Kitazawa wasn't surprised by Nagato's answer.
As things stood, there was no way he was going to be "talk-no-jutsu'd" into changing his mind. In the original story, the prerequisite for him being swayed by Uzumaki Naruto's words was that he'd first been beaten into the ground.
"Since that's the case, let's talk about something you're actually interested in."
Kitazawa smiled. "This terrain is wide open—perfect for a spar. If you beat me, I'll hand over the Seven-Tails and the Nine-Tails."
"You're sensible."
Deva Path Pain's voice was flat.
"But if you lose, the Akatsuki joins Konoha," Kitazawa added.
"A god doesn't lose."
Deva Path Pain said it with absolute confidence.
"Then… please."
Kitazawa stopped wasting words, raised a hand, and invited him in.
Flaming Arrow Warhead!
The first to strike wasn't Deva Path—it was Asura Path.
Asura Path was essentially a puppet, its whole body rebuilt into a living weapon. It separated its wrist from its forearm and yanked out a string of missiles from inside its arm.
The missiles shot into the air, all locking onto Kitazawa.
In the original story, this was the technique Asura Path used to blow apart huge swaths of Konoha's buildings.
Combined Ninjutsu: Lightning Water Dragon Bullet!
Kitazawa clapped his hands together. A massive lightning dragon slammed into the incoming missiles.
BOOM!
The missiles detonated, shredding the lightning dragon into pieces.
And right then, a sharp howl cut through the air behind him.
A gigantic chameleon appeared out of nowhere and snapped its jaws at him.
A summon—called in by the Animal Path.
Monster Strength!
Kitazawa spun and threw a punch.
His fist hit the chameleon's teeth first—cracking them—then drove into the inside of its mouth.
The sheer force burst outward like a storm. The chameleon was blasted backward, sent flying.
Chakra Devour!
Preta Path flashed behind Kitazawa at terrifying speed.
It raised both hands and grabbed for his shoulders.
A suction force surged from its palms, making the chakra inside Kitazawa's body ripple and destabilize.
Leaf Body Flicker!
Kitazawa vanished from the spot.
Preta Path's grab whiffed—empty air.
Warhead Tracking!
Asura Path instantly targeted the leaf that Kitazawa had transformed into and launched a homing missile.
Summoning Jutsu: Hell Crab!
Animal Path slapped the ground, summoning a colossal crab.
The moment Kitazawa landed, the homing missile arrived right in front of his face.
Water Release: Wild Bubble Wave!
At the same time, the Hell Crab spewed an enormous flood of bubbles, sealing off the space around Kitazawa.
Wood Release: Nativity of a World of Trees!
Kitazawa clapped his hands again. The ground shuddered.
In the middle of the desert, countless trees erupted upward—and in the blink of an eye, a forest had formed.
Branches surged. Vines exploded outward like spears, piercing the homing missile.
The missile detonated with a muffled thump.
The chakra shockwaves from the blast were blocked completely by the branches and vines.
And the surrounding bubbles were punctured as well, burst apart by the same living wood.
When the branches and vines lunged toward the Six Paths of Pain, Deva Path finally lifted his hand.
Shinra Tensei!
An invisible repulsive force spread outward in all directions.
Every branch and vine rushing toward him was blown away.
Asura Attack!
Asura Path's head split open, firing a laser blast.
In an instant, the nearby forest was engulfed—and amid thunderous crashes, it was obliterated.
"Wood Release is nothing special."
Deva Path Pain looked at the huge clearing he and Asura Path had carved out in a moment and spoke calmly.
Kitazawa clapped his hands again.
The destroyed forest surged back to life, sprouting wildly. The empty space was quickly swallowed by newborn trees.
Banshō Ten'in!
Deva Path didn't bother with the forest anymore.
In his eyes, Nativity of a World of Trees lacked killing power. The only troublesome part was its regeneration.
A powerful gravitational pull erupted, locking onto Kitazawa.
His body was yanked forward uncontrollably, flying toward Deva Path.
Flying Thunder God Technique!
Kitazawa vanished without warning.
Deva Path's eyes narrowed as he instinctively scanned his surroundings.
Kitazawa reappeared standing atop the chameleon's head.
When he'd punched it earlier, he'd left a Flying Thunder God mark inside its mouth.
