This puppeteer is a bit... well...

Chapter 262 The True Invincible

"..."

Everyone fell silent.

They wondered if there were people in the world who could open the Eight Gates by talent, and then tried it and succeeded... This kind of denial made these big shots doubt their own existence and feel like they were trash.

"Phew~"

Ryuji took a deep breath and sighed, "I never thought you could actually do something like this."

Yes, Ryuji had also speculated about the possibility that Hong could open the Eight Gates through her own talent.

After all, the Eight Gates are part of human potential and can be forcibly opened. There's no reason why someone like Kurenai, who can freely adjust human talent, couldn't do it.

but.

Because she had never seen what it looked like to open the Eight Gates, she was unable to conduct an experiment. Although it could be simulated with data, Hong, who had not studied the relevant knowledge in depth, still could not understand it.

And now, she has confirmed Ryuji's conjecture.

It was precisely because the Eight Gates were opened that they were able to defeat the First Hokage and Dai, who had opened the Eight Gates, so quickly, beyond Madara Uchiha's expectations.

After all, opening the Eight Gates unleashes the latent potential of the human body. And different people have different potentials, so the amplification of strength after release will naturally be different.

Might Guy's strength after opening the Eighth Gate is not as good as Guy's because his potential is not as good as Guy's.

And Kai is not as good as Hong... or rather, he is far inferior.

Red, who can freely adjust her talents and possess all the positive talents of all mankind... Although she hasn't reached that point yet, her potential surpasses that of everyone before her, without exception.

This results in terrifying power amplification after opening the Eight Gates.

Although Hong had tried her best to restrain her power, she was still standing there, giving people a suffocating feeling that she could destroy the world with a mere flick of her wrist.

She is now invincible.

At least for now, no one in the world is her match, not even Madara Uchiha who has awakened the Rinnegan.

"This is all thanks to my master!" Hong dared not take credit and attributed all the credit to her master.

But Ryuji shook his head.

While what Hong said wasn't entirely wrong—that without Ryuji creating her, she wouldn't have achieved what she has—it's not entirely wrong either.

To be honest, even Long Er himself didn't expect the Red Cross to reach such a level.

Because there are limits to human beings.

Even if Hong could freely adjust her talents and possess all of humanity's positive talents, she still couldn't surpass the limits of humanity.

However, the limit of the Naruto world is not humans, but the Otsutsuki clan from outer space.

They raised the bar for the ninja world.

Without being related to the Liu Dao family, there's no chance of reaching the peak.

But now, Red has done it.

After thinking about it for a moment, Ryuji realized that Kurenai's ability to achieve this was actually related to the Otsutsuki clan.

Because she possessed many of the talents of the Otsutsuki descendants... the life force of the First Hokage, Naruto's life force, Madara Uchiha's spiritual power... these hybrids of Otsutsuki and humans raised the upper limit of human talent.

Kurenai, who also possesses these talent limits, far surpasses these descendants of the Otsutsuki when she unleashes her full potential.

After all, they can't reach their full potential.

"That's good, then we don't need to use that card!" Ryuji said, turning to look at Black Zetsu next to Uchiha Madara, and said, "Grab that guy!"

"clear!"

The red dot nodded and then disappeared from the spot.

After a moment, the rumbling sound of churning air finally reached our ears.

This is proof that speed exceeds sound.

But exceeding the speed of sound is nothing remarkable; even if Kurenai surpassed sound by a great deal, she would still be in the same boat. In this world of ninjas, even speeds as fast as light exist in many places.

Therefore, Madara Uchiha was able to react in time.

"How could I possibly let you act so presumptuously!"

He stood in front of Black Zetsu, arms outstretched, his Mangekyou Sharingan spinning wildly to capture the enemy's figure, and then reached out to grab her.

"Bang!"

A dull thud rang out, and Madara Uchiha's upper body instantly turned into paper scraps. Behind him, Zetsu was being choked by Kurenai.

Madara did indeed predict Red's attack trajectory and successfully caught her.

But Red ignored it completely, simply smashing it apart with her immense speed and power, and then grabbing the one behind her.

If the master's order hadn't been to capture Black Zetsu instead of kill him, Kurenai would have been even faster and stronger. At the very least, Uchiha would have been reduced to ashes, and everything within a hundred meters of him would have been reduced to dust in the shockwave.

"Let's go to our master!"

Red grabbed Black Zetsu by the neck and slammed him to Ryuji's feet.

