Shinra Tensei!

Meanwhile, atop the tallest building in Konoha.

Deva Path Pain floated slowly in the air, his Rinnegan gazing coldly down at the village engulfed in flames.

Suddenly, his brow furrowed slightly.

He sensed that the Preta Path, Asura Path, and Human Path he had left below to gather intelligence had lost contact one after another in an extremely short time!

And the one who had defeated them seemed to be... the same person?!

"Hmm? That brat named Ye Chuan?"

Through their shared vision, Pain saw the black-haired boy standing with a sword in hand.

"To dispose of three of my Paths so quickly... it seems the earlier intelligence still underestimated him."

His original plan had been for the other five Paths to create chaos in the village, draw attention, and locate the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, then for his Deva Path to strike and capture the target in one fell swoop.

But now, an unexpected variable had appeared.

This boy named Ye Chuan was far stronger than estimated and was rapidly eliminating his eyes and arms.

"I can't let him keep interfering."

For the first time, a flicker crossed Deva Path Pain's perpetually unchanging face.

"In that case..."

He slowly raised both hands, and a terrifying repulsive force that seemed capable of pushing away the entire world began gathering in his palms.

"Let this village, along with that troublesome brat, feel true pain, and then... disappear completely!"

Ye Chuan instantly felt a terrifying power that made his soul tremble suddenly emanate from the sky above Konoha!

He jerked his head up!

Above the village's tallest building, Deva Path Pain had, at some point, slowly risen into the air like a god looking down upon the mortal world!

His hands spread open, and an invisible, terrifying power that repelled all things was gathering furiously.

The air throughout Konoha seemed to freeze at that moment.

"This is..." Ye Chuan's pupils contracted sharply! His Observation Haki screamed a warning! He recognized the move instantly!

Shinra Tensei!

The ultimate ocular technique exclusive to Pain's Deva Path, capable of generating a vast repulsive field centered on himself.

Ye Chuan clearly remembered that, in the original story, this very move had almost completely razed Konoha to the ground.

Countless buildings had been reduced to dust, and countless ninja and civilians had died instantly.

It was power that, in the truest sense, bordered on something only a god could possess.

"You're going to use this move... to destroy Konoha completely?!"

Ye Chuan's gaze instantly turned utterly cold.

Run? At my current speed, perhaps I could escape the heart of the blast.

But Konoha below, Yugito, whom I just saved, Hinata and Sakura, who are visiting the wounded... they definitely couldn't escape!

With this strike, even if Konoha were not completely erased, it would surely suffer a devastating blow and terrible casualties!

Ye Chuan drew a deep breath, a trace of madness flashing in his eyes.

He was going to... cleave this divine power head-on!

If Hawkeye's sword pursued the ability to cut through everything...

Then whether it was matter, energy, or even this so-called repulsive field... it should all be possible to cut through!

Every principle of the sword converged without reservation upon the Wado Ichimonji in his hand at that moment.

Bzzzz-!!!

The snow-white blade instantly turned a black deeper than night, with violent, leaping blue lightning coiling around it.

The entire sword hummed fiercely, radiating a terrifying edge that seemed capable of slicing through space itself.

"This strike..."

Ye Chuan fixed his gaze on the godlike figure in the sky.

"Should surpass the slash Hawkeye aimed at Whitebeard during the Paramount War."

He lowered his body slightly, assuming a simple sword-drawing stance.

At the same time, Deva Path Pain in the sky finished gathering his power.

He gazed indifferently down upon the village struggling like ants below and spoke coldly:

"Feel pain, experience pain, accept pain, understand pain!"

"From this moment on, let the world... feel pain!"

"Shinra Tensei!!!"

Boom-!!!!!!

An invisible, immense repulsive field that seemed capable of destroying everything descended from the heavens like a flood bursting through a dam!

Wherever it passed, the air warped and the earth groaned, as though the entire world would collapse before this power.

At the very instant this apocalyptic sight descended, Ye Chuan drew his sword.

"One Sword Style..."

His voice was soft, yet seemed to carry a peculiar rhythm.

"Boundary Break!!!"

Shing-!!!!!!

A massive slash embodying every concept of "severing" in the world was wreathed in ink-black lightning of destruction.

The slash surged upward against the current, fearlessly cleaving toward the invisible repulsive field descending from the sky.

This was... the strongest slash he could unleash at present!

The next instant!

The black lightning slash collided thunderously with the invisible, world-destroying repulsive field above Konoha!

There was no earth-shattering explosion, nor the expected clash of energies.

A bizarre sight unfolded!

The moment that black lightning slash touched Shinra Tensei,

The ultimate intent to sever contained within it actually tore a massive opening through the middle of the repulsive field that should have repelled everything... as easily as slicing tofu.

It was as though an invisible curtain had been forcibly cut apart by an invincible pair of scissors!

With the appearance of this rift, the structure of Shinra Tensei's terrifying power, which should have covered all of Konoha, instantly became unstable.

The immense repulsive force scattered to either side as though out of control, though powerful shock waves still swept through all of Konoha, destroying quite a few buildings and causing some casualties.

But compared with the devastating blow in the original story that had instantly razed the entire village, its power had been greatly diminished.

Most of Konoha... had been saved!

Meanwhile, in a distant cavern.

"Pfft-!"

Nagato, connected to Deva Path Pain through the Rinnegan, violently spat out a mouthful of blood, an unprecedented look of disbelief appearing on his face.

"Shinra Tensei... was actually... actually cut apart?!"

"How is that possible?! That wasn't ninjutsu! It was a kind of... 'principle' capable of severing 'power' itself?!"

"That boy... who exactly is he?!"

Towering waves surged through Nagato's heart!

The power of the Rinnegan had actually been overcome by an unknown boy's swordsmanship?!

This completely overturned his understanding!

Ye Chuan slowly landed on the ground. That all-out strike had taken an enormous toll on him as well, leaving his breathing somewhat rapid.

But as he looked at Deva Path Pain in the sky, who had likewise suffered a backlash, his gaze remained sharp.

"It seems that so-called divine power isn't impossible to cut through, either."

Deva Path Pain landed on the rubble not far away, his Rinnegan staring coldly at Ye Chuan.

For the first time, he truly regarded this brat as an opponent on his level, or even more dangerous!

"You... are quite impressive."

Pain's voice remained devoid of emotion.

"But do you think this is over?"

No sooner had he spoken!

Another sudden change occurred!