Chapter 175: The Pupil Technique Is Finally Completed
A deep trench stretched from the entrance of the Hidden Rain Village all the way to the stone wall near its center.
The devastation resembled an unstoppable tank bulldozing through the village—crushing towers, shattering trees, and flattening everything in its path with overwhelming force. Even as massive stones slammed against its armor, they failed to halt its momentum.
Yet in the end, this indomitable force ran out of steam before the central stone wall, buried beneath a mountain of rubble.
Once again, Nagato had gone all out, burning through his chakra recklessly. Yet despite this desperate outburst, he still couldn't shake off the invader. He was, once more—suppressed.
Sturdy homes and towering trees crumbled alike, falling under the weight of the impact. A thick, choking cloud of dust billowed into the air.
It had only been two exchanges—two—but the force unleashed when Pain was blown back was enough to destroy nearly 20% of the buildings on the outskirts of the Hidden Rain Village.
Fortunately, the civilians had evacuated to the village center before the clash erupted. So far, despite the structural and supply losses, no significant casualties had been reported.
So long as... the battle didn't spread to the center.
Pain slowly rose from the pile of shattered stones, his face covered in grime, twisted with fury. Through his puppet, Nagato's fury was laid bare.
He could no longer hide behind the cold facade. His composure cracked—his true emotions seeping through.
It had been a long, long time since anyone had provoked him like this.
The sheer audacity—the feeling of being knocked off his pedestal—was enough to make his blood boil.
But worse than the humiliation was the danger: if Shinra Tensei hadn't held, Yahiko's body might've been crushed in that last exchange.
"This sinful world needs cleansing... but people like you, who destroy without reason, must be judged by God!"
The fury in Pain's voice was sharp, slicing through the air.
"If your body is strong enough to withstand the repulsive force of Shinra Tensei... then let's see how you handle the gravitational pull that can rend mountains—Chibaku Tensei!"
As the chakra surged out, Nagato—isolated in a dark chamber at the heart of the Hidden Rain Village—grew even more emaciated. His skin paled, and not a drop of chakra remained in his body.
The price of this technique? His very vitality.
But right now... he didn't care.
Through Pain's eyes, Nagato locked onto the figure floating just ahead—his focus unwavering.
In the sky above the Hidden Rain Village, a massive ball of chakra slowly rose like a second sun.
Within it, countless Rinnegan eyes swirled, staining the light-blue glow with chaotic and oppressive hues.
Boom. Boom. Boom—
It was as if the entire country trembled.
Buildings collapsed. Animals howled. Even the rubble scattered across the earth began floating—drawn toward the sphere like moths to flame.
An overwhelming gravitational pull radiated from the core of the sphere, dragging everything—livestock, trees, debris... and of course, the intruder—up into the sky.
"Wind Style: Rasenshuriken!"
The shriek of the jutsu cut the air like screeching steel.
Stones and crumbled towers, suspended midair, were sliced like tofu as Ryosuke's ultimate wind-style jutsu tore forward.
The Rasenshuriken spun violently, glowing with chakra, and surged toward Chibaku Tensei.
But as it neared the center of the suction—
Its light dimmed.
Its spiral weakened.
And finally, like a breeze brushing against a mountain... it vanished.
"Absorbed..."
Ryosuke narrowed his eyes, reading the change.
Then he smirked.
"Alright then. Let's see just how powerful this so-called ultimate technique really is."
He stopped resisting the suction and instead leaned into it, accelerating upward—toward the ever-growing sphere of chakra in the sky.
Initially, he'd planned to test his taijutsu against the superhuman frame of Asura. He wanted to pit his ninjutsu against the Preta Path and see if his mastery of elemental and yin-yang techniques could overcome the Rinnegan's absorption.
Even illusions... the Human Path...
But plans? They always failed in battle.
He barely had time to clash with Asura before Nagato flipped the board with one Shinra Tensei and a Chibaku Tensei.
That pressure had forced Ryosuke to respond with nothing but his Byakugan.
And that pressure? It shattered five of the six puppets.
Only Tendo remained.
Still... this was the Six Paths of Pain. The strongest force Nagato had.
That alone made it worth it.
"Let me experience it firsthand. The strongest sealing technique you've got."
Ryosuke's speed exploded again. It wasn't just the Byakugan enhancing his movement now—his whole body pulsed with power.
He kicked off the air, again and again, moving like he was sprinting across invisible platforms.
His white hair whipped wildly behind him, reflecting the thrill burning in his veins.
He locked onto the chaotic core of chakra above, his Byakugan piercing straight through to its center—the heart of its suction, its convergence.
Nagato wasn't the only one losing control of his emotions.
Ryosuke's grin stretched wider, more unrestrained, more feral.
He could feel it.
He was close. So close.
Just a bit more...
What's missing? What is it!?
The answer danced before his eyes—tantalizing, like the solution to a complex math problem resting just on the tip of his mind.
He could almost see it. Almost touch it.
Just one more step... one perfect step away from breaking through.
His heart raced.
And then—he became a blur, a condensed streak of chakra racing toward the heavens.
Boulders surged past him, but none could catch him.
With his 360-degree vision and speed outpacing even Chibaku Tensei's gravity, not a single stone laid a scratch on him.
"Soft Fist!"
He raised his hands—ready.
Before him loomed the Rinnegan's ultimate jutsu. A gravity sphere strong enough to seal gods.
The very same technique the Sage of Six Paths once used to bind Kaguya Ōtsutsuki.
