Nagato's gaze was fixed on the shared vision of the Deva Path Pain.
From the golden tear in the sky, figures stepped out one after another—each one a name that resounded through the history of the ninja world.
And among them, he even saw a face he never wanted to see standing on the opposite side of the battlefield—Kisame!
Minato, Tobirama, Sakumo, Shisui…
These names that should have existed only on scrolls and in legends had all become living reality.
They hovered high above Amegakure, looking down upon the village.
From below, they were no different from true gods gazing down upon the earth.
"How… how are they here…?"
This was bad.
There was a fatal error in the intel.
"From now on, Amegakure switches entirely to defensive mode!"
Not only did the enemy precisely grasp the location of their hidden stronghold,
they also possessed a group-based space–time teleportation ability.
This was not a war fought on equal footing.
Konan stood at Nagato's side, watching his face grow even paler as agitation shook his body.
A strong sense of foreboding rose in her chest.
"Nagato!"
"Prepare to engage!"
Nagato let out a low growl.
He squeezed every last drop of chakra from his frail body, forcing it through the black receivers protruding from his back, madly infusing it into the Gedō Mazō (Outer Path Demon Statue).
The immense power, after being converted by the statue, was transmitted to Pain's Six Paths at the village's edge.
Down on the streets of Amegakure, the six Pain bodies—those puppet-like shells—had already returned.
They all raised their heads at the same time, the purple Rinnegan precisely locking onto the targets in the sky.
"Shinra Tensei (Almighty Push)!"
The Deva Path shot up from the ground, soaring into midair, arms flung wide.
An invisible, overwhelming repulsive force exploded out from him as the center, sweeping toward every member of the Legendary Army.
This single burst of power was enough to wipe a small town off the map.
However, where the wave of repulsion passed—there was nothing.
At the instant the force erupted, Tobirama's figure had already carried everyone away, vanishing from their original position with Hiraishin no Jutsu (Flying Thunder God Technique).
Deva Path's full-powered strike hit nothing but empty air.
The very next second, Tobirama appeared behind him, his voice flat and emotionless.
"Your jutsu is finished."
He didn't attack.
He simply placed a hand on Deva Path's shoulder.
In the next moment, the two of them vanished and reappeared repeatedly, flickering and jumping through the sky above Amegakure.
Every time Deva Path tried to use Shinra Tensei (Almighty Push), Tobirama forcefully interrupted him with his space–time ninjutsu.
In the face of absolute speed, Pain couldn't lock onto a single target.
Down on the ground, the Animal Path rapidly formed hand seals.
"Kuchiyose no Jutsu (Summoning Technique)!"
A massive multi-headed hellhound, an invisible chameleon, and a giant bird capable of splitting and multiplying appeared one after another, roaring as they charged toward the Legendary Army members who had just reappeared on another street.
"Suiton: Daibakusuishōha (Water Style: Great Exploding Water Shock Wave)!"
High atop a tall metal tower, Kisame stood with his hands clasped together.
He opened his mouth wide—and a vast ocean poured forth.
The towering wave surpassed even the tallest building in the village, crashing down with unstoppable force over entire blocks of streets.
The ferocious summons howled soundlessly underwater, struggling desperately to escape.
But Kisame's chakra reserves were simply too monstrous.
They were not only crushed by the raging torrents, but even the chakra within their bodies was violently absorbed, until they became empty husks sinking quietly to the bottom.
The Asura Path's arm twisted and transformed into a cannon, and mechanical wings unfolded from his back.
Countless small missiles trailed flames as they screamed toward the targets in the sky.
Sakumo's figure danced through the dense storm of projectiles, the short blade "White Fang" in his hand drawing streaks of pale light beneath the dim heavens.
Every arc of his blade cleaved a high-speed missile cleanly in two, triggering chain explosions in midair one after another.
From the left and right flanks, the Human Path and the Preta Path closed in on Jiraiya at the same time.
Jiraiya didn't dare be careless. He immediately unleashed a jutsu.
"Senpo: Kebari Senbon (Sage Art: Hair Needle Thousand Spears)!"
Then, in almost the same motion, he summoned the two toad sages and began desperately gathering natural energy, trying to enter Sage Mode as quickly as possible.
Once he entered Sage Mode, the long white hair on his head hardened and shot outward in an instant, firing like a torrential storm toward the two Pains.
