Kushina appeared without warning, and Nagato's words instantly told Konoha what his real purpose was.
Minato had a deep gash along his waist, while Guy's injury was lighter, a slash to his abdomen. With Kushina and Shisui standing guard, Tsunade openly treated them under Nagato's watchful gaze, showing no hesitation.
Since Minato's wound was more serious, Tsunade treated him first.
"Your target is me?"
Hearing Nagato's words, Kushina's eyes trembled slightly. When she returned to the village and saw the destruction everywhere, the many lives lost, and realized it was all because the enemy had come for her, a surge of anger erupted from deep within her.
This was not the Nine-Tails' malice amplifying her emotions; it was Kushina's own fury.
With reinforcements present, Minato dispelled Sage Mode, silently letting Tsunade heal him. His eyes never left the cold-faced Nagato. The enemy had come for Kushina, which meant he had come for the Nine-Tails.
That thought made Minato think not only of Kushina's safety, but also of the other jinchūriki across the lands, and whether they were safe. He wondered, too, how the Ino–Shika–Chō trio's mission was progressing.
"No matter what, Kushina must not be taken."
His expression was solemn. But right now, he knew the best thing was to let Tsunade finish healing him so he could fight at full strength.
After stating his intentions, Nagato wasted no more words. He leapt backward, putting some distance between himself and the Konoha group.
Seeing him move, Kushina and the others did not rush to attack. The Konoha shinobi who had been blasted away by Shinra Tensei were recovering, aside from those who were dead or gravely injured, and were regrouping toward Kushina's position.
More reinforcements were arriving from the perimeter, all of them skilled elites rather than mere cannon fodder. Meanwhile, other shinobi began to form the faint outline of an encirclement.
Once he had enough space, Nagato quickly formed hand seals, then slammed his palm to the ground.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
The earth trembled violently. Behind Nagato, the ground split and cracked, and with a thunderous boom, an enormous withered hand burst out, pressing against the soil. A moment later, a second skeletal, tree-like hand emerged on the other side.
"Such overwhelming chakra!"
As the two gigantic arms broke through the earth, every Konoha ninja present felt it, a suffocating wave of chakra so dense it was almost tangible, like a gale slamming into their faces.
Hearts pounded like war drums, throbbing faster and faster. This was an instinctive, physical reaction to the thing emerging from below.
The massive, wooden-like body had a humanoid shape with four limbs. From its back jutted ten thick pillar-like protrusions. Its enormous face bore nine eyes, eight of them open, bloodshot, and horrifying, while the ninth remained closed.
The reason their hearts raced was not its monstrous appearance, but the raw, oppressive chakra it exuded. If chakra could take physical form, it would be a dense, all-encompassing mist, rolling outward with a cold edge that prickled their skin like sudden rain.
Chakra of this magnitude and nature was beyond anything they had ever seen or heard of.
Even those who had encountered tailed beasts before immediately recognized the scale, this was like comparing an adult to a child.
"Completely different league…"
"What is that monster? If it's just a summon, how can it be this strong? Even tailed beasts aren't this overwhelming." Those who had seen Nagato use a summoning assumed this creature was merely a summoned beast.
None of them knew what the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path truly was.
Even the Konoha shinobi furthest from it could clearly feel its chakra; for Kushina and the others nearby, the pressure was far greater.
As soon as the statue fully emerged, the Nine-Tails within Kushina grew agitated.
From its seal space, it could see the statue through Kushina's senses, but what unsettled it was not the statue's form. It was the chakra within it: the chakra of other tailed beasts.
The nine tailed beasts had once been one.
At this range, the Nine-Tails could distinctly sense the chakra of eight other tailed beasts inside the statue.
"Could it be… the others have all been…?" The Nine-Tails' thoughts were turbulent, but the truth was already obvious: it was the last one left uncaptured, and this man's target was none other than itself.
Having summoned the statue, Nagato rose into the air, landing on its head to look down upon the Konoha forces.
Though the statue had absorbed eight tailed beasts, it still lacked the most crucial, the Nine-Tails. Without it, even summoned, its power was limited, serving more as a symbol than a weapon.
But Nagato's intent was clear: to drag the Nine-Tails into the statue, make it complete, and unleash its full might, power that could bring Konoha to its knees in an instant.
When that happened, the dream world he envisioned would finally become reality.
The long road he had walked was nearing its end, only one step remained.
"Once I capture the Nine-Tails, it's over…"
Rinnegan gleaming with cold light, Nagato formed a seal. Without a sound, black receivers emerged from the ground beneath his feet, slowly reaching toward him.
Nagato had never questioned the origin of his eyes; to him, they had always been his own, a special pair said to belong to the Sage of Six Paths.
With these eyes, he could build a bridge to his ideal world, its pillars supported by the power they gave him.
He had never doubted them, so he did not realize he had never drawn out their full potential. At this moment, he thought the price he was about to pay was merely an equivalent exchange…
If you want rain, you must wait for the right moment.
Now was that moment.
Outside the village, Ye Zi, White Zetsu, and the barely-noticed Black Zetsu watched closely.
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Currently on Chapter 596 - Four Kages vs Ye Zi Part III