Following Uchiha Hikaru's movements, the towering Susanoo—its armor blazing with dark red fire—mirrored him perfectly. Hikaru gripped the long, slender blade with both hands, the blade held behind him in a stance far too elegant and far too lethal for something wielded by a hundred-meter warrior.
Sword pushed her power through his hands into Susanoo's grip.
Above them, the descending Chibaku Tensei grew closer—its brown, compacted stone surface rumbling ominously as it fell toward Hikaru and the massive avatar beneath him.
The spiritual blade within Susanoo's hands burned brighter, hotter—red fire roaring along its edge, gathering, thickening.
When the sphere dropped within a hundred meters, Susanoo raised its blade high above its head. The fire exploded outward, forming thousands of razor-thin spectral blades behind him, every single one angled upward—aimed directly at the falling star.
"Magic Weapon: Nation Collapse."
The moment the giant sphere touched the arc of Susanoo's descending strike, the blade sliced through it silently—cleaner than steel through tofu.
Even Nagato, watching through Pain from far away, didn't react in time. The link between his chakra and the gravitational core simply vanished.
Because the instant the blade struck, it passed straight through the star's central core—splitting the gravitational seed in half. With the core destroyed, Chibaku Tensei unraveled.
The massive sphere split down the middle and collapsed on both sides of Susanoo, crumbling apart in mid-air.
Sword returned at once, sliding back around Hikaru's wrist as a sealed bracer.
"As always—remember to pay my handling fee later. And don't let anyone trick you into skipping it this time."
"I like to eat alone~ (๑>ᴗ<๑)"
Then Sword went quiet.
A heavy weight settled on Hikaru's chest.
Great. She was definitely going to scold him later… and Saya wouldn't save him this time either (last time she'd helped him bluff his way out).
But he pushed that aside. First thing—end the Akatsuki situation.
Behind Susanoo, the countless spectral blades ignited with dark-red fire shot forward, piercing into the two falling halves of the broken sphere.
One blade. Two. Ten. Hundreds.
Within seconds, the remains of Chibaku Tensei shattered completely. Even its hyper-compressed stone couldn't withstand the relentless barrage. The debris fell like stone rain into the massive lake, disappearing beneath the waves.
Nagato couldn't see it directly, but the collapsing vision from Tendo Pain had already transmitted back to him. Tendo stood frozen—a man watching something unbelievable before the connection cut off, his mind buffering like a broken projector.
Nagato clenched his fists, the wheelchair rattling beneath him.
"How!? How!? HOW!?"
"Not even this could defeat him?!"
The air felt suffocating. Konan stood beside him, unable to offer comfort. She already knew the truth: with Nagato's current body… defeating Uchiha Hikaru was impossible.
…Poor Nagato.
Konan sighed internally.
After a brief silence, Nagato suddenly lifted his head.
"Konan… take me there. I still have one last technique."
Konan's heart tightened immediately. Her expression darkened—exactly like an older sister whose younger brother begged for a second bag of ultra-spicy chips after vomiting from the first one.
"Nagato. We agreed you would only use one large-scale Rinnegan technique."
"Did you forget our pact?"
Even though Konan wasn't physically stronger, Nagato could feel her oppressive presence. He swallowed nervously—but forced a grin.
"It's not a Rinnegan technique. It's ninjutsu I developed myself."
"Maybe Uchiha Hikaru's chakra is nearly drained."
"This battle determines our future—let me try."
Konan's glare softened. A gentle, resigned smile replaced it.
Watching Nagato now felt like watching her younger brother trying to win a losing video game by sneak-attacking the AI tower—completely unaware the game had been rigged by the developers from the start.
"…Fine. I'll take you."
Paper wings unfolded behind her, and she lifted Nagato—wheelchair and all—toward the Valley of the End's lake.
