Chapter 60: Gravitational Collapse and Final Gambits
From the center of Nagato's clasped palms, a black sphere no larger than a thumb flew skyward. It was deceptively small, a mere speck against the burning night.
Then, the world groaned.
CRACK-CRUNCH-RUMBLE...
A sound like the earth itself tearing apart filled the air. The gravitational pull was instantaneous and absolute. Massive root systems, entire sections of shattered buildings, boulders, and rubble ripped free from the ground, hurtling upward toward that tiny, hungry point of darkness. The scale was impossible to gauge at a glance; everywhere one looked, the debris of Konoha was being siphoned into the sky to form a new, terrible moon.
Screams mixed with the chaos as dozens of Konoha shinobi, caught too close to the epicenter, lost their footing. They flailed helplessly, pulled off the ground and into the air, drawn toward the growing sphere of compacted ruin.
Sarutobi Hiruzen, Jiraiya, and Might Dai planted their feet, chakra flaring to anchor themselves. But the ground beneath them splintered and lifted. They slid upward, their boots carving grooves in the rising earth, fighting a losing battle against the titanic force.
"Damn it… this is the Rinnegan's sealing technique!" Hiruzen growled through gritted teeth.
Even the Nine-Tails, massive as it was, felt the irresistible tug. Its claws dug deep furrows in the earth as it was dragged several meters forward. This Chibaku Tensei is a child's imitation compared to the Sage's… but it will still be a nuisance if I get caught! It knew the weakness—the dark gravitational core itself.
Akira ceased his harassment of the fox, the pull affecting him too. He looked at the rapidly expanding celestial prison, then at Fugaku, who was struggling to maintain his Susanoo against the upward drag. "The core! Attack the black sphere!" Akira shouted, his voice cutting through the roar of ascending debris.
"Understood!" Fugaku bellowed back. The skeletal ribs of his Susanoo glowed with intense chakra as he focused. The tomoe in his right eye spun violently, morphing into his Mangekyō pattern. He fixed his gaze on the black dot at the heart of the chaos. "Amaterasu!"
WHOOSH!
Black flames, born from nowhere, ignited upon the gravitational core itself. In an instant, the dark sphere was wreathed in an expanding orb of inextinguishable fire.
"It's not enough! The flames burn too slowly to disrupt it!" Fugaku realized, feeling the pull unrelenting. His Susanoo flickered, reforming into its skeletal warrior shape to conserve strength.
Seeing the black flames take hold, Hiruzen's tactical mind snapped into focus. "Everyone! Target the sphere with your strongest long-range attacks! Destroy the core!"
In one fluid motion, he created four shadow clones. All five—Hiruzen and his copies—formed a blistering series of hand seals in unison. "Five Elements: Unrivalled Combination!"
Wind, fire, lightning, water, and earth. Five streams of elemental devastation, perfectly harmonized, shot upward like a prismatic lance, aimed directly at the Amaterasu-cloaked core.
"Sage Art: Five Barriers Fire Bullet!" Jiraiya and the two toad sages unleashed their combined inferno. A tidal wave of fire and wind, magnified by natural energy, roared skyward, painting the heavens a violent orange-red.
Might Dai, veins bulging and steam erupting from his seventh-gate form, roared. "Evening Elephant!" He threw a rapid-fire barrage of punches into the air. The compressed air bullets coalesced into the ghostly, massive head of a white dragon that streaked upward, arriving first.
BOOM!
The dragon's impact shook the very air.
Fugaku acted again. His Susanoo drew back its arm, and three gigantic, connected tomoe of concentrated chakra—Yasaka Magatama—spun into existence. With a final shout, he hurled them upward to join the onslaught.
KABOOOOOM—!
The simultaneous impacts were cataclysmic. The gravitational core, assailed by Amaterasu, elemental annihilation, sage fire, concussive air, and Uchiha might, could not hold. It shattered.
The new moon of rubble destabilized instantly. What followed was not a collapse, but an explosion. Chunks of rock, timber, and earth, many still wreathed in clinging black flames, rained down across the battlefield like a hellish meteor shower.
"Troublesome," Nagato muttered, his Rinnegan tracking the falling, burning debris. The loss of Chibaku Tensei was anticipated, but the spread of Amaterasu was a complicating factor, hindering his Wood Release.
"Tch. Amaterasu." The Nine-Tails snorted in disdain. It didn't dodge. Instead, it simply flexed. A cataclysmic eruption of raw, crimson chakra burst from its body in a spherical shockwave. The ground for dozens of meters around was scoured clean, and the black flames licking at its perimeter were blasted away, extinguished or cast far into the distance. It cleared a massive, safe zone for itself.
