Shattered Thunderclouds

Act One: The Descent of a God

Land of Lightning, Kumogakure.

Unlike the dense fog of the Mist Village or the mountains of the Rock Village, Kumogakure stood atop towering peaks. Famous throughout the Shinobi World for its Lightning Release ninjutsu and formidable taijutsu, it possessed the strongest military power among the Five Great Shinobi Villages and was known as the "Blade of Lightning."

Fourth Raikage A—a man as violent and fierce as thunder itself—was roaring inside the Raikage's office.

"Akatsuki attacked both the Mist Village and the Rock Village at once? The nerve! Send the order: the entire village is entering the highest state of alert! All shinobi are to cancel their leave! Raise the defensive barrier to maximum output! Expand the sensory range to fifty li!"

"Lord Raikage, the Two-Tails Jinchuriki, Lady Yugito Nii, has already been moved to the secret chamber beneath the Raikage Building. The Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, Lord Killer B, is in the room next door," Mabui reported calmly.

"Tell that idiot B to stay put! Without my orders, he is not to leave the building by even a single step!" the Raikage roared, though a trace of worry flashed through his eyes. Akatsuki dared to strike three Great Shinobi Villages at once. Such strength and confidence were terrifying.

Killer B pushed open the door and walked in, still speaking in his rap style. "Yo~ Big bro, don't you worry, fool and dummy~ With Lord B right here, when Akatsuki comes near, I'll knock them all down, yeah~"

"Shut up! This isn't a joke!" The Raikage glared at him, but his heart eased slightly. With himself and B present, Kumogakure had the confidence to face any enemy.

At that moment, a piercing alarm rang through the sky!

"Above the village! Space is distorting! There are enemies... three! No, four!"

Without hesitation, the Raikage smashed through the window and leaped onto the roof. Killer B followed close behind.

They saw them—three figures in Akatsuki's black cloaks patterned with red clouds floating silently over Kumogakure. At their head stood a stern man with short orange hair and strange Rinnegan eyes. To his left was a mechanically modified man, and to his right stood a grim-faced shinobi. A blue-haired woman hovered nearby, paper wings spread behind her.

They were Deva Path Pain, the Asura Path, the Human Path, and Konan.

"Only four?" The Raikage frowned, but he did not dare lower his guard. The fact that they had silently breached Kumogakure's aerial defenses and appeared directly above the village already proved how terrifying they were.

Deva Path Pain looked down upon Kumogakure, his Rinnegan utterly devoid of emotion. "Hand over the Two-Tails and Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, and the village will be spared destruction."

"Arrogant!" The Raikage flew into a rage as Lightning Release chakra erupted around his body. "Lightning Release: Horizontal Lightning Thousand-Hand Dance!" He transformed into a bolt of lightning and shot into the sky, throwing a punch at Deva Path Pain!

That punch was as fast as real lightning, with enough power to shatter mountains. Kumogakure's shinobi all showed looks of excitement—Lord Raikage had made his move!

But the next moment left everyone dumbfounded.

Deva Path Pain merely raised one hand and said calmly, "Shinra Tensei."

An invisible repulsive force erupted around him! When the Raikage's fist was still three meters from Deva Path Pain, it was as though he had struck an unseen, absolute wall. He was hurled backward at an even greater speed, smashing heavily into the Raikage Building and blasting through several layers of walls!

"Big bro!" Killer B cried out in shock and fury.

The Kumogakure shinobi fell silent as one. Lord Raikage's full-powered strike... had been deflected so easily?

"What kind of technique is that?!" Mabui's face went pale.

Deva Path Pain slowly descended, with the Asura Path and Human Path standing on either side. Konan dissolved into countless sheets of paper in the air, scattering across the battlefield.

"Since you refuse, then bear the wrath of a god." Deva Path Pain's voice sounded like a judgment.

Act Two: Asura's Barrage

The Asura Path struck first. Mechanical structures unfolded all over his body, revealing countless cannon muzzles, missile launchers, and laser emitters.

"Strange Missile Fire Arrows!" Dozens of tracking missiles launched from his back, carpet-bombing Kumogakure's defensive positions.

"Mechanical Armor!" Six mechanical arms shot out from his shoulders. At the tip of each arm were deadly weapons such as spinning chainsaws, drills, and pincers. He charged into the Kumogakure shinobi ranks as though entering an empty field!

