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"Planetary Devastation? Nagato's move?"
Itachi calmly watched the small black dot rise into the sky, showing no panic.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The ground began to fracture. A powerful gravitational force radiated from the small black dot in the sky. The entire cavern began to crumble. The black dot flew out through the gap Kagaya had smashed open when he entered the cavern, rising higher and higher.
Terrifying cracks spread ceaselessly around the cavern. The red Susanoo and the purple Susanoo gradually became unable to resist the gravitational pull, flying toward the sky.
Kagaya, however, was completely unaffected. The caster of Planetary Devastation was immune to the gravitational force of their own technique.
Otherwise, casting Planetary Devastation would seal oneself first, and the technique would have long since become a suicide jutsu.
"What's going on?! Brother, what's that little black dot flying out?! What does Planetary Devastation mean?! And this gravitational pull—damn it, the force is too strong, I can't hold on!"
A rare trace of panic appeared on Sasuke's face. This was his first time witnessing Planetary Devastation firsthand, and he had no idea how to deal with it.
"Calm down, Sasuke! Listen to me." Itachi, by contrast, remained calm from beginning to end, without the slightest panic. He continued.
"Planetary Devastation is the name of this technique. It should be one of the Rinnegan's abilities. Once we're pulled up, the battle is over. This technique seems to have a sealing effect, so we cannot be pulled up. Understand?"
Sasuke hurriedly nodded.
"Understood"
Itachi smiled with relief and raised his hand, pointing at the small black dot above.
"See that small black dot? That's the core of this technique. If we attack it together with our strongest power, we can destroy this technique!"
Before coming here, Itachi, along with Naruto and Killer B, had also encountered Nagato's Planetary Devastation. The three of them had stopped it by destroying the black dot—the core.
The red Susanoo opened its massive hand. Several magatama appeared in its palm.
Yasakani no Magatama!
The purple Susanoo raised its bow and nocked an arrow!
That was Sasuke's spiritual weapon!
Kagaya, on the ground, watched this scene in midair and couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. He had watched the original story. Although he couldn't remember many details, there were still some he could recall—such as the weakness of Planetary Devastation. Before it fully formed, a sufficiently powerful attack could destroy the core (the black dot) and forcibly terminate it. Because once the core was destroyed, the technique couldn't continue.
And clearly, the movements of Itachi and Sasuke in midair showed they intended to destroy the Planetary Devastation before they themselves were pulled up.
Kagaya smiled.
"Good idea! Itachi's suggestion, I take it? Heh heh. I remember—before coming here, Itachi fought Nagato, right? Then he must have learned Planetary Devastation's weakness from Nagato. But, Itachi, Sasuke, I hope you understand—your current opponent possesses one of only two native Rinnegan in existence since the era of the Six Paths!"
After the era of the Six Paths, the only native Rinnegan belonged to Kagaya and Madara. Nagato's was transplanted from Madara, so it didn't count as native.
And the gap between native and transplanted was the gap between Obito and Kakashi in the early days of Naruto—or even greater.
Kagaya extended both hands. Two small black dots appeared in his palms and began flying into the sky.
"You can handle one Planetary Devastation. But what about three?"
In midair.
"Go!"
At Itachi's command, the arrow and the magatama shot out together!
"Amaterasu!"
"Amaterasu!"
The arrow and the magatama merged, and with Amaterasu added, they crashed into the black dot with unmatched momentum.
"————!!!"
A violent, soundless explosion erupted in the sky.
Itachi's tactics were flawless. The first Planetary Devastation stopped.
But—
"Eh?"
Sasuke let out a confused sound.
"Hm?"
Itachi also immediately sensed something was wrong.
Why was the gravitational pull still there? Why were they still in midair?
Itachi snapped his head around.
"Behind!"
Yes—at this moment, Itachi was being pulled toward a Planetary Devastation directly behind him!
That was the second Planetary Devastation!
Itachi quickly turned his head again, searching for Sasuke.
"Sasuke, let's join forces aga—"
Halfway through, Itachi stopped. Because he discovered that Sasuke was now far away from him—hundreds of meters away, and rapidly getting farther!
The cause of all this was the small black dot in front of Sasuke.
The third Planetary Devastation!!!
Kagaya had used two Planetary Devastations to separate Sasuke and Itachi. And with the gravitational pull, the distance between them was still continuously expanding!
Kagaya, on the ground, looked up at all this. The black dots in his hands slowly vanished. He smiled.
"Seems I won't need a fourth Planetary Devastation. Alright, let me see—how will you handle this, Uchiha Itachi?"
