The airwaves surged!
Naruto was blown dozens of meters away, and only after the wave subsided was he able to halt himself mid-air.
The two Nine-Tails were in a worse state. Most of their power was within Naruto, so they had to cling to his shoulders with their claws, tails, and even by biting down, just to avoid being blown away.
"Naruto, you should have restrained your spiritual pressure earlier," complained the Yang Nine-Tails.
Both foxes were baring their teeth, trying to hold on. They hadn't been blown away, but when they bit into Naruto's shoulder, he remained unscathed, while their teeth were left aching.
Naruto didn't speak.
His senses expanded.
Several kilometers away, Karin's presence was fully detected; her aura was steady, unaffected by the impact, and she was moving away from the battlefield.
He felt relieved and used Shunpo to return.
"You're unharmed?" Pain asked.Naruto smiled slightly, "That was quite an exaggerated technique."
"The area within several kilometers has been flattened by you."
Pain coldly raised his hand. "This is the power of a god."
"Do you think that was a compliment?" Naruto smiled, shaking his head.
Pain's raised hand paused.
"If this attack had been more focused, it might have injured me," Naruto said softly, sensing the energy within the puppet opposite him.
Life, soul, and chakra...
Almost entirely depleted.
The receivers vibrated and hummed, and the chakra transmission became intermittent.
"You no longer have the ability to fight," Naruto raised his blade. "This level of attack has left you exhausted."
"So, let's end this."
A figure with blue-purple hair suddenly flew in, shouting, "Don't even think about it!"
Responding to her call was a barrage of paper shuriken, slicing through the air with sharp winds.
But...
The Yin Nine-Tails simply swept them away with a flick of its tail.
"Do you intend to stop me?" Naruto asked, looking at her.
Konan raised a hand. "Pain has bought enough time…"
"Now let me show you my technique!"
She gathered her chakra.
"Paper Person of God Technique."
Nearby trees, rocks, and even part of Kisame's water sphere collapsed like paper sculptures, and paper sheets swirled around Naruto, forming a sphere.
These sheets of paper were not ordinary white paper.
They were...
"Explosive Tags."
Konan diverted all her chakra, though there was a hint of doubt in her eyes.
The execution of this technique seemed a bit too easy.
A speed that even Sasori and Deidara couldn't match was achieved by her with ease.
Another thought emerged.
Perhaps...
It was the effect of Pain's technique. Naruto only appeared unscathed; in reality, he wasn't as unbothered as he claimed.
"This is my strongest secret technique," Konan said softly, her tone firm. "I originally prepared six hundred billion explosive tags."
"But…"
"Since you refused to enter Rain Village, my efforts were in vain."
"In the short time just now, I could only gather one billion, but this amount should be enough."
"Now, be buried!"
She clenched her hand into a fist.
But the explosion did not occur. Instead, she suddenly felt a sharp pain in her chest.
Konan looked down to see a golden blade piercing her heart, emerging from her back.
"Is this all you prepared since the start of the battle?" Naruto's tone was one of disappointment. "I thought you'd show me something as interesting as the Rinnegan."
Konan turned her head, catching a glimpse of half of Naruto's face.
"You've realized it, haven't you?"
"My abilities exceed your understanding."
"And yet you still resorted to such conventional tactics."
Pain's voice was choked with rage, no longer cold and detached, but full of struggle and fury: "You… killed Konan."
Naruto withdrew the blade.
Konan's body, with its blue-purple hair, fell.
"Reunite with her in the Pure Land," he said softly, stepping forward with Shunpo, and slashed towards Pain.
The mechanical puppet moved to intercept, chakra surging within it. The black-and-red Akatsuki cloak tore apart, revealing six additional arms growing from its body, and even further, two faces extended from either side of its head.
It attacked, each arm twisted into different weapon forms.
A serrated "long tongue" sprouted from its back, similar to Sasori's.
"So flashy," Naruto commented.
With two quick slashes, he severed its arms, then clasped the other two hands together. Golden chains swirled, tightly binding the mechanical puppet.
Another hand covered its head.
No incantation was necessary.
"Hadō #31: Shakkahō (赤火砲, Red Fire Cannon)."
A red beam burst forth, erupting from his palm.
The puppet was obliterated.
The fire's intensity diminished slightly but continued, streaking towards Pain.
The remaining puppet, which had yet to make a move, finally acted.
It dashed in front of Pain, raising both hands.
The "Shakkahō" struck.
It didn't explode, nor did it ignite flames.
The red fireball pushed the puppet back, nearly forcing it into Pain.
But during this process, the fireball gradually dissipated.
Naruto's eyes were filled with surprise.
This ability reminded him of the Truth-Seeking Ball.
But its form seemed even more powerful, perhaps due to the "Rinnegan"?
It could absorb energy, whether chakra or spiritual power.
However, absorbing "spiritual power" was a heavy burden for this puppet; the brief contact left its palms scorched, with the flesh falling away, exposing the bone.
If energy can be absorbed...
What about a slash?
Naruto dropped the mechanical puppet and used Shunpo to move forward, swinging his blade downward.
The remaining two puppets attempted a pincer attack.
