"Who allowed you… to touch my people?"
This voice, transmitted through the dark red Chakra flames, echoed clearly across the battlefield.
Shisui, hovering in the air, was now enveloped by dense, dark red Chakra, as if clad in a burning Tailed Beast Cloak. The horrific wound on his left shoulder had already healed completely, without even a scar.
He slowly lowered his head. Within his eyes, which had temporarily turned dark red, the imprint pattern of Yachihoko flashed briefly before vanishing, coldly locking onto Deva Path below.
Shisui's own consciousness remained clear. He could distinctly feel an immense, almost unimaginable will pouring into his body through the burning seal on the back of his hand, taking control of his Chakra Flow and physical movements.
His own consciousness felt like an observer, shut out from the driver's seat.
His heart was filled with shock, 'When had this seal been placed?'
'During that trip to the Moon?'
'Or even earlier?'
'Shura's methods were truly unfathomable...'
"Natsuhi, take them and retreat to Honmatsu City immediately," The cold voice sounded again, this time issuing a command to Natsuhi and the others below, its tone brooking no argument, "The battle here is no longer something you can intervene in."
Natsuhi didn't hesitate, immediately bowing in response. "Yes! Shura-sama!"
She understood clearly. Although they had received the powerful Chakra transmitted from Shura, granting them temporary Elite Jonin-level strength, facing these four unpredictable enemies, especially the one who seemed to be their leader, staying would only make them a burden.
With that kind of bizarre ability, if the enemy got serious, instantly killing any one of them wouldn't be difficult.
"Sensei..." Chino looked somewhat unwillingly at Shisui, who looked like a deity or demon in the air, then at the four black-cloaked, red-clouded figures opposite.
"Let's go!" Natsuhi's tone was resolute. She grabbed Chino and signaled to Shunji and Hazuki, quickly retreating towards Honmatsu City.
Surprisingly, the four Pains did not attempt to stop Natsuhi and the others from leaving.
Deva Path's Rinnegan just swept indifferently over the retreating four before refocusing entirely on Shisui, whose aura had drastically changed.
Nagato, through Deva Path's perspective, carefully 'observed' the boiling dark red Chakra on Shisui, his heart filled with shock, doubt, and a desire to investigate.
This method of remote control and transmission of vast Chakra shared similarities with his own method of using corpses and black rods as Chakra receivers for the Six Paths of Pain.
Moreover, the other party could keep the controlled individual conscious while infusing such a massive amount of Chakra.
What alarmed him more was the nature of this Chakra… they're filled with a cold, savage, yet vast and boundless aura...
"Tailed Beast Chakra..." Deva Path slowly spoke, his voice still indifferent, questioning, "And not an ordinary Tailed Beast. You, Shura... are you a Jinchuriki from some village? Is this the source of your power?"
Menma, controlling Shisui's body, let out a light laugh, the sound transmitted through the Chakra, carrying a hint of mockery, "The source of power? You could think of it that way. But that's not the point. Now, tell me, for what purpose have you stepped into my nation?"
Deva Path's Rinnegan fluctuated slightly, "The old man from Iwagakure, Onoki, hired our Akatsuki organization to cause some trouble in the Land of Stars." Pain directly revealed his employer, which didn't surprise Menma, as their relationship was merely a monetary transaction.
"But I am interested in you," Deva Path raised his hand, pointing to the revitalized land around them, saying coldly, "A man who calls himself the [Ninja World's Shura], yet here you are, playing nation-building games with some Ninja and commoners. But having seen this so-called 'new order' you've established... you are indeed different from those mediocre village leaders."
He paused, a glint of interest seeming to flash in his Rinnegan, "Your ideology shares quite a few similarities with mine. Shattering the old order, using pain to make the world contemplate... Would you be interested in joining [Akatsuki]?"
"Our goal is to gather the power of all Tailed Beasts to create an ultimate weapon, to make this world experience true pain. Only in pain will humanity stop fighting and understand each other."
'Starting the Talk-no-Jutsu phase, are we?' Menma, far away in the Star City, raised an eyebrow upon hearing Pain's spiel.
Then, he made Shisui shake his head, his voice transmitted through the Chakra, "Make the world feel pain? And then what? Peace born from fear is merely a temporary ceasefire before the next, greater war begins. Your ideology is too extreme and childish."
"Childish?" Deva Path's voice held a trace of emotion for the first time, which is displeasure at having his beliefs questioned.
"You slaughtered the Daimyo and nobles of the Land of Bears, Land of Demons, Land of Swamps, Land of Darkness, Land of Snow... the blood on your hands numbers no less than tens of thousands. The order you've established, is it not also reliant on killing and suppressing dissenting voices?"
"You can kill, but our Akatsuki cannot? What you have done, how is it different from me? Why pretend to be morally superior!"
