One Punch!
Pain's fist slammed hard into the ground.
This land, where countless battles had been fought.
Almighty Push had peeled back one layer.
Nine-Tailed's rampage had peeled back multiple layers.
Now.
Pain's hate-filled punch peeled back the final layer of earth.
"Puff! Sizzle!!! Hiss!!!"
A colossal pillar of water shot up from beneath Pain's feet.
The earth transformed.
The topography and landscape completely changed.
The area that was once a zone of massive rocks.
Instantly formed towering waves.
Gradually eroding the entire land.
The accumulated dark clouds in the sky were also dispersed.
The sky cleared and the air became fresh.
The weather also changed.
Pain's power was terrifying!
As the water flow gradually stabilized.
Now, the battle between Pain and the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki was taking place on the water's surface.
The Six-Tailed Nine-Tails Jinchuriki's body could stretch infinitely like a rubber man.
And it could fire countless crimson energy blasts, like a weapon of war with infinite firepower.
Shinra Tensei!
Blocked countless energy blasts.
"Hmph, is that all you've got?"
Clearly not.
Another volley of denser, larger energy blasts.
Pain's body was thrown back.
Pain stabilized his stance.
"Quite capable."
Several more exchanges followed.
This level of battle wouldn't yield a result anytime soon.
Unlike Pain's invasion of Konoha.
A crushing offensive.
At this moment, both sides were on an equal footing.
Suddenly.
A blue-green crystal necklace appeared around the neck of the Six-Tailed Nine-Tails Naruto.
It stood out strikingly against the black and red embodiment of hatred.
The necklace seemed to sense something, continuously releasing blue-green energy clusters.
As if to bind the rampaging Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.
"Crack!!"
The Tailed Beast Jinchuriki gripped the crystal necklace and, with a surge of strength.
The crystal shattered.
...The pinnacle of the Ninja World's battle!
Outside the screen, countless Ninja were immersed, all exclaiming this sentiment.
A crushing battle.
The scene of Konoha being unilaterally oppressed by Pain.
Despite the manifestation of the Konoha Ninja's Will of Fire.
The Will of Fire could not change the crushing situation.
Ultimately, it was still a contest of equivalent power!
A back-and-forth clash of strength!
The ultimate showdown between the divine Pain and the Asura Nine-Tailed!
That was what truly made the people of the Ninja World's blood boil!
Could a Ninja's power really be this high?!
Overwhelming, changing heaven and earth!
Could it really be like in the screen, where the earth became a battlefield!
Deadly attacks were endured and unleashed as casually as eating and drinking!
This battle.
Changed Ninja's narrow perception of a Ninja's strength.
On a mountain path.
Tsunade stared blankly at the shattered necklace on the screen.
Her younger brother, Nawaki: "I am the grandson of the First Hokage who founded Konoha Village, and one day I will inherit the title of Hokage to protect everyone!"
'It's a promise, little man.'
Nawaki's innocent smile seemed vividly present.
Then, the very next day.
Nawaki, who had gone to war, left behind only this necklace.
Not a trace of his body remained.
Dan: "I don't want to see precious people die anymore. I want to become Hokage, to become someone who protects everyone!"
Then, during a mission.
Dan, his internal organs gone, lay in the rainy night forest.
Tsunade could only watch as Dan slowly took his last breath.
'I don't want to die yet, there are still so many things I haven't done...'
These were Dan's last words.
Naruto: "I, Uzumaki Naruto, am destined to become a Ninja in the future!"
Looking at the screen, Tsunade knew.
She had once again placed her bet on Naruto.
If this time, the rampaging Nine-Tailed Naruto were sealed by the sealing energy within the necklace.
Wouldn't Pain win?
Fortunately, the necklace was shattered.
Tsunade didn't know what to think for a moment.
This necklace truly seemed to have a cursed power.
Nawaki, Dan... A faint guilt spread from her heart.
Holding the crystal necklace she wore around her neck.
Tsunade still couldn't bear to throw it away; after all, it was a necklace left by her grandfather.
After thinking for a moment, Tsunade still kept it.
Since Naruto could break one curse.
He could break a second one too!
Looking at the rampaging Naruto.
Tsunade was actually vaguely worried.
If this continued, Four-Tails, Six-Tails, Eight-Tails... and finally the Nine-Tailed would devour Naruto's mind!
Pain squatted and watched from a distance.
"The seal has been broken..."
"Here it comes!"
Accompanied by stirring background music!
The battle seemed to be approaching its most exciting part!
The crimson embodiment of hatred charged towards Pain.
Faster than a giant shark in the sea!
The white spray behind him surged like boiling water, refusing to subside!
The force of the impact caused the 'sea' surface to churn.
Pain's figure, standing on a lone rock, appeared so small beneath the giant waves.
Relying on the application of repulsive and attractive forces.
Pain clung tightly to the lone rock, like a solitary boat.
Letting the waves churn the lone rock, he remained unmoving.
Crimson long pillars.
Countless crimson long pillars pierced the lone rock beneath Pain's feet.
The final foothold, the lone rock, shattered into a pile of dust.
"Shinra Tensei!!"
Pain stepped onto the land.
The area he was in formed a zone of air.
Surrounded by surging, rapidly flowing clear water.
A hate-filled claw.
The invincible Shinra Tensei did not block this punch.
A crimson giant claw was imprinted squarely on Pain's face.
Pain's rubber-like flexible face deformed once again.
Pain's distorted face showed shock.
'Impossible, it actually withstood Shinra Tensei!!!'
This was a feeling Pain and Nagato had never experienced before.
The always-effective Shinra Tensei!
The Shinra Tensei that flattened all of Konoha!
The Shinra Tensei that commanded the entire Akatsuki Organization!
It was actually broken by the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, shattering its concept of invincibility!
Pain's body was deeply embedded in the stone under the heavy blow.
The embodiment of hatred did not stop.
Countless large and small water balls, crimson energy balls.
Converged into a chaotic blue-purple Tailed Beast Ball.
On the other side.
Suddenly, two hands sprouted from the stone like plants.
The hands clasped together.
"Almighty Pull!!"
A massive rock ruthlessly suppressed the Jinchuriki, who was in the process of creating a giant Tailed Beast Ball.
"Boom!!"
The rock shattered and flew in all directions under the immense energy of the Tailed Beast Ball.
A huge explosion.
Crimson flames.
A translucent, giant spherical explosion wave.
As the aftershocks of the explosion dissipated.
Looking at the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, whose momentum had not diminished.
Pain: "The Nine-Tails' Power is truly incredible."
Since the Nine-Tailed was so strong.
He had already decided on his next plan.
Shinra Tensei was useless, but he had another ultimate move.
The moon hanging high in the sky was created by this power.
He wondered if the Nine-Tailed could withstand it!
His target was clear; everything in his way was an enemy!
"Hmph."