Asura Path, already beginning to fall apart from the Rasengan, suddenly froze—his expression shifting drastically.
He could no longer feel anything in his body.
It was Scale Powder—Chōmei's Scale Powder.
Kazuyama Gekkō's strike wasn't just a Rasengan. He had laced it with Scale Powder.
When the Rasengan exploded, the powder dispersed and drifted toward Nagato. The first to suffer was Asura Path.
Already shattered by the Rasengan, now he was paralyzed as well.
"Hm?"
Nagato immediately noticed something was wrong with Asura Path.
Without hesitation, he backed off, and Hell Path retreated with him.
As the core repairer, Hell Path's importance was unquestionable. As long as he was intact, any destroyed paths could be revived and restored.
Unfortunately for him, Kazuyama had no intention of letting him get away.
"Don't even think about running!"
"Summoning Technique!"
A massive golden python burst onto the battlefield. Kinrin's gleaming, muscular body charged forward like an out-of-control wrecking truck.
The Senjutsu energy coursing through her golden scales made her gleam brilliantly.
Nagato timed it precisely and raised his hand again.
"Shinra Tensei!"
That same familiar force, that overwhelming pressure.
But this time, the recipient was different.
As Kinrin charged in, it felt like slamming into a solid wall—and not just any wall, but one growing stronger by the second, shaking her so violently she felt pain in every muscle.
"What the hell is this?!"
"Kazuyama! Help me!"
The invisible force blasted even Kinrin off the field.
It wasn't because her body was weaker than the Titan Python's. Rather, Nagato had retracted his control over Preta and Asura Paths, drawing all their power back into himself to amplify Shinra Tensei's strength.
Only then did Kinrin, with her superior physique, get blasted away.
"Whoa! Kinrin, don't come over here!"
The Titan Python's eyes went wide, and Kazuyama froze.
He had just tanked the same jutsu himself—how did Kinrin end up flying?
Just as Kinrin was about to crash down, red light surged again.
The ground in front of Kazuyama shattered, and a massive red serpent formed from chakra instantly wrapped around Kinrin, catching her mid-fall.
"Hmph! Kinrin, you need more training!"
"It's just the Rinnegan! What's there to be afraid of?!"
"Roar!"
Tagitsuhime roared, her red snake form vanishing—replaced by an even larger crimson serpent, one on the scale of a canyon-dwelling dragon.
Its massive body rivaled a Tailed Beast—in fact, it might have been even bigger.
Because her entire form was composed of pure chakra.
"The Senjutsu of Ryūchi Cave, one of the Three Great Sage Regions…"
"I've learned something new. But too bad—I won't lose."
Nagato muttered, pressing his hands together. The ground began to fracture under Banshō Ten'in's control.
Enormous boulders were ripped from the earth and hurled toward the red serpent.
If the opponent was big, he'd use even bigger weapons.
High above, the Animal Path used Summoning Technique once more.
A three-headed dog and a raging bull dropped from the sky.
"Tagitsuhime, ignore the bull—watch out for the dog."
"It's a Summoning Technique with a special condition. If the creature is hit, it multiplies. Once that condition is met, it keeps duplicating."
Kazuyama passed on the intel immediately.
But Tagitsuhime sneered, opened her maw, and spat a dense cloud of crimson mist into the sky.
"Summoning, schummoning! My snake venom can corrode anything alive!"
"Watch me swallow them all!"
The red mist was her venom—transformed from liquid to gas.
The moment the three-headed dog and bull touched the cloud, they howled in agony.
One setback after another left Nagato frustrated—not because he lacked strength, but because he didn't understand his enemy.
He couldn't figure out how Kazuyama knew so much about his abilities.
Could one of the snake sages from Ryūchi Cave have warned him?
By now, Nagato had used nearly all of his techniques.
But nothing worked against Kazuyama.
Left with no choice, he began preparing his final move.
"Madara and Zetsu only ordered me to stall you—but if I get the chance to kill you?"
"I'll gladly take it."
"No way you're surviving this next one!"
...
While their battle raged, things weren't much better in Konohagakure.
Kushina, fully berserk, was attacking Muren Uchiha head-on. The latter darted around the village, defending himself while leaving a trail of destruction. Once again, Konoha's civilians and shinobi were reminded of the Nine-Tails' terror.
If Minato Namikaze and Hiruzen Sarutobi hadn't teamed up—one holding back Kushina, the other chasing Muren—the damage would've been even worse.
"Damn it... his Dōjutsu."
"It's a distance-based one?"
"And he's set up some kind of barrier that extends his reach. Even my Flying Thunder God can't get close."
For the first time, Minato found himself overwhelmed.
Flying Thunder God was a space-time ninjutsu. In theory, it could traverse kilometers instantly.
But Muren's Dōjutsu distorted space so thoroughly that without a marked location, Minato had no way of approaching.
"Hmm hmm hmm… I've had so much fun today."
"Nine-Tails is out of control. Whether or not you can deal with that—well, even if I don't take the beast, you're still screwed!"
"Hahahaha!"
Muren suddenly hurled Naruto straight at Kushina.
Panic struck Minato. Kushina froze.
In that instant, seeing her son flying through the air, Kushina's sanity surged back—overpowering the Nine-Tails' chakra.
"You bastard fox! Disperse your chakra!"
"That's my son!"
The Adamantine Sealing Chains reactivated, binding the Nine-Tails mid-outburst. The connection to its chakra was instantly severed.
The beast was furious.
"You idiot woman! Do you even know what you're doing?!"
"Too late!"
The Nine-Tails had barely shouted twice before a pair of crimson Mangekyō Sharingan eyes appeared right in front of it.
Kushina, who had just suppressed the Nine-Tails and caught Naruto in her arms, barely had time to smile before her eyes transformed—Sharingan, then Mangekyō.
Under the power of the Mangekyō, both the Nine-Tails and its jinchūriki were instantly brought under control.
"Lose it. Let the Nine-Tails break free."
"Destroy Konohagakure."
"Fire Release: Nine-Dragon Blaze!"
The Sharingan spun wildly. In the next moment, nine massive fire dragons surged into the sky.
Muren vanished without a trace.
Because that crimson chakra was now fully out of control—and this time, it made everything before look tame.
The most terrifying of the Tailed Beasts—Nine-Tails—had gone berserk!
...
(100 Chapters Ahead)
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