Chapter 95: Earth Style: Earthquake Wave
BOOM!
An intense repulsive force erupted from Nagato's body, slamming into the two Summoning Beasts and blasting Goldie and the Void Mantis away once more.
The Void Mantis fared slightly better. Its physical strength was superior to Goldie's, so even after being hit by Shinra Tensei twice, it was only slightly disheveled. After being blown back, it rolled twice on the ground and quickly regained its footing. This time, however, it didn't attack again, instead assuming a defensive stance.
But Goldie was in a sorry state. Although there was no blood, he felt as if his entire body was about to fall apart. A look of pain twisted his canine face as his limbs flailed helplessly in mid-air, looking exactly like a drowning dog.
Kael retreated, his right hand, still gripping the kunai, numb from the impact.
Nagato, possessing the Rinnegan, had terrifying physical strength. Even with the Tabby Cat's enhancement, Kael was far from being Nagato's match in raw power.
This realization forced him to abandon any thought of a taijutsu duel.
But Nagato wasn't about to act according to Kael's will.
He was a man of strong convictions, perhaps even extreme ones. Yahiko was his closest friend, which was why he was willing to support Yahiko's decisions without reservation. Even if, in his eyes, Yahiko's ideas were somewhat unrealistic...
Whoosh!
He chased after Kael with his chakra blade, his speed actually surpassing Kael's. And remember, Kael was currently possessed by a feline known for its agility!
The next moment, Kael felt a sudden loss of control over his body. His forward momentum came to an abrupt halt, and he began to fly backward!
In mid-air, he turned his head in horror to see Nagato aiming his left hand at him. The force stripping him of control was coming from Nagato.
Banshō Ten'in (Universal Pull)!
"Little Dragon!"
Just as he was about to be sucked into Nagato's grasp, Kael roared internally.
Immediately, the earth began to tremble violently. Trees within a kilometer radius began to shake and shudder crazily before toppling over.
Nagato felt the ground beneath him tilt. He stumbled, unable to find his footing, and then felt a sudden sensation of falling.
It's not just a sensation! The ground is actually collapsing!
Nagato's expression changed. He could no longer maintain the Banshō Ten'in. He leaped away rapidly. The instant he left, the ground where he had been standing cracked open with irregular fissures. The next second, the entire area caved in, as if the core of the earth had been hollowed out.
Nagato looked back at the massive pit, dozens of meters wide, and then at the violently churning ground around it. A flash of astonishment crossed his eyes. This level of destructive power didn't look like something a standard Earth Style jutsu could cause. Even with his massive chakra reserves, he couldn't achieve this scale with a simple Earth Style technique.
"Is it an earthquake?"
He wondered to himself as he scanned the surroundings.
Shocking, massive cracks were spreading rapidly across the ground in his field of vision. In the blink of an eye, countless bottomless, pitch-black chasms formed.
Nagato constantly shifted his position to avoid falling into the cracks. Even he didn't dare test what it would be like to fall into those abysses of unknown depth.
The scene before him was truly inconceivable. As far as the eye could see, the entire earth seemed to be crumbling, as if the world were ending in the next moment.
This was a natural disaster!
Just as this thought rose in Nagato's mind, a strong sensation of weightlessness hit him. He plunged headfirst toward the underground.
He looked up in shock to see that the ground for nearly a hundred meters around him had completely collapsed. He couldn't even find a place to gain leverage!
RUMBLE!
The deafening sound of the earth shaking and cracking filled his ears. Nagato fell straight toward the depths, the world around him fading from gray to pitch black.
After the initial dizziness and loss of control, Nagato reacted quickly. He kicked off the massive clods of earth falling alongside him, using the force to slow his descent while dodging the rocks falling from above.
It wasn't until a minute later that he felt the commotion subsiding, and rocks stopped falling from above. Nagato relaxed slightly and quickly climbed up along the few remaining earthen walls.
"Phew!"
Seeing the light again, Nagato let out a heavy sigh of relief. In the pitch-black underground world, avoiding falling rocks while keeping himself from dropping into the abyss—only he knew how dangerous it had been.
Fortunately, aside from being slightly tired, he was uninjured.
Thinking of this, his expression suddenly changed, and he began searching the broken ground for Kael.
His intuition told him that this disaster-like scene was Kael's doing, so Kael naturally wouldn't be in danger.
In a pitch-black pit a few hundred meters away from Nagato, a frightened dog bark sounded.
"Woof, woof, woof! —Damn it! Little Dragon, you bastard! You didn't care if your brothers lived or died!"
Goldie endured the intense pain, his body bruised and battered, as he struggled to climb toward the light above.
He remembered the Void Mantis had fallen with him, not far away at the time, but now the Mantis was nowhere to be seen.
Although the underground world was dark, his Titanium Alloy Dog Eyes allowed him to see far even in the dark.
"Woof, woof, woof! —Forget it, no time to worry about that cold guy! I need to get to the surface first!"
Despite his speed and physical fitness, the ground had collapsed, leaving him no leverage. During the weightless fall, he was hit by falling rocks and bumped against clods of earth, finally crashing to the bottom of a hundred-meter-deep ravine. The fall had nearly scared the pee out of him, leaving him dizzy and seeing stars.
Even though he was covered in cuts and bruises, he didn't make a sound.
"I am no longer the weakling I was! As a strong dog, I must have the resolve of the strong!"
But after climbing dozens of meters toward the light... Goldie ran out of strength.
He extended the sharp claws on his thick limbs, digging them deep into the rock wall. His body hung there as if nailed to a pillar of shame. His limbs trembled slightly, the shaking growing more violent as time passed, until his entire body was shivering uncontrollably.
Goldie hugged the cold earthen wall, vertically, not daring to move a muscle. But he couldn't hold on any longer. His strength was spent. The feeling that he was about to fall at any moment made him toss his canine dignity completely out the window.
He turned his head tremblingly and let out a panicked scream.
Instantly, his miserable voice echoed through the pitch-black underground world.
"Mantis! Save me!"