Chapter 277: Found You, Ten-tails!
In the deathly silent another dimension, the Dark Nine-Tails’ massive body stood like a mountain, emanating an aura that clashed with all Tails Beasts.
Jigen hovered in mid-air, his usually confident and steady face growing even more grim.
He could be 100% certain that the so-called “Nine-Tails” before him had no connection whatsoever to the two Ten-Tails he had brought from the Otsutsuki main family for planting the God Tree!
In fact, it was completely different from the nine Tails Beasts split from the Ten-Tails’ chakra on this planet.
The opponent’s chakra carried an indescribable “void” feeling, as if it was not born in this world, but came from some unknown world with vastly different rules.
Recalling the bizarre ninjutsu that could not be absorbed by the “Marking” earlier, an extremely uneasy feeling quietly permeated Jigen’s heart, which he prided himself as a deity.
Menma stood on the Dark Nine-Tails’ head, which flickered like flames, the dark red chakra cape flapping loudly behind him.
“I told you,” he looked at Jigen whose expression kept changing, his tone still carrying that unfathomable calm: “I’m just a passing ninja.”
He paused slightly, his gaze seeming to pierce through this another dimension, cast toward some distant place, his voice carrying a faint profound meaning: “If I had to give a reason… perhaps, it was to protect this planet underfoot, so I came here.”
“Protect this planet?” Jigen seemed to hear the most absurd joke in the world, the corners of his mouth curling into undisguised sarcasm and contempt.
“Utterly foolish! A planet is merely a nursery to nourish the God Tree, a hotbed to nurture the Chakra Fruit! We Otsutsuki Clan travel the stars, harvesting life and energy for our own use—this is the truth of the universe! Protection? Nothing but the pathetic self-indulgence of inferior creatures!”
His gaze locked firmly on Menma’s pair of unusual eyes.
The crimson Mangekyo Sharingan, and that eye emitting a faint green glow, seemingly linked to unknown power, the Byakugan.
The Mangekyo Sharingan one step further becomes the Rinnegan; even among the Otsutsuki Clan, not everyone can awaken the Rinnegan.
And the eye power contained in that Byakugan made him feel faintly uneasy.
So far, these two eyes had only shown astonishing insight and no other special abilities, which instead made Isshiki even more vigilant.
The unknown often means the greatest danger.
“I really want to see how satisfying it would be to step on a guy like you who calls himself a deity.” Menma’s mouth curved with a smile, too lazy to waste more words with this Otsutsuki who regarded all things as mere grass.
“Let’s go, Little Nine!” He then lightly tapped the Dark Nine-Tails’ head with his foot, calling his partner in a relaxed tone.
“Roar——!!!”
The Dark Nine-Tails let out a roar that shook the entire another dimension, the sound filled with the desire for destruction and the excitement of battle!
Its massive body suddenly moved, appearing clumsy but with astonishing speed!
Nine tails completely condensed from dark red chakra, like giant tentacles, with a screech that tore space, thrust fiercely from different angles toward Jigen hovering in the air!
Jigen’s pupils contracted slightly; after entering “Marking·State Two,” his speed was already extremely fast, his figure leaving afterimages in the air as he tried to dodge.
However, the Dark Nine-Tails’ attack range was too large, and its speed far exceeded his estimates!
This was no ordinary Tails Beast!
In desperation, he had no choice but to use his trump card again!
Sukuna Hikona!
His body instantly shrank to microscopic size, barely squeezing through the gaps between several tails!
At the same time, his hands waved, countless chakra black rods shrunk to the extreme, like invisible dust, were silently scattered by him to every corner of the battlefield, laying a death trap.
Menma standing on the Dark Nine-Tails’ head had a faint white glow flicker in his right eye; the vast eye power linked to the Moon’s giant Tenseigan allowed him to clearly “see” that “point” moving rapidly in the microscopic world.
He snorted coldly, and several custom kunai instantly appeared in his hand, his arm fiercely flinging them out!
