[Sky battleship]
Sasuke looked down at the layer of clouds below, his heart full of worry. Rei was standing right next to him, picking up a whetstone, using the last bit of time to sharpen her blade.
According to the defense deployment plan, Sasuke, Rei, and the others stayed at the research institute. His ninjutsu nullification combined with the sky battleship was an extremely suitable offensive combo.
Sasuke waited in the research institute, feeling a vague sense of unease for no reason.
Until not long ago, the research institute received a distress signal from Kyoto, the Kyoto defensive barrier had shattered, and Ryosuke was fighting the entire Akatsuki alone.
Hearing the news, Sasuke understood where his unease came from.
Perhaps because he was wearing the Saint's Thorned Halo, this legendary treasure that didn't belong to this world, he could faintly sense the will of the world.
Sasuke didn't know if this was just his imagination, everyone has, to some degree, experienced that illusion of "being noticed by the world."
Like when passing by a lottery shop, you get a mysterious feeling that you'll win today.
That feeling lingers in your mind until after buying a scratch card and losing twenty bucks miserably, regretting not ordering a meal delivery instead, and only then does that feeling disappear.
Sasuke had that feeling now.
The train called "the world" had arrived at a crucial junction.
Ryosuke was standing on the tracks, holding the lever of the track switch in his hand.
But after so many years, the tracks (the world's original path) were already rusted. On the other side, Akatsuki was also fighting Ryosuke to control the direction of the switch.
"If Brother Ryosuke wants to pull the world's track, it means he has to fight against the inertia of the entire world, to fight against the personified embodiment of the world's will, Akatsuki."
Sasuke covered his chest.
His heart was pounding, as if it smelled a strong scent of blood.
This bloody smell was very familiar, very old. It originated from the depths of Sasuke's memory, from the abandoned Uchiha estate.
Now, within that old, stale scent of blood, it seemed a familiar figure had been added.
Extreme panic rose in Sasuke's heart, all chaos pointing to the same conclusion.
"The train rushing toward us is getting closer and closer."
"Brother Ryosuke… will die on the tracks."
"Then what about me?"
Sasuke looked at the blade in his hand.
They were riding the sky battleship, having already left the atmosphere, flying in low-earth orbit at Mach 5 speed, heading to Kyoto for support.
This was a technological innovation of the Sky Ninja Corps. After getting rid of air resistance, the battleship's speed increased dramatically.
"Do I have enough strength to step into that battlefield, to help Brother Ryosuke change the world's track?"
Sasuke closed his eyes and gently rested his forehead on the hilt of the blade.
"If your heart is lost in confusion, then don't draw your blade."
A distant voice appeared behind Sasuke. He opened his eyes wide and turned back, but just halfway through turning around, Sasuke froze.
After so many years, he once again saw the figure of "that one."
The other party's body was still thin, but after training in the Golden Rotation, Sasuke could now clearly see that every part of that person's body was the absolute perfect golden ratio.
Sasuke still couldn't see that person's appearance clearly, but he could sense the gaze "that one" cast toward him, filled with pity and wisdom.
"You…"
A cold sensation fell on his face. Sasuke snapped out of the dream-like state. He brushed his fingers across his cheek, and between his fingers was a melting snowflake. He looked up toward the sky.
It was snowing?
Why was there snow?
Wasn't he on the sky battleship?
Sasuke looked around, and to his shock, he discovered…
He had actually returned to the Uchiha ruins in Konoha Village.
———
Jet-black flames landed on Ryosuke's arm.
He frowned slightly.
"Hermit Purple!"
Purple vines appeared, pointing toward the direction the attack came from.
Ryosuke saw Uchiha Itachi standing in a corner of the city, holding a telescope.
Seeing Ryosuke's gaze land on him, a pair of black-and-white hands appeared beneath Itachi's feet, it was clearly Zetsu.
Zetsu dragged Uchiha Itachi underground and disappeared from Ryosuke's sight.
Ryosuke stared at the vanishing silhouette of Zetsu, and said in a quiet, emotionless voice, "You're really busy, huh."
