Starting with Naruto, I'll become stronger through my own efforts.

Chapter 406 The Death of General Zod

Shazor and Zod reached an agreement, and the straightforward Kryptonian actually accepted it.

They immediately returned to their posts from the escape pods and, following General Zod's orders, ceased interfering with Earth's electromagnetic communications and ordered all Kryptonians to return to their spaceships in orbit.

Apollo Atlas III received General Zod's order to smash a large hole in the ground.

However, he still let Wonder Woman, who was just one step away from being completely defeated, go to the Metropolis battlefield with three Kryptonian warriors to pick up the unconscious Fiora and another Kryptonian warrior.

Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Cyborg, Green Arrow, and other superheroes were left completely bewildered.

They discovered that after communications were restored, a web chat room was set up using Steelbone as the server, but no one could explain exactly what had happened.

It wasn't until Batman, now calm but unusually gloomy, appeared and provided intelligence on the Gotham City battlefield, and together with Cyborg, they analyzed the intelligence, that the course of the war became clear.

Batman: "In other words, Superman and Shazor are on track, and the outcome of the war rests entirely on their shoulders."

"It's really frustrating. They're like gods, deciding the survival and extinction of humanity."

Wonder Woman said, "That's normal. Throughout history, when faced with powerful foreign invasions, the survival of humanity has always been entrusted to a few great heroes or gods."

Batman growled, "Why should I?"

Wonder Woman tilted her head and retorted, "What? By what right?"

Batman: "I'm asking: Why should the fate of humanity be decided by these two?"

Wonder Woman was even more puzzled: "Isn't this obvious? Because they are strong enough and willing to stand up and fight for humanity, their victory or defeat determines the fate of humanity."

Batman suddenly got angry: "But they're so arrogant! It shouldn't be like this!"

Green Lantern blinked and said curiously, "To be honest, I don't quite understand your thinking. Superman and Shazor take risks and responsibilities, so why do you see that as arrogance?"

Cyborg calmly said, "Batman, what you're saying makes no sense."

"Based on the information I gathered online, your mindset is one of jealousy. You're complaining about Superman in a strange way, blaming him for not including you in this final battle."

Batman took a deep breath: "I'm not complaining, and I'm not jealous."

"I just saw Gotham City turned into ruins because of the battle between Superman and Kryptonians, with buildings collapsing and thousands of people dying and being maimed as a result."

"I...I saw the bodies with my own eyes. There were women, children, and elderly people—"

Batman couldn't continue; he was panting heavily, and the veins on his forehead were bulging.

Green Lantern and Green Arrow fell silent. They heard an indescribable sorrow in Batman's words—a sorrow and anger born from the horror of bloodshed.

Cyborg shook his head, still unable to grasp Batman's logic despite his lack of sensitivity to emotions: "What does this have to do with Superman?"

"The logic in your statement is that if Superman doesn't fight, these people won't have to die."

"But the Kryptonians were targeting Gotham from the very beginning. If Superman doesn't fight back, will the Kryptonians stop killing people?"

Or did they kill too few?

Wonder Woman's eyes flashed with disdain: "Batman, are you struggling with Superman or yourself?"

"The reason why Gotham suffered such massive casualties is ultimately the fault of the Kryptonians. The only thing Superman didn't do well was that he wasn't strong enough to kill the enemy in one go and protect everyone perfectly."

"But you were in Gotham City at the time, what did you do then?"

Wonder Woman's merciless accusations killed the topic of superheroes, and the conference call came to an end.

Since there's nothing else to do but wait for the final result, what's the point of saying so much?

Just shut up and wait.

General Zod looked at the unconscious Fiora. The last hope in his eyes had vanished, but it grew brighter and brighter, as if it could emit light.

Xia Zuo could see it; it was a death wish formed from the condensation of hatred, despair, resentment, and madness.

General Zod made up his mind to die.

He found Superman and said, "That human is amazing; he does things without any flaws."

