As the black sphere's gravitational force intensified, the entire fortress shook violently, as though a powerful earthquake had struck.
Rather than using Super Shinra Tensei to cover his retreat, Nagato chose to activate Chibaku Tensei.
It was the correct decision.
Although Super Shinra Tensei possessed enough destructive power to flatten the entire fortress in an instant, it was primarily a battlefield-clearing technique. Against opponents on the level of the Five Kage, it was unlikely to secure any kills, and using it would also consume Nagato's lifespan.
Chibaku Tensei, however, was different.
When activated without warning, it was extremely difficult to identify a countermeasure in such a short time. That made it the perfect technique to buy time for the Deva Path's escape.
As for recreating the Four Red Yang Formation, that was impossible. Only Konoha possessed that sealing technique, and the Kage of the other villages had no means of performing it.
The plan itself was sound.
Unfortunately for Nagato, he was facing Hayashi.
There were many ways to break Chibaku Tensei, but the fastest and most straightforward method was to destroy its core.
The version Nagato used this time was merely the standard Chibaku Tensei, not the ultimate version that had drained his lifespan during the assault on Konoha.
In that case...
Susanoo!
Blue chakra erupted from Hayashi's body as he continuously avoided the massive boulders being pulled into the sky.
He did not summon the Perfect Susanoo.
There was simply no need.
More importantly, if the Perfect Susanoo appeared here, the Akatsuki might lose the courage to continue gathering the Tailed Beasts. Even worse, the Five Kage would likely abandon any thoughts of forming the Shinobi Allied Forces with Konoha.
Who would willingly cooperate with someone possessing such overwhelming power?
The Five Great Nations trusted no one but themselves.
Especially Ōnoki, whose fear of Susanoo ran deep.
It would not have been surprising if the other four villages united against Konoha instead, or even chose to cooperate with the Akatsuki to balance Konoha's strength.
Hayashi had no interest in becoming the common enemy of both the Five Great Nations and the Akatsuki.
Let the Akatsuki remain everyone's target instead.
A fully matured Susanoo materialized around him.
Hayashi looked up at the black sphere hanging in the sky.
"Eight Thousand Divine Spears."
The armor on Susanoo's chest opened, unleashing countless chakra spears.
This was the exclusive long-range technique of Hayashi's Susanoo.
In an instant, eight thousand spears filled the sky like an endless storm.
Hayashi thrust his hand downward.
"Eight Thousand Falling Spears!"
The countless chakra spears shot directly toward Chibaku Tensei.
As they approached, the increasing gravitational force crushed nearly half of them into nothingness.
Even so, more than four thousand spears pierced into the growing mass of rock.
The chakra-coated weapons sliced effortlessly through the stone as if cutting tofu, carving an enormous trench straight toward the black core hidden at its center.
Seeing Hayashi's approach, the surrounding shinobi immediately understood the weakness of the technique.
Countless ninjutsu and long-range attacks followed, all converging on the floating sphere.
Under the relentless bombardment, Chibaku Tensei rapidly began to collapse.
When the dust finally settled, the Deva Path had already disappeared.
The Animal Path had escaped as well, quietly retreating atop an invisible chameleon summon while everyone focused on the collapsing Chibaku Tensei.
Hiruko had fled even earlier, escaping the moment Chibaku Tensei was activated.
The Naraka Path, controlled through the body of the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura, was not so fortunate.
Surrounded by the combined forces of the shinobi alliance, he was quickly defeated.
"The Fourth Mizukage was a hero of Kirigakure," the Fifth Mizukage said first. "His body should be returned to the Hidden Mist for a proper burial."
"That won't do."
Ōnoki immediately objected.
"Yagura was controlled by the Akatsuki. We should extract his memories and obtain whatever intelligence remains."
Naturally, he had no intention of letting Kirigakure reclaim the body so easily.
Information about the Akatsuki was still extremely scarce.
Among the Five Great Nations, only Konoha possessed relatively complete intelligence.
And in the shinobi world, intelligence often meant the advantage.
Konoha already held that advantage. If Kirigakure gained valuable information as well, Iwagakure would be placed in an even weaker position.
Had Roshi's body still been intact, Ōnoki might have agreed without hesitation.
Unfortunately, Roshi's corpse had been reduced to little more than mangled remains by Hayashi, leaving it practically worthless.
Now, Yagura's memories were the only worthwhile source of intelligence.
How could he allow Kirigakure to keep everything for itself?
