Nagato Hopes Sasuke Will Calm Down

"Amaterasu..."

In Sasuke's scarlet left eye, the three black tomoe spun rapidly, like three swimming spirit snakes. They converged at the center of the pupil, condensed into a single point, and suddenly expanded into the shape of a blood-red hexagram.

He had activated the Mangekyō Sharingan.

At such close range, using Amaterasu would surely kill him! Sasuke glared at Nagato, recklessly unleashing the power of his Mangekyō.

From Nagato's perspective, Sasuke's chakra was surging from his body into his eye sockets, flowing along the chakra meridians and rapidly converging toward the Mangekyō in the center.

The fine blood vessels in his sclera became engorged and burst, and a dense web of bloodshot veins spread rapidly from the corners of his eyes toward the Mangekyō in the center.

Fresh blood began to trickle from his eye sockets.

"Too slow."

From using chakra to activate the Mangekyō Sharingan, to focusing the ocular power to trigger the ability, and finally locking his gaze onto the target—the preparatory movements Sasuke made before casting Amaterasu were, to Nagato with his Rinnegan, simply too many and too slow.

So slow that he could barely muster any interest. Seeing that Sasuke was about to successfully trigger Amaterasu, Nagato narrowed his eyes and extended his left hand toward him.

"Banshō Ten'in."

Sasuke, who was focusing his gaze and preparing to unleash Amaterasu, suddenly felt as if his entire body had been seized by an invisible force. The chakra circulating within his meridians fell into chaos, the Amaterasu he was casting was forcibly interrupted, and he was pulled helplessly, flying straight toward Nagato.

"Is this his ocular power?" Sasuke widened his eyes in disbelief. In an instant, Nagato gripped his throat tightly with his left hand and slammed him onto the ground, leaving him unable to move.

"Sasuke, don't be impulsive." Obito, who had been sitting casually on his seat, stood up in a hurry and shouted.

"Hmph, what... is so impressive about this?" Sasuke sneered upon hearing Obito's voice.

The madness on his face grew more intense. At the same time, a cold chakra surged from within his body, spreading along his frame toward Nagato.

"Heh, now this is getting interesting." Suigetsu grinned, a hint of ferocity flashing in his eyes as he swung the Kubikiribōchō toward Nagato.

"Oh my, you really are naughty." Kisame also reached out and gripped the Samehada on his back.

"None of you interfere," Nagato commanded indifferently. He did not use the Preta Path to absorb Sasuke's chakra; instead, he began to draw natural energy from the surroundings into his body, entering Sage Mode.

Beneath his black cloak with red clouds, a multitude of intricately lined green patterns began to emerge on his skin.

"Watch out! He's using senjutsu!" Jugo warned urgently. Sensing the natural energy in the surroundings rushing toward Nagato like a hundred rivers returning to the sea, he released all the remaining natural energy in his body at once, transforming his right arm into a gray battle axe, and attacked Nagato alongside Suigetsu.

"Nagato, don't kill Sasuke." Upon hearing Nagato's voice, Obito extended his right hand toward Kisame to stop him from drawing his blade, narrowing his right eye and preparing to save Sasuke at any moment. There was no helping it; compared to Nagato, Sasuke was still too green. A moment of carelessness and he might be killed by Nagato.

Kisame just grinned, wanting to see what kind of methods this leader, Nagato, possessed.

"Susanoo!"

After the battle at Unraikyo, the tacit understanding of Taka had been initially established. Seeing Suigetsu and Jugo simultaneously swing their blade and axe at Nagato, Sasuke arrogantly unleashed what he believed to be the strongest power capable of destroying Konoha.

Nagato narrowed his eyes, watching the chilling chakra surging from Sasuke's body in an instant. As this chakra materialized into a purple ribcage that encased Sasuke's body, his left hand released his throat.

The first to strike was Suigetsu's Kubikiribōchō. The massive blade danced through the air, creating an air current that whipped Nagato's red hair upward. Sensing the blade edge about to strike his neck, Nagato extended his right hand.

"Clang!" A vibrating chime rang out between his finger and the blade's edge.

Nagato had blocked this strike with a single index finger.

"Can't cut through?"