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The kunai shot toward the path ahead of Jigen’s movement like meteors, with several kunai handles tied with sizzling explosive tags!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The explosive tags detonated violently at the predetermined positions, not causing direct damage to Jigen in microscopic state, but the shockwaves and chaotic energy flows from the explosions effectively interfered with and lagged his movement!
“Now! Little Nine, thirty degrees upper left!” Menma shouted urgently through the mental link.
The Dark Nine-Tails’ massive head suddenly lifted, its bloodied maw abruptly opening wide!
A highly compressed dark red Tailed Beast Bomb containing destructive energy instantly formed in its mouth!
Without the slightest hesitation, the Dark Nine-Tails aimed at the direction indicated by Menma and fiercely spat out the Tailed Beast Bomb!
The Tailed Beast Bomb carried an aura of annihilating everything, tearing through the dark purple sky, straight toward that direction!
Jigen in microscopic state sensed a fatal threat!
He immediately tried to absorb it with the “Marking’s” ability, but that familiar, incompatible alien energy sensation came again.
Absorption failed!
‘Damn it!’ He cursed inwardly, a black-red swirling teleportation gate instantly opened behind him, his figure quickly vanishing into it.
Boom!!!
The Tailed Beast Bomb exploded violently at the spot where Jigen disappeared!
The dark red energy storm swept out, reducing everything in that area to void, even space seemed to wail and tremble!
The explosion’s shockwave even made the distant Dark Nine-Tails’ massive body sway slightly.
The next moment, Jigen’s figure staggered out from another teleportation gate, his face even paler, his aura more disordered.
A chakra black rod condensed in his hand, pointing at Menma, his voice carrying suppressed rage: “This Tails Beast of yours is indeed tricky… but soon, it and your bizarre chakra will become nourishment for me to reach a higher level!”
“Roar!” The Dark Nine-Tails seemed enraged, roaring again as it charged at Jigen, its massive claw slamming down with immense force!
Jigen’s eyes sharpened.
Daikokuten!
On the Dark Nine-Tails’ charge path, several chakra black rods that he had scattered earlier suddenly enlarged, bursting out from the cracked ground like spikes!
These black rods precisely pierced the ends of the Dark Nine-Tails’ nine wildly flailing tails, nailing them firmly to the ground like stakes!
The Dark Nine-Tails’ forward momentum abruptly halted, its massive body tilting forward due to inertia, letting out an angry roar.
Now!
Cold light burst from Jigen’s eyes, his figure rapidly advancing, bypassing the Dark Nine-Tails’ swinging sharp claws, targeting Menma on its head!
His body spun rapidly in mid-air, delivering a flying kick infused with his full power, ruthlessly aimed at Menma’s chest!
“Got him!” Just as this thought rose in Jigen’s mind, Menma neither dodged nor evaded, merely sinking his center of gravity slightly, his chest covered in dark red chakra hardily taking the kick!
Bang!
A dull sound rang out, Menma’s body swaying slightly, his feet rooted like trees, unmoving!
Instead, Jigen felt as if he had kicked an eternally existing mountain, the recoil numbing his ankle!
“What?!” Jigen was shocked.
And Menma’s right hand shot out like lightning, clamping Jigen’s still-retracting ankle like iron pliers!
“Got you.” Menma’s cold voice sounded, and in his left hand, a heart-palpitating “Small Spiraling Ring” had instantly formed, quickly pressing toward the close-range Jigen!
Boom!!!
At such close range, Jigen had no time to open a teleportation gate, nowhere to dodge!
The Small Spiraling Ring solidly blasted onto his body, the dark red destructive energy instantly engulfing him!
The violent explosion sent him flying like a ragged doll, spraying large amounts of blood in mid-air, the black patterns on his body dimming somewhat, and the recently repaired cape becoming tattered once more.
“Cough cough… Pfft!” Jigen barely stabilized his body in mid-air, coughing up another mouthful of blood, feeling as if his organs had shifted.