Wood Release: Wood Dragon Technique!
Kitazawa clapped his hands.
A seed shot from the ground and grew at insane speed, becoming a gigantic wooden dragon—hook-nosed, covered in spikes.
The moment it formed, it wrapped around the chameleon and crushed it until it exploded, blood spraying everywhere.
Then it charged straight for the Hell Crab without even slowing down.
Water Release: Wild Bubble Wave!
The Hell Crab repeated the same move, spewing bubbles again.
But the wood dragon ignored the bubbles entirely.
Shinra Tensei!
Deva Path frowned slightly and lifted his hand.
A terrifying repulsive force surged toward the wood dragon.
The dragon's body jerked and froze in place—yet not even a second later, it whipped its tail and seized the Hell Crab.
Deva Path's heart jolted.
But his reaction was swift—he immediately had Animal Path summon the Hell Hound.
Unlike the other summons, the Hell Hound had an amplification trait: when it was knocked down, it split into two, and each split had the same trait.
In theory, as long as Animal Path didn't die, the Hell Hound could multiply endlessly.
Kitazawa knew that intelligence well.
The instant the Hell Hound appeared, he was already in front of Animal Path.
Supreme Ultimate Rasengan!
Kitazawa raised both hands. A Yin Release Rasengan and a Yang Release Rasengan merged—forming an enormous Supreme Ultimate Rasengan.
But at that moment, Preta Path stepped in front of Animal Path.
Sealing Technique Absorption!
Preta Path lifted both hands, creating an invisible shield.
The shield trembled—and began absorbing the Supreme Ultimate Rasengan.
Soul Extraction Technique!
Seeing Kitazawa locked in a standoff with Preta Path, Human Path lifted a hand and reached for him.
Once it grabbed him, it could rip out his soul.
Flying Thunder God Technique!
Kitazawa vanished again.
Human Path and Preta Path's attacks both missed.
Shinra Tensei!
Deva Path raised both hands.
Centered on him, repulsion swept outward—an indiscriminate, area-wide blast.
Ice Release: Ice Rock Dome of Magnificent Nothingness!
The moment Kitazawa reappeared, an ice wall rose in front of him.
The repulsive force struck it—crack—fractures spread across the ice.
Rocket Fist!
Asura Path raised its right arm.
Its right fist launched like a cannonball.
The ice wall shattered completely, and the fist kept flying straight toward Kitazawa.
Monster Strength!
Kitazawa punched, smashing the flying fist away.
The fist spun in midair, arced back—and snapped onto Asura Path's wrist again.
Flying Thunder God Technique!
That was the moment Kitazawa had been waiting for.
When their fists had collided, he'd carved a Flying Thunder God mark onto Asura Path's right fist.
Lightning Release: Twin Chidori!
Kitazawa appeared right in front of Asura Path.
Brilliant lightning flared around both hands—like two thunder blades—driving straight into Asura Path's body.
The lightning spread instantly, engulfing it.
BOOM!
Asura Path's body turned pitch black, charred through—and stopped moving.
"How annoying."
Deva Path Pain hadn't even reacted in time.
There was no helping it—the Flying Thunder God's speed was absurd.
But he didn't grieve Asura Path's destruction.
Once Asura Path was gone, its chakra would return to Deva Path.
The Six Paths were strongest when they merged as one.
In the original story, the Konoha-destroying Ultra Shinra Tensei was only possible by gathering the chakra of all six paths.
And beyond that, Naraka Path's King of Hell could restore damaged Paths.
As soon as Asura Path fell, Deva Path lifted his hand again.
Banshō Ten'in!
Gravity seized Kitazawa.
Flying Thunder God Technique!
Kitazawa reappeared directly atop the wood dragon.
Right now, the wood dragon was battling the Hell Hound.
Under the wood dragon's attacks, the Hell Hound split into more than twenty bodies in less than a minute.
Kitazawa looked at Deva Path and clapped his hands.
Yang Release Chakra Mode!
Sage Mode!
His body trembled—chakra surged explosively—and black markings appeared around his eyes.
Deva Path's pupils shrank.
In that instant, Kitazawa's threat level spiked violently. Alarm bells screamed in his mind—an unprecedented sense of danger.
"Sage Mode…?"
