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"Hehehe… now the real fun begins."
In the frozen depths of a snow-covered forest, a white serpent slithered silently through the frost, its pale form nearly invisible against the landscape. Suddenly, its jaws unhinged with a sinister creak, revealing gleaming fangs—and from its gaping maw, a pale hand emerged.
Soaking wet and draped in the familiar black-and-red cloak of the Akatsuki, Orochimaru stepped out, his golden eyes gleaming as they locked onto the chaos unfolding in the distance.
Above the treetops, a massive eagle tangled mid-air with a monstrous centipede. Elsewhere, the ground quaked with explosive force.
The howls of wounded rhinos, the snarling of giant hounds, the roars of massive lizards—paired with flashes of chakra and ninjutsu—signaled the brutal intensity of battle.
"Looks like they're far too busy to notice me~" Orochimaru whispered, licking his lips as he vanished deeper into the forest's shadow.
He had been one of the minds behind the plan to eliminate Toshiro, though Pain had forbidden his direct involvement. But Orochimaru never played by the rules—especially when it came to something as tempting as the Rinnegan.
With Toshiro distracting the leader, now was the perfect time to strike and steal the Eye of Samsara.
After his last encounter and secret exchange with Toshiro, Orochimaru had spent months unraveling the Rinnegan's power. And now, with his strategy honed and patience tempered, the serpent was ready to strike.
Bang!
A muffled clash echoed through the trees.
"Uchiha Reflection!"
Toshiro raised the gunbai, swatting away a barrage of poisoned senbon. As a cloud of purple smoke billowed around him, a sweep of his fan summoned a sharp gust of wind, dispersing it with a whoosh.
"Damn puppet master's poison... so annoying."
With a mutter, Toshiro slashed the Kusanagi Sword downward, sending a searing streak of blue energy into the earth.
Just then, an arm burst from the dirt—followed by the orange-haired figure of Human Path reaching desperately for his ankle.
"Human Path, huh?" Toshiro's eyes narrowed.
No doubt this one aimed to rip out his soul.
Not happening.
"Looks like it's time to get serious."
Surveying the destruction—splintered trees, cratered soil, and the rampaging split dogs nearby—Toshiro realized he had underestimated the power of the Rinnegan.
"Defeat us?"
Tendō emerged from the grotesque jaws of King of Hell, his gaze fixed on Toshiro with something bordering on fear.
"We are Pain. We are gods. You, Uchiha Toshiro, are the one who will fall today!"
Behind him, the Human Path—just moments ago cleaved in half—reappeared, whole once again.
Toshiro groaned. "This damn Yama creature... what a pain."
A cry for help rang out across the battlefield.
"Toshiro!"
It was Shiromari, locked in a desperate struggle alongside Yamawashi, fending off Pain's summoned beasts—the Rhino, Hellhound, and more.
They wouldn't last much longer.
"So be it..."
Toshiro crossed his gunbai and Kusanagi, their tips touching as he brought his hands together in a seal.
He began to gather chakra.
"Stop him! Don't let him finish the jutsu!" Tendō barked.
In his Rinnegan vision, Toshiro's chakra surged—once still and calm, now boiling like a stormy sea. A brilliant blue glow began to engulf his form, forcing Tendō's pupils to contract sharply.
Without hesitation, he activated
"Universal Pull!"
The gravitational pull roared to life—but this time, Tendō wasn't taking any chances. He sent another Pain forward to block for him, trying to delay Toshiro at all costs.
"Tch… you think a simple pull will stop this?"
Toshiro's eyes blazed.
"Dream on."
As chakra surged in Toshiro's eyes, a brilliant red glow ignited beside him.
Then, with a thunderous pulse, a skeletal frame took shape—followed by muscle, sinew, skin, and finally, a glowing suit of orange-red armor.
What emerged was a towering, half-armored giant of pure chakra.
The spectral warrior wasted no time. It slammed both massive arms into the ground, shaking the earth beneath. At the same moment, two more spectral arms materialized, each wielding a long, blazing sword that cleaved a blinding arc of light toward Pain.
"No! Shuradō won't hold!"
Though Shuradō could serve as a human shield, even absorbing blows from the Kusanagi blade, the power behind this chakra behemoth's slash was on an entirely different level.
Clang!
A heavy sound rang out as the blow was intercepted.
It was Gakido—the one capable of absorbing chakra and ninjutsu. He had thrown himself in front of Tendō and Shuradō just in time, halting the blade's devastating sweep.
Originally, Tendō had placed Shuradō in front as a precaution against Toshiro's sword. Shuradō's reinforced body was unlike that of the other Paths of Pain—more durable, better suited for direct hits. But he hadn't anticipated this.
A fully materialized chakra avatar with crushing strength?
He was lucky. Gakido had been close enough to intervene.
