"Don't take them lightly. These are all S-Rank Missing-nin. Go all out!" Tsunade loudly reminded the Ninjas behind her.
Sealing Squad's Ninjas entered various barrier points to reinforce defenses. Anbu and Jonin Team's Ninjas followed Tsunade, launching attacks against the Akatsuki.
"Meaningless struggle. Do mortals dare defy God?" Asura Path sneered.
He stepped forward, opening his arm to reveal rows of faintly glowing rocket launchers.
Seeing the enemy preparing to attack, the Jonin Team's charge faltered. Nara Shikaku, as the Jonin Team's leader, ordered the surrounding confused Ninjas, "Evade! This one's ability is launching various high-explosive weapons. Don't get hit!"
The Jonin Team's ninjas changed formation. The previously dense crowd suddenly became sparse.
Asura Path clicked his tongue. The Guided Missiles he fired exploded but had minimal effect. Just as he was about to pull out close-combat weapons from his body to engage, he was charged by Kakashi, lightning flickering on his arm, who severed one arm with a Raikiri.
"Good! Keep draining their Chakra like this!" Tsunade, grappling with the Preta Path using her monstrous strength, looked up, scanning the well-coordinated Ninjas.
The old Ino-Shika-Cho trio and the new generation cooperated to restrain Kisame and Deidara.
Shiranui Genma, Gekko Hayate, and Namiashi Raido faced off against Kurosuki Raiga, Konan, and Obito.
For a moment, Fire and Lightning Release clashed, Taijutsu and Genjutsu intertwined across the battlefield.
"Uzumaki Nagato! If you stop now, for the sake of the Uzumaki Clan's last survivor, I can let bygones be bygones!"
Tsunade flew up with a punch. A monstrous force stream erupted with Chakra. The Preta Path before her was caught off guard, its chest punched through by Tsunade.
Shattered black rods and wreckage flew back, scattering in a semicircle on the ground, making the Akatsuki's members momentarily hesitant.
"Let bygones be bygones?"
Naraka Path, protected at the rear, stepped forward, summoning an invisible King of Hell with a wave.
A giant tongue rolled up the shattered Preta Path into its mouth. After some chewing, it walked out fully restored.
"I thought you, as the granddaughter of the God of Momka, would understand the weight of our duty as gods to regulate order. Your grandfather once maintained balance among Ninja Villages with the Tailed Beasts, creating the current system."
"But with Jinchuriki mostly captured, that can't be maintained anymore. The Land of Earth and Land of Lightning are the best proof, right?"
Deva Path showed no emotion, like a corpse. He stepped forward, raising a hand towards Tsunade.
"Hand over the Nine-Tails. Then we'll control the war to achieve peace. If you assist us now, we might let you go!"
"At this point, do you think we'd still believe you?"
Tsunade clenched her fist. "Aren't you terrorists the ones trying to trample on the peaceful life our predecessors sought?"
"Don't be so arrogant!"
Pain's Rinnegan emitted a cold light. Vast Chakra transformed into a shockwave, blowing back Jonin trying to ambush him. "The so-called peace of your great nations is nothing but violence against us!"
"Indulging in false peace, not knowing killers will eventually be killed. Hatred connects both sides. Just as war always brings casualties to both, without absolute external force, the chain of hatred won't stop!"
Recalling her brother's death in war and her lover's demise, pain flashed across Tsunade's face.
She raised her fist again, roaring at Pain, "Haven't we suffered from war too?! Stop making excuses! Stop doing this!!!"
"Even if I told you I killed Jiraiya-sensei, could you still so easily speak words of forgiveness?"
Pain casually formed a hand seal, taking a severed arm from a storage scroll and tossing it before Tsunade.
"You bastard!" Tsunade's eyes turned red.
Under Chakra eruption, she stomped the ground, charging at Pain.
"Pathetic!"
Seeing Tsunade's reaction, Pain sneered. Repulsive force lifted him into the sky from beneath his feet.
Tsunade's fist brushed past him. Gritting her teeth, she looked up at the man getting closer to the sun.
"Feel pain. Contemplate pain."
"Those who do not know pain cannot understand true peace!"
Pain looked down upon all Konoha's Ninjas, his gaze sweeping over the distant Konoha Village, decorated for celebration yet now empty.
Once, that too was something he, Yahiko, and Konan exhausted all their efforts to pursue.
But now he would personally tear apart this false beauty. All for a more lasting and equal peace!
Below, the Animal Path rushed towards Obito, who absorbed it into his space. Then, all Akatsuki's members were summoned into the space.
"Pain, that technique will shorten your lifespan. Must you use it no matter what?"
Konan, slowly retracting her Paper Release, looked worriedly at the Animal Path. But the other Pain had lost control, collapsing on the ground.
Outside, Deva Path floating in the sky slowly raised both hands, his red cloud robe fluttering in the wind.
On the ground, Tsunade and many ninjas felt an extreme danger. Kakashi, who had trained in Observation Haki, felt his eyelids twitching wildly.
"Not good! Stop him!"
Accompanying Tsunade's order were the sounds of various Ninjutsu being activated.
Everyone exerted their utmost efforts to attack Pain in the sky. Ninja tools, elemental Ninjutsu, explosive tags, Taijutsu...
When the scorching light converged into a torrent, reaching before Pain, he suddenly clenched both fists.
"I... will never forget Yahiko's pain. From this moment, let the world feel pain!"
"-Shinra Tensei!"
Boom!
In an instant, light so brilliant it could burn one's eyes erupted in the sky.
All material outlines were obliterated under this light. The air was torn apart by the powerful repulsive force, generating roaring airwaves. A white shockwave spread outward, flattening the surrounding forests.
At the last moment, Tsunade used the Summoning Technique with all her might, calling forth a giant slug.
"Katsuyu! Save people! And go bring back Team 7 from the Holy Land! The rest... I leave to you!"
Tsunade smiled, releasing the Yin Seal, pouring all her Chakra into Katsuyu's body, making it disperse to envelop all the Ninjas.
Then she herself faced Pain's Shinra Tensei, was blasted away by the technique's attack, flying to who-knows-where.
The shockwave continued spreading. Massive smoke plumes trampled the earth inch by inch, surging towards distant Konoha Village.
Finally, it destroyed the village's barrier, crashed into Konoha's inner layers, crushing the newly developed buildings and markets.
When the massive dust cloud dissipated, a crater several kilometers in diameter was deeply embedded in the earth. Half of Konoha Village was swallowed by the giant maw, forming a bottomless abyss.
"Cough... cough cough!"
Amidst the rubble, Kakashi pushed himself up with a hand.
His pupil trembled as he looked behind at the village, now almost reduced to rubble and debris.
"Akatsuki... you damn bastards!!!"