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Suspended high above the lake, Neji and Pain faced one another in perfect stillness.
Then Pain spoke only for his words to draw a quiet, stifled laugh.
The sound broke the air.
A low chuckle at first, then louder until Neji was clutching his white mask as if it might slip from his face.
"God? Punishment of a god?" he repeated, his voice dripping with amusement.
"How familiar. There was once a man who called himself a god too… he carried three thunder drums on his back."
He tilted his head, tone softening.
"Do you know what became of him?"
The laughter died. His voice dropped to a calm, icy whisper.
"I shattered him he couldn't even comprehend how a mere human could touch a 'divine' being. His confusion… his disbelief… that will be your fate as well."
Pain's expression didn't change, though confusion flickered briefly in his Rinnegan eyes.
A man with thunder drums? No such being appeared in any of his intelligence.
Neji's tone stayed conversational, almost amused.
"Such ignorance is… entertaining, in its way. Maybe that's humanity's greatest flaw our cruelty makes us curious."
He leaned forward slightly. "I wonder what kind of face you'll make when I crush your illusion."
Flash.
In an instant, the pale mask filled Pain's vision too closely.
He reacted instinctively.
[Shinra Tensei]!
A violent repulsion burst forth, but Neji only slid back a single step his raised arm flaring with threads of dark lightning.
The very air folded in front of his palm. The rippling space made the Rinnegan shudder to focus.
Impossible.
Pain's mind raced.
He resisted Shinra Tensei… how?!
For the first time, doubt stirred. His own words echoed back at him You are no god.
He clenched his jaw. The black receivers embedded in his flesh quivered as they drew more chakra from afar.
"Super… Shinra Tensei!"
A wave of repulsive force detonated outward, the kind that drained life itself to unleash.
The air screamed. Even Neji, braced and glowing with static, was hurled backward across the sky.
---
Inside the toad's belly, Jiraiya and the sages clung to the walls as the world outside convulsed.
The lakebed lay bare beneath Pain's feet; the displaced water rose in a wall hundreds of meters high.
The people of Amegakure froze. From the rooftops, they could see the rolling wave blotting out the sky.
No one screamed. Despair had stolen their voices.
"Angel… save us…" Someone whispered through a crack in a shutter.
---
Neji steadied himself in midair, eyes reflecting the ring-shaped tsunami. "So this is the god who rules a puddle," he said. "You've seen only the bottom of your own well."
He raised his hand.
"Beyond this world are beings who erase stars, who unmake galaxies entire universes swept aside like dust. You, Nagato… are nothing more than a child playing god."
Whummm—!
A surge of gravity exploded from his palm. The colossal wave reversed direction, collapsing inward toward Pain.
The Deva Path's pupils contracted. He had been preparing [Banshō Ten'in] to pull the water away—
But Neji's gravitational field dwarfed his own, dragging every droplet, every ton of water back into the lake's heart.
The sound was deafening. A pillar of water stabbed the clouds, visible from every corner of Amegakure.
Konan watched from the sky, paper wings trembling. The sight stripped her calm away.
Can Nagato… withstand this?
Inside the toad's stomach, even Jiraiya was awed. "That power Nagato's repulsion, and his pull… this isn't a fight mortals can join."
He exhaled slowly. "The Rinnegan truly holds the power of the Sage of Six Paths.
And that other one… there's no record of anyone like him. His chakra, his presence, it's completely alien."
Fukasaku shook his head. "Little Jiraiya, this isn't a place for you anymore. Even with us, you'd only die in vain."
Jiraiya nodded grimly. He kept drawing in nature energy, anyway, old instincts wouldn't let him stop preparing.
---
Above the roiling lake, Neji stared down at Pain through his mask.
Tiny points of light appeared across its surface, sketching a crude cartoon face.
(●_●)
Pain blinked. "…What?"
"Ah, wrong expression." Neji tapped the mask.
=_=
"This is Better."
The absurdity broke the tension for a heartbeat; even Pain faltered. "What is it you're trying to do?"
"What else?" Neji shrugged. "I want your Rinnegan. Hand it over, retire with Konan, and live quietly."
He paused. "But you won't. You only believe in yourself."
ㄟ(▔,▔)ㄏ
Pain's chakra flared dangerously. "Naïve fool. Would you ask an enemy to surrender his weapon mid-battle? I'll show you how gods end arrogance."
The sky dimmed.
"[Chibaku Tensei]… Planetary Devastation!"
A black sphere blossomed high above them, gravity howling from its core.
The lake ripped apart again water, mud, and shattered stone spiraled upward like a reverse waterfall. Neji felt the drag seize him, too; his body pulled toward the forming star.
Pain's cold eyes followed him upward. "Even you cannot escape this. Within the eternal prison, reflect on your sin against God."
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~Support with 200 PowerStones = 1 Bonus Chapter
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