Even though they had the advantage in numbers, they were still under someone's control, and their chakra had not fully recovered.
After just a few slashes, these puppets lost their combat ability and fell into the water.
However, the pool was empty; Kisame had already disappeared.
Naruto detected a chakra aura fleeing into the distance and asked, "Who's going after him?"
"Let me stretch out a bit," the Yin Nine-Tails said, following Naruto's gaze. "It was always the other me before."
"Now it's my turn."
The Yang Nine-Tails nodded.
The Yin Nine-Tails immediately dived downward, its body rapidly expanding, and with a swipe of its claw, it slammed into the ground.
"Truly impressive," Pain said, raising his hands. "Since I evolved into a god, you're the first to push me to such a state."
"But this is where it ends..."
He brought his palms close together, though not fully touching.
The "Rinnegan's power" surged.
A walnut-sized black orb gradually emerged.
"Have you heard the legend of the Sage of Six Paths?" Pain asked, posing the question.
Naruto didn't respond, instead slashing with his blade.
"The moon was created by the Sage of Six Paths."
"And the technique he used was this one."
Pain threw the small black sphere into the air.
It floated, growing as it caught the wind.
A force similar to "Banshō Ten'in" (Universal Pull) surged, but the gravitational pull from the black sphere far exceeded that of the previous technique.
Naruto's body was tugged, unable to move forward.
Pain raised his head, pouring all his chakra into his Rinnegan, accelerating the formation of the technique.
The gravity roared, tearing up the ground, pulling dirt and rocks, gradually gathering them around the black sphere, forming a massive sphere.
Naruto, too, was drawn in, just like the rocks.
Kisame, who hadn't escaped far, the pursuing Yin Nine-Tails, and the fallen bodies all became part of the "sphere."
Only Karin, who had escaped far enough after the "Super Shinra Tensei," was outside the technique's range of attraction.
Naruto's golden body was crushed under the massive rocks, his face gradually covered by small fragments of stone.
The two locked eyes.
Pain raised his hands high, shouting.
"Uzumaki Naruto!"
"Feel pain. Accept pain. And know pain..."
"And then, Understand pain!"
"Chibaku Tensei!"
With the final words, Naruto's eyes were completely covered by the stones.
A massive void, several kilometers in radius, was hollowed out, leaving a giant crater.
Above it...
A stone sphere, about two-thirds smaller in diameter, around six to seven kilometers across, floated in the air.
Uzumaki Naruto was sealed and suppressed within.
In Rain Village, in the extremely dim room.
"Uzumaki Naruto is a formidable opponent," Nagato said softly, looking at Jiraiya, who lay on the ground, his body full of black rods, suppressed by the "Rinnegan's power." "He almost achieved the limits of what a human can do."
"But ultimately, he is still not equal to a god."
Jiraiya was shocked. "Did you kill Naruto?"
"I only sealed him," Nagato shook his head, his tone heavy. "But he..."
"Killed Konan."
Jiraiya froze, his gaze unfocused.
The image of the girl with the blue-purple hair slowly emerged.
Nagato sighed, "Jiraiya-sensei, accept your fate."
"Gods are inviolable."
Jiraiya closed his eyes, remaining silent.
Atop the Pain statue in Rain Village.
"It seems the battle has ended," Uchiha Itachi said, staring at the stone sphere, his tone heavy. "The leader has captured the Nine-Tails."
"Such an unbelievable power."
"A ninja can achieve something like this?"
The masked Uchiha turned and began to descend, speaking softly, "Those are the eyes of the Sage of Six Paths."
"Let's go."
"We need to take care of Jiraiya, or else it will be hard to explain to Nagato..."
He didn't finish his sentence.
A violent wave of energy spread out, even from such a distance, sending a mental shockwave that made their scalps tingle and their backs prickle.
The masked Uchiha quickly turned around.
Uchiha Itachi followed suit, his eyes filled with astonishment.
The stone sphere, formed by the power of the Rinnegan and resembling a satellite, was trembling violently, as a force within it pulsated.
And in the next moment, the stone cracked, shattering into debris that rained down like a shower.
Golden light burst forth.
Nine tails pierced through the sphere, breaking out.
Next came a sword.
A sword entirely "crimson," but so large that it seemed only a giant could wield it. It was incredibly sharp and powerful, slicing through the stone sphere.
And after piercing through, the sword's force did not diminish; in a flash, it continued forward, impaling Pain.
In the sky, darkened by spiritual pressure...
A sword as wide as Pain's body lifted him high, hanging him beneath the sun.
"Boom!"
Another golden sword slashed out from the other side of the sphere, destroying the remaining bindings.
Revealing the enormous body within.
A massive golden Nine-Tails, with two heads and six arms.
Nearly a hundred meters tall, blocking out the sun.
Naruto stood at its throat, his eyes cold as ice, staring at Pain.
"An impressive technique."
"But you are too weak."
~~~
Bars...
Uhghghhh! Every chapter in the latest release has 3.5k words. Right now, each chapter is probably averaging around 1.5k words. That's why it feels like I'm updating one chapter, but it's really two chapters' worth, and you guys are suffering because of it.
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