable—the place where Rin had died.
"How poetic… You piece of trash actually brought us back here," Obito sneered after a long silence. His Sharingan stared icily at Kakashi.
"You broke your promise back then. Maybe this really is the perfect place for us."
Kakashi took a deep breath and replied evenly:
"You're right. I broke my promise. I failed to protect Rin."
"But I never betrayed her will. Even in death, she protected the Hidden Leaf. You, on the other hand, betrayed her. You betrayed everyone."
"So yes—this place is fitting."
As his words fell, both their chakras flared wildly once again.
Even Kakashi, who usually struggled with chakra depletion, seemed tireless in this moment.
But just as they were about to clash again—
—a massive sphere suddenly erupted from the ground and hovered in the sky.
Meanwhile, Nagato still didn't understand why Kitagawa Gen had casually said, "You're really enjoying yourself."
But what he did understand—was that Kitagawa was surging toward him again like an unstoppable storm, targeting the last two Paths of Pain: Human Path and Hell Path.
He had to react—now.
"He's even stronger than last time… How is this possible?"
Nagato had once blamed his loss on only having the Deva Path present.
But now, all six paths were assembled—and still, he was being overwhelmed.
"Could he be right? That line he said… 'Only concentrated power can break solid stone.'"
Nagato couldn't deny how deeply that idea struck him.
He had divided his power across six bodies, but Kitagawa had broken through them one by one. Their abilities couldn't coordinate effectively. The gaps were too easily exploited.
Nagato suddenly realized: there might be truth in those words.
But how could he consolidate that power now?
"No—!"
While he hesitated, Kitagawa Gen darted past the Hell Path's defense like lightning—and shattered the Human Path in a single blow.
"Two left," he said casually, his voice echoing coldly in Deva Path Pain's ears.
"If this is all you've got… then honestly, you're not even fun."
He wasn't joking.
The Six Paths of Pain were impressive—each had a unique and deadly ability.
For an average ninja, they were near-impossible to defeat.
But Kitagawa Gen was no ordinary opponent.
With the right intel, the right strategy, and overwhelming force—he could dismantle them.
"I really have to thank Jiraiya and Naruto. Without their intel, that Preta Path that absorbs chakra would've been a real pain to handle."
He himself knew the mechanics of Chakra Absorption Sealing. He had studied it.
Normal senjutsu wouldn't work. If one absorbed too much pure natural energy, they'd turn to stone on the spot.
With that knowledge, Kitagawa deliberately mixed his attacks—combining Yin Release with massive amounts of natural energy.
His chakra reserves were vast. He had no fear of being drained.
"Serves you right."
He sneered at the now-petrified and shattered remains of the Preta Path, reduced to rubble on the ground.
That's the power of intel.
At that moment, Deva Path Pain gave a command:
"Buy me some time. I'm preparing a jutsu."
Chakra surged around him.
"Got it," replied Kurosuki Raiga with a nod. He knew: if he didn't go all out now, he wouldn't survive this.
"Lightning Style: Thunder Dragon Tornado!"
Kitagawa Gen darted forward, lightning chakra surging wildly through his body. Sparks flared across his blade—Lightning Fang roared with power.
A massive lightning dragon burst out with a howl.
Hell Path Pain followed close behind. Though he was more suited for support roles, he had no choice but to dive into the fray now.
"Is that all you've got?"
Watching the roaring lightning dragon streak toward him, Kitagawa calmly formed a single-handed seal.
"Water Release: Great Exploding Water Wave!"
A torrent of water erupted with explosive force. Kurosuki Raiga paused in surprise—using water to counter lightning?
"No... he's not countering it. He's converting it—he's using Ice Release!"
Sure enough, the moment the water met the lightning, a freezing chill surged outward. The violent lightning dragon was instantly sealed within a block of solid ice.
"Ice Release: Crystal Bloom."
Kitagawa's seals shifted again. The frozen lightning dragon shattered with a thunderous crack, exploding into thousands of crystalline senbon that rained down toward his enemies.
"Dodge—now!"
Kurosuki Raiga shouted, crossing his twin blades in front of him as his chakra exploded outward.
"Ninja Art: Lightning Armor!"
He dodged while simultaneously using Lightning Release to defend. Hell Path also attempted to retreat at top speed—but his eyes widened in the next instant.
"Goodbye."
Without warning, Kitagawa Gen had already blinked in front of him, his short blade slicing clean through the air.
As Hell Path's head was severed, a strange smile crossed his face.
"It's enough... because—"
"Chibaku Tensei!"
From not far off, the Deva Path of Pain shouted with fury, hands pressed together.
A black sphere containing a strange gravitational force launched from his hands, hovering high into the air.
BOOM—
A tremendous gravitational pull exploded outward.
The ground cracked. Rocks and debris were wrenched into the sky as if pulled by an invisible force. The pull intensified rapidly, causing the entire landscape to tremble.
"What is that!?"
