Chapter 568: Nagato’s Strength Is Enough to Make Iwagakure Despair

"Earth Release: Rock Golem Jutsu!" Onoki quickly formed hand seals, and his Chakra erupted as a series of huge rumbling sounds rang out.

After Onoki used the technique, the ground shook violently. A huge rock monster, whose entire body was composed of hard rock, rose from the earth.

The rock monster was enormous. Even one of its fingers was larger than a person. Even without doing anything, merely standing there was enough to exert tremendous pressure on people.

A Light Shinobi attacked the rock monster with a Chakra gun. The blue beam struck the rock monster, yet it could not even knock off a single piece of rock.

Only then did Onoki notice that the Light Shinobi and Grass Shinobi, just like the Bird Shinobi, possessed large quantities of scientific ninja tools.

Onoki’s brows furrowed tightly. One Bird Shinobi could be explained as having some special reason or an accidental opportunity, but the Light Shinobi and Grass Shinobi were the same.

Coupled with the Rain Shinobi rushing to the Land of Birds to assist the Bird Shinobi, the speculation in Onoki’s heart was gradually being confirmed.

Under Onoki’s control, the rock monster took heavy steps and swung its enormous rocky fist toward Nagato.

Nagato’s expression was extremely calm. Its enormous size only made it look intimidating. Compared to Susanoo, it was far inferior. He could casually summon a single Summoned Beast and deal with this rock monster.

However, Nagato still chose the most convenient Ninjutsu.

When the rock monster charged toward him, Nagato slowly raised his right arm. His Chakra erupted, and powerful repulsive force suddenly blasted outward.

"Shinra Tensei!"

With a boom, the rock monster was instantly sent flying backward, crashing heavily into the ground and creating a huge crater. Its incomparably hard rocky body also suffered extensive damage.

"Even the Tsuchikage’s technique was broken like that?" The Iwagakure Shinobi on the battlefield were drawn by the huge commotion. They felt somewhat bitter, while a trace of worry also appeared in their hearts. If even the Tsuchikage were defeated, then Iwagakure would truly have lost.

The Light Shinobi and Grass Shinobi, however, were excited. Seeing that Nagato was still maintaining his ferocious momentum, their morale surged once again.

The Grass Shinobi leader also could not help becoming excited at this sight, as if he could already see the scene of the Grass Shinobi following Nagato and eventually becoming one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages.

"So this is the powerful repulsive force Kitsuchi mentioned. It is indeed extraordinary." Onoki’s expression became serious.

Onoki quickly formed hand seals and used Rock Clone Technique, creating four clones. Immediately afterward, the clones and the original body launched attacks from five different directions.

"Boring tricks." Nagato said expressionlessly. Did they think his Shinra Tensei only covered one direction? His Shinra Tensei covered all directions without any blind spots.

Nagato’s Chakra erupted, and he directly released Shinra Tensei with himself at the center.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Onoki’s Rock Clones instantly turned into white smoke and disappeared, while Onoki himself was also sent flying backward, leaving a deep furrow in the ground.

"Tsuchikage-sama, are you all right?" The surrounding Iwagakure Shinobi hurriedly asked with concern.

Onoki shook his head, indicating that he was fine. At the critical moment, he had used Earth Release to cover his body with a layer of rock to protect himself.

"So it can be released in all directions without any blind spots?" Onoki frowned, feeling that things were troublesome. If that was the case, most of his Ninjutsu were useless and could not affect Nagato.

"Looks like I can only use Particle Style." Onoki used Earth Release: Light-Weight Rock Technique and slowly flew into the air.

Onoki was still very confident in his Particle Style. This was not an attack that could easily be deflected.

"Particle Style: Atomic Dismantling Jutsu!" Onoki pressed his hands together and then slowly pulled them apart. A transparent cone gradually took shape in his palms.

Because there was a huge gap between top-level powerhouses and lower-level Shinobi, when the difference in numbers was not too great, the outcome between top-level powerhouses could largely determine the outcome of a war.

Whether they were Iwagakure or Light Shinobi and Grass Shinobi, everyone was watching the battle between Onoki and Nagato. Once the outcome between them was decided, it would probably also determine the outcome of this war, because there was not a particularly large gap between the Iwagakure forces and the Grass Shinobi and Light Shinobi forces led by Nagato.

If Onoki won, Iwagakure would win. If Nagato won, the Light Shinobi would win.

"It’s Tsuchikage-sama’s Particle Style!" When the Iwagakure Shinobi saw Onoki use Particle Style, they became excited one after another. Particle Style was a Kekkei Tota, which was even more powerful than a Kekkei Genkai, and it was Onoki’s strongest ability.

The cone in Onoki’s hands rapidly took shape, soon transforming into a streak of white light that shot toward Nagato at tremendous speed.

