Naruto: Echoes of a Distant Home

With an extraordinary presence, Nagato appeared before the Mist shinobi, bringing shock and unease. The casual way he neutralized their powerful first assault etched itself into their minds.

The man had long dark red hair streaked with white, a tall frame clad in a black cloak adorned with red clouds, and pale, gaunt skin. But it was his eyes, those rippling Rinnegan, that captured everyone's attention.

"The Rinnegan…!"

The legendary eyes of the Sage of Six Paths were right before them. Despite their awe, the Mist shinobi quickly composed themselves. Faced with an opponent like this, there was no time for hesitation.

Nagato acted first after a brief pause.

Shadow Clone Jutsu!

With a puff of smoke, a shadow clone appeared beside him.

"Attack!"

Unsure of his capabilities, the Mist shinobi decided to avoid close combat; those skilled with swords sheathed their blades.

Shuriken and kunai rained down on Nagato and his clone, followed by more thrown weapons to exploit their numerical advantage, covering a wide area.

Summoning Jutsu!

Nagato pressed his hand to the ground, releasing two massive creatures in a cloud of smoke.

One was a three-headed dog, bristling with black rods embedded in its body. It charged forward, absorbing the barrage of weapons with its body.

The other, a light blue bird with a large yellow beak and black rods in its back, swooped down from above, crashing into a group of Mist shinobi on the left flank, crushing three of them into the ground and skidding a long distance.

While some Mist shinobi scattered to evade, others immediately counterattacked the giant bird. Meanwhile, the three-headed dog shook off the projectiles, causing another identical dog to emerge from its body.

Using these summoned creatures, Nagato managed to disrupt both the right and left flanks of the Mist formation.

"Stay calm! Squad Two, hold back the giant bird! Squad Three, use Water Release to restrain the dog; don't attack it head-on!" Ao quickly assessed the situation, issuing commands.

The Mist shinobi rallied to keep the bird at bay on one side, while on the other, they worked to contain the three-headed dog without direct attacks, aware that it only split and multiplied upon taking damage.

Ao, leading the main group, directed them past the summoned beasts toward Nagato himself.

As the smoke cleared, they found only one Nagato remaining. But was it the original or the clone?

The Mist shinobi looked to Ao for direction, hoping his Byakugan would help them locate the other Nagato.

However, no other Nagato was in sight.

"He's gone. Don't get too close. Keep attacking from a distance," Ao warned, his Byakugan unable to locate the missing Nagato, whether clone or original.

"Yes!"

Fourteen Mist shinobi prepared long-range attacks. Among them were members of the Hozuki and Yuki clans, who excelled at Water and Ice Release techniques, making them ideal for this range-based approach.

The truth was, Nagato had summoned three creatures earlier: the three-headed dog, the bird, and a chameleon. The chameleon had swallowed his clone, then concealed itself and moved behind the Mist shinobi while they focused on the dog and bird.

"Control!" a dark-haired youth from the Yuki clan called out. The Mist shinobi around him formed seals to launch small-scale water-based attacks, weak in power but wide in area.

Waves of water surged toward Nagato as a white-haired woman from the Hozuki clan fired a volley of high-pressure water bullets at him.

The other Mist shinobi unleashed a barrage of jutsu, including a combination of Lightning and Water Release that created a dazzling array of attacks aimed at Nagato.

Nagato's Shinra Tensei still had two seconds to cool down. Waiting for his clone to circle around, he couldn't evade this wave of attacks.

As the jutsu approached, Nagato raised his hands.

"Is it that same jutsu?" Ao and the other Mist shinobi watched closely.

The barrage closed in, but just before reaching Nagato, the attacks disappeared, vanishing as if sucked into an invisible vortex, leaving no trace behind.

The Mist shinobi were stunned. What kind of power was this?

Unlike the previous dispersal technique, this ability appeared to pull the jutsu into an unseen whirlpool.

"So this… this is the power of the Rinnegan?" the Mist shinobi murmured, shaken.

Nagato absorbed their jutsu effortlessly, showing no sign of exhaustion, as if it required minimal chakra to perform.

Meanwhile, a member of the Yuki clan stood there in disbelief, his planned ice-based follow-up rendered impossible with all the water absorbed.

As Nagato used the Preta Path to absorb the jutsu, he kept his hands raised.

Behind the Mist shinobi, a chameleon materialized, and Nagato's shadow clone emerged from its mouth.

In a line formation, the real Nagato and his shadow clone had the Mist shinobi trapped between them.

The Mist shinobi sensed the clone's presence but too late, as it extended its hand, revealing a launcher with over a dozen small, gray missiles.

Whoosh!

The missiles shot out, streaking toward the Mist shinobi.

"Behind us!" someone shouted as the rear Mist shinobi began forming seals to counter.

At that moment, a powerful force, akin to a hurricane, swept through, pulling them toward the airborne missiles.

Nagato's Shinra Tensei had just cooled down.

"Damn it!" The Mist shinobi paled.

Boom!

The missiles hit their targets, detonating with massive explosions that sent shockwaves throughout the battlefield.

In the ensuing chaos, only three Mist shinobi managed to perform the Substitution Jutsu in time, narrowly avoiding death: Ao, a Hozuki clan member, and a Yuki clan member.

Nagato's clone directed the chameleon to aid the struggling bird; the chameleon, invisible again, had combat capabilities of its own.

These summoned beasts, mere expendable tools, could be replaced whenever needed.

After dispatching the chameleon, the shadow clone used the Body Flicker Jutsu to return to Nagato's side.

On the left, Mei and her squad had nearly subdued the bird, while on the right, Kisame had effectively contained the three-headed dog with a water prison.

Despite the Mist shinobi's skills, the first squad had taken devastating losses, leaving only three survivors after a single round of attacks.

The remaining Mist shinobi, including those who had evaded the assault, quickly retreated toward Mei's group on the left and Kisame's on the right.

In a single confrontation, they had lost fourteen shinobi.

Nagato observed the battlefield, his expression calm as ever. Once Shinra Tensei was ready, he intended to use it to eliminate most of the remaining Mist shinobi.

Check out the patreon and get 53 chapters in advance -> SaintXI

Currently on Chapter 353 - Ryō Hyūga