Naruto: I, who fooled the ninja world, was hailed as a savior.

Chapter 454 The Moon, Cut in Half?
Two figures, one blue and one purple, clashed and intertwined wildly, with lightning, blade flashes, and poisonous mist all mixed together.

On the battlefield beneath their feet, the two giants were also locked in a fierce battle, more primal and more awe-inspiring.

Every time the two behemoths clashed, the ground beneath their feet trembled violently, sending up towering waves and echoing throughout the battlefield.

Boom!

Akimichi Toudou punched the puppet in the chest, denting a thick armor plate inwards, while the puppet's fist slammed into his shoulder at the same time, causing him to stagger.

Akimichi Tou's massive body, acquired at the cost of burning his life, indeed granted him unparalleled power; every punch and kick carried the might to split mountains and shatter rocks.

However, this was only a temporary boost to his power under the influence of the secret medicine. This state could not last, as he was still made of flesh and blood, and his movements were no longer as swift as they were at the beginning.

However, the allied ninjas below were not idle either. Under Huang Tu's command, they took advantage of the gaps in the two behemoths' entanglement to continuously attack the puppet's weak points with ninja tools and ninjutsu.

Just as the allied ninjas were once again focusing their fire on the puppet's leg joints, the giant puppet's head suddenly twisted 180 degrees, facing the allied ninjas gathered below.

The mouth, resembling a scorpion's face, suddenly opened, revealing not an oral cavity, but a dense array of honeycomb-like emission holes.

Chi Chi Chi!
In the next instant, thousands of poisoned kunai, shuriken, and senbon rained down from its mouth, covering a vast area and engulfing a large number of allied ninja below.

"Earth Escape: Earth Current City Wall!"

The allied ninjas, who were well-prepared, reacted extremely quickly. Almost as soon as the puppet turned its head, they completed the hand seals, and a thick earthen wall rose from the ground, blocking the allied forces' formation.

Most of the ninja tools were blocked by the earthen wall. Akimichi Tou seized the opportunity and, taking advantage of the moment when the puppet turned to attack the Allied Shinobi Forces, kicked the giant puppet hard with a powerful kick.

boom! !

The giant golem was kicked backward by the blow, stumbling and falling onto the shore from the harbor, sending rocks flying.

"Earth Release: Mountain Earth Technique!" Huang Tu, who had been waiting for an opportunity, seized the moment, roared, and slammed his hands into the ground.

Rumble, rumble!

The ground on both sides of the giant puppet suddenly bulged upwards, and two huge clods of earth, as big as small mountains, fiercely attacked the giant puppet from the left and right.

The giant puppet only had time to spread its arms to the sides to brace against the closing, heavy earthen wall. Its arms creaked under the strain, and it was temporarily immobilized.

"Focus fire!" Huang Tu roared, and the allied ninjas around him were greatly encouraged, unleashing all sorts of ninjutsu and explosive tags at the giant puppet as if they were free.

Akimichi Touya roared and charged again, his huge fist gathering visible chakra as he slammed it into the giant puppet's head, which it could neither dodge nor defend against.

However, the giant puppet's stuck body suddenly emitted a dense series of mechanical sounds as it started up, and countless cannon muzzles suddenly appeared on its shoulders, elbows, waist, abdomen, and even legs.

Boom boom boom! !

Countless tiny beams of chakra shot out from the cannons all over the body in all directions. This was not an attack from the main cannon, but an all-around attack with a very wide coverage area.

Such a close, sudden, and dense saturation attack was unavoidable.

Akimichi Tou, who was at the forefront, was hit head-on. Chakra beams shot into his massive body, exploding into bursts of blood and scorch marks, instantly leaving countless wounds on his body.

"what!"

The allied ninjas who were focusing their attacks on the surrounding area suffered a devastating blow. Under the sudden, all-around barrage of bullets, screams instantly filled the air.

Those ninjas who were close by were instantly riddled with bullets and torn apart by the shockwave of the explosion. Their formation was thrown into chaos, resulting in heavy casualties. Blood and severed limbs instantly stained the earth red.