"It seems you did not truly understand what you saw on your journey," Menma's voice was calm, "What we eliminated was 'class'."
"Those who consider themselves noble, born to lord over the people and oppress them, who view commoners as worthless, who can easily start wars for personal gain… the exploiting class. Along with those Ninjas of the old era, who only know how to kill for money and missions, tools of war who don't know what they fight for… they are all part of the old era's shackles that need to be broken."
"What the Land of Stars aims to do is to thoroughly eradicate the soil that breeds injustice and war, to establish a new world without exploitation or oppression, where everyone can attain happiness through their own efforts. Killing is merely a necessary means to clear away stubborn ailments, not the goal itself. Look at this land."
Menma, controlling Shisui, gestured towards the fields and villages being rebuilt below, where Miroku and the Land of Stars administrative personnel were evacuating civilians from the villages around the battlefield.
Even though the mysterious enemy was powerful enough to alter the terrain of this area, and even Natsuhi and the others had returned injured, these Land of Stars administrative personnel were still nervously organizing the surrounding people to evacuate to the larger city.
Menma said, "After the old shackles were broken, do the people here have more despair on their faces, or more hope?"
Nagato fell silent.
Through the Pains' vision, he had indeed seen a scene vastly different from the Land of Rain and other war-torn countries.
Without the exploitation of nobles and landlords, without the endless hired wars between Ninja Villages, the commoners here, though still living in hardship, had eyes filled with anticipation for the future and drive.
That kind of vibrant vitality could not be faked.
"Class..." Deva Path repeated this unfamiliar term, a flicker of confusion passing through his Rinnegan, but it was soon covered by icy belief. "Sophistry! The establishment of any new order inevitably accompanies bloodshed and pain! You cannot deny this!"
"No matter how beautiful the blueprint you depict, it cannot erase the fact that your hands are stained with blood! And this is precisely the necessary path to understanding!"
"Necessary path?" Menma chuckled, "Then, what 'necessary path' has that self-proclaimed Uchiha Madara you're cooperating with described to you? Would he sincerely help you achieve your ambition? He is merely using the power of your Rinnegan to achieve his own ulterior motives."
Nagato, hidden within the paper tree in the distance, felt his pupils contract sharply!
'The other party not only knew about my Rinnegan, but also about Uchiha Madara!'
Nagato remembered, 'Last time Uchiha Madara came to find Shura, he shouldn't have exposed the Akatsuki organization, right?'
"Just how much do you know?" Deva Path's voice turned completely cold, carrying a strong killing intent and wariness.
"I know far more than you imagine. Immersed in false dreams and driven by the hatred of others, you will never see true peace." Menma's voice held a trace of barely perceptible pity.
"Silence!" Deva Path seemed to have been struck on a raw nerve, his voice showing clear fluctuation for the first time, the anger of having his beliefs shaken, "The will of God is not to be questioned! Since you refuse to understand, then God's power will make you submit!"
"Let you experience personally what true pain is!"
Negotiations broke down.
The battle resumed!
Asura Path, who had been ready, was the first to strike. The skin on his shoulders split open, revealing densely packed missile launch ports!
Dozens of small Chakra Missiles trailing flames shot towards Shisui in the air like a swarm of bees!
Simultaneously, Human Path's figure darted across the ground like a ghost, looking for an opportunity to ambush.
And Animal Path once again formed hand seals, slamming them onto the ground:
"Summoning Technique!"
White smoke exploded consecutively!
The large, winged chameleon appeared again!
A roaring, three-headed hellhound covered in spikes!
A hell-crab with a hard shell and giant pincers!
And the fierce giant bird and the berserk giant bull!
A total of five ferocious summoned creatures of various forms were summoned, letting out deafening roars as they charged towards the hovering Shisui from both the ground and the air!
Facing this overwhelming encirclement, Menma, controlling Shisui, appeared exceptionally calm.
"Summoned creatures? Somewhat interesting," The cold voice commented lightly, "Shisui, relax your body. Leave the upcoming battle to me."
Shisui's consciousness could only passively feel an even more massive surge of Chakra flowing from the seal on his hand, coursing through his limbs and bones, even briefly suppressing his own Chakra.
His hands involuntarily began forming hand seals… a simple seal, just the Tiger seal.
"Nine Mask Svaha!"
As the seal formed, Menma let out a low shout.
Nine huge arrays glowing with dark red light materialized in the air behind Shisui, like nine eerie blood moons!
Azure, White, Vermilion, Black, Sky, South, North, Three, Jewel… each array flashed with a different character.
Immediately after, nine massive figures of different forms, wearing different masks, leaped out from the arrays with roars!
A hissing Seiryu wreathed in lightning!
A shrieking Suzaku burning with dark red flames!
