The whistling sound of the incoming black rod immediately caught Zetsu's attention. To avoid compromising his escape speed, Black Zetsu manipulated Nagato to leap into the air. While dodging the attack, he used Universal Pull (Banshō Ten'in) to target a distant, tall tower.
The tower was yanked by the gravitational force and began to tilt and collapse rapidly. As Nagato's figure glided past underneath, the tower toppled over, blocking the pursuit path of Minato and Hyuga Shinichi.
Simultaneously, the black rod Shinichi had thrown instantly pierced through the falling structure. Its trajectory was altered, and it pinned itself diagonally into the ground.
Black Zetsu sensed the threat behind him had vanished. During his forward glide, he even had the leisure to look back and admire the results of his obstruction.
"Hmph!"
Seeing the collapsed tower blocking the road, a triumphant grunt escaped his mouth.
However, Black Zetsu's smug expression didn't last long. A Tailed Beast Ball (Bijuudama) slammed directly into the other side of the tower. A deafening roar erupted from behind Nagato as the iron tower blocking the way was blown into two pieces by the blast.
The Tailed Beast Ball did not explode upon breaking the tower; instead, it continued straight toward the rapidly gliding Nagato.
Seeing this terrifying attack, Black Zetsu's face changed, but a mocking smile soon appeared on half of his mouth:
"Muda da! (Useless!)"
A Tailed Beast Ball... Black Zetsu was genuinely surprised that the enemy could release such an attack, but it was only a slight surprise. Such an attack could not pose a substantial threat to him.
The power of the Preta Path was activated. A transparent barrier appeared behind Nagato, shielding him firmly within.
As the Tailed Beast Ball rapidly approached and struck the Preta Path barrier, the terrifying chakra contained within was quickly absorbed by Nagato.
However, just as the chakra of the first ball was nearly drained, another Tailed Beast Ball followed closely behind the first, streaking from the rear.
The moment the first one was absorbed, the new one was already at Nagato's back. Its aggressive momentum actually made Black Zetsu laugh.
"Hahaha!"
"Is that guy a fool?"
"I told you, it's useless!"
The Preta Path defense remained active. In Black Zetsu's vision, the new Tailed Beast Ball slammed directly into the barrier.
The absorption process went smoothly at first, but it only lasted for a split second. The Tailed Beast Ball suddenly transformed into a puff of white smoke and vanished before Black Zetsu's eyes.
In its place stood Hyuga Shinichi, holding a sharp black rod.
The Preta Path barrier had no way to effectively defend against Shinichi's physical strike. The black rod instantly bypassed the barrier and pierced directly into Nagato's back.
Shinichi held nothing back. From the moment he struck, it was a killing blow aimed at a vital point.
"What?!"
Black Zetsu never expected the second Tailed Beast Ball to be a fake. It was simply Shinichi using the Transformation Jutsu (Henge no Jutsu) to disguise himself.
When the transformation ended, Shinichi's real body appeared, launching a fatal strike against Nagato.
With Shinichi landing his full weight on Nagato's back, Nagato—who was gliding mid-air—could no longer maintain his form and plummeted straight down.
"BOOM!!!!"
Shinichi stepped on Nagato's spine, twisting the black rod slightly as the three of them crashed toward the ground.
"Almighty Push (Shinra Tensei)!"
"Dong!!"
Just as their bodies were about to make violent contact with the ground, Black Zetsu manipulated Nagato to release a "cooled down" Almighty Push.
Terrifying, repulsive force exploded from his body. Shinichi was affected and, without thinking, let go of the black rod. He allowed the force of the Almighty Push to slam into him, using the momentum to retreat rapidly.
Nagato, meanwhile, forcefully halted his downward momentum. After bouncing off the ground, he began gliding forward at high speed again, hugging the surface.
Leveraging the force of the dive and the recoil of the glide, Nagato's speed was incredibly fast. In the blink of an eye, he cleared the high sea walls of the hidden village, successfully leaving the Land of Rain and entering the vast ocean.
"Uh?"
However, the moment the fleeing Black Zetsu vaulted over the high wall, he suddenly felt his control over Nagato weaken significantly.
For a brief second, Nagato regained control of his own body. Although Zetsu quickly snatched it back, this split-second struggle for dominance caused Nagato's body to drop uncontrollably toward the water.
