Chapter 166: I Finally Found You, Ōtsutsuki Genshiki
"This is Root's base?"
Staring at the collapsed terrain—especially the massive crater now exposed beneath the surface—Kitagawa Gen raised an eyebrow.
But he quickly understood what had happened.
Root's headquarters, as its name implied, had always been buried deep underground.
To level the place in a battle like this… wasn't exactly surprising.
"Still, fighting in a place like this isn't ideal. I should look for a chance to relocate them elsewhere."
After all, this was his Konoha.
How could he allow it to be destroyed?
While he was lost in thought, the remaining Akatsuki members clambered up from the crater, covered in dust and debris.
"That guy…"
Sasori and Kakuzu looked around in disbelief at the decimated terrain—flattened, cratered, and devastated—and fell into a rare silence.
Itachi and Kisame appeared relatively calm, though. One was an undercover agent, and both had taken heavy hits before. They knew better than to underestimate the threat.
"You..."
Pain (Nagato) was visibly shaken. He stared at Kitagawa Gen, his lips twitching slightly.
Although he had heard rumors that this man possessed powers similar to his own, he had never encountered him in person. So he had dismissed the idea.
Now, there was no doubt left in his mind.
"Who… are you really? Why do you have the powers of the Rinnegan?!"
"The powers of the Rinnegan?"
Kitagawa Gen gave a slight shake of the head. Though his face was masked, the disdain in his voice was unmistakable.
"I thought I already said this. The Rinnegan is merely a product of the God Tree's fruit. What you're using… is just borrowed power."
"God Tree… fruit?"
Nagato's mind was blank. And it wasn't just him—the rest of the Akatsuki couldn't wrap their heads around what that meant either.
They had always believed the Rinnegan belonged to the Sage of Six Paths, a godlike figure from legend.
So what was all this about a 'fruit'?
"My apologies," Gen said softly, shaking his head. "It was my mistake to discuss divine matters with lower lifeforms. You were never going to understand."
His tone remained calm, even as he smiled gently at Nagato.
"Now then, could you please hand over your eyes? Doing so would spare you from a war that doesn't concern you."
"Hmph."
Nagato didn't respond in words. Instead, he coldly scoffed and assumed a battle stance.
The rest of the Akatsuki exchanged glances.
In the next moment, Sasori unfurled a scroll, summoning his Third Kazekage puppet in an instant.
Kakuzu's body split into several masked clones that hovered protectively around him.
Itachi's eyes transformed into Mangekyō Sharingan, while Kisame raised his massive Samehada sword, his expression deadly serious.
"I see."
Kitagawa Gen watched the scene unfold and gave a soft, almost regretful nod.
Still, he was intrigued.
He had already learned from Kisame about Nagato's changes—and he was genuinely curious. What could a "complete" Nagato truly do?
"It seems… letting go is harder than I thought for you. That's fine."
"Then I'll just take them myself."
VMMM—
He moved.
His words were calm, but the air cracked with the roar of chakra.
The Totsuka Blade, now fused with a black chakra rod in the shape of a longsword, appeared in his hand without warning.
In an instant, a violent storm of power swept through the battlefield!
"Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall!"
Kakuzu slammed his hands to the ground, raising a massive earth wall like a fortress.
But the moment the blade touched it, the wall split cleanly down the middle.
"What?!"
Kakuzu's eyes widened. His technique had been that easily destroyed?
"Magnet Release: Iron Sand Wall!"
Sasori reacted next, controlling the Third Kazekage puppet to form a barrier of magnetic iron sand.
But that too lasted only seconds. A massive bulge suddenly formed in the center of the wall—
BOOM!
The iron wall exploded. Fine iron particles scattered everywhere, glinting in the light like black snow.
The visible shockwave surged forward, tearing toward Sasori at frightening speed.
"Damn!"
Sasori and Kakuzu's expressions darkened.
One tried to dodge using the puppet as a shield, while the other darted to the side—
But neither made it far before they were caught by an overwhelming suction force, dragging them back against their will.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
Just in time, Nagato slammed his palm to the ground.
With a thunderous crack, multiple summon beasts burst forth, growling as they shielded Sasori from the oncoming blast.
BOOM!
The shockwave slammed into the beasts with brutal force. Blood sprayed in all directions as their bodies were torn apart.
They howled in pain, limbs ripped to pieces—
But under Nagato's chakra control, their mutilated bodies began to reattach and regenerate.
"Not bad," Gen remarked, nodding in approval.
Then, with a flash of light—
SLASH—
The sword, now glowing with interwoven yin and yang chakra, swept down once more.
BOOOOM!
The earth itself shook.
