Six Hundred Billion Explosive Tags

The Land of Rain, Amegakure, Mirror Lake.

A battle took place here, the final battle Hanzō's forces and Konoha's forces during World War II.

The older generation may still remember that this place was once a golden rice field with green waves in spring, but after that battle, the golden wheat waves disappeared, leaving only a deep pit.

Many years later, this place was called Mirror Lake.

In this battle, Hanzō held off Konoha's elite troops on the flank, single-handedly defeating them and leaving them in a sorry state. However, on the main battlefield, the Rain Ninja Konoha were forcibly breached by the Third Hokage and his personal guard. Subsequently, the Konoha broke through the Rain Ninja lines, causing Senri to collapse. Despite Hanzō's numerous kills, he could not reverse the Rain Ninja's defeat.

Seeing no hope of victory, Hanzō had no choice but to stop and admit defeat in order to avoid completely enraging Konoha.

At this point, only three young ninjas remained standing at the original site of Mirror Lake.

Later generations referred to them as the Sannin.

Nan stopped on the ruins by the lake.

Obito then caught up, his figure appearing on the other side. His cold gaze swept over the surroundings before finally settling on the woman.

"Not running away anymore?"

A cold smile curled at the corner of his lips.

"Mirror Lake... have you chosen this place as your final resting place?"

Obito knew the story that had happened here. Mirror Lake... in the hearts of the people of the Land of Rain, it has always symbolized the courage to resist the strong and the battle to win peace.

For Nagato and Minami, ninjas who came from the clan, it held special significance.

But Obito wasn't from the Land of Rain, so he couldn't understand, nor did he ever try to understand, the "meaning" in Nagato and Minami's hearts.

He doesn't need ideal companions; he only needs to be a tool to follow orders.

"How ridiculous that you're commemorating a lost battle," Obito, gazing at the calm lake.

Nan slowly turned around.

"Because this was a defeat that came closest to victory, a battle fought with honor."

The tragedy of a nation lies in the fact that its history has never recorded any victories. Thus, even defeats, as the closest defeats to victory, are remembered by the people.

But Nan's tone wasn't sad; that wasn't what she wanted or what she was focusing on.

"And you're wrong about one thing... What we commemorate is not a single defeat, but the courage to still fight against the strong after repeated defeats!"

Obito was somewhat surprised. At this critical moment of life and death, the woman's voice remained so calm, like the vast lake beneath his feet, its surface shimmering and as smooth as a mirror, without a ripple.

It was neither a frenzied struggle in its death throes, nor a resolute determination to face death.

Instead, it was calm.

Is it because they have something to rely on? Or have they already seen through life and death?

Obito was puzzled, but he merely gave a disdainful sneer. The answer didn't matter; what good was a calm mind in the face of absolute power?

"Are these your last words, Nan?"

Without another word or waiting for a response, he lunged at the woman after saying that!

Whoosh!

Boom!

A life-or-death battle began amidst a chaotic roar.

This battle was the first and likely the last between Minami and Obito.

This is a battle orchestrated by Nagato and Minami to purge "traitors from the Akatsuki."

This was also the battle in which Obito turned against his comrades in order to steal the Rinnegan.

Ironically, both sides received false information: Nagato mistakenly believed that Obito had leaked his information to Konoha and become a traitor, so he had to be eliminated; Obito thought that Nagato was really dead, and this was the perfect opportunity to seize the Rinnegan.

Thus, the inevitable rift within Akatsuki erupted prematurely.

The fact that faulty intelligence led to the right battle is somewhat darkly humorous.

To Obito's surprise, despite his superior strength, he was momentarily at a disadvantage when faced with Minami's relentless attacks!

Boom--!

With a deafening explosion in mid-air, Obito's disheveled figure reappeared on the lake surface.

His body was charred black and covered in bombing burns, with one sleeve hanging empty.

Opposite the man, countless sheets of paper slowly coalesced into the slightly panting figure of Nan.

"It turns into Explosive Tag and self-destructs the moment it's sucked in..." Obito gasped, still shaken. "That was a dangerous move; you almost killed me!"

However, what shocked him even more was Nan's decision to self-destruct without hesitation to take him down with her!

Obito's excessive focus on quickly defeating her backfired, revealing his weakness...

This battle was far more difficult than he had imagined!

"But you were faster... you absorbed the entire explosion, saving you from disaster!" Nan replied coldly. "However, you might not be able to dodge this one!"

The woman suddenly stretched out her hand, and her Chakra instantly surged.

"Take this, Madara!"

A powerful Chakra emanated from the woman, surging wildly into the lake. Obito's feet Obito, and the calm lake surface split in two, the water transforming into countless layers of paper!

"No, it's not ordinary white paper!" Obito, who was falling from mid-air, felt a chill run down his Obito as he saw a familiar technique on the paper.

Those are--

"Six hundred billion Explosive Tags!"

The southern creature, soaring high in the sky, possessed an astonishing aura and spoke coldly.

"Over the years, I've carefully observed the characteristics of your technique... This was specially prepared to kill you, enough to explode continuously for ten minutes!"

Obito's heart sank.

