Gedo Statue.
This is the name of the monster.
The monster is ugly, with an appearance and skin that look like withered wood. It has a row of eyes on its head, and it doesn't seem to have much combat power.
However...
The chakra erupting from this monster is terrifying!
Now, the Gedo Statue's body contains the chakra of seven tailed beasts. This chakra can fully serve as its driving force and is Nagato's last trump card!
In the past, Nagato used the Gedo Statue to eliminate the subordinates of Danzo and Hanzo the Salamander during the crisis of the first Akatsuki organization. After many years, Nagato once again wielded the Gedo Statue to confront the current leader of Root!
"Go!"
Nagato opened his palm toward Akihara Kagura!
"Roar!"
The Gedo Statue suddenly opened its ugly mouth, emitting a hoarse and unpleasant roar that made everyone's ears uncomfortable!
In the next moment, the monster reached out its hand to strike at Akihara Kagura!
"Wood Release: Wood Human Technique!"
Akihara Kagura quickly clasped his hands together, and a tall wooden figure rose from the ground, raising its hand to block the Gedo Statue's attack!
"Roar!"
The Gedo Statue seemed to sense the wooden figure's resistance, roaring in anger, pressing down with even more force, and striking with its other arm. The towering wooden figure firmly grabbed its arm!
"Never before..."
Jiraiya watched this scene in shock, recalling the appearance of the Gedo Statue he had seen deep in the Akatsuki base: "I see someone suppress the Wood Human Technique..."
"..."
Orochimaru frowned slightly, seemingly deep in thought.
On top of the wooden figure's head.
Akihara Kagura looked up at the ferocious monster, raising his hand, and two huge vines suddenly grew from the ground, forcibly grabbing the Gedo Statue's arms!
"Roar! Roar!"
The Gedo Statue struggled violently!
One vine was immediately torn off by its strength, and the other followed suit!
However, more vines continued to grow, gathering into wooden dragons that tightly bound the Gedo Statue in place!
"It can't absorb its chakra..."
Akihara Kagura frowned slightly.
Perhaps because the Gedo Statue itself is the incarnation of the God Tree's shell, the usually unstoppable Wood Release couldn't absorb the chakra within the Gedo Statue.
"Roar!"
Pillars protruding from the Gedo Statue's back suddenly began to glow, releasing huge bolts of lightning that instantly shattered the wooden dragons binding its arms!
In the next moment, the Gedo Statue lunged at the wooden figure again!
The towering wooden figure and the massive Gedo Statue collided!
The two hundred-meter-tall monsters immediately began to battle fiercely on the battlefield. The Gedo Statue's enormous strength, fueled by the chakra of seven tailed beasts, allowed it to continue fighting!
The wooden figure, driven by Akihara Kagura's chakra, faced the Gedo Statue, the embodiment of the ninja world's origin, with fearless resolve!
The wooden figure swung its fist, striking the Gedo Statue's head!
"Roar!"
The Gedo Statue's body tilted and fell to the ground, kicking up a large cloud of dirt. It angrily got back up and slapped the wooden figure's chest, causing it to stagger back!
"Fortunately..."
Nagato watched the battle, feeling a sense of relief.
Fortunately, the Akatsuki organization captured seven tailed beasts and sealed their chakra into the Gedo Statue, giving it the ability to act. Otherwise, the Gedo Statue would have to draw on his life force and chakra to fight. Nagato no longer has much life force left to support the Gedo Statue in battle...
"I remember Kagura has an even stronger technique..."
Jiraiya tightly watched the battle between the wooden figure and the Gedo Statue, his expression somewhat uneasy: "He hasn't yet used the technique that can decide the outcome in one blow..."
"Perhaps..."
Orochimaru looked at the slightly altered appearance of the Gedo Statue and the eyes on its head that were now open, vaguely guessing: "Because that Gedo Statue is the weapon of the Akatsuki's war..."
Orochimaru recalled his conflict with Akihara Kagura and murmured: "That guy will only win with absolute advantage. This is his way of doing things. Nagato is no match for him now, so he doesn't want to destroy this weapon yet..."
"Roar!"
The Gedo Statue, unable to win, roared again!