Rasa immediately sided with Ōnoki.
He proposed waiting until the Fourth Raikage returned so all the Kage could decide together.
Once the Raikage arrived, Kirigakure would have even less chance of claiming Yagura's body alone.
The Fifth Mizukage understood that reality.
He glanced at Hayashi, hoping for support, only to see that Hayashi had no intention of involving himself.
Left with no other choice, he silently cursed inwardly before agreeing.
After all, the situation left him with little room to object.
Hayashi truly had no interest in such matters.
The battle had only just ended, and everyone was already fighting over the spoils.
To him, they were merely scavengers picking over the leftovers.
Whatever intelligence they obtained would be limited at best.
Besides, the Hayashi standing there was no longer his true body.
It was a Wood Style Clone.
The moment Chibaku Tensei collapsed, Hayashi had already created the clone.
His real body had departed.
He was not pursuing Nagato.
It wasn't because he didn't want to.
The instant Nagato decided to retreat, he had already summoned a flying creature and escaped into the sky alongside Konan.
Hayashi had no means of flight.
Even if he rushed to Nagato's hideout now, the two would already be gone.
The reason he left was far more important.
Something awaited him.
Something directly connected to his Rinnegan.
...
The battle at the Five Kage Summit had ended.
Meanwhile, far away in the Land of Rice Fields, Uchiha Fugaku found himself in an extremely uncomfortable position.
Standing before him were Senju Nawaki, Minato Namikaze, and the Fourth Raikage.
Any one of them alone would have been difficult to deal with.
Minato, in particular, had displayed terrifying strength during this battle.
He was undoubtedly the greatest threat.
The others were troublesome enough.
But Minato, a shinobi born without the advantages of a prestigious clan, had reached such an astonishing level of power.
How?
Of course, Fugaku had no answer.
Talent.
Battle experience.
Speed.
Ninjutsu.
At this point, Minato lacked almost nothing.
Most importantly, Minato already possessed detailed knowledge of Fugaku's abilities.
Even when facing Uchiha Obito with little information, Minato had managed to fight on equal footing.
Against Fugaku, whose abilities had already been largely exposed, the advantage was even greater.
Minato had already earned his reputation during the Third Shinobi World War.
What frustrated Fugaku even more, however, was Killer Bee.
The Eight-Tails Jinchuriki had somehow become a perfect Jinchuriki without anyone realizing it.
How was he supposed to deal with that?
The Mangekyō Sharingan's genjutsu was formidable.
But with Gyūki constantly breaking Killer Bee free from illusions, Fugaku's genjutsu was practically useless.
One against four.
What kind of monsters were these people?
For perhaps the first time, Fugaku genuinely felt the hostility of the shinobi world closing in around him.
Ever since inheriting Madara's will, aside from his time manipulating Kirigakure from the shadows, almost nothing had gone according to plan.
His thoughts drifted toward Nagato, who should still have been fighting at the Five Kage Summit.
"Nagato... at least eliminate those three Kage. If you can kill Hayashi as well, even better."
Unfortunately for him, Nagato had already retreated long before.
The tense standoff did not last.
Unable to restrain himself any longer, the Fourth Raikage exploded forward in a blur of lightning.
Fugaku instantly shifted sideways, raising both arms to defend himself.
His Mangekyō Sharingan technique, Chikara Shin, activated.
The overwhelming force slammed the Raikage directly into the ground.
However, Chikara Shin required a brief cooldown.
During their earlier battle, Minato had secretly placed a Flying Thunder God mark on the Raikage.
In the next instant, Minato appeared beside him.
A Rasengan smashed squarely into Fugaku's chest.
No one in the shinobi world could match Minato's speed.
This time, the attack landed cleanly.
Before Fugaku could recover, Senju Nawaki rushed in.
Swinging Samehada, he severed Fugaku's right arm in a single strike.
Even then, Fugaku did not activate Izanagi.
There was no need.
Both the severed arm and half of his damaged chest were artificial replacements created using Hashirama Senju's cells.
Still, Fugaku had lost the ability to continue fighting.
Dragging his battered body, he slowly rose into the air.
He gave Killer Bee one final, meaningful glance.
Then he turned and departed.
Hidden beneath the battlefield, a pitcher plant-like figure silently emerged from the earth.
Without attracting anyone's attention, it collected a severed piece of the Eight-Tails' tentacle.
It was the very tentacle Fugaku had cut off before Minato and the others had arrived.