A massive Genbu commanding water!
A roaring Byakko whipping up sharp whirlwinds!
A ferocious Kinja controlling the earth!
The Nanto Sennin unfolding a barrier!
The Hokuto Sennin guarding the surroundings!
The Tennyo brandishing ribbon-like soft swords, floating up!
The Shinigami dragging a huge Chakra Scythe, emanating an aura of reaping life!
The nine unique summoned creatures Menma developed using the Black Nine-Tails' Chakra, each possessing powerful special abilities and strength approaching Kage-level!
"Go, Nine Masked Beasts!" Menma ordered calmly.
The Nine Masked Beasts instantly met Animal Path's five summoned creatures!
Seiryu's Lightning Release clashed with the giant bird's Wind Release!
Suzaku's flames engulfed the hellhound's fire breath!
Genbu's hundred-ton body collided head-on with the giant bull!
Byakko's whirlwinds met the hell-crab's water cannons!!
Kinja burrowed underground, launching surprise attacks!
Nanto and Hokuto Sennin unfolded barriers, disrupting and restricting the summoned creatures' movements!
Tennyo and Shinigami floated in the air, skirmishing and providing support… each swing of their ribbons and scythes caused great trouble for the summoned creatures!
The scene instantly became chaotic and spectacular!
Nine against five!
The dual advantage in numbers and quality meant Menma's Nine Masked Beasts almost instantly suppressed Animal Path's summoned creatures!
Two of the hellhound's heads were severed by Byakko's wind blades, but it quickly grew new ones, becoming more berserk, yet was firmly blocked by Hokuto Sennin's protective barrier.
The hell-crab's legs were hit by Byakko's whirlwinds, slowing its movement, then Kinja ambushed it from underground, locking it firmly with earth and stone.
The giant bird tried to evade Seiryu's lightning strikes with high-speed flight, but was entangled by Tennyo's soft ribbons, its speed greatly reduced, before being struck by a bolt of lightning and falling with a mournful cry.
The giant bull was rammed by Genbu into a nearby cliff, temporarily trapped.
The chameleon tried to ambush while invisible, but was accurately found by the Shinigami's Chakra-sensing Scythe, forced visible by a slash, and fled in disarray.
"How is this possible?!" Nagato's main body in the dense forest coughed violently again, his face filled with shock.
'My summoned creatures were being completely suppressed in a head-on confrontation?!'
'What were these masked summoned creatures?'
'Each one possessed distinctly different powerful abilities, and the Chakra on them also carried that unsettling dark red Tailed Beast's aura!'
Seeing the summoned creatures defeated, Human Path suddenly seized an opening. Like a ghost, he circled around the chaotic beast battle, rushed in front of Shinigami, who was tangling with the chameleon, and his right hand shot out like lightning towards the Shinigami's mask!
[Rinnegan: Soul Removal!]
It's Human Path's ability to directly extract a person's soul!
However, the moment his hand touched Shinigami's mask, a vast, savage, resisting Chakra violently surged back!
"Ugh!" Human Path grunted. The expected scene of easily pulling out a soul did not appear. He felt as if his hand had grabbed a berserk Chakra Tail!
Not only could he not extract it, but he was instead thrown back fiercely by the tail's brute force!
In that instant of spiritual confrontation, he even vaguely 'saw' the phantom of a huge fox tail, composed of pure dark red Chakra, wildly thrashing!
Human Path was sent flying as if struck by an invisible giant hammer, crashing heavily into a distant rock wall. Fine cracks even appeared on the surface of his body!
"Useless," Menma's cold voice came through, "Their essence is Chakra Constructs, closer to clones."
Nagato's heart was filled with dread. The opponent's techniques and power system completely exceeded his understanding!
"In that case..." Deva Path finally moved. He slowly rose into the air, facing Menma, who was controlling Shisui, at eye level. His Rinnegan shone with a cold, resolute light, "Then let you experience personally the power of God!"
He abruptly raised both hands, aiming at Shisui!
"Bansho Ten'in!"
A powerful attractive force erupted again, several times stronger than when he used it against Shisui before!
Clearly, Nagato was now serious, attempting to directly capture the 'core' the opponent had on this battlefield!
However, facing this terrifying attractive force capable of pulling in a Tailed Beast, Menma, controlling Shisui, merely curled the corner of his mouth and raised his right hand.
"Shinra Tensei."
An indifferent voice came from Shisui's mouth.
A terrifying repulsive force, no less powerful than Bansho Ten'in, and even more savage, erupted violently with Shisui as the center!
Two opposing yet equally terrifying massive forces collided, compressed, and annihilated each other in mid-air!
The air screamed under the strain!
The ground below was as if plowed by an invisible giant hand… the soil churned, trees shattered, the river was cut off!
