Nagato raised his hand as the lightning crashed towards him, an instinctive feeling telling him he could absorb it. Instead of burning him to ash, the lightning bent—dragged toward his palm as if obeying him.
In an instant, the attack dissolved into streams of energy, absorbed directly into him.
A new realization clicked.
So that's it… These "Devil Fruits" produce an energy that mimics chakra—just crude, unrefined. And my Rinnegan… can absorb it.
The last sparks faded as Nagato lowered his hand.
Across the ruined clearing, Enel stood frozen mid-smirk, his expression twisting from arrogance into something closer to disbelief.
"You… absorbed my lightning?" Enel's voice laced with shock. "Impossible. That was the power of a god."
Nagato stepped forward, the ground creaking under the pressure of his chakra.
"No," he said calmly. "It was merely energy. And energy can be absorbed by a true God.."
Enel's eye twitched, disbelief morphing into irritation.
"Hmph. Absorb this then."
His body dissolved into pure lightning, vanishing with a crack of thunder. In less than a heartbeat he reappeared behind Nagato, arm already outstretched, a spear of blinding light forming in his palm.
"Shandorian Judgement!"
The beam fired point-blank.
Nagato didn't bother turning his head.He calmly outstretched his hand.
The attack bent mid-air, unraveling into harmless strands of energy that flowed into his palm.
Enel's confident grin shattered.
"What—?! I moved at lightning speed! You shouldn't even be able to see—"
"I can see everything," Nagato replied, voice flat. "These are the eyes of God."
He flicked his wrist.
A gravitational pulse erupted. Enel's form was ripped out of lightning mode and slammed into the earth hard enough to crater it. His body vibrated, sparks sputtering wildly as he struggled to reform.
Nagato walked forward, unhurried.
Enel snarled, forcing himself up. "Don't mock me! I am—"
He vanished again, bouncing across the battlefield in blinding flashes. Every reappearance came with a new attack—bolts, spears, arcs of cutting electricity.
Nagato absorbed them all without taking a step.
Enel's breathing grew ragged. His lightning dimmed.
"Tsk… you can't absorb everything."
He rose into the sky, arms spread as a massive orb of electricity swelled above him—his Raigo, the divine thunderball that could erase an entire island.
Clouds spiraled violently around it.
"This is the wrath of a GOD!"
Nagato looked up, unimpressed.
"And this is the futility of a pretender."
He lifted his hand.
The entire Raigo shuddered—then collapsed inward, its energy violently siphoned away as if the sky itself was being devoured. Enel screamed as the pull seized him next, dragging chunks of his lightning form into Nagato's hand.
"No—NO! STOP—!"
He fell from the sky like a dead weight, crashing through broken trees. His entire body flickered, barely holding together, half of his stamina and lightning form drained dry.
Nagato stood over him.
"Your power is impressive," Nagato said calmly. "But borrowed strength will never surpass true mastery."
Enel looked up, trembling, the fear finally sinking in. "W-What… are you…?"
Nagato's expression didn't change.
"Someone far closer to godhood than you will ever be."