"Who goes there?!"
At the gate of Konohagakure, two gate-guarding Ninja stared at the three figures cloaked in black robes patterned with red clouds, asking warily.
Sasori of the Red Sand had already completed his Hiruko puppet. Hidden inside the scorpion-tortoise hybrid, he no longer resembled the handsome man he once was.
Kakuzu, with his green eyes and huge cloth mask, reeked of the bloody underworld of the black market; he looked nothing like a decent man.
The only one who appeared remotely normal was Nagato. After his modifications, he could now wield the Rinnegan at will, and in its dormant state the eyes looked simply black.
Yet with two such thuggish companions behind him, the Konoha gate guards would never mistake him for an ordinary person.
"Let's start from here." The controlled Nagato glanced at the guards, noticed they weren't Izumo Kamizuki and Kotetsu Hagane—the duo who could make even the six paths of pain avoid the front gate—and lost interest.
Naturally; those two future "gate gods" of Konoha were probably only fifteen or sixteen now, still too young for gate duty.
"What do you think you're doing?!" The two Konoha guards sensed something wrong, but Nagato gave them no chance to act.
A mere thought, and a terrifying repulsive force erupted from him. With a boom the entire gate of Konoha shattered; the shock-wave rolled out for nearly a thousand meters, shredding the street, buildings, and any humans in its path.
Originally Nagato's Shinra Tensei repelled everything around him in a sphere, but after the chip's optimization it could now be directed.
Starting from Nagato, a fan-shaped crater hundreds of meters long was carved into the ground, littered with severed limbs and rubble. The two gate guards closest to him had already been mashed into a bloody paste.
"You two only need to cover me; leave every Konoha Ninja to me."
Looking at the now chaotic village where countless Ninja were rushing toward him, Nagato coldly instructed the two behind him before striding forward to meet them.
Sasori and Kakuzu did not try to show off; they exchanged a glance and stepped back to watch their boss's performance.
"What bastard dares attack Konohagakure?!"
"What's happening? Are the Rock and Cloud villages invading?!"
"Who did this—who?!"
After that single strike, Konoha Ninja swarmed like angry wasps. With no attempt at concealment, Nagato stood at the crater's apex in his black-and-red-cloud robe for all to see.
Seeing the culprit, the Konoha Ninja charged without hesitation. Leading the assault was the local Ino–Shika–Chō trio, launching a coordinated attack at once.
"Adamantine Meat-Tank!"
With a roar, a huge figure curled into a ball and dropped from the sky.
"Shadow Possession Technique!"
The shadow cast by the spinning meat-tank sprouted long tendrils that latched onto Nagato's own shadow.
"Mind Destruction!"
A blond Ninja formed hand-seals, and a burst of mental energy exploded like thunder inside Nagato's mind.
The techniques of the three clans had been greatly altered—thanks to Vegapunk's improvements.
The Akimichi clan's Human Bullet Tank, once formidable but still flesh and blood, now granted heightened defense while in use.
The Nara clan's Shadow Imitation could slip into an enemy's shadow through an ally's, seizing control remotely.
The Yamanaka clan had gained direct mental attacks. Crucially, these targeted the mind, not the soul—slightly weaker but free of backlash.
"Trifling tricks, showing off before their maker." Nagato sneered; after all, Vegapunk himself now controlled him, and these very techniques had been devised by one of Vegapunk's own clone bodies.
Facing the swiftest strike—the Yamanaka mental attack—Nagato's eyes flashed, reflecting the force straight back into the Akimichi Ninja's mind.
The Akimichi's head spun; his Meat-Tank veered off course and crashed in a dizzy tumble.
The Nara hidden in that same shadow was thrown off when the Akimichi lost control, his shadow missing Nagato entirely.
-------------------------------
I've already uploaded 70 chapters of this story on Patreon!
If you enjoy it, come check out the latest chapters in advance.
Here's the link:
[email protected]/Rexlent
Thank you so much for your support!!!
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"