Chapter 122: Celestial Obstruction, Second Awakening

Chapter 122: Celestial Obstruction, Second Awakening

In this era, the greatest explosion ever witnessed by shinobi and civilians across the Five Great Shinobi Villages was the Tailed Beast Ball—a strategic force capable of obliterating hills in an instant and altering the course of wars.

Yet now, whether it was the chūnin and elite jonin clad in flak vests or Akatsuki members powerful enough to threaten the Kage, even the Two-Tails Jinchūriki and Killer B—both perfect jinchuriki—felt for the first time that the Tailed Beasts’ power seemed almost trivial.

Ahead of the three factions, a series of mushroom clouds crowned with orange flames rose into the sky.

The thunderous roar of the explosions had yet to reach them when a devastating shockwave, like a hurricane, swept across the battlefield.

The Cloud shinobi, who had believed themselves safely distant, were thrown to the ground as the wind howled through their ranks. Even those quick enough to channel chakra into their feet to anchor themselves were forced to shield their eyes, the gale stinging their skin like sandblasting needles.

Before they could react further, the storm’s dust and tremors swallowed them whole. The entire formation collapsed into chaos.

Deidara and Sasori of the Red Sand, riding atop their clay bird, were hurled backward, forced to abandon their creation and land on a rocky outcrop to observe the carnage. Though unscathed by the wind and quakes, the psychological impact left them reeling—far greater than anything the Cloud shinobi endured.

In an age where no one surpassed the might of S-rank missing-nin, they had considered themselves the pinnacle of strength. Even the Kage would struggle to defeat them one-on-one. Escaping was always an option.

Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki had recently infiltrated the Hidden Leaf Village with impunity. Yet now, these arrogant warriors felt their own insignificance.

Compared to the two figures before them, even the Fourth Raikage and the Eight-Tails Jinchūriki were mere playthings—ones who wouldn’t require such overwhelming, wide-scale techniques.

The thought of being targeted by such beings sent chills down their spines.

Thankfully, one of these monsters was their leader. Protected by such a force, the Akatsuki found themselves in a better position than the Five Villages.

The meteor storm raged for what felt like an eternity before finally ceasing. By then, the wind and dust had engulfed all three factions.

Only Hinata Hyuga, stationed over twenty kilometers away, remained unaffected, her Byakugan piercing the gray haze. For everyone else, the shockwaves and tremors made even elite shinobi struggle to maintain their footing. The quakes were so intense they reached Amegakure.

Thankfully, the Village Hidden in Rain’s steel foundations and protective barriers, reinforced by Konan’s return, kept its citizens safely sheltered underground.

When the deafening explosions and howling winds finally faded, a breeze parted the dust. The three factions stared toward the battlefield where Izayoi and Nagato clashed, revealing a vast, impenetrable cloud of debris—a desert-like sandstorm stretching endlessly.

Boom—

As a sensor ninja began forming hand seals to unleash a sensory technique, the dust cloud abruptly tore apart—not from a repulsive force, but from a terrifying current slicing through its upper edge.

“What… what is that?!”

“Are you kidding me? Is that another meteor?!”

Before their stunned eyes, a second meteor plummeted from the sky. Unlike the earlier storm, this one lacked the fiery trail of atmospheric friction. Instead, it descended like a mountain, shattering the dust cloud and punching a massive hole through the stormy clouds, revealing patches of blue sky and midday sunlight.

Celestial Obstruction!

Before the meteor could strike the ground and kick up more debris, an invisible repulsive force swept the remaining dust into twisting currents—a divine hand, faintly visible, catching the falling behemoth.

Suspended midair, the meteor’s base shattered, the destruction racing upward until the mountain-sized rock disintegrated into countless fragments, blasting skyward like arrows piercing a beehive.

As the repulsive force dissipated, another meteor fell through the gap in the clouds.

The three factions could only stare, numb.

