The Backbone of the Hidden Leaf, the Fall of a God
The sky was torn open by the Daytime Tiger, but the aftershocks of Shinra Tensei, which had accumulated to the extreme, still poured down like an invisible level 10 tsunami through the broken air.
The first thing to be affected was the giant golden Chakra net that Naruto had laid out.
"Sizzle--!"
A piercing tearing sound echoed through the sky, and the light barrier sank violently downwards, almost touching the spire of the tallest building in Hidden Leaf's core urban area.
The basement of the Uzumaki New Residence.
Karin's knees slammed heavily onto the stone slab, the crisp sound of her kneecaps cracking being drowned out by the gale. The runes on the array plate began to emit smoke due to overload, and blood spurted from her nose and the corners of her eyes, staining the half-meter scroll in front of her red.
"I haven't even been listed in the Uzumaki Clan's genealogy yet, and you think you can take away the young master's fortune? Dream on!"
Karin bit her tongue, ignoring the excruciating pain of her torn meridians, and unleashed the last 70% of her Chakra into the center of the formation. The golden pillar of light suddenly rose three feet higher.
The basement of the Hyuga Compound.
Bai knelt on the ice, his ten fingers, which Hand Seals, were frozen and had lost all color. The terrifying pressure coming from above caused the Ice Release to crack inch by inch, and the cracking sound was as dense as popping beans.
As soon as one layer of ice broke, she would immediately lay two more layers on top of it.
"Not an inch of the place the young master wants to protect is allowed to collapse." Extremely cold air surged wildly from Bai's body, freezing the destructive force that had seeped into the foundation into powder.
Chaos raged on the ground, yet not a single person retreated.
The raging Chakra currents, like invisible blades, slashed in all directions. Hyuga Hiashi took the lead, his palms creating a flurry of afterimages. "Hyuga Branch Family, heed my command! Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm, shatter the falling rocks!"
Dozens of Gentle Fist strikes soared into the sky, blasting the Taiseki that had been swept towards the civilian shelters by the gale into dust.
On the other street corner, several Genin were pulled off the ground by the swirling whirlwind and were about to be swept into the air and crushed.
"Troublesome." Shikamaru spat out the Senbon he was holding in his mouth and interlaced his fingers. The shadow on the ground instantly split into more than a dozen tentacles, which precisely wrapped around the ankles of the group and pulled them back sharply, dragging them behind the sturdy cover.
The rooftop of the medical center.
Tsunade looked at the teetering golden light screen above her head, then suddenly raised her right foot and stomped it down on the roof with the force of a thunderbolt.
"Boom!"
The entire building shook violently, and the black runes of the Strength of a Hundred Technique spread wildly from her heels, like countless thick tree roots, firmly locking the foundation within a one-kilometer radius.
"As long as I'm standing, Hidden Leaf's backbone will never break!" Tsunade roared.
With one heart and one mind.
The repulsive tsunami that would have been enough to level Hidden Leaf was actually withstood by the combined resistance of the entire village. Not only was it withstood, but the golden Chakra net, which had been dented to its extreme, rebounded sharply upwards with the continuous support from below!
"Buzz--!"
The repulsive force pushed the object back into the sky intact.
Ten thousand meters in the air, Deva Path Pain had just caught his breath from the impact of the Daytime Tiger and hadn't even had time to create distance when the recoil force from the Hidden Leaf members slammed into him.
A hint of surprise finally flickered across his usually indifferent face.
In that instant, a dark red meteor tore through the gale and rushed towards him.
Naruto stood on the void, the Golden Yang Release Chakra on his fists condensed into a tangible liquid. He looked at the Deva Path's calm Rinnegan and a cold, extremely violent smile curled at the corner of his mouth.
"God? He doesn't even have the five social insurances and one housing fund, what are you pretending to be!"
Without any fancy moves, Naruto swung his right arm and delivered a powerful, heavy punch, which landed squarely on Deva Path Pain's right cheek.
"Bang!"
A sonic boom exploded. Deva Path's facial bones emitted a teeth-grinding cracking sound, and his entire body, like a cannonball, crashed diagonally into the clouds above.
Naruto's feet created a burst of air, his speed even faster than the trajectory of the Deva Path flying backward. He instantly appeared above the Deva Path, clasped his hands together, and slammed them down hard on the orange head.
In mid- Deva Path, Pain forcibly twisted his waist and abdomen, and with a flick of his right wrist, a jet-black Chakra Metal pierced towards Naruto's throat like a venomous snake.
"Still playing with this piece of junk?"
Naruto neither dodged nor evaded, but suddenly reached out with his left hand and grabbed the Black Rod that was thrusting at him. The extremely high temperature of his palm instantly turned the Black Rod red-hot. He exerted force with his five fingers, and with a "crack", he forcefully pinched the indestructible metal rod in two.