Even the massive earthen wall that imprisoned the puppet was riddled with holes under the bombardment of countless chakra beams, with shattered chunks of earth falling down before finally being smashed to pieces with a deafening roar.

"asshole!"

The giant puppet had consumed too much chakra, making its movements sluggish. Before it could retract its free hands, it was struck by a punch from Akimichi Tou, who charged forward with a roar despite his injuries.

Crack! Bang!

The giant puppet shifted its body but was still hit on the shoulder, sparks and fragments flying everywhere. One of its arms was completely destroyed, and it fell to the ground with a loud thud.

At the same time, Kakuzu had completed the fusion, and five hearts were beating simultaneously within his body, emitting a muffled sound like drums.

He raised his disfigured arm, and countless thick, twisted tentacles of the Earthly Wraith burst forth from beneath his skin, frantically writhing and entwining into bizarrely shaped biological cannons.

The cannon barrel was made of constantly writhing black tentacles, and the muzzle was made of five masks, all of which opened their mouths, each containing a different type of chakra.

Five distinct yet equally violent chakras were compressed wildly within the cannon's muzzle, emitting a chilling hiss.

Countless thick black lines also emerged from Kakuzu's feet, piercing deep into the ground like tree roots, as if he had transformed himself into an incredibly sturdy flesh and blood cannon!
"Ah! No... Pfft!"

Some Allied ninjas tried to get close to stop Kakuzu, but were immediately bound and strangled by tentacles that emerged from the ground.

"Jiraiya-sensei!"

Hokage Nagato's expression was more solemn than ever before, clearly sensing Kakuzu's extremely dangerous aura, which he could not handle alone.

Jiraiya, now in Sage Mode, nodded emphatically, his usual playful expression gone, and said solemnly to Fukasaku and Shima on his shoulder, "I'm counting on you two!"

As soon as they finished speaking, the two of them instantly appeared at the forefront of the Allied Shinobi Forces' formation, facing Kakuzu, who was already radiating terrifying energy.

"Everyone back off!" Hiruzen Sarutobi roared. "Earth Release team, prepare to defend!"

Bang!Bang!
Two puffs of white smoke exploded around Hokage Nagato, and two shadow clones appeared, forming a triangle with the main body.

At the same time, Jiraiya exchanged a glance with Fukasaku and Shima on his shoulder, and without saying a word, they quickly formed hand seals together.

Konan, who was in the air, frowned when she saw this. Her paper wings suddenly flapped, and countless sharp pieces of paper shot towards the two people and two frogs who were forming hand seals, trying to interrupt their ninjutsu.

"Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!" Hiruzen Sarutobi spewed a fire dragon from his bulging mouth to meet the sharp paper shuriken that Konan was shooting at.

The sharp pieces of paper flying everywhere turned into ashes and scattered. Xiao Nan floated backward a distance and barely dodged the attack.

"Compound Ninja Art: Strange Face Explosion!" Kakuzu's hoarse, painful roar rang out. At the end of his arm, five colors twisted and merged, transforming into a black vortex that shot out with a bang.

Sizzle!
A torrent of energy erupted, the air made a piercing sound like tearing cloth, and the earth was plowed with deep furrows!
The chaotic and violent terrifying aura made the allied ninjas feel suffocated, and fear appeared on their illuminated faces.

Faced with this attack, the hand seals formed by the three Nagatos, Jiraiya, and the two toad sages reached perfect synchronization and resonance at the last moment!

Jiraiya took a deep breath, his chest bulging, and exhaled a large amount of viscous toad oil. Fukasaku and Shima simultaneously exhaled a raging hurricane and blazing flames.

At the same time, Nagato's three figures completed hand seals, unleashing a violent and blazing lightning release, a vast and surging torrent, and a heavy and solidified rock flow.

Oil, fire, wind, thunder, water, and earth underwent a qualitative change under the catalysis of magical arts, transforming into a magnificent orange-red flame.

It possesses both the explosive oil, fire, and wind of "Sage Art: Goemon" and the composite ninjutsu of "Five Elements: Great Combo Bullet Technique," with all its power seamlessly integrated into one at this moment.