By the time Black Zetsu regained control, Nagato had already fallen into the sea, completely losing his momentum.
As Black Zetsu forced the body to stand up from the water, he suddenly sensed that feeling of losing control again.
"What's going on?!"
Black Zetsu didn't know what was happening, and judging by Nagato's state, Nagato didn't know either. Sensing everything in the body carefully, Black Zetsu suddenly realized that a foreign chakra had invaded Nagato's system.
This chakra was powerful—even... more powerful than Nagato's own chakra.
"Where did it come from?"
While questioning this, Black Zetsu's attention immediately went to the black rod currently stuck in Nagato's back.
The rod had pierced Nagato through and through, but with the enhancement of Zetsu's powerful vitality, even such a fatal wound didn't significantly hinder his movement. At this moment, Nagato's body was merely Black Zetsu's puppet; no matter the physical damage, Zetsu could control it.
But when Zetsu sensed the foreign chakra being transmitted through that black rod, he was horrified.
He thought Shinichi had picked up these weapons from the previous battle with the Six Paths of Pain, but now it was clear: these black rods were the product of the opponent's own jutsu.
The enemy was using the chakra-conductive rod to compete with him for control over Nagato's body.
If you added Nagato's own will to the mix, there were now three powers fighting for control within the body. Nagato's brief moment of control earlier was only because the other two forces clashed, giving him a small opening.
Black Zetsu would not give Shinichi the chance to continue exerting influence. After realizing the anomaly of the rod, he quickly yanked it from Nagato's back and tossed it into the sea.
However, before Black Zetsu could catch his breath, Shinichi's figure suddenly appeared above the rod as it fell toward the water.
Black Zetsu's peripheral vision caught Shinichi's sudden appearance. Without thinking, he jerked his head down.
Almighty Push still had nearly a second left on its cooldown. This instinctive duck saved his life.
As Shinichi's figure flashed into existence, another black rod was manufactured from his sleeve, stabbing directly at Nagato's temple. Black Zetsu's duck allowed him to successfully evade the assassination attempt.
Having narrowly escaped Shinichi's attack, Black Zetsu's heart was pounding... even a creature like him couldn't help but feel a lingering fear.
"Almighty Push (Shinra Tensei)!!!"
The moment he dodged, Black Zetsu held nothing back and used the technique.
Although the current Nagato combined all Six Paths into one, Almighty Push was his only effective means of curbing the terrifying taijutsu of Hyuga Shinichi.
The other techniques seemed impractical against Shinichi. The only one that occasionally worked was the Preta Path's absorption.
But the opponent seemed to understand Nagato deeply; the tactics being used were specifically designed to counter the Preta Path's characteristics. Between feints and pure taijutsu attacks, the Preta Path's power was hard to utilize.
Furthermore, for Nagato, the close-quarters combat Shinichi forced after closing the distance with Flying Thunder God was the most threatening method of attack. The enemy's taijutsu was more than a grade higher than his own. Being approached meant defeat.
Nagato knew it, and Black Zetsu knew it. Thus, every time Shinichi got close, Zetsu would unhesitatingly use Almighty Push to gain space.
By this point in the battle, Black Zetsu had no hope of winning with just Almighty Push. The strengths and weaknesses of the technique were glaring; its power as a defense was even stronger than its use as an attack.
Shinichi had been repelled repeatedly by the force, but the damage was near zero to him. The true danger of Almighty Push is the "fall damage" when a person hits the ground after being blown away, but with Flying Thunder God, "fall damage" didn't exist for Shinichi.
In truth, of the two techniques—Almighty Push and Universal Pull—the former is a defense-oriented technique, while the latter is the one meant for offense!
But now, neither could deliver a decisive blow in the battle.
The repulsive force poured onto Shinichi's body once more, and he was blown away again. However, the very instant Shinichi's body began to "launch" backward, Minato Namikaze suddenly stepped out from the void.
Holding a kunai, Minato swung his blade downward. He struck at Nagato, who had just straightened his back and was preparing to stand.
He targeted the right side of the body—the side covered by Black Zetsu.
All the power of the Almighty Push had been spent on Shinichi. Minato, who had just jumped out of the alternate dimension, wasn't affected in the slightest.
