"Banshō Ten'in!"
A piercing shriek of displaced air suddenly echoed through the void as a powerful gravitational force yanked Obito's body into midair.
However, since Obito's head was still caught within the swirling vortex of Kamui's Dimension, the pull only managed to extract his body from the neck down.
Shhhh!
A fountain of crimson liquid gushed from Obito's neck, spraying upward like a blood-soaked geyser.
Meanwhile, his head, still trapped within the spiraling vortex, was crushed into a pulpy mess before vanishing into Kamui's Dimension.
At that moment, a series of heavy thuds resounded as multiple figures landed on the ground, creating spiderweb-like cracks and craters while kicking up clouds of dust.
Two figures clad in black cloaks adorned with red clouds descended slowly from the sky. One was an orange-haired young man, and the other, a woman with large, paper-crafted wings.
The orange-haired man held Obito's blood-soaked, headless corpse by its remains, blood still dripping from the severed neck.
"This guy…"
"So, he's really dead?"
"Well, that works out. At least I don't have to worry about any unexpected variables in my plans…"
Deva Path Pain casually tossed Obito's corpse to the side, as if discarding a piece of trash.
Above him, the woman with the paper wings hovered, her silhouette framed by the blood-red setting sun. She resembled a tragic angel, her presence both divine and sorrowful.
"Pain?"
"I didn't expect you to come to me before I even sought you out," Sōmi said, standing calmly despite being surrounded by the Six Paths of Pain and Konan. His demeanor was composed, entirely unshaken.
"Oh?"
"One-Tail Jinchūriki, while your strength is indeed formidable, you'll soon realize that against the power of a god, everything you pride yourself on will dissolve like mere bubbles…"
Deva Path Pain stepped forward, positioning himself at the center of the semicircle formation.
"I've heard about your ideals—using overwhelming force to subdue the shinobi world and achieve lasting peace."
"To be honest, I agree with your philosophy."
"Your enemy is Konohagakure, isn't it? Why don't we join forces and bring them down together?"
Sōmi glanced briefly at Konan, who hovered above with her wide paper wings, before shifting his gaze back to Pain.
"It seems you, too, are someone who has experienced pain."
"However, while Konohagakure is indeed my enemy, my priority is the One-Tail inside you. That means… we are destined to be adversaries."
Pain's expression remained stoic, showing no sign of considering Sōmi's proposal.
"Heh."
"The power of a god, you say?"
"Yet another ignorant, stubborn frog at the bottom of a well."
"Fine then. I had hoped to let you exact your revenge on Konohagakure personally. But since you're so confident in your own strength, I'll start by shattering that laughable confidence of yours!"
Sōmi shook his head and let out a faint chuckle, tinged with disdain.
"Sasori!"
"Remember their weaknesses. Take out the one with the black rods embedded between his eyes in an 'eight' pattern first."
"Then eliminate the one that can absorb Chakra!"
Sōmi turned to Sasori, reiterating the intel on the Six Paths of Pain he had shared before their mission began.
Sasori gave a brief nod before swiftly pulling out two scrolls from his back. With a loud bang, three towering gray-black puppets appeared before him.
"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"
Bang! Bang!
The Animal Path acted swiftly, summoning two massive beasts in twin plumes of white smoke—a three-headed hellhound and a bellowing rhinoceros. Both charged toward Sōmi and Sasori with ferocious momentum.
"You think I don't have reinforcements of my own?"
Sōmi's index finger flicked, drawing a streak of blood. In the blink of an eye, he performed his own summoning technique.
Bang! Bang!
Two clouds of smoke—one large and one small—erupted simultaneously.
"Hah?!"
"Finally, it's my turn to shine!"
"My fangs have been itching for this!"
As the smoke cleared, a crimson serpent shot out impatiently. With a powerful whip of its tail, it struck the charging rhinoceros, sending it skidding several meters away. Simultaneously, it sank its massive fangs into the waist of the hellhound.
Smack!
The serpent's tail strike was so forceful that it sent the rhinoceros tumbling to the side.
However, the hellhound proved far more resilient. Despite being bitten, it showed no sign of pain. Instead, it retaliated with its three sets of razor-sharp jaws, clamping down on Shinga in return.
"Roar!"
"Why does this hurt so much?!"
"Sōmi, where's my armor? Hurry up and get it on me!"
Shinga roared in frustration, clearly eager to prove itself after being sidelined for so long.
With Sōmi's rapid growth in strength, there had been fewer battles requiring Shinga's assistance. Still, Sōmi had never neglected feeding the serpent, ensuring its loyalty and readiness. After all, Shinga had contributed to Sōmi's ability to master Sage Mode.
With a single gesture from Sōmi, a stream of golden sand separated from the lake beneath them, flowing toward Shinga. The sand climbed up the serpent's body, forming a gleaming set of golden armor in mere moments.
"Oh!"
"Now this is what I'm talking about!"
"Come on! Let's play!"
Encased in golden armor, Shinga's excitement was palpable. The enhanced magnetic field beneath its body made its already agile movements even more unpredictable.
Knowing it couldn't participate in Sōmi's primary battle, Shinga wisely diverted the hellhound, rhinoceros, and newly summoned Eight-Span Bird to another area, engaging them in a chaotic clash.
"It seems your strength has reached yet another level," Ichikishimahime remarked.
"At this rate, your Senjutsu Chakra might surpass even the White Snake Sage…"
Ichikishimahime, dressed in her signature water-blue dress, her hair styled in twin buns, reached out with her delicate hand to touch Sōmi's face, her curiosity evident.
"Ah, Sister Ichikishima…"
"Let's deal with these guys first before you start poking my face…"
Sōmi allowed her to tug at his cheek without showing any sign of annoyance.
After all, who could refuse the affection of a petite beauty with both charm and grace?
"Hm?!"
"Those eyes?!"
Ichikishimahime's gaze shifted to the Six Paths of Pain, her bright eyes flashing with astonishment.
After all, those were the legendary Sage Eyes—the Rinnegan. For anyone unfamiliar with the Six Paths' abilities, the sight of six pairs of Rinnegan was undeniably intimidating.
"Sister Ichikishima, I'll leave the one flying in the sky to you."
Sōmi pointed at Konan, who was diving toward him with her paper wings spread wide.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
📚 BOOK COMPLETED ON PATREON!
📚This story has reached its conclusion on my Patreon!
🔥 Full story available now💎 Exclusive bonus content & early access to new books
👉 Join my Patreon community today![✨patreon.com/GoldenLong]
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━