Chapter 575: 600 Billion Explosive Tags
Land of Rain, Hidden Rain Village, Mirror Lake.
A battle took place here, the final battle between Hanzo's forces and Konoha's forces during the Second Shinobi World War.
The older generation might still remember that this place was once a golden rice field filled with green ripples and spring waves. After that battle, the golden waves of wheat were never seen again, leaving only a deep crater in this place.
Many years later, this place came to be known as Mirror Lake.
In that battle, Hanzo pinned down Konoha's elite forces on the flank battlefield, holding off a hundred men by himself. Relying on his absolute power, he slaughtered Konoha's elite forces, forcing them into a steady retreat and leaving corpses strewn across the field. However, on the main battlefield on the other side, the Hidden Rain's main army had their defensive line forcibly torn open by the Third Hokage and his personal guard. Subsequently, the Konoha army breached the Hidden Rain's front line in one fell swoop, causing the latter to collapse completely. No matter how many enemies Hanzo killed, he could not salvage the Hidden Rain's defeat.
Seeing no hope of victory, Hanzo had to stop and concede to avoid completely enraging Konoha.
At this time, in the original site of Mirror Lake, only three young ninja remained standing.
Later generations called them, the Sannin.
Konan stopped her footsteps on the ruined walls by the lake.
Obito pursued and arrived shortly after, his figure appearing on the other side. His icy gaze swept across the surroundings before finally landing on the woman.
"Not running away anymore?"
A hint of a cold sneer curled up at the corners of his mouth.
"Mirror Lake... Have you chosen this place as your burial ground?"
Obito knew the story of what had happened here. Mirror Lake... in the hearts of the people of the Land of Rain, it had always symbolized the courage to resist the strong and the battle to win peace.
For ninja like Nagato and Konan who hailed from this place, it held a special significance.
But Obito was not from the Land of Rain. He could not understand, nor had he ever tried to understand, the "significance" in the hearts of Nagato and Konan.
He also did not need companions with ideals; he only needed tool-men who followed orders.
"How ridiculous. To think you actually commemorate a failed battle." Looking at the calm surface of the lake, Obito mocked.
Konan slowly turned around.
"Because this is a failure that was closest to victory, a battle where there is honor even in defeat."
The sorrow of a small country lies in the fact that history has never recorded a victory for them. Therefore, even if it is a failure, as the failure closest to victory, it is remembered by the people.
But Konan's tone was not sorrowful, and what she wanted to say was not focused on this.
"Furthermore, you are wrong about one thing... What we commemorate is not a failure, but the courage to still dare to fight against the strong even after continuous failures!"
Obito was somewhat surprised. At the juncture of deciding life and death, the woman's voice was still so calm, just like the large lake beneath their feet, rippling with green waves, smooth as a mirror, without the slightest swell.
It was not the madness of a dying struggle, nor was it the determination of facing death unflinchingly.
It was calmness.
Was she relying on something? Or had she already seen through life and death?
Obito felt doubtful in his heart, but outwardly he merely gave a disdainful cold sneer. What the answer was didn't matter. In the face of absolute power, what difference did a calm mindset make?
"Are these your last words, Konan?"
He did not waste any more words, nor did he wait for the other party to respond. After saying this, he leaned forward and charged towards the woman with the intent to kill!
Swoosh swoosh swoosh!
Boom boom boom!
A life-and-death battle kicked off amidst a chaotic roar.
This battle was the first battle between Konan and Obito, and probably the last battle as well.
This was a battle orchestrated by Nagato and Konan to clean up the "traitor" within Akatsuki.
It was also a battle where Obito turned against his cohorts to seize the Rinnegan.
Ironically, both sides had obtained false intelligence: Nagato mistakenly believed that Obito had leaked his intelligence to Konoha, becoming a traitor, and must be purged; Obito believed that Nagato was truly dead, making it the perfect opportunity to strike and seize the Rinnegan.
Thus, the rupture of Akatsuki, which was bound to happen sooner or later, erupted ahead of time.
False intelligence leading to a justified battle carried a bit of dark humor.
Beyond Obito's expectations, he, who held the advantage in strength, actually fell into a disadvantage for a moment when facing Konan's desperate, all-out attacks!
Boom—!
Following an earth-shattering explosion in mid-air, Obito's battered figure reappeared on the surface of the lake.
He was entirely scorched black, covered in burn scars from the bombardment, and one of his sleeves hung down emptily.
Opposite the man, countless pieces of paper slowly coalesced into the slightly panting figure of Konan.
"Turning into explosive tags and self-destructing the moment you were being sucked in..." Obito panted, saying with lingering fear, "What a dangerous move, I was almost killed by you!"
However, what shocked him even more was Konan's approach of unhesitatingly self-destructing to take him down with her!
Obito was too obsessed with defeating her quickly, which instead exposed his own flaws...
This battle was much more difficult than he had imagined!
"But you were a step faster... the entire explosion was sucked away by you, allowing you to escape a disaster!" Konan responded coldly. "However, you might not be able to dodge this next move!"
As the woman spoke, she suddenly reached out her hand, and the chakra on her body instantly boiled up.
"Take this, Madara!"
Tyrannical chakra poured out from the woman, frantically surging into the lake water. Obito felt empty beneath his feet; the calm lake surface actually split into two halves, and the lake water astonishingly turned into densely packed, overlapping countless pieces of paper!
"No, it's not ordinary white paper!" Obito, falling from mid-air, felt a chill in his heart, seeing familiar formulas on the paper.
"Those are—"
"Six hundred billion explosive tags!"
Konan, flying high in the air with astonishing momentum, said coldly.
"Over the years, I have carefully observed the characteristics of your jutsu... This was specially prepared to kill you, enough for non-stop explosions for ten minutes!"
