"Almighty Push."
Once again, a repulsive force storm was unleashed, scattering the Five Elements Release Techniques coming from all directions.
Izayoi, as if sensing something, suddenly withdrew his gaze from the Black Hoe Family, who were engaged in battle with other squads, and glanced toward the shadows on his left.
A figure clad in a black robe, wearing a mask that covered the upper half of his face, emerged from the shadows and rushed toward Izayoi at an astonishing speed.
"Earth Style: Underworld Swamp."
As if following some command, the members of the Root Organization ceased their barrage of attacks. One of them immediately performed an Earth Release Technique, turning the ground beneath Izayoi's feet into a swamp.
Two mud hands emerged, attempting to grab Izayoi's legs and drag him into the swamp.
This tactic had been used before.
As expected, Izayoi would likely float into the air again, releasing a repulsive force to deflect everything.
Sure enough...
A few seconds after releasing the repulsive force, Izayoi's body floated into the air once more, evading the grasp of the mud hands. Hovering in the air, he spread his arms and calmly uttered, "Almighty Push."
An invisible repulsive force instantly scattered the rising mud hands and the rapidly approaching Aburame Torune.
However, when the repulsive force storm collided with Aburame Torune, his body transformed into countless black insects, which were blown away and annihilated by the storm.
This was the Aburame Clan's Secret Technique: Insect Clone.
Just as the repulsive force storm expanded a few meters outward, before it had even dissipated, Yamanaka Fu suddenly emerged from the churning swamp, charging toward Izayoi. His body was covered in glowing flames, clearly indicating that he was covered in Exploding Tags.
"Have you discovered the flaw in Almighty Push? Well, after so many rounds of combat and with so many elites present, it would be incompetence if you hadn't noticed it."
Watching Yamanaka Fu, who was disregarding his own safety and rushing toward him with the intent of mutual destruction, Izayoi chuckled softly and muttered to himself, "In that case, let's see what tricks you're up to."
After speaking, Izayoi released another invisible storm.
However, the power of this storm was significantly weaker compared to the previous repulsive force storm.
After all, there was no perfect Ninja Technique in this world, not even Bloodline Entrapment or Divine Techniques.
The only advantage Izayoi's repulsion and attraction had over Tendo Pain was the shorter cooldown time.
Nagato needed to transmit Chakra through Yin-Yang Release: Black Receiver to allow Tendo Pain to unleash Almighty Push.
The weakest version of Almighty Push required five seconds to convert Chakra into repulsive force.
Thus, every time Tendo Pain released Almighty Push or Universal Pull, there would be a five-second cooldown.
If Nagato's main body were to release Almighty Push, the cooldown might be shorter or remain the same.
Izayoi didn't know what Nagato's cooldown time was, but his own was two seconds.
To be precise, to release an Almighty Push of Tendo Pain's level, he needed two seconds to accumulate Chakra and convert it into a repulsive force storm.
Without any accumulation, the repulsive force he released was merely a strong wind with a rebounding effect.
This was only possible because he possessed the Talent of Chakra Control (Gold), allowing him to instantly mobilize a significant amount of Chakra.
Even if it was just a strong wind, it was still a force governed by rules, and without a certain level of strength, one would not be able to withstand it.
Clearly, Yamanaka Fu did not possess such strength.
The Repulsive Force Storm, like an invisible carriage, charged forward and slammed Yamanaka Fu, who had leaped into the air, back to the ground.
Boom...
Before he even hit the ground, Yamanaka Fu turned into a human bomb, exploding like fireworks.
As Izayoi slowly descended, he once again unleashed the Almighty Push, the strong wind dispersing the mushroom cloud that had yet to fully form.
Glancing at the spot where Yamanaka Fu's body had been, he saw that the deep crater left by the Exploding Tag contained no severed limbs or human fragments—only a puppet made of materials.
The Yamanaka Fu from earlier was clearly just a puppet.
Izayoi's expression remained unchanged, as he had already seen through it.
As the strong wind dissipated, Shimura Danzo appeared before him in an instant, his two fingers thrusting toward Izayoi's left eye. Izayoi, imitating the demeanor of Tendo Pain, spoke indifferently, "Finally decided to show yourself, Shimura Danzo? Today will be your last day."
As soon as he finished speaking, Danzo's fingers, which were about to succeed, suddenly stopped just a few centimeters away from Izayoi's eyeball.
Staring at the 'Tendo Pain' whose face was covered in black iron nails, Danzo's expression shifted slightly, as if recalling something. "No, the kid who had the Rinnegan back then wasn't you! So that's it... the red-haired kid died, and you took your companion's eyes..."