"Now that Fuora is unconscious, Apollo and I cannot prevent you and that human from destroying the ship, so I have no choice but to fulfill my promise and die to protect Krypton."

"You won."

"But I am a soldier of Krypton, I will not commit suicide, absolutely not!"

"Karl, come and fight me! Fight with all your might and give me the glory of dying in battle!"

Superman was stunned: "This, this—!"

He hadn't expected that after the agreement was made, General Zod and Shazo were still playing mind games. Shazo had even anticipated General Zod's thoughts and made preparations in advance after defeating Fiora.

This is really incredible.

If it weren't for the fact happening right before his eyes, Superman would definitely think that someone was lying to him.

As the atmosphere eased, Superman's almost boundless kindness and naiveté resurfaced, and he began to feel conflicted about killing General Zod.

Fortunately, Shazo was there. He patted Superman on the shoulder and advised, "Give General Zod his request, or you'll be forcing me to take action against the Kryptonian spaceship."

"Superman, don't push a madman into a corner, understand?"

When he said this, Xia Zuo's eyes were filled with undisguised impatience and madness, which made Superman's heart pound and he couldn't help but shudder.

After a brief moment's consideration, he said, "Let's go to Earth, to the Nevada desert. There, the casualties will be minimal."

General Zod nodded: "Karl El, you lead the way."

Because he was unfamiliar with the techniques for re-entering the atmosphere from space, Xia Zuo skipped across the water during his re-entry, causing him to drift halfway off the planet and end up near Antarctica.

It took him an extra half hour to get back to Nevada, USA, where he saw the two Kryptonians locked in fierce combat in the desert.

The two attacked each other frantically, each punch and kick possessing the power to overturn mountains and seas. The earthquakes caused by their battle spread throughout the North American continent, sending large amounts of sand flying into the air and forming a raging sandstorm.

Whenever Zod or Superman is at a disadvantage, the other will pin him to the ground and grind him into the earth, carving deep furrows into the ground.

The red rocky peaks, weathered over the years, crumbled into dust like crispy pancakes when struck by Kryptonians.

With just fists and feet, Superman and General Zod could freely modify the map. Although it was slightly inferior to Might Guy's desperate attack, Night Guy, it was definitely far superior to Evening Elephant.

When the two exchange heat rays, they can carve terrifying lava trenches on the ground, some reaching hundreds of meters in width.

Xia Zuo hovered in the air for a long time, and finally sighed softly. The upper limit of power in the DC Universe far exceeded that of the Naruto world, so he could no longer count on Naruto Xia Zuo.

He muttered to himself with a sigh, "In just half an hour, they've become stronger in the battle."

Xia Zuo then laughed happily: "Hehe, I'm not bad either, I'm getting stronger very quickly."

"I'm gradually regaining the heroic spirit that a combat force of 16 should possess, haha."

Nevada is a vast, sparsely populated desert, and Superman chose to fight there to avoid casualties.

But no matter how well Superman plans, he can't stop Americans from being naturally reckless.

There is a type of American called "wind chasers," which refers to people who chase tornadoes.

But there are also some Americans who call themselves "shockers," a very, very small group of people who chase after wonders such as earthquakes, landslides, and volcanic eruptions.

Of course, these people aren't doing it out of hobby, but to make money.

The battle between Superman and General Zod caused the earth to tremble violently. Normal people who felt it had long since fled, but the "Shockers" went against the flow of people.

Then comes the classic line, "We came here perfectly well, but we can't go back."

General Zod slammed Superman down from a height of 400 meters, causing the ground to shake violently and the man to bounce several meters high like a giant trampoline.

The poor "Shocker" car jumped ten meters high, and three of its four wheels flew off on the spot. The people inside were also thrown around in a daze. One unlucky guy wasn't wearing a seatbelt, and his head hit the roof of the car, breaking his neck on the spot.

But the three who survived were even more unlucky, because after they rolled and came to a stop, they happened to be staring at Superman, who had successfully counterattacked and choked General Zod.

General Zod's neck bones cracked as he was strangled, his face as red as a tomato, but his resistance was completely suppressed by Superman, and he could not break free no matter what.