Immediately afterwards, Naruto grabbed Deva Path's wrist and yanked him sharply in front of him. He raised his right knee and, with the force of a thunderbolt, slammed it into Deva Path's chest.
"Puff!"
The Akatsuki on Deva Path's chest was torn to shreds, his ribs bulged out, and a mouthful of black blood mixed with fragments of internal organs gushed out.
Meanwhile, inside the tower of the distant Amegakure.
The emaciated Nagato let out an extremely shrill scream, and sparks flew from the dozens of Black Rod attached to his back at the same time. Blood gushed from the corner of his mouth, instantly staining his clothes red.
"Nagato!" The Animal Path (backup body) standing to the side hurriedly stepped forward.
Nagato stared intently ahead, his eyes filled with horror. The power transmitted through his perception of the Deva Path was utterly unreasonable; it was nothing more than a primordial beast in human skin.
Hidden Leaf, the third underground bunker.
The ground tremors had barely subsided when the heavy steel gate was reduced to scrap metal.
Danzo squinted his one eye, staring intently at the blue-haired woman who emerged from the shadows. He slammed his cane into the ground. "A mere missing-nin from Amegakure dares to trespass into Hidden Leaf's military stronghold. Take her down!"
Hundreds of Root ninjas wearing animal masks instantly drew their short swords and rushed towards Konan like a black tide.
Konan didn't retreat a single step. She raised her right hand, and a neatly folded paper crane flew out from her sleeve, bursting open in mid-air and turning into hundreds of pieces of paper with black markings, which fluttered down at Danzo's feet.
"The route map of Pain's invasion, the defense codes for the three weakest points of the Hidden Leaf barrier." Konan stared coldly at Danzo, her voice colder than ice. "This is the intelligence Nagato received last night. Signed, Root."
Danzo's eyes narrowed, and his face instantly turned extremely gloomy.
He wasn't afraid of death, but he was afraid of things spiraling out of control. His plan was to weaken the higher-ups through Pain, then clean up the mess—that was his script. But now, this fig leaf had been ripped off in public by an outsider.
"Nonsense!" Danzo ripped off the bandage on his right arm, preparing to use his trump card.
"Your Hokage is risking his life to protect others in the heavens, while you, you old dog, are selling out your village for personal gain in the sewers." Konan gave him no chance to stall for time, instantly clasping her hands together.
Dimensional ascension. Sanctions.
"Naruto said that this village doesn't need Kage."
"Boom boom boom boom--!"
Explosive Tag rained down from the walls, ceiling, and even the ankles of the Root ninjas, detonating without warning. The passageway instantly turned into a blazing inferno, and the deafening explosions completely drowned Danzo Danzo's unspoken command.
The series of explosions swept along the underground tunnel, and the screams only lasted for half a second before being vaporized by the extreme heat.
Konan hovered in mid-air, her paper wings shielding her from the surging heatwave, her eyes devoid of any pity. Eliminating the root of the problem—this was the only truth she had learned amidst the mountains of corpses and seas of blood in the Land of Rain.
Battlefield in mid-air.
Deva Path Pain was like a rag doll, pounded from the sky to the ground by Naruto, and then kicked back into the sky. His proud Taijutsu was as slow as a toddler in front of Naruto, who had opened the Gate of Gate of Wonder.
"Bang!"
Naruto delivered another powerful downward kick, smashing Deva Path's left arm off.
"With this little skill, you think you can be a savior?" Naruto hovered in mid-air, the dark red steam around his body gradually becoming violent and unstable. The Seventh Gate Eight Gates was nearing its limit.
The ravaged body of the Deva Path Dao tumbled several times in mid-air before finally stabilizing. His pale purple Rinnegan stared intently at Naruto, a strange and unsettling calm appearing on his face for the first time ever.
He neither retaliated nor fled, but slowly raised his only remaining right hand and joined it with his limp left hand hanging in front of his chest.
"You are strong, Naruto Uzumaki. You even briefly halted the progress of a god with the struggles of these ants." The hollow voice of the Deva Path Dao echoed in the gale, carrying a resolute determination to overturn the table. "But as long as you remain on this earth, you will never be able to touch the true starry sky."
An extremely dense and profound black sphere, capable of swallowing even light, slowly rose from the palm of the Deva Path Dao, and then rapidly flew towards the higher heavens.
The surrounding air froze instantly.
The ground, which had been flattened, began to crack and rise uncontrollably, with countless boulders the size of houses frantically converging on the black sphere.
Chibaku Tensei!
Meanwhile, inside that cold, towering building in Amegakure.
Behind Nagato, who was coughing up blood, a strange ripple suddenly appeared on the hard metal wall. Half of his face was as black as ink and the other half as pale as paper. A pair of emotionless yellow eyes stared with great interest at the Black Rod on Nagato's back that were almost burning.
"The situation seems to be getting interesting..." A low, hoarse murmur echoed eerily within the dark tower.