Deva Path thought of Jiraiya, his expression turning noticeably heavier.
Sage Art: Inorganic Reincarnation!
With a casual wave of Kitazawa's hand—
The desert shook. The sand came alive, turning into ropes that lashed out and bound every single Hell Hound.
With its freedom restored, the wood dragon immediately charged at Deva Path.
Shinra Tensei!
Deva Path's Rinnegan pulsed.
A much stronger repulsive force than before surged out in rolling waves.
The wood dragon's speed slowed sharply.
Kitazawa didn't bother with Deva Path. He looked instead at Naraka Path.
Naraka Path was repairing Asura Path.
Sage Art: Rasengan!
Kitazawa flashed in front of it with a Body Flicker.
Massive chakra poured out, compressed and spun into a gigantic blue sphere.
Boosted by Sage Mode, its power far surpassed a normal Rasengan.
Deva Path was being held up by the wood dragon and couldn't move. He urgently sent Preta Path to intercept—
But it was a step too late.
The Sage Art Rasengan smashed into Naraka Path, blowing it apart into scattered pieces.
Naraka Path had no real offense or defense.
Among the Six Paths, it served as support and healer.
Chakra Devour!
Preta Path didn't even have time to rage at Naraka Path's fall. It grabbed for Kitazawa without hesitation.
Kitazawa raised an eyebrow, suddenly thinking of something.
He turned, drew in senjutsu chakra—and pushed it straight into Preta Path.
Preta Path froze.
It didn't understand why Kitazawa was letting it absorb, but reflexively, it started devouring the senjutsu chakra anyway.
Kitazawa smiled faintly.
Nagato knew of Sage Mode, but he hadn't mastered it—and didn't truly understand it.
In the original story, Preta Path absorbed Naruto's senjutsu chakra and turned into a stone toad statue.
"Something's wrong!"
Deva Path realized it instantly.
He tried to make Preta Path stop absorbing.
Too late.
Preta Path's absorption was too powerful—within a heartbeat, it had swallowed a huge amount of Kitazawa's senjutsu chakra.
Natural energy spiraled out of control inside it, rapidly corrupting it.
In the blink of an eye, it turned to stone—frozen in place.
With Preta Path gone, Deva Path's expression finally changed.
At this point, the Six Paths of Pain were down to only Deva Path, Human Path, and Animal Path.
Summoning Jutsu!
Animal Path slapped the ground, summoning three beasts—
The Eight-Headed Bird, the Bull, and the Panda.
They rushed the wood dragon and tangled it in a chaotic melee.
Deva Path immediately turned back toward Kitazawa.
Wind Release: Rasenshuriken!
Kitazawa raised a hand.
Countless waves of wind chakra poured out.
Centered on Kitazawa, the chakra gale expanded outward, roaring.
In an instant, above his head, it formed into a massive Rasengan shaped like a shuriken.
Kitazawa hurled it.
Deva Path felt danger spike.
He shot into the air, trying to dodge the Wind Release Rasenshuriken.
At the same time, Human Path and Animal Path split off to either side.
Amenotokotachi!
Kitazawa activated his Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan.
Seizing the opening, he locked onto Human Path.
The Yin Release mark formed by Amenotokotachi could be evaded by Nagato if he had the Rinnegan intact—because the Rinnegan outranked the Eternal Mangekyō.
But right now, the Rinnegan was split across three bodies. And Nagato didn't even know what Amenotokotachi was.
Plus, Human Path was busy trying to avoid the Rasenshuriken—so the hit landed cleanly.
Kitazawa appeared behind Human Path and slammed it with a Sage Art Rasengan without mercy.
BOOM!
Human Path was blown into pieces.
Seeing this from midair, Deva Path was shocked and furious.
Without hesitation, he recalled and absorbed the remaining chakra of Animal Path himself.
With the Six Paths merged, his chakra reached its peak.
Ultra Shinra Tensei!
A world-ending repulsive force poured down like a catastrophic tidal storm.
In an instant, the sky darkened.
Wood Release: Wood Golem Technique!
Kitazawa formed seals without a second's hesitation.
A terrifying chakra wave surged skyward.
The desert shook like an earthquake.
A gigantic wooden arhats—over a hundred meters tall—erupted from the earth.