This is a Sage Art that Nagato developed with Jiraiya in another world.

Immortal Technique: Thunderclap!
The immense power, strong enough to incinerate mountains and boil seas, met Kakuzu's ferocious composite ninjutsu head-on.

The two terrifying energies, both containing five chakra nature transformations but with vastly different forms and auras, emitted a roar that seemed capable of shattering the soul upon contact.

Boom! !
Several chaotic colors suddenly expanded and exploded, and the destructive impact spread in a spherical shape in all directions, flattening the earth wherever it passed.

It wasn't rolled up or torn apart, but rather directly vaporized, leaving behind a sinkhole with smooth edges. The rocks were melted into glass by high temperature and pressure, and then blown into the finest dust.

Whether it was rocks, trees, the remains of buildings, or the Allied Shinobi Forces that failed to retreat in time, everything melted away silently like ice and snow the moment it came into contact with the shockwave. Those a little further away were violently thrown into the air, limbs, broken ninja tools, torn clothing... mixed with the raging debris and mud, scattered in all directions.

The screams, shouts, and sounds of collisions were completely drowned out by the roar of the explosion.

call!
Hokage Nagato and Jiraiya stood firmly in place, their feet imbued with chakra, but the terrifying impact still forced them backward, their hair and robes fluttering wildly in the turbulent currents.

The two raised their arms to shield themselves from the flying debris, their gazes piercing through the dissipating smoke and dust, fixed on the direction where Kakuzu was in the distance.

As the smoke and dust cleared, the horrifying scene at the center of the battlefield was revealed.

A huge, charred crater, hundreds of meters in diameter, has replaced the original landscape. Everything inside the crater is gone, and only the scorching air distorts the view.

At the edge of that deep pit, a figure still stood.

It's Kakuzu.

He stood there quietly, facing Jiraiya and Nagato, his aura still violent and cruel.

"He's...not dead yet?"

The allied ninjas around them, who had just barely managed to stand after the devastating explosion, felt as if ice water had been poured over them when they saw this scene, and their blood seemed to freeze.

They gripped their weapons tightly, beads of cold sweat forming on their foreheads, their eyes filled with disbelief and fear. Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression was also very serious.

Such a terrifying attack, how could it not kill this monster?
The battlefield fell into a deathly silence for a moment, with only the distant roar of two giants fighting and the explosions of Raikage and Hanzo exchanging blows faintly heard.

Time passed second by second, and the charred Kakuzu remained standing, motionless.

"call……"

Nagato breathed a sigh of relief, lowered his hand seals, shook his head, and said calmly, "He is dead."

"Dead, dead?"

The surrounding allied ninjas were all stunned, exchanging bewildered glances, some unable to believe it.

Such a terrifying aura, such tenacious life...

Finally, a few daring Allied ninjas, gripping their weapons tightly, cautiously approached the figure step by step, their eyes fixed on Kakuzu.

However, nothing happened.

Only when they got within a few meters did they see that Kakuzu was completely silent, his skin carbonized and cracked, revealing the black lines of the Earth Grudge that had lost all moisture.

"No, no heartbeat, no breathing, he's really dead!" a ninja reported in a trembling voice.

A wave of suppressed gasps and low shouts immediately rose from the allied ranks.

According to intelligence, Kakuzu possesses five hearts and has extremely strong vitality, so how could this be...?

Looking at the corpse that remained standing, Hokage Nagato's expression remained calm.

Kakuzu's form forcibly merges five hearts, bringing his mastery of the five chakra nature transformations to its extreme. In terms of the application of the five nature transformations alone, he is indeed very strong.

It can be said that his expertise in this area is even greater than his and Sarutobi-sensei's.

However, Kakuzu has five hearts, not five lives.

That was merely the foundation of the 'Earth Grudge Fear' secret technique, granting Kakuzu far superior chakra nature transformation skills, and only providing a certain degree of illusion of immortality.

Kakuzu's aura appears violent and cruel, but it actually proves that his state is unstable. Moreover, the Sage Chakra of both Kakuzu and Jiraiya is far superior to that of Kakuzu in both quality and quantity.

