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"Almighty Push!"
Whether it was Jiraiya, who had already closed to within striking distance of the Deva Path, or the Tsuchikage, who had been attempting to launch an assault using his clone, both were caught directly in the devastating frontal blast of the Almighty Push. Their bodies were sent hurtling through the air like ragdolls, utterly beyond their own control. The surrounding forest shared their grim fate. As far as the eye could see, the landscape had been reduced to a blasted, barren wasteland of shattered trees and churned earth.
"That bastard... he's unbelievably strong... One hit like that and I feel like my whole body is about to fall apart," Onoki grumbled, bracing a hand against his lower back as he staggered to his feet. But his expression remained taut with tension.
Five seconds... It could pass in the blink of an eye. But it could also decide the outcome of an entire battle. When Onoki had charged towards the Deva Path, he had deliberately positioned his clone in front of him to shield his own movements. Simultaneously, he had covertly executed the Earth Core technique, causing the ground beneath the Raikage's position to suddenly sink downward. Thus, although the Almighty Push had struck with catastrophic, all-consuming force—even the very ground where the Deva Path stood had been deeply cratered by its power—the Raikage had been spared the full brunt of the blast, protected by the sunken earth created by the Earth Core.
The assault he and Jiraiya had launched was nothing more than a diversion. Onoki's gaze instinctively flickered towards the sunken pit—a square-shaped hole roughly two meters across. In the next instant, a dark silhouette erupted from its depths, hurtling towards the Deva Path with blinding, lightning-fast speed. The Deva Path instinctively hurled himself backward, desperately attempting to put distance between himself and the oncoming shadow. But the dark form pursued him like a vengeful phantom, matching his every movement. It was the Body Flicker Technique! The Deva Path's brow furrowed as the Raikage closed in on him relentlessly.
Lightning Release: Liger Bomb!
Lightning chakra coiled and crackled around the Raikage's fist as he drove it forward with the force of a thunderclap, aiming directly at the Deva Path. The very air seemed to shatter and tear apart under the force of the blow. With the Almighty Push unavailable for another few precious seconds, the Deva Path had lost one of his most reliable defensive options. This made the Raikage's assault all the more advantageous. Unless, of course, someone was willing to sacrifice their life to protect him. But even if the one who died was not the Deva Path himself, the Raikage would still consider it an acceptable outcome. After all, this attack was not intended to claim only a single life.
His lightning-clad arm came screaming down, mere inches from striking the Deva Path, when suddenly several explosive projectiles hurtled in from the side, themselves now within arm's reach. If he pressed his attack and killed the Deva Path now, he would likely sustain severe wounds himself in the ensuing explosions. In that brief, agonizing moment of hesitation, the Deva Path managed to widen the distance between them. At the same time, the Human Path materialized directly in front of the Deva Path, acting as a living shield.
Without a shred of hesitation, the Raikage's punch blasted clean through the Human Path's torso. He then seized the impaled body and hurled it towards the incoming explosives. A thunderous, earsplitting detonation followed. The Raikage's eardrums screamed in agony, and a maddening, all-consuming ringing filled his skull. The world around him seemed to fall into sudden, muffled silence. He fought through the disorienting pain and snapped his gaze forward. There stood the Deva Path, now some thirty or forty meters away. Both of his hands were extended before him, and hovering between his palms was a small, pitch-black sphere. This was a technique the Raikage had never seen before.
He was not alone in his confusion. Even the seasoned, battle-hardened Fukasaku and Onoki stared at the black sphere with expressions of mingled shock and incomprehension. But one thing was absolutely certain in their minds: the Deva Path had been pushed to the absolute brink. Whatever this technique was, it was undoubtedly something he had been reserving as a last resort. One shared thought blazed through the minds of all three shinobi simultaneously—they absolutely, positively could not allow the Deva Path to complete this technique.
