A split second later, the sky above him cracked with force.
"Shinra Tensei!"
A colossal Almighty Push came crashing down from above, unleashed with the Deva Path's full power. The sheer magnitude of the repulsive force struck Inoiki like a mountain collapsing from the heavens.
The ground shattered. The air warped. The overwhelming pressure drove Inoiki slightly backward, forcing him to bend under its crushing weight. His boots carved into the ground as the invisible wall of force pressed mercilessly against him.
But Inoiki was not one to yield. His jaw tightened, and his eyes burned with determination.
No… not again.
Channeling his psychokinesis to the limit, he extended both hands forward. A powerful counter-force erupted from his body, colliding with the Deva Path's Almighty Push. The shockwaves tore through the surrounding area as the two immense powers battled for dominance.
And then — with a roar of mental strength — Inoiki repelled the gravitational wave completely, pushing it back and standing tall once more.
His gaze lifted toward the sky, locking onto the Deva Path, who hovered above him like a god of destruction.
Inoiki's cold voice cut through the chaos, reaching the Deva Path even as the Almighty Push tore the battlefield apart and a thunderous roar filled the air.
"Do you really think the same move will work on me twice? That's not going to happen."
All around him, devastation reigned. The Almighty Push was annihilating everything within its range — houses crumbled, walls ripped from their foundations, and debris spiraled outward in a violent storm. Yet at the very center, Inoiki stood alone, unmoved.
The sheer force of the Deva Path's assault was reshaping the land itself, but Inoiki remained resolute — a solitary figure standing defiantly amid utter destruction.
Inoiki's eyes narrowed as he poured even more power into his psychokinesis. The invisible force radiating from him intensified, the very air around him vibrating under the strain. A thin, glowing white line began to appear in the air — the visible mark of two colossal powers clashing head-on.
That luminous line hung just a few feet above Inoiki, where his psychokinetic pressure met the Almighty Push of the Deva Path. The two invisible forces collided in a roaring battle of willpower, the atmosphere around them trembling violently as rain scattered in all directions.
Each droplet of water that touched that zone of collision was instantly vaporized, and the resulting steam shimmered faintly under the dark, storm-choked sky. Inoiki's muscles tensed, veins bulging slightly along his arms as he pushed his psychokinesis to its very limit. The ground beneath his feet cracked, and small stones began to rise and hover around him from the sheer repulsive force radiating outward.
The tug of war between Inoiki and the Deva Path raged for a few moments that felt eternal — Inoiki's mental power pressing forward while the Almighty Push continued its relentless assault.
Then, suddenly—
The resistance vanished.
The white line flickered and then disappeared into the rain.
The full might of the Almighty Push surged downward, smashing into the ground where Inoiki had just stood. The earth caved in, exploding outward in a violent burst that sent debris flying hundreds of meters away.
High above, Deva Path momentarily faltered. The instant he felt no counterforce, realization struck.
"He's gone," Nagato thought through Deva Path's eyes.
A fraction of a second later, Nagato's suspicions were confirmed.
"Behind me!"
In the blink of an eye, Inoiki appeared behind Deva Path, having teleported in a burst of displaced air and scattered raindrops. Without hesitation, his sword gleamed with a faint light blue aura, an extension of his psychokinetic power.
"Let's end this."
He swung.
The sword cut through the air with a thunderous boom, releasing a crescent-shaped wave of sword energy that slammed directly into Deva Path's back.
Slash!
The energy blade carved a deep, glowing wound across the Deva Path's back, sending it hurtling downward like a meteor. Its cloak shredded, its body twisting through the rain as it plummeted toward the shattered ground.
But Inoiki didn't let up.
He flashed again — teleporting above the falling Deva Path — his fist already drawn back, the air around it distorting under immense compression. The heavy rainfall outlined the shape of his next attack perfectly.
The air condensed so powerfully that it formed a massive translucent fist just ahead of his real one, glowing faintly from the kinetic energy trapped inside. The swirling rain traced its outline, giving it an almost ethereal appearance — a giant fist of air and energy, moving in unison with his own.
Inoiki's real fist clenched tighter as he launched the strike downward, aiming to crush Deva Path with the full force of his compressed air punch — a devastating combination of speed, raw strength, and psychic might.
The massive compressed air fist crashed down onto the falling Deva Path with unstoppable force. Having just unleashed the tremendous Almighty Push, Deva Path's body was utterly unprepared — its muscles slackened, and resistance was impossible. The impact was instantaneous.
The ground beneath, already stripped bare by the earlier repulsive attack, took the full brunt of the strike. Smoke and debris erupted in all directions as the giant fist slammed onto Deva Path, its momentum carrying the fallen body downward. The rain began to wash away the dust almost immediately, revealing the aftermath: a massive fist-shaped crater etched into the earth, at the center of which lay the totally collapsed body of the Deva Path.
(Ai generated image in Comments area.)
Inoiki descended gracefully, landing without so much as a ripple disturbing the newly cleared ground. He didn't waste a moment. Concentrating his psychokinesis, he reached toward the fallen body, and one by one, the small black receiver rods embedded within Deva Path's flesh lifted into the air, orbiting him like metallic satellites. Each rod was pulled cleanly from the body, severing the connection through which Nagato had controlled the Deva Path.
With that, Deva Path became nothing more than a lifeless husk, entirely beyond Nagato's command.
Even in the heat of battle, Inoiki's respect for the fallen body was evident. This was Yahiko, the original body who had inspired the formation of Akatsuki, now trapped and controlled by Nagato's rods. Though Yahiko's dreams might have seemed naïve or even foolish to outsiders, Inoiki recognized the hard work, conviction, and loyalty behind them. He refused to defile what remained of Yahiko, even if the body had been reduced to a tool for someone else's ambitions.
He glanced down at the crumpled form of Deva Path, a silent reverence in his gaze. Yahiko's vision, though unrealized, had been pursued wholeheartedly, and that alone earned Inoiki's respect.
He didn't destroy the body — he would not disrespect the memory of the man who had once carried hope. Even amid destruction, honor and recognition for true dedication remained intact in Inoiki's mind.
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