However, before he could catch his breath, an even more terrifying oppressive feeling came from ahead!
He looked up in horror, only to see the Dark Nine-Tails, whose tails should have been nailed by black rods, had somehow broken free of the restraints, its massive body charging before him at a speed utterly mismatched with its size, like instant teleportation!
Two dark red sharp claws like small mountains, carrying winds that tore everything, slammed toward him from left and right!
Just like swatting an annoying fly!
‘Impossible! How did it break free?!’ Jigen was horrified inwardly; those black rods were still nailed there!
In haste, he could only forcibly activate the teleportation gate again, teleporting himself away just before the black claws closed.
Jigen staggered out from another teleportation gate, panting heavily, looking in shock and suspicion at the spot where the Dark Nine-Tails’ tails had been nailed.
The nine chakra black rods were still firmly nailed in place, but the Dark Nine-Tails’ tails were intact, as if the earlier piercing and nailing was just an illusion.
His gaze swept over the kunai thrown by Menma on the battlefield, seemingly scattered chaotically, a thought flashing through his mind like lightning!
“So that’s it…” Jigen stared dead at Menma on the Dark Nine-Tails’ head, his voice carrying a hint of realization and gravity: “Your Mangekyo Sharingan… its ability is space-related! Something like substitution? No… more like higher-level space coordinate replacement!”
He himself was the master of the space ability “Daikokuten,” well aware of the tricky and bizarre nature of space abilities.
“Whether in the Rain Village outside or here, you’ve scattered a large number of kunai… it seems your space movement requires these kunai as coordinate markers.” Jigen’s mind analyzed rapidly: “If that’s the case…”
A ruthless glint flashed in his eyes; he absolutely could not give the opponent the chance to freely use space abilities!
Amenominaka!
Jigen suddenly raised both hands to the sky!
In an instant, the entire dark purple sky seemed to distort!
Dozens of massive black cubes with ominous red glows at their edges—”Amenominaka”—were summoned from another dimension by an invisible hand, densely filling the sky!
Each of these cubes was larger than the Dark Nine-Tails, emanating chaotic auras that interfered with space fluctuations and a heavy pressure that could crush mountains, smashing down indiscriminately and violently toward Menma and the Dark Nine-Tails below like an apocalyptic meteor shower!
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
The Amenominaka smashed down one after another, the entire another dimension’s ground trembling violently, emitting groans of unbearable weight!
The Dark Nine-Tails roared in anger, its massive body dodging arduously amid the meteor shower-like attacks, but more cubes crashed around it, erupting with deafening booms, dust filling the air.
However, amid this destructive bombardment, the Dark Nine-Tails’ bloodied maw opened once more!
A dark red Tailed Beast Bomb began rapidly condensing, expanding visibly at a mad rate!
In the blink of an eye, its volume surpassed the Dark Nine-Tails’ body, emanating destructive energy that made the entire another dimension unstable and oscillating!
Super Large Tailed Beast Bomb!
Seeing that massive, despair-inducing dark red energy sphere that seemed capable of devouring everything, Jigen’s face finally changed completely.
Unable to absorb it, hard-blocking would definitely cause heavy damage to even his State Two body in this enclosed another dimension!
And the opponent had space abilities, fully able to avoid the explosion center.
This another dimension he had originally used to trap the opponent had now become a cage restricting him!
The opponent’s chakra amount was monstrously vast, plus that elusive space ability…
In a flash, Jigen made his decision!
Just as the Dark Nine-Tails spat out that world-destroying super large Tailed Beast Bomb, hurtling toward him with an annihilating trajectory, Jigen unhesitatingly opened the black-red teleportation gate again, his figure instantly vanishing into it.
Boom!!!
The super large Tailed Beast Bomb lost its target, crashing violently onto the distant ground!
A heaven-shattering, earth-destroying terrifying explosion occurred!
The dark red energy storm swept through the entire another dimension like a tsunami!