The summoned beasts vanished in a puff of ash, annihilated before they could react.
"Impossible!"
Even Nagato couldn't believe it. Those summons are supposed to be immortal!
But there was no time to dwell on it.
The blade was coming for him now.
"Shinra Tensei!"
Nagato grit his teeth and raised his hand, unleashing a massive repulsion wave that barely managed to stop Gen's next attack.
"Amaterasu!"
Seizing the opening, Itachi acted.
With the spin of his Mangekyō, black flames surged toward Kitagawa Gen like living shadows—
But Gen didn't even flinch.
He simply glanced at the oncoming blaze—
VMMM—
A strange, unnatural force pulsed around him.
The black flames—Amaterasu, said to burn forever—froze in place.
Suspended midair, they didn't advance even a single inch.
The next moment, the black flames crashed into the ground, spreading rapidly like an uncontrollable wildfire.
"Magnet Release: Iron Sand Drizzle!"
"Fire Style: Head Engraving!"
"Wind Style: Pressure Damage!"
"Combined Ninjutsu: Blazing Wind Chaos Wave!"
In an instant, Sasori and Kakuzu, now free of restraint, quickly formed hand seals.
A storm of iron needles, like a downpour, mixed with roaring flames surged toward Kitagawa Gen with devastating momentum!
"You timed that well... but—"
Gen shook his head slightly, his voice dripping with mockery.
He raised a hand, and a shimmering light barrier formed in his palm.
The storm of iron and fire vanished the moment it touched the barrier—as if erased from existence.
He sighed and spoke again, voice calm but cold:
"Seems like only one of you took the lesson to heart. The rest? Still ignorant, it seems."
---
A deathly silence followed.
Even Nagato, who had faced countless horrors, felt a chill. Just a few brief clashes had made something clear—this man defied reason.
Nagato clenched his jaw. The ocular techniques Gen had used just now? Nagato could perform them too.
But not like this.
The level of precision, the finesse in control, the mastery over each power—it was beyond anything Nagato had ever seen or imagined.
"Who is this man…? Why is he so terrifying?"
The others, including Itachi and Kisame, wore grim expressions. Their instincts screamed at them—this man was far more dangerous than they'd expected.
---
"Alright," Gen said at last, his tone shifting, "Looks like I need to get serious too."
"But before that—"
He raised a finger.
"—I think we should change locations, don't you agree?"
---
In the blink of an eye, everything around them shifted.
Moments ago, they were still in the heart of Konoha. Now, they stood in a dense forest outside the village walls.
Turning around, they could still see the outline of Konoha in the distance.
"What... just happened?"
Everyone's hearts pounded.
They hadn't even realized they'd been teleported.
That kind of space-time ability... was monstrous.
---
"Crushing ants isn't difficult," Gen's voice echoed calmly as he floated in the air, power radiating from his body, "but I've never thought stepping on ants was something worth bragging about."
Chakra erupted from him like a tidal wave, wrapping around his form, condensing tightly.
"You insects simply took something that belongs to me and refuse to return it. That's what troubles me."
His entire body shimmered with eerie intensity, like a phantom—or a god descending.
In that instant, he entered Tenseigan Chakra Mode.
---
"To honor your bravery... let me give you a taste of true power."
His eyes, now shining like twin galaxies, swept over the dumbfounded Akatsuki members.
Then he smiled faintly.
"After all, your defeat is inevitable… lower life forms."
Meanwhile, on the moon, elders of the Ōtsutsuki clan glanced briefly at the massive Tenseigan, which pulsed and flickered ominously.
They exchanged glances and sighed.
They didn't even bother investigating further.
They'd seen too much over the centuries to be surprised anymore.
As long as the Tenseigan didn't collapse, they didn't care.
Besides, they had long since regarded themselves as celestial beings, far removed from the affairs of the ninja world.
Their indifference toward the realm below ran deep.
---
"Has it finally begun? And with such force...?"
In Mount Myōboku, the great toad Gamamaru suddenly opened his ancient eyes, sensing the torrent of chakra flooding the land.
"Great Sage!"
Just as he tried to locate the chakra's source, Fukasaku came rushing in.
"We've found him!"
"Oh?"
Gamamaru's sleepy eyes instantly sharpened.
"Where?"
"It was reported by one of the smaller toads Jiraiya had stationed—this power came from Konoha. A toad has already been sent there!"
"Konoha…?"
Gamamaru's expression darkened in disbelief. He immediately used the Telescope Technique, locking onto the Konoha toad's vision.
At that moment—he saw a hazy silhouette standing amidst a storm of divine chakra.
"I've finally found you… Ōtsutsuki Genshiki."
---