With killing intent already settled in his heart, Pain did not hold back this time, pouring a massive amount of chakra into the Rinnegan.
In an instant, centered on Pain, an invisible force field spread outward like a nuclear explosion, its power more than ten times stronger than the earlier simple reflection of the Tailed Beast Ball.
The blinding white light nearly dazzled the eyes. The air trembled violently, compressed into visible ripples that produced a deafening roar.
The already ravaged earth suffered another calamity; the ground shattered layer by layer like fragile glass, the solid rock turned into fine dust, its outer shell stripped away one after another, revealing the fresh strata beneath.
Heaven and earth suddenly plunged into dead silence, as though the entire world had reached its end in this very moment.
"Ah!"
Akimichi Chōza let out a furious roar. As his body swelled rapidly in size, his figure at once grew emaciated, and two blue chakra wings suddenly sprouted from his back.
He had finally activated "Butterfly Mode," an ultimate form that burned body fat at a tremendous rate as its price, consuming his chakra in vast amounts.
But under the immense pressure, he was utterly unable to attack Pain in the sky—he could only barely arch his body, like a great tree in a storm, providing a shield for his comrades beside him.
"Hurry up and go!"
He shouted loudly, one hand grabbing each of the immobilized Nara Shikaku and Yamanaka Inoichi, hurling them forcefully into the distance.
"No!"
The two screamed, unwilling to abandon their companion and flee alone at such a time.
Nara Shikaku swiftly formed hand seals, manipulating a massive shadow whip in an attempt to lessen Akimichi Chōza's burden.
Yamanaka Inoichi, on the other hand, used "Mind Body Chaos Technique" on Akimichi Chōza, hoping to control him and escape together.
Yet the method that had never failed before completely backfired this time.
Yamanaka Inoichi's secret technique was reflected back, and Akimichi Chōza rejected Inoichi's control.
This big man who always wore a simple smile and obediently followed his comrades' commands now showed unprecedented stubbornness.
"This guy's too strong—there's no chance!" Akimichi Chōza roared loudly.
"Hurry up and go!"
"Make sure you bring the intel back!"
The two bodies, powerless to find footing in midair, could only watch in despair as that familiar, honest face of Akimichi Chōza grew farther and farther away—completely unable to do anything.
"Haha…"
Accompanied by peals of mad laughter, a gigantic face of energy suddenly appeared in the two men's line of sight, and at the same time a pair of enormous palms swung toward them head-on.
"Since you're so unwilling to leave your comrades, then just stay!"
Controlling Susanoo, Uchiha Yasuo suddenly cut them off midway, the wild laughter carrying a cat-and-mouse cruelty and delight.
The two were in midair with nowhere to dodge, and were caught squarely in Susanoo's grasp on the spot.
"Haha… Akimichi Chōza, I thank you!"
Uchiha Yasuo laughed maniacally and clenched both hands hard.
"No!"
Yamanaka Inoichi let out a miserable scream; disregarding the backlash of his secret technique, he poured chakra into it desperately, his mind crashing toward Uchiha Yasuo.
Uchiha Yasuo also went all in, driving his Mangekyō Sharingan to the extreme; his left eye once again shed blood tears from overusing its dōjutsu, and even though his head was swimming from the mental impact, he still did not loosen his clenched hands.
The shadow whip with which Nara Shikaku tried to resist had not the slightest effect under Susanoo's palms and was easily crushed apart, shattering and dispersing like a web.
With a wet pop, two masses of flesh and blood burst between Susanoo's fingers, scattering through the air and splashing everywhere.
"Haha…"
Uchiha Yasuo's laughter grew even more deranged. He slowly opened his palms, showing the bloody mush that was slowly running down his ten fingers to Akimichi Chōza, who was forced to one knee and unable to lift his head under "Shinra Tensei."
"Hey, Akimichi Chōza, your good brothers are already meat paste!"
"What are you even resisting for!"
"Hurry up and revert, and turn into meat paste along with them!"
"Haha…"
"Damn it!" Akimichi Chōza's eyes were blood-red, as if he had opened the Ketsuryūgan, bracing against the pressure of "Shinra Tensei" as he tried to get up and launch an attack at Uchiha Yasuo.
But his body only swayed once before being heavily pressed down again; he spewed mouthful after mouthful of blood, the butterfly wings completely shattered, and his massive body slowly shrank.
His body finally reached its limit, utterly crushed by the heavy pressure.
His remaining chakra turned into specks of phosphorescence and dispersed into the air; the fire of life was like a guttering candle in the wind, liable to go out at any moment.
Without his protection, the remaining Konohagakure shinobi could not hold out even for a moment. They were all crushed to the ground by the tremendous pressure, bones breaking and tendons snapping, suffering heavy casualties as miserable screams rose one after another.
Pain stood silently in midair, quietly watching their wretched state, savoring their current agony. In the Rinnegan, there was neither sorrow nor joy.