Its massive body made the desert sink, sand exploding upward in great plumes.
Kitazawa stood on the bridge of its nose and looked up.
The invisible repulsive force fell like rippling waves.
The wood golem answered in the simplest way possible:
It raised its arms, spread its huge hands, and shielded Kitazawa.
Wood Release: Wood Shield Technique!
After a moment's thought, Kitazawa summoned an additional wooden shield.
The next second, the repulsive force slammed into the shield and the golem.
A deafening roar shook heaven and earth.
At the collision point, a violent storm erupted outward, sweeping in all directions.
The desert trembled again.
The wooden arhat sank downward—
But that was all.
"Impossible!"
Deva Path stared, eyes wide, at the wooden arhat still standing tall.
Kitazawa wasn't surprised at all.
In the original story, the Wood Golem Hashirama summoned could catch the Nine-Tails' Tailed Beast Bomb with one hand.
It was an elite Wood Release technique—both offense and defense.
And Kitazawa had stacked the wood shield on top of it.
Deva Path's face sank. He formed seals again.
As a god, he would not allow himself to lose to Kitazawa.
Chibaku Tensei!
If Ultra Shinra Tensei was destruction at its extreme, then Chibaku Tensei was that destruction plus a horrifying sealing power.
A small black sphere rose above Deva Path's head.
The moment it stopped, it erupted with incomparable gravitational pull.
Everything—sand, and even the trees Kitazawa had summoned—was dragged upward.
The black sphere became like a black hole, devouring earth and sky.
Kitazawa felt his body being pulled skyward against his will.
He immediately drew the Jinglong Bow.
World-Ending Arrow!
He could've simply escaped with Flying Thunder God, but there was no need.
He knew Chibaku Tensei's weakness: the black sphere itself.
He released the string.
A Yin Release arrow shot toward the sphere at blistering speed.
The tremendous gravitational pull became its acceleration—almost instantly, the arrow was dragged right up to the sphere.
BOOM!
Endless chakra erupted from the arrow.
A blast beyond imagination detonated.
The World-Ending Arrow—comparable to a Tailed Beast Bomb—unleashed power that could tear mountains and seas apart, engulfing Chibaku Tensei completely.
In the original story, Edo Tensei Nagato used Chibaku Tensei.
It took Killer B's Tailed Beast Bomb, Naruto's Rasenshuriken, and Itachi's Yasaka Magatama together to break it.
But the current Nagato was far weaker than his Edo Tensei self.
Far away, at the oasis—
Nagato suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood.
After firing Ultra Shinra Tensei and Chibaku Tensei back-to-back, his body could no longer withstand the monstrous chakra drain.
Konan's eyes widened in disbelief.
Because she was protecting Nagato's real body, she didn't know how the battle was going.
But from the way Nagato was spitting blood, it looked like Kitazawa had the upper hand.
It was the first time she'd ever seen Nagato so battered.
Ever since awakening the Rinnegan, he had been unstoppable—god slaying gods, Buddha smashing Buddhas.
"I am a god! I won't lose!"
Nagato ignored Konan, his face twisted with fury.
In the distance, Deva Path roared and instantly formed seals.
Summoning Jutsu!
Heaven and earth shook. Amid smoke, a monster even larger than the wooden arhat appeared.
It was humanoid, with nine eyes on its face, bark-dead coloration, and ten pillar-like protrusions rising from its back.
The Gedo Statue—the shell of the Ten-Tails.
Only when the Gedo Statue merged with all nine tailed beasts would it become the Ten-Tails.
Right now, it was only about one-third of a Ten-Tails—because it still lacked the Seven-Tails and the Nine-Tails.
Chakra Dragon!
The moment it appeared, the Gedo Statue spat out a gigantic dragon.
The dragon flew out like a chain.
The wooden arhat immediately reached out and grabbed it.
A force beyond belief surged through, dragging the wooden arhat forward against its will.
Kitazawa instantly understood what the Gedo Statue was trying to do.
It wanted to devour the wooden arhat.
As the former Ten-Tails, it possessed the ability to swallow chakra itself.
"See that?! This is the power of a god!"
Deva Path hovered midair, arms spread wide, shouting.
Having his Ultra Shinra Tensei and Chibaku Tensei both broken had humiliated him.
