"All… all wiped out?"
Ao's Byakugan eyes were about to bulge out.
'What the heck was that "meteorite" that fell from the sky just now?'
'How could it defeat the entire Akatsuki in a single blow… the power is big, sure, but not to this exaggerated degree, right?'
Ao was still confused, and the next second, he noticed something was wrong.
The corpses smashed by the iron sphere quietly began changing.
The appearances belonging to the Akatsuki members faded, turning into one pale face after another.
"It's Zetsu!"
There were no actual Akatsuki members on the ground, every single one was a substitute created by Zetsu using his spore technique, absorbing the chakra of Akatsuki members to manufacture clones, meant to interfere with scouting vision.
"What?!"
Hearing this news, Kamihara Hayato, sitting in the central command room, shot to his feet and shouted, "Contact the research institute and Kyoto immediately!"
Within the Land of Water, there were basically only three important areas.
Kirigakure, the training base of Mist ninja, and the birthplace of the Awakening ideology.
The research institute, the source of Ryosuke's technological products.
Kyoto, the political center of the Land of Water, where Ryosuke's most important ally, Oda Ieyasu, resided.
Before, Ryosuke hovered in the converging area between the three, ensuring that no matter which direction Akatsuki attacked from, he would be able to reach it first.
But nobody expected that the substitutes created by Zetsu could even fool Byakugan scouting.
The communication officer busied himself connecting the line. Kamihara Hayato stood behind him, with three small ninja mice perched on his shoulder, waiting to transmit intel to Ryosuke.
Unexpectedly, before the officer could dial, a message came from Kyoto first.
"Detected chakra belonging to Akatsuki members. Please rest assured; we have activated the defense barrier. We can hold until support arrives."
Kamihara Hayato knew very well the defense barrier of Kyoto, once activated at full power, it was enough to withstand beast-bomb-level bombardment.
But their enemy…
"The enemy is Akatsuki."
———
[Outside Kyoto City]
"My clone in Kirigakure died."
Zetsu looked toward the closed gates of Kyoto City, "Ryosuke should be on the way here… why not let me set up more, place them at the gates of every major city, waste more of his time?"
"Because it's meaningless."
Pain walked toward the city, "Our true purpose is to kill Ryosuke."
"If Ryosuke dies, the people left behind are just a scattered rabble."
"If Ryosuke doesn't die, even if you kill Oda Ieyasu and Terumi Mei, as long as you give him a little time, a similar force will still rise again."
"We start war, kill his companions, but at the root, it's to disturb his mental state."
Zetsu's clones, the first time they appear, they startle Ryosuke, make him anxious.
The second time, they will no longer have that effect.
After all, ninja and annihilation troops aren't idiots, they will probe, test information.
Pain did not want to give Ryosuke time to settle his emotions.
"After chaos..."
Pain slowly floated into the sky above Kyoto, overlooking this ancient city with hundreds of years of history.
A layer of azure barrier covered the city's sky, blocking all external intrusion.
Inside the city, thousands of samurai and ninja held tightly onto their weapons, waiting for the enemy to arrive.
Oda Ieyasu narrowed his eyes, looking toward the sky. He saw Pain floating above the city. His son, little Hideyoshi, stood beside him, holding his father's small hand, his palm was drenched with sweat.
Little Hideyoshi was nervous.
That was human instinct.
But little Hideyoshi's other hand gripped the short blade at his waist, ready to fight the enemy at any moment.
That was human courage.
Oda Ieyasu met Pain's gaze and softly asked, "Pain, what exactly do you want to do?"
Pain closed his eyes and let out a sigh. When he opened them again, his Rinnegan held not a trace of hesitation.
"I want Ryosuke, and the world, to feel pain."
To Ryosuke, Oda Ieyasu was more important than ten thousand soldiers. Ryosuke was responsible for military suppression, Oda Ieyasu for civil governance.
So, Pain had to break this wall, forcing Ryosuke to rush here with all possible speed.
Pain knew Ryosuke possessed special "space-time ninjutsu," allowing him to fly across the sky extremely fast. What he wanted was exactly this, the space-time ninjutsu was a huge consumption for Ryosuke, and after every use, he had to rest briefly.
Continuous use over time would inevitably affect Ryosuke's condition.
Oda Ieyasu's and countless civilians' deaths would further affect Ryosuke's mental state.
This was Pain's road to victory.
He spread his arms. Surging chakra poured into his body, rising until reaching an ultimate peak. By Nagato's side, Konan's brows furrowed tightly, "Is it really necessary to go this far?!"
With infinite resources provided by the conglomerate, various rare supplements and medicines, Nagato's body was much better than in the original story. But Konan knew this technique was different. It would damage Nagato's lifespan at its roots.
"Konan."
Nagato and Pain spoke simultaneously, "Life… is originally a resource used to be consumed in the pursuit of ideals."
"To save it and refuse to use it, losing the chance to realize the ideal, that is the true waste."
High in the air, Pain's gaze looked down upon the city below.
"From this moment onward…"
"Let the world feel pain."
A light impossible to look at burst in the sky above the city, more dazzling than a thousand suns, burning retinas.
In an instant, Oda Ieyasu, little Hideyoshi, the ninja and samurai waiting on rooftops, and the civilians curled up in their homes, trembling…
All of them could no longer see anything, nor hear anything.
The only thing they still heard was a cold voice falling from the sky, "Shinra Tensei."
