Chapter 145: Izayoi's Taunt
Izayoi had been wondering where Nagato's main body had gone.
He hadn't expected the other party to come looking for him.
Moreover, he was using Izayoi's own tactic, using the Wood Transformation Technique to disguise himself as Otsutsuki Toneri. If anything went wrong, he could pin the blame on 'Otsutsuki Toneri'.
However, Izayoi couldn't understand why Nagato had suddenly targeted him when they had only met once in Orochimaru's underground base.
Judging by his appearance, it didn't seem like he had discovered Izayoi's identity.
Otherwise, he wouldn't be ambushing him here but would directly lead Akatsuki to attack Konoha.
Regardless of Nagato's purpose, Izayoi wasn't one to remain passive.
So, looking at Nagato descending, Izayoi directly mocked, "The dignified leader of Akatsuki, the new era's God of Shinobi, actually disguising himself as the enemy. The Five Great Ninja Villages incident during this period, or should I say the battle of the Sage Eyes, wouldn't be something orchestrated by you, the wielder of the Rinnegan, would it?"
"..."
Nagato, who was just about to mimic Otsutsuki Toneri's tone, abruptly stopped the words that had reached his throat.
The embarrassment in his heart even caused him to break out in goosebumps, a rare occurrence.
Looking down at the disdainful Izayoi below, Nagato couldn't help but ask, "How did you know?"
"Your disguise is as clumsy as Obito Uchiha's," Izayoi sneered. "Wood Transformation is indeed flawless, and your chakra signature is different from when we last met, but... you can change your chakra signature, but you can't change the signature of your soul."
"Your senses can perceive the signature of the soul?" Nagato looked at Izayoi with shock.
"Heh... interesting."
Izayoi's smile was playful. "Your external features are of the Uzumaki clan, yet you awakened the Wood Release bloodline limit and mastered the First Hokage's Wood Human Technique, but you didn't awaken or ignored the unique abilities of the Uzumaki clan."
"I see, you also awakened the unique abilities of the Uzumaki clan, fusing the Kagura Shingan with other techniques to create a special sensory ability." Nagato instantly understood Izayoi's meaning, because his own Kagura Shingan had also fused with the Rinnegan's abilities to create the Rain Tiger at Will Technique, a special sensory jutsu.
Realizing that he had indeed been exposed, Nagato also dispelled the Wood Transformation Technique and praised Izayoi, "As expected of the genius who saw through 'Madara Uchiha's' true identity during the Ninja Academy. Your talent and intellect have even put pressure on me. Akatsuki wants to create a new world, and you and that Otsutsuki Toneri are the biggest obstacles."
"To receive such praise from the new era's God of Shinobi, I am very honored." Izayoi smiled at first, then asked with curiosity, "But I am very curious, why did you suddenly target me instead of resolving the problem of Otsutsuki Toneri first?"
"Because you are the wielder of orthodox Wood Release."
Nagato raised his hand towards Izayoi and said, "Your sacrifice will accelerate the arrival of peace, so please embrace death, Izayoi-kun... Universal Pull!"
A strange gravitational force immediately pulled Izayoi away from the treetop.
"I was truly underestimated. In that case, let me show you the true Wood Release!"
Izayoi, who had already planned to take advantage of this outing to find a suitable opportunity to begin the final battle, didn't waste any words. He raised his hand and transformed it into a massive, thick branch, which shot towards Nagato like a python.
At the same time, from the forest below, a large number of snakes also surged out, like the tentacles of an octopus, lashing and binding towards Nagato.
Seeing this scene, a hint of surprise flashed in Nagato's eyes.
No hand seals, how is that possible?
Could this be the orthodox Wood Release?
Feeling shocked in his heart, Nagato's expression remained indifferent as he said, "Almighty Push!"
Gravity turned into repulsive force, and an invisible storm struck down like the palm of a giant.
The roots that had extended and shot upward all froze in mid-air, as if time had stopped.
Large cracks appeared on their tips, and fragments of various sizes broke off.