Zod understood that this was because his strength had reached the limit of his customized genes and had stopped growing ten minutes ago, while Superman's strength was still increasing.

He murmured, "No wonder you took the risk of having a natural child, Joel. It turns out that naturally born children have unlimited potential."

"Krypton needs a new life—you and I—are both remnants of the old era—"

"Must I die for the future of Krypton?"

"For the future of Krypton, I must die!"

General Zod suddenly exerted his strength, using the muscles in his neck to push Superman's arm away slightly, then he took a deep breath and roared, "Kal-El!"

"You win! Kill me!"

Superman, who had been fighting for two hours, did not feel tired, but he did feel that his strength had surpassed that of General Zod, and the gap was widening.

After regaining his strength, his saintly nature naturally kicked in, and he became extremely resistant to killing Zod.

In Superman's mind, any enemy he can control should be given a chance to reflect on their actions.

General Zod sensed the change in Superman's mindset; his resolve to die wavered, for no one wants to die when they can live.

But in that instant, Shazo appeared in Zod's field of vision. Their eyes met, and they saw the other's feelings.

Xia Zuo's eyes were filled with murderous intent, but it was not directed at General Zod.

With a pointed finger, Shazor clearly warned Zod: "If you don't die, the other Kryptonians will!"

Having heeded Shazo's warning, General Zod's nascent will to survive was completely extinguished. He roared, "Karl, kill me! Give me glory! Let me die honorably in war!"

"Kill me! Prove I died fighting for the future of Krypton!"

Superman's eyes turned red, his heart started racing, and his breathing became heavy, so heavy that even the three unlucky guys could hear him.

But Superman just couldn't bring himself to do it, and couldn't break Zod's neck for a long time.

His hesitation not only tormented Zod, who was being strangled, but also nearly exhausted Shazo's patience, causing him to unleash a palpable, violent killing intent.

General Zod saw Xia Zuo's appearance as a warning to him, which made him feel extremely frustrated.

A madman! This madman!!

Not only are you forcing me to die, but you also expect me to work hard on my own?

But circumstances dictate that General Zod, as a genetically engineered Kryptonian, also possesses an inviolable ideological imprint; he must fight for Krypton and die for Krypton.

Zod became enraged and roared again, "Kill me, or I'll kill all the humans!"

General Zod wasn't just making empty threats; he roared and fired a heat beam.

The crimson, violent ray instantly pierced the engine of the overturned car in front, and then slowly moved towards the passenger compartment, terrifying the three unfortunate men who screamed wildly.

Superman was horrified and used all his strength to try to pry open General Zod's head.

But if he doesn't want to break Zod's neck, he has to contend with Zod's legs. If he can't even twist his arms against his thighs, how can he possibly win against his waist?

Superman panicked and yelled, "Stop! Stop it now!"

But under Xia Zuo's threat, Zod's will to die was unwavering, and he steadily turned the heat rays toward the carriage.

It doesn't even need to hit a person's body directly; after 3 seconds of continuous firing, the heat rays heat the car to a temperature high enough to cook a person.

The unfortunate "Shocker" let out a piercing scream, driving Superman almost insane.

Zod shouted, "Kill me! Or I'll kill even more humans!"

The unfortunate people were crying out, "Help! Please, save us!"

Finally, Superman's nerves snapped. He strained his arms and snapped General Zod's neck with a "crack".

As General Zod fell, the last thing he saw was Shazo. He saw Shazo's murderous aura dissipate, and he saw Shazo reveal a satisfied smile, a smile without any killing intent.

General Zod was finally relieved; he knew the Kryptonians were safe.

He then breathed a sigh of relief and slowly closed his eyes.

Superman looked at the corpse of his powerful brethren, then collapsed, utterly powerless, his mind blank.

In a good mood, Xia Zuo stepped forward and rescued the three unfortunate souls who were being scorched by the flames.

With General Zod dead, the war between Krypton and Earth came to an end.