Chapter 143: The Yin Power of the Rinnegan
"Nagato!"
Deep within the Land of Grass, space twisted violently, and Uchiha Obito and his companions stumbled out in disarray.
Of the three, only Konan remained unscathed.
Obito had lost nearly half his body, and Nagato fared no better. The already emaciated Nagato now had an entire arm and part of his chest sheared clean off, with even a leg severed. Through the charred wounds, muscle tissue and even organs were faintly visible.
Nagato had fallen completely unconscious.
"Nagato... Nagato!"
Konan's face turned pale at the horrific sight. Of the three who once walked together, Yahiko was already gone. Now only she and Nagato remained.
In many ways, Nagato was the pillar keeping her going. If he died too, she truly had no reason left to live.
"What the hell happened? Did all six Paths lose?"
Obito scowled, clearly in a foul mood.
"This was your version of giving it your all?"
"And what about you?" Konan's voice turned sharp, sheets of paper beginning to swirl around her again. "What were you doing?"
"You have no idea how strong that Kitagawa Gen really is. Do you dare face him head-on?"
"...Hmph."
Obito had no answer to that. After all, he'd been a victim of Kitagawa Gen's strength himself.
"You're here."
At that moment, a pitcher plant burst from the ground, and Black Zetsu emerged. Seeing the tense atmosphere and the state of Obito and Nagato, he quickly grasped the situation.
Especially upon seeing how battered they were—this operation had been a total failure.
"If you don't mind, let me try something."
Sighing, he approached Konan. Under her wary gaze, he said gently, "Perhaps I can help."
Konan frowned, but ultimately nodded. She really had no other options.
Without delay, Black Zetsu split off White Zetsu's body, which enveloped Nagato to stabilize him.
Obito raised an eyebrow at the move, casting a sidelong glance at Black Zetsu—who merely gave him a subtle nod. It was merely a chakra preservation method, not a cell transplant. That was a line even Black Zetsu wasn't ready to cross.
He was far more cautious than Obito.
"Cough, cough..."
Nagato's tenacity was astounding. With White Zetsu's chakra enveloping him, he actually regained consciousness.
"Nagato!"
Konan cried out in relief, but Black Zetsu shook his head.
"I've only stabilized him. You'll still need a proper doctor. But at least he'll survive and recover slowly. Now—mind explaining what the hell happened out there?"
He was genuinely curious. How had things gone so catastrophically wrong?
"I was blocked by Hatake Kakashi. There was no way I could provide backup—his jutsu isn't simple."
Obito spoke with frustration. Just remembering the battle made his fists clench. Kakashi's tactics, the terrain, and everything else he threw at him...
"I lost."
Nagato, still groggy, hesitated at first. But after a moment of reflection, he sighed and confessed.
"That kid was far more difficult to deal with than I expected. He not only mastered the Flying Thunder God Technique, but also wields Ice Release.
"More than that, his analytical skills were terrifying. It was as if he could instantly see through all my abilities."
"My powers were too dispersed. He broke them down one by one—I couldn't defeat him."
Recalling the battle, Nagato felt a deep sense of defeat.
His individual bodies meant nothing to Kitagawa Gen, who dismantled them methodically. All Nagato could do was watch as his avatars fell, one by one.
The helplessness of it all was infuriating.
"His analytical skills, huh..."
Obito said nothing. He'd suffered the same fate.
But Black Zetsu perked up slightly. "So your strength was too scattered—that gave him an opening?"
"No," Nagato said, shaking his head. "He's overwhelmingly powerful to begin with. He even used a Rasengan to counter my Chibaku Tensei."
It pained him to admit, but he didn't try to deny it.
"Against someone like that, if your power isn't fully focused, you have no chance. If I'd concentrated all my strength, I wouldn't have feared him."
After the brutal beatdown, Nagato had sobered up considerably.
He recalled something Kitagawa Gen had said: "Focused power can pierce even the hardest stone." That line had stuck with him.
There was more that Gen had said, now echoing faintly in his mind—but he wasn't ready to dwell on it. The sting of defeat was still too fresh.
"He's definitely a terrifying opponent," Black Zetsu admitted.
Obito remained silent.
This mission had been a complete disaster.
The only silver lining—if it could be called that—was getting a better understanding of Kitagawa Gen's true power.
But that knowledge only made things more painful.
"Let's leave first," Black Zetsu finally said, breaking the silence. "We'll regroup and strategize later."
With both Otsutsuki Genshiki and Kitagawa Gen as enemies, neither of whom were easy to deal with, Black Zetsu wasn't feeling optimistic.
In fact, he wasn't even confident about facing the first one.
"Take it slow. According to the plan, those two might end up clashing with each other. That could be our chance..."
Clinging to that faint hope, Black Zetsu forced himself to remain calm.
But just as they were preparing to leave, something struck him.
"Wait... someone's missing! Where's Kurosuki Raiga?"
"..."
"Dead again?"
"..."
"Why is it every time we recruit someone new, they either run away or die?!"
"..."
---
Meanwhile, back in the Land of Grass...
"Kakashi-sensei, are you alright?"
Kitagawa Gen teleported in with Flying Thunder God, landing next to Kakashi.