"Hanzo has already confessed everything. He has also left this world before you. The Hidden Rain Village now belongs to our Akatsuki," Izayoi declared, presenting the grand gift he had prepared for the Akatsuki.
Then, with just a glare, the powerful Repulsive Force Storm blasted Danzo away.
Despite being ruthlessly flung back, Danzo wore a strange smile on his face.
In the next second, his body vanished like a mirage.
Then he reappeared in front of Izayoi, his two fingers turning into afterimages as they thrust toward Izayoi's left eye.
Izanagi!
Recording the state at close range, and restarting if it failed.
Those unfamiliar with Izanagi would be caught off guard by Danzo.
Even Uchiha Shisui, known as the 'Body Flicker Technique Master,' had been caught off guard by Danzo.
Having tasted success with Shisui, Danzo was now using the same trick again.
From being flung away to reappearing, there wasn't even a second's gap.
Izayoi had just unleashed the Repulsive Force Storm and couldn't even perform an instant technique now!
Staring at the purple ripples in Izayoi's eyes, Danzo's gaze was filled with greed.
The eyes of the Sage of Six Paths—they will be mine!
But as fast as Danzo was, Izayoi was even faster.
Having already sensed something amiss with his Tenseigan, Izayoi raised his hand with incredible speed and grabbed Danzo's wrist. Looking at the shocked Danzo, he said, "Being able to find the flaws and weaknesses of the Almighty Push and devise countermeasures is indeed impressive. But strength is the real issue—the gap between us is too great!"
"Farewell, Shimura Danzo..."
"Izanagi!"
Seeing Izayoi preparing to unleash a powerful technique, Danzo, who was in the state of Izanagi and unafraid of death, didn't hesitate to use his strongest trump card on Izayoi.
The three-tomoe Sharingan in his right eye spun wildly, and the tomoe transformed into black lines that connected together, forming a black shuriken pattern.
As Shimura Danzo glared at Izayoi with his right eye, the Mangekyō Sharingan power that had been nurtured for years and amplified by Hashirama Cells instantly seeped into Izayoi's mind through his eye.
In the next moment, the spirits of the two arrived in a blood-red space similar to the world of Tsukuyomi.
A massive eyeball, the size of a moon, hovered above the blood-red space, its pupil pattern resembling a black shuriken.
This enormous eye gazed downward, slightly rotating like a living being, as if searching for its target's will, ready to unleash its power to destroy it.
Soon, the target appeared. However, the person whose will had manifested was neither Izayoi, who had transformed into Tendo Pain, nor Izayoi's true self, but... Shimura Danzo.
"Why am I here? Did Izanagi fail? How is this possible?"
Shimura Danzo, who had just been in a god-like perspective, suddenly materialized within the blood-red space, utterly bewildered.
The Eye Technique embedded in the Mangekyō Sharingan was supposed to pull the enemy into the Genjutsu Space and then use the power of Izanagi to destroy or alter their will, turning them into a puppet. Why was this different from what he had imagined? Shimura Danzo, who had been confident of victory, could no longer remain calm.
He looked around but found no trace of Izayoi.
At the same time, his will could not return to the Izanagi above.
Just as Shimura Danzo, feeling a pang of regret, began to form hand seals to dispel Izanagi, his expression changed again in the next second: "Why can't I dispel it? Isn't this the Genjutsu Space of Izanagi? Could it be...?"
Swish—
As if responding to Shimura Danzo, two long fissures suddenly appeared in the blood-red sky above the Izanagi eye, as if the sky itself was splitting open.
Then, these two cracks slowly opened, and blue-white light burst forth from within.
The dazzling blue-white light, like the radiance of the sun, instantly transformed the oppressive and eerie blood-red space into a beautiful, ethereal blue-white realm.
When the fissures opened to their fullest, a pair of blue-white eyes appeared in the sky.
White streams of light encircled the pupils, forming a white floral pattern that swayed like the wind, exquisitely beautiful and imbued with supreme, ultimate Eye Power.
If the Izanagi eye was the size of a moon, then the volume of these eyes was like two massive suns, looking down upon the Izanagi and Shimura Danzo below.
No longer speaking in the tone of 'Tendo Pain,' a young boy's voice resonated throughout the blue-white space.
"Your Eye Technique... is insignificant before these eyes!"
As the words fell, the exquisitely beautiful blue-white eyes, like the midday sun, released a blinding white light that visibly engulfed the space.
The first to be affected was the Izanagi eye suspended in the sky.
Merely touched by the white light, the moon-sized eyeball rapidly turned to dust, without even the sound of an explosion.