Originally, Sasuke couldn't have been pulled hundreds of meters away so quickly. But Kagaya had deliberately increased the gravitational pull of Sasuke's Planetary Devastation, so by the time Itachi looked back for a moment, Sasuke had been pulled hundreds of meters away.
Since the start of the battle, this was the first time Itachi felt things were truly troublesome. Although Planetary Devastation could be destroyed before it fully formed, there were requirements. It had to be destroyed with a sufficiently powerful attack. Otherwise, if mere attacks could destroy it, wouldn't any Genin throwing a kunai be able to destroy Planetary Devastation? That was obviously impossible. Only a sufficiently powerful attack would work.
And now, Sasuke and Itachi had been separated. This meant Itachi could only destroy the Planetary Devastation before him alone. But could Itachi's attack alone destroy it?
Several magatama spun into existence on the red Susanoo's hand.
Whether or not it could be destroyed, he had to try.
"Yasakani no Magatama!"
Itachi hurled the magatama. It struck the small black dot with perfect accuracy!
BOOM—
A violent explosion blazed in the sky.
Kagaya watched the explosion in the sky and nodded.
"Very powerful. As expected of the Susanoo. If it were facing a Planetary Devastation from a non-native Rinnegan, it should be able to destroy it. But unfortunately... my Rinnegan is native. Even though it's currently just a pair of fake eyes."
Closer! Closer!
Still getting closer! The gravitational pull was still there!
Itachi's expression couldn't help but change. His attack alone, as expected, couldn't destroy Planetary Devastation!
By now, Itachi was already very far from Sasuke. Even if he forcibly had Sasuke help from a distance, at such a range, the power would be greatly reduced. It wouldn't be of much use.
What Itachi didn't know was that Kagaya had also prepared a fourth Planetary Devastation earlier, originally intended to be placed between Itachi and Sasuke as a shield to prevent them from helping each other from a distance. But since Itachi and Sasuke hadn't helped each other, Kagaya had saved himself a Planetary Devastation.
Itachi's mind raced, quickly searching for a countermeasure.
Time is running out. I have to hurry!
On Sasuke's side.
Sasuke didn't understand Planetary Devastation and had no good counter. He simply kept using his powerful attacks against the black dot.
It had to be said—Sasuke was now an Eternal Mangekyo wielder, after all. His attacks were far more powerful than Itachi's. At this rate, the Planetary Devastation would eventually be destroyed by Sasuke.
Kagaya raised his hand and began forming hand seals.
"Eternal Mangekyo, huh? The power really is greater. Back then, I also fought with these eyes. But now it's different. Let me add a little something for you, Sasuke."
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
Several massive fireballs spewed from Kagaya's mouth, flying into the sky.
But these fireballs weren't aimed at Sasuke. They flew straight up into the sky until their chakra was exhausted and they gradually disappeared.
After releasing the Great Fireballs, Kagaya made no further moves. He stood within the Susanoo, quietly waiting.
Sasuke was still ceaselessly attacking the Planetary Devastation's black dot. Itachi was still ceaselessly searching for a way.
Planetary Devastation ceaselessly attracted objects from its surroundings.
In the cavern, now collapsed into ruins, Kabuto and the Anko he had captured lay on the ground, unconscious.
Originally, the first Planetary Devastation had been above the cavern. Kabuto and Anko couldn't have avoided it. But the first Planetary Devastation had been destroyed by Itachi and Sasuke.
For the latter two Planetary Devastations, Kagaya had placed one to the south and one to the west to separate Itachi and Sasuke, so they hadn't affected Kabuto and Anko.
BOOM!
BOOM!!
Two sounds rang out simultaneously—one was the sound of an explosion, the other the sound of completion.
On Itachi's side, he was ultimately sealed by the Planetary Devastation. A massive sphere floated in midair, an awe-inspiring sight.
On Sasuke's side, the Planetary Devastation was destroyed by Sasuke. The purple Susanoo was charging ferociously toward Kagaya.
Kagaya glanced at the sky and nodded with satisfaction.
"Mm. Seems it's fully brewed. Then, come taste your own move, Sasuke."
He raised his hand. Massive lightning flashed in the sky!
At some unknown point, the sky had become filled with cumulonimbus clouds!
Actually, this was caused by the Great Fireballs Kagaya had just released—rapidly heating the air, creating updrafts. The updrafts created cumulonimbus clouds. The cumulonimbus clouds created lightning.