Dangerous Explosive Tags were exploding all around, making time-space travel impossible. The only option was to let the explosions pass through the body... but this passage could only last for five minutes, far less than the ten-minute duration of the explosions!

This is a trap, a long-planned trap! Obito suddenly realized.

Six hundred billion Explosive Tags were definitely not bought. Even if you had the money to buy them, the entire ninja world couldn't produce that many Explosive Tags... On the contrary, Nan, who is skilled at manipulating paper, is the major manufacturer of Explosive Tags. For her, making Explosive Tags is not as complicated as for others. It's just a matter of forming a few hand seals and consuming some Chakra!

However, to accumulate such a huge quantity, it's likely that Nan had already begun setting up this trap long ago, hiding a large number of Explosive Tags in Mirror Lake!

"Damn it..."

He instinctively covered his left eye beneath the mask.

Die!

Nan swung his right hand down forcefully!

Boom!

The explosion rang out like a tsunami, drowning out all other sounds in the vicinity!

In an instant, it seemed as if only the center of the explosion still emitted light and sound, while everything else faded into darkness and silence.

Six hundred billion Explosive Tags!

Every second, a billion Explosive Tags detonate simultaneously, covering the entire area, ensuring that Obito cannot escape the blast radius or withstand the damage!

Every second, it inflicted damage comparable to a super S-rank Ninjutsu, and this power continued relentlessly for a full ten minutes!

Without a doubt, this is the most luxurious Ninjutsu in the Shinobi World...

If these Explosive Tags were sold (and if someone could afford them), every minute here would burn through Konoha's entire annual budget!

While Nan tried his best to control the pace of the explosions, he couldn't help but feel a surge of pride.

Even someone like Madara Uchiha couldn't withstand this kind of offensive.

Although it's Ninjutsu that can only be used once or twice in a lifetime, such power is already unparalleled in the Shinobi World, isn't it?

No, not yet. The moment that thought crossed her mind, another image flashed into her mind, and her heroic spirit vanished instantly, replaced by a chill in her heart.

That was a scene she witnessed a few years ago, near the Land of Water...

The Ninjutsu used by that girl named Sakura Haruno!

She was rescued by Pain and escaped the battle. Afterwards, she stayed by Nagato's side, Paper Clones to stay far away from the battlefield and observe the battle between Pain and Sakura Haruno.

Even after all this time, she still remembers the scene vividly.

And every time I recall those scenes, I can't help but shudder!

That brief moment occurred after Pain and Sakura Haruno's two earth-shattering Ninjutsu clashes. Then came the third: Nagato stubbornly gathered Chakra, intending to unleash an even more powerful Super Almighty Push...

In that very instant, light was born.

Light, infinite light, endless light, boundless light!

From the perspective of the Paper Clone, at that instant, it seemed as if a million suns rose simultaneously on the horizon!

What a wondrous sight! In an instant, half the sky was ablaze with brilliant light, while the other half was as dark as night!

It was as if the whole world had been distorted.

Then, in the next second, the boundless radiance completely engulfed the clone...

The last image transmitted from the clone was endless light!

At the very center of the explosion, Pain's Super Almighty Push, which he had just unleashed, vanished like Utakata hitting a boulder, lasting not even half a second, amidst the endless light, heat, and energy.

If Nagato is a "god," then what is Sakura Haruno, who unleashed the Compassionate Ninjutsu?

For a moment, Nagato and Minami even doubted their dream, wondering if gathering the power of Nine Tailed Beasts would be enough to withstand such a powerful Ninjutsu.

Looking back, it seems Sakura Haruno couldn't control such Ninjutsu either, otherwise they wouldn't have been able to escape so easily. Even so, Nan still felt a deep fear of that power...

Compared to a power capable of warping the world, what are these six hundred billion Explosive Tags?

It's just a bigger firecracker.

Having witnessed such power, Nan could no longer feel proud, and even felt slightly bored with the intense explosion before him.

She calmed herself and watched Obito slowly fall into the abyss, watching the massive number of Explosive Tags gradually diminish and decrease over time...

"In that case, you won't be able to escape..."

"Nagato, it seems you don't even need to appear to take him down!"

Amidst the endless explosions, Obito's figure began to become tattered and fell into the depths of the lake.

The final explosion was swallowed by the lake. Exhausted, Nan knelt on the lake surface, his Chakra and stamina completely depleted, too tired to even stand up.

"I didn't expect that just manipulating these Explosive Tags would consume so much Chakra..." she said, panting heavily. "But at least we killed that guy!"

The lake surface gradually returned to calm, reflecting the woman's figure as clearly as a mirror.

Nan braced his hands on the water's surface, giving himself a weary smile.

"Finally, it's over..."

Suddenly, ripples appeared on the water's surface, distorting the reflection. In a daze, a dark shadow rose from behind the woman's reflection.

Is it really... over?

A man's devilish voice rang out from behind Nan.

[I also have some of my own understanding regarding the six hundred billion Explosive Tags. You can draw a parallel with this: during World War II, Germany consumed 21 billion bullets, the Soviet Union 17 billion, and the United States produced over 40 billion. More details won't take up space in the main text; we can discuss them in a later chapter, but please be mindful of censorship.]