Shinra Tensei's repulsive force was not inexhaustible. Most of the time, Pain simply used it to deflect incoming attacks.
But this time, in its clash against Dust Release, Shinra Tensei was already starting to run out of steam.
Under the pressure of Dust Release, it even slipped briefly out of balance. The backlash from the repulsive force actually shoved Pain himself backward several meters.
But that was all.
The instant Pain was pushed back, his left hand rose as well, and a black metal rod appeared in his palm.
"Universal Pull."
A terrifying force of attraction instantly wrapped itself around Ōnoki's entire body.
As the pull took hold of him, Ōnoki's expression changed wildly. He could feel his body slipping out of his control, flying helplessly toward the Deva Path.
And the black rod in Pain's hand was aimed straight at his heart.
"Father!"
On the ground below, Kurotsuchi had no idea why Ōnoki had suddenly lost control of his body, but he knew he had to do something. Otherwise, if the Tsuchikage of Iwagakure were killed in his own village like this, the entire village would become a laughingstock.
"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!"
Kitsuchi slammed both hands onto the ground, and a massive stone wall tens of meters high burst up from the earth, rising directly between Ōnoki and Pain.
But the power of Universal Pull far exceeded Kitsuchi's imagination. Ōnoki's body didn't slow in the slightest. The Earth Flow Wall blocked Pain's black rod, but it also sent Ōnoki crashing violently into the stone barrier.
With a thunderous impact, the wall cracked and shattered from the force of Ōnoki's body being hurled into it. Rock fragments exploded everywhere.
"My back…"
Ōnoki grimaced, clutching his waist. That collision had pushed his old body close to its limit.
But even with waves of pain radiating through the bones in his lower back, he still forced himself upright and formed hand seals again.
"Earth Release: Super Light-Weight Rock Technique!"
This was the jutsu that lightened his own body.
As soon as his body grew lighter, Ōnoki instead began using the pull of Universal Pull to propel himself toward Pain!
Pain watched Ōnoki flying toward him and instinctively thrust out the black rod in his hand. Though Ōnoki desperately twisted his body to change direction, the black rod still tore through his Tsuchikage robe, ripping off a strip of cloth.
Ōnoki spun through the air, then stabilized himself again, his old face drenched in cold sweat.
In just that one exchange, he had already gone all out merely to avoid a fatal blow.
"This guy… is actually this strong…"
Even as he panted violently, Ōnoki kept his eyes locked on the Deva Path.
By now, he had already figured out that Pain's two abilities were attraction and repulsion.
But it seemed those two powers couldn't be used at the same time.
"Kitsuchi! Take everyone and fall back!"
Floating in the sky, Ōnoki shouted without even looking back. Once he realized how strong Pain was, he no longer wanted to add to the casualties.
"Father!"
"That's an order from the Tsuchikage!"
Kitsuchi clenched his teeth, shot one deep look at Ōnoki and Pain in the sky, then turned and led Iwagakure's ninja in retreat.
He understood what his father meant. In a battle like this, ordinary ninja would be useless. Worse, they might even become a burden to Ōnoki.
Pain made no move to stop them. From beginning to end, his gaze remained fixed on Ōnoki alone.
Ōnoki said nothing more either. He slowly raised both hands, and once again the glow of Dust Release began to gather in his palms.
On the other side of the battlefield, Deidara wasn't faring much better. Or rather, Konan's explosive tags had already forced him into a miserable state.
"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!"
At some point, Deidara had created a clay bird beneath himself, and now he was fleeing wildly through the sky. Behind him stretched a flood of explosive tags so dense it looked as if it was about to form a river in the heavens.
At the same time, Konan's paper clones were closing in from all directions. They looked no different from real people, but the moment they made contact, they could explode at any second.
"Art is supposed to be a single instant of explosion—not this endless waste!"
Standing atop his clay bird, Deidara shouted angrily as he fled. What the hell was wrong with this woman? Did her family own an explosive tag factory or something? Why was she throwing them around like they cost nothing?
To Deidara, this kind of battle had absolutely no artistic value whatsoever.
Konan, meanwhile, remained expressionless the entire time. The sheets of paper under her feet kept multiplying without end.
After her last battle with Uchiha Chiizumi, Konan had started thinking about how to improve her Paper Release. The method she came up with was simple: directly control the maximum number of explosive tags she possibly could, and let them move with her.
You hit me, and I'll show you what it looks like when I blow you up with over a billion explosive tags.
You don't hit me, and then I'll just slowly bomb you to death instead.
Deidara had the great honor of becoming the first test subject for Konan's new combat style. Just looking at the endless stream of explosive-tag papers in the sky, like a long river, was enough to make Konan feel very satisfied with her creation.
"Waste? That word has no meaning to me. If I want to, I can blow you up with explosive tags for a hundred years."
"…"
Hearing that, Deidara's face nearly turned black with rage.
This woman really did print explosive tags for a living, didn't she?
Just imagining being bombarded by explosive tags for a hundred years was enough to make Deidara feel a deep existential dread.
Even while his scalp was tingling from that thought, the corner of his eye caught sight of the main battlefield.
The clash between Ōnoki and the Deva Path had already far surpassed anything he thought ninja combat could be.
"The old man…"
Deidara's expression changed, and when he looked at Konan again, his eyes had turned vicious.
"Tch! There's no way I'm losing to the old man!"
Grinding his teeth, Deidara plunged both hands into the clay pouches at his waist and yanked out a huge lump of clay.
"C2: Dragon!"
A giant clay dragon took shape beneath him. Deidara flipped onto its back and shot toward the main battlefield.
He couldn't beat Konan one-on-one, but he could drag his battlefield over toward Ōnoki's. Deidara refused to believe that the explosive-tag woman would still dare detonate so recklessly if the fight moved that close.
Seeing Deidara's move, Konan did in fact stop.
Her explosive tags were terrifying, yes, but her fighting style meant she couldn't move together with the Deva Path. After all, her tags didn't care who they blew up. If she ended up blowing up Pain too, that would just be ridiculous.
"If I can't take you down, then I'll have Kakuzu and Sasori wreak havoc instead and collect a little interest."
Konan turned and flew off toward Kakuzu and Sasori. Up until now, neither of them had made a move.
Kakuzu hadn't acted because he didn't see enough profit in wasting his energy slaughtering ordinary Iwa ninja.
As for Sasori, his gaze was now fixed intently on Ōnoki.