"Head Laser Cannon!" His forehead split open, firing a high-energy laser that instantly sliced through several buildings.

"Strange Arm Rocket!" His arms detached from his body and launched like rockets, their explosive force comparable to Deidara's C3!

The Asura Path alone was an army! His methods of attack were completely unlike those of traditional shinobi, relying on nothing but the violent output of technological weaponry. Kumogakure's shinobi were accustomed to dealing with ninjutsu and taijutsu, and they were utterly unprepared for such mechanized saturation bombardment. Casualties mounted instantly.

"Everyone spread out! Counterattack with long-range ninjutsu!" a commander shouted.

But the Human Path moved. He flitted through the battlefield like a ghost, targeting commanders and Elite Jonin specifically. Just as a Kumogakure Jonin prepared to unleash a powerful Lightning Release technique, the Human Path suddenly appeared behind him and pressed one hand against the top of his head.

"Mind Reading!" The Human Path's ability—reading memories and extracting souls!

The Jonin did not even have time to scream before his soul was pulled out, and his body collapsed limply. From his memories, the Human Path quickly obtained secret information such as Kumogakure's defensive deployments, the location of the command center, and evacuation routes.

"The Two-Tails is beneath the Raikage Building. Coordinates confirmed." The Human Path shared the intelligence with Deva Path Pain.

Deva Path Pain nodded and looked toward the Raikage Building. By then, the Raikage had already charged out of the ruins. Though injured, his fighting spirit had only grown fiercer. Killer B had also entered Half-Tailed-Beast Transformation, four octopus tails swaying behind him.

"B! Together!" the Raikage roared as the two transformed into streaks of light and rushed toward Deva Path Pain.

"Ultra Almighty Push." This time, Deva Path Pain did not hold back, unleashing his repulsive force at full power!

A repulsive force ten times stronger than before erupted! Within a spherical area one hundred meters in radius around Deva Path Pain, all matter was forcibly pushed away! The air compressed into visible ripples, the ground was scraped several meters deep, and buildings, rocks, shinobi... everything was ruthlessly blasted away!

The Raikage and Killer B bore the brunt of it. Struck head-on by the repulsive force, they were sent flying again—this time directly out of the village and into a distant mountainside!

"Lord Raikage! Lord Killer B!" the Kumogakure shinobi cried in terror.

Deva Path Pain ignored them and walked straight toward the Raikage Building. The Asura Path and Human Path cleared away obstacles along the route, while Konan's paper transformed into countless Explosive Tags, causing even greater chaos.

Kumogakure's elite forces resisted desperately. Several Jonin launched a combined Lightning Release attack: "Lightning Release: Lightning Dreamer!" A massive lightning dragon charged at Deva Path Pain.

Deva Path Pain simply raised his hand. "Banshō Ten'in."

Gravity reversed! The lightning dragon was forcibly redirected and instead blasted toward the Kumogakure shinobi who had released it! Amid screams, more than ten Jonin were severely injured by their own ninjutsu.

"He can control gravity and repulsion... How are we supposed to fight that?" The Kumogakure shinobi began to despair.

Deva Path Pain had reached the front of the Raikage Building. Inside were the final guards—the elite Anbu personally led by the Two-Tails Jinchuriki, Yugito Nii.

"Akatsuki's leader... let me face you myself." Yugito Nii walked out of the building. She had already entered Half-Tailed-Beast Transformation, a blue chakra cloak covering her body while two tails swayed behind her.

She was a perfect Jinchuriki and believed her strength was no less than Killer B's.

"The Two-Tails, Matatabi..." Deva Path Pain's Rinnegan locked onto her. "Perfect."

Act Three: The Tailed Beast's Defeat

Yugito Nii did not waste words and attacked at once. "Mouse-Tail Bomb!" She opened her mouth and fired countless blue fireballs, each one streaking toward Deva Path Pain like a tracking missile.

Deva Path Pain neither dodged nor moved. Shinra Tensei activated again, and every fireball was deflected by the repulsive force as it approached, exploding in midair.

"A speed type..." Deva Path Pain judged Yugito Nii's fighting style. The Two-Tails, Matatabi, was a nekomata known for speed and agility.

Yugito Nii truly was fast. Under the cover of the fireballs, she had already circled to Deva Path Pain's side, her claws blazing with blue flames as they tore for his throat!

