The massive flaming tornado—towering more than ten meters high—easily smashed through the wall in front of it with overwhelming force, then continued unabated as it swept into the Sealing Team headquarters.
The Preta Path and the Animal Path had already sensed the siblings' chakra fluctuations, yet they failed to evade in time.
They had been careless—or rather, Nagato, the one controlling them, had been careless. His attention was focused on the battle involving the rest of Akatsuki, and he did not deal with the situation here in time. Subconsciously, he believed that the defensive ninjutsu inside the Sealing Team headquarters would be strong enough.
What he failed to realize was that he was facing the two little monsters of the Hoshiyomi family. They gave the Pains no chance to escape—raising their hands and unleashing an S-rank combination ninjutsu right away.
When the Flame Blade Storm tore apart the Sealing Team's defensive techniques, the three Pains had already lost their best chance to flee. Having missed the critical window and being trapped inside the Sealing Team compound, there was nowhere for them to dodge or escape.
Faced with the terrifying fire tornado, the three Pains were swallowed up without even a struggle.
The entire Sealing Team headquarters was reduced to ashes by Ryūshin and Rinne's S-rank combination technique. The massive flaming tornado surged skyward, leaving the people of Konoha staring in stunned silence.
At the same time, all the summoned beasts—whether already dead or still struggling desperately—vanished in puffs of smoke.
Seeing the summoned beasts disappear so abruptly, the people of Konoha froze for a moment before quickly realizing what had happened. The caster must have been killed by that flaming tornado, causing all the summons to disperse.
After a brief exchange of words, everyone began moving toward the Sealing Team's location in unison. They wanted to see for themselves who the Konoha hero responsible for such a feat was.
Meanwhile, outside the village, Kuugetsu and the others rushing back toward Konoha also spotted the flaming tornado rising within the village. Mistaking it for one of Pain's techniques, their expressions changed drastically as they accelerated toward the Sealing Team's direction.
The two groups arrived at nearly the same time. Looking at the devastated scene—and at the four exhausted people and one wolf collapsed on the ground—there was a chorus of jaws dropping in disbelief.
...
As the destruction within Konoha came to an end, the battle outside the village was also nearing its conclusion.
Led by Hoshiyomi's explosive charge, Konoha's all-star lineup stopped holding back and unleashed their full strength.
Hidan, already gravely wounded, managed to escape the ice with the help of the Preta Path, but he was still unable to put up any meaningful resistance. From start to finish, he was completely toyed with by Shikaku and Haku.
In the end, he was cut into pieces scattered across the ground, frozen into chunks of ice. With his own strength alone, there was no way for him to reassemble himself.
The battle between Mangetsu and Sakumo also ended quickly. Facing Sakumo's speed—nearly comparable to that of the Fourth Raikage—Mangetsu, who relied on the Hydrification Technique, had no room to fight back. Without teammates to support him, he was swiftly defeated.
The Giant Crustacean fared no better. Despite its massive size, it was no match for Kakashi's Raikiri and Lightning Release blade techniques, and it was brutally chopped into a "crab platter."
The Giant Rhino met a similar fate. Against a monster like Kimimaro—whose entire body was made of bones—the lumbering summon stood no chance. After a brief struggle, it was impaled by Kimimaro's Dance of the Seedling Fern, turned into a rhino pincushion.
Ameyuri faced Minato and was completely suppressed by speed. After holding on for quite some time, she finally revealed a fatal opening and was instantly killed by Minato.
Konan's Paper Release was utterly ineffective against Jiraiya's Toad Oil. Once she was drenched in it, her defeat was inevitable.
Kisame and Orochimaru traded blows for a long while, but in the end, Kisame fell to Orochimaru's arsenal of bizarre and varied ninjutsu.
The Preta Path's chakra-absorbing ability was indeed formidable, but encountering a monster like Might Guy spelled certain doom. After a barrage of Konoha Strong Fists, the Preta Path was beaten straight into oblivion.
The Asura Path met an equally miserable end. Shin's Mangekyō Sharingan allowed him to control metal, and with weapons covering his entire body, he was utterly dominated by Shin's abilities before finally being melted into molten iron by Pakura's Scorch Release.
At this point, all members of Akatsuki had been defeated except for the Deva Path Pain.
On the other side, the Deva Path's situation was hardly optimistic.
The Deva Path Pain was undoubtedly the strongest member of Akatsuki. However, even at his strongest, he was only at the "beyond-Kage" level. Facing Hoshiyomi—who could enter a Six Paths–level state at any moment—he was still completely outclassed.
Moreover, the Deva Path's techniques were actually quite limited. Over and over again, it was just Shinra Tensei and Banshō Ten'in, at most adding Chō Shinra Tensei. Even Chō Shinra Tensei couldn't be used freely, as he had to worry about killing the other Akatsuki members present, as well as Konan.
Hoshiyomi was immune to Banshō Ten'in, and with spatial techniques like the Dance of the Startled Swan, he could evade Shinra Tensei as well. After just a few exchanges, the Deva Path had already been driven to a dead end.
Hoshiyomi originally wanted to end the fight quickly and rush back to the village to provide support, but then Minato—who had dealt with Ameyuri, returned to the village via Flying Thunder God to gather information, and then teleported back—reported that all the problems inside the village had already been resolved.
This finally allowed Hoshiyomi to breathe a sigh of relief. Once he confirmed that his family was safe, he relaxed completely.
With a calm expression, Hoshiyomi pointed his Mikazuki Munechika at the tattered, fallen Deva Path and spoke:
"Anything else you'd like to say, so-called 'god'?"
In a forest somewhere outside the Land of Fire, the emaciated Nagato received the streams of information sent back by the Six Paths of Pain and slammed his hand angrily against the massive machine supporting his body.
How is this possible? The invincible Six Paths of Pain... completely annihilated. The Akatsuki members are also either dead or injured, all incapacitated.
How did things come to this? Akatsuki clearly possessed power sufficient to overturn the world. Yet now we've lost to Konoha.
Could it be that my dreams all these years were just empty talk?
No, impossible! This isn't real! I haven't lost yet! Having been a god for over a decade, suddenly facing total defeat in a single day—how could Nagato accept such an outcome?
I still have my final trump card. I still have the Chibaku Tensei that can seal everything!
At the thought of Chibaku Tensei, Nagato's Rinnegan pulsed violently, and an uncontrollable urge arose within him to use it to wipe out all of Konoha.
But the very next moment, he abandoned the idea.
He couldn't do it—because Konan was still there. If he used Chibaku Tensei, Konan would never survive.
He could kill anyone in this world, but no matter what, he could never harm Konan.
She was his savior, his only companion through all the darkest years of his life, and the sole angel in the heart of a man whose hands were drenched in blood.
For Konan's safety, he absolutely could not use Chibaku Tensei.
If that was the case… did that mean he had to personally acknowledge the end of Akatsuki?
Just as Nagato was at a loss over what to do, Jiraiya—standing beside Hoshiyomi—suddenly spoke:
"Nagato, you can hear me right now, can't you?"
...
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