He desperately needed to restore face—prove he was still the invincible god.
"God's power?"
Kitazawa smiled. "Then I guess it's time I used all of my strength."
Deva Path's expression froze.
What?
This still wasn't all your power?
Impossible!
He stared at Kitazawa, refusing to believe it.
Yin Seal: Release!
Senju Chakra Mode!
Sage Art: Wood Release—True Several Thousand Hands!
A tidal ocean of chakra erupted from Kitazawa.
Centered on him, a storm formed out of thin air—
And in the next second, it was ripped apart.
The entire sky turned gloomy.
Deva Path lifted his head without thinking.
It wasn't the sky darkening—
A colossal Thousand-Armed Kannon statue had blocked it out.
"Th-this… what is that?"
Deva Path's pupils shook violently as he stared at the Kannon, its size not inferior to the Gedo Statue.
His worldview shattered on the spot.
The Gedo Statue was the Ten-Tails' shell—how could there be a Kannon statue that rivaled a Ten-Tails?
"Big size doesn't mean anything!"
Deva Path shouted.
He immediately controlled the Gedo Statue to ram forward.
The Thousand-Armed Kannon extended countless arms.
The Gedo Statue slammed into its palms—air currents exploded, thunderous roars shaking the world.
But what shocked Deva Path was that the Kannon actually stopped the Gedo Statue cold.
No matter how hard the Gedo Statue pushed, it couldn't advance even half an inch.
"How is this possible…?"
Deva Path went blank.
And then, every one of the Kannon's arms began to move.
Tailed Beast Bomb!
Sensing disaster, Deva Path immediately used the Gedo Statue's strongest attack.
The Gedo Statue lifted its head and opened its mouth.
A black sphere condensed to the absolute extreme formed inside.
Chakra currents spread in all directions. Winds rose. Clouds churned. Terrifying power brewed.
Top Transformed Buddha!
Perfect Susanoo!
Kitazawa stared at the Tailed Beast Bomb without changing expression.
A heavy, sinister aura spread across the Thousand-Armed Kannon.
In a blink, it became armor plating.
Then the Kannon clenched its fist and hammered downward.
One fist alone was the size of a tailed beast—now imagine a thousand.
The sky became a sea of fists.
Deva Path's entire field of view was nothing but those descending blows.
Even though he was a controlled corpse, he felt a choking pressure.
The Tailed Beast Bomb struck first—
The world froze for a heartbeat.
Then a visible tsunami of chakra chaos burst outward.
But before it could expand, it was met by an endless barrage of fists.
The Tailed Beast Bomb shattered.
The Gedo Statue was buried under fists and immediately screamed.
Shinra Tensei!
Deva Path reflexively raised his hand.
But the repulsive force did nothing.
He was struck by a fist and blown away.
The Gedo Statue collapsed.
Under its overwhelming mass, the desert erupted into a sandstorm.
Sand filled the sky, whipping in every direction.
Within dozens of kilometers, the terrain was violently reshaped—the desert sank, forming a bottomless crater.
Kitazawa shook his head.
This Nagato still wasn't enough to make him feel satisfied.
Far away, at the oasis—
Nagato opened his mouth and vomited a huge pool of blood.
His face turned deathly pale. Every ounce of strength left his body, and he slumped.
"Nagato?!"
Konan caught him instinctively.
Staring at the utterly drained Nagato, her heart was filled with shock.
The invincible Nagato… lost?
Kitazawa actually won?
Kitazawa's figure flashed through Konan's mind, and she froze—dazed.
"I… I'm a god… I can't…"
Nagato gasped for air, his voice weak and soft.
His face held unwillingness—but even more, disbelief.
He, who called himself a god, had lost this badly.
"Can we talk now?"
Kitazawa's body appeared suddenly.
Konan had a Flying Thunder God mark on her, so he could arrive instantly.
Nagato's face changed drastically when he saw him.
For the first time since Yahiko died, real fear rose in his heart.
Konan looked at Kitazawa with pleading eyes.
"Relax. I won't kill you."
Kitazawa smiled faintly, then reminded him, "Don't forget the bet we just made."
Nagato remembered immediately.
If he lost, the Akatsuki would have to join Konoha.
In that instant, his emotions became impossibly complicated.
~~~
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