Chapter 142: The End
The battlefield was silent but for the sound of papers burning to ash and debris raining from the sky.
Nagato's Shinra Tensei had collapsed, unable to repel the impossible force radiating from Kitagawa Gen. Konan, her wings shredded into fragments, shielded his body, refusing to move even as the air vibrated with Gen's rising power.
"Why…? Why do you still stand when even the Rinnegan cannot bring you down?" Nagato whispered, disbelief breaking through his hollow calm.
Gen stepped forward slowly, eyes steady, no trace of mockery now. "Because you chained yourself to pain. Power born of hatred collapses the moment it meets someone who refuses it. Nagato… you were strong, but you made your cage your world."
Nagato coughed, blood dripping, his chakra dangerously faint. Still, the Rinnegan glowed with that raw, stubborn light. "Then show me… show me a world without it."
Gen's gaze lowered. For a moment his expression softened, as though he pitied them. And then, in an instant, his chakra condensed—crisp, complete, unshakable.
The remains of Nagato's Planetary Devastation orb crumbled like dust. The gravity pulling the land upward was seized, compressed, and shattered in Gen's palm.
Konan's lips parted, eyes wide. "He… unmade Nagato's jutsu… as though it never existed."
Obito arrived then, appearing from spiraling space. His Sharingan spun wildly as he took in the sight of Nagato collapsed on the ground, Konan helpless beside him, and Gen standing tall, untouched.
"…How?!" Obito's voice cracked, disbelief turning to anger. "You surpass Nagato? Even the Six Paths fell to you?!"
Gen didn't even look his way. He spoke in that same calm tone, now carrying across the wreckage:
"I didn't surpass him. I surpassed this world."
The words cut deeper than any blade, settling unshakably in the air.
Black Zetsu emerged, his form stretched long and strained. "No… impossible. For centuries I've awaited Mother's return… no shinobi is supposed to ever reach beyond the order she left."
But even as he spoke, the shadows trembled. Zetsu's instincts screamed at him—the boy before him was no longer just a shinobi.
A pulse resonated from Gen's body, a vibration that pierced through the life of every creature in miles. It wasn't infinite power or a new dojutsu—it was simply clarity. His chakra cycle had stabilized, not as a storm, but as something effortlessly balanced, unified, complete.
Nagato saw it, even through failing eyes. "He's… not resisting chakra. He… became part of it. His existence has no contradiction…"
Gen looked toward them for the last time, the faintest smile flickering on his lips.
"This world has nothing more to teach me. Its wars, its hatred, even its peace are all too small. And I am tired of being bound by them."
With a final seal—subtle, simple—space shimmered. The barrier their shinobi world had always pressed against, invisible and eternal, peeled back a crack. Beyond it stretched something endless. Not light, not shadow—just possibility.
Obito staggered forward, despair and awe mixing on his face. "He's… leaving the ninja world behind…"
Konan clutched Nagato tighter as both felt their convictions crumble. Black Zetsu could only tremble, knowing his thousand-year plan had lost significance in a single night.
Kitagawa Gen turned, half his body already blurred into the rift, voice echoing like a quiet truth:
"My journey isn't here. Not anymore."
And then—he was gone.
The fractured battlefield was left behind in silence—Nagato collapsed, Obito breathless, Zetsu cursing, Konan staring at the empty sky.
A stillness stretched, as though all history had ended.
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[Just kidding guys 😂 the real Chapter 142 will be posted after a few hours. Couldn't control myself when I saw that "The End" in the title haha. Really sorry—thanks for indulging me!]