"The ground—it's being sucked in!"
"What the hell is happening!?"
In the distance, the ninjas of the Hidden Grass Village had already fled to the outskirts. Now they could only look on in horror as the sky twisted and warped unnaturally.
Before long, vast chunks of land, trees, and stone were being ripped from the ground and drawn upward toward the black orb in the sky.
"What is that thing!?"
The Grass Village leader stood in disbelief. A creeping terror filled his chest—this wasn't a human battle anymore.
His horror deepened as the debris began merging, forming a giant, floating sphere in the sky.
"This level of combat…"
Even Karin was visibly shaken. She questioned whether this was truly a battle between shinobi.
"But... that chakra... something's wrong."
She looked up at the ball forming in the sky. She could sense that the owner of that immense chakra—Kitagawa Gen—had been caught in the pull.
"Wait... this is…"
Suddenly, a primal fear struck her heart—as if an even more terrifying power was taking shape.
"Chibaku Tensei, huh..."
Kitagawa Gen remained calm, even as he was pulled skyward. As the massive sphere threatened to trap him, he slowly raised his hand.
"Then let's see how my newest technique performs."
From his palm, three glowing orbs emerged—one black, one white, and one purple.
Clearly, they represented Magnet Release, Ice Release, and his own signature Purple Lightning. As they spun and converged, two more distinct forces began to surface.
"Yin Release and Yang Release... merging them is still this difficult, huh?"
He hadn't forgotten his goal—not even the Ōtsutsuki could deter him. He was still chasing the fusion of bloodlines.
He didn't know if his genetics would allow for a full Kekkei Mōra in the end, but he was preparing for it with everything he had.
As Yin, Yang, and Sage Chakra fused into the mix, a transparent Rasengan-like sphere formed in his palm—three glowing cores orbiting within it.
"It's still unstable... but it should be enough."
As the Chibaku Tensei grew larger and more chaotic, Kitagawa leapt, momentarily breaking free from the pull by hopping off airborne debris.
"Trying to escape? Hah!"
From afar, Nagato observed everything through the Deva Path's eyes. He immediately poured more chakra into the technique, causing the gravitational force to spike.
"Nagato, that's too dangerous—!"
Konan's face paled as she noticed the blood streaming from Nagato's nose, but he shook his head firmly.
"This must be done. He's more dangerous than we imagined... more terrifying. I have to take a risk."
Nagato was taking a huge risk. Even he doubted Chibaku Tensei could completely restrain someone with Flying Thunder God.
But he needed to test the limits. Kitagawa had gathered far too much intelligence. He had to be eliminated.
"Even if I can't kill him, I need to know the range. This is—hm?"
Suddenly, Nagato froze.
On the battlefield, Kitagawa was holding up a chakra sphere that had already swollen to a massive size.
"A Rasengan? He's trying to use that to counter Chibaku Tensei!?"
Nagato thought he was insane.
But Kitagawa didn't care what anyone thought. Compressing the unstable chakra sphere, he hurled it upward without hesitation.
"I'll call you… Starfall Rasengan."
The enormous Rasengan shot upward. An instant later, a blinding white light lit up the sky, brighter than the sun itself.
When it struck the gravitational core, the world fell into silence.
The air itself felt suffocating. A crushing sense of apocalypse swept through the battlefield.
"What… what is that power…?"
Kurosuki Raiga looked up in shock, feeling as if he had been dragged into a battle far beyond his league.
"What... what just happened?"
The Hidden Grass shinobi stood frozen in place, eyes locked on the unbelievable scene above.
Even their leader was paralyzed, his mind numb with awe.
"Everyone, fall back!"
Only Karin had retreated far enough. She understood better than anyone just how dangerous this was.
BOOM—
A colossal explosion tore through the sky.
Visible shockwaves ripped across the land. In a heartbeat, an entire forest was reduced to scorched earth.
Flames engulfed the remains, devouring tree after tree. Near the village, buildings were ripped from their foundations, leaving behind bare, smoking soil.
The earth caved in.
The shockwave kept spreading, surging even toward the outer edges of the village and beyond—consuming everything in its path.
Above, the Chibaku Tensei sphere shattered. Flaming and frozen debris rained down like meteors.
It was a calamity.
"This… this can't be real…"
Pain watched the scene unfold, his hands trembling slightly.
Far off, in his hidden chamber, Nagato's body was slick with sweat. Blood flowed freely from his nose.
Even unleashing Chibaku Tensei at full power had severely taxed him. He had assumed even Kitagawa Gen would be forced to retreat.
He never expected that man to destroy it with a single Rasengan.
Nagato had been forced to activate Shinra Tensei just to shield their location from the blast.
"Go. You have to leave now!"
Nagato turned to Konan, his voice weak but urgent.
"This is the only place left untouched. He'll definitely track it down. You have to go!"
"Too late."
A calm voice rang out from beyond the door.
Kitagawa Gen had arrived.