Rinnegan Appears: Almighty Push

The Gedo Statue's roar was like the bellow of an ancient beast, shaking the entire earth. Amid the swirling dust, Ling carefully handed the gravely wounded Naruto over to the medical team that had rushed in. The blond boy had already fallen unconscious, the steadfast expression from battle still on his face.

"You have to save him," Ling said in a low voice to the medical squad leader, though his gaze never left the six deathlike figures in the distance.

"With you alone, you think you can stop a god?" Deva Path Pain hovered in midair, the black chakra rods gleaming coldly under the setting sun. His voice was terrifyingly calm, as if he were stating an established fact.

Ling slowly straightened and brushed the dust from his ninja tool pouch. The Two-Tomoe Sharingan glowed scarlet in the dusk, forming a stark contrast with the purple ripples of the Rinnegan.

"God?" A cold smile tugged at the corner of Ling's mouth. "You're nothing but a coward hiding behind the curtain."

The instant his words fell, the system's analysis results flowed into his mind like running water:

[Six Paths of Pain ability analysis complete]

[Deva Path: controls attraction and repulsion, core combat force]

[Human Path: skilled at reading memories and extracting souls, close combat must be avoided]

[Asura Path: fully mechanically modified, powerful firepower but sluggish movement]

[Animal Path: proficient in all kinds of Summoning Jutsu, threat level high]

[Preta Path: can absorb all chakra, must be finished quickly]

[Naraka Path: has the ability to repair the other Pains, priority kill target]

Ling's gaze instantly locked onto Naraka Path. He was a Pain dressed in monk's robes, standing at the very rear of the formation, his hands pressed together as if in prayer.

"I have to deal with Naraka Path first," Ling muttered, his right hand already reaching for the Flying Thunder God Kunai at his waist.

But just as he was about to make his move, Deva Path Pain suddenly raised a hand. "Universal Pull!"

An invisible tremendous force yanked Ling forward, his feet carving two deep trenches into the ground. Asura Path's mechanical arms clacked, revealing densely packed missile launch ports.

"Tch, he saw through me..." Ling gritted his teeth and steadied himself, his left hand swiftly forming seals. "Lightning Style: Lightning Wall!"

Dazzling lightning formed a barrier in front of him, barely holding back the gravitational pull. But Animal Path had already finished forming seals, and with a burst of white smoke, three enormous Splitting Dogs appeared on the battlefield.

"Roar!" The Splitting Dogs snarled and pounced, while Preta Path circled in from the flank, spreading both hands and preparing to absorb chakra.

The situation turned critical in an instant!

"I can't get pinned down here..." A flash of resolve crossed Ling's eyes as the Two-Tomoe Sharingan spun rapidly. With the system's precise calculations, he found the only path to break through.

"Lightning Style: Chidori Current!"

Amid the piercing cry of birds, countless lightning serpents burst outward from Ling as the center. The Splitting Dogs were temporarily paralyzed, and Preta Path was forced to retreat from their edge.

But Deva Path Pain remained expressionless, the ripples in his Rinnegan slowly turning. "A futile struggle."

He raised his hand again. This time, it was an even stronger repulsive force. "Almighty Push!"

Boom!

With Deva Path at the center, a destructive shock wave spread in every direction. The surrounding buildings collapsed like paper, and layers of earthen waves were lifted from the ground. Ling used Flying Thunder God in time to teleport to a safe area, but the aftershock still struck him so hard that his blood and qi churned.

"Cough, cough..." He dropped to one knee and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. So this was the power of the Rinnegan? It really was terrifying.

[Warning! Chakra remaining: 42%]

[Multiple soft tissue contusions across the body]

[Recommendation: use Four Symbols Seal to release restrictions, but risk of curse mark going berserk must be accepted]

The system's warning echoed in his mind. Ling took a deep breath, and his hands began forming seals. "No choice... Four Symbols Seal: Release!"

As the seal was undone, black curse-mark patterns spread across his skin like living things. Violent chakra surged through his meridians, but surprisingly, under the system's precise control, that power maintained a wondrous balance.

