“At least he knew what needed to be done. You lot aren’t even on his level.”

Kitagawa Gen continued with his verbal assault, but his words seemed to have the opposite effect—they struck deeply at Nagato.

Nagato’s heart was soft, but only when he had time to calm down. At this moment, calm was something he clearly could not find.

“Empty prattle!”

Nagato’s voice was low, but his chakra surged violently in an instant.

“I know exactly what I am doing—and the kind of world I intend to create."

"I know war always brings death and suffering to both sides. I also know you are nothing more than fools deluded into thinking you can play the lead role in this world."

"You believe death is far away, so you indulge so shallowly in peace. But those who kill will one day be killed, and hatred will bind everyone together!”

“And furthermore—”

He suddenly paused, his chakra flaring even more fiercely.

“Do you truly understand this kind of pain? What right do you have to judge our suffering? Don’t you dare stand above us and speak of our pain!”

[Buzz—]

“Shinra Tensei!”

In an instant, a massive repulsive force erupted, a violent wave that seemed as if it would obliterate everything in its path.

At the same time, Konan struck. The sheets of paper swirling around her shot forward in an instant.

Then she grabbed Nagato’s body swiftly, wings flaring behind her as she prepared to take him and escape.

“So it seems… my words hold no power. Fine. After all, we’re all just struggling to survive.”

But just as the repulsive wave burst outward, Kitagawa Gen’s voice cut through.

“Then if I’ve struggled so hard… why do you still insist on living?”

The next moment, violet lightning erupted, its sharp brilliance like sunlight piercing through thick, heavy clouds, descending straight toward Nagato.

Yet at that very instant, space twisted, and a figure appeared.

The lightning slash, redirected by Kitagawa Gen’s Flying Thunder God, tore through the overlapping silhouettes in a single stroke!

Moments later, what fell to the ground was nothing more than a heap of broken parts.

...

“Nagato!”

Deep within the Land of Grass, space twisted violently, and the three figures of Uchiha Obito’s group stumbled into view.

Yet among the three, only Konan remained unscathed.

Uchiha Obito’s body was nearly torn in half, and Nagato was in no better state.

Already gaunt and skeletal, Nagato’s entire arm and part of his chest had been sheared away, and even one of his legs was severed!

Through the charred wounds, one could see exposed muscle tissue and even glimpses of his internal organs.

Now, Nagato had fallen completely unconscious.

“Nagato… Nagato!?”

Konan’s face went deathly pale at the sight of such devastation. Of the three of them, Yahiko was already dead—only she and Nagato remained.

In a sense, Nagato was the pillar that kept her alive.

If Nagato were to die too, she truly would have no reason to go on living.

“What the hell happened? All six bodies lost?”

Uchiha Obito spoke irritably, his mood visibly foul.

“This is what you call giving it your all?”

“And you? What were you doing?”

Sheets of paper once again swirled around Konan’s body as she glared angrily at Obito.

“You don’t even understand Kitagawa Gen’s strength. Would you dare face him directly?”

“Hmph!”

That question left Uchiha Obito momentarily speechless. He too had once been a victim of Kitagawa Gen.

“So here you are.”

Just then, a pitcher plant sprouted from the ground. Black Zetsu, seeing the tense atmosphere, immediately understood the situation.

Especially when he caught sight of Obito and Nagato’s miserable states—it was obvious they had suffered a crushing defeat.

“If you don’t mind, let me try.”

Sighing, he slowly stepped to Konan’s side. Under her wary gaze, he spoke.

“Perhaps I can do something.”

Konan frowned deeply, but in the end, she nodded. She truly had no other choice.

Black Zetsu wasted no time. White Zetsu’s body split away from him and began to wrap around Nagato.

The sight made Obito raise his brow. He quickly glanced at Black Zetsu, who gave him a faint nod.

It was merely using White Zetsu’s chakra to shield Nagato—not implanting cells. That much, he could accept.

He was far more cautious than Obito.

“Cough… cough…”

Nagato’s will to live proved astonishing. Under White Zetsu’s chakra protection, he actually regained consciousness.

“Nagato!”

Konan’s voice trembled with emotion, but Black Zetsu only shook his head.

“This only shields him. He still needs a proper doctor. He should recover slowly over time, but for now—tell us what exactly happened.”

Black Zetsu was genuinely curious. What on earth had unfolded to leave them in such a state?

“I was stopped by Hatake Kakashi. I couldn’t break free to provide support. His techniques are far from simple.”

Uchiha Obito’s voice was cold. Just recalling that fight with Kakashi made his fists clench involuntarily.

From Kakashi’s combat strategies, to the battlefield they clashed upon, to everything Obito endured just to escape…

“I lost.”