The ground was successively upheaved and annihilated, the dark purple sky seemingly torn apart, revealing the chaotic void behind it!
The explosion’s intense light even briefly illuminated this eternally dim world!
Menma had already used the Flying Thunder God Technique to teleport himself and the Dark Nine-Tails underfoot to the explosion’s edge, the aftermath completely blocked by the Dark Nine-Tails.
His Byakugan slowly swept over this space, now even more ruined and hellish from the explosion, no longer able to detect any trace of Jigen.
But Menma was not anxious.
He slowly closed his eyes, sensing the Flying Thunder God marking he had left on Jigen earlier.
Sure enough, the marking pointed to a distant space coordinate.
The another dimension at that coordinate emanated massive, brutal chakra fluctuations filled with life-plundering aura, its magnitude not inferior to the Dark Nine-Tails underfoot!
The corners of Menma’s mouth slowly curved into a confident arc.
“Found you… Ten-Tails!”
The next moment, he activated the Flying Thunder God Technique!
His figure, along with the Dark Nine-Tails underfoot, instantly vanished from this battered another dimension.
………………
On the Rain Village battlefield, with Jigen and Menma’s successive disappearances, the suffocating terrifying oppressive aura finally gradually subsided.
Leaving only ruins of devastation, crisscrossing massive trenches, and lingering energy aftershocks in the air mixed with scorched and bloody smells.
The rain continued mercilessly washing this land, trying to erase the battle’s traces, yet adding more desolation and ruin.
The Akatsuki organization’s core members did not relax their vigilance.
Konan vibrated her pure white paper wings, flying to higher air, countless tiny paper cranes separating from her body, flying silently like living things to every corner of the battlefield, expanding the reconnaissance range.
Her cold gaze swept over every broken wall and ruin, alert to any hidden dangers or the two mysterious persons returning.
Obito’s Mangekyo Sharingan under the mask slowly rotated, its crimson pupils reflecting this wasteland.
He was not only observing visually but fully sensing the subtle fluctuations in the surrounding space.
Whether it was the black-haired boy’s elusive suspected Flying Thunder God jutsu or the tattooed man’s bizarre space teleportation gates, both made him especially sensitive to space anomalies.
He absolutely did not believe those two would leave so easily.
The Deva Path Pain seized this rare breather to quickly summon the Human Path Pain, who had not participated in the previous battle.
The Human Path Pain’s figure, like a judge, soon appeared at the battlefield’s edge, hands forming hand seals.
“Summoning Technique·King of Hell!”
Accompanied by a cold aura, a massive, hideous King of Hell statue with a “King” marking on its forehead slowly rose from the ground.
The King of Hell opened its bloodied maw that seemed able to devour everything, a bizarre purple long tongue shaped like a human hand slowly extending from it.
The Deva Path Pain carried the scrapped Asura Path Pain remains nailed to the wall by black rods, and the Animal Path Pain shattered by the super large jade Rasengan, to before the King of Hell.
The purple long tongue deftly rolled up these damaged Pain bodies and sent them into the King of Hell’s bottomless mouth.
Tooth-grinding chewing sounds came from the King of Hell’s mouth, as if devouring steel and flesh.
But soon, intact Asura Path Pain and Animal Path Pain walked out from the King of Hell’s mouth again.
This was the Human Path Pain’s ability: repairing and reviving other damaged Pains.
At that moment, Zetsu’s half-black half-white plant-like figure emerged from the ground beside the Deva Path Pain.
“Leader!” White Zetsu’s half reported in his characteristic frivolous tone, but the content was not optimistic: “Something’s off in the village! Many of our deployed White Zetsu clones… can’t be contacted! Especially those originally placed inside Hanzo’s high tower for surveillance—nearly wiped out, vanished without a sound!”
Black Zetsu’s hoarse voice followed, carrying a hint of gravity: “Quite a number, and all lost contact in an extremely short time; the opponent seems to know our deployments like the back of their hand.”
