"Everyone, attack with all your might!" After issuing this grave command to the Akatsuki members gathered around him, Nagato controlled the Six Paths of Pain to charge directly at Jizo. The six Pain puppets, with Tendo Pain at their center, spread out slightly as they rushed forward rapidly.
The Asura Path's wrists and forearms detached, and from the severed sections of its limbs, it produced a chain of missiles, immediately firing a barrage at Jizo's giant Susanoo. The Animal Path, meanwhile, blurred through a rapid series of hand seals, then slammed its palms onto the ground. A massive, demonic fighting bull was instantly summoned forth. The summoned bull bellowed and charged fiercely towards Tatsuya and the others positioned behind Jizo's Susanoo.
Seeing the Six Paths of Pain charging out, Kagutsuchi and Suijin's forms flickered, and they immediately moved to intercept them. On the hilltop, only Tatsuya remained, standing still and observant.
Opposite them, behind the advancing Six Paths of Pain, Kakuzu, Hidan, Kisame Hoshigaki, and Uchiha Hiroomi did not engage immediately. Uchiha Hiroomi tilted his head back, staring up at the massive fourth-stage Susanoo, his expression incredibly grim. The strength of this Uchiha from the Divine Court was clearly far greater than his own. The sheer intensity of the ocular power emanating from Jizo was terrifying. Facing such an opponent, Uchiha Hiroomi found he completely lacked the courage to even consider a direct confrontation.
His gaze couldn't help but shift to the other Divine Court members standing behind Jizo, and when his eyes landed on Tatsuya, a bone-chilling, venomous hatred flared within them. How could a noble Uchiha ever submit to another! Driven by this indignant thought, Uchiha Hiroomi drew the longsword from his waist and, with a defiant cry, was the first to charge out.
Behind him, Kakuzu and Kisame Hoshigaki watched Uchiha Hiroomi, the first to break ranks. Judging by his trajectory, he was heading straight for the Divine Court's leader. Both their faces held somewhat strange, almost pitying expressions. This fool really overestimates himself, actually daring to directly challenge the Divine Court's leader! What an idiot.
With Uchiha Hiroomi taking the lead, Kakuzu, Kisame Hoshigaki, and Hidan no longer waited and charged out after him. However, the three of them astutely did not choose Tatsuya as their opponent. Instead, they veered off, charging towards Kagutsuchi and Suijin respectively. Even the impulsive and arrogant Hidan possessed enough sense to recognize that the Divine Court's leader, this "Ryujin," was clearly not someone to be trifled with. If the other members of the Divine Court were already this overwhelmingly strong, how powerful must their leader be?
"Heh heh, still haven't learned your lesson, have you?" Watching Uchiha Hiroomi charge straight towards him like a moth to a flame, Tatsuya let out a soft, scornful laugh and murmured under his breath. Swoosh! After speaking, his figure flickered, and he moved directly to meet Uchiha Hiroomi's reckless charge. Facing Uchiha Hiroomi, Tatsuya didn't have to worry about exposing his true identity. Although Uchiha Hiroomi had awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan, according to the intelligence gathered by Ansei Hall, judging from his few recorded engagements, his Mangekyo Sharingan probably didn't possess any overly heaven-defying or unique abilities.
With a single Body Flicker Technique, Tatsuya's figure appeared ahead of the demonic fighting bull summoned by the Animal Path. He threw a punch. Bang! The bull's massive head was smashed hard into the ground by this single, devastating blow, kicking up a huge cloud of dust and debris.
Having heavily injured the bull with one punch, Tatsuya's figure flickered again in mid-air. This time, Tatsuya had arrived directly in front of Uchiha Hiroomi.
So fast! Seeing Tatsuya suddenly appear before him, Uchiha Hiroomi was inwardly startled, and he pushed the power of his Mangekyo Sharingan to its absolute limit. He swung his sword in a desperate arc, aiming for Tatsuya's vitals.
Not a bad reaction! Beneath his mask, a look of utter contempt appeared on Tatsuya's face. Then, Earth-style chakra rapidly surged within his body, coalescing to form a hardened layer of dense earth over his right fist.
CLANG!
The sword and Tatsuya's fist collided with a piercing, metallic shriek, as if the finely honed blade had struck an unyielding slab of a mountain.
