Seven or eight kilometers outside Konoha, inside a large tree formed entirely from paper fragments, a series of intense coughing and panting sounds echoed.
Blood was flowing from his nose and mouth, and Nagato was continuously heaving as he struggled to breathe. His already pale, sickly face became even more deathly white.
"Nagato, are you alright?!" Seeing Nagato's condition suddenly worsen this way, Konan exclaimed in alarm. She hurried over and supported Nagato's arm.
"Hah... Hah..." Nagato opened his mouth wide, gasping for air with great difficulty, as if even breathing was an extravagant luxury. His face displayed utter disbelief and despair: "I never thought... I failed... The last Pain... Yahiko... was also defeated..."
Failed?! Nagato says he failed?! Shocked, Konan stared at Nagato with eyes full of disbelief.
The leader of Akatsuki, who had once killed the half-god Hanzo, known as an unbeatable ninja, possessing the legendary and strongest Rinnegan, the eyes of legend—such a person was defeated by Uchiha Kaoru in less than ten minutes of battle.
Then how strong was the enemy they faced?!
Uchiha Kaoru... Konan couldn't help but bite her lip slightly.
"Unfathomable, bizarre ninjutsu— even the Divine Tensei cannot attack him..."
"His movement method is elusive..."
"And that devastating ninjutsu..."
"It's almost... like the power of a god..."
It's hard to imagine—someone inheriting the Sage Body, possessing Sage Eyes, inheriting Yahiko's ideals, and always claiming to be a god—such a person would actually call their opponent a god.
"Such strength..."
Konan whispered in disbelief, her beautiful amber eyes filled with panic and helplessness.
"And now, he's already detected my location through the chakra stick and is rushing here..."
After coughing a few times, Nagato whispered softly again.
"What should we do? Should we retreat immediately?"
Konan asked anxiously.
"Even if we retreat, it's already too late. Moreover, the dignity of a god forbids me from retreating," Nagato said slowly and deliberately. "Open a gap in the paper tree—I need to use that move..."
As he clasped his hands together, Konan's face became even more grim.
"No, Nagato! With your current condition, using that move will only worsen your body's burden!"
Konan shouted loudly.
"Don't speak, Konan. I need to focus..." Nagato's purple Rinnegan slowly closed as he ignored her warning.
"Using this move will consume a huge amount of chakra and will further strain my body, but it's worth it..."
"Only by feeling pain... can one truly understand the value of peace..."
"Let him see the great power the Six Paths of the Sage created the world with..."
"Only by feeling pain... can one truly understand the value of peace..." Nagato muttered stiffly. He began frantically gathering chakra within his body. In an instant, blood spilled from his eyes, ears, mouth, and nose, but he paid no mind to it.
As he gathered chakra, Nagato's palms converged into a pitch-black chakra sphere.
"Chibaku Tensei (Planetary Devastation)..."
Nagato extended his right hand, and the black chakra sphere shot out from the gap Konan had opened, flying straight upward.
"This... is... indeed, Chibaku Tensei..."
Kaoru, heading toward Nagato's hiding spot, saw a small black sphere flying into the sky from afar, blocking out the sunlight and emitting a strange black glow.
With the power of the black sphere, a massive gravitational force began to spread out slowly. The ground started trembling, trees embedded deep into the earth were uprooted, large patches of land turned into giant fragments, and everything on the ground began to float toward the black chakra sphere.
Thick fog and dark clouds completely covered the sky. Rocks pulled into the high atmosphere gradually condensed into a small "planet." Under this immense gravity, Kaoru also slowly began to drift upward.
"Let's turn the earth into a planet together, Uchiha Kaoru!!"
A twisted expression appeared on Nagato's face as he roared fiercely. He poured all his chakra into his body, adding the gravitational force of the Chibaku Tensei again.
"Is this the Chibaku Tensei that can temporarily seal the Nine-Tails? It's magnificent..."
Calmly looking up at the planet pulling him upward, Kaoru's lips curved into a faint smile.
"But that's not enough!"
With a sharp shout, Kaoru reached out with his hand. An endless surge of chakra erupted, and in the next moment, a cold, overwhelming aura burst forth around him. The ground instantly froze over, turning into a sheet of frost.
"Frozen Tomb!"
The chakra sphere immediately coated in a deep blue frost. Kaoru swung his hand fiercely, and a towering ice pillar shot out, completely freezing the entire planet. A piercing, ear-shattering freezing sound echoed, as if only this streak of icy blue frost light filled the world.
"Freeze!"
It was as if the entire world trembled. A towering blue ice pillar sealed the entire Chibaku Tensei within, forming a towering ice peak!
As the massive "planet" in the sky was frozen and sealed, all pulling forces ceased. The massive stones still floating around the ice pillar began to fall wildly.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Countless falling stones kicked up clouds of dust and ash. But none of this could hide Nagato's shocked expression at this moment. He seemed to have forgotten all the pain in his body, only stunned by the sight of the icy mountain before him.
"Chibaku Tensei was actually frozen. What kind of power is this..."
Nagato muttered in disbelief, his heart utterly bewildered.
The Icy Tomb is an S-rank ultimate move of the Frost Witch, capable of completely freezing the target. It consumes a huge amount of chakra, but Kaoru, in his perfect Sage Mode, could constantly absorb natural energy from his surroundings to gather chakra, so the chakra demand was no longer a concern.
"Alright, Nagato. This should make you behave for a while, since your mobility is gone..."
After sealing the Chibaku Tensei in ice, Kaoru clapped his hands softly, a slightly lonely expression on his face. He stepped onto the scattered stones and continued forward.
If it weren't for Nagato's legs being shattered by Hanzo's attack and unable to move—if he could focus all his Rinnegan's abilities into one—perhaps they could still play around together.
But... there are no "what-ifs" in this world...
It doesn't matter. In front of me, whether it's the Six Paths of Pain or Nagato, the outcome would be the same...
---
"Chibaku Tensei has also failed..."
Inside the paper tree, Nagato wavered as he spoke. Suddenly, his throat tightened, and he spat out a large mouthful of blood!
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