Without being immodest, he is stronger than Jiraiya and Sarutobi in Sage Mode, and he is confident that he can even fight against Nagato in this world.

The fact that Kakuzu could withstand the combined attack of Jiraiya, Fukasaku, and Shima in that form is enough to prove his strength.

He didn't die from their combined attack, but rather from all his life force and chakra being burned away in that one blow.

This "immortal" who lived from the Warring States period to the Ninja Village era squeezed out his last bit of value in this way and stood up to face his death.

boom! !

A loud bang came from afar, and everyone turned to look in the direction of the sound.

Under Akimichi Tou's restraint and the continuous concentrated attacks of the Allied Ninjas, one leg of the giant puppet was finally blown off, exposing the internal devices and pipelines.

The puppet's massive body suddenly tilted to one side, crashing heavily to one knee and creating a deep crater in the ground. After struggling for a few moments, it was unable to stand up.

"Time is up."

Hokage Nagato looked at his body, which was gradually turning into specks of light and dissipating, and felt the repulsion growing stronger. The corrective force of spacetime was forcibly sending him, an outsider, back.

He turned to look at Jiraiya, a faint smile on his face, but also a hint of worry about the world situation: "I'm leaving this place to you, Jiraiya-sensei, Sarutobi-sensei."

"Wait, Nagato!" Kakashi, enduring the weakness caused by his overexertion of chakra, struggled to call out to Nagato.

"Are you...you really real?" he asked hastily. "Are you from another real world?"

As the "jealousy" ability in his hand continued to grow, he could more and more clearly feel that the "opposite" that he had previously thought was just an illusion or a creation was becoming more and more real.

They have independent thoughts, emotions, memories, and even complete life experiences of their own, and are by no means just creations like shadow clones.

Hokage Nagato paused slightly, not directly answering Kakashi's question, but simply shook his head and said, "I have a feeling that we will have a chance to meet again."

"But don't die before that."

As soon as he finished speaking, his figure vanished into thin air like sand scattered by the wind, turning into soft specks of light.

Jiraiya gazed at the vanished Nagato, a hint of melancholy flashing in his eyes. This was indeed the kind of disciple he envisioned: strong, benevolent, and responsible.

Hiruzen Sarutobi showed no sentimentality. He turned his gaze to the giant puppet kneeling on one knee and shouted, "Don't let your guard down! Concentrate your firepower and destroy it in one fell swoop!"

"Yes!" The morale of the allied ninjas soared, and they responded in unison, forming hand seals in preparation for their final, fierce attack.

However, just then, as if sensing something, a sensory ninja raised his head.

"Wait!" His expression was one of surprise and uncertainty as he looked at the distant sky. "What's that?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others subconsciously looked up, following the ninja's gaze.

At this moment, dawn was approaching in the Land of Hot Springs. The eastern horizon was just beginning to lighten, and the deep blue night was slowly fading away as the sun rose.

However, in the southwestern sky, a full moon was still clearly visible, hanging in the pale blue sky.

But at this moment, the once flawless full moon suddenly had a clear, straight, and smooth black crack that cut through the middle and separated the full moon!

A bone-chilling cold instantly swept over everyone's bodies.

Are you kidding me?
"The moon..." someone murmured blankly, as if in a dream, "was it cut open?"

　I originally thought I could write up to the appearance of the 'Shadows,' the protagonist's faked death, and the opening of the dungeon, but I couldn't manage that. I'm wondering if I should simplify the Espada's fight scenes later on, but I feel the Espada's fight sequences should still be somewhat original. I could even move it to Hueco Mundo, similar to Demon Slayer: The Infinity Castle, and write large-scale scenes. Speaking of which, I've already tried to add as much originality as possible to these fight scenes, choosing battlefields like snow-capped mountains or beaches, avalanches, giant battles, and later aerial battles, volcanic battles, desert battles, space battles, bone forest battles… Ugh, writing so many fight scenes is giving me a headache, even though I feel I'm quite good at it.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)