Obito's heart suddenly plummeted.
The surroundings were full of dangerous explosive tag detonations. He couldn't perform space-time movement and could only use the mode that allowed explosions to pass through his body... But this passing through could only last for five minutes, far lower than the ten-minute duration of the explosions!
This was a trap, a long-premeditated trap! Obito suddenly realized.
Six hundred billion explosive tags were definitely not bought. Even if one had the money to buy them, the entire ninja world could not produce that many explosive tags... On the contrary, Konan, who excelled at manipulating paper, was the major manufacturer of explosive tags. For her, creating explosive tags didn't require the tedious process others went through; it was nothing more than forming a few seals and consuming some chakra!
However, to accumulate such a massive quantity, Konan must have started laying out this trap a long time ago, hiding an astronomical amount of explosive tags in Mirror Lake!
"Damn it..."
He subconsciously covered his left eye beneath the mask.
"Die!"
Konan forcefully swung down her right hand!
Boom boom boom boom boom boom—!!!
The sound of explosions rang out thunderously, like a tsunami, covering all sounds in the vicinity!
In an instant, it was as if only the center of the explosion retained brilliance and sound waves between heaven and earth; everything else grew dim and fell silent.
Six hundred billion explosive tags!
One billion explosive tags detonated simultaneously every second, covering the entire area, ensuring Obito could not escape the blast radius, nor could he forcefully withstand the damage from the explosions!
Every second, it produced damage no less than a Super S-rank ninjutsu, and such power did not rest for a single second, continuously bombarding for a full ten minutes!
Without a doubt, this was the most luxurious ninjutsu in the ninja world...
If these explosive tags were sold (and if someone could afford them), every minute here could burn through a year's worth of Konoha Village's budget!
While Konan did her utmost to control the rhythm of the explosions, she unavoidably felt a surge of heroic pride.
Even a figure like Madara Uchiha could not withstand this kind of offensive.
Although it was a ninjutsu that could only be used once or twice in a lifetime, such power could already top the ninja world, couldn't it?
No, it still couldn't. Just as she had this thought, another scene surfaced in her mind simultaneously. That heroic pride instantly vanished into thin air, and instead, a chill spontaneously arose from the bottom of her heart.
That was the scene she had witnessed near the Land of Water a few days ago...
The ninjutsu used by that girl named Haruno Sakura!
At that time, she was rescued by Pain and broke away from the battle. Afterward, she stayed by Nagato's side, using paper clones to hang far outside the battlefield, observing the battle between Pain and Haruno Sakura.
Even after so many days, she still clearly remembered the scene from that time.
And every time she recalled the image from that time, she couldn't help but shudder!
That brief scene happened after two earth-shattering ninjutsu collisions between Pain and Haruno Sakura. Then came the third time; Nagato obstinately gathered chakra, wanting to unleash an even more powerful Super Shinra Tensei...
It was at that very moment, light was born.
Light, infinite light, endless light, immeasurable light!
Viewed from the paper clone's position, in that instant, on the horizon, it was as if one million suns had risen simultaneously!
What kind of marvelous spectacle was that? For a time, half the sky was brilliantly blazing, and the other half was as dim as the night!
As if the entire world had been distorted.
Then the next second, the infinite brilliance completely swallowed the clone...
The last image transmitted from the clone was an endless and boundless radiance!
And the Deva Path Pain, who was at the center of the explosion at the time, had just cast the Super Shinra Tensei in his hands. Like a bubble hitting a giant boulder, it didn't hold up for even half a second before vanishing into that infinite light, heat, and energy.
If Nagato was "God", then what was Haruno Sakura, who had cast such a ninjutsu?
For a moment, Nagato and Konan even doubted their dream, doubting whether even the gathered power of all nine Tailed Beasts could necessarily contend against such a powerful ninjutsu.
Thinking back on it afterward, Haruno Sakura seemingly couldn't control such a ninjutsu either, otherwise they wouldn't have been able to successfully escape from there. Yet, even comforting herself like this, Konan would still feel fear towards that kind of power...
Compared to that kind of world-distorting power, what did the six hundred billion explosive tags before her amount to?
Nothing more than an oversized firecracker.
Having witnessed that kind of power, Konan could not feel proud no matter what, even feeling a slight sense of dullness towards the fierce explosions before her.
She calmed her state of mind, coolly watching Obito slowly fall into the abyss, watching the massive amount of explosive tags gradually deplete and decrease as time flowed by...
"Like this, you won't be able to escape..."
"Nagato, it looks like we can finish him off even without you needing to make an appearance!"
Amidst the endless sounds of explosions, Obito's figure began to become tattered as he plummeted into the depths of the lake.
The final explosion was eventually swallowed by the lake water. The exhausted Konan kneeled on the lake surface, her chakra and physical strength completely drained, so tired she couldn't even stand up.
"I didn't expect that just manipulating these explosive tags would also consume so much chakra..." she said while panting heavily. "However, I've finally killed that guy!"
The lake surface before her eyes gradually returned to calm, reflecting the woman's figure as clearly as a mirror.
Konan propped her hands on the water surface and revealed a exhausted smile to her own reflection.
"Finally, it's over..."
Tiny ripples suddenly arose on the water surface, and the reflection twisted for a moment. In a blur, a black shadow rose from behind the woman's reflection.
"Is it really... over?"
The man's demonic voice sounded from behind Konan.
[Regarding the 600 billion explosive tags, I also have some of my own understanding. Everyone can draw an analogy with some data: during World War II, Germany consumed a total of 21 billion rounds of ammunition, the Soviet Union 17 billion rounds, and the United States produced over 40 billion rounds. I won't take up more of the main text's word count with more details; we can discuss it in the chapter comments, but please keep it harmonious.]