And Nagato, draining his life force to wield it, dared to call himself a god?
No matter how divine your tricks—
I'll break them with a single palm.
And if one isn't enough...
I'll bury you with countless more.
It didn't matter whether it was the Byakugan, the Eight Trigrams Palm, Finger Gun, Iron Body, or Lightning Release Ninjutsu.
To Ryosuke, names meant nothing.
He had always preferred to fuse what he learned—to craft faster, more powerful techniques. That drive to integrate everything was the foundation of his growth.
Palm after palm.
He called it a palm strike, but sometimes it was a fist… sometimes, even a finger.
At times, lightning crackled across his arms; other times, his fingertips howled like a hurricane, thirsting to tear everything apart.
Ryosuke was willing to incorporate any fighting method into the Gentle Fist style—anything that worked.
He didn't know what he was missing yet, but he knew: that flash of insight always came in the middle of battle.
Chibaku Tensei—regarded as the pinnacle of the Rinnegan—was, in essence, just another technique to counter.
If one could destroy the chakra core at its center with sufficient force, the entire gravitational seal could be undone before it fully formed.
But therein lay the problem: power.
Few in the ninja world possessed the sheer force needed.
His chakra was being drained.
What was once a strike capable of toppling towers now felt like a frail child flailing against a wall.
Lightning, Wind, Fire, Earth, Water—he tried every elemental release, even Yin and Yang. He infused them all into his Gentle Fist.
But against the chaotic chakra mass above, each attempt was sucked dry.
Nothing worked.
He was missing something.
A method that could draw upon all of his strength.
What now?
Behind him, thick rock closed in. He and the chakra core were sealed inside a colossal sphere of stone.
Even worse—his chakra was almost gone.
Yet… he did not panic.
His desire—his impatience—for a higher level of combat was now pouring into the Chibaku Tensei with each strike.
Veins surged with blood.
His heart pounded like a war drum, the sound so loud it echoed beyond his own body.
His body was excited—yet his mind was perfectly calm.
And in that calm… clarity.
Clear thoughts. Completed technique.
His shirt had been shredded from the previous clash. Mist seeped from his skin, rising from a beautiful, muscular frame honed by countless battles.
A visible aura exploded from his body, wrapping around him like a second skin.
In his eyes, starlight shimmered faintly.
His long hair whipped wildly. He looked like a god descending to the mortal world.
Then—he stopped.
No.
It looked like he stopped.
In truth, his hands were moving too fast to see.
Even the afterimages had vanished.
Over one hundred strikes in a single second!
Time froze.
And then—
BOOM!
The palm strikes detonated all at once.
---
"Is it over?"
On the ground below, Pain sat collapsed, his chakra depleted, staring at the giant sphere hovering in the sky.
Chibaku Tensei…
Its true horror wasn't just the gravitational pull. It devoured chakra, stamina—even life force.
Once drained, no one escaped its clutches.
The ultimate sealing technique in the ninja world.
But before he could rest—
The "meteorite" trembled.
Bang!
A roar louder than thunder echoed across the land.
Even the edge villages of the Land of Rain heard it.
The sphere shattered without warning.
And through the dust, a lone figure descended from the heavens.
Fragments of rock rained from above like meteors, bombarding the Hidden Rain Village below.
"Earth Release!"
"Water Release!"
"Quick, defend!"
Screams rose faintly from the village.
Pain turned his head, muscles barely responding.
He stared at the figure lying nearby—also struggling to stand.
"Why did you choose the Hidden Rain Village?" he asked coldly. "Did you just want to challenge me?"
His tone was eerily calm.
But beneath it, anger seethed.
"…Weren't those meteorites created by your own jutsu?" Ryosuke countered, his breath ragged but his tone strangely light.
The fight was over.
He was exhausted… but also oddly at peace.
He figured he could afford a short conversation. Maybe even catch his breath.
"If not for an intruder like you, I would've never used Chibaku Tensei here!"
Nagato's voice trembled, no longer hidden behind Pain's emotionless front.
"But isn't that what the Akatsuki did—every time you appeared on a battlefield?"
Ryosuke laughed, though it was more bitter than amused.
Supporting himself on his knees, he slowly stood.
"So when you asked why I started this… I couldn't help but find it funny."
"You're right—conflict is bound by hate and anger. No one escapes that. Not even me."
"But even if you parade around preaching peace, the pain you've caused the innocent doesn't disappear."
He raised his arms, motioning around them.
"Look—eighty percent of this village is rubble… from your jutsu."
"What are you really protecting?
What's the point of your existence?"
"You refuse to face your actions.
You deny your own ugliness."
"But me?"
"I've lived in hell since the beginning.
I crawled out, one step at a time, with nothing but my own hands.
I know exactly what I want—and what I'll sacrifice to get there.
And I accept that."
Ryosuke wasn't talking about the ninja world anymore.
He was speaking about the hell of his past life.
He didn't believe himself noble—just clearer than the man before him.
Those words stabbed deep into Nagato's heart.
Through Pain's eyes, he stared at the wreckage in silence.
"…Thank you," Nagato rasped at last,
"for reminding me that I'm just human—
a man who can't let go of hatred."
The voice was hoarse, like a demon crawling from the abyss.
Pain's face twisted, snarling.
"Maybe everyone—including me—needs to feel true pain.
Only then will this world know peace!"
"Come, White Zetsu! I don't care what you're planning anymore!"
And with that final cry—
In the darkness, six White Zetsu beside Nagato grinned simultaneously.
"Heh… I've been waiting for you to say that."
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