Showing his strength

"The Rinnegan..."

Before joining the Akatsuki, Orochimaru had had a little-known encounter with Pain's Deva Path.

The moment he saw Pain's eyes, he recognized them as the exalted eyes that, according to legend, only the Sage of Six Paths possessed!

His thirst for truth drove him to one of the few reckless acts of his life. Without even a feint to set it up, he charged straight forward and reached for Pain's eyes.

He ended up hurled a hundred meters away. After tumbling across the ground, he climbed out of the shattered remains of trees, covered in dust. The vast distance between them was a perfect measure of the gap in their strength!

For the first time in his life, sheer power had intimidated him. He also developed a keen interest in the Akatsuki and joined, hoping to fish in troubled waters.

Unfortunately... Pain was so powerful that he could find no opening.

Only then did reality truly sink in for Orochimaru.

"So you really did defeat that Pain, and you even obtained that eye before Tobi could. Heh heh, I think I understand why you dared to release me without fearing that I'd turn on you..."

Naruto asked, "Then will you submit to me and behave?"

Orochimaru said, "From the look of you, you only just acquired that eye. How much of its visual prowess can you actually use?"

Naruto smiled. "Even a tenth would probably be enough to handle you."

Orochimaru laughed. "Heh heh heh, then let me see for myself!"

BOOM!!!

The ground shook as the Eight-Branched Serpent plowed forward. Without a massive chakra construct like Susanoo, there was simply no way to stand against it!

Avoiding its initial onslaught was the best choice, but Naruto did not retreat another step!

The reason was simple: he intended to subdue Orochimaru completely through strength!

As the Eight-Branched Serpent closed in, its serpentine bodies lunged down one after another. Every one of them possessed monstrous strength surpassing Manda's!

Naruto narrowed his left eye slightly and raised his palm, spreading an invisible protective barrier that blocked the Eight-Branched Serpent's brutal collision!

That protective barrier was one of the Rinnegan's abilities. Strictly speaking, it belonged to the Deva Path of the Six Paths.

As a child, before he could control the Rinnegan, Nagato had unconsciously used it in a crisis to protect Yahiko and Konan from an explosion.

Later, Pain's Deva Path had used the barrier to easily block the barrage of Tailed Beast Bombs Naruto fired in his six-tailed state. Its only drawback was that he had to extend his palm beforehand to deploy it.

"Not bad. Then how about this..."

Seeing that brute-force collisions could not break through the barrier, the seven heads other than the central one housing Orochimaru all spat enlarged Kusanagi Swords from their mouths. After gathering their strength, the seven heads struck together with their seven swords at the spot where Naruto stood...

Naruto simply raised his palm.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

All seven giant Kusanagi Swords stopped in midair!

Orochimaru's slit pupils narrowed. "Hmm? That area of effect... this isn't the protective barrier..."

Light swirled in Naruto's left eye as he declared forcefully, "Almighty Push!"

BOOM...!!!

A powerful field of repulsion erupted around Naruto, rapidly sinking the flat ground surrounding him into a basin!!

"Urgh... This is the move Pain used on me back then!"

The Eight-Branched Serpent's enormous body was driven steadily backward by the overwhelming repulsion...!!

Carrying the unconscious Anko, Konan spread her white paper wings and watched from high above. "It's just like watching Nagato fight. Naruto mastered this move so quickly..."

BOOM!!!

The Eight-Branched Serpent kept sliding backward until it slammed into the mountain wall at the far end of their view!

Whoosh! Naruto rushed forward and hurled a kunai high into the air. When it reached Orochimaru's height, he teleported to it with Flying Thunder God.

Catching the kunai in his left hand, his cloak snapping in the wind, he spun gracefully in midair. He aimed his right hand at the mountain dozens of meters away, and his left eye suddenly flashed!

-Banshō Ten'in!

RUMBLE, RUMBLE!!!

The mountain collapsed, sending huge boulders crashing onto the Eight-Branched Serpent.

Clang!

The kunai hit the ground, and Naruto immediately returned to ground level. Bending down to pick it up, he looked at the Eight-Branched Serpent buried beneath the boulders and said in amusement, "I can't use Planetary Devastation yet, but this should work as a little substitute, right?"

RUMBLE...!!

With a thunderous crash, eight serpent heads burst through the pile of boulders!

Naruto shrugged with a smile. "Apparently... it won't."

"Naruto, you've successfully stirred my fighting spirit!"

As his words fell, Orochimaru withdrew into the serpent. The Eight-Branched Serpent's eight heads gathered together and released chakra in unison, forming an enormous purple sphere!!

Naruto looked startled. "That move..."

Konan warned him, "Be careful! That chakra is anything but ordinary!!"

Naruto said gravely, "Yeah, it practically rivals the Tailed Beast Bombs Kurama and the others use!"

"!" Inside Naruto, the dormant Nine-Tails involuntarily twitched his large ears at the name "Kurama."

BOOM!!! The Eight-Branched Serpent fired the chakra sphere, compressed to its utmost limit, at Naruto!!

-Eight Branches Giant Bomb!

"This must be the strongest attack your Eight Branches Technique has to offer!"

Naruto stood firm. As the Eight Branches Giant Bomb reached him, he abruptly raised his palm, and light flashed in his left eye.

-Preta Path!

Whoosh!

A translucent barrier appeared, and the Eight Branches Giant Bomb stopped dead...

It was the Preta Path's jutsu-sealing barrier... Any technique powered by chakra would be absorbed upon contact!

Every technique had its limits, and the Preta Path was no exception.

But no known technique had yet exceeded its absorption limit, not even a Tailed Beast Bomb, let alone the less powerful Eight Branches Giant Bomb!

Whoosh!

The Eight Branches Giant Bomb rapidly shrank, reverting to chakra as the jutsu-sealing barrier absorbed it.

"..." Orochimaru emerged from the central serpent head again and watched the scene with trembling eyes.

Once he had completely absorbed the Eight Branches Giant Bomb, the playful look in Naruto's eyes vanished entirely.

"Here I come..."

Naruto charged again, and Orochimaru began withdrawing into the serpent head once more...

"Not a chance!"

In midair, Naruto thrust out his palm.

-Banshō Ten'in!

Whoosh!

A powerful gravitational pull reached across the distance. Orochimaru's body stopped short just as he was about to retreat into the serpent head, then was forcibly dragged forward.

Orochimaru resisted with all his strength. "He wants to separate my real body from the Eight-Branched Serpent. I can't let him succeed...!"

WHOOSH!!!

The gravitational pull from Naruto's palm suddenly intensified... and Orochimaru was finally dragged out!

Naruto sharply lowered his palm!

BOOM!!!

Gravity slammed Orochimaru heavily into the ground...

Orochimaru's modified body was supremely flexible. Even after such a crushing blow, he could still move.

"It's over!"

Naruto leaped up, flicking several Black Receivers from his sleeve and driving them precisely into the vital points of Orochimaru's chakra pathways...

"Urgh...!!"

Naruto's powerful chakra poured in through the Black Receivers of the Six Paths Technique, completely suppressing Orochimaru's own chakra!

After struggling in vain, Orochimaru sighed. "I can't move..."

Poof!

Behind him, the Eight-Branched Serpent vanished in a cloud of smoke, no longer under its caster's control.

Whoosh!

Naruto appeared beside the Flying Thunder God Kunai and looked down at the man at his feet. "Mr. Orochimaru, may I now ask you to stop setting your sights on Sasuke?"