He was transporting fresh corpses for the Six Paths of Pain, and also constantly relocating Uchiha Itachi's "sniper spots."
Don't be fooled by Pain, the Daimyo ninja, and Uchiha Itachi putting on a flashy show on the surface. The true tactical core was hidden underground, the combat-weak Zetsu.
Ryosuke flicked his arm, the burned skin turning into bird feathers, falling off along with the Amaterasu flames, exposing the muscle underneath. With one inhale and exhale, skin grew back again.
The Deva Path raised his hand again.
"Universal Pull!"
Ryosuke lost control and was pulled toward the Deva Path.
Amaterasu's flames, the summoned beasts' bites, and the Daimyo ninja's combined ninjutsu appeared again.
This time, Ryosuke not only didn't dodge, he even accelerated, taking the initiative to charge straight at the Deva Path.
Seeing Ryosuke closing in, the Deva Path opened his arms again.
"Shinra Tensei!"
Attraction and repulsion collided in an instant. A normal ninja hit by that impact would have internal bleeding and immediately lose fighting ability.
But Pain didn't expect that much. His goal was only to restrict Ryosuke within a certain range.
And that range…
Was the firing zone covered by the Daimyo ninja and the Amaterasu flames.
"We got him!"
Under Pain's gaze, a series of ninjutsu fell, "Combined Ninjutsu, Hurricane Water Vortex Technique"
"Wind Style: Turbulent Air Dance"
"Lightning Style: Lightning Pillar"
———
Ryosuke's silhouette was engulfed by countless ninjutsu.
Pain stared fixedly at the center of the ninjutsu, arms spread and ready to activate his ability at any moment.
Maybe because he was tense, or because the explosions were too loud, Pain heard an extremely faint and sharp ringing in his ears.
"No!"
Pain caught a glimpse of a rotating light in his peripheral vision. Before he could turn his head to face it, the iron ball wrapped in golden flames and natural energy struck Pain's head.
At the moment of impact...
"Ahhhh!!!!"
Nagato let out a cry of pain, blood spurting from his mouth. The blood fell to the ground with a sizzling sound, emitting foul-smelling hot steam.
The black rods pierced into his back gave off a burnt smell. The monitor for his vitals let out sharp alarm beeps, the wave lines representing Nagato's physical state shaking violently.
The drug, controlled by an automatic program, detected the drop in Nagato's chakra output, and the injection dose suddenly increased several dozen times.
"Nagato!"
Konan cried out and reached to pull out the IV tubes.
"I'm fine."
Nagato raised a hand to stop her.
The Six Paths of Pain were corpses remotely controlled via black rods, granting designated abilities.
Nagato hadn't expected Ryosuke to be so keen-sensed. After only a few exchanges, he discovered the "wave frequency" of the black rod control.
Ryosuke didn't have the Rinnegan. He couldn't invade the Six Paths' frequency.
But he could use the Golden Rotation's spinning to forcibly inject Ripple power into it.
A small portion of power traveled back through the transmission channel and directly attacked Nagato.
"It's fine… as long as I cut off the control connection before the Six Paths get hit, it won't affect the real body… yes, as long as I'm fast enough…"
Nagato glanced at Konan's worried eyes, but he had no time to explain, because right after throwing the iron ball, Ryosuke had once again lifted the Ruination Greatsword.
The blade flashed. The Animal Path and the Hell Path were sliced in half at the waist.
Amaterasu's flames fell again.
Ryosuke kicked off the ground and leaped up, the Amaterasu flames chasing tightly behind him.
Uchiha Itachi pressed his lips together. Because he was holding the telescope too tightly against his eyes, a dark red ring had appeared around them.
Ignoring the pain, Itachi stared intently at Ryosuke,
"Even if you escape to the ends of the earth, I will kill you."
"Escape?"
As if he heard Uchiha Itachi's whisper, Ryosuke, flying into the sky, turned around, and mouthed, "You're still watching me, right?"
"Then watch more clearly."
Ryosuke turned around.
Revealing an ugly, short substitution body.
"Cheap trick."
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