Nagato's own chakra was required to control the Six Paths of Pain. As soon as the puppets entered the range of Yue's technique, their life force began to rapidly drain. Nagato, confident in the power of his Rinnegan, the legendary eyes of the Sage, initially had no doubt he could resist this absorption.
But reality proved far more merciless. The enemy's Mangekyo Sharingan had latched onto his energy, and no amount of effort could break its grip.
"What a monster... What an insatiable technique!"
"Not good!" Nagato jerked his head up. His internal chakra reserves roared, and he sparing no effort, directing a powerful stream of chakra into the puppets' bodies, trying to tear them from their deadly trap.
At the same time.
"Just puppets," Uchiha Yue said emotionlessly, watching their futile efforts.
The Demonic Chains surrounding him came to life. Writhing, they instantly enveloped the puppets, piercing their bodies with ease and greedily sucking out the chakra trapped within.
Clank!
The sound of tearing metal echoed: some links gave way under Nagato's desperate pressure, but new ones immediately snapped into place. No matter how hard the puppets struggled, they could not escape these bonds. From the moment the Demonic Chains bound them, they were doomed. Only someone with the control and chakra capacity to overwhelm Yue himself would have a chance to tear the chains from their bodies before they drained them dry.
Clearly, Nagato was incapable of this.
"Ha-ha-ha, what power, what a wealth of chakra!" Yue's voice was filled with predatory delight. "Come on, Nagato, keep going! Unleash everything you've got! Now... give it to me! Your fate is sealed!"
BOOM!
Susanoo's gigantic hand shot up and gripped the puppets' bodies in a death grip. Scarlet eyes impassively met the Deva Path's gaze. As soon as the puppets were in Yue's hands, the absorbing power increased manifold.
"No good! Damn it!"
Far up the mountain, the aura enveloping Nagato began to fade before his eyes. His already withered body grew even more frail. Feeling his chakra draining uncontrollably toward the enemy, Nagato, in a panic, severed his connection to the Six Paths of Pain. The horror of what he'd just experienced was frozen on his face.
His eyes, red as blood, remained fixed on him.
"Nagato"? How does he know my name? Wait, this isn't good...
Before Nagato could finish his thought, as if remembering something, he raised his head in horror.
CRUNCH!
"Oh, you broke the connection? What a shame."
Uchiha Yue looked with the same cold indifference at the puppets clutched in his hand, clenched his fist slightly, and crushed them to dust.
"NO, YAHIKO!" Nagato and Konan watched in despair as debris rained down from the sky. Among them was the remains of their comrade's body.
"You monster! I'll kill you!" Nagato croaked, glaring at the colossal figure in the sky. He squeezed the last of his weakened body, causing chakra to flare up around him again, and slowly, with superhuman effort, he began to rise to his feet.
This shouldn't have happened! Everything was supposed to be different! In his plan, it was he, Nagato, who crushed the enemy, broke his defenses, gouged out his eyes, and trampled them into the dirt! Not what was happening now!
At that moment, Nagato's heart exploded with a thirst for vengeance. If before he had only wanted to eliminate the problem Obito had created and destroy the threat to peace, now... now he had to kill the creature that dared to destroy Yahiko!!!
"Ha-ha... Angry?" Yue's voice rang out from the heavens. Bowing his head, he gazed impassively at the distant mountain peak. "Then try this!"
The demon-like figure slowly spread its arms. Arcs of electricity coursed across her colossal body, crackling the air with the shocks.
THUNDER!
An incredibly terrifying aura erupted from his body. Lightning bolts wriggled wildly around him like dragons. A sphere of blinding light appeared before him. It pulsed wildly, shrouded in countless bolts of lightning and flames, growing before his eyes.
ROAR!
The ground beneath Nagato and Konan's feet shook. The soil and rocks heaved, compressing before their eyes into an impenetrable dome, trapping them in a stone prison.
"Supercharge: High-Energy Ion Beam." Charging complete..." Yue's lips curled into a cruel smile, full of raw, irresistible force.
The energy accumulated within the sphere reached its limit.
BOOM!
The next instant, a blue-violet beam, shrouded in lightning and flame, rushed down with unimaginable fury, straight at Nagato.
And the moment it broke free…
"This is bad! Madara, get us out of here, now!" Black Zetsu shouted, overcome with animal terror. He turned into a shadow and leaped onto Obito.
Obito immediately activated Kamui, grabbed Konan by the shoulder, and rushed toward Nagato. The moment he touched him…
BOOM!
"Cough… SHINRA TENSEI!"
Nagato concentrated all his will, all his remaining strength, into a single point. A terrifying repulsive force erupted, ready to meet this monstrous attack.
THUNDER!
A crushing blow crashed through his barrier. Energy rippled wildly in all directions. The veins on Nagato's body bulged, his flesh and blood seemed to ignite, desperately converting into chakra. In a split second, the already withered Nagato became a living mummy.
CRACK!
The sound of breaking glass echoed. Nagato's face contorted in horror and disbelief. The field of repulsive force before him burst like a soap bubble.
"Impossible..."
An all-consuming light enveloped his body and, meeting no further resistance, slammed into the mountain. When the glow faded, the mountain was no more. In its place yawned a deep, bottomless crater, its surface melted into glassy crystals.
High in the sky...
— Oh-oh-oh...