He was merely waiting for the cooldown time of "Shinra Tensei" to pass—once he followed up with another strike, he could annihilate them all.
But suddenly his brow furrowed as he raised his head toward the massive sphere in the sky.
Everyone followed his gaze, only to see that the stone sphere, which had been perfectly sealed, was now violently trembling, covered in cracks as threads of fiery red chakra leaked out from within.
The Nine Tails was breaking the seal?
How could that be possible?
Others might not know, but Uchiha Yasuo knew very well.
This Rinnegan dōjutsu was among the most powerful in the entire ninja world.
Once sealed by "Chibaku Tensei," let alone the Nine Tails—even the Rabbit Goddess Ōtsutsuki Kaguya wouldn't be able to escape!
Could it be that Pain had used too little chakra?
Precisely because he understood, it was all the more unbelievable.
Under everyone's astonished gazes, the sealing stone sphere suddenly exploded, and a figure appeared before their eyes—a small build, yellow hair—it seemed to be the previous Nine Tails Jinchūriki.
Yet the calm, unfamiliar eyes and the tame, golden-red Nine Tails chakra cloak on his body now proclaimed that this person was no longer the original Uzumaki Naruto.
Pain frowned slightly, but paid it no mind.
Just a child—so what if he had tamed the Nine Tails?
Could he possibly contend against the power of a god?
He raised his hand slightly, preparing to unleash another "Chibaku Tensei" to settle the matter once and for all.
But unexpectedly, that figure flickered in midair and suddenly vanished into thin air—when he reappeared, he was already beside the gravely wounded Akimichi Chōza.
That speed was so fast that even the Rinnegan struggled to capture it, leaving only a golden afterimage in the air.
Akimichi Chōza forced his eyes open with effort, and when his gaze met Uzumaki Naruto's, he saw within them that gentle and familiar light. That look transcended time and space, perfectly overlapping with a figure from his memories.
"Fourth-sama…" he groaned instinctively.
...
The suddenly appearing Namikaze Minato, who had already died, made everyone freeze in disbelief.
Except for Aburame Torune.
For Root shinobi, completing the mission was the top priority—nothing else mattered.
The Root ninja who had been killed by the blast of "Shinra Tensei" didn't matter, and the sudden "resurrection" of the Fourth Hokage didn't matter either.
The only thing that mattered was completing Danzō-sama's mission—killing that evil Uchiha!
So, at the very moment Uchiha Yasuo turned his gaze toward him, Aburame Torune immediately launched a surprise attack.
A complete-body Susanoo was originally a power that could only be used after synthesizing the Eternal Mangekyō, but Uchiha Yasuo, by relying on the special nature of his dōjutsu, had forcibly manifested it. The price, however, was that this technique consumed an enormous amount of chakra.
First, he had been blasted once inside a confined space by human bombs; then, after releasing the Nine Tails, Konan's explosion tags had bombarded without mercy, covering him entirely in their blasts.
To reduce the area of the bombardment, he had no choice but to cancel his Susanoo and, relying on the Mangekyō Sharingan's powerful perception, dodge Konan's rain of explosion tags.
After that came Pain's turn, and "Shinra Tensei" was another indiscriminate attack that struck everyone. Naturally, he wouldn't have activated Susanoo at that time just to shield the people of Konoha.
As a result, when Aburame Torune launched his surprise attack, his body was unprotected by Susanoo—his defense was at its weakest.
However, the Mangekyō Sharingan's powerful perception allowed him to detect the assault the moment Aburame Torune closed in. In haste, he swiftly drew his blade to block.
With a metallic clang, the two blades collided. A purple trace quickly spread from the point of contact, in an instant covering more than half the blade.
Those were the rapidly proliferating nanoscopic insects!
Uchiha Yasuo hurriedly released his grip and threw the sword away, flicked his left hand to launch a shuriken to distract the enemy, and leapt backward to create distance and activate Susanoo.
But Aburame Torune also knew that once Susanoo was activated again, he would completely lose this chance. Ignoring everything else, he let the shuriken pierce his body without the slightest care, clinging tightly to Uchiha Yasuo's moving form without letting go.
He punched and kicked, even ramming his body upward; every attack carried the desperate resolve of mutual destruction, aiming to make the Rinkaichū on his body come into contact with Uchiha Yasuo's body.
Seeing his objective so clear, Uchiha Yasuo immediately abandoned the idea of activating Susanoo, and did not use any ninjutsu; he merely threw shuriken at him one by one. Each shuriken precisely avoided vital points, deliberately prolonging this cruel cat-and-mouse game.
But in a short while, Aburame Torune's body was like a hedgehog, stuck full of shuriken, his whole body dripping with blood, covered in wounds.
Yet he remained silent, simply continuing his headlong, fierce assault.
But the taijutsu he usually took pride in held no secrets before the Mangekyō Sharingan's powerful insight.
Whenever he swung a blade or kicked, Uchiha Yasuo could predict the trajectory of his taijutsu and easily dodge.
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