A blinding white light filled everyone's vision. While ordinary ninjas might not fully grasp Onoki's Jinton: Kōton-Kōton no Jutsu (Particle Style: Atomic Dismantling Jutsu), the jonin from various villages understood its terrifying nature.
This was a Kekkei Tota ninjutsu, capable of leaving not even a corpse behind.
It was an attack beyond the reach of ordinary ninjas.
The Leaf Village jonin, tasked with protecting the evacuation of the audience, despaired. The range was too vast; there was no time to retreat.
"Damn it!"
Asuma could do nothing in the face of this spectacle. He slammed his fist onto the ground, drawing blood.
Was the Leaf Village, which his father, the Third Hokage, had loved his entire life, truly destined to be destroyed like this?
Asuma seethed with anger but was powerless. The blinding white light was about to engulf him. Death was imminent.
At this moment, Asuma's consciousness was unusually clear, his brain operating at dozens of times its normal capacity. He realized that as he faced death, his mind wasn't on Kurenai Yuhi, nor his family, but on Chiriku, whom he felt he had wronged.
Perhaps it was only when facing death that one truly knew who was most important.
"I'm sorry, Chiriku."
"If I survive this, I'll come find you. We'll never..." Asuma's eyes slowly closed.
"Hiruzen, hurry and leave! This attack is unstoppable. With our strength, we can definitely escape safely."
On the other side, Danzo was desperately pulling on Hiruzen Sarutobi, but the latter remained as stubborn as an ox, unmoving.
"We can leave, but most of the civilians and ninjas here cannot. Danzo, can you truly remain indifferent?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi seemed to have aged even further. Fortunately, Minato had already evacuated a portion of the civilians; otherwise, the Leaf Village would have been truly annihilated.
"Hiruzen, what time is it now? Don't you understand? Our strength is insufficient to protect them!" Danzo roared frantically.
Hiruzen Sarutobi shook off Danzo's arm, his expression indifferent. "The Danzo I knew, though his methods were ruthless and even cruel, always had the Leaf Village's strength as his ultimate goal. But if a village has no people, then that village has no meaning to its existence."
"You go. Kekkei Tota is terrifying, but to give up without even attempting to resist, I, Hiruzen Sarutobi, cannot do that."
Seeing Hiruzen Sarutobi walk towards the transparent barrier, Danzo cursed him inwardly a hundred times.
Hiruzen, that idiot, he understood nothing!
But what could Danzo do?
*Thump thump thump…*
Hiruzen Sarutobi was forming hand seals. A glance from the corner of his eye saw an approaching figure, and his old face broke into a smile.
"Danzo, you—"
"Shut up!"
Danzo stood firmly beside Hiruzen Sarutobi, his face grim, but he finally understood what was truly important to him.
"Hiruzen, for me, Danzo, a village with you in it is the true Leaf Village!"
*Woosh!*
The white light washed over them. The Earth Style and Wind Style jutsu they had performed were instantly crushed, not even lasting a second.
However, there were still ninjas calmly seated in the arena.
"Orochimaru, why the hell aren't you running?" Jiraiya was extremely anxious, but no matter how much he pulled Orochimaru, the latter remained unmoved.
Orochimaru glanced at Shisui, who was watching from the side with his arms crossed, and chuckled, "Don't worry, someone will intervene."
"Who?" Jiraiya was puzzled. Who else could withstand Onoki's Jinton: Kōton-Kōton no Jutsu, especially a super-enhanced version?
As Jiraiya pondered, the massive transparent barrier that had been gradually engulfing the arena suddenly vanished.
It was as if it had instantly evaporated.
Who was it?
This was the question on the minds of all the ninjas present.
In the sky, a red-haired youth in a black robe with red clouds slowly retracted his hand, wisps of white smoke rising from it. He looked down upon Otsutsuki Momoshiki.
Nagato had arrived!
"Rinnegan?"
Momoshiki's eyes narrowed. His body gradually floated towards the sky. He detested being stood upon, especially by an inferior being!
"Judging by your appearance, you must be Otsutsuki Momoshiki," Nagato stated coldly.
Momoshiki sneered, "Is it the information left by that disgraceful woman? Even if you lower beings know it, what difference does it make?"
"You're short."
"What?" Momoshiki didn't quite understand, but inexplicably, a surge of unnamable anger welled up within him.
Nagato said, "Little, short-legged Momoshiki."
*Boom!*
With those words, several black receivers shot out from Momoshiki's palm's Rinnegan, targeting Nagato.
*Clang clang clang!*
Nagato also flung black receivers from his sleeves. They collided in mid-air, both breaking into two pieces and falling.
Momoshiki roared, "Inferior being, you are quite something! State your name!"
Nagato's red cloud robe fluttered. His posture subtly shifted higher, and he looked down at Momoshiki with indifferent eyes, coldly stating, "My name is God!"
"..."
