Where the Hell Did My Huge Demonic Statue of the Outer Path Go?!!

"Summoning Technique."

"Demonic Statue of the Outer Path!!!"

Boom!!!

In the next instant, the world seemed to split apart under an invisible force. A pitch-black rift spread across the ground like the end of the world, shaking the entire battlefield.

A suffocating pressure filled the air, as if the whole world had shuddered.

A withered giant claw burst through the darkness. With a sharp tearing sound, pointed wooden spikes glimmered like phantoms, flashing with a cold light.

The claw's shriveled skin was as pale as a thousand-year-old corpse. Curved wooden spikes protruded from its wrinkles, radiating an eerie aura, like a demon crawling up from the depths of hell.

Then the monster's head emerged. Its enormous skull rose like a sheer cliff, riddled with cracks and marked by the passage of time.

Nine eyes were embedded in it, cold and lifeless. Each was sealed shut with coarse stitches, leaving only hideous scars exposed, exuding a thick aura of death.

Eight-Tails and Two-Tails sensed a familiar presence almost simultaneously. The moment they turned around, they froze.

Killer B noticed Eight-Tails' reaction and furrowed his brow. "Hachi, what's wrong?"

The monster before him didn't seem dangerous enough to put him on high alert. Its oppressive presence was far weaker than Susanoo's had been.

But Eight-Tails and Two-Tails were plunged into turmoil—

"Impossible!!! This presence..." The same astonishing thought struck both Tailed Beasts at once.

"This can't be..." Two-Tails' voice trembled as it struggled to suppress its fear.

"Ten-Tails?!"

Eight-Tails furrowed its brow, disbelief flashing in its eyes. "It... How could this be Ten-Tails? Ten-Tails was sealed long ago..."

Unease welled up inside Eight-Tails. It knew its origins were closely tied to Ten-Tails.

As one of the nine portions of chakra that the Sage of Six Paths had separated from Ten-Tails, it instinctively knew that Ten-Tails had long since vanished.

All the Tailed Beasts had inherited the Sage of Six Paths' memories and knew they had originated from Ten-Tails' division.

But now—

It knew this presence was no ordinary Summoning Beast. Its source seemed to be connected to Ten-Tails.

"Run!!!" Eight-Tails' voice rose sharply, filled with unprecedented tension and panic. "Get out of here, no matter what!"

Eight-Tails could no longer contain its anxiety. Though it couldn't understand why Uchiha Yoru had summoned such a bizarre monster, its instincts told it that fleeing was the only way to survive.

Two-Tails' gaze flickered uncertainly. It could feel the terrifying pressure and likewise knew they were in extreme danger.

But the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path's roar grew more deafening by the moment. Its unstoppable presence seemed ready to tear the entire world to pieces.

The oppressive force filled the air, weighing down the entire battlefield until no one could breathe.

Uchiha Yoru stood atop the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, brow furrowed and eyes gleaming with deep thought.

He had planned to seal both Tailed Beasts in one fell swoop, but then he remembered a crucial detail from the original story: the order in which the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path sealed the Tailed Beasts mattered.

He had to seal Shukaku first, or the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path would collapse and become impossible to control.

Having made up his mind, Uchiha Yoru smiled slightly and quickly appeared in front of Eight-Tails and Two-Tails.

"You..." Eight-Tails eyed Uchiha Yoru, who had suddenly appeared before it, with wariness.

Before it could finish speaking, Uchiha Yoru's gaze turned icy.

"Genjutsu—!"

In an instant, Eight-Tails and Two-Tails' consciousness plunged into darkness.

Their bodies stiffened, their eyes went blank, and they lost all awareness of the world around them. Their resistance was completely suppressed.

The two Tailed Beasts became Uchiha Yoru's puppets, utterly incapable of resisting.

A cold smile flickered across Uchiha Yoru's eyes. He turned and walked toward the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, while Eight-Tails and Two-Tails mechanically followed under his control.

Oh, right. There was Nine-Tails, too.

Standing before the three Tailed Beasts, Uchiha Yoru coldly ordered, "Head for Kumogakure."

Before the words had left his mouth, he moved a finger slightly and then released the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path from the Summoning Technique.

The Demonic Statue of the Outer Path let out a thunderous crash, turned into a wisp of smoke, and vanished into thin air.

Uchiha Yoru stood there with the faintest hint of a smile tugging at his lips.

There was only one Demonic Statue of the Outer Path in the Ninja World, and he had just sensed a Summoning request coming to it from somewhere else.

"How interesting..." He gave a cold laugh, a hint of amusement in his eyes.

As the bearer of the Indra and Ashura templates, his priority when summoning the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path far surpassed anyone else's.

The one trying to summon it must be Nagato's group.

Uchiha Yoru wasn't in any hurry to deal with them, though. He decided to leave the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path with them for the time being. Once he had swept away Kumogakure, he would head to the Land of Rain.

He leaped up and landed steadily on Nine-Tails' shoulder, his gaze deep, as though he could see into every corner of the future.

Nine-Tails' massive body began to move. Its heavy footsteps boomed like thunder, shaking the earth.

With the other two Tailed Beasts in tow and Uchiha Yoru controlling it, Nine-Tails charged toward Kumogakure.

After tonight, Kumogakure would cease to exist!

Meanwhile—

Somewhere in the Land of Rain, inside a collapsed cavern.

Several people stood inside, dressed in black cloaks embroidered with blood-red clouds.

In the dim light, the air felt so heavy and oppressive that it was hard to breathe.

"What in the world is going on?" asked a grotesque, strangely shaped creature in a hoarse voice, its words tinged with obvious anxiety and unease.

Black Zetsu. This ancient being had always pulled the strings from behind the scenes, but even he was clearly unsettled now.

Pain's face remained impassive, but Nagato, who controlled him, was filled with shock and profound confusion.

Where the hell did my huge Demonic Statue of the Outer Path go?!!

Just moments ago, the powerful Summoning Beast he had considered his final trump card—the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path—had vanished right before his eyes!

Even stranger, though, the black rods sustaining Nagato had not disappeared. They remained firmly connected to him, a sign that his link to the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path had not been severed completely.

Nagato could sense that the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path's power was still rippling through the Ninja World. Some mighty chakra was drawing it along, and that chakra had eased the pressure on him somewhat.

The Demonic Statue of the Outer Path still exists... but where did it go? A deep unease rose within Nagato, doubt flickering in his eyes.

He knew this couldn't be a coincidence.

The Demonic Statue of the Outer Path's disappearance threw him into a panic. The careful plans he had laid over the years seemed to have collapsed in an instant.

His original plan depended on using the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path to seal the Tailed Beasts, removing them from the Ninja World completely and achieving his goal.

But now, all of that had become uncertain.

"Nagato, summon the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path again," Black Zetsu urged, his voice tinged with agitation.

Nagato took a deep breath, focused his mind, and tried to summon it again.

After several failed attempts, anxiety began to show in Nagato's eyes.

At last, after one failure after another, the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path appeared before Nagato once more.

"Phew..." Nagato breathed a sigh of relief, setting aside his worries for the moment.

He couldn't help furrowing his brow. The Demonic Statue of the Outer Path's disappearance had made him realize they were in danger.

"Konan." Pain turned to Konan and gazed deeply into her eyes.

"Call a meeting of the Akatsuki!"