…
Meanwhile, Hikaru walked toward Brother Chao's unconscious body, poked his cheek twice, confirmed he wasn't waking up, and drew a smiley face on him (๑˃ᴗ˂)و✧.
Then something flickered at the edge of his vision.
He turned—and froze.
For a moment he genuinely thought Sword had drained him so dry he was hallucinating.
But no.
He was really seeing Nagato… sitting in his wheelchair… lifted by Konan's large angel-paper wings… drifting gently toward him like some ancient holy infant.
Hikaru nearly raised his hand and shouted:
"MAN!!!"
But Konan was present—so for the sake of dignity, he forced himself calm. His expression settled into icy judgment as he gazed at Nagato.
"You shouldn't have come." Hikaru clasped his hands behind his back like a stern magistrate passing sentence. His voice dripped with pity—pity for Nagato's impending defeat.
But Nagato's eyes burned like wildfire.
"No—I must come!"
"This is my dream—mine and Konan's! This is the belief of the entire Akatsuki!"
"I cannot fall! I carry Akatsuki's will!"
Hikaru stared in shock.
This man's chuunibyou is terminal…
He glanced right.
Several idiots were hiding in the bushes:
Deidara's blonde head.
Sasori's red one.
Hidan's slicked-back disaster.
Juzo's spiky mess.
Kakuzu's eternally-bitter glare.
Nagato and Konan followed his gaze.
The Akatsuki members' faces said it all—they were dying inside but desperately suppressing laughter because if they angered Nagato again… another Chibaku Tensei might drop on their heads.
Only Sasori remained calm, smugly laughing in his heart because as a puppet he had no facial muscles to betray him.
Nagato felt despair sink into his bones.
Because anyone could now see the truth: Tendo Pain wasn't moving on its own.
Nagato—frail, disabled, carried by Konan's wings—was the one behind everything.
The image was so ridiculous that the Akatsuki's fear of him began to crumble.
Deidara and Hidan were shaking, covering their mouths so hard tears streamed down their faces.
Hidan stabbed himself repeatedly with his own scythe's spike to suppress the laughter—tears pooling in his eyes as pain fought humor. But he accidentally stabbed himself too hard.
He stiffened, whispered to Kakuzu:
"Kakuzu… pull it out later… and sew me up. Thanks… brother."
Then he fainted, eyes rolled back, foam on his lips.
Konan stared—and burst out laughing.
"Hahahaha—! You guys fight. I'm going to watch from a safe distance."
When she floated away, Nagato forced himself to calm.
Steady… steady… you're Akatsuki's leader… believe in yourself… you got this… you're a god… you're—
He inhaled sharply.
Hands flashed into seals.
"Five Natures Fusion: Five Spirit Kings!"
Hikaru blinked.
No way. No way. I was JUST thinking that if Brother Chao couldn't beat me, he'd send some Five Spirit King thing at me—AND NOW THEY'RE ACTUALLY HERE?!
He stared in disbelief.
Below Nagato's wheelchair, water surged upward. Stones on the lakebed ground into dust, mixing with spiraling water into a thick, cement-like sludge. It engulfed Nagato completely.
The titan grew bigger—flames, lightning, and hurricane-force winds swirling around the forming body.
Finally, a hundred-meter abomination stood before Hikaru:
A towering, cement-colored monster that resembled a clay statue of the Raikage—if the sculptor was blindfolded and angrily finger-painting.
Nagato was somewhere inside the sludge giant, rolling around in his wheelchair to avoid getting pinned like earlier.
Hikaru stared, speechless.
Was Nagato also a reincarnator?
Otherwise how could he invent something this… abstract?
The monster's color was so distressingly brown that the quotation marks around "poop man" could safely be removed—it simply was one now.
Honestly, White Zetsu would probably fall in love instantly and betray Obito and Madara on the spot for this thing.
And honestly?
It would be understandable.
…
…
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Bonus Chapter at 150 Power Stone
Second Bonus Chapter - 300 Power Stones
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