Nagato also noticed this, his eyes fixed intently on the battle between the two giants. His voice lowered, "Do you still believe victory is within your grasp? Don't think the Gedo Statue of the Outer Path only has this much power..."
The next second!
The Gedo Statue let out a series of roars!
A black rod imbued with Yin-Yang Release suddenly extended from its body. This rod rapidly branched out and pierced straight into the Wood Human's chest!
The chakra within the Wood Human...
Was being absorbed by the Gedo Statue!
The Divine Tree, which once left legends in the ninja world, even in its residual shell form, still possessed suppressive power, capable of even absorbing Wood Release chakra!
The Gedo Statue seemed to revel in the chakra it was absorbing, its head becoming more sinister. Its mouth suddenly opened, and chains of chakra directly bound the Wood Human. These chakra chains, capable of sealing tailed beasts, now easily restrained the Wood Human!
"Roar!"
The Gedo Statue opened its mouth wide and spat out a mass of purple chakra towards the Wood Human. This mass of chakra transformed into a chakra dragon that pounced on the Wood Human!
This was a unique technique of the Gedo Statue, capable of stealing an enemy's chakra. It found the black rod's absorption too slow!
The chakra dragon instantly penetrated the Wood Human's body, carrying a large amount of chakra back to the Gedo Statue, revitalizing it once again!
The Gedo Statue was originally an empty shell transformed from the source of chakra.
In this world, all chakra cannot escape its fundamental extraction!
Likewise...
The Gedo Statue had its own instinct to continually absorb its lost chakra, returning to its peak state!
It sought more chakra!
It aimed to become the Ten-Tails again, to transform back into the Divine Tree!
"Constantly extracting other people's chakra..."
Akihara Kagura shook his head and sighed softly, "I never thought there'd come a day when someone would extract my chakra..."
"Chakra is very precious..."
Akihara Kagura clasped his hands together, watching the Gedo Statue with a hint of pleasure and madness, as if it were a living being, "I hate it when others extract my chakra!"
"Sage Mode, activate!"
Natural energy surged wildly into Akihara Kagura's body!
"Sage Art: Wood Release: True Several Thousand Hands!"
In an instant, Akihara Kagura's body entered Sage Mode, and the Wood Human on the ground suddenly rose. A statue of a Buddha, even taller than the Wood Human, appeared beneath it!
The statue soared to over a thousand meters tall!
Thousands of hands rapidly grew from the back of the statue!
The Gedo Statue was somewhat stunned to see its chakra-absorbing black rod break. It looked up at the suddenly towering True Several Thousand Hands statue, its eyes widening!
If it were in its complete form, it would naturally not fear the True Several Thousand Hands, its size easily matching and surpassing the statue, with vastly superior power!
However, at this moment, it only had the chakra of seven tailed beasts, far from being able to contend with the True Several Thousand Hands, not even in size!
"Escape..."
Nagato's Rinnegan revealed a trace of fear!
Konan's paper wings unfolded again, sheets of paper enveloping Nagato's legs, taking him along in their flight!
"Trying to escape now is a bit too late, isn't it?"
Akihara Kagura glanced at the fleeing Konan and Nagato, controlling the Buddha statue to extend a hand. This hand descended like the sky falling, slapping down on Konan and Nagato, knocking them to the ground with a light strike!
Nagato rolled a few times on the ground, spitting out a mouthful of blood. Ignoring his injuries, he looked towards Konan!
As Konan hit the ground, she also spat out blood, but disregarded her wounds, her paper wings quickly reforming as she rushed to Nagato, full of concern, supporting him: "Nagato, are you alright..."
"Go quickly!"
Nagato gritted his teeth, trying to push Konan away!
The next moment!
Nagato seemed to think of something!
"No...no...there's something more important."
A crazed look appeared on Nagato's face as he suddenly conjured a black rod, his Rinnegan fixed on it.
"I must destroy the Rinnegan."
Nagato gripped the black rod tightly, his expression growing more frantic: "If Akihara Kagura gets these eyes, he will use them to continue collecting tailed beasts, controlling resurrected war weapons..."
Yes!
These Rinnegan are the root of darkness in the ninja world!