However, the scene of all the trees shattering and scattering or flying backward as Nagato had imagined did not occur.
Seeing this, Nagato's expression finally changed slightly, and he hurriedly increased his chakra output, only then shattering the branches.
After doing this, Nagato carefully examined Izayoi, who had landed back on the treetop, and peered into Izayoi's chakra with his sensory abilities, muttering in shock, "Such powerful chakra! This... how is it possible?"
Last time in Orochimaru's underground base, Nagato had seen Izayoi's Wood Clone. That Wood Clone's chakra was enough to cast the Wood Release: Advent of a World of Flowering Trees, a large-scale Wood Release ninjutsu.
At that time, Nagato had suspected that Izayoi, like himself, might be a wielder of both Senju and Uzumaki bloodlines.
The main body's chakra must be incredibly astonishing.
However, no matter how astonishing, it should be similar to a Jinchuriki, or even slightly inferior, after all, he was the same at that age.
But now, Nagato discovered that Izayoi's chakra was even more astonishing than Otsutsuki Toneri's at the beginning of the year.
Even stronger than the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki!
He had only graduated last year and wouldn't enter his true growth period until next year. How could he possess chakra exceeding that of a Jinchuriki at this incredibly awkward age?
This was simply unbelievable, defying all logic!
Could this be the wielder of orthodox Wood Release?
"Wood Release: Great Forest Prison Technique!"
While Nagato was still shocked, Izayoi had already shifted from passive to active. Still without using hand seals, he raised his hand and pointed at Nagato, like a mage casting a spell.
The surrounding forest shook, and the sound of cracking, whether it was the ground or the trees, rang out.
With a loud boom, a wooden giant fist as large as a small hill suddenly rose from the ground, carrying a twisting airflow generated by high-speed friction and the power to easily shatter a mountain, and smashed towards Nagato.
Looking at the wooden giant fist that contained powerful chakra, was as large as a small hill, but whose hardness far exceeded that of a mountain and even surpassed diamond, Nagato didn't use the Almighty Push to defend. Instead, his arms mechanically transformed into two cannons, spewing flames with Mach rings, and he quickly shot into the sky, flying out of the range of the wooden giant fist's attack.
At this moment, the wooden giant fist suddenly opened its clenched fingers and shot out dense wooden spikes towards Nagato, forming a green barrage.
Wood Release: Impaling Roots Technique!
The area of the barrage was incredibly vast, and the speed was like that of crossbow bolts.
To prevent Izayoi from escaping in the meantime, Nagato didn't compete with the barrage but stopped and once again released an invisible repulsive force storm, deflecting all the wooden spikes that approached him and even breaking them apart.
Immediately afterward, Nagato quickly flew towards the forest, while one of his hands created a huge missile, which shot towards Izayoi below with a tail of flames.
Izayoi, without activating his Tenseigan, could also see the astonishing chakra contained within this missile.
Once it exploded, it would definitely create a huge mushroom cloud.
Moreover, this missile also had a tracking device. As long as it was within Nagato's sensory range, it would continue to track.
With his body restored to its prime, the power of the Asura Path was also drastically enhanced on Nagato's Outer Path body.
So, Izayoi raised his hand and condensed a Super Hurricane Ball, inputting Water and Lightning Release nature transformations into it, creating a Storm Release orb, then transforming its shape into a beam and shooting it out, colliding with the missile.
Boom—
A deafening roar erupted, and a huge flaming light bloomed in the sky. The shockwave produced by the explosion was like a passing hurricane, causing ordinary trees to bend and break.
A large number of wooden vines grew from the treetop, forming a cocoon that wrapped Izayoi, resisting the attack of the wind and heat.
At this moment, Nagato, enveloped in a transparent white light cover, flew in front of the cocoon, raised his hand and slammed it against the wooden wall, inputting Wood Release chakra to create a large tree that would devour Izayoi from the outside in.
But the next second, a spear emerged from the wooden wall and pierced towards Nagato.
Just as the spear was about to pierce Nagato's head, it suddenly stopped, the tip slightly trembling, with distorted air currents faintly visible in front.
