Pero's clone

The five members of Akatsuki stared dumbfounded at the world-destroying beast before them, which had stepped straight out of legend.

The Ten-Tails' body was so enormous that it blotted out the sky, casting a shadow like a vast curtain.

It covered all of Amegakure and the surrounding hills.

Its unconscious breathing alone stirred up winds powerful enough to tear steel apart, and its enormous single eye reflected the entire world.

Yet it had no focus, only an indifferent, utter emptiness.

It stretched its body, which had slumbered for a thousand years. Every casual sweep of its tails came with a roar of collapsing mountains and splitting earth, as though the entire world trembled at its awakening.

"This is bad!" Nagato watched the distant towers of Amegakure begin to shake violently under the invisible blast, even showing signs of collapse.

Alarm bells rang in his mind. At this rate, the aftermath of its awakening alone will destroy the village!

This was their home, their base, the place that would serve as the foundation upon which they built a new order. They could not let a monster raze it to the ground!

His Jinchūriki form allowed his grievously wounded body to recover at a speed beyond all reason.

He clenched his fists, feeling power surge once more from deep within his cells.

He abruptly exchanged a glance with Yahiko beside him.

No words were needed. Years of tacit understanding let them grasp each other's thoughts in an instant.

-Stop it! Whatever the cost!

The next moment, both vanished from where they stood! Their feet instantly stamped two enormous spiral craters into the lake's surface, throwing up two towering walls of water dozens of meters high!

Yahiko's target was the instigator behind it all-Madara Uchiha!

Golden flames blazed fiercely over his body as he became a streaking meteor, appearing like a phantom at Madara Uchiha's side.

Pivoting on his left leg, he spun rapidly in midair, his long right leg carrying terrifying power capable of shattering a meteorite,

and swept toward Madara's waist like a divine battle-axe that could cleave heaven and earth, with a shrill whistle that tore through the air!

Yet Madara Uchiha's face still held that same calm composure.

Faced with this sudden blow powerful enough to threaten him,

he did not even turn his head. As though he had eyes in the back of his head, he merely extended his right hand unhurriedly, blocking Yahiko's attack with absolute precision.

Boom-!!!

The instant leg met hand, time seemed to stand still.

Then two utterly different yet equally terrifying forces collided!

The golden power of Pero clashed fiercely with Madara's chakra, infused with Senjutsu, unleashing a visible ring of shock waves!

The lake water beneath them evaporated instantly, forming a temporary vacuum more than a hundred meters across!

Violent blasts of air spread outward, sending the surviving Allied shinobi in the distance tumbling!

On the other side of the battlefield, Nagato had already appeared before the Ten-Tails.

Before the mountain-sized monster, his tiny body was like an ant trying to shake a tree.

But there was not a trace of fear in his eyes, and countless dazzling golden chains erupted from his body!

"Adamantine Sealing Chains!"

This was the Uzumaki Clan's most powerful Sealing Jutsu. Enhanced by Pero's power, these chains were no longer mere chakra constructs.

They seemed to carry the radiance of the sun, wrapping layer upon layer around the Ten-Tails' enormous body with a sacred, unrivaled presence!

Nagato's eyes widened as he drove the power within him to its fullest, attempting to use these divine chains to temporarily restrain the Ten-Tails and buy time for Yahiko and the others.

But-

Crack! Crack, crack!

Against the Ten-Tails' continually expanding body, the golden chains held for less than three seconds before giving off teeth-grating groans under the unbearable strain, then shattered inch by inch into golden specks that filled the sky!

It was too fat. There was no stopping it!

Nagato's eyes strained so wide they nearly split.

The power of the fully formed Ten-Tails had already exceeded anything this world could comprehend!

It had not even actively attacked. The power of its awakening alone was enough to break free of this enhanced Sealing Jutsu!

The Ten-Tails slowly raised its head, its immense shadow swallowing Amegakure completely.

Within the village, countless residents looked up at the apocalyptic sight and cried out in despair.

"Damn it... is this how it ends..." Nagato stared at the shattered chains, a deep sense of helplessness welling up within him.

Even after gaining Pero's power, am I still not strong enough to face this beast of creation?

At that critical instant!

A golden meteor streaked across the darkened sky at a speed beyond light, beyond anyone's comprehension.

The next instant, a figure radiating brilliant golden light, like an incarnation of the sun, abruptly appeared before the Ten-Tails' enormous head.

He made no unnecessary movements, nor did he exude any earth-shattering presence.

He simply threw a punch straight ahead.

Boom-!!

There was no earth-shattering explosion, only an incredibly deep, resounding impact, as though even space had been punched through!

Under that punch, the Ten-Tails' enormous body, powerful enough to crush anything, was struck as though an invisible planet had slammed into it head-on.

Its enormous head snapped backward, and its massive body lost its balance and flew backward.

It slammed into the rolling hills in the distance, as though triggering an earthquake of unprecedented magnitude!

The entire Land of Rain shook violently under that single punch!

Nagato stared blankly at the figure hovering in midair, radiating pure golden light.

"This feeling..."

It's Pero's clone!!

He suddenly remembered. Before leaving, Pero had left a clone formed from chakra in the office as a safeguard.

When this clone sensed a potential threat, Pero would become aware of the situation here and project his consciousness into the clone to control it.

At the sight of Pero, Nagato let out a long breath, his body relaxing after the intense fighting.

Above Amegakure, that golden figure hovered quietly.

"Pero..." Madara Uchiha slowly lowered the hand that had been blocking Yahiko. His Rinnegan stared fixedly at the sky, and for the first time, a grave expression appeared on his face.

"Such outrageous power. Black Zetsu's intelligence never mentioned anything like this."

Madara Uchiha glanced at Black Zetsu, who was watching the battle nearby.

"Has this fellow's intelligence-gathering ability declined?" Madara muttered.

His wariness of Pero rose to its peak.

Madara turned his gaze toward the starting point of that meteor-like trajectory.

The heart of Amegakure.

"Damn it, we were all fooled."

Madara Uchiha gritted his back teeth hard.

"This Pero never left Amegakure at all!!"