The moment Black Zetsu relaxed after repelling Shinichi was a rare opening, and Minato caught it!
"Squelch—"
The sharp kunai blade slashed across Nagato's chest. Black Zetsu's form was sliced open, and the blade even cut deep into Nagato's actual body. The wound went several inches deep, hitting a vital area, and blood began to pour out uncontrollably.
A look of daze appeared on the face of the Zetsu-wrapped Nagato. Black Zetsu hadn't expected the Yellow Flash of Konoha to be so fast and so sudden. He felt he still had many techniques he hadn't yet unleashed.
However, the thick scent of blood pulled Zetsu's thoughts back to reality.
"A wound like this..."
"IS NOTHING!!!"
Black Zetsu's shrill roar rang out. Having been slashed, he had lost his composure. Wooden spikes suddenly erupted from his black surface, shooting toward Minato.
"Wood Style?"
Minato was surprised. He raised his hand to block with a Rasengan, and the incoming spikes were instantly ground into sawdust upon contact with the sphere.
"DIE!"
"YOU BASTARD!"
Black Zetsu roared again. Just as he was about to use Nagato's body to unleash a large-scale Wood Style technique, dense black runic formulas and curse marks suddenly surfaced around the wound on his chest.
A short distance away, Minato's right hand—still holding the kunai—formed a one-handed seal. It was so hidden that even Zetsu, connected to the Rinnegan, hadn't noticed.
The curse marks spread rapidly from the wound across Nagato's body. As they spread, Black Zetsu felt he could no longer manipulate the body.
The body... seemed to be bound?
Self-Cursing Seal (Jiai Jubaku no In)!
Minato had planted a curse mark at the same time he successfully attacked Nagato. As Kushina's husband, he was skilled in more than just Flying Thunder God and Rasengan. He had inherited the sealing jutsu legacy of the Uzumaki clan. In terms of sealing expertise, he was even more proficient and meticulous than the less-studious Kushina.
In the entire shinobi world, no one could claim to surpass the Fourth Hokage in sealing arts. Even the Third Hokage, known as "The Professor," could not match Minato in this field.
As the binding seal activated, Minato did not relax. He quickly pulled a scroll from his robe and began weaving seals at high speed.
He knew the power of the curse mark wouldn't hold the opponent for long. He needed a stronger sealing technique to seal the enemy completely. Minato's specialty, the Four Symbols Seal, naturally became his first choice.
The Four Symbols Seal was extremely strong; when layered, it could even seal the catastrophic power of the Nine-Tails. If he succeeded, the trouble before them would be solved.
However, while Minato was preparing, Black Zetsu had already realized how he was being restricted. He turned to use the Preta Path's power to absorb the strength of Minato's seal.
As the curse marks began to vanish and recede from Nagato's body, Black Zetsu's sense of control started to return.
"Hehehe... I won't let you escape my grasp!"
Black Zetsu chuckled. At that moment, Minato tore open the scroll, shouting while forming seals:
"Shinichi, stop him!"
Along with Minato's cry, Shinichi's figure flashed into existence beside him. He lunged forward in a thrust, his black rod once again piercing through Nagato's heart. Simultaneously, Shinichi's chakra flooded in to help Nagato's will fight Black Zetsu for control.
The Preta Path ability that had just been activated suddenly stalled due to Shinichi's interference.
The Self-cursing Seal on Nagato's body accelerated its spread, quickly covering his entire form.
Shinichi felt his restriction on the enemy wasn't strong enough, so he produced several more black rods, piercing eight of Nagato's vital pressure points in succession. While strengthening the interference, he also left Nagato with fatal injuries.
The moment Black Zetsu was removed from his body would essentially be the moment of Nagato's death.
Feeling the body slip from his control, Black Zetsu let out a shrill scream of humiliated rage. Half of his face became exceptionally hideous.
Nagato, on the other hand, sensing the inevitable outcome, became calm. He actually offered a faint smile toward Shinichi and the nearby Minato.
"Please... take care of Konan and the Land of Rain for me."
"Tell Jiraiya-sensei for me..."
"That I couldn't become the Child of Prophecy... I've disappointed him..."
As he spoke, blood flowed from Nagato's mouth.
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