Susanoo was shattered. The shockwave swept through the battlefield, hurling Nagato's remaining Paths, the First and Second Spore Clones, and Hatake Kakashi away.
But none of them were ordinary.Though affected by the blast, they weren't the direct target. Their injuries were light, and after crashing to the ground, they quickly rose and rejoined the fight.
"What terrifying power…"
Uchiha Fugaku's expression grew grim as his gaze locked on Nagato's Deva Path.
Of all the Six Paths of Pain, the strongest was without doubt the Deva Path.In the original tale, it was this very body that had once leveled the Hidden Leaf with a single strike.
Even compared to the Tailed Beast Bomb of Kurama, the most powerful of the Nine Beasts, the destructive force of the Deva Path was greater still.
Just moments ago, Fugaku had relied on his third-stage Susanoo. With that form, he had once blocked the Tailed Beast Bomb of the Five-Tails—proof of its overwhelming defense.
And yet, even that formidable Susanoo had been destroyed in one blow.
"Susanoo—!"
Fugaku's eyes flared once again. This time, he poured even more ocular power and chakra into the technique.
Susanoo rose—not only its upper body, but its lower body as well—towering dozens of meters tall.A massive shield in its left hand, a black spear over thirty meters long in its right, its aura was fiercer than before.
This was the fourth-stage Susanoo.Ordinary Mangekyō Sharingan could never reach this form. Only the Eternal Mangekyō and beyond could manifest it.
The power it granted needed no explanation.
Boom—!
Protected within Susanoo's chest, Fugaku hurled the massive spear. It tore through the air at more than twice the speed of sound, leaving a white contrail as it streaked toward the Deva Path.
"His power has risen again!"
The Deva Path's face tightened. He could clearly feel Susanoo's strength surging to new heights. The supersonic spear confirmed it.
"Shinra Tensei—!"
Raising both hands, the Deva Path unleashed an overwhelming repulsive force.The collision rocked the battlefield, the blast forcing him back dozens of meters before he finally stabilized.
"So strong…!"
Even after reinforcing himself by abandoning another Path and transferring its power into the Deva Path, the impact had nearly overwhelmed him. Without that gamble, he would have been injured.
"Banshō Ten'in—!"
He gestured, drawing in a boulder weighing tens of tons, and hurled it toward Susanoo.
Crash!
Fugaku met it head-on. Susanoo's fist shattered the rock into countless fragments, the shards blasting toward the Deva Path like a storm of artillery.
"Shinra Tensei—!"
The fragments rebounded, hammering against Susanoo's armored frame—but to no effect.Susanoo charged forward with thunderous steps, spear in hand.
The Deva Path's hands extended once more, pulling an even larger mass—a boulder weighing hundreds of tons—from the earth. He sent it hurtling toward Susanoo.
The black spear met it with a piercing thrust. The stone cracked and split apart under the impact, crumbling into rubble as Susanoo advanced.
The spear swept down like a divine hammer, slamming toward the Deva Path.
"Shinra Tensei—!"
He resisted, but the fourth-stage Susanoo's might was beyond his defense. The Deva Path was driven back, gouging a trench across the earth.
"Still not enough…"
His expression hardened. He had already sacrificed four of his six Paths, their strength flowing into this vessel. Now he abandoned the last two as well, leaving them to collapse while their power fused into the Deva Path.
At last, he wielded the full might of all Six Paths in one body.
He soared skyward, pressing a hand against a nearby mountain. Under crushing gravity, the entire peak ripped free from the earth, levitating before him.
"Shinra Tensei!"
He sent the mountain crashing down toward Susanoo.
Fugaku braced. Shield raised, spear angled, Susanoo caught the impact. The shield shattered instantly, its arms splintering under the crushing weight. The colossal force threatened to crush even Fugaku within.
But then—
Whoosh—!
Susanoo's form suddenly swelled, expanding at a speed visible to the eye.In an instant, it grew to over a hundred meters, its size rivaling the mountain itself.
Now clad in thick black armor that glimmered with a sinister light, its back sprouted enormous black wings tipped with razor talons.
A suffocating aura of destruction burst forth—an overwhelming presence that dwarfed even Kage-level power, a presence so dreadful it made resistance itself feel meaningless.
This was Perfect Susanoo.The ultimate form, attainable only with Eternal Mangekyō, and one Fugaku rarely dared to summon due to its crushing cost in ocular power and chakra.
But against the Deva Path, he had no choice.
The mountain slammed into Susanoo's colossal frame—yet this time, it was the mountain that cracked, splintered, and shattered apart.
"What… what terrifying power!"
Suspended in the air, the Deva Path stared in shock at the towering giant.
Now, Susanoo's size rivaled the Gedo Statue itself.Just standing there, it radiated a pressure that seemed to bend the air.
And worse still—the aura it exuded was so dreadful that even Nagato, the wielder of the Rinnegan, felt a shiver of instinctive fear.
His body told him what his mind refused to admit:The monster before him was extremely dangerous.