A glint of understanding flashed in the Deva Path Pain’s cold Rinnegan.
He recalled the black-haired boy earlier displaying “Almighty Push” identical to “Shura.”
Combined with a few years ago, when “Shura” first attacked Konoha, Zetsu had also reported a large number of lurking White Zetsu in Konoha going missing.
“No need to investigate.” The Deva Path Pain’s voice was emotionless, carrying indifference: “That black-haired boy is probably ‘Shura.'”
He slowly raised his head, looking toward the direction where Menma and Jigen had disappeared: “He now likely possesses some ability to precisely sense and locate White Zetsu existences. Before him, we have almost no secrets.”
These words made the Akatsuki organization members present all feel a heavy weight in their hearts.
White Zetsu’s concealment ability was a key part of their intelligence network, yet now it was completely countered by the opponent.
And Black Zetsu’s inner shock was far greater than that of the others.
If that “Shura” and that tattooed man were truly, as revealed in their conversation, existences from a thousand years ago in the same era as Kaguya Otsutsuki, or simply members of the Otsutsuki Clan, then seeing through White Zetsu’s disguise was indeed reasonable.
But what made him even more uneasy was that tattooed man’s hate-filled “bitch” reference to mother Kaguya, as well as “Shura”‘s ambiguous stance that seemed to lean toward “protection.”
‘That tattooed man possesses such terrifying strength and is mother’s enemy… then, this ‘Shura’, could it be… mother’s ally? Or perhaps another contingency left by mother back then?’ Black Zetsu’s mind raced frantically, trying to untangle this intricate relationship. The millennium-long scheme seemed to be forcibly disrupted by an uncontrollable external force, filling him with unprecedented anxiety.
At this moment, Obito slowly walked over, his gaze sweeping over the newly repaired Asura Path and Animal Path Pain, ultimately settling on Deva Path Pain.
“Regarding those two just now, ‘Madara’…” Deva Path Pain spoke first, voice still cold: “Do you know their specific origins? Especially that guy who can use black rods with power similar to Rinnegan and calls the other ‘Isshiki’.”
A meaningful cold snort came from beneath Obito’s mask, but he did not answer directly.
But his slightly clenched fist and the fleeting dread in his single Sharingan eye were enough to explain everything.
Even this guy who called himself “Uchiha Madara” and was plotting the Eye of the Moon Plan felt troubled and deeply dreaded the power displayed by those two just now.
This raised Nagato’s threat assessment of “Shura” and that mysterious tattooed man to the highest level once again.
At that moment, Konan slowly descended from the air, her paper wings folding away. She walked to Deva Path Pain’s side and whispered, “Pain, Teacher Jiraiya… is gone. I searched the nearby area but found no trace of him.”
Deva Path Pain was silent for a moment.
He knew full well that Jiraiya had mastered Mount Myōboku’s reverse summoning jutsu. In the chaos just now, while everyone’s attention was drawn to those two mysterious strong practitioners, it was entirely possible for him to slip away quietly.
“No matter.” Deva Path Pain’s voice showed no emotion: “He just got lucky and escaped. Our goal is right here.”
His Rinnegan once again swept over this core area of Rain Village, now riddled with holes from the multi-party melee.
Hanzo of the Salamander was dead, and the greatest threats—”Shura” and that mysterious tattooed man—seemed to have temporarily left this battlefield.
“Prepare to take over Rain Village.” Deva Path Pain issued the command: “From today onward, this will be Akatsuki’s new starting point.”
Obito interjected coldly from the side: “Jiraiya escaped. Next, Konoha probably won’t sit idly by regarding the drastic changes in Rain Village. War, perhaps, is not far off.”
Deva Path Pain slowly raised his hand, sensing the raindrops and blood scent still lingering in the air, a cold glint flashing in his Rinnegan:
“No matter how many come, any who dare set foot in the Land of Rain… will become nutrients to nourish the new world, buried here.”
……
Meanwhile, to the north of Rain Village, at a relatively remote port.