The defense barrier, capable of resisting a tailed-beast bomb, persisted for only half a second before it shattered with a boom. The shockwave poured vertically downward.
Buildings bent and collapsed like empty milk cartons. Glass shattered and shot like a rainstorm, then was ground into sparkling dust.
The shockwave spread outward; some tried to escape, but were instantly overtaken and blasted into countless tiny pieces of flesh.
More people simply stood there in despair, watching themselves get swept into the impact, losing consciousness.
Buildings, dust, corpses piled together and were blown outward by repulsive force. Only after spreading for more than ten kilometers did the shock begin to slowly cease.
At the center of Kyoto, the ground sank into a massive, flat crater.
Pain slowly descended, his gaze falling upon the daimyo's residence one hundred meters away.
Within the range of the Super Shinra Tensei, this was the only remaining structure.
More than thirty ninja guarding the daimyo's residence, using joint defensive ninjutsu, coughed up mouthfuls of blood and collapsed to their knees, unable to continue.
Ninja and samurai standing outside the attack radius clutched kunai and swords, their hands felt nothing but crushing weakness.
This kind of power… too terrifying.
No, not mere terror, this was humans' awe, despair, and collapse before something beyond understanding.
A samurai subconsciously murmured, "What kind of power… is this?"
His voice carried a trembling even he hadn't noticed.
Rationality told them, rush to fight the enemy, protect Oda Ieyasu. But their legs felt nailed to the ground, unable to move a single step.
Within the boundless ruins, only breath after breath of shock-induced silence remained.
Suddenly, the doors of the daimyo's residence opened.
Oda Ieyasu stood at the door, holding little Hideyoshi's hand.
"Hideyoshi, are you afraid?"
"No."
Little Hideyoshi gripped the short blade at his waist, "After mom died, I'm not afraid of anything."
In the world of the living, father waits. In the world of the dead, mother waits.
No matter where, the ones who love him most are always there.
Oda Ieyasu smiled softly and looked at Pain, "When chatting with Ryosuke, he once said something very interesting, 'It is easy to break the bandits of the mountains, but hard to break the bandits in one's heart.'"
Pain understood his words.
"You're mocking me? Saying I'm only doing something simple and easy?"
Oda Ieyasu drew the samurai sword at his waist; its silver blade glimmered under the sun, "No hidden meaning, and not ridicule. Just literal words."
"I'm saying that a bandit like you, who kills without blinking, will eventually die at Ryosuke's hands."
Pain did not respond. He clenched his fist; after using Super Shinra Tensei, the Deva Path's power would be affected.
Even though he had taken many medicines beforehand to boost his main body Nagato's strength, the backlash was unavoidable.
However, killing a daimyo, without using Shinra Tensei or Banshō Ten'in… was more than enough.
A black rod appeared in Pain's hand. He lifted his arm and shot it toward Oda Ieyasu.
The ninja and samurai, shaken by Pain's power, were now far too late to rush in to protect him.
Pain and regret filled people's faces, just then...
Clang!
A simple kunai blocked the black rod.
A Mist ninja leaped down from the air, standing in front of Oda Ieyasu.
Pain coldly stared at the unknown Mist ninja blocking his way, "Admirable courage."
Sakamoto gripped the kunai tightly, his legs trembling slightly in fear, but his mouth said, "Hmph, no need for your praise. Back during the Yagura overthrow battle, I threw a kunai at Boss Ryosuke… Compared to him, you're nothing!"
The one who appeared at this critical moment was surprisingly Sakamoto, once a die-hard loyalist to Yakura, who previously had a brief encounter with Ryosuke in County Youma under Governor Shirakawa.
Sakamoto was a greedy, lazy guy. Otherwise, he wouldn't have become a die-hard Yakura follower, making money through shady tricks.
But he was also a man.
After the Yakura overthrow battle, he returned to the village system.
He thought he would be targeted, maybe assassinated in secret, but unexpectedly, the village treated everyone equally, listing out his crimes and responsibilities clearly.
To atone, Sakamoto went through hardship, put in effort, and over the years, completed his self-redemption.
When he finished his final task, Zabuza personally signed the document stating Sakamoto had recovered his free status, enjoying all village benefits like any ordinary ninja.
Finally, Zabuza gave Sakamoto a strong hug, saying, "Welcome back."
Sakamoto swallowed nervously, but instinctive fear did not stop him from raising the kunai in his hand.
"The village treated me as a human, so I'll live like one."
"If you want to kill the daimyo, you'll go through me first!"
"Heh,"
Pain sneered and lifted his hand.
The corporation's medicines truly were amazing, just a few sentences later, the side effects of the Super Shinra Tensei were already gone.
"Banshō Ten'in."
Sakamoto stumbled, his whole body lifted uncontrollably into the air.
The next second, Pain grabbed his throat in a crushing grip.
Pain didn't spare him another glance; his fingers tightened, ready to snap his neck.
Zzzzt!
A silver-white bolt of lightning flashed.
Sakamoto flew outward.
Along with him, Pain's severed right arm flew.
The silver-white lightning gradually faded. A massive, overly long, perfectly straight blade appeared in everyone's field of vision. People gazed at that figure from behind, and unconsciously held their breath.
Ryosuke stepped forward, walking out of the range of his sky-sending technique.
At the same time, several figures wearing Akatsuki cloaks fell from the air, landing behind Pain.
The suffocating pressure of both sides clashed intensely in the air, without the slightest restraint.
This was…
King versus king.
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