In this critical moment, Nagato suddenly understood everything: "We originally wanted to use these eyes and war weapons to bring peace to the ninja world, but if Akihara Kagura uses our plan, it will bring only destruction and disaster..."
"..."
Konan fell silent.
Nagato was right.
Originally, they intended to use the Rinnegan and the war weapon to bring peace to the ninja world. However, if Akihara Kagura obtains the Rinnegan, the ninja world will have no future...
"Roar! Roar! Roar!"
Suddenly, the Gedo Statue let out a violent roar!
This sound immediately drew everyone's attention. All present turned to look at the Gedo Statue. The monster that had been rampaging moments ago was now firmly suppressed by the Buddha statue. Its limbs were forcibly torn off by the wooden hands of the Buddha statue!
After its limbs were torn off, yellow pus-like fluid flowed from its wounds, streaming down like a small creek, making the sight even more horrifying...
"Nagato... has lost."
Jiraiya took a deep breath.
"This was not unexpected..."
Orochimaru nodded and continued, "Are we about to witness the birth of someone who possesses both the eyes and the body of a Sage?"
"No!"
Jiraiya shook his head, a sudden determination appearing on his face. "We must stop him! We cannot let Kagura obtain the Rinnegan!"
"I'm leaving."
Ignoring Jiraiya, Orochimaru decided to leave first.
Though unsure of what the future held, Orochimaru believed it was wise to escape the danger while he could. He was not eager to return to the Root laboratory.
"Then do me one more favor..."
Jiraiya recalled something and added, "Tell Tsunade that the previous Hokages of the village are under Kagura's control. They have been manipulated by him, and she must be careful..."
"..."
Orochimaru was silent for a moment, then suddenly asked, "Jiraiya, do you think telling Tsunade this will do anything but increase her fear?"
"If I had resurrected the previous Hokages with Edo Tensei, we might have had a chance. But now, Akihara Kagura has resurrected and controlled them first..."
"Akihara Kagura and the previous Hokages..."
Orochimaru looked at Jiraiya and softly stated a fact, "Jiraiya, do you think anyone in the ninja world can stop him now?"
"..."
A creeping fear began to rise in Jiraiya's heart.
"No..."
Suppressing his fear, Jiraiya forced a smile, "How could that be? The Great Toad Sage once told me of a prophecy, that a Child of Destiny would bring transformation to the ninja world..."
"I once thought the Child of Destiny was Nagato, because he always wanted to bring change to the ninja world. But when I asked the Great Toad Sage how to guide Nagato to bring the right change..."
Jiraiya's voice grew more assured as he spoke, as if he believed there was still hope for the future: "The Great Toad Sage told me that as long as I traveled the world and wrote books for inspiration, I was doing the right thing. When I returned to the village for inspiration, I met Naruto. When Nagato almost killed me, I suspected that Naruto might be the true Child of Destiny..."
"There is still hope for the ninja world..."
Jiraiya waved his fist, declaring loudly, "No matter what, I believe Naruto can resolve the crisis in the ninja world!"
"..."
Orochimaru looked at Jiraiya, feeling as though his old friend had let the prophecy turn his life upside down. His calm gaze revealed a harsh truth.
"Jiraiya."
"Uzumaki Naruto is just a Jinchuriki of the Nine-Tails..."
"Even if Naruto can harness the power of the Nine-Tails, the Nine-Tails is merely a plaything for Kagura's Wood Release..."
"You are mistaken..."
"Something is wrong!"
Jiraiya rubbed his forehead, thinking frantically. He always believed in the Great Toad Sage's prophecy and wanted to figure out what to do!
"Fine, if you insist on believing the prophecy..."
Orochimaru sighed at his friend's determination. His gaze then fell on Nagato and Konan, and he proposed another possibility: "Hey, Jiraiya, is it possible that Nagato really is the Child of Destiny?"
"As long as he still has the Rinnegan..."
Orochimaru thought of another possibility, finding his own idea intriguing: "If the Eight-Tails from the Cloud and the Nine-Tails from Konoha are given to him, and he resurrects that war weapon, maybe he could stop Kagura…"
~~~
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