A few seconds later, the distorted air currents roared out, shattering the spear and also shattering the wooden shield of the cocoon, sending Izayoi, who was hiding inside, flying out.
"Planetary Devastation!"
Nagato clapped his hands together, and an invisible gravitational force gathered above Izayoi's head, forming a black sphere.
Terrifying gravity tore apart the earth, uprooting trees one by one, followed by fragments of rock of various sizes.
In response, Izayoi remained calm, still raising his hand to condense a Super Hurricane Ball, inputting three nature transformations into it, creating a Dust Release orb, which transformed into a transparent beam and shot towards the black sphere enlarging in his eyes.
With a loud boom, the black sphere exploded, and the gravitational force seemed to be affected by something, distorting the remaining Dust Release beam.
"Incredible ninjutsu talent!" Nagato couldn't help but marvel in his heart.
As a ninjutsu prodigy who could use the five basic elemental releases common in the ninja world at the age of ten, and now could effortlessly cast compound ninjutsu of five elements, Nagato couldn't achieve what Izayoi could: fusing two or three nature transformations into a secret art similar to a bloodline limit.
If such a secret art could change genes and become a bloodline limit passed down to future generations, the diversity and power of Izayoi's descendants' bloodline would be unimaginable.
At the same time, Izayoi's intellect was also indeed outstanding.
Clearly mastering the Storm Release and Dust Release secret arts, he hadn't used them on himself even once, obviously aware of the Preta Path's abilities.
While marveling at Izayoi's talent, Nagato also moved quickly, swiftly flying to the spot where Izayoi had just landed, his fist transforming into the Asura Path's mechanical arm, smashing towards Izayoi's chest.
The scene he had imagined – Izayoi crossing his arms to block, and then Nagato turning his fist into a palm to create Yin-Yang Release Black Rods to disrupt chakra flow and achieve a one-hit victory – did not occur.
Izayoi's reaction was extremely fast, also meet with a punch.
The two fists collided, and a shockwave roared.
Nagato, who had the advantage of charging and attacking first, not only failed to send Izayoi, who was defending, flying backward with his punch, but his mechanical arm was also shattered by Izayoi's punch, and his body was sent flying.
His entire arm numb, Nagato looked at Izayoi with shocked yet delighted eyes, thinking to himself, "Is that the chakra burst of the Senju clan? Such incredible monstrous strength, and... it can even be used like this!"
After landing, Nagato once again charged towards Izayoi, his arm again transforming into the Asura Path's mechanical arm, while his real arm was also covered by a layer of black substance, which was Earth Release: Earth Spear.
Boom—
Again, two fists collided, and the mechanical arm shattered once more, but Nagato was not blown away by the shockwave. Instead, relying on his diamond-like defense, he withstood Izayoi's monstrous strength punch.
Immediately afterward, the two engaged in a deafening taijutsu duel in the forest that had been turned into a wasteland.
Each punch was like a missile exploding, the shockwaves roaring.
However, as they fought, realizing that neither could overcome the other, they both tacitly resorted to underhanded tactics.
Nagato's head suddenly opened, revealing a mechanical device that gathered a dazzling laser.
Izayoi's shoulder also turned into wood, branches extending to form a giant fist that punched out.
The laser and the giant fist collided. The former failed to penetrate the latter, and the latter failed to scatter the former. Only the two casters were sent flying backward.
"Is this the true Wood Release?"
Looking at Izayoi, who could still woodify his body and condense wooden giant fists containing powerful chakra that even lasers couldn't penetrate without using hand seals, Nagato finally understood Izayoi's earlier words.
Compared to Izayoi, the wielder of orthodox Wood Release, he and Obito Uchiha, who obtained Wood Release by transplanting Hashirama's cells, not only needed hand seals to cast the jutsu, but their Yang Release chakra and Wood Release chakra were also insufficient to cast the Advent of a World of Flowering Trees.
The hardness of their Wood Release was not even qualified to carry Izayoi's shoes.