So—
Sasuke's eyes flew wide open. A guess surfaced in his mind.
"Impossible?! A dead man—how could he—"
Kagaya smiled faintly.
"Kirin!"
Enormous beyond measure! With the boost of massive chakra, Kagaya was able to draw in far more lightning from the sky. Thus, a colossal Kirin appeared.
ROAR!!!
Carrying boundless lightning, it roared. Its massive face, positioned in the sky, made it seem as if the entire sky was roaring!
The strongest Lightning Release, manifesting in this world!
"How?!"
Sasuke roared. He didn't understand—how could an unfamiliar dead man know his technique?
He raised his hand, also preparing to draw the lightning from the sky and release Kirin.
"Too late."
Kagaya gently swung his hand down. The colossal Kirin in the sky leaped down and crashed onto the purple Susanoo!
BOOM——BZZZZ——
A massive blue pillar of light formed—a world-ending force composed of lightning.
The purple Susanoo, in midair, was directly smashed to the ground, then submerged within the lightning.
"Kirin borrows the power of nature. Its power is very strong. But against a Susanoo, it's probably still somewhat lacking—especially when the target is an Eternal Mangekyo. So, let me add a little more force." Kagaya muttered to himself, then stared at the massive blue pillar of light. A faint purple glow began to emanate from his right eye.
"Divine Punishment!"
The earth seemed like the surface of water. The blue pillar of light seemed like a stone. In an instant, the stone was cast into the water, and the entire surface rippled violently.
Mountains were collapsing! The earth shook uncontrollably! The blue pillar of light expanded threefold!
This was no longer just a pillar of light. In this moment, it was a strike from a god!!
The ability of Kagaya's right eye was—to amplify the power of any technique he witnessed!
The multiplier depended on the ocular power consumed. And just now, Kagaya had consumed half his ocular power to amplify Kirin.
In other words, an attack of this magnitude—even for the current Kagaya—could only be performed twice in a short period!
And the result of this strike was: uprooting trees, leveling mountains, creating dead silence!
———!!!
The sound produced by the explosion had already exceeded the range of human hearing. Therefore, this explosion could not be heard at all.
The massive blue pillar of light, in utter silence, ceaselessly destroyed, destroyed, destroyed!!
This was, in the truest sense, a world-ending strike!
Whether at the Allied Shinobi Forces headquarters or on the battlefield of the Fourth Great Ninja War, everyone felt this earth-shattering chakra!
The Allied Shinobi Forces Headquarters.
The massive blue water sphere became utterly chaotic.
This blue water sphere was used by the Allied Shinobi Forces headquarters to observe the battlefield. Every fluctuation on it represented the chakra fluctuation of a person.
Normally, there were only very subtle fluctuations—mere ripples. But this time, the entire water sphere rippled violently, a world of difference from before!
"What's going on?! Did Madara drop more meteorites?!" Shikaku asked anxiously.
"No... it seems to be a fluctuation coming from the enemy's main base."
"Ha?"
The Fourth Division battlefield.
The Five Kage lay on the ground. Madara had just dealt with the Five Kage. He gazed toward the northwest.
"That chakra..."
He grinned, then burst into laughter.
"Hahahaha! Good! Good! The Five Kage were disappointing, but it seems there are still some worth fighting! This war won't be boring!"
With that, Madara leaped away from the Fourth Division battlefield.
Shikamaru stood in the distance, saying nothing.
Madara hadn't specifically targeted Shikamaru. From beginning to end, he hadn't.
Shikamaru understood very well—in that man's eyes, he didn't count as an opponent. He couldn't even enter his sight.
He had been ignored. Precisely because he had been completely ignored, Shikamaru had survived.
Just as Kagaya had said earlier—if Madara truly went out of his way to target someone of Shikamaru's level, then Kagaya would have to suspect whether that was really Madara.
Such a domineering man, such a self-supreme man, such a confident man—he would never go all out even against a rabbit, because he was already a lion without trying, and when he did try, he was a god!
At the final moment, Sasuke activated his fully formed Susanoo. This thing consumed far too much chakra. Originally, Sasuke hadn't wanted to activate it. But Kirin's power grew greater and greater, more and more abnormal. Sasuke hurriedly activated his fully formed Susanoo.
The facts proved his decision was correct. Even the fully formed Susanoo was shrouded by the blue pillar of light. Even the fully formed Susanoo couldn't withstand this strike!
The armor crumbled ceaselessly. Blood poured from Sasuke's mouth without pause.
What was this?! This couldn't possibly be Kirin!
The power was too great!