It's over!
The moment Minato Namikaze completed his Flying Thunder God teleportation, the thought abruptly surfaced in his mind.
And it arrived at nearly the same instant as the physical pain he was enduring.
After that, there was only one sensation left in his entire body.
Pain!
With Nagato's chakra rod piercing through his chest, Minato's sharp mind dulled—his thoughts slowed as if time itself had thickened around him.
Therefore, when he was sent flying backward, instinctively his hands reached toward the wound, and a puzzled expression appeared on his face.
It wasn't until his back crashed hard against a nearby boulder that his eyes snapped wide open—only then did he fully grasp what had just happened to him.
However, before he could activate another Flying Thunder God Technique, Nagato's face suddenly came clearly into view, rapidly growing larger.
A dense killing intent surrounded him, sealing off every possibility of escape.
Contracting pupils—Minato tried to move his body to dodge or even counterattack, but the tingling numbness radiating from the chakra rod embedded in his chest kept him frozen helplessly in place.
So all he could do was watch as Nagato's hand loomed down like a net, while he himself remained motionless beneath it.
Puff—
Nagato grabbed the top of Minato's head with one hand. The moment his palm met Minato's forehead, he applied power instantly. The immense strength amplified by Hashirama's cells and the Rinnegan crashed down onto Minato's skull.
As a result, Minato—who still had the chakra rod piercing his chest—was slammed into the ground. The earth cracked across a radius of more than ten meters, continuously collapsing deeper underground.
A thunderous shockwave blasted outward, followed by clouds of dust engulfing the area.
"Is this truly all you can muster? All I see is frailty and helplessness!"
Leaning forward slightly, Nagato blocked out the sunlight behind him, shielding both the faint drizzle and the sky's glow. His cold expression revealed deep disappointment in Minato's strength.
That feeling of helplessness—Nagato himself had felt it many times before. Not quite empathy, but a profound resonance from personal memory stirred within him.
But stopping now was impossible.
Because as long as the world remains unchanged, silent sufferings continue to unfold in every corner of existence. So let this moment be the final echo of helplessness, paving the way for a better world!
As Nagato stared at his battered opponent, he saw a reflection of his younger self—the one who once faced Hanzo alone, before everything changed.
Was weakness a sin? It was a question too painful to dwell on.
"Cough… cough!"
Minato coughed violently. Blood surged from deep within his throat, spilling across his pale cheeks before dripping onto the ground beside him, forming a disturbing pattern.
The crushing blow left his skull buzzing, blood flooding his throat as pain rendered him speechless.
"What? No words left? Or have you already given up?"
Nagato eased the pressure on Minato's forehead and slowly straightened his posture, continuing to speak.
He loomed over Minato like a god, staring down at the man lying helpless in the deep crater below. Rain soaked his crimson hair, sharpening his cold, merciless aura.
"What kind of sick joke... is this... I'm still... the Hokage!"
Meeting Nagato's icy gaze, Minato struggled to open his eyes and replied haltingly. His eyes sparkled with tears as a stubborn smile clung to his lips.
But just saying those words made more blood pour from his mouth, weakening his presence even further. He was clearly on the verge of slipping into unconsciousness.
"Hokage? A ridiculous title! From now on, perhaps the entire Shinobi World will no longer carry such titles—be it Hokage, Tsuchikage, or any other Kage."
With one hand, Nagato pressed down on the Chakra Rod still lodged in Minato's chest, slowly pushing it deeper as he spoke.
More blood oozed from the wound, the tremors of Minato's body traveling through the rod into Nagato's palm.
Minato groaned softly in pain, his blood-covered face now deathly pale.
Though he tried desperately to suppress the agony, it was still painfully obvious.
Watching Minato's weak movements, Nagato gradually stilled his hands. Yet, the killing intent continued to build—thicker, heavier, rising endlessly.
"Farewell to the old world! Pain doesn't just bring ruin—it births something entirely new. Something no one has ever seen before. I hope you'll be among those reborn too… Just like we were back then..."
As Nagato spoke, he raised both hands, chakra surging rapidly within them.
The Chakra Rod piercing him had begun suppressing Minato's internal chakra, drastically slowing both its extraction and flow to historically low levels.
That was also why Nagato had been able to strike him so easily earlier—and why Minato now couldn't move at all.
"So I still couldn't pull it off… Is this really my limit? Is this all a Hokage can give?"
These thoughts echoed in Minato's mind as he felt the warmth on his face and the unbearable pain in his chest, trying hard to twitch even a single finger.
But it felt like countless ants crawling and biting inside every cell, preventing his nerves and muscles from coordinating. No smooth movement was possible—only violent, uncontrolled tremors wracked his body.