A brief moment of silence hung in the air. This time, not only Momoshiki, but even the ninjas in the evacuation below were rendered speechless by Nagato.
Brother, can you at least choose your timing when showing off?
After a while, Momoshiki suddenly covered his face and burst into laughter.
"This is too funny! An inferior being actually calls himself God in front of us! This is too funny, hahahaha!"
Momoshiki laughed so hard his back almost bent double, then a chilling killing intent flashed in his eyes.
"Die, you ant!"
Momoshiki instantly appeared above Nagato and kicked down, intending to send him plummeting.
Even gods must bow before him, Momoshiki, let alone an inferior being!
"Almighty Push!"
Nagato's pupils contracted. Momoshiki's speed was akin to teleportation; evasion was impossible. Nagato could only instinctively activate the power of his Rinnegan to defend himself.
*Bang!*
Momoshiki was repelled by the repulsive force generated by the Rinnegan, his body stopping in the sky not far away, but he was unharmed.
"Tch, Rinnegan, huh?"
Momoshiki flipped his palm, and a chakra pill appeared in his hand. He then swallowed it in one gulp.
"I know the abilities of the Rinnegan better than you!"
"Inugami Kenmei!"
*Rumble!*
The ground in the arena cracked, and several monsters with dragon heads and snake bodies emerged from beneath the earth, lunging towards Nagato.
Meanwhile, in the arena, the Four Kage were battling Otsutsuki Kinshiki. Despite having a numerical advantage, the four were being suppressed by Kinshiki. (In the original work, Kinshiki was a lump of excrement; I will enhance him.)
The four were unsure if Kinshiki possessed Momoshiki's ability to absorb ninjutsu and then amplify and counter-attack, which greatly limited Mei Terumi and Onoki's effectiveness.
The battle relied entirely on the efforts of the Fourth Raikage, Ay, and Gaara.
"Heavy Rock Style: Violent Thunder Dance!"
Onoki used the Heavy Rock Jutsu to enhance the power of Ay's punch. The latter instantly entered his Lightning Release Chakra Mode and flashed before Kinshiki, delivering a powerful chop.
Kinshiki raised the red-glowing axe in his hand to block, but he hadn't expected the sheer power of this strike. His axe was immediately shattered by the chop, and then Ay's fist struck Kinshiki's arm, sending him flying back dozens of meters.
Ay's expression was grim. His combined attack with Onoki only achieved this effect. However, at least the opponent's weapon was gone, and the subsequent battle should be much easier.
But the next moment, Kinshiki retrieved another katana from the red circle on his back, grasped it firmly, and swept it powerfully around him.
"Not good! Retreat!"
A massive, invisible blade energy instantly swept across everything nearby. The entire arena was cleaved in half by the blade energy, but fortunately, the audience had already evacuated, leaving only a group of jonin, all of whom narrowly dodged this attack.
"I'll start with you!"
Taking advantage of the Four Kage's evasion, Kinshiki appeared behind Gaara with unparalleled speed, his red-glowing katana descending vertically.
"Do you think I'm a pushover? Gold Dust Defense!"
Countless fine grains of gold formed an incredibly sturdy wall in front of Gaara. With Gaara's gold dust defense, even the Fourth Raikage, known for his explosive power, would have difficulty breaking through it in a short time, and it would definitely delay him long enough to retreat.
However, in the next second, a red glow streaked through, piercing the gold dust, the earth, and Gaara himself. The blade energy even split another section of the arena.
Gaara fell.
"Fourth Kazekage!"
In the blink of an eye, a Kage-level powerhouse had fallen. The faces of Onoki and the other two were grim.
"Next."
Kinshiki vanished again and reappeared beside Onoki. If he could eliminate this old man, then the Fourth Raikage's punches would no longer pose a threat to him.
Seeing Kinshiki's next target was himself, Onoki was about to dodge when he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his back.
"Gah! Ugh, my back pain is acting up again!"
Just as Kinshiki was about to cleave Onoki with his sword, a specially made kunai landed on the ground first.
*Boom!*
Dust flew. Kinshiki's sword split the earth, but Onoki was no longer in his original position.
"Sorry, I'm late."
A gentle and sunlit voice echoed. That man, Minato Namikaze, had arrived!
"Minato, after being Hokage for so long, your body hasn't rusted, has it?"
Jiraiya stepped up to his student in his wooden clogs, his tone rather teasing.
"Heh, that's definitely better than some perverted old man," Orochimaru appeared to Jiraiya's left, showing no deference. His golden vertical pupils were fixed on Otsutsuki Kinshiki, regarding him like a perfect specimen for experimentation.
*Swish swish swish!*
Another group of Leaf ninjas descended.
Kakashi Hatake, Might Guy, Itachi Uchiha, Tsunade, Asuma, along with the Monkey and the Mole duo.
"Let these so-called Otsutsuki witness the power of the Leaf ninjas!"