Nagato, only just regaining consciousness, was still somewhat dazed. Hearing the question, he hesitated, but after a pause he sighed and spoke.

“That brat was far more difficult to deal with than I imagined. Not only does he possess the Flying Thunder God Technique, he also has Ice Release."

"And his ability to analyze intelligence is unmatched—it was as if he could see through my abilities at a glance."

"On top of that, my power was spread too thin, and he picked me apart one by one. I had no way of defeating him.”

Recalling the battle, a heavy sense of defeat pressed down on him.

Individual bodies couldn’t even trouble that guy—he could only watch helplessly as his paths were destroyed one after another.

That feeling left him deeply frustrated.

“Intelligence analysis, huh?”

Obito didn’t want to speak. Wasn’t that the same way he had been beaten? But Black Zetsu seemed to seize on the key point.

“Your strength was too scattered, and he took advantage of it?”

“No. He’s overwhelmingly powerful in his own right. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to counter Chibaku Tensei with a Rasengan.”

Nagato found the words hard to say, but he admitted his defeat.

“To face someone like that, if your strength is scattered, you have no chance. If I had been able to focus my power, I wouldn’t have feared him.”

After being beaten so badly, Nagato had cooled his head somewhat.

He recalled Kitagawa Gen’s words, especially that one line—‘Focused power can pierce through solid stone.’ He couldn’t agree more.

And aside from that ‘focused power,’ Kitagawa Gen had said something else that now lingered in Nagato’s mind.

But he wasn’t willing to dwell on it. This crushing defeat was too bitter—he needed to focus on the present.

“He’s truly terrifying. That kid is beyond what we expected.”

Black Zetsu nodded. Uchiha Obito remained silent.

This operation was, without a doubt, a complete failure.

Perhaps the only thing to be taken from it was that they had finally grasped Kitagawa Gen’s true strength.

But what good was that knowledge? It only made the pain worse.

“Let’s leave here first. We can discuss it further later.”

Black Zetsu sighed, breaking the silence. An Ōtsutsuki Genshiki, and a Kitagawa Gen.

Both were enemies, and neither would be easy to deal with.

For the first one, Black Zetsu didn’t even have much confidence at all.

'We’ll take it slow. According to the plan, those two may end up fighting each other. That might be our chance.'

With that thought, Black Zetsu forced himself to relax slightly.

But just as they were preparing to leave, a sudden thought struck him.

“Wait… we’re missing someone! Where’s Raiga?”

“…”

“Dead again?”

“…”

“Why is it that every new recruit either runs off or ends up dead?!”

“…”

...

“Kakashi-sensei, are you alright?”

Within the Land of Grass, Kitagawa Gen appeared beside Kakashi with a flash of the Flying Thunder God.

But the moment he landed, his eyes fell on something lying on the ground—an arm.

“This is… Uchiha Obito’s arm?”

“Yeah.”

Kakashi nodded, studying Kitagawa Gen carefully before finally letting out a breath of relief.

“Looks like you’re fine. I was worried something might’ve happened to you. You nearly scared me to death.”

“Of course I’m fine. But you were the one who broke this off?”

Kitagawa Gen’s face twisted with disbelief as he stared at the severed arm.

Was Uchiha Obito addicted to losing arms or something?

And wait—this arm looked like it was one of Obito’s originals, wasn’t it?

Even though Obito had long been a kind of ‘Six Paths patchwork monstrosity,’ there were still a few parts of his body that were original.

And now Kakashi had just ripped one of those originals off?

“Yeah. He was desperate to escape and exposed an opening, so I took the chance.”

Kakashi nodded. Thinking back on the fight just now, Obito had seemed distracted.

Especially when that massive sphere in the sky shattered—at that moment Kakashi clearly sensed Obito was about to flee.

So he struck decisively, and that’s how he ended up with this arm.

“Speaking of which, that was caused on your end. What was with that giant rock? You’re sure you’re alright?”

“Don’t worry. I’m definitely fine. In fact, I even tested out some of my research results.”

Kitagawa Gen smiled. This time, he was quite satisfied with the performance of his “main body.”

The Six Paths of Pain were strong, but spread out like that, they didn’t put much pressure on him at all. He could deal with them in his normal state.

His only regret was that his “Mouth Release” hadn’t worked very well—in fact, it had backfired.

He tried reasoning with Nagato, only to get hit with a Shinra Tensei in return.

'If I’d known, I would’ve gone on about bonds and friendship instead. Maybe he would’ve actually listened.'

But Kitagawa Gen was petty. Since they couldn’t talk it out, then there was nothing to talk about.

Nagato dared to make a move, and he retaliated immediately. That strike not only wounded Nagato, but also caught an unlucky bystander…

---

I will post some extra Chapters in Patreon, you can check it out. /TitoVillar

---