Heavenly Punishment

"Shinra Tensei!"

On the battlefield, Deva Path Pain pressed his hands together, and an invisible repulsive barrier enveloped him.

Countless bolts of lightning crashed down, striking the spot where Deva Path Pain stood. It was as if they had hit some invisible barrier and were immediately deflected.

Faintly, amid the blinding flashes, a circular barrier could be seen surrounding Pain, protecting him completely.

"Let's see how many seconds your Shinra Tensei can last!" Uchiha Akira thought with a cold laugh.

Nagato had only just turned to darkness and hadn't yet mastered his Six Paths Technique, yet he'd sent only three Pains.

In a place like the Land of Rain, Uchiha Akira would dare take on all six Pains at once!

This time, this time the advantage was mine!

"This is bad!"

As the lightning grew denser, Nagato's heart sank. His purple Rinnegan widened, and its vast ocular power surged through an invisible link into Deva Path Pain on the battlefield.

"Ha!"

A low shout came from Deva Path Pain.

His eyes widened, and terrifying repulsive force erupted from his body.

In an instant, he used the explosive force of Shinra Tensei to forcibly push back the dense, Thunder Domain-like lightning, creating a safe zone more than ten meters wide.

"Now that's interesting!" Uchiha Akira said, the corner of his mouth lifting into a smile.

Crackle...

The next moment, the lightning overhead suddenly went berserk. Countless bolts crashed down from the clouds like water pouring from a river, forming a waterfall of lightning from the heavens.

"Damn... How can his Lightning Style control naturally occurring, violent lightning so precisely?" In a distant cave, a bead of cold sweat appeared on Nagato's forehead.

With no time to think, Nagato once again sent his Rinnegan's ocular power to Deva Path. That body absolutely could not be lost—it belonged to Yahiko!

"Ha... ah..."

Behind the invisible barrier, Deva Path Pain's face contorted, as if the very art style had fallen apart.

The river of lightning came crashing down, and the repulsive barrier of Shinra Tensei shrank continuously, soon compressed to a radius of just two meters around him.

Strands of lightning pierced the barrier and struck Deva Path Pain, leaving scorch marks on his black cloak patterned with red clouds.

Wisps of smoke rose from Deva Path Pain.

"Ha!"

As Nagato's ocular power flowed to him again, Deva Path's Rinnegan eyes widened. An even more tremendous force of repulsion erupted.

In an instant, it shattered the river of lightning pouring down from the sky, scattering it into countless bolts that rampaged across the land.

Seizing the chance to catch his breath, Deva Path Pain immediately moved, sprinting at top speed toward the edge of the Thunder Domain.

He had to escape the reach of his opponent's Thunder Domain. Otherwise, he would surely be worn down to death.

Seeing this, Uchiha Akira moved the fingers of his outstretched right hand. Lightning in the clouds transformed into bolts that stretched from heaven to earth and crashed down.

Deva Path Pain was left in a wretched state. Even his body, strengthened by Yin-Yang Release, couldn't withstand too many strikes from natural lightning.

The Animal Path on the other side didn't dare enter the Thunder Domain at all, and could only hover around its edge. He gave up pursuing Aburame Shigang and Hyuga Kaoru.

In the current situation, Deva Path Pain's safety was the most important thing.

Elsewhere, on a hill several kilometers away, the single crimson Sharingan visible beneath Uchiha Obito's mask watched the churning thunderclouds. A grave look flashed in his eye.

From where he stood, the sky above the battlefield where the Uchiha were fighting was filled with endless flashes of lightning. Blinding bolts converged on the sky above the battlefield from every direction.

The countless bolts of lightning surged wildly, their dazzling light illuminating the land. The thunder rumbled with tremendous force.

Even after inheriting Uchiha Madara's legacy, Uchiha Obito had rarely found a ninjutsu in that inheritance with such overwhelming power and spectacle.

"This technique uses the power of nature. Even Uchiha Madara would have to take it head-on!" A grave look flashed in Uchiha Obito's eyes.

He himself had Kamui, so a ninjutsu cast with such favorable conditions of time and place was no threat to him. But everyone else would be in trouble.

Lightning was one of the fastest attacks in nature. Under normal circumstances, there was absolutely no way to dodge it.

Even if it wasn't as fast as light, it was still too fast for a shinobi to react to.

"Nagato's Deva Path Pain is finished." Black Zetsu's voice came from within Zetsu. He looked at Obito. "Obito, it's too late for you to go over now. The lightning strikes are even faster than your Kamui."

"It's too early to say that." Uchiha Obito's voice was cool and detached. "Don't forget, Nagato can still summon the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path. The statue has already devoured the Six-Tails. I doubt an attack of this magnitude could destroy it, right?"

"Heh..." Black Zetsu gave a derisive laugh. "How could an attack of this magnitude destroy the statue? It's nowhere near enough!"

"I don't want the statue to be damaged. It's essential to becoming the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki and vital to the Infinite Tsukuyomi!" Uchiha Obito said, looking at Black Zetsu.

"Don't worry." Black Zetsu replied with absolute confidence. "An attack of this magnitude can only cause the statue some negligible damage at most. As long as we keep capturing Tailed Beasts and sealing them inside, the statue will naturally recover completely."

"This Uchiha Akira is not to be underestimated. Find a chance to kill him later!" Uchiha Obito's eyes brimmed with icy killing intent.

On the battlefield, the sky underwent a new change.

Countless bolts of lightning rolled and surged, as if they were brewing something terrifying.

Dense flashes of lightning crackled. Bolt after bolt pierced heaven and earth, striking the ground.

Deva Path Pain was in a terrible state inside the Thunder Domain. His black cloak patterned with red clouds had long since been burned away, revealing his muscular upper body.

His orange hair had been scorched black.

Within the Thunder Domain, countless bolts of lightning fell like the sharpest swords.

He could only rely on instinct to predict where they would strike. Dodging after the lightning attacked was impossible.

Lightning could reach half the speed of light. There was no way he could wait until it had been fired before trying to dodge.

"I can't hold on. Yahiko's body can't be lost here..." Seeing the strange sight in the sky, Nagato hardened his resolve. He knew his opponent's true ultimate move was coming.

At that moment, an endless rumble rolled across the heavens. Amid the lightning, a sword formed from countless bolts appeared and disappeared from view.

The lightning sword devoured the bolts surging toward it. It grew larger, then rapidly shrank, only to expand again as it consumed more lightning.

After repeating this cycle, a colossal Thunder God Sword appeared high in the sky, larger than a mountain and radiating an aura that could annihilate all things. Its light illuminated the world in every direction.