Suspended in mid-air, Suigetsu looked at the finger Nagato had pressed against his blade. His hands trembled, and an expression of disbelief appeared in his eyes. He did not notice the green patterns emerging on Nagato's now-blackened finger.

A massive force surged along the blade toward Suigetsu's hands, as unstoppable as a mountain torrent. Suigetsu was forced back by Nagato's single finger. He bared his teeth, unable to believe that his full-power strike couldn't even overcome a single finger of the person before him. Although he had been prepared for defeat, the gap was simply too vast.

After Nagato's left hand released Sasuke, he clenched it into a fist. Having just pushed Suigetsu back with his right index finger, his Byakugan—located on his forehead—spotted Jugo behind him. Jugo was raising the battle axe formed from his Cursed Seal transformation, descending from his blind spot with the force of a mountain-splitting strike aimed at his head. Simultaneously, the Susanoo on Sasuke's body grew an arm, reaching out from below to grab him.

"Asura Path."

Jugo's movements were too grand; in Nagato's eyes, he was less of a threat than Suigetsu. Using the abilities of the Asura Path, Nagato didn't even turn his head. As soon as Jugo approached, two mechanical arms suddenly sprouted from his shoulders. One grabbed Jugo's right hand, which had transformed into a battle axe, while the other tightly clamped around his throat.

Then, Nagato's left fist slammed heavily into Sasuke's Susanoo.

"Sage Art—Strength of a Hundred!"

"Clang—Crack—Boom!"

A massive roar echoed through the high tower. Amidst the swirling dust, Sasuke suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood, clearly hearing the "crack" of his own ribs being broken by Nagato.

The Susanoo that had been protecting him and hovering around him seemed to have been shattered by an invisible war hammer. With a massive "clang," it was pierced directly by Nagato. The peerless force of the punch passed through his abdomen, erupting into a powerful shockwave that dissipated in all directions. The entire tower trembled incessantly under Nagato's punch.

"What kind of monster is this!" Amidst the massive shockwave, Karin, who had been standing in place trembling, was so terrified by the moment Nagato unleashed his chakra that she collapsed onto the ground.

Watching the scene where Sasuke and the others were crushed the moment they touched Nagato, she felt numb from her toes to the tips of her hair. She couldn't believe that such a monster existed in this world.

"This kid really did learn the senjutsu of Shikkotsu Forest!" Tsunade looked on with helplessness, slapping her own forehead.

The combination of Shikkotsu Forest's senjutsu and the Strength of a Hundred exceeded the attack power of her own Strength of a Hundred Technique.

Moreover, looking at the way this redhead used the Strength of a Hundred, he was clearly unleashing it at one hundred percent without any regard for his own meridians. The power he unleashed made even her feel a bit fearful. Sasuke shouldn't have been hammered to death, right?

"Have you calmed down?" Amidst the swirling dust, Nagato stood in place, looking down from above with his Rinnegan at Sasuke, who was spitting blood with his vision beginning to blur, and asked indifferently.

Then, he turned his head to look at Jugo, who was still struggling in his mechanical arms, and "kindly" released him.

"Eh?" Jugo, under the influence of his Cursed Seal, was already somewhat delirious. Finding that the mechanical arms that had been gripping him tightly had let go, he was momentarily stunned.

He opened his mouth wide, preparing to let out a wild laugh, when "Puff!"—he spat out a mouthful of blood as Nagato struck him with a Strength of a Hundred punch.

Like a cannonball leaving the chamber, Jugo's body flew backward, slamming into the hard wall of the tower. He blasted a large hole through it and flew straight into the rain, carving a straight line through the downpour until he disappeared into the distance.

Suigetsu, who had been pushed back by Nagato's finger, stood in place, gripping his Kubikiribōchō and hesitating whether to continue charging forward to help Jugo and Sasuke. He felt a gust of wind pass by his head as Jugo flew past his scalp. Terrified, his skin crawled, and he liquefied entirely, staring blankly at Nagato, who had turned his gaze toward him. The expression on his face was one of wanting to cry.

He truly wasn't afraid of death, but encountering a monster like this, he was genuinely panicked. This redhead wasn't human at all; he was even more terrifying than the Eight Tails.