The moment he arrived, his eyes fell on something lying on the ground.
"...Is this Uchiha Obito's arm?"
"Yeah."
Kakashi nodded solemnly, giving Gen a thorough once-over before sighing in relief.
"Looks like you're fine. I was really worried something happened to you. Scared me half to death."
"I'm fine, of course. But wait... you were the one who broke this off?"
Kitagawa Gen's expression was a mix of disbelief and admiration as he looked at the severed limb.
"Is Uchiha Obito addicted to losing arms or something?"
Moreover…
That arm looked like one of Obito's original limbs, didn't it?
While Obito had always been a bit of a "Sage of Six Paths Frankenstein," he did have some original parts left on him.
And now Kakashi had literally torn off one of the originals?
"He was in a rush to leave and exposed a weakness," Kakashi said, nodding. "I saw an opening and took it."
Thinking back on the fight, Kakashi recalled that Obito had been distracted—especially after that massive sphere in the sky shattered. At that moment, it was clear the guy was preparing to retreat.
That gave Kakashi the perfect chance—and this arm was the result.
"Speaking of which, what exactly happened on your end?" Kakashi asked. "That giant stone... was that your doing? And are you really okay?"
"Relax, I'm totally fine," Kitagawa Gen replied with a confident smile. "Besides, I took the chance to test out a few things I've been working on."
He was actually quite satisfied with his "main body's" performance this time around.
Sure, the Six Paths of Pain were strong, but they were too spread out to pose a real threat. He was able to take them on in his normal state without much pressure!
The only thing that didn't go well was his "Talk no Jutsu"—it was practically a disaster.
He'd tried reasoning with Nagato, throwing out lofty ideas and ideals... and was rewarded with a Shinra Tensei (Almighty Push) to the face.
"In hindsight, maybe I should've just gone with the usual talk about bonds, friendship, and all that," Gen muttered. "Might've gone better."
But Gen wasn't the type to dwell on things. If the talk didn't work, then forget it.
Nagato made the first move, and Gen didn't hesitate to strike back. That single strike not only hit Nagato—it also took down some other poor bastard.
"Here, take a look at this, Kakashi-sensei."
Gen pulled out a scroll and quickly unfurled it.
Puff—
As smoke dispersed, several items appeared: a small chunk of white flesh, a shriveled hand and leg, and a pair of twin swords.
"This bit of flesh is from Obito. I cut it off during our fight. Something felt... off, so I kept it."
Gen explained calmly, though in truth he had debated whether to even bring it out. After all, it wasn't of much use to him—he already had all the power he needed.
Konoha would eventually discover this stuff anyway. So he figured: might as well bring it out now and see what came of it. Besides, he still had two of Obito's arms in his possession.
As for Nagato's remains…
Well, he considered those spoils of war. He wasn't about to let them get picked up and revived.
"Don't even know if Nagato's dead or not."
After the fight, even Gen himself had mixed feelings about it. Ideally, Nagato would still be alive—he could help collect the tailed beasts. Dead, and that was one less worker bee.
If Nagato was dead…
"Well, that's annoying. But knowing Obito, he'll keep moving regardless. Worst case, I'll have to operate under the identity of Ōtsutsuki Genshiki."
That identity was his trump card. He wouldn't use it lightly—but he also wouldn't hold back if push came to shove.
"These two swords belonged to Kurosuki Raiga," Gen continued, casually changing the topic. "If I remember correctly, he was one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist. He died here today, so I took his blades."
"Man, Kirigakure really has it out for us, huh?" Kakashi muttered, eyes twitching as he looked at the swords.
It was always the Mist Village.
Akatsuki really had a thing for recruiting rogue ninja from the Mist—Jūzō, Kisame… and now Raiga?
At this point, Kakashi wouldn't be surprised if Akatsuki had a full-blown Mist-nin exodus going on.
"Anyway, let's pack up and head back," he said, rubbing his temples. But then he chuckled. "Still, we actually got lucky this time—neither of us got hurt."
"Yeah, not bad luck at all," Gen nodded, eyeing Kakashi with amusement.
"But… there's one more thing. During the battle, I sensed a very unusual chakra."
"Unusual?" Kakashi raised a brow.
"Yeah. It was strange—definitely not ordinary. It was inside Grass Village at first, but then seemed to leave the area. I think we should check it out."
"I see…"
Kakashi fell into thought. Any chakra Gen described as "unusual" was bound to be significant.
It might be nothing, but investigating wouldn't hurt.
"Wait a minute—you said Grass Village?"
"Yup."
"You were fighting near Grass Village?"
"I… think so?"
"..."
Kakashi went rigid, his face going pale.
That massive stone from earlier—the one that exploded nearby—was close to Grass Village?
He didn't even want to think about the consequences of that…
"We're screwed."
Kakashi swallowed hard. Meanwhile, Gen blinked beside him—because his system interface suddenly lit up:
[Side Quest Completed: My Art Style Surpasses Yours]
[Reward Unlocked: Yin Release Power of the Rinnegan]
Gen's eyes lit up immediately. Yin Release—exactly the type of power he was lacking!
"So… it wasn't just that I 'out-styled' Pain…"
"Did I actually… cut down Nagato himself?"