The Power of God

Konan frowned involuntarily, remembering the like-minded comrades from back then, and... Yahiko, who was already dead.

"What a bunch of scheming bastards!"

She muttered under her breath, silently stepping aside to make room for Pain.

At that moment, the Nine-Tails' second Tailed Beast Bomb had already reached them. Yet Pain's expression did not change. He merely raised a hand and said lightly:

"Shinra Tensei!"

The moment his words fell, an immense repulsive force burst forth from his eyes and struck the incoming Tailed Beast Bomb head-on.

The black sphere radiating a terrifying aura resisted for barely a second or two before being violently sent flying back along the path it had come from, hurtling toward the Nine-Tails' head.

This sudden turn of events caught even the Nine-Tails off guard.

Even the Uchiha who often controlled it could only use Sharingan Genjutsu to restrain it. They could never have received its Tailed Beast Bomb head-on like this, much less reflected it back.

"Roar..."

The Nine-Tails was both shocked and enraged, but its huge body had no time to dodge. It could only watch as the black sphere grew larger before its eyes. With a single roar, it was struck in the head by the very Tailed Beast Bomb it had fired.

"Boom!"

The Tailed Beast Bomb exploded violently. Even the Nine-Tails could not withstand the enormous Shockwave, and its massive crimson head was forcibly driven down, smashing fiercely into the ground.

A Mushroom Cloud rose into the sky from the explosion, while the Shockwave flattened everything around it, leaving behind a gigantic crater a hundred meters across.

"Graaah..." The Nine-Tails howled in agony, but panic began to rise within its heart.

Those eyes... why did they look so much like the Old man's?!

Pain intended to establish his authority and had no plans to waste time. He brought his hands together, and the space between his palms began to distort. A black sphere resembling a Tailed Beast Bomb emerged within them.

When he released his hands, the black sphere drifted slowly toward the sky.

"Chibaku Tensei!"

As Pain's indifferent voice rang out, the black sphere hung high in the air like an eerie black sun. It formed a massive gravitational field that enveloped the Nine-Tails below.

Under the effects of that immense gravitational field, the ground seemed to be torn apart by an invisible giant hand, cracking open as countless rocks broke free from gravity and slowly rose into the air, gathering around the black sphere as their core.

An eerie silence abruptly descended upon heaven and earth. Only the rustling sounds of floating rubble scraping and colliding echoed above the battlefield.

"No!"

The Nine-Tails screamed in terror. The black sphere in the sky was reflected in its beastly eyes, its pupils shrinking to pinpoints as a fear it had not known in a thousand years surged through its heart.

It drove all four limbs into the ground, forcing its body downward as much as possible. Its nine tails wrapped tightly around nearby stone pillars, desperately trying to resist the pull from the sky.

Though it had never witnessed the Sage of Six Paths seal Ōtsutsuki Kaguya back then, it had itself been split from the Ten-Tails. The memories inherited through its bloodline made it instinctively fear that black sphere in the sky.

Although the many Ninja on the ground were not targets of the "Chibaku Tensei," the immense suction still dragged them off their feet. They desperately grabbed onto anything nearby that could hold them in place, afraid of being pulled into the sky as well.

Those who were weaker were swept directly into the air, letting out piercing screams.

Ino-Shika-Cho had more than enough strength to protect themselves, but they were utterly powerless to save anyone. They could only watch helplessly as the others were sucked into the black sphere and vanished without a sound.

In mere moments, the chaotic and brutal battlefield was wiped clean. Corpses, blood, severed limbs, Sand and Stones, shattered wood... all of it was drawn into the black sphere, as though it had never existed.

The Nine-Tails held out a little longer, but in the end, it still could not resist the power of this Fuinjutsu.

The rocks beneath it gave way first, soon cracking and shattering. Its huge body was dragged into the High Altitude like a toy, its nine tails flailing futilely. Yet it could not change its fate of being sealed, and was ultimately sucked inside together with the massive rock beneath it.

Once the Nine-Tails entered, the gathering rubble completely sealed the opening. All that remained was a gigantic stone sphere floating in midair as though it had no weight, casting a suffocating shadow upon the ground.

The entire field fell deathly silent. A stifling pressure filled the air as everyone stared dumbfoundedly at the blond figure standing in the void beneath the stone sphere.

The blazing sun hung high overhead. Pain stood in the air with his back to the light, appearing incomparably small beneath the enormous rock sphere, yet radiating the majesty of a God. The blazing sun behind him was dazzling beyond direct sight.

The members of the Akatsuki Organization watching from the rear were equally stunned.

When they had been subdued, they had witnessed the might of "Shinra Tensei." But this was the first time they had seen "Chibaku Tensei."

They had expected the Nine-Tails to at least make Pain put in some effort. Who would have thought it would end so effortlessly?

"Wow, that's really outrageous!" White Zetsu twisted his body exaggeratedly as he said in a strange, mocking tone.

"That was the Nine-Tails!"

"And it was sealed away that easily!"

Everyone fell silent. No one said anything, each lost in their own thoughts.

Uchiha Itachi in particular was burning with anxiety at the sight of his village suffering such heavy losses and even losing its Tailed Beast. Yet he still remembered his mission and knew that his current identity was that of a Rogue ninja. Thus, he merely kept an expressionless face and said nothing.

Seeing that no one spoke, White Zetsu grinned again.

"Hey, Itachi, do you have a twin brother?"

"How come I've never heard about him?"

Itachi glanced toward the battlefield and met the gaze of Uchiha An, who was also watching from afar.

Even with the entire battlefield separating them, Uchiha Itachi could still feel the overwhelming hatred and killing intent in those eyes.

"Hmph, just an impostor," Itachi said calmly, withdrawing his gaze without concern. "Perhaps he was someone who happened to survive that night."

"No need to concern ourselves with it."

"Alright, enough nonsense." Juzo Biwa pulled the Kubikiribōchō from his back, licked his lips, and said eagerly, "Now that the leader has sealed the Tailed Beast, it should be our turn to step in and slaughter these Konoha Ninja to the last, right?"

"No need." Itachi shook his head. "Nara Shikaku is a smart man. Seeing that the battle is unfavorable, he'll withdraw immediately."

"Konoha still believes that the Land of Rain is under Hanzo of the Salamander's control. They'll try to negotiate for the return of the Tailed Beast."

"Is that so?" Juzo Biwa instinctively turned his gaze toward Orochimaru, the Rogue ninja from Konoha standing nearby.

"That is indeed the sort of thing Nara Shikaku would do!" Orochimaru nodded, his eyes burning as he stared at Pain in the sky, becoming even more interested in the Rinnegan.