Even the summoned creatures fighting in the distance were thrown into disarray by the residual waves of the collision!
Deva Path bore the brunt of it. He had completely not expected the opponent to also be able to perform a technique similar to Shinra Tensei!
And this power was so similar, yet even darker and more savage!
Deva Path's figure was blasted away by the huge shockwave generated from the collision of his own Bansho Ten'in and the opponent's Shinra Tensei!
He crashed through several large rocks before barely stabilizing his posture, hovering in mid-air, his black-and-red cloud cloak already tattered.
"How is this possible?! Why do you possess the power of God?! Do you also have the Rinnegan?!" Deva Path's voice held unconcealed shock and turmoil for the first time!
Through the Pains' vision, Nagato's main body almost stood up from within the tree hollow!
This overturned his belief in the Rinnegan's uniqueness!
Menma, controlling Shisui, slowly floated higher into the air. The dark red Chakra supported him like a throne, looking down upon the somewhat disheveled Deva Path. The cold voice carried a note of mockery:
"The power of God? Merely the crude application of repulsion and attraction, and you dare call it the power of God? You and your so-called [Eyes of God] are nothing but pitiful worms hiding in the shadows, playing with a few corpse puppets."
"Not to mention, these eyes of yours are merely placed here with you for nurturing by someone else."
"Would a true God hide their head and conceal their tail like you?"
"Insolence!" Deva Path flew into a rage. His Rinnegan erupted with astonishing killing intent and icy light, "To blaspheme God is a crime deserving of death!"
He raised his hands, seeming ready to launch a more powerful attack regardless of the cost.
However, Menma merely made Shisui slowly raise his right hand, index finger pointing towards the sky, then gently swung it downwards.
A simple action, yet carrying a judgment-like significance.
"I proclaim, Divine Punishment."
Deva Path was stunned, then furious, "Pretending to be mysterious!"
But the moment his words fell-
A terrifying pressure, indescribable in words, suddenly descended!
It wasn't a Chakra Impact, but something purer, vaster, as if a destructive will from beyond the heavens!
Then, in the perception of all the Pains, the clouds high above seemed to be violently stirred by an invisible giant hand, madly pushed aside in all directions, forming a huge, circular void!
Through that void, it seemed one could directly see the black, cold cosmos!
Then, a massive pillar of light, over ten meters in diameter, composed of purely, extremely compressed Golden Chakra, descended like a spear of judgment thrown by a deity from that cloud void, falling at a speed beyond visual capture!
Its target was the Asura Path below and the Human Path who had just extricated himself from the rock wall!
"What?!" Nagato, seeing this shocking scene through all the Pains' visions, felt alarm bells ringing wildly in his heart!
He couldn't even understand where this attack came from! It exceeded all his sensory range!
An earth-shattering roar erupted, and the ground shook violently, as if a magnitude ten earthquake had occurred!
Dazzling, blinding golden light instantly swallowed everything!
When the destructive light subsided slightly, a huge, charred crater nearly a hundred meters in diameter was visible. The rocks and soil at the edges had crystallized into a glassy state!
And Asura Path and Human Path who were at the attack's epicenter had vanished without a trace, not even a speck of residue remaining!
It's as if they're completely erased from this world!
Only the summoned creatures summoned by Animal Path, being slightly further away, were merely thrown back again by the blast's shockwave, looking utterly disheveled, but were not directly hit.
The cloud void in the sky slowly closed, and the destructive pressure dissipated as if it had never appeared.
The battlefield fell into dead silence.
Animal Path stood rigidly in place. The remaining summoned creatures let out uneasy growls.
Deva Path hovered in mid-air, looking up at the gradually disappearing cloud hole in the sky, then at the terrifying giant crater on the ground.
For the first time, an emotion named 'incredulity' and 'dread' appeared in his Rinnegan.
'This method of attack was unheard of!'
'It transcended the category of Ninjutsu!'
'I couldn't even perceive where the enemy launched the attack from!'
'Utterly unavoidable, undefendable!'
'What kind of power was this?!'
Menma, controlling Shisui, slowly descended, hovering at the edge of the giant crater, the dark red Chakra still burning around him.
He looked at the remaining Deva Path and Animal Path. The cold voice sounded again, this time clearly and directly naming the person hidden deepest in the shadows:
"Now, do you still think I am pretending to be mysterious?"
"Nagato..."
This name was clearly spoken, exploding over the battlefield like thunder!
Deva Path's body stiffened abruptly. He slowly turned his head, his Rinnegan fixed intently on Shisui, wrapped in dark red Chakra, filled with incomprehensible shock.
Nagato, far away in the dense forest, was also as if struck by lightning!
For the first time, a nearly panicked emotion showed in his Rinnegan!
'How does he know my name?!'
"You… just… who are you?"