Chapter 171: Goodbye, Inferior Beings
"Despair… is it?"
Nagato stared upward in disbelief at the dark shadow slowly descending from the sky. In that moment, he finally understood what this being was trying to convey.
A meteor.
A massive meteor was plummeting straight down, threatening to completely obliterate both him and the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.
Feeling the overwhelming, suffocating pressure bearing down on him, Nagato was struck by a terrifying realization.
"Is this being… a god?"
God — that was the identity he had always claimed for himself.
But now, under this apocalyptic pressure, he realized just how laughable that claim truly was.
The real god... was the one flying high above them in the sky.
---
"What is that thing?"
"What kind of battle is this?"
"How did it come to this!?"
In the Hidden Leaf Village, just as the Konoha shinobi finished their grueling battles, they arrived at the village gates or stood atop the towering defensive walls.
The fight they had just witnessed had already stretched the bounds of their understanding. Perhaps only those who survived the Nine-Tails attack could grasp even a fraction of what was happening.
But now?
Now, everything had escalated into something beyond comprehension.
As the meteor continued its terrifying descent, panic swept through the ranks of Konoha's defenders.
---
"Damn it! What the hell is going on now!?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi and the other senior shinobi also reached the walls, and their expressions turned ghostly pale when they saw the massive meteor in the distance.
Cold sweat beaded on their brows and slid down their cheeks.
If that thing landed anywhere near the village…
The consequences would be catastrophic.
---
"What exactly is happening?"
Hiruzen tried to steady his nerves, his tone sharp. Kakashi ran over, panting.
"It's that man…"
He pointed toward the floating figure in the sky. After a long pause, he added softly:
"After Guy and I finished our fight, we rushed over. That meteor… it was summoned by him. And I suspect the Akatsuki — he took care of them, too."
"The Akatsuki…?"
Hiruzen was momentarily stunned, then nodded grimly.
No wonder the Akatsuki had vanished from the battlefield — someone had intercepted them.
But still…
---
"Who the hell is this guy?"
"I know."
Tsunade's expression was just as grave. Her eyes never left the falling meteor as she spoke in a low voice:
"Jiraiya received word from the toads… It's Ōtsutsuki Genshiki."
Ōtsutsuki Genshiki.
At the sound of that name, Hiruzen's face turned pale.
He remembered what Earth and Jiraiya had told him — even the Great Toad Sage of Mount Myōboku had been frightened by the mere mention of this name.
Hiruzen had taken the warning seriously… but despite trying, he never managed to find out more about the person.
He never expected that today, they'd meet like this.
---
"To be able to summon a meteor at will… Is he even human anymore?"
Hiruzen muttered, his headache growing worse by the second.
"Ōtsutsuki Genshiki? Who is that?"
Onoki had overheard and couldn't help but ask. Elder Genji's gaze also shifted in interest.
---
Hiruzen's expression turned complicated and heavy.
"This person…"
He sighed.
"I honestly don't know. There's far too little intel. But judging from what we've just seen…"
"He's far beyond anything we could've imagined."
Silence fell across the wall. Everyone stood frozen in place, processing what they'd just heard.
Except for Kitagawa Gen — who looked like he was holding back laughter.
After all… that terrifying "god" in the sky was himself.
---
"No wonder the Great Toad Sage was so unsettled…"
Meanwhile, closer to the battlefield, Jiraiya stared in terror at the meteor looming above.
At that moment, everything clicked for him — and it only deepened his fear.
When did the shinobi world produce someone like this?
Why does such a being even exist?
Is he… even human?
---
"Nagato… is he your target?"
Jiraiya had figured out the combatants' identities. Though he didn't understand the full story yet, a frightening thought crept into his mind.
Nagato's Rinnegan — could that be the reason?
---
"A god, huh?"
As fear gripped everyone else, Nagato suddenly clenched his fists. The Rinnegan in his eyes shone with unyielding determination.
He looked up again, fixing his gaze on the falling meteor and let out a defiant roar:
"Even if you're a so-called god — so what!?"
With a shout, he forced the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path to rise again.
Raising both arms high, he braced himself — as if preparing to take the meteor head-on.
---
"Even if you're a god, it doesn't mean you can do whatever you want!"
He muttered under his breath.
At that moment, a long-forgotten tale from ancient times surfaced in his mind:
The Sage of Six Paths had once defeated the Rabbit Goddess, sealing the Ten-Tails and saving the world.
Nagato was the inheritor of the Rinnegan.
And now — once again — a so-called "god" had descended.
This meant he had to walk the same path the Sage of Six Paths once took. He had to defeat the so-called gods if he wanted to save this world.
