Planetary Devastation
Because of serious injuries, Itachi couldn't use Flying Thunder God in time, and in the next moment, he got trapped in a huge sphere of rocks, cement, and debris. Inside the complete Planetary Devastation, using space-time ninjutsu was also impossible, trapping Itachi completely.
" Huff.....Huff .... Hufff. " Deva Path looked at his masterpiece in satisfaction while breathing heavily. Consecutive use of Super Shinra Tensei and then immediate use of Planetary Devastation was a huge burden on his body, and there might even be permanent damage because of this.
But Nagato ultimately couldn't bet on whether the seriously injured Itachi had any other trump cards or whether Itachi would use his Mangekyo Sharingan ability. Thus, a sealed Itachi was the best Itachi.
" Hmm, why is lightning chakra getting so excited? " Just then, Deva Path noticed the unusual activity of lightning chakra in the air.
---
Within Planetary Devastation
Itachi looked at the complete darkness surrounding him as well as the immense pressure acting on his body, ready to crush him into tomato ketchup at any moment.
" It's indeed a good opportunity to use that ninjutsu. "
Divine Tempest Yggdrasil
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The next moment, the thunderclouds in the atmosphere started moving, rotating with the huge artificial moon as the center. Within seconds, the entire battlefield, as if in a type 10 hurricane, experienced winds flowing at speeds exceeding 100 km/h, stopping the fight between the Uchiha and Akatsuki for a moment.
Then within minutes, all the lightning in the air as well as in the clouds started disappearing, and finally everything returned to calm, even stopping the non-stop rain in the Rain Country. Then, in the rare sunshine, a ball of white light slowly started to descend towards the huge Planetary Devastation.
Nagato, seeing this, immediately understood the gravity of the situation, but unfortunately, he had already exhausted all his chakra, and even using a normal Shinra Tensei was not possible for a while.
Kakuzu, on the other hand, immediately understood Itachi's attack, and in the next moment, he put the anxious Sasuke on his shoulders and started running outwards.
" If you want to take my advice, then immediately leave the battlefield. "
Hearing Kakuzu's warning, Orochimaru, Sasori, Kisame, and Biwa Juzo immediately followed Kakuzu without hesitation. To be able to survive so long, Kakuzu naturally had his own danger perception, and they trusted his experience.
As for Konan and Shisui, they were waiting for the jutsu to end and save their partner if necessary.
The moment the white sphere fell on Planetary Devastation, nothing happened; it just sank into it as if a drop of water merging with an ocean.
BOOMMMM !!!!!
The next moment, as if a seed growing rapidly, the white sphere started to grow from a seed to a small sapling, then within seconds it expanded thousands of times. Its roots pierced through the entire sphere, covering the lower side of the sphere with lightning tentacles hundreds of meters long. Then, as if a pillar supporting heaven itself, it pierced through the upper part of the sphere, forming a stem made of lightning thousands of meters tall. From the stem, hundreds of branches emerged, which grew aerial roots that fell like ropes from heaven.
Everyone, seeing this, became stunned, as they hadn't seen a jutsu like this in their entire lives.
The next moment, as if receiving its order, the roots started erupting into chaos as they broke the lower part of the sphere from inside, and the branches and the aerial roots smashed the sphere from outside. Within seconds, the huge sphere was blasted into pieces.
" Pain, let me show you the power of God. "
Yggdrasil : Ragnarök Bloom
The next moment, the Yggdrasil expanded more than ten times in an instant, and then, as if a Night-Blooming Cereus closing its petals, all the branches and aerial roots started moving inwards. The roots below also started filling the land with a sea of lightning. Within seconds, with Itachi as the center, a one-kilometer area was covered in a sphere of lightning.
" NOOOO !!!!!! BIG BROTHERRRER !!!!! " Sasuke, who was already more than a few kilometers away and at some point was snatched by Obito, shouted as Itachi was completely covered in the sphere of lightning.
BOOOMMMMMMMMM !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Kamui
The next moment, the world lost its color as white light filled everything. Seconds later, a sound like thousands of nuclear bombs rang out as a shockwave comparable to an A-level ninjutsu spread within a few kilometers.
---
Ten minutes later
" Big brotherrr !!!! " Sasuke shouted as he ran on the newly formed earth escape bridge above the still hot surface, moving towards the center of the pit. Even after ten minutes, Sasuke could feel a numbing sensation all over his body, with sweat dripping like tap water from his body due to the sauna-like temperature around him.
It took more than a minute to completely dissipate the previous attack, and it took them nearly ten minutes to prepare the affected area suitable for movement.
After a minute, Sasuke finally saw Itachi, but seeing him in this state nearly broke his heart. By now, Itachi was steaming like cooked meat on a barbecue, with skin completely burned and red muscles exposed.
" Big brotherrrrrr !!!!!! " Sasuke quickly rushed in front of Itachi, but seeing his state, he didn't know whether to touch him or not. Finally, hearing Sasuke's voice, Itachi opened his eyes with difficulty.
" Sasuke..... Goodbye. " After saying this, Itachi slowly raised his arm with difficulty as if to tap Sasuke's forehead the last time as before, but unfortunately, he couldn't reach him, and then, with a smile, his hand fell to the ground and his eyes closed permanently.
" BIG BROTHERRRR !!!!!! "
" Itachi.... I... I will avenge you. " Shisui, who had arrived at some point, opened his Mangekyo Sharingan and vowed in front of Itachi. Others were also silent, some searching for Pain, others lamenting and rejoicing the fall of a genius.
