"I've got it!"
Bunta didn't hesitate—he was about to dismiss the Kuchiyose no Jutsu (Summoning Technique) on his own.
At that exact instant, Naruto's lips curled. He clapped his hands; ripples fanned out from his violet Rinnegan (Samsara Eye).
"Chibaku Tensei (Heavenly Starburst)!"
Nearly half of the chakra in his body compressed into a pitch-black sphere. Naruto hurled it straight into Bunta's mouth. With a dull thunk, the sphere—and the giant toad with it—vanished.
"Hah…" Naruto exhaled and smiled. "Mount Myōboku shouldn't exist anymore, right?"
A moment earlier he had sensed Nagato's chakra. Though both carried Uzumaki blood, the gap between their chakra was night and day. All of Nagato's chakra together was maybe one-fifth of Naruto's—hardly comparable.
"Uzumaki physique plus a pirate's physique—my body can hold way more chakra now…"
"Earlier, Nagato used two Chō Shinra Tensei (Super Almighty Push) in a row, then Chibaku Tensei—all that, and the power was terrifying…"
"I just spent fifty percent of my chakra…"
He chuckled, then glanced over at Shisui. "Shisui, your eyes are sharp. Keep them on the sky for me. Tell me when a new star shows up."
Shisui, gloomy because he'd just captured Itachi, blinked at that. "A new… star?"
He reflexively looked up at the flawless blue above. The storm clouds had blown away; Ame was bathed in sunlight again. But in broad daylight, how could a star just… appear?
Even so, he obeyed. His gaze locked on the heavens while Naruto strolled deeper into the village, musing aloud:
"Same Chibaku Tensei, yet the Rikudō Sennin (Sage of Six Paths) created a moon, and Nagato could only make a meteor…"
"The difference… must be chakra."
Half an hour after Naruto left, Shisui's pupils blew wide. He fixed on a tiny black speck overhead.
"What… is that?!"
His newly restored Mangekyō Sharingan spun up, tracking the speck with surgical precision. What he saw was a titanic boulder rising—an "asteroid" swelling as chunks of earth tore free, slamming onto it one after another. The mass drifted… toward the edge of space.
When Shisui reported it, everyone present—pirates and shinobi alike—sucked in a breath.
"Did Naruto-sama just create a star?"
"Not quite. From Shisui's description it's not big enough yet…"
"Of course it isn't—on the ground, how much can a meteor collect? Get it into space and it can start pulling in meteoroids…"
"Captain is insane. Future Yonko material for sure…"
"He's really making a second moon…"
The chatter swelled—pirates' faith in the Child of the Devil hardened, while the Akatsuki members' faces grew ever graver.
—
Elsewhere.
In a dim room, Konan stood in front of a gaunt Nagato, eyes wary on Naruto.
"Menma—what are you trying to do?"
"What do you think you can do to stop me?" Naruto brushed her aside with a casual flick, making the mature cool-beauty flush with anger.
"Menma, don't underestimate me. If I detonate Kibaku Fuda (Explosive Tags)—over a hundred billion of them—even you—"
Smooch!
Naruto planted a kiss on her cheek, then slowly licked his lips and grinned. "Even me, what? You think a hundred billion tags can kill me?"
Konan's shame ignited into fury. Paper slipped from her body in white sheets—Kibaku Fuda blooming with ember-glow.
Snap.
Naruto clicked his fingers. Every spark winked out. He lifted his index finger; a flame blossomed.
"Playing with fire—in front of me? Don't make me laugh."
He'd eaten the Mera Mera no Mi (Flame-Flame Fruit)—the man of flames. All fire bowed to him, including the flame that primed explosive tags.
Seeing Konan stymied again—and pawed—Nagato rasped, "Konan… back down."
Her chest heaved; fist clenched. But she followed Nagato's order and stepped aside.
"Good girl." Naruto praised, then turned to the man beside him. "Law, give him a pair of eyes. And tune up his body—at least get him to the point where he isn't one breath from keeling over."
Law nodded, raising his right hand. "ROOM!"
A few swift strokes—and ordinary eyes sat in Nagato's sockets. The emaciated frame filled out, color returning to his skin.
"This is… Impossible!" Nagato stared at his hands, then at Law. "How did you do that?"
In mere seconds, his eyes had been replaced—and his wrecked body had stabilized. This was beyond any so-called miracle doctor. Even Tsunade, the greatest medical ninja in the shinobi world, couldn't match this immediate effect.
Law said nothing; he simply sheathed his blade.
"Konan…"
Nagato turned—then froze. Konan, face burning with shame, was cocooned in glittering chains—Naruto's Kongō Fūsa (Adamantine Sealing Chains)—suspended like a golden chrysalis on his lap.
"Menma, you bastard! Let me go, now!"
Konan glared knives at the blond youth.
"If I let you go, you'll interrupt the treatment," Naruto said, unbothered.
"Bastard!" she ground out, teeth nearly cracking. "That's what you call treatment?"
She'd watched with clear eyes—under Law's few "cuts," Nagato's body had been sliced into nine separate pieces.
"Konan. Konan…"
As Nagato's voice grew stronger, she finally noticed the life back in his face. Her eyes went wide.
"Nagato—you're alive?!"
Nagato: "…"
(End of Chapter)
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