Watching the reactions of his subordinates, an almost imperceptible ripple flickered in Tendo Pain's Rinnegan, but it wasn't worry; it was an absolute indifference based on his own power.
"It seems the Nine-Tailed Jinchuriki's reputation makes you uneasy?" Pain's voice remained flat, yet carried a condescending tone.
Everyone fell silent, implicitly agreeing.
"No need to worry." Pain slowly raised his hand, his palm seemingly containing destructive power. "No matter what abilities he possesses, or what opponents he has defeated, in the face of true divine power, it is all meaningless."
His Rinnegan swept over everyone, finally settling as if penetrating the void, seeing the blond youth in Konoha Village.
"Uzumaki Naruto will be handled by me personally."
His tone was flat, yet contained an undeniable, absolute confidence.
"I, Pain, will personally make him understand what true Pain is. I will make him understand that before a god, his so-called power is nothing but insignificant dust."
"The Nine-Tailed will inevitably become Akatsuki's possession."
The cave was silent, save for the crackling of burning torches.
The other members looked at Tendo Pain's cold Rinnegan, feeling the absolute confidence and oppressive power emanating from a "god," and their doubts seemed to be slightly suppressed.
After all, their leader's power was the most unfathomable among them.
"If that's the case, then we'll leave it to the leader," Kakuzu said hoarsely.
"Hehe, I really want to see that kid defeated by the leader, hmm!" Deidara was somewhat excited.
"Complete your respective missions as quickly as possible," Pain ordered finally. "Disperse."
One by one, the projections vanished, until only the illusory figures of Tendo Pain and Konan remained in the cave.
Konan looked at Pain, a hint of imperceptible worry in her eyes, but she said nothing more.
Pain's Rinnegan gazed into the void, as if he already saw the future confrontation with Naruto. He murmured to himself, yet it sounded like a declaration:
"Uzumaki Naruto—you've waited long enough. Soon, you will experience… the taste of despair."
W
One-Punch World.
Above A-City, the once clear sky was suddenly swallowed by a colossal shadow.
It was a spacecraft of unimaginable size, monstrous in design, like a metallic continent suspended above the sea of clouds. The undulating external structures on its top resembled deathly mountain ranges.
It appeared silently above the city, its shadow engulfing several blocks of A-City, its cold metallic hull reflecting a chilling light under the sun.
Just then, several hatches opened on the underside of the spacecraft, and countless strangely shaped alien combatants, emanating a ferocious aura, swarmed out like locusts, beginning indiscriminate destruction and slaughter of the city.
Laser weapons, energy cannons, and armaments far exceeding Earth's technology caused heavy losses to the hastily responding heroes.
Hero Association Headquarters.
Inside the command center, there was already chaos and horror!
"Energy signature level unmeasurable! Dragon-level… More than Dragon-level!!!"
"It's an alien invasion, unprecedented in scale!"
"Third, Fourth, and Seventh Defense Squads annihilated, A-Class heroes have fallen!"
"Their objective seems to be—the extermination of all humans?!"
Bad news cascaded down like snowflakes, each one making the faces of the Association's high-ranking officials paler.
The giant screen displayed real-time footage of the spacecraft and despair-inducing scale data.
A senior executive suddenly stood up, his voice trembling as he shouted, "God-level! This is definitely the God-level disaster from the prophecy!
A crisis capable of leading to humanity's extinction! Quick! Contact Blast immediately! Only he might be able to stop all of this!"
However, the head of the communications department reported with a pale face: "No! We can't reach Blast-sensei at all! All of his emergency communication channels are unanswered! His location signal has also completely vanished! It's like… he's disappeared into thin air!"
"Blast, Hero Rank One, has been out of contact for a long time."
The conference room immediately erupted in an uproar, and an atmosphere of despair began to spread. "Then—then what do we do?!"
"Who else? Who else can fight against such a monster?!"
"Tatsumaki the Tornado!" another executive shouted, as if grasping at a lifeline. "Quickly ask Miss Tatsumaki to take action! Her psychic powers might be able to deal with that spacecraft!"
"We've already tried to contact her! Miss Tatsumaki is on a mission far away. She's heading to the scene now, but it will take time."
Distant water cannot quench a nearby fire. Everyone's hearts sank to the bottom once more.
"Could it be—could this be the end for humanity?" Someone slumped in their chair, muttering.
A-City, directly beneath the spacecraft.
Unlike the panic at headquarters, the scene here was somewhat peculiar.
Genos watched the alien grunts raining down like raindrops, causing rampant destruction, then looked up at the gigantic, sky-obscuring spacecraft, his stern face deeply serious.
His entire weapon system was preheated, ready for full deployment at any moment.
But Genos first looked at the man next to him, whose demeanor was strikingly different—his teacher, Saitama.
Saitama wore a cheap yellow battle suit, his bald head appearing somewhat dim in the spacecraft's shadow. He was holding a supermarket flyer, comparing it to the distant ruins, seemingly lamenting a bombed-out special sale supermarket.
"Teacher!" Genos's voice was urgent. "The situation is critical! This disaster has definitely reached Dragon-level, perhaps even the legendary God-level!"
"Please take action! Only you can deal with that spacecraft!"
However, Saitama's reaction was unexpected by Genos.
Saitama merely rubbed his smooth head, a rare and extremely conflicted expression on his face.
"Ah—this, well—" Saitama tilted his head, looked at the giant spacecraft, and pouted, "No, Genos."
"Why?! Teacher!"
Genos couldn't understand; this wasn't his teacher's usual style.
Saitama sighed, pointing at the spacecraft in the sky: "Because Teacher Naruto specifically told me before—"
He imitated Naruto's tone at the time: "'Saitama, if you encounter monsters above Dragon-level in the future, remember to leave them for me, and whatever you do, don't kill them with one punch! I need experience money. Ahem, I mean, I need them to hone new techniques and complete Association missions! Remember that!'"
Saitama spread his hands, looking at Genos with a helpless expression: "See, Teacher Naruto said so. If I went and wiped them all out, when Teacher Naruto asks about it later, I wouldn't have a good explanation. He's also very troublesome when he gets angry; he might not invite me for hot pot."
Genos: "???"
"But Teacher! This is a crisis for humanity's survival!"
Genos tried to emphasize the seriousness of the situation.
"And Teacher Naruto—hmm—he is your teacher, so he should be my grand-teacher. Can Grand-teacher Naruto defeat them?"
"Relax, relax~"
Saitama patted Genos's shoulder: "Teacher Naruto is very strong, and he can fly, so he should be here soon, right?
Leaving it to him is fine. Let's just clear out these small fries for now."
With that, Saitama casually threw a punch, turning an alien grunt resembling a starfish, who had secretly crept over, into a bloody mist, his movements as effortless as swatting a fly.
In the Naruto World, Naruto's main body, who was cultivating, suddenly opened his eyes.
The Shadow Clone in the One-Punch World automatically dispelled its Ninjutsu, allowing all memories, experiences, and so on to return to the main body.
"So, he's finally here? The Dominator of the Universe—Boros!"