"Wow, that's terrifying... Am I still dreaming?"
Amidst the falling fragments of the shattered wooden giant fists, the golden-haired boy dragged a charred corpse to the edge of the giant crater.
He raised a hand to shield his eyes, gazing into the distance.
Hum!
A sharp sword light flickered. A black blade, wrapped in Armament Haki, swept horizontally towards him.
In the almost frozen moment of time, the golden-haired boy gathered Natural Energy in his hand.
Then, a fist, blackened by Armament Haki hardening, punched out, crashing against the blade.
The two Haki forces collided.
The sound of steel grinding echoed, accompanied by turbulent shockwaves sweeping out in all directions.
The translucent blade reflected on both sides, reflecting the boys' unrestrained smiles.
"Why the sudden slash, Sasuke?!"
Naruto exerted a little force with his arm, sending the attacking Sasuke flying back.
"Someone thought they were dreaming... just helping them wake up."
A malicious smile tugging at his lips, Sasuke flicked his long sword in a flourish, slowly sheathing it at his waist.
"Bastard!"
Realizing he had been tricked, Naruto bared shark-like teeth, raising a finger and letting loose a stream of complaints at Sasuke.
But Sasuke ignored him completely, calmly dragging the bodies of the defeated Kisame and Raiga over, dumping them next to the charred corpse.
Done with that, he walked to the edge of the crater, sat down cross-legged, and opened his Mangekyo to watch the confrontation between the Thousand-Handed Buddha statue and the gravitationally distorted celestial body in the distance.
Countless fists gushed out, like nails forcibly wedging into the gigantic celestial body, plundering its territory, drawing boundaries, unreasonably absorbing the Chakra from the opponent's Jutsu.
"Hmph, the Senju's Wood Release again..."
Sasuke's scarlet eyes narrowed, his pupils reflecting the girl standing atop the Buddha's head.
He had thought that learning Sage Art might let him catch up to her a little, but at this rate, even if he fully mastered his Devil Fruit and combined it with Sage Art, it would be difficult to rival her.
'Should I transplant Itachi's eyes to pursue a higher-level Ocular Power? But the risks...'
"What's Senju? You mentioned that name back when we supported Sunagakure too!"
Naruto, carefree, plopped down beside Sasuke and slapped him hard on the back, scattering his thoughts.
Sasuke glanced at this idiot and helplessly explained to him, "A clan that founded Konoha Village alongside the Uchiha in the past. The First Hokage, Second Hokage, and the current Fifth Hokage all come from this clan."
"Eh, amazing! But... what does that have to do with Sakura?"
Naruto held his head, asking as he shifted his gaze to the gradually disintegrating celestial body.
"Look at that!" Sasuke followed Naruto's gaze, pointing at the wooden Buddha. "That's Wood Release, the Senju Clan's special Kekkei Genkai."
"Sounds pretty cool?" Naruto's eyes turned into white circles, his head tilted.
"Is that about it being cool or not?!"
Sasuke's expression was blank… he was already getting used to this idiot. "Look at the power of that release technique. Think about how difficult it will be for us to surpass her?"
"Yeah! I still want to surpass Sakura and snatch the Hokage's position!"
Naruto suddenly realized, raising his left fist and smacking it into his right palm.
"Hm? She won!"
Seeing the battle decided between the giant Thousand-Handed Buddha and the celestial body sealing technique, Sasuke stood up and slid down the edge of the crater.
Naruto looked at Sasuke, then back at the Konoha's Ninja arriving behind him.
He raised a hand, pointing at the Akatsuki's member corpses dumped nearby, and slid down towards the bottom of the crater as well.
…
Center of the battlefield.
The Deva Path, its Jutsu completely torn apart, its upper body robes damaged, lay on the ground, staring vacantly at the sky.
"This is your last puppet!"
Sakura dismissed the True Several Thousand Hands, descending from the sky to the ground.
"Haruno... Sakura..."
Pain made one final struggle, then went still like a toy that had lost power.
Sakura stepped forward, pulling a short black rod from Pain's body. Wrapping it in Armament Haki, she stabbed her own arm with it.
Crack!
Blood flowed from where the black spike pierced through. At the same time, through the Chakra Connection on it, Sakura located Nagato's hiding place high in the mountains.
"Final cleanup, huh..." Sakura, still within Konoha, took a deep breath, raising her finger to form a seal.
"Sakura, wait! I haven't gotten on board yet!" A slightly deep voice sounded in the distance, causing her sealing motion to pause.
Sakura turned back, just in time to see Naruto and Sasuke running towards her together.
"What are you two doing here? Not enjoying the villagers' flowers and praise?" The girl narrowed her eyes, amusedly teasing them.
"You're going to find the Akatsuki's leader, right? We're coming too!" Sasuke was much more direct than Naruto. He planted himself in front of Sakura with an expression that seemed to say, 'deal with it'.
"Hmm... alright!"
After thinking for a moment, Sakura agreed to bring Naruto and Sasuke. Having two extra fighters was good, and it would also let Naruto see another disciple of Jiraiya.
After all, everyone was like brothers, dear friends and family~
Sakura raised her hand, grabbing Naruto's and Sasuke's arms.
Her Chakra Perception easily pierced space-time, arriving at a cave not far from Konoha.
Nagato, who was being hurried evacuated by Konan, suddenly raised his Rinnegan. Behind him, a pair of emerald eyes opened in the void.
"They're here!"
As Nagato's voice fell, Space-Time Ninjutsu, using these minute traces of Chakra as coordinates, tore through space-time, transferring the technique users from the Konoha ruins several kilometers away directly into the cave.
Whoosh!
A phantom flash of space-time came and went in an instant. The figures of the boy and girl had already appeared within the cave.
"Nagato, you withdraw first!"
Konan swung her robe. A large amount of waterproof and fireproof oil paper extended from under her black-red cloud robe, condensing into two long swords.
Zzzzzz!
A blinding, immense thunderstorm erupted within the cave. Heavenly drums turbulently converged into a single thread of sky light.
Sasuke's long sword directly sliced through Konan's technique, burning it. At the same time, his black blade, wrapped in Armament Haki, was held against Konan's neck.
"Wait, don't hurt her! She wasn't involved in the Konoha incident. If you want to fight, direct it at me, the mastermind!" Nagato's breaths were extremely heavy, as if he could die at any moment.
Releasing the Super Almighty Push several times beyond expectations, plus just using Planetary Devastation to clash with Sakura's True Several Thousand Hands...
Even as a member of the Uzumaki Clan, Nagato couldn't withstand this terrifying drain from the Rinnegan, which didn't truly belong to him. He was now at the point of exhausting his last reserves.
"You bastard... you're the one who cut off Pervy Sage's arm?!" Naruto gnashed his teeth. For the first time since returning to the village, those azure blue eyes held anger.
Nagato calmed the heart threatening to leap from his chest, his gaze sweeping over Sakura and Naruto. "I never thought I'd meet Jiraiya-sensei's other disciples under these circumstances."
"Sakura, what about this one?" Sasuke used his chin to point at Konan, whom he had subdued. If needed, he could cut her down at any time.
"Let her go. Amegakure can't be without a leader. And like he said, we only punish the chief culprit!" Sakura patted Sasuke's shoulder, signaling him to lower his blade.
Then, she lifted her foot, stepping past Sasuke and Naruto, walking up to Nagato. Like a girl next door, she raised a hand to greet him.
"Yo, first meeting, Nagato-senpai... and I'm here to kill you!"