"I will succeed. I'll become the new Sage of Six Paths and bring peace to this hopeless world…"
Murmuring to himself, he stared at the descending meteor. In the next moment, he released all of his chakra in a surge of power.
"And the despair I've tasted… how could you possibly understand?"
"Shinra Tensei!"
A massive repulsive force exploded outward. The sheer power of it actually caused the falling meteor to pause momentarily in mid-air.
But a moment later, the meteor overcame the force of his Shinra Tensei, crashing down—but not without its impact being slowed and weakened.
Even so, when the meteor finally slammed into the Gedo Statue, the colossal beast let out a gut-wrenching scream of agony.
ROAR—!
The earth convulsed wildly, and deep cracks like bottomless canyons raced outward in all directions.
The shockwave swept across the land like a tsunami. Even from a considerable distance, Konoha's barrier visibly twisted and warped under the pressure!
In the blink of an eye, countless web-like cracks spread across the barrier like shattered glass.
"Damn it! Everyone, prepare your defenses!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi shouted, but before his words were even finished, the barrier before him shattered with a sharp CRACK, as if made of brittle glass.
"Ninja Art: Flying Thunder God Barrier."
Just then, Kitagawa Gen's God Tree Clone stepped forward. With a single hand seal, a translucent "wall" appeared in front of them.
Strange seals pulsed across the wall's surface. As the violent energy slammed into it, it was instantly redirected.
BOOM—!
BOOM—!
BOOM—!
Everyone stared in shock at the distant mountains. Explosions erupted violently in the distance, sending tremors and smoke billowing into the sky.
In the next moment, the mountains collapsed in a landslide of rubble.
"Gen, are you okay?"
Kakashi asked with concern, but Gen shook his head.
"I'm fine. But tell the Barrier Corps to restore the defense immediately."
He had left his God Tree Clone behind for a reason—he couldn't let the aftershocks reach the village.
After all, his real body was preparing to go all out.
But before his words even fully settled, another shockwave surged through the air, and the Gedo Statue let out another fierce roar.
ROAR—!
This time, the monstrous creature caught the meteor with its own body!
The earth had already sunk under the pressure, and Nagato was violently coughing up blood. The Zetsu cloak on him was visibly withering.
His face had gone pale, but even now, he looked up at Kitagawa Gen and smiled faintly—
As if to say, I held it off.
"Is this Uchiha Madara's Rinnegan making him go nuts?"
Gen couldn't help but laugh bitterly at the sight. He didn't respond, but quietly raised his Totsuka Blade.
"I could say something like, 'How will you handle the next one?' but…"
HUMMMM—
A spinning halo of energy began to form around the Totsuka Blade. With a calm smile, Gen spoke softly:
"Goodbye… inferior lifeform. Silver Wheel Reincarnation Explosion!"
With a mighty swing, a massive storm erupted and surged straight at Nagato!
"Damn it!"
Nagato immediately sensed the danger. He commanded the exhausted Gedo Statue to close its mouth.
But the massive storm churned the earth itself, ripping the meteor to shreds. The flying debris never even had a chance to scatter—it was disintegrated instantly into dust.
The Gedo Statue howled in agony. Its tree-bark-like skin cracked in huge, splintering lines.
Its nine eyes squeezed shut. It fell to its knees, the cracks spreading across its colossal frame.
"What… what is that?!"
Far off in Konoha, everyone was frozen in disbelief. Even Genji and Onoki were holding their breath.
This… was like nothing they had ever seen before.
Even Hiruzen Sarutobi, who had witnessed the legendary battle between Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha at the Valley of the End, was drenched in cold sweat.
That clash was already incomprehensible to him back then—but at least it had made a little more sense than this.
BOOOOOM—!
Finally, under the relentless onslaught of the Silver Wheel Reincarnation Explosion, the Gedo Statue collapsed.
That it held out this long was only because Nagato had poured in everything he had. No matter how monstrous its vitality and regeneration, at the end of the day, the statue was just a hollow shell.
Its recovery relied entirely on Nagato.
And Nagato… was already at his limit.
With a final deafening roar, the Gedo Statue's head burst open!
In that instant, the raging windstorm rushed inside—and at the same moment, Kitagawa Gen saw blood splatter in a wild, uncontrolled torrent.
The beast gave one last wail before its massive form began sinking slowly into the earth.
Gen raised an eyebrow.
[Konoha Exclusive Side Quest Completed]
[I Am the Village's Hope]
[Defend Konoha and Resolve All Threats]
[Reward Being Calculated…]
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