"What is this?!" Uchiha Hiroomi's pupils constricted violently. Looking at Tatsuya's completely undamaged fist, his face filled with shocked disbelief. Immediately after, he felt an immense, irresistible force travel up the hilt of his sword. Unable to maintain his grip, the sword was torn from his grasp and sent flying back towards him, Tatsuya's fist, still connected to the flat of the blade, slamming heavily into Uchiha Hiroomi's chest.
BANG!
His body shot backward like a cannonball; Tatsuya's single punch had sent Uchiha Hiroomi careening through the air. Uchiha Hiroomi's body crashed onto the ground not far away, kicking up another cloud of dust. As the dust settled, Uchiha Hiroomi, now protected by the skeletal arm of a crimson Susanoo, reappeared in Tatsuya's sight. Staring at Tatsuya in the distance, Uchiha Hiroomi's face was etched with deep wariness. In just one exchange, he had been completely and utterly overwhelmed. Even with his powerful Susanoo partially manifested, Uchiha Hiroomi didn't dare to be careless for a single moment. It was only at this point, humbled and battered, that Uchiha Hiroomi's mind began to clear slightly, and the sheer folly of his actions dawned on him. He had actually chosen the Divine Court's leader as his opponent!
Nearby, Kakuzu, Kisame Hoshigaki, and Hidan were now also engaged in fierce battle with Kagutsuchi and Suijin. Kakuzu and Hidan had teamed up against Suijin, while Kisame Hoshigaki confronted Kagutsuchi. They had all chosen their opponents strategically, based on known intelligence: Kisame's powerful Water Style techniques to counter Kagutsuchi's Fire Style, and the seemingly immortal duo of Kakuzu and Hidan to wear down and eventually overcome Suijin's Ice Style.
Across the makeshift battlefield, everyone was fighting with desperate intensity. However, the most ferocious and earth-shattering battle was still the one raging between the Six Paths of Pain and Jizo.
BOOM!
In the sky, a dull, rolling thunderclap sounded, and a violent, concussive gust of wind swept outwards in all directions. Tendo Pain floated serenely in the air, his outstretched right hand, which had just unleashed the attack, not yet retracted. Opposite him, Jizo's Susanoo, wielding its massive sky-blue greatsword, was forced to retreat two steps. Tendo Pain had once again repelled one of Jizo's powerful attacks with a well-timed Shinra Tensei. After its massive body skidded back, Jizo immediately directed the sky-blue giant to swing its enormous sword at Tendo Pain once more. As for the other five Pain puppets, they posed no significant threat at all to Jizo, who had already activated his formidable Susanoo.
After integrating Hashirama's cells, the potent combination of Senju and Uchiha power had greatly enhanced Jizo's physical abilities and ocular prowess. Now, even with his third-stage Susanoo, he could already clash head-on and hold his own against Tendo Pain's devastating Shinra Tensei.
BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!
After several more head-on, earth-shattering clashes, neither Tendo Pain's Shinra Tensei nor Jizo's Susanoo had managed to gain a decisive advantage. Looking at the Six Paths of Pain arrayed before him and Nagato observing from a distance, Jizo's eyes narrowed in concentration. With Nagato's real body and the Six Paths of Pain present simultaneously, the current situation made it difficult for Jizo to effectively use his Tenkei ability for a surprise, debilitating attack. If such an attack failed, the drain on his ocular power and chakra reserves would be immense.
It seems I'll have to try… that technique! With this thought, a look of grim anticipation flickered across Jizo's face.
Jizo brought his hands together in a seal before his chest. The "Yin Seal Version 2.0" within his body instantly released its stored power, and a massive, almost unimaginable torrent of chakra began to pour out of him endlessly. At the same time, Jizo pushed the ocular power in both his eyes to its absolute, terrifying limit. The Susanoo surrounding Jizo's body immediately began to undergo a dramatic and awe-inspiring transformation.
Its body elongated and grew taller at an astonishing rate, and intricate, formidable armor began to materialize and encase its exterior. A moment later, a Perfect Susanoo—nearly a hundred meters tall, completely clad in resplendent azure armor, with majestic wings unfurling from its back and equipped with two colossal longswords—appeared before everyone's disbelieving eyes.
Looking at the impossibly massive blue giant that now dominated the battlefield, all the Akatsuki members were utterly stunned into silence.
Konan, her voice barely a whisper, murmured, "It's… huge!"