"This isn't the Rinnegan, and you're not that Rinnegan brat. Who are you?!"
Even as a mere spiritual entity, Shimura Danzo could sense the aura of death. He quickly shouted, "I am absolutely certain I have never heard your voice before. Who sent you to kill me? If there is no enmity between us, as long as you spare me, I am willing to... No!!"
Before he could finish his sentence, Shimura Danzo was engulfed by the descending white light, and he let out a desperate cry.
His body, just like the Izanagi in the sky, turned into dust.
To be precise, the entire space had been reduced to nothingness.
...
In the Genjutsu Space, an unknown amount of time had passed, but in the real world, it was merely an instant.
In the eyes of the Root Organization members, Lord Danzo was still gripping the enemy's wrist with his right hand, his right eye wide open, revealing the Mangekyō Sharingan with a shuriken pattern.
However, soon after, some Root members with exceptional eyesight and those skilled in perception noticed something alarming.
They all saw that the Mangekyō Sharingan in Lord Danzo's eye had reverted to the Three-Tomoe Sharingan.
The brilliance in his eyes, along with the Yin Release Chakra in his brain, had vanished in an instant.
At the same time, the Izanagi on his body automatically deactivated, and the Sharingan on his arm all closed.
Without the suppression of the Yin Release Chakra from the Sharingan, Shimura Danzo's arm, created from Hashirama Cells, began to squirm as if something was wriggling inside. Unable to break free, it immediately surged along the arm, attempting to wreak havoc throughout his body.
Rip—
Izayoi reached out and tore off the entire arm.
From beginning to end, Shimura Danzo did not let out a single scream.
Although he was not yet dead, this "Shadow of the Pot" had already become a half-dead vegetable.
Looking at Shimura Danzo, whose eyes were open but lifeless, Izayoi sighed softly, "The strongest Genjutsu, indeed... It lives up to its reputation."
No one except Izayoi knew what had just happened.
Unlike Yamanaka Fu's Yin Release Chakra, which couldn't even penetrate Izayoi's body and was repelled by the Ōtsutsuki resistance and the Yin Release Chakra of the Ultimate Eye Technique, Shimura Danzo's Izanagi had successfully breached this defense, only to meet a tragic end.
Because his Eye Power had violated the Eye Power of the Tenseigan, which was nurturing the second stage of the Power of All Things!
Izayoi's Tenseigan had not yet completed its final evolution, and even he could not unleash its full power.
But that did not mean the Tenseigan was not an Ultimate Eye Technique.
On the contrary, its rank and power far surpassed that of the Mangekyō Sharingan.
Shimura Danzo had failed to destroy or alter Izayoi's will. Instead, the Eye Power of the Tenseigan had obliterated his spirit and will within the Genjutsu Space of Izanagi.
Even Izanagi could not rewrite this reality.
This was a suppression of rank, a dimensional strike from another realm.
"It's time to end this."
After dealing with Shimura Danzo, the leader of the Root Organization, Izayoi glanced at a dark corner and then looked at the Root members who were still standing in place, dazed and unable to comprehend what had just happened. He spoke softly.
As his voice fell, several figures instantly appeared around him.
They were Shadow Clones controlled by Izayoi, capable of using all his Five Elements Release Techniques, their strength far surpassing that of the deceased Black Hoe Family.
Then, Izayoi shifted from his previous passive defense and actively used Universal Pull and Almighty Push to assist the Human Puppet.
Watching the Human Puppet, which didn't need to worry about the opponent's Ninja Techniques—since the Repulsion would scatter them and the Attraction would seek out enemies—Izayoi's lips curled into a slight smile as he focused solely on the slaughter.
After observing for so long, he had finally figured out why regular Puppets couldn't increase the critical rate, but Human Puppets could.
The reason was that they weren't considered Izayoi's Techniques.
Even if a Shadow Clone had minimal Chakra, it couldn't increase the critical rate because it was Izayoi's Ninja Technique.
Wireless Puppets were also Izayoi's Techniques.
Only Human Puppets possessed a unique characteristic that Shadow Clones and regular Puppets lacked.
This uniqueness was likely due to the corpse and the heart.
For a Human Puppet to use the Kekkei Genkai it had in life, both the corpse and the heart were indispensable, and the heart couldn't sustain any damage.
Only then could the Chakra input into the Chakra Core be transformed through the heart and Meridians into the Nature Transformation required for the Kekkei Genkai and the abilities of the deceased.
To describe it in gaming terms, this new mechanism could perhaps be called—an unconventional teaming mechanism.
(End of Chapter)