Jiraiya had long since released Sage Mode, the toad-like eyeshadow fading from his face. The two toad immortals and Gamaken had also been unsummoned and returned to Mount Myōboku.
As the nature energy left his body, a strong sense of weakness and sharp pain instantly swept through him.
The wound from being pierced by Pain’s black rod earlier had been somewhat suppressed under Sage Mode, but now without the support of sage jutsu chakra, blood once again gushed from the wound, staining his red haori even darker.
Jiraiya leaned against a damaged shipping container, breathing heavily, large beads of sweat mixing with rainwater sliding down his forehead.
He had to leave this place quickly and return to Mount Myōboku for treatment.
Gritting his teeth against the sharp pain, he prepared to find a spot to perform the reverse summoning jutsu.
Just then, the corner of his eye caught a group of panicked Rain Village villagers ahead at the port, families with simple bags on their backs, boarding an old cargo ship in a hurry under the guidance of a few apparent organizers, clearly trying to flee this war zone that had just endured a nightmare.
“That over there is…” And among those busy organizers, one figure caught Jiraiya’s attention.
Purple hanging curly short hair, distinctive hairstyle, and that familiar purple Chinese-style training clothes.
It was the Rain Village genin girl who had appeared with that black-haired boy at his disguised ramen shop earlier—Konan!
At this moment, Konan was working hard to maintain order, helping the elderly and children board the ship. Her delicate face was smeared with mud and rainwater, yet it carried a resolve and sense of responsibility beyond her years.
Jiraiya’s heart leaped to his throat, his vigilance surging!
The other was a Rain Village ninja!
Moreover, she had a deep connection with that dangerous “Shura”!
Just as Jiraiya was on high alert, the busy Konan seemed to notice the anomaly in the corner over here.
She turned her head, her gaze piercing through the sparse crowd, and saw Jiraiya leaning against the container in the corner, covered in blood and pale-faced.
She froze for a moment, seemingly recognizing this “strange uncle” she had briefly met at the ramen shop before, then her face showed genuine worry and urgency.
She immediately said a few words to the villagers and companions nearby, then hurried toward Jiraiya without hesitation!
Jiraiya’s muscles tensed, instinctively assuming a defensive posture despite his extremely poor condition.
“Uncle! How did you get so badly injured?!” Konan rushed up close, looking at the terrifying wounds on Jiraiya that were still oozing blood, her eyes filled with pure concern and anxiety.
She paid no mind to Jiraiya’s wary gaze, quickly pulling clean bandages and hemostatic powder from her ninja tool pouch at her waist.
“Quick! Apply this to stop the bleeding first!” She shoved the medicine bottle toward Jiraiya, her tone urgent and sincere: “Something terrible happened in the village just now, and it’s not safe here! Come with us, take the ship and leave the village first!”
Looking into the girl’s crystal-clear, impurity-free eyes and feeling the heartfelt worry and kindness in her words, Jiraiya’s taut nerves and gathered chakra unknowingly relaxed.
The hand he had ready to strike at any moment also slowly lowered.
In this moment, Konan’s figure—busy in the rain, helping the weak, and caring for others—overlapped in his mind with the three skinny yet stubbornly-eyed war orphans he had met over twenty years ago at the border of the Land of Rain amid the flames of war: Konan, Yahiko, and Nagato.
The same Land of Rain, the same warfare, the same children who retained their kind hearts amid despair.
An indescribable complex emotion surged in Jiraiya’s heart—sentiment, sorrow, and a touch of disorientation as if transcending time and space.
He looked at the girl named Konan before him, as if seeing some cycle of reincarnation, and also seeing the tiny yet precious spark of human light stubbornly flickering amid the darkness and chaos.
He let Konan clumsily tend to his wounds, his gaze somewhat dazed as it looked toward the depths of the rain curtain, at this village that had just endured a terrifying great battle.
Rain Village, now quietly being taken over by Akatsuki.