With the combined support of the two toad sages, he easily overwhelmed and blasted them back.
On another street, Tsunade dropped into a stance and slammed her fist into the ground.
The monstrous force erupted, shattering the entire road into rubble as a massive web of cracks spread violently in all directions.
With the ground torn apart beneath their feet, Pain's Six Paths lost stable footing and their formation was completely disrupted.
The Naraka Path glanced at his struggling comrades, then quickly formed hand seals, preparing to summon the King of Hell to repair the damaged puppet bodies.
His fingers suddenly froze.
Shisui had appeared before him at some unknown moment, the crimson pattern of his Mangekyō Sharingan slowly spinning in his eyes.
The Naraka Path's gaze turned hollow in an instant.
Pain realized it immediately.
Not good—genjutsu!
The Naraka Path turned around mechanically and walked, step by step, straight into the gaping mouth of the just-summoned King of Hell.
The King of Hell clamped its jaws shut and sank back into the earth.
From the very beginning, this battle had been one-sided.
Pain's Six Paths—who had always been overwhelming existences, wielding eye powers at the level of legend—were utterly crushed, with no room to counterattack at all.
Every ability of every Path was directly and efficiently neutralized by a legendary ninja tailor-made to counter it.
Inside the tower, Nagato watched everything unfold through their shared vision.
The "power of a god" he took pride in…
The Pain's Six Paths he relied on to bring peace to the world…
Under the enemy's near-perfect coordination and absolute strength, they appeared fragile beyond belief.
The enemy knew Pain's Six Paths like the back of their hand.
That meant they had studied them in advance—thoroughly.
But how?
He had almost never allowed any information about them to leak out.
"Nagato!" Konan cried, seeing the blood constantly trickling from the corner of his mouth, her voice filled with panic.
Nagato didn't respond.
He gathered all of his will—his final hope—and focused it entirely on the Deva Path.
"Chibaku Tensei (Planetary Devastation)!"
The Deva Path finally seized an opening and managed to break free from the tangle of teleportations around him.
He pressed his hands together before his chest.
A tiny, pitch-black sphere of insanely dense gravity rose from his palms and shot up into the sky.
The earth began to tremble violently.
Chunks of rock, shattered walls, broken streets, and countless fragments of debris tore free from the ground, dragged upward by the overwhelming gravity and drawn toward the distant black sphere.
In the sky above Amegakure, a massive sphere of rock was gradually taking shape, still expanding.
"Nagato, this technique is powerful—but the price for power is huge. Is it really necessary to go this far?" Konan said anxiously.
"Compared to the moon created by the Sage of Six Paths, this is already as small as it can be," Nagato answered solemnly. "Our enemy is too strong. We have to be fully prepared."
Just then, Minato and Shisui appeared behind the Deva Path at the same time.
In Minato's hand, a Rasengan was spinning at high speed, being compressed tighter and tighter.
Sage chakra flowed into it, and a terrifying aura of energy radiated outward.
In Shisui's eyes, the Mangekyō pattern lit up, followed by the irresistible glow of Kotoamatsukami (Distinguished Heavenly Gods).
The Deva Path's movements faltered.
For a brief moment, the Rinnegan patterns in his eyes went unfocused and hazy.
That instant… was enough.
Minato's Sage Art Rasengan slammed solidly into his back.
Boom!
The Deva Path's body was shredded in an instant by the devastating power of the Sage Art Rasengan, bursting apart into countless fragments.
The nearly completed "moon" in the sky, having lost its gravitational core, collapsed at once.
Countless huge boulders crashed down from the heavens, pelting the ground below.
Pain's Six Paths—completely annihilated.
Nagato's so-called "God Plan" was smashed to pieces before absolute strength and flawless tactics.
Inside the tower, Nagato suddenly coughed up a large mouthful of blood.
His frail body slid helplessly out of the wheelchair and crumpled to the floor.
Konan hurried forward and caught him, holding him up.
At that moment, the door to the room swung silently open.
Led in by Minato's Flying Thunder God, Shinju's figure appeared right before Nagato and Konan.
He looked down at the man curled on the floor, whose life force flickered like a candle in the wind, and spoke in a calm voice.
"Nagato, I have received your pain."
"Now… let's talk about true peace."
(End of Chapter)
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