Nagato saw the method and instantly copied it. He raised a hand. "Shinra Tensei!"
A powerful, omnidirectional repulsive wave exploded from him. The falling rain of flaming debris, along with the patches of Amaterasu spreading on the ground, were violently shoved outward, creating a cleared ring around him. Unfortunately, the concussive wave also caught many recovering Konoha ninja, sending them tumbling.
Jiraiya and Hiruzen dodged the worst of the flying fire. Might Dai landed beside them, his body steaming, his breathing labored but his eyes burning with resolve.
"Lord Hokage! Jiraiya-sama!" Dai gasped, the strain of the Seventh Gate evident. "We can't let this drag on! The battle radius is expanding—our shinobi are taking too many casualties!" With a decisive motion, he ripped open his green jumpsuit, letting the top half fall away, revealing his scarred torso.
Hiruzen's eyes widened in horrified understanding. "Dai, no! It's not time for that! We are not at that extremity!"
"With all respect, Lord Hokage, the time is now," Dai said, a peaceful, determined smile touching his lips. "Lady Kushina cannot last much longer. My youth… has been waiting for this moment to burn its brightest. I have no regrets. This is the path I chose."
"Dai, you fool…" Jiraiya began, but his voice trailed off. The bitter truth was that they were being pushed to their limits. If they were stronger, such a sacrifice wouldn't be necessary.
On a separate, fragmented battleground isolated by walls of lingering Amaterasu fire, two blurs of space-time ninjutsu—one yellow, one orange-masked—clashed and separated in an endless, silent dance. Kunai met chain in sparks of chakra, but neither Minato nor Obito could land a decisive blow.
"It seems this battle favors me, Fourth Hokage," Obito taunted, his voice distorted. "Uzumaki Kushina's life flickers like a dying ember. You've lost your chance. I have completely deciphered your Flying Thunder God."
Minato's expression was cold, his eyes sharp as senbon. He could not see the main battlefield clearly through the towering black flames, but his faith was unshaken. "It's far too early to claim victory, 'Madara'. I believe in my comrades."
"Do you? Then let's witness their end together." Obito surged forward again, his chain whipping out.
"We will," Minato replied, and another special kunai was his answer.
Back in the cleared zone near the Nine-Tails, Akira flashed to Fugaku's side. Without a word, their Sharingan met. In the span of a heartbeat, their consciousnesses linked within an illusionary space.
"Clan Head, the situation has progressed to its final stage," Akira's mental voice was urgent. "I will attempt to use my ocular technique to kill the Nine-Tails. Now."
Fugaku's illusion-self nodded, his fatigue evident even here. "What do you need from me? I have enough strength left for one more coordinated effort."
"Can you use your Mangekyō's genjutsu? Just for a moment. To freeze it."
"Barely. But I can do it."
The conference lasted less than a second in reality. The Nine-Tails, seeing them congregate, saw an opportunity. With a guttural roar, it brought a claw down in a crushing sweep, aiming to smash both Uchiha into paste.
ROAR!
Fugaku's chakra erupted in response. His flickering skeletal Susanoo exploded with light, surging with flesh, armor, and height until the full, armored warrior form, over twenty meters tall, stood defiant. It crossed both of its chakra swords above its head, meeting the descending claw with a shockwave that cracked the earth.
CLANG—SHOOOOOM!
The force was tremendous. The Nine-Tails was actually knocked back, skidding dozens of meters, its attack thwarted.
In that moment of recoil, Fugaku's eyes blazed. The intricate pattern of his Mangekyō filled his pupils, and he poured the last of his genjutsu power into a single, overwhelming command.
"LOOK AT ME!"
The Nine-Tails' furious eyes met his. The complex pattern reflected in its giant pupils. Its body locked, seized by the potent ocular illusion. It stood frozen, a statue of snarling malice.
Seeing his opening, Akira didn't hesitate. The tomoe in his left eye spun and morphed, resolving into the unique, pinwheel pattern of Obito's Mangekyō Sharingan. He fixed his gaze not on the beast's body, but on a single, precise point in the center of its massive forehead.
All his chakra focused. The air around his eye seemed to distort.
"Kamui."
(End of Chapter)
✨If you're enjoying this story, consider supporting me on Patreon —
Patreon.com/TofuChan
💕Patreon members get early access to chapters, bonus content, and voting power on future ideas.💕
Every bit of support helps me write more and faster. Thank you so much for reading! 🥰
Bonus Chapter For Every 100 Power Stones
Lets hit the goal of 200 Patreon Members now for 5 Extra Chapters 💕