"Tch." Gritting his teeth, Nagato narrowed his focus. He poured more chakra into the battlefield, determined to disrupt Toshiro's growing momentum. At the same time, he sent Gakido charging toward him.
Then, the ground trembled.
From the snow-covered forest floor around Toshiro, small branches began to sprout—first timidly, then violently, cracking through ice and earth like spears.
"Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence!"
Drawing deeply from his reserves and bracing against the gravitational force of Tendō's pull, Toshiro unleashed one of the most legendary techniques in the shinobi world.
A surge of life erupted from the earth as countless trees exploded upward, their branches twisting and spiraling like living serpents.
"Scatter!" Nagato barked from the shadows, and the Six Paths of Pain immediately began to separate and evade.
As the sea of trees surged toward them, Sasori, whose puppet body had already suffered heavy damage, prepared to reengage. He had just unrolled a scroll etched with three characters, ready to summon another weapon—when the forest struck.
The trees were faster than he expected.
He frantically maneuvered his Hiruko, but its bulky frame was no match for the speed and agility of the Wood Release. The puppet faltered.
Kakaka!
With a mechanical groan, the strain of the trees pressing down became too much.
Sasori acted instantly. The Sasori tail on his puppet snapped to life, slicing through the wooden constriction with wild, defensive slashes.
Bang!
A burst of splinters filled the air as the puppet's hatch blasted open. Sasori leapt free, abandoning his creation mid-battle without a second glance.
He moved swiftly, darting through the dense thicket with agile leaps—but the forest had already marked him.
Snap! Snap!
Branches, as if sensing his escape, cracked through the air with a fury, lashing at him from all sides. They struck with whip-like precision, wrapping and striking with eerie coordination.
"Damn it!"
Even with all his evasive skill, Sasori found himself outmatched. The vines closed in—writhing, entangling, blocking every possible path.
Living trees.
He realized too late: this wasn't ordinary ninjutsu. The forest itself was hunting him.
He knew he couldn't last much longer.
"Shinra Tensei!"
"Banshō Ten'in!"
Just as Sasori was about to be overwhelmed by the living forest, a powerful gravitational force surged past him, reducing the surrounding trees to shattered wood chips.
Before he could react, his body was yanked violently through the air—flung straight toward Tendō.
The one who unleashed the technique wasn't unscathed. Tendō staggered, his breath shallow. The vines around him, now seemingly enraged by the disruption, twisted and lunged at him in a frenzy.
To give both Tendō and the rescued Sasori a chance to escape, another Path of Pain sprang into action—tearing through the encroaching vines in a desperate attempt to hold them back.
Roar!
Across the battlefield, the enormous summoned beasts that had been keeping Shiromari and Yamawashi at bay suddenly found themselves under siege. Their massive size did them no favors.
The vines wrapped around them—thick, merciless tendrils—and began siphoning their chakra with terrifying efficiency. Even worse, the vines seemed to feast on their flesh, growing wilder and more abundant by the second.
"We can't stay here!"
From the shadows, Nagato clenched his fists, his anxiety spiking as he watched the forest go berserk, trees thrashing as though injected with pure rage.
"Retreat!"
Shuradō heeded the order without hesitation. With a grunt, he yanked his arm free from the growing forest and unleashed a barrage.
Swish, swish, swish!
Rocket-propelled missiles tore through the trees, creating a temporary opening.
Without delay, Shuradō hoisted the unconscious Chikushōdō over his shoulder.
Boom!
As he launched himself forward, his sheer strength shattered the ground beneath him.
Seizing the moment, Tendō soared into the sky, carrying Sasori to safety. Below them, vines hissed and snapped, whipping through the air in frustration.
But not everyone made it out.
The remaining four Paths of Pain were caught in the dense foliage. The vines coiled around them mercilessly, burrowing deep, rooting themselves in their flesh—and feeding off their chakra.
Still airborne, Nagato—his senses sharp—immediately realized what was happening.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
As soon as they cleared the Wood Release's radius, he formed a hand seal through Chikushōdō, and with a burst of chakra, the remaining four Paths were yanked from the vines and summoned to safety.
Tendō, descending slowly with Sasori in hand, surveyed the battered battlefield. Around him, the other Pains regrouped, while the distant summoned beasts still writhed in the grip of living wood.
His eyes narrowed, dark and dangerous.
"Wood Release… It truly is monstrous."
In mere moments, Gakidō, Ningendō, Jigokudō, and Shuradō had been completely ensnared. Their bodies were wrapped in vines, and their chakra reserves had been heavily drained.
Bang!
There was no time for reflection.
Nagato, from his hidden tree-hollow command post, immediately had Animal Path order a full retreat of all remaining summoned creatures.
Then, his gaze shifted back to the forest that had overtaken the battlefield like a natural disaster.
His expression hardened.
"It seems... I have no choice but to use that."
He had seen enough.
Nagato now understood—Uchiha Toshiro would not fall to mere clones.
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