Rumble—

The earth shook again as a colossal statue—hundreds of meters tall, with hundreds of arms—rose from the ground. Its myriad arms lashed out, tearing through the air with the force of mountains colliding, smashing into the falling meteor.

The mountain-sized rock shattered once more, but at a cost: countless wooden arms splintered into kindling.

As the debris rained down like a storm, another meteor plunged from the clouds.

The statue, still regenerating its arms, could no longer intercept it.

Yet Nagato, standing atop the statue’s head, remained unfazed.

The statue’s head tilted upward, its mouth opening to unleash five-colored chakra flames—a Five-Element Combustion Pillar—that erupted into the sky.

The beam collided with the meteor, detonating in a dazzling explosion like a Tailed Beast Ball in the heavens. The shockwave rippled outward, a hurricane of destruction.

“This… this isn’t even the same dimension!”

“How many techniques of this scale have they used?! Don’t they have limits?!”

“Is this how the Valley of the End was created?!”

Amid the gale, the three factions watched in stunned silence.

Even perfect jinchuriki couldn’t sustain endless Tailed Beast Balls. Yet these two monsters unleashed techniques matching—and surpassing—the scale and power of Tailed Beast Balls repeatedly.

Such chakra reserves, such mastery of ninjutsu… the shinobi couldn’t help but question themselves. Were they truly the elite of the Five Villages?

They were all shinobi—so why was the gap so insurmountable?

As the third meteor’s explosion faded, the storm clouds finally stilled.

From the gap, a small black figure drifted downward—Shinkurō Ōtsutsuki, Izayoi’s disguise as a nineteen-year-old.

He hovered above, his Rinnegan glowing like the eyes of a god, surveying the world below.

Yet closer inspection revealed his breath had grown ragged, sweat beading on his brow beneath his white hair. Even with his vast chakra reserves, the barrage of techniques had drained him.

Nagato, below, fared no better. Without the Eight-Tails’ chakra to draw upon, he would have collapsed long ago.

After all, whether it was Almighty Push, Wood Release, or the recent Five-Element Combustion Pillar, each required an immense amount of chakra.

Izayoi’s Gravity Release, which consumed chakra to manifest, was equally demanding as Almighty Push. Without the Rinnegan’s extraordinary long-range vision—which could peer from the Ninja World into outer space to pinpoint meteor trajectories—even if Izayoi converted all his chakra into Gravity Release, he couldn’t summon countless meteors or the three Celestial Obstructions.

Even if he did unleash a meteor storm, without the Rinnegan’s ability to lock onto targets through long-range vision and precise targeting, accuracy would be impossible.

With Shinra Tensei rendered useless against Nagato’s Preta Path, Izayoi had no choice but to rely on physical attacks to defeat him.

Wood Release was off the table—exposing it would be futile against Nagato, who wore Obito’s armor. Unless Izayoi mastered the Eight Gates Formation and could immediately open its seventh gate, his only option was to rain down meteors relentlessly.

Yet unexpectedly, the combination of Obito and Nagato had managed to manifest Wood Style and Wood Release.

Clearly, this Gold-Rank Entry’s Wood Release had been converted into tangible power.

Now clad in Obito’s armor, Nagato had become as formidable as Uchiha Madara during the Valley of the End, even surpassing him. After all, Madara hadn’t possessed the Preta Path.

Beyond the Six Paths Techniques and Wood Release, Nagato still had the Ten-Tails’ Statue as his trump card.

The chakra dragon was essentially an external manifestation of Preta Path and Human Path combined.

Locked in a vertical battle, one above and one below, they used their ultimate dōjutsu to peer into each other’s chakra networks.

As they analyzed their opponent’s chakra flow, both Izayoi and Nagato instinctively furrowed their brows.

Their remaining chakra reserves were nearly identical—Nagato, having absorbed the Eight-Tails Jinchūriki’s chakra, held a slight edge.

But this minor difference offered no real advantage. If Izayoi summoned another meteor storm, Nagato would have to expend far more chakra to defend.