The difference between the two was like the difference between a three-tomoe Sharingan and a Mangekyo Sharingan of the Uchiha clan.
Moreover, as Nagato thought, Wood Release could indeed restrain the Almighty Push.
Or rather, to shatter the trees of orthodox Wood Release, Nagato had to consume several times, even more than ten times, the chakra he would use to shatter ordinary trees.
To avoid Otsutsuki Toneri suddenly attacking Amegakure, Nagato couldn't use the Super Almighty Push on a single target; that would be too foolish.
With the opponent's ninjutsu talent being even more outstanding than his own, the results of using the five basic elemental releases could be determined without even casting them.
So, Nagato, who couldn't defeat Izayoi with taijutsu either, while relaying real-time information to his Wood Clone in Amegakure, clapped his hands together and shouted, "Sage Mode - Activate!"
Red eye shadow appeared, and Nagato's aura instantly changed.
"Sage Mode?" Izayoi feigned surprise. "Red eye shadow, did you also comprehend Sage Mode on your own?"
"Also?"
Nagato, who had just been planning to quickly end the battle, suddenly had an ominous premonition.
Sure enough...
The next second, he saw Izayoi clap his hands together, his eyes also displaying red eye shadow, and his blue pupils turning golden.
"It's not just you who knows Sage Mode."
Izayoi maintained his hands clasped together and said indifferently, "Although I can't use rule-based abilities like repelling and attracting forces like you wielders of the Sage Eyes, just relying on the power of the Sage Eyes is far from enough to defeat me!"
"Use the Wood Release you used against Otsutsuki Toneri; this is a duel between Wood Release ninjas!"
"Sage Art... Wood Release: Advent of a World of Flowering Trees!"
With a series of rumbling sounds, thick tree branches that were as large as boulders, requiring a dozen or twenty people to encircle, burst out of the ground, forming green waves tens of meters high, instantly engulfing Nagato who wasn't far away, and spreading out in all directions.
Before long, the ordinary forest had transformed into a primeval forest even more astonishing than the Forest of Death.
Every towering tree contained powerful chakra, which Izayoi could manipulate at will.
Fire couldn't burn it, water couldn't drown it, earth couldn't push it over, lightning couldn't penetrate it, wind couldn't break it... branches and vines would drain chakra upon binding, instantly killing.
This was the signature Wood Release of the God of Shinobi who pacified the chaotic world, and also the strongest environmental ninjutsu in the ninja world!
Nagato, who could only temporarily possess this power by wearing the Tobi armor, couldn't comprehend the true power of the Advent of a World of Flowering Trees at all.
So, Izayoi gave Nagato a lesson.
Taking advantage of the speed and sensory abilities enhanced by Sage Mode, as well as gravitational flight and the Asura Path's propulsion, Nagato, who was unharmed even when submerged in the sea of trees, suddenly saw four purple transparent walls rise up from the left, right, front, and back.
When they reached the highest point, a fifth wall completed the sealing at the top.
It turned out that the trees containing chakra had sprouted four Wood Clones of Izayoi, who had cast a barrier to trap Nagato.
Before Nagato could fly over and use the Preta Path's ability to absorb the barrier,
The trees within the barrier rapidly multiplied again, growing a large number of vines and branches that densely engulfed the area.
Nagato, without space-time ninjutsu, had nowhere to dodge.
"So Wood Release can be used like this, amazing!"
Nagato sincerely praised, no longer underestimating Izayoi. He opened his arms, converting his vast chakra into repulsive force and compressing it.
A green light cover appeared around Nagato's body.
When the overwhelming branches and vines engulfed him, about to swallow him, Nagato, enveloped by the green light cover, suddenly transformed into a white ball of light.
The dazzling white light, in turn, engulfed the branches and vines, turning the area within the barrier pure white.
Boom————
Tens of seconds later, a earth-shattering explosion resounded through the forest.
Hurricanes raged, and towering trees as high as mountains but even harder than mountains snapped or bent over one by one.
(End of this chapter)
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