During this time, he tried to use Wood Release to fight back, but because he was thrown out too fast, by the time he came to his senses, he had already landed at Ryuji's feet.

"Snapped!"

Long Er stomped on his face, shoving his entire head into the hard rock.

"In order to release Princess Kaguya, you have been sowing discord behind the scenes, causing countless human tragedies. It's time to put an end to it all."

"Who are you? Who are you really?!"

Upon hearing this, Black Zetsu, who was struggling to hold onto Ryuji's leg, roared wildly.

However, because his entire face was stomped into the ground, the sound he made was somewhat muffled.

But Long Er understood.

He chuckled and said, "I am who I am. My name is Ayaki Ryuji. Didn't you investigate that thoroughly?"

"Impossible! You're definitely not from the new generation. People of this era couldn't possibly know so many ancient secrets. Are you the reincarnation of the Sage of Six Paths?"

"The reincarnation of the Sage of Six Paths!?"

Long Er was stunned, then burst into laughter, and it took him a while to recover.

"That's quite an imaginative idea! But unfortunately, I'm not one of them."

"and you……"

"But you've reminded me, the Sage of Six Paths knew that enemies from outer space could attack at any time, so he probably didn't come unprepared!"

"When you see him later, you should ask him a lot of questions."

Ryuji started talking to himself.

On the other hand, the battle between Kurenai and Madara Uchiha was a one-sided stomp.

Illusion was ineffective, physical techniques couldn't keep up, the complete Susanoo was kicked to pieces, and even the meteorite was smashed to pieces by a fist.

Kurenai didn't use any ninjutsu, bloodline limit, or taijutsu; she simply relied on the power and speed gained after opening the Eight Gates to overwhelm Madara Uchiha.

If it weren't for testing the physical performance after using the Eight Gates, Kurenai could have ended the battle long ago.

Despair, despair, despair...

Kurenai's immense power filled every member of the Allied Shinobi Forces with despair.

This overwhelming power, which allowed him to completely dominate Madara Uchiha, was like the First Hokage and Madara Uchiha facing the rest of the ninja world during the Warring States period—they had absolutely no chance of winning.

If she wanted, she could easily silence all dissenting voices by herself.

"It's all over."

"There is no hope."

"Let's end it here!"

The already defeated Allied Shinobi Forces had their will shattered and completely gave up resisting.

Even Black Zetsu felt despair.

This time, it's really over.

But only Nagato did not give up.

"Time is up!"

His eyes gleamed, and he formed a hand seal.

The Gedo Mazo, which had been standing still after absorbing the Tailed Beast, suddenly raised its head and roared, a soul-like howl from hell that made everyone stop and look over.

The roaring stopped.

The Outer Path Golem's body swelled, twisted, and changed, quickly transforming into a monster with ten tails and a massive size, like a small mountain.

The monster opened its mouth and roared, the sound waves causing eardrum pain and making the island tremble uncontrollably.

—Ten-tailed.

The legendary terminator who brought disaster to the world.

"What is that?"

"How terrifying! Just looking at this monster sends chills down my spine!"

"This chakra is terrifying!"

"What will the ninja world become?"

The ninja world was shocked.

Black Zetsu, on the other hand, was overjoyed.

Nagato, Nagato, I didn't expect you to have already created the Ten-Tails.

In that case, there's still a chance.

Although that red one is very strong, it can be countered as long as the power of the Ten-Tails is obtained.

He immediately shouted, "Nagato, quickly become the Ten-Tails' Jinchūriki!"

"So noisy!"

Red abandoned Madara, who was being ravaged to the point of questioning his existence, and turned to charge at the Ten-Tails.

"That's what I did from the beginning."

Nagato stared at the charging Red, and his hand seal, which he hadn't loosened, changed, causing the Ten-Tails' massive body to be sucked into his feet.

This unexpected turn of events brought Hong to a halt.

The absorption process is very fast; it's almost completely absorbed in the blink of an eye.

Nagato has undergone a significant change.

His skin turned white, and horns grew on his forehead. His original black robe with red clouds was replaced with a white trench coat with a metallic texture. There was a black magatama pattern on each of the collars, and nine black spheres floated behind him.

"Is this the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki?"

Nagato stared blankly at himself, then clenched his fists, a surge of power coursing through his body, as if a single blow could destroy a mountain.

Then, he actually swung it.

A black staff appeared in his hand, and he waved it through the air.

