Suspended mid-air, Ōnoki's green vest fluttered in the wind. His expression was dark, and his hands spread apart as a glowing white conical shape suddenly materialized between his palms.
"Dust Release: Detachment of the Primitive World!"
The cone in Ōnoki's hands rapidly elongated and expanded, shooting straight toward the Rinnegan-wielding man standing on the platform.
Consumed by rage, Ōnoki had no interest in hearing the enemy's reasoning. His sole desire was to reduce these invaders of Iwagakure to atomic dust. Only then could their crimes be absolved!
As for the Land of Rain, once Ōnoki was done dealing with these audacious intruders, it too would cease to exist...
But.
What happened next left Ōnoki utterly dumbfounded.
When the white light from his Dust Release flashed past, the round-faced man on the platform remained completely unharmed!
The man's hands were pressed downward in a motion that suggested he had just performed some kind of Secret Technique.
At that moment, an even more terrifying and overwhelming aura erupted from the small black dot within the blood-red sun in the sky.
A faint, sharp hum echoed through the air.
Suddenly.
A massive and dazzling white light flashed, accompanied by an unimaginable repulsive force that swept outward.
From a bird's-eye view of Iwagakure, one could see a dense cloud of dust and debris exploding outward from the village's center. Along with the smoke, people and structures from Iwagakure were flung into the air.
Even though the buildings of Iwagakure were constructed from thick and sturdy stone, they crumbled like rotting wood under this godlike power.
Rumble!
After a cacophony of violent tremors and crashes, the center of Iwagakure had been reduced to a massive crater.
The once-proud buildings were now nothing more than rubble, swept to the bases of the surrounding peaks. If not for these peaks acting as barriers, the destruction would have spread even further.
"!!"
"Ah!"
Ōnoki's eyes widened in shock, his fury nearly consuming what little rationality he had left.
The village!
The village entrusted to me by the two previous Tsuchikage!
The village I've spent my entire life protecting!
How...
How could it be reduced to rubble in an instant?
In the next moment, Ōnoki's body shot upward as he flew toward the figure responsible for the village's destruction.
For now, he decided to ignore the Rain Village leader on the platform, the man whose strange Secret Technique had rendered his Dust Release ineffective.
First, he would eliminate the culprit in the sky. Then, he would return to annihilate every last one of these invaders!
"Dust Release: Detachment of the Primitive World!"
As he closed in on the black-cloaked figure in the sky, Ōnoki formed a blinding white cube of energy between his hands.
With lightning speed, he unleashed the massive cube, enveloping the figure in its radiant glow.
But the black-cloaked figure, with his cold and indifferent Rinnegan, showed no fear. He merely glanced at Ōnoki with disdain, as if mocking the foolish mortal who had only now begun to grasp the true meaning of pain.
Just as the enraged Ōnoki was about to disintegrate the figure into atoms, there was a soft pop, and the figure vanished into a puff of white smoke.
...
What?
This smoke... was it a Summoning Technique?
And this person also possesses the Rinnegan...
Why?
How could Amegakure have two individuals with the Sage Eyes?
What is going on?!
The sudden disappearance of the black-cloaked figure momentarily cooled Ōnoki's rage, forcing him to ponder the situation.
However, when he looked down at the platform, he found that the Rain Village leader had also disappeared.
All that remained were dozens of berserk Rain ninja, slaughtering the Iwagakure shinobi like wild beasts.
As Ōnoki prepared to descend and deal with the crazed Rain ninja, he caught sight of several large plumes of white smoke rising from the center of the village.
Focusing his attention, he saw several massive Summoned Beasts wreaking havoc within Iwagakure. Among them, six figures clad in black cloaks with red clouds could be seen moving through the chaos.
Ōnoki reluctantly abandoned his plan to deal with the berserk Rain ninja and turned to fly toward the village. The main forces of Iwagakure were concentrated in that area.
Meanwhile, the Six Paths of Pain—Deva Path, Animal Path, Preta Path, and others—were methodically searching the ruins for any surviving Iwagakure shinobi, delivering final blows with ruthless precision.
Due to the relatively small size of Iwagakure's central area—less than a tenth of Konohagakure's peak size—and Deva Path Pain's deliberate restraint, the Six Paths had not yet shown signs of exhaustion.
At the same time, the Iwagakure shinobi stationed on the outskirts, upon learning of the catastrophic events in the village, began rushing back as quickly as possible.
But Pain and his Six Paths moved leisurely, as if strolling through a garden, executing their enemies one by one. They paid no attention to the rapidly approaching Ōnoki.
According to their plan, the Six Paths' objective was to hold the central area of Iwagakure, drawing in Ōnoki and the majority of the village's forces to annihilate them.
Meanwhile, Kakuzu guarded one of Iwagakure's key exits, ambushing any shinobi attempting to flee.
Konan, accompanied by Zetsu, was infiltrating the village from below, preparing a so-called "ultimate art" using her Paper Release and a stockpile of explosive tags.
As for the Masked Man, after Zetsu gathered the necessary intelligence, he had already coordinated with Sōmi.
Sōmi and Sunagakure were tasked with handling the Four-Tails, while the Masked Man would take on the Five-Tails.
Once the Six Paths completely crushed Iwagakure, the members of Akatsuki planned to regroup and eliminate Sunagakure, who they knew would try to seize the opportunity to "pick the fruit."
Outside Iwagakure, on a relatively flat hill, lay a rare peach grove—a sight seldom seen in the Land of Earth.
The peach blossoms were in full bloom, their silvery petals sparkling like miniature lanterns. The branches were adorned with pearl-like buds, glistening with a soft radiance. The tree trunks, a reddish-purple hue, were smooth and lustrous, while the delicate branches bore tender brown shoots.
Some of the more eager blossoms had already begun to close, forming tiny fruit clusters.
A small stream meandered through the grove, and the lush green grass was strewn with pink petals, creating a scene of idyllic beauty, like a paradise on earth.
However, the serene atmosphere was marred by the tension between two figures locked in a confrontation.
One was a middle-aged man with a large beard, dressed in purple armor and shinobi gear. His hair was tied into a ponytail at the back. He stared warily at the young man before him.
The middle-aged man could clearly sense that the youth, like himself, was a Jinchūriki.
But the aura emanating from the young man was far too chilling...
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