The Raikage, being the closest to the Deva Path and a master of the Body Flicker Technique, closed the remaining gap in the span of a heartbeat. He was just about to launch his attack when he saw the Deva Path hurl the black sphere high into the air. In that instant, the very earth began to disintegrate beneath their feet. Massive chunks of soil and rock tore themselves from the ground and began to rise skyward, drawn inexorably towards the floating black sphere. The Raikage felt his own feet leave the earth. An immense, invisible gravitational pull seized hold of him, dragging him upward alongside the countless tons of debris.
Trees, soil, boulders—and both Jiraiya and Onoki—were all wrenched from the earth and pulled toward the heavens. Onoki desperately attempted to use the Added-Weight Rock Technique to increase his own body's weight, hoping to anchor himself to the ground and resist the overwhelming gravitational force. But the effort only delayed the inevitable by a matter of moments. Soon, he too was swept upward, along with everything else, and plastered against the surface of the growing black sphere. Before long, a colossal sphere of earth and rubble had formed in the sky, hanging there like an ominous, artificial moon.
The Deva Path cast a cold, contemptuous glance at the floating sphere. A derisive snort escaped his lips. He then turned and surveyed his surroundings. Of the Six Paths of Pain, only he and the Asura Path remained.
...
Tsunade wiped the sweat from her brow. As she stood, a sudden wave of dizziness washed over her, and she was forced to brace herself against a nearby medical assistant.
"Lady Tsunade, are you—"
"I'm fine... Besides, I can afford to rest. The wounded cannot." Tsunade waved off the concern with a dismissive gesture. Her gaze fell upon Mei Terumi, who lay on a makeshift cot with her eyes closed. At last, the crushing weight that had been pressing on Tsunade's heart could finally be released. Mei Terumi's status was far too critical. On one hand, she was the Mizukage—the Hidden Mist Village desperately needed her to lead its recovery. On the other, her relationship with Terauchi Yusuke was exceptionally close. If she were to die under Tsunade's care, how could she ever face Yusuke again? Fortunately, after a grueling, exhaustive effort, Mei Terumi's condition had finally stabilized.
As for Hiruzen, he had still not regained consciousness. But Tsunade had done everything within her power. Whether he would pull through now rested entirely upon his own unyielding will. Tsunade swept her gaze across the area. The open space, roughly the size of a full training ground, had been completely commandeered by the medical corps.
Nearly three-quarters of the ground was already occupied by the wounded, and yet the stream of incoming injured showed no sign of slowing. The number of medical ninja, by stark contrast, was painfully finite. Those with minor injuries were being treated by the Katsuyu clones, while the critically wounded required the direct, dedicated attention of skilled medical shinobi.
Beyond Tsunade herself, Shizune was one of the most frantically busy individuals in the entire medical unit. Since Tsunade had arrived, she had only managed to exchange a single, brief exchange of words with Shizune. The rest of the time, Shizune had been working ceaselessly, treating the most severe cases without pause. There was simply no time to spare.
Tsunade accepted a cup of water handed to her by a passing medical ninja and was just about to drain it in one gulp when a chorus of shocked gasps erupted from behind her.
"What in the world is that?!"
Tsunade spun around, and her gaze was immediately seized by the apocalyptic scene unfolding in the distance. Trees, boulders, and even wild animals were being lifted bodily into the air and dragged towards an enormous sphere of rock and earth. As more and more debris accumulated, the sphere began to resemble something utterly surreal—a newly born moon hanging in the sky.
"What is happening?" Tsunade whispered, staring at the impossible sight. Her mind went blank with shock.
Wait... That direction... Could that possibly be...?
A cold, creeping dread slithered down Tsunade's spine as she realized that the catastrophic phenomenon was occurring in the exact direction where Jiraiya and the others had been fighting the Deva Path. "Please... let nothing have gone wrong..." Tsunade clenched her fists so tightly her knuckles turned white, her teeth grinding with barely suppressed anxiety.
After a moment of agonized hesitation, she turned to Shizune, who had also paused her surgical work to stare at the impossible sight. "Shizune, I'm leaving this place in your hands."
"Lady Tsunade, you're not going to..." Shizune began, her voice trailing off as a terrible premonition seized her heart.
Tsunade offered no explanation. She simply turned and sprinted with all her might towards the direction of the colossal stone sphere.