The final battle in the Hidden Rain Village was intense from the start.
Izayoi and Nagato were both extremely fierce.
The repulsive storm that surged like blinding white light not only destroyed the trees inside the barrier, but even blew away the Four Purple Flame Formation that could trap even Five Kage-level powerhouses.
The remaining repulsive force continued to spread, toppling towering trees like hills. Some cracked all over, others snapped in half.
Nagato's location had become a barren wasteland.
Rumble—
Nagato's figure floated midair. Before he could catch his breath, the sound of an earthquake rumbled again.
The wasteland, which had even been blasted into a massive crater, once again sprouted countless trees—huge like pythons—rushing to bind Nagato.
This time, Nagato didn't use Shinra Tensei to resist. Instead, his arms turned into cannon barrels and he flew higher, not giving Izayoi a chance to trap him in a barrier.
At first, the tree branches tried to chase after him.
But as Nagato flew higher, they eventually stopped and retreated back into the forest.
Seeing this, Nagato floated at the height limit of the branches and clapped his hands. A black sphere appeared between his palms.
"Chibaku Tensei!"
Nagato threw the black sphere forward.
A terrifying gravitational force instantly descended like a flood.
The ground was torn apart, trees and rubble of various sizes shot up into the sky.
Izayoi, caught within the range, also rose into the air with a large tree.
He was just about to use Dust Release to destroy the black sphere as he had done before.
But after glancing at Nagato—who was unaffected by the gravity and hovering not far from the black sphere—and sensing the sudden drop in his chakra aura, Izayoi gave up on that idea.
After all this fighting, Izayoi had realized something: Nagato's Hungry Ghost Path couldn't absorb chakra from trees, only from direct energy-based chakra techniques.
If Nagato absorbed this immortal-level Dust Release, he'd restore a lot of energy.
So, Izayoi crushed the Dust Release cyclone in his hand, clapped instead, and softly said, "Sage Art… Wood Release: Wood Dragon Technique!"
Roar—
A roar that shook all spirits echoed through the forest.
A wooden dragon the size of a mountain burst from the ground and soared into the sky.
Under Nagato's stunned gaze, the wooden dragon opened its bloody mouth and caught the Chibaku Tensei meteorite like a dragon playing with a pearl. It then swung its tail and swept toward the dazed Nagato.
Nagato had no time to descend or fly away using Shurado, so he could only release repulsion to resist.
Then came the unbelievable.
The turbulent airflow, like an invisible wall, tried to block the dragon's tail.
But unlike the trees that were thrown into the air, the dragon's tail still steadily approached Nagato.
The repulsion storm that could easily destroy mountains and forests couldn't shatter the wooden dragon—it could only barely block it.
How hard, how heavy, how much chakra did this dragon contain?
If even a normal repulsion storm couldn't stop it, wouldn't it mean that each time he faced this level of Wood Release, he'd need time to charge power?
"No, I can't keep up this tug-of-war," Nagato thought. He quickly descended while the storm hadn't faded.
On his way down, he looked carefully at Izayoi and was a bit relieved.
Thankfully, he wasn't the only one burning through chakra.
Izayoi had used even more.
After landing, Nagato formed hand seals and created several wooden clones. He trapped them and Izayoi inside a barrier—just like what Izayoi had done earlier—so Izayoi couldn't force him to burn massive amounts of chakra using Shinra Tensei.
Just then, a space vortex appeared beside Nagato.
"Chief! I'm here to help!"
A silly voice came from the small black hole, and the pure-white Afei flew out.
"Afei, you're finally here!"
Nagato's expression brightened. "Just in time. Help me take him down."
"Yes!"
Afei saluted, then opened like a carnivorous plant and attached himself to Nagato's body.
Immediately, Nagato felt a huge increase in both his Wood Release and Yang Release chakra.
His Wood Release, which had been weaker than this forest's, could now compete with it for control.
Not only that, his physical abilities boosted by Sage Mode were also enhanced.
In a physical showdown, Nagato—now strengthened with Sage Chakra, Shurado, and Earth Style: Earth Spear—would no longer lose to Izayoi's Earth Spear + Super Strength Punch combo.
"Chief, the village was attacked by Otsutsuki Toneri's puppet army. Aren't we going back?"
While scanning for Izayoi's chakra, Nagato said calmly, "Toneri's mission isn't to take the Gedo Statue—it's to take my Rinnegan."
"He probably summoned the puppets as a distraction, hoping the Konoha Wood Release ninja weakens me so he can strike."
"I've made arrangements. Even if the village is destroyed, there will be plenty of undead to resurrect. As long as we're safe, that's all that matters."
"Konoha's Wood Release ninjas are a bigger threat to us than Toneri is—both now and in the future."
Then he clapped his hands: "Let's go, Afei!"
"Understood! Sage Art… Wood Release: Wooden Man Technique!"
A deep rumble shook the land.
A 100-armed Buddha statue taller than the forest—around 150 meters high—rose from the ground.
"So that's how it's done…"
Izayoi, who had been silently watching, instantly understood how to use the technique.
He also clapped his hands and poured his massive sea of Sage Chakra into the earth, shouting: "Sage Art… Wood Release: Wooden Man Technique!"
Another deep rumble erupted.
Even Hinata and Karin, who were observing from over 20 kilometers away, felt the shockwaves.
But more than the tremors, what left them stunned were the two colossal chakra masses that materialized in front of them—mountain-sized.
"This much chakra… it actually materialized… it's incredible…" Karin said, her voice trembling.
