"I-It looks like it worked! Hahaha!"
Nagato gasped for breath, drenched in cold sweat, but couldn't stop himself from laughing.
He seemed even happier than Shirozumi.
"It really did work."
After landing, Shirozumi sat down on the ground and gave a bitter smile.
The Natural Energy inside him had been completely depleted. Every cell in his body was now greedily absorbing the Natural Energy around him.
All abilities could be divided into active and passive ones.
Passive abilities were like lock-on skills. In most cases, the user couldn't control their effects.
Since they couldn't be adjusted to suit the environment or the situation, they were easy to counter once the enemy learned about them.
But at the same time, the user didn't have to worry about being killed before they could activate their ability.
Take this, for example.
No matter how powerful the Otsutsuki Clan was during the Boruto era, there was still an insurmountable gap between them and Kaguya Otsutsuki after she ate the fruit.
That was her passive immunity to all ninjutsu damage.
This ability was also seen in Six Paths Madara and Six Paths Obito.
The Otsutsuki Clan's ability to absorb ninjutsu, as well as the Rinnegan's ability to absorb ninjutsu, had to be actively used.
Madara could choose not to use it and let Dust Release hit him in the chest, so the Five Kage could admire the face of Hashirama, his "beloved."
Ōtsutsuki Isshiki had also been overwhelmed by Naruto's stats in Baryon Mode, and ended up getting hurt by an ordinary Rasengan.
In other words, no matter how powerful an active ability was, it still required the user to have the right combat instincts.
Otherwise, they'd end up like Shisui with Kotoamatsukami against Danzo, getting taken out by a sneak attack that gouged out their eye.
Shirozumi knew all too well that his Time Deletion and the Epitaph that came with it—the ability to foresee the future—had to be activated manually.
And he had just used them.
He'd specifically confirmed that Shinra Tensei wouldn't hurt him or awaken an ability.
After that, he'd switched them off.
He hadn't expected Nagato to suddenly get excited and conjure up a Chibaku Tensei.
Shirozumi had said before that he'd originally planned to have Itachi help him experiment. The reason he'd waited was that his Natural Energy had nearly run dry, and he'd needed the time on the way back to replenish it.
Shirozumi used his first awakening of the Crimson King (Time Deletion) as an example. Then he used the Epitaph (Precognition) to see the result and confirmed that he had enough Natural Energy. What he lacked was the power of the Rinnegan.
That wasn't a problem.
At worst, he could make a trip to Iwagakure and continue building up Natural Energy along the way.
Besides, there wasn't much point in strengthening Time Deletion further, and the amount of Natural Energy it consumed would keep increasing.
For high-speed combat, the Epitaph worked best when looking ten to thirty seconds into the future.
After all, viewing the future took time in itself.
He could save his Natural Energy for awakening a new ability.
He just hadn't expected Nagato to risk his life to "help" him.
If he'd had enough Natural Energy, Shirozumi wouldn't have turned down Nagato's willingness to put his life on the line for him.
The problem was that he didn't have enough!
Shinra Tensei would've been perfectly manageable, as long as Nagato didn't get it into his head to use Super Shinra Tensei.
Chibaku Tensei was a whole different level.
Fortunately, the requirements for awakening Shirozumi's abilities weren't particularly strict.
If the initial energy cost was high, then the ability was powerful from the start.
If, like this time, the initial cost was low, then the ability started off weaker and had to be gradually enhanced with Natural Energy later.
Just now, Shirozumi had opened himself up to absorb Natural Energy while pouring everything he had into one point. At last, he'd awakened the ability.
After sitting on the ground to rest for a while, Shirozumi stood up. Then, under Nagato's gaze, he began to float.
"This is it. I can control gravity. Its range is still a little small, but I'm calling this ability New Moon."
Shirozumi named his abilities after Stand abilities from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, though there were differences between them.
First, Shirozumi didn't have a physical Stand like Limbo.
Second, the abilities were only similar in principle; there might be subtle differences. He'd have to study them more closely to find out.
Third, ordinary humans who wielded Stands could use terrifying abilities with ease and no real cost—at most, they might expend what was called mental energy. But Shirozumi had to expend energy whenever he used an ability.
Fourth, every ability would become more precise as Shirozumi grew more skilled, and its duration would increase as he stored more Natural Energy. There was no fixed limit.
"New Moon, huh? That does fit. According to legend, the Sage of Six Paths created the moon with Chibaku Tensei."
As Nagato listened to Shirozumi explain his ability, he smiled with relief. His efforts hadn't been in vain.
To Nagato, the Rinnegan was not only a "gift," but also a burden.
The power of gravity, which represented the power of the gods, had now appeared in another comrade thanks to his help. Nagato felt much lighter.
"Then how did the core of the Chibaku Tensei disappear just now?"
Konan was curious.
"The core was right in front of me. I touched it and reversed its gravity, and it disappeared."
Shirozumi picked up a stone and activated New Moon. It instantly crumbled, then strangely reassembled itself.
Everything that had been on the inside of the stone had been flipped to the outside.
"Impressive. If you used it on a person..."
Konan praised him without reservation.
"It's all right. It wouldn't work on you, Konan."
Shirozumi tossed the stone aside and smiled.
"Me?"
Konan blinked, thought it over, then tapped her chin with a finger. "Even if I activated Dance of the Shikigami and got flipped by gravity, wouldn't I be torn apart?"
Konan's paper transformation was terrifying.
It was similar to becoming an element.
It put her among those immune to most damage in the Shinobi World.
The only thing limiting Konan was her own Chakra reserves.
As long as she didn't run out of Chakra, it was difficult to hurt her.
Not many people knew that.
"You just need to turn the part being attacked into a Möbius strip."
"What kind of strip?"
"...Come over here."
At Shirozumi's request, paper slips appeared across Konan's smooth cheeks as she entered her Dance of the Shikigami state.
It was a shame Konan had no connection to the Otsutsuki Clan. Otherwise, Shirozumi would've liked to see whether this "angel" could awaken Heaven's Door for him.
"Like this."
Shirozumi peeled a few sheets of paper off Konan and arranged them into a Möbius strip in the air.
"Since it has only one side, flipping its gravity over and over won't do anything."
Shirozumi even took the time to explain.
Konan stared at him, stunned, then slowly reached out toward the paper loop.
Shirozumi had just told her the weakness of his ability so casually?
And it seemed she was the only one who could counter it this way.
While Konan's mind raced, Shirozumi walked over to Nagato.
"Nagato, do you still resent Konoha?"
Shirozumi asked.
"Hm?"
Nagato hadn't expected Shirozumi to ask him that.
He hesitated for a few seconds before replying, "Is the Strategist going to speak up for Konoha? I let go of my personal resentment a long time ago, but that doesn't matter. People can't understand one another. They need to feel pain..."
"Stop."
Seeing that Nagato was about to launch into a long speech, Shirozumi hurriedly cut him off.
"You've got it wrong. I'm not going to speak up for Konoha."
Before you continue