Conversely, even with a chakra advantage, Izayoi couldn’t easily defeat Nagato.

The three distant factions were still observing. If Nagato wished, he could capture a Jinchūriki to replenish his reserves. Izayoi could do the same.

Two opponents with near-identical abilities and strength were locked in a stalemate. Only external forces or a critical weakness could tip the scales.

Realizing this, Izayoi instinctively turned his gaze toward Amegakure.

Seeing this, Nagato’s expression shifted to alarm. If not for Shinra Tensei’s limited range, he would have immediately unleashed Gravity Release to drag Izayoi from the sky.

As Nagato channeled chakra into the statue beneath him, converting it into the Five Chakra Natures to prepare another composite ninjutsu, his eyes suddenly widened in shock.

He wasn’t alone—Obito Uchiha and White Zetsu, observing from afar with Mangekyō Sharingan and acute perception locked onto Izayoi, shared his reaction.

“Hss…”

Above, Izayoi sharply inhaled, instinctively covering his eyes.

The next moment, a grin curled his lips as he murmured, slightly excited: “Finally here, huh? Looks like you’re not willing to stay suppressed either!”

Under Nagato and Obito’s chakra vision, and White Zetsu’s perception, Izayoi’s brain was now secreting massive amounts of chakra, converging toward his eyes.

The once severely depleted dōjutsu power, faint as a flickering candle, surged back to full strength.

Yet Izayoi felt his eyes writhing, as though something crawled within—painful, itchy, yet strangely pleasurable. He was temporarily crippled in battle.

This mirrored Sasuke Uchiha’s recovery period after transplanting Itachi’s Mangekyō Sharingan.

Izayoi lowered his hand, closed his eyes, and pointed at Nagato below, his arrogance undiminished: “The Ten-Tails’ Statue can stay with you, the thief. Our battle… no, the Rinnegan’s true battle has only just begun.”

With that, Izayoi vanished without warning.

“Retreat!”

As the battle ended, the Cloud ninja and foreign spies snapped into action, issuing orders to flee Rain Country in blurs.

The Moon visitor had fled, leaving only Akatsuki’s leader—a superhuman force. If he chose to settle scores now, none would escape.

Even the self-proclaimed Fourth Raikage chose to withdraw.

From this moment, the Ninja World’s strongest were no longer the Five Great Villages, but a return to the era of the Sage of Six Paths and the Asura.

No—this was an entirely new era.

He couldn’t die yet. Kumogakure must survive this new age. That was his duty as Raikage.

“Izayoi…”

Twenty kilometers away, Hinata Hyuga gazed at Izayoi, worry etched on her face.

Others didn’t know “Shinkurō Ōtsutsuki” was Izayoi, but Hinata clearly recognized this was his true body.

She was the fourth to witness Izayoi’s brain secreting chakra.

She’d seen this once before, back in March last year.

Though unaware of the Rinnegan’s Awakening period, she knew this state left Izayoi in prolonged weakness.

Thus, she feared whether Izayoi’s Wood Clone would be affected, risking exposure.

“The war’s over. Let’s go home.”

Izayoi’s Wood Clone smiled faintly at Hinata before leading the group in Body Flicker back to Fire Country.

He understood her concerns perfectly.

If this were a Shadow Clone, it would have dissolved already. But Wood Clones were far superior—unless the original used a sealing technique to dispel it, the clone could sustain itself indefinitely by absorbing others’ chakra.

Even the Rinnegan’s first Awakening ability remained usable. The original’s Awakening period wouldn’t affect him.

Seeing this, Hinata exhaled in relief, her eyes gleaming with admiration as she watched Izayoi’s retreating figure.

If not for Shino Aburame’s presence—and knowing this was only a Wood Clone—she would have already thrown herself into Izayoi’s arms to release her emotions.

Her boyfriend had been absolutely stunning just now!

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end