Yet Nagato did not dodge the incoming Particle Style. He simply stood there calmly.

"Does he want to use that technique to deflect my Particle Style? My Particle Style isn’t that easy to deal with." Seeing that Nagato did not dodge and instead remained where he was, Onoki smiled.

But something even more astonishing happened. Nagato did not use Shinra Tensei. Instead, he simply extended his right hand, and a thin shield appeared in front of him.

Onoki’s Particle Style beam easily struck Nagato, who stood motionless, but when the Particle Style beam hit the thin shield in front of Nagato, it was like a mud cow entering the sea, disappearing without a trace in an instant.

Onoki froze. He had never expected his Particle Style to be blocked by such an inconspicuous, thin shield, without even causing the slightest ripple.

Unwilling to believe it, Onoki released another Particle Style beam.

However, the outcome did not change. The moment the Particle Style beam touched the shield released by Nagato, it was instantly absorbed.

"So this is all that the so-called Kekkei Tota amounts to?" Nagato said indifferently.

This was not even an ability of his Six-Tomoe Rinnegan. Because he was using a Rinnegan Puppet rather than his true body, he could not use the unique abilities of the Six-Tomoe Rinnegan. What Nagato had just used was the absorption ability of the Preta Path.

Even so, it was enough to deal with Onoki’s Particle Style.

Hearing Nagato’s words, Onoki could barely keep his composure. A vein-shaped mark resembling a character for "anger" appeared on his forehead.

He had previously declared that he would teach Nagato to respect his elders, yet now his proudest Particle Style had failed to affect Nagato. This was undoubtedly a slap in the face.

"Yahiko-sama is invincible!" The Light Shinobi immediately became excited, and their morale surged once again.

"Kid, don’t celebrate too early." Onoki said in a deep voice. His Chakra erupted as he prepared to use his strongest Atomic Dismantling Jutsu. He did not believe that Nagato could still take the Atomic Dismantling Jutsu without injury. If he could, then Onoki would accept his defeat wholeheartedly.

But before Onoki could use the Atomic Dismantling Jutsu, Nagato moved.

"You’ve been attacking for so long. It’s time I let you see my strength." Nagato rapidly rose into the air and used a Shinra Tensei against Onoki, crushing him into the ground.

"Heavenly Obstacle Quaking Stars!" Nagato activated the Rinnegan. Both Rinnegan trembled violently, and Nagato quickly formed hand seals. His powerful Chakra erupted, and a gigantic meteor suddenly appeared in the sky, its enormous shadow covering the Iwagakure Shinobi forces.

"How are you going to deal with this?" Nagato floated high in the sky and looked down at Onoki.

The moment Nagato finished speaking, the enormous meteor immediately began rapidly descending toward the Iwagakure forces, its speed growing faster and faster.

The Iwagakure Shinobi below discovered that they were gradually being covered by a shadow. When they looked up, they saw an enormous meteor continuously descending. They were instantly scared pale, their faces filled with terror.

"What is this? How can there be a technique like this?" Some Iwagakure Shinobi looked at the scene in disbelief.

"This is even larger than the mountain created by Kitsuchi-sama’s Earth Style technique. If this crashes down, how destructive will it be?" Some Iwagakure Shinobi could not help showing terrified expressions.

Onoki’s expression changed. If such an enormous meteor crashed down, not to mention Iwagakure, even the Light Shinobi and Grass Shinobi might suffer badly.

But the meteor obviously would not give Onoki much time to think. Onoki had no time left to consider it. If he allowed the meteor to fall, the Iwagakure forces would be finished.

Onoki’s Chakra erupted, and he suddenly charged into the sky. Just as the meteor was about to fall, he raised both hands and caught the enormous meteor.

"Earth Release: Ultra-Light-Weight Rock Technique!" The moment Onoki came into contact with the meteor, he used Ultra-Light-Weight Rock Technique, greatly reducing the meteor’s weight. Only then was he able to stop its descent.

Onoki was not tall. He could even be described as short, and his nose was also extremely strange, making him look rather comical.

Yet this small body of Onoki had stopped the enormous meteor falling from the sky. This made even the Light Shinobi and Grass Shinobi look at him with respect.

In the Shinobi World, the strong were respected. Even though they stood on opposite sides, they could not help being amazed by Onoki’s strength.

Of course, respecting a strong opponent did not mean they would show mercy on the battlefield. If anything, they would want to kill him even more. Someone this strong would be extremely dangerous if he came seeking revenge in the future.

"Not bad. You can catch one, but what will you do if there is another?" Nagato repeated what he had just done and once again used Heavenly Obstacle Quaking Stars to create another enormous meteor.

Another enormous meteor appeared above the Iwagakure forces, ready to fall at any moment and crush the Iwagakure Shinobi into minced meat.

