Chapter 312 : Destroying The Flying Fortress Is Stronger Than The Impression Of Zero Tail

Shen was breathing heavily. "Damn it… Why does this guy keep chasing me no matter where I go?"

"Fine. If I can't hit Kirigakure, I'll target the Hidden Cloud Village instead. Let's see if you can keep up with that."

As he spoke, the Flying Fortress began to lift off from its position near Kirigakure, preparing to head toward Kumogakure.

Riku narrowed his eyes slightly and muttered, "You think I'll let you escape again? It was a huge mistake not taking you down the last time… That won't happen today."

His gaze sharpened, and an overwhelming surge of pupil power erupted from his eyes, accompanied by an intense output of Sage Chakra.

The Titan— Prison—responded instantly to Riku's will. Under the force of Riku's terrifying Nine-Tomoe Rinnegan and Sage Chakra, the titan's size began to increase dramatically.

From over two hundred meters tall, it grew—towering until it exceeded five hundred meters.

At the same time, golden chains appeared in both of the titan's hands.

"Come down."

Riku's pupil power poured out in torrents as Prison hurled the golden chains skyward.

They moved with astonishing speed—far faster than the chakra beam the fortress had fired earlier.

In mere moments, the golden chains shot several kilometers into the sky and wrapped themselves tightly around the Flying Fortress.

The moment the chains latched onto the fortress, Prison pulled.

With an immense burst of strength, the massive titan yanked the Flying Fortress downward.

No matter how hard Shen tried to wrest control of the craft, it was completely useless.

"ROAR—!"

"ROAR—!"

The Zero-Tail, unable to resist, revealed its true form—emerging like a colossal serpent, coiling around the Flying Fortress as it tried to escape.

The python-like creature, a manifestation of Zero-Tail, stretched for thousands of meters through the sky.

It siphoned chakra from the Nine-Tails, attempting to generate enough power to break free and launch the fortress upward.

But no matter how fiercely it struggled, no matter how much Nine-Tails chakra it devoured, Prison's grip only tightened.

The fortress continued its descent.

Soon, it had been pulled down to just a thousand meters above the ground.

Golden light gleamed in Prison's eyes.

"ROOOAAAR!"

Zero-Tail and Prison let out thunderous roars as they faced each other in the skies.

Then, Prison clenched the golden chains with both hands and exerted a staggering force.

BOOM!

The sheer power unleashed in that moment hurled the Flying Fortress downward like a meteorite.

From over a thousand meters up, the Flying Fortress smashed into the ground with devastating impact.

The instant it crashed, the colossal machine shattered into ruins.

A violent earthquake tore through the land, and smoke rose in thick columns hundreds of meters high—more than a thousand meters away from Kirigakure.

The shinobi atop the Hidden Mist Village's walls were stunned beyond words.

One of them gasped, "This… this can't be real. Can a human even do something like that? That's a god…"

Terumi Mei's brow furrowed deeply. If Konoha truly possessed a power like this…

Who among the Five Great Nations would dare challenge them?

That would be suicide.

Even if Konoha stood alone, Riku by himself could annihilate any one of the great ninja villages.

From what he had just displayed, who in the entire ninja world could possibly be his match?

Or rather… who could even survive an attack from him?

Terumi Mei couldn't help but wonder—had Riku come here to intimidate Kirigakure?

After the Flying Fortress was reduced to rubble, Riku appeared atop Lei Prison's massive head.

But the Zero-Tail was not yet defeated.

On the contrary, after absorbing a tremendous amount of Nine-Tails' chakra, it hadn't collapsed—it had grown stronger.

A true anomaly.

Riku remembered the Zero-Tail from his past encounters. It had never possessed this level of power.

Still… it didn't matter.

He glanced at Shennong, now fully fused with the Zero-Tail.

Beside him, Naruto was embedded in the creature's flesh, unconscious and barely breathing.

Elsewhere in the wreckage, Yamato emerged, coughing and bruised.

And not far behind him, Sasuke stepped out from beneath the crumbling debris.

Sasuke's eyes were fixed on Riku.

There was no hostility—only solemnity and something like awe.

He stared at Riku standing tall atop Lei Prison and thought grimly to himself:

"I've trained relentlessly for more than three years… And yet, the gap between us has only grown wider."

The power Riku had displayed today was something far beyond anything Sasuke could call human.