Chapter 183 — Chase! Super Shinra Tensei!
The shattered fragments of stone still rained down like hail, pelting the ruined capital below. Some debris even struck the outer walls, shaking the very foundations of the city.
Konan landed lightly amid the wreckage, her paper wings scattering motes of light as she steadied Nagato beside her. His face was pale but his eyes glimmered sharply with disbelief.
"Planetary Devastation… was cut apart so easily?" he murmured, his voice low with shock. "Is that Susanoo really this powerful?"
He had underestimated Uchiha Fugaku.
That much was clear.
Nagato's mind raced. He had unleashed nearly every ability the Rinnegan possessed — summoning, absorption, gravity, even the Six Paths' combined might — yet none had even scratched that colossal warrior of chakra.
Even Super Shinra Tensei… could it even push him back?
The sheer size of the Complete Body Susanoo was staggering. Repelling it might not even matter — the collateral destruction would annihilate everything for miles.
"Nagato, are you alright?" Konan's voice pulled him from his thoughts. Her tone was tense; she could sense his chakra fluctuations.
He shook his head. "I'm fine."
His expression hardened, but doubt flickered in his eyes.
No — not now. Using Super Shinra Tensei here would devastate the capital. The cost wasn't worth the risk. They lacked the information to counter that monstrous defense.
"We'll retreat for now," Nagato said at last. "We've gained nothing from this. Uchiha Fugaku can apparently locate us — staying here any longer is pointless."
Konan nodded without hesitation. "Understood. Let's go."
She lifted him gently and took to the skies, paper wings slicing through the night air. Moving swiftly through the maze of alleys and rooftops, she used the shadows to obscure their path from Susanoo's glowing gaze.
Nagato frowned, his thoughts darkening. How did he even find us?
Could it have been the Byakugan? There had been Hyūga among the Konoha shinobi who arrived earlier. But none had seemed aware of his location. If they had, they would have struck long before he and Konan left the Daimyō's residence.
No… Fugaku must have guessed, or maybe he was just lucky.
The thought left a bitter taste. For someone to threaten the Eye of the Moon Plan — that was intolerable.
"Uchiha Fugaku…" he muttered under his breath. "You've become a true obstacle. If I don't eliminate you, the Nine-Tails and Eight-Tails will never be mine."
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Meanwhile, Fugaku's colossal Susanoo loomed over the ruined capital, each movement shaking the air itself. He swung its blazing sword again and again, slashing at the evasive Yatagarasu — the green avian summon that carried one of the Six Paths.
"Hmph. Fast little thing," he muttered. Despite several strikes, he couldn't land a clean hit.
Then, suddenly, the bird screeched and veered away — retreating rapidly. Fugaku's gaze snapped toward the collapsed pagoda.
The chakra signatures were gone.
A grin spread across his face. "Running, are we?"
The Susanoo crouched low, muscles of chakra coiling like springs. Then — boom! — it launched forward, tearing through the air. The wings of spectral energy spread wide, propelling it faster than sound.
To those below, it looked like a crimson comet streaking through the sky.
The resulting gust swept across the capital.
Even the Konoha shinobi watching from afar staggered, barely holding their ground. The soldiers on the walls, unable to anchor themselves with chakra, were swept clean off, their screams fading into the chaos below.
Susanoo shot past Yatagarasu like lightning, ignoring it entirely. Fugaku's gaze locked on the two fleeing figures ahead — their cloaks of black and red cloud stark against the smoke.
Found you.
His Mangekyō spun. With a single thought, the gourd-shaped Totsuka-no-Tsurugi materialized in Susanoo's hand — a weapon that sealed all it pierced.
From the gourd's mouth burst a beam of golden light, stretching outward and forming into a brilliant, razor-edged blade.
"Konan!" Nagato rasped, eyes widening as he sensed the massive chakra approaching through Pain's shared vision. "He's coming!"
She turned mid-flight — and saw the impossible.
The Susanoo was already behind them, a towering god of war, its sword raised high.
That speed—!
It was nearly on par with the Flying Thunder God Technique itself.
Before she could react, a golden pillar of energy descended — pure annihilation tearing through the sky.
Konan's heart clenched. She couldn't dodge while carrying Nagato — not at that speed. Even if she used her Paper Body Technique, the blast radius was too vast.
What do I do?!
Panic flashed in her eyes.
Nagato's voice cut through it — calm but firm. "Leave it to me."
He clapped his hands together. Chakra roared from his frail body like a storm, condensing with impossible density.
"Chō Shinra Tensei!" (Super Almighty Push!)
A shockwave exploded outward.
The very air warped. Ripples of gravity surged in every direction, expanding in a vast sphere. The ground beneath them cratered instantly, disintegrating into a massive semicircular pit that widened by the second.
The forest below was erased — trees torn from the earth and flung away like straw.
Birds caught mid-flight were reduced to dust before their bodies even hit the ground.
Even from above, Fugaku felt the impact. A titanic pressure slammed into his Susanoo's arm — the one holding the Totsuka-no-Tsurugi — nearly wrenching it free.
He gritted his teeth, steadying his chakra.
"Shinra Tensei…!" he growled, recognizing the power instantly. "No… this scale — Super Shinra Tensei!"
The sheer repulsive force pressed against him like the wrath of a god. Even his Complete Body Susanoo trembled, pushed backward through the air, its sword arm shuddering.
So it still has some bite after all, he thought grimly.
Without solid footing, even the mightiest defense strained to resist.
The Susanoo slid backward through the sky, wings flaring as Fugaku poured chakra into stabilizing it — his eyes narrowing.
Not bad, Nagato. But still… not enough.
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