But Deva Path Pain was faster. Just before her claws could touch him, he sidestepped and grabbed Yugito Nii's wrist with one hand. "Banshō Ten'in."

Yugito Nii felt an irresistible force of attraction pulling her toward Deva Path Pain. At the same time, his other hand pressed against her abdomen. "Preta Path Ability: Sealing Technique: Absorption Seal!"

The Two-Tails' chakra was frantically drained away! Yugito Nii was horrified and tried to break free, but Deva Path Pain's strength far exceeded anything she had imagined.

"Tailed-Beast Transformation! Full form!" Yugito Nii was forced into Full Tailed-Beast Transformation ahead of time. Her body swelled enormously as she transformed into a gigantic blue demon cat, breaking free from Deva Path Pain's grasp.

The fully transformed Two-Tails roared at the sky, gathering a Tailed Beast Bomb in its mouth!

But Deva Path Pain only watched calmly. "Planetary Devastation."

He raised one hand to the sky, condensing a black sphere in his palm. The black sphere rose into the air and released a terrifying gravitational force! The ground began to rupture as rocks, building debris, and even the corpses of Kumogakure shinobi were drawn into the sky, gathering around the black sphere to form a massive rocky orb!

The Two-Tails' Tailed Beast Bomb had only just formed when gravity forcibly distorted it, sending it off course. The Two-Tails itself was also dragged by the gravitational pull. Its four claws dug desperately into the ground, but it was slowly pulled free of the earth.

"What kind of ninjutsu is this?!" Yugito Nii panicked within the Two-Tails. She could feel that once she was sealed inside that rocky sphere, she would never be able to escape.

"Double Lariat!" The Raikage's roar came from afar. He and Killer B had finally returned. Working together, with the Raikage in front and Killer B behind, they became a streak of lightning that pierced through heaven and earth, driving straight for Deva Path Pain's back!

This was Kumogakure's strongest combined technique, its speed reaching the level of true light speed!

But it was as if Deva Path Pain had eyes in the back of his head. Just as the lightning was about to strike—

"Shinra Tensei."

A repulsive force blocked the Raikage and Killer B. They felt as though they had slammed into an invisible wall, and both were sent flying once again!

Meanwhile, the Two-Tails finally failed to withstand Planetary Devastation's gravitational pull and was completely sucked into the rocky sphere, sealed within. With a wave of his hand, Deva Path Pain shrank the rocky sphere and caught it in his palm.

The Two-Tails Jinchuriki, Yugito Nii, had been successfully captured.

The entire process had taken less than five minutes.

"Yugito!" The Raikage's eyes nearly split with rage as he tried to charge forward again, but Killer B held him back.

"Big bro! Calm down! Those Rinnegan... we can't beat them!" Killer B was unusually serious. The Eight-Tails, Gyuki, inside him was also warning him: those eyes were the eyes of the Sage of Six Paths!

Deva Path Pain looked at the Raikage and Killer B, seemingly considering whether to continue and capture the Eight-Tails. But Kumogakure reinforcements were already rushing in from every direction. Though afraid, the Kumogakure shinobi displayed astonishing courage and discipline for the sake of protecting their village.

The Human Path read the intelligence on the scene. "There are backup defensive fortifications beneath the Raikage Building. Capturing the Eight-Tails will take time if we continue. The battles in the Mist Village and Rock Village have already ended, and reinforcements from other villages may be on the way."

After weighing the pros and cons, Deva Path Pain finally decided, "The mission is complete. Withdraw."

Konan's paper gathered together, forming enormous paper wings that enveloped Deva Path Pain, the Asura Path, the Human Path, and the Planetary Devastation sphere sealing the Two-Tails. The paper wings turned into countless fragments and vanished into the air.

The four Akatsuki members disappeared into thin air.

The Raikage stood amid the ruins, staring at the devastated village, his injured subordinates, and Yugito Nii being taken away. His fists clenched tightly, nails digging into his flesh as blood dripped down.

"Akatsuki..." He ground out the name through clenched teeth, his voice filled with endless rage and humiliation.

Kumogakure, the strongest military power among the Five Great Shinobi Villages, had been crushed head-on on its own territory by four people, and its Two-Tails Jinchuriki had been taken.

The news spread through the entire Shinobi World in an instant like the most violent thunderclap.