" Kakuzu, now it's your turn. " Konan, who already knew the fate of Deva Path, said to Kakuzu in a cold tone. Kakuzu, who heard this, started to hesitate. Kakuzu currently was not sure whether the current Itachi was a special clone like before or not. Although he saw the entire process and even the injuries on his body were the same, and he clearly sensed that Itachi was dead, the seals acting on his body were still working, which meant either this special seal would work even after death or this was not the real Itachi. That's why Kakuzu was hesitating whether to still side with the Uchiha clan now or run away now.
" Sssssssss.... Shisui-kun, if you give me the body of Itachi, then I will not only not attack you but I can even help you escape from here. " Just as Orochimaru said this, without waiting for a reply, his neck elongated and rushed towards Itachi's corpse, ready to swallow him.
Kotoamatsukami
Shisui, seeing Orochimaru trying to act, directly used his Mangekyo Sharingan ability, and in the next moment, Orochimaru stopped his actions. After that, Orochimaru bowed down to Shisui and then stood behind him, as if he were Shisui's eternally loyal bodyguard.
" Hissssssss. " Seeing the enslavement of a living Kage in front of them, all the Akatsuki members felt a chill, and they hurriedly looked away from Shisui. Now, the situation of both sides had changed again, with Akatsuki having greater chances to lose and their members risking their lives here.
Konan instantly saw through their thoughts. She knew that the center of Akatsuki was Nagato, and now, with the absence of Nagato and the deadly threat of the Uchiha clan, these rebel ninjas would definitely have rebellious thoughts.
" You.... you all will pay !!! " Sasuke, who had originally closed his eyes to prevent his tears from falling, opened his eyes, which at some point had transformed into red eyes with two tomoe swirling in them. Shisui and Obito, seeing this, were impressed, but now was not the time for this.
Summoning Jutsu : Seven-Tails Nanabi
The next moment, a huge beast tens of meters tall appeared in the air with a roar.
" Nanabi, these bastards have murdered Big Brother !!!! Kill themmmmm !!!! " Sasuke, after giving his instructions, took out a kunai, ready to avenge his big brother.
" What are you saying? Isn't Itachi underground? " Nanabi, who was summoned, asked in a confused voice.
" What do you mean? " Sasuke, who was midway about to run, suddenly stopped and asked Nanabi with a hopeful and confused expression. Others also looked at Nanabi with curiosity.
" Itachi is currently underground recovering chakra. This is ..... some type of clone? Amazing, even I can't find the differences without using our contract as a guide. "
Hearing Nanabi's words, Konan tried to use her sensory ninjutsu to find Itachi, but she couldn't find him, so she looked at Nanabi with suspicion.
Others also tried all their methods, but they also couldn't find Itachi. But Sasuke, Shisui, and Obito, who knew about Mirror Clone, had already understood the situation. Previously, they didn't see when Itachi had summoned the Mirror Clone and didn't even feel it, so they assumed Itachi didn't use it and that it was part of the restriction in the fight with Pain like his Mangekyo Sharingan. Now it seemed Itachi had truly played it safe.
" Let me Reverse Summon Him. "
Reverse Summoning Jutsu
BOOM
With a cloud of smoke rising, another completely fine Itachi appeared, sitting on the ground in a meditative pose.
" Big brotherrrrrr !!!! " Sasuke, seeing Itachi, immediately hugged him, crying. Itachi, who was suddenly summoned and awakened, opened his eyes in confusion. Previously, after using Cement Style : Infinite Concrete Jungle, Itachi, who had almost completely drained himself of chakra, ignored the fight completely, leaving it to his Mirror Clone and started meditating to recover his chakra. Then he suddenly felt massive lightning chakra gathering above and immediately understood that the fight was nearing its end.
Then his Mirror Clone died, briefly passing the message of Deva Path's destruction. Until now, he hadn't seen the Mirror Clone's memories, but seeing Sasuke's two-tomoe Sharingan, he immediately understood everything.
" Sasuke, sorry for scaring you. " Itachi, patting Sasuke's back, smiled with apology.
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Author's Note
Hello everyone,
With this chapter, the fight between Nagato and Itachi comes to an end.
To be honest, I'm not entirely satisfied with how the fight turned out. It feels a bit bland to me. In my mind, ninja fights are more like back-and-forth exchanges — almost like a Pokémon battle where one side uses a move, then the other responds, and after many such exchanges, the final outcome is decided. But the problem here is that the Deva Path of Nagato only has a limited set of abilities. If I kept repeating the same few moves again and again, it would only increase the word count without actually improving the quality of the fight. So I chose to keep it more concise.
Another thing I noticed after finishing the chapter is how I wrote the Deva Path vs mirror clone Itachi fight. Unconsciously, I made the mirror clone Itachi seem a bit careless — too easy to ambush or push back. After reviewing it, I realized that I couldn't simply justify it by saying he was "holding back." So instead, it makes more sense within the story that the condition of the real Itachi affected the clone. The heavy chakra drain from techniques like Cement Style: Infinite Concrete Jungle weakened the mirror clone's.... let's say spirituality.
As for the ending, when the mirror clone was dying and turned to Sasuke tring to tap his forehead — it wasn't only about awakening Sasuke's two-tomoe Sharingan. You can think of the mirror clone as still being Itachi, just a separate instance with a subordinate-like connection to the original. So when the clone was dying, it was almost like Itachi himself was dying in that moment. From Sasuke's perspective, he believed it was the real Itachi, which led to his awakening.
And yes, Sasuke awakening directly to two tomoe instead of one was intentional. I simply didn't want him to feel inferior in progression compared to characters like Obito.
That's all for this fight.
I'd appreciate it if you could share your review of it.
Goodbye.