The rain fell harder now.
Dripping onto his face, they struck like cruel slaps against his cheek—each drop freezing his skin. It felt like his very soul was turning to ice.
His body had already reached its breaking point.
Without the Chakra Rod buried deep inside him, Minato thought he might have kept fighting for a little longer. But now, that weakness was multiplied tenfold, leaving him helpless on the ground, waiting for death.
His heavy eyelids began closing slowly. Darkness surged from the edges of his vision, and even Nagato, standing right beside him, blurred into two indistinct shadows.
[Shua Shua]—Within his wide sleeves, Nagato gripped two pitch-black rods tightly, their tips sharpened to lethal points.
As he raised his hand, he caught a flicker of resentment in Minato's eyes. Yet his movement didn't pause for even a moment—it grew swifter instead, aimed directly at Minato's exposed heart.
Death loomed over Minato, who had no strength left to resist. He stared ahead with wide eyes, filled with resentment but no longer struggling.
Never before had death felt this close.
"Minato!" "Hokage!"
"Teacher!"
As darkness crept into his consciousness, Minato faintly heard familiar voices.
Those voices gave his sinking spirit an invisible boost, lifting him rapidly as light pierced through the dark.
His eyes flew open. Clenching his fists, he lifted them slightly in front of him to block.
He remembered his duty, his promise—and the people still counting on him to protect them.
[Dust Release!!]
Onoki's voice rang out from afar. Then Minato saw a white beam shoot toward him from the side, nearly as fast as Lightning Release.
He and Nagato were almost leaning against each other—one standing, the other lying down. Their distance apart was no more than thirty centimeters.
But the Dust Release swept half a meter above the ground as if it had eyes of its own, finally striking Nagato just as he was about to attack.
Boom—
A thunderous crack split the air. Minato flinched as if a war drum had exploded beside his ear. The violent shockwave rattled his mind, dragging back into darkness the awareness that had just returned.
His eyelids slowly shut, but right before they closed completely, a streak of black light flashed by. Then Minato felt himself being lifted up, and the terrifying energy waves of the Dust Release gradually moved away from him.
"Hmph!"
"Bloodline Limit Dust Release?!"
Unexpectedly, the Dust Release disrupted Nagato's attack.
With no choice, he redirected the chakra rod aimed underground toward the incoming dust.
The black fragments vanished into the air, reducing the chakra rod to nothingness. However, Nagato remained calm—after all, he hadn't truly expected such a simple counter would stop the Dust Release.
With the rod gone, he extended both palms forward, arms held horizontally across his chest, channeling chakra through his Rinnegan.
[Shinra Tensei!]
Nagato unleashed the Rinnegan's signature technique once again, crashing head-on into the approaching Dust Release. Thus, unintentionally, the first clash between the Rinnegan and the Dust Release took place.
Blinding white light erupted where their hands met, sending Nagato flying backward.
Yet the Dust Release got no further. The Shinra Tensei barrier held firm, as solid as ever.
Its initial advantage came only because it caught Nagato off guard.
Nagato glanced at his former position. There stood a figure clad in black ninja armor exactly where Minato had been. Taking advantage of Nagato's retreat caused by the Dust Release, the figure grabbed the severely wounded Minato and vanished instantly.
Another ninja who can use the Flying Thunder God Technique?
Even while resisting the force of the Dust Release, Nagato pondered—but did not dwell.
The Flying Thunder God Technique had been refined to near perfection, so as long as he kept his distance from enemies and avoided contact, he would always remain invincible!
In the blink of an eye, the shockwave from Dust Release weakened. Onoki couldn't maintain maximum output indefinitely, so after a certain period, it inevitably became ineffective.
Nagato halted his retreat as transparent barriers materialized around his hands. At the precise moment, the barriers expanded outward like layers of protective armor.
BOOM—
The following attack exploded outward in all directions as the barrier deflected it.
Meanwhile, Onoki staggered briefly, darting backward before dropping the Ninja Seal in his hand and cutting off the chakra flow.
"This enemy fighting Minato must be the leader of Akatsuki Organization," Onoki thought, staring intently at Nagato. "Those eyes are exactly the [Rinnegan] described in earlier intelligence reports—and it's clearly not one of those previous puppets. Another formidable opponent indeed, one who exerts even more pressure than Saitama Uchiha ever did before."
Onoki held his breath, eyes locked onto Nagato as thoughts raced through his mind. His expression grew graver, with deep lines forming across his forehead.
SWOOSH—
In the next instant, Nagato saw a bolt of lightning erupt skyward from Saitama's position. In the blink of an eye, it struck Onoki—who had previously attacked him—with overwhelming speed.
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