"Is this your trump card?" Deva Path Pain frowned slightly for the first time. "Borrowing the power of evil..."

"Power has never been divided into good and evil." Ling slowly stood upright, the black patterns already spreading to his neck. "What matters is the person who uses it."

He could feel that with the support of the curse mark's energy, his senses had become abnormally sharp. Even the flow of chakra in the air had become clearly visible in his Sharingan.

The Six Paths of Pain launched another offensive, and this time their coordination was even more seamless. Human Path silently slipped into the shadows, Asura Path opened fire with everything he had, Animal Path continuously summoned new beasts...

But this time, Ling moved faster!

With the double support of the Sharingan and the system, he dodged every attack as if he had foreseen them. Lightning Flash Body turned his figure into a streak of electric light, weaving unpredictably across the battlefield.

"I have to break this deadlock..." As Ling dodged, he observed the battle in the distance. The Gedo Statue's roars were growing louder and louder, and the Ten-Tails' revival was accelerating.

Suddenly, he noticed a tiny opening in Naraka Path—at the instant Animal Path summoned a beast, Naraka Path's attention would scatter for the briefest moment.

"Now!"

Three Flying Thunder God Kunai shot out at the same time, and Ling's figure flickered through space in succession. The first teleport avoided Asura Path's missiles, the second dodged Preta Path's ambush, and with the third, he finally appeared in front of Naraka Path!

"Lightning Style: Kirin!"

This Kirin was completely different from Sasuke's version. Empowered by the curse mark's energy, the lightning beast was an eerie black-purple, its body wrapped in ominous chakra.

"Protect Naraka Path!"

The other Pains wanted to return and assist, but it was already too late. The lightning beast opened its huge maw and swallowed Naraka Path whole. Amid the blinding lightning, Naraka Path was reduced to charcoal.

"It worked!" Joy surged through Ling's heart. Without Naraka Path, the Six Paths of Pain had lost their ability to resurrect.

Yet Deva Path Pain's expression was still terrifyingly calm. "You think this means you can win?"

He suddenly spread both arms, and an unprecedented amount of chakra began to gather. "Let the world feel pain—Super Almighty Push!"

This time, the force far surpassed before, and all of Hidden Leaf Village wailed beneath the blow. Buildings collapsed in swaths, and bottomless ravines split open in the earth. Ling pushed Flying Thunder God to its limit, trying to divert the force, but he was still struck hard by the aftershock.

[Warning! Vital signs dropping sharply]

[Three broken ribs, internal bleeding]

[Strong recommendation: retreat immediately!]

Ling knelt on one knee, blood constantly spilling from the corner of his mouth. But his eyes shone with the light of a successful scheme.

"You fell for it."

It turned out that at the instant Super Almighty Push was launched, a brief vacuum really had appeared in the other Pains' defenses. Jiraiya and Kakashi, who had been lying in wait in the dark all along, finally found the perfect moment.

"Sage Art: Goemon!"

Jiraiya descended from the sky, and the combined ninjutsu of toad oil and Fire Style instantly swallowed Animal Path.

"Lightning Cutter!"

Kakashi's figure was like a ghost, the lightning piercing straight through Preta Path's heart.

At the same time, Tsunade also led the medical team onto the battlefield. With one punch, she shattered Asura Path's mechanical arm, and the chakra of the Strength of a Hundred Technique shone around her body.

"Hidden Leaf Village will not fall here!" Tsunade's voice rang across the battlefield. "As long as even one person remains, the will of Hidden Leaf Village will never perish!"

With everyone's seamless cooperation, the remaining Pains were quickly defeated one by one. When Deva Path Pain fell from the sky, an emotion like confusion appeared in the Rinnegan for the first time.

"So this is... human will..." His body began to dissipate, but in the final moment, a strange gleam flashed through those Rinnegan. "But... the true battle... begins now..."

With the fall of the Six Paths of Pain, the Gedo Statue's roars in the distance grew even more violent. In the system's perception, an even more powerful chakra was rapidly approaching.

Nagato's real body was finally about to appear.

(End of Chapter 46)