Chapter 71: Shinra Tensei!
Pain Deva Path's pale palm was aimed straight at the thousands of Konoha Ninjas below.
"Shinra Tensei."
There were no fancy light effects, nor any violent explosions of Chakra.
Nara Shikaku only felt a "pop" in his eardrums, as if he had been instantly dragged into the deep sea ten thousand meters down. Immediately after, an invisible wall of high-pressure air erupted in a fan shape, centered on Pain.
Rumble—!
The earth wailed.
The thick layer of earth was like a carpet casually flipped over by a naughty child, rolling up mud, turf, shrubs, and century-old trees, pushing them back in a neat wave.
Those Konoha Ninjas, who had been clamoring to charge just moments ago, didn't even have time to form hand seals before they felt as if their chests had been struck hard by a battering ram.
It wasn't force applied to a single point, but rather every cell in their bodies suffering an irresistible violent repulsion at the same time.
Human bodies, shuriken, rocks, great trees... all matter was equal in this moment, all turning into withered leaves swept up by a gale.
"Waaaaah—!"
"My leg! My leg is broken!"
"What kind of monster is this—!"
The screams were swallowed by the massive roar as soon as they left their mouths.
It was a pure manifestation of physical laws—brutal, domineering, and unreasonable.
Their vision spun wildly in an instant.
Nara Shikaku felt like a rag doll thrown into a washing machine, his body tumbling uncontrollably in mid-air. He slammed into and broke a large tree, then was slapped dozens of meters away like a fly by the airwave carrying mud.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Thousands of Ninjas crashed into the muddy water like dumplings being dropped into a pot, piling on top of each other in extremely pathetic states.
It wasn't until three seconds later that the world-destroying power finally dissipated.
Rain began to fall again, hitting the terrifyingly silent battlefield.
Nara Shikaku struggled to pull his head out of a mud pit, coughing violently and spitting out a mouthful of blood and sand.
His voice was hoarse as he struggled to stand, only to find his legs shaking violently—the biological instinct of fear towards an apex predator.
He looked up.
His mind went blank instantly.
He saw that the border line where the two armies had faced off had completely disappeared.
In its place was a massive, semi-circular zone of absolute emptiness.
All the trees and rocks had been brutally pushed a hundred meters away, piling up into a "trash wall" several meters high.
And the three thousand troops of Konoha were now all lying behind this "trash wall," like neatly sorted garbage.
There were no corpses strewn everywhere.
Aside from a few unlucky souls who broke bones, most people had only suffered internal injuries and superficial wounds.
Hanzou had held back.
Shikaku snapped his gaze toward the high platform.
Pain Deva Path still stood there, his black robe with red clouds without a single wrinkle, his hand slowly lowering.
A hundred meters in front of his feet, three feet of the ground had been scraped away, revealing the pale, hard bedrock beneath and forming a straight, striking dividing line.
Rainwater slid down Shikaku's cheeks, mixing with cold sweat and dripping into his collar.
The strategist of Konoha, after a brief mental freeze, began to think frantically.
Flattening three thousand people with a single blow.
And that was while holding back. If the opponent had intended to kill, this Konoha vanguard would be having their funerals right now.
The opponent had not only demonstrated nuclear-level power but also something even more daunting—absolute control.
He didn't want to kill.
At least, not yet.
"Huff... huff..."
Beside him, Akimichi Choza used his iron staff to pull himself up. Looking at the miraculous empty zone ahead, his usually arrogant fat face was covered in cold sweat: "Shikaku... this battle can't be fought. It's just suicide."
"I know."
Shikaku stared intently at those six pairs of Rinnegan, his nails digging into his palms.
Is this the current confidence of the Hidden Rain Village?
If they disregarded the cost, Konoha could certainly call for reinforcements, have Hokage-sama come in person, or even mobilize the entire village's strength for a siege.
But what would be the consequences of doing that?
Mutual destruction.
And then let Iwagakure and Sunagakure sit back and watch the show, eventually attacking Konoha's gates and recreating the life-or-death moment of Kikyo Mountain?
Squandering all of Konoha's resources just to borrow a path is something only a brainless fool would do.
"Issue the order." Shikaku gritted his teeth and made a decision.
"Shikaku-sama?" Several Jonin with mud-covered faces gathered around. Though they were unwilling, the fear in their eyes couldn't be hidden.
"The entire army is to retreat five li and set up camp."
Shikaku took a deep breath, forcing his voice to sound calm and calculating: "Send the wounded back. Since the Hidden Rain Village doesn't want us to pass, we won't be the suckers here."
"But... the mission..."
"Idiot!" Shikaku cursed under his breath, "Use your head! With these monsters blocking the way, if we can't pass, can the Iwa ninjas to the north and the Suna ninjas to the south pass?"
The surrounding Ninjas were stunned for a moment, and their eyes gradually lit up.
Shikaku wiped the mud from his face and looked at the cold figure on the platform, a self-deprecating smile appearing on his face.
It was the relief of a clever man who had seen through the situation.
"Hanzou wants to implement 'armed neutrality'."
"He drew this red line not just for Konoha, but for everyone."
"Since the Land of Rain wants to be this stubborn, hard stone, let them be!"
Shikaku's thoughts became clearer, and the pleasure of intellectual superiority overrode his sense of defeat: "We'll just watch from here! Watch how the Iwa ninjas and Sunagakure get their heads smashed against those monsters!"
This was Nara Shikaku.
Able to quickly find the optimal solution in a desperate situation—if you can't beat him, use him!
As the retreat order was issued, the Konoha army felt as if they had received a grand pardon.
Though they were in a sorry state, they moved extremely fast. Even the wounded were quickly carried on backs. Everyone's gaze toward those six freaks in red-cloud robes was filled with awe and the relief of having survived a disaster.
On the high platform.
Watching the Konoha army retreat like a ebbing tide, Sasori of the Red Sand, lying inside hiruko, clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction, like seeing a cooked duck fly away.
"Leaving already? I haven't even had my fun yet."
Sasori controlled the Third Kazekage Puppet, looking with some regret at those fresh "materials" as they moved away.
"Our purpose is not slaughter, but to make them feel Pain."
Pain Deva Path turned, his black robe fluttering in the wind: "Only by letting them feel Pain will they learn to be in awe. Now, the seeds of fear have been planted."
Sasori snorted coldly, "So we're just going to sit here and whistle in the wind?"
"No."
Pain looked to the north, the direction from which Iwagakure was advancing.
"To the north, Yahiko and Konan have already gone."
"As for the south..."
In Pain's inorganic Rinnegan, there wasn't much worry; instead, there was a hint of pity for the enemy.
"Those guys from the Hidden Sand Village will probably regret ever coming into this world."
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