Even the metal wall that withstood the Tailed Beast Ball only dented slightly, and the aftershocks of Kurenai's fierce battle with the First Hokage only caused it to tilt... One section of the wall was blasted into a hole about ten meters in diameter during the explosion.

You can see the large hole inside the mechanical city from the outside.

"This guy!"

Hong Qi's body heaved with anger as she walked towards him step by step.

Nagato also noticed this hostile person and turned to look at her.

"Tap tap tap tap..."

One step, two steps, three steps...

Hong walked faster and faster, until she went from walking to walking fast and then to running, transforming into a beam of light as she rushed towards Nagato.

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh..."

The black spheres behind them, namely the Truth-Seeking Balls, were shot at the red-haired man.

Red's speed didn't decrease; with only a slight sway of her body, she dodged all the attacks.

Then, the fist slammed down.

Nagato raised his staff to block, but found that space itself seemed to be distorted, and the staff bent infinitely inward.

"boom!"

An unparalleled force erupted, raising a cloud of dust that seemed to stretch for miles. The air was filled with the sounds of colliding forces, like the sound of popping beans amplified a hundredfold, making people's eardrums ache.

On the other side of the smoke and dust, Nagato's mangled body flew out.

After a while, the smoke and dust dissipated.

Nagato, now only his upper body, lay in the deep pit, coughing up blood, his face filled with disbelief and a sense of existential dread.

He believed that after becoming the Ten-Tails' Jinchūriki, he would become the second Sage of Six Paths, with unparalleled strength and no one able to rival him.

But reality slapped him in the face.

Hong was not unscathed either; her entire right arm, from which she threw a punch, had disappeared, and blood was dripping from the irregular cut.

but……

As the granulation tissue writhed, a baby's smooth arm grew back.

She moved her right arm and, feeling that it was alright, slowly walked towards Nagato.

This arm was not destroyed by Nagato's power, but rather collapsed because it could not withstand its own immense power.

"You should still be able to stand up!"

With a blank expression, Red said as she walked, "That Uchiha Madara couldn't test my power limits, so you try!"

Try?

Nagato, whose body had fully recovered, came to his senses.

He looked up at the approaching red and felt a surge of fear.

But this was quickly suppressed by the conviction that peace must be achieved.

Although he couldn't understand why there were such powerful beings in the world, he was determined to achieve his dream no matter what.

Nagato stood up from the pit with a determined look in his eyes and walked step by step toward Kurenai.

One step, two steps...

The two seemed to be in no hurry, slowly walking towards each other until they reached attack range.

Battle broke out.

The island trembled incessantly, the mechanical city shook continuously, and the supports of various metal structures groaned mournfully.

Nagato already knew that the opponent's strength was far inferior to his own, so he used ninjutsu to maneuver and fight back.

As for ninjutsu, Kurenai is equally unafraid of it.

Various powerful ninjutsu and bloodline limits were constantly released from her hands, each capable of easily killing a Kage-level powerhouse.

Nagato is not bad either.

Although he doesn't know any immortal techniques or have many bloodline limits, he has mastered the Yin-Yang Escape Technique.

All sorts of unheard-of secret techniques were unleashed, their power even surpassing that of Red.

Despite this, he was suppressed to the point that he could only barely resist.

Because his physical skills were far inferior to those of the Red Emperor.

Even if he wanted to fight from a distance using ninjutsu, Kurenai wouldn't allow it. While retaliating with ninjutsu, she was also constantly closing in, looking for an opportunity.

Nagato could only attack while running, so it was only natural that he would be at a disadvantage in the battle.

"I never expected that Nagato would become the Ten-Tails' Jinchūriki in the end." Ryuji couldn't help but sigh, but he wasn't worried at all.

Although Nagato became the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki, he did not have the First Hokage's cells, so his strength was slightly inferior to Obito's.

With this level of strength, it's impossible for him to defeat Kurenai, who is even stronger than Guy.

"Ryuji, what exactly is your purpose?"

At this moment, Black Zetsu suddenly asked.

Long Er looked down, raised his right leg, and immediately stomped it down again.

"boom!"

Black Zetsu buried his head even deeper.

But he didn't give up, and kept asking, "How do you know so much?"

"Why was a freak like you even born into this world?"

"And what is the purpose of all this?"

"With that kind of strength, you could have unified the ninja world long ago and done whatever you wanted. Why do you choose to remain confined to Sunagakure?"

(End of this chapter)