I pressed down with my toes, and divine tree chakra surged like a river bursting its banks.
Rampant vitality flooded through my ankle like a thing gone mad.
The smile instantly froze on the fat Preta Path's corpse-like face.
"This... why is there even more power than before?"
A shrill, metallic rasp came from his throat, like a leaking bellows.
The fat hand gripping my ankle began shaking violently.
I folded my arms and looked down at him from above.
"More? This isn't even a thousandth of it. Aren't you supposed to absorb it?"
"Drink up. Don't hold back on my account. It's all you can drink today!"
The Animal Path stood nearby, her emotionless Rinnegan narrowing.
"No... let go! Preta Path, fall back!"
She shouted urgently, struggling to keep her grip on the Black Rods.
The Preta Path beneath the mud wanted to let go too, but he couldn't pull free.
My Wood Release origin was sticky, clinging tightly to his flesh.
Green light spread along his fat arm toward his chest and belly.
Crack, crack.
The steel framework and mechanical joints inside him groaned under the strain.
Nagato, hiding inside the Paper Tree farther back, suddenly spat out blood.
"Damn it... this brat's vitality is practically the Divine Tree itself!"
He clutched his wheelchair, his Rinnegan filled with indescribable terror.
"He can't absorb it... the Preta Path is being assimilated!"
On the battlefield, the Preta Path's belly swelled visibly.
Like a balloon crammed into an alley, he bulged against his confines.
His red coat ripped into strips with a loud tearing sound.
The scraps floated in muddy water mixed with black blood, looking rather pathetic.
"Sen, don't let your guard down! The others are coming up behind you!"
Jiraiya shouted at the top of his lungs from the