CHAPTER 201: THE FINAL MOMENT
"Lord Ragnar, you truly cannot continue using your abilities!" The little slug's voice trembled with urgency, its small body pressing against his collar as if trying physically to stop him. "You don't have infinite physical strength! Forcing yourself like this will deplete your life potential—your very essence! It's not worth it!"
Ragnar laughed softly, a dry sound that held no humor. "Heh. I'm still young. I can afford it. Whatever I lose now, I can make up for later."
The little slug fell silent, utterly speechless.
Life potential... can that be replenished?
As a slug—a creature of pure medical knowledge—it understood the structure of life intimately. Every being's life potential was different, yes. But all were fixed. Finite.
There was a saying in the slug world, ridiculous as it sounded: every living thing, with every breath they took, with every second they existed, moved one step closer to death. The meaning of life was, inescapably, the journey toward its end.
Once life potential was depleted, it was gone. Irreplaceable. Impossible to recover.
Unless one used rather evil methods to extend existence. Consumption. Devouring. Seizing another's body through forbidden techniques.
But Ragnar was not that kind of being.
"Stop trying to persuade me."
Ragnar's voice hardened. His eyes fixed on the scene below—the Iwa ninja, the Sand ninja, the entire battlefield watching.
"I said I would end this war with my own hands. I meant what I said."
And so, under the gaze of thousands, with his life essence already draining away, Ragnar unleashed his final strike.
"Gravity Control!"
The meteorite—already massive, already terrifying—multiplied in weight instantly. A strange purple light bloomed across its surface, the visible manifestation of intensified gravity.
CRACK!
BOOM!
In that single instant, every pillar supporting the meteorite collapsed. They shattered like dried bones, crumbling into dust. Thousands of ninja's combined efforts, undone in a heartbeat.
The Third Tsuchikage, still maintaining his Light-Weight and Weighted Rock techniques, felt the pressure surge exponentially. Caught completely off guard, his entire body was crushed by this immense force. His mind went blank. His eyes bulged from their sockets. Veins burst across his face and neck.
CRACK!
The bones in his spine fractured. He fell helplessly from the sky, plummeting toward the earth below.
The same fate befell the Third Kazekage in the distance. His iron sand shield, already straining, shattered under the gravity pressure. It could no longer hold. He vomited blood—great gouts of it—his body severely injured, his breath growing shallow.
The tens of millions of tons of meteorite prepared to fall again. To bury everyone.
"BREAK IT APART!" The Third Kazekage's scream was desperate, primal.
The collapsing iron sand particles responded to his will. They gathered in an instant, forming a massive triangular pyramid that launched itself at the meteorite!
BOOM!
The iron sand pyramid shattered after barely three or four seconds.
The meteorite's fall continued, unstoppable.
The end of the Iwa ninja and Sand ninja had arrived.
At this moment, Ragnar, the Kazekage, and the Tsuchikage were all utterly exhausted. Every one of them had pushed beyond their limits. Any blow now would be fatal to anyone.
But the balance of victory had tilted. Irrevocably.
Nothing could prevent the destruction of the two villages' coalition forces now. And with them, two Kage-level powerhouses—the Tsuchikage and Kazekage both.
"It's over."
The Third Kazekage's voice was hollow. He knelt on the ground, helpless, dejected. His head hung low.
I led Sunagakure to the road of destruction. I am not a competent leader. I am nothing.
Beside him, Onoki lay broken on the earth. His spine was fractured. He couldn't move. His bulging pupils stared directly at the falling meteorite above, his eyes filled with misery.
Why did I start this war?
In his final moments, regret consumed him. The entire Iwa Ninja village would be buried with him. For what? For what purpose?
How many had died already? How many families would lose fathers, mothers, children? All because of him.
Ragnar stood in the air, watching this scene quietly. The destruction of Sunagakure and Iwa ninja was unfolding before his eyes.
Suddenly, his abdomen surged. The taste of blood rose to his throat. He nearly vomited.
But Ragnar raised his head. He looked at the sky. He forced the blood back down.
Not yet. Not now.
He wanted to see it with his own eyes. Two great ninja villages, destroyed. The end of this war, witnessed personally.
CRACK!
A subtle but crisp sound echoed out of thin air.
Ragnar's eyes widened. Disbelief crossed his features.
On the meteorite's surface—dense cracks were appearing. From within those cracks, red light overflowed.
The Third Kazekage, still kneeling on the ground, held his palm outstretched toward the sky. Blood poured from his eyes, his nose, his ears. His face was a mask of agony.
But he was smiling. A terrible, desperate, triumphant smile.
"Meteorites... contain sand. As long as it contains sand... it is under my control!"
His voice was barely a whisper, yet it carried across the silence.
"As long as it's not pure gold... ha... hahaha..."
BOOM!
The meteorite exploded.
It broke into countless fragments—thousands of pieces, millions of sparks that rained down upon the earth. The fragments struck everywhere, peppering the landscape with destruction. But compared to a single massive meteorite? This ending was infinitely better.
"..."
In the Konoha camp, every ninja stared in shock.
It's not over.
The Second War between the three great ninja villages had proven more difficult than anyone imagined. Too many changes. Too many twists.
Jinchuuriki. Two Kage. Countless elite forces.
And if one thought about it carefully, a terrifying realization emerged: Konoha's jonin had basically been paddling the entire time.
Ragnar descended from the sky. Yama in hand. He walked step by step through the field of meteorite fragments, picking his way through rubble and ruin.
He found the Third Tsuchikage first—lying in a pit, covered in blood, unable to move. Onoki breathed out more than he breathed in, dying by inches. His condition was such that he might expire at any moment.
Seeing this old man, Ragnar drew Yama without a word. He prepared to end it.
"Ahem..."
Onoki coughed blood. His eyes were half-open, half-closed. A mocking expression crossed his ravaged features.
"Worthy of your name... Rakshasa. Born to kill."
Ragnar ignored him. Yama rose.
One slash. That's all it would take. Onoki would die here, and the future of the ninja world would change.
What that future held, Ragnar didn't care. He only cared about this moment. About ending what he had started.
"Lord Tsuchikage!"
Iwa ninja crawled from the rubble in the distance. They saw the scene unfolding and screamed in horror.
"It's over."
Red murderous intent flashed in Ragnar's eyes. The blade began its descent.
Onoki closed his eyes. He had seen through life and death. He was ready.
THUMP. THUMP. THUMP.
His heart continued beating.
The expected sensation of death—of his body being torn apart—never came.
Onoki's eyes opened slightly.
Ragnar's knife had stopped in mid-air. Frozen. Motionless.
Beside him stood Hatake Sakumo. The White Fang's hand gripped Ragnar's arm with iron strength. His face was heavy.
"Ragnar."
Sakumo's voice was quiet, but it carried across the silence like thunder.
"Even if you kill the Tsuchikage, the world will not become peaceful."
He paused, letting the words sink in.
"But if you kill a village's Kage here and now... you will never be able to go back."
Ragnar looked at Hatake Sakumo.
Hatake Sakumo looked at Ragnar.
For a long moment, neither spoke.
(End of Chapter)
✨If you're enjoying this story, consider supporting me on Patreon —
Patreon.com/TofuChan
Where you can read Extra Advance Chaters
Bonus Chapter For Every 100 Power Stones
Lets hit the goal of 300 Patreon Members now for 5 Extra Chapters 💕