The Iwagakure Shinobi on the ground were dumbfounded. They had never expected Nagato to use such a terrifying technique again just like that.

Seeing this, Kitsuchi struck the Grass Shinobi leader he had been fighting with a Rock Fist, causing him to vomit blood. He hurriedly formed hand seals while shouting, "I’ll support this one. Go deal with the other one!"

As Kitsuchi’s enormous amount of Chakra erupted, several gigantic stone pillars rapidly rose from the ground and supported the meteor, while Onoki released his grip and went to catch the second Heavenly Obstacle Quaking Stars meteor released by Nagato.

"You caught two. Can you still catch a third?" Nagato asked indifferently. For him now, this was not difficult at all.

No one answered him. Fine beads of sweat covered Onoki’s forehead as he gasped heavily.

Maintaining Ultra-Light-Weight Rock Technique while holding up a meteor was not an easy task. It was even more so for an elderly man like Onoki. He felt that his waist was already protesting.

Onoki knew that he could not continue like this, so he steeled his heart. He suddenly pushed the meteor upward with force, then quickly released his hands. The meteor immediately began crashing downward again.

But immediately afterward, a fierce white light appeared across the battlefield.

"Particle Style: Atomic Dismantling Jutsu!" At this most critical moment, Onoki quickly used his strongest Ninjutsu, Atomic Dismantling Jutsu. A huge transparent cube enveloped the sky, destroying both Heavenly Obstacle Quaking Stars meteors in one go.

"Phew, phew." After doing all this, Onoki was already drenched in sweat and gasping heavily, looking to be in extremely poor condition.

"Kitsuchi, quickly lead the forces in retreat!" Onoki issued the order.

Kitsuchi hesitated, wanting to say something, but in the end, he knew the situation was urgent. He used Earth Release to create a huge wall that divided the battlefield, then led the Iwagakure forces in retreat.

As for Onoki himself, he did not leave with the Iwagakure forces. If he left, who would stay behind to cover their retreat?

Kitsuchi? His identity and strength were not suitable. His father, the Third Tsuchikage, was still alive. There was no way Kitsuchi would be the one to stay behind.

The Grass Shinobi leader naturally did not want to let the Iwagakure forces successfully retreat. If they destroyed this main force, then Iwagakure would have no strength to continue fighting. Even if Iwagakure did not surrender, they would have suffered a de facto defeat.

However, when the Grass Shinobi leader wanted to lead people in pursuit, he nearly took a white beam and died on the spot.

The Grass Shinobi leader immediately did not dare to charge recklessly. He even retreated quite a distance. Getting hit by Particle Style meant certain death.

The Grass Shinobi leader could only look toward Nagato, hoping Nagato would deal with the troublesome Third Tsuchikage.

"There’s no need to be anxious. As long as I don’t want them to escape, they won’t be able to." Nagato said calmly.

"Is that so? Then try my final Particle Style." Onoki ignored his exhausted body and squeezed out the last trace of Chakra from his body.

"Particle Style: Atomic Dismantling Jutsu!"

A huge transparent cube suddenly appeared and rapidly expanded, turning everything covered by it into an atomic state.

Facing Onoki’s final Particle Style attack with all his strength, even Nagato rapidly flew into the sky and opened up the distance, unwilling to clash head-on with Onoki.

It was not that he could not defeat him, but Nagato did not want Yahiko’s corpse to be damaged. With such a large-scale and powerful Particle Style, the Preta Path’s ability was insufficient to absorb it without injury.

After Onoki finished using this final Particle Style, he could no longer even maintain Earth Release: Light-Weight Rock Technique. He fell from the sky, crashed onto the ground, and fainted.

He was not the Third Raikage. He did not have the stamina to fight for several days and nights. Moreover, the people who surrounded and attacked the Third Raikage back then did not include a powerhouse like Nagato.

The only thing he could do was buy Iwagakure some more time and preserve as much of their strength as possible.

Even after Onoki fainted, the Grass Shinobi leader did not dare to approach directly, afraid that Onoki was pretending to be unconscious and would retaliate with Particle Style.

Only after sending people to test him did he dare to approach with confidence.

"Yahiko-sama, what should we do with this Third Tsuchikage?" The Grass Shinobi leader asked Nagato.

"Handle him like the other prisoners. Hurry and pursue the Iwagakure forces. They haven’t gone far yet." Nagato replied indifferently.

Even now, Nagato could still sense Kitsuchi and the others’ exact location. Of course, this was also related to Nagato’s powerful sensory abilities.

However, Nagato had no intention of personally participating in the pursuit. If he had to do everything himself, what did he need these subordinates for?

The Grass Shinobi leader nodded and quickly led the forces in pursuit of the Iwagakure.