Her Kagura's Heart Eye could sense terrifying vitality and destructive power in the chakra—one was Yang Release, the other was the natural energy Izayoi had mentioned before.
Hinata stared at the giant wooden man clashing with the Buddha statue and thought: "Izayoi-kun and the Akatsuki leader… both got stronger."
She'd seen the Buddha statue earlier this year, and it wasn't nearly this big.
But Izayoi's growth was even more shocking.
Since his second fetal movement, his chakra had skyrocketed. After not maintaining Sage Mode for a while, it doubled again.
Now, his chakra pool far surpassed Naruto's.
Even the Akatsuki leader couldn't compare.
But with her experience and high combat IQ, Hinata wasn't happy. Instead, she frowned.
"This can't go on. Izayoi-kun is in danger."
"He really knows the Wooden Man Technique," Nagato said in a deep voice.
"Leader, should I say hello?" Afei asked.
Nagato smiled. "Sure, go ahead."
"Understood!"
Afei mobilized chakra inside the Buddha statue, converting it into five elemental natures, forming a multicolored flame beam that shot out of its mouth toward the Wooden Man and Izayoi.
If it hit or got blocked, it would explode with world-shaking power—even the Wooden Man, who could catch a Tailed Beast Ball, would be destroyed.
Because this wasn't just Five Elements—it was Sage Art Five Elements!
But Izayoi had more than one way to block it.
The easiest was for the Wooden Man to fire a Dust Release of the same level to disintegrate it.
But he couldn't do that.
If he released a jutsu that size, Nagato would leave the Buddha statue and use the Hungry Ghost Path to absorb it.
That Sage Chakra would just refill Nagato.
And Izayoi couldn't let his identity be exposed through chakra absorption.
So he moved his fingers slightly.
Roar—
The previously fallen wooden dragon soared up again, spat out the Chibaku Tensei "pearl," then opened its mouth and swallowed the five-element flame column.
Its body rapidly expanded, glowing in all colors, and charged toward the Buddha statue.
The Buddha statue's arms extended, grabbing the dragon.
BOOM—
Before it could throw the dragon back, it exploded like a balloon, releasing colorful flames.
The massive blast shattered the extended arms and engulfed both Izayoi and Nagato.
The Wooden Man raised a hand to shield Izayoi, while Nagato used the Hungry Ghost Path to absorb the heat and regain Sage Chakra.
As the flames vanished, the ground shook again.
The Wooden Man rushed forward and threw a punch at the Buddha statue.
The Buddha swung back.
Their fists collided, creating a hurricane-like shockwave that rocked the entire forest.
The power forced both giants back a step, then they charged again.
At that moment, Nagato suddenly yelled: "Banshō Ten'in!"
Strange gravity tried to pull Izayoi from the Wooden Man's head.
But a wooden shield rose and severed the gravitational pull.
A rain of punches followed.
Hinata knew it—Izayoi was now fighting two-on-one.
Nagato interfered with gravity while Afei controlled the Buddha.
"Great teamwork… you almost tricked me…"
Izayoi grinned. "But you don't understand the true power of seal-less Wood Release!"
A square opening appeared beneath his feet, forming a platform that sank into the Wooden Man's head.
Its eyes turned gold. Red Sage markings appeared.
It raised its other hand to block the incoming punches. Branches grew into giant fists and struck back.
The shock made both giants retreat, arms breaking on both sides.
"What?!"
Afei's face dropped. "He didn't even use seals?!"
"His Wood Release doesn't need seals," Nagato confirmed. "Can you do that?"
"No way. I can use the wooden man to cast Five Elements with no seal, but performing Wood Release through it still needs seals and charging. His doesn't. How?!"
"…Maybe this is orthodox Wood Release," Nagato said.
"So this is the real deal? Incredible!"
Afei got excited. "Chief, we have to capture him. If we transplant his cells, we'll be even stronger!"
"Exactly," Nagato smiled. "You handle the Wooden Man—I'll go after his weakness."
"No problem!"
Afei regrew the Buddha's arms and charged it forward.
Roar—
A wooden dragon soared again and circled above the Wooden Man.
Then the Wooden Man raised its fist—now covered in blue chakra flames—and rushed the Buddha statue.
"What the hell?!"
Nagato and Afei were stunned.
The Buddha statue stopped and threw a hundred-armed storm at it.
In response, the Wooden Man threw a punch.
BOOM—
The Sage Art chakra exploded violently.
The punch shattered dozens of arms.
The wooden dragon swung its tail and destroyed more.
The energy wave still roared toward Nagato.
Nagato quickly formed a seal and summoned a wooden clone.
The clone created a white light barrier and absorbed the chakra wave.
Nagato smiled. "It's chakra! I can absorb it!"
"Great! We're not scared now!" Afei cheered.
"I forgot how big the Wooden Man is," Izayoi thought.
The strange power fist was a chakra burst technique from the Senju clan.
It was still a physical technique, not a true ninjutsu.
So the Hungry Ghost Path could still absorb it.
The wooden man's punch was too flashy to hide.
Unless he found an opening, he couldn't use that move again.
So Izayoi changed tactics—again showing what seal-less Wood Release could do.
The Wooden Man reached up and grabbed the wooden dragon's head.
In an instant, it turned into a Wooden Dragon Slayer Sword.
"Sucks! Too sucks!" Afei cursed. "This kind of shape-changing, seal-less Wood Release is too sucks!"
Just like how the Uchiha's Susanoo, made of Yin Release, could freely form swords, shields, arrows…
Seal-less Wood Release was the same.