Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence!
Compared to the casual display he'd used earlier against Jiraiya, this time the jutsu's true might erupted, fueled by Uchiha Shion's Sage Body.
Colossal trees burst violently from beneath the ground, surging upward with unstoppable force. Even stone and reinforced buildings crumbled before them, unable to resist their relentless advance.
"ROOOAR!!"
The Hellhound was instantly ensnared, its body crushed by the writhing trees. Normally, the beast was nearly impossible to kill—capable of dividing endlessly—but the roots drained its chakra faster than it could split. Moments later, it dissolved into smoke.
At the same time, under Shion's control, the trees whipped toward the sky, shooting upward at terrifying speed. Yet even that ferocity barely missed the massive Eight-Headed Bird by a hair's breadth.
"You're looking the wrong way."
Shion's voice came from above the bird's head.
The next instant—
BAM!!
His fist crashed down onto the beast's skull. The enormous body plummeted to the ground, smashing toward the Deva Path.
Crash.
The Eight-Headed Bird vanished in a puff of smoke before impact, sparing Pain himself. Behind him, the Naraka Path had already summoned the King of Hell, swallowing up the shattered Asura Path to repair its body.
But the trees didn't stop. They surged forward, filling the battlefield, driving straight at the Six Paths of Pain.
The Deva Path raised his hand.
"Shinra Tensei!"
A devastating repulsive force exploded outward, obliterating the advancing trees and scattering them into dust. Even Shion, who had been mid-air, was forced to flicker back to the ground to regain balance.
Shion smirked. "Cheating really does make things easier. But if it's only the Six Paths of Pain, that won't be enough to stop me."
His words fell, and during the five-second cooldown of the repulsion technique, more trees surged forth. At the same time, Shion hurled three Flying Thunder God kunai straight toward the Deva Path.
Three?
Pain's eyes tracked them sharply. Dodging branches as they whipped past, he kept his Rinnegan focused on the three kunai.
But then—
Shion tossed another three. The kunai clashed mid-air, their trajectories abruptly shifting, scattering unpredictably.
Flash!
Shion vanished and reappeared above Pain, blue chakra swirling in his palm—Rasengan! He drove it downward with force.
In the blink of an eye, another figure stepped forward, raising a barrier that absorbed the Rasengan entirely.
"The Preta Path…"
"Shinra Tensei!"
The five seconds had passed. Just as Shion prepared to follow up with a punch, the repulsion blasted him away.
"Tch. Shouldn't have shown off with a Rasengan. Monster strength punches get the job done better anyway."
Reappearing on the ground, Shion let his Wood Release surge again, the trees moving almost as though they had a will of their own. This time they targeted only the Preta Path, sweeping around the others to bind him.
Deep Forest Emergence was especially effective against massive targets, but against smaller, mobile ones, it was harder to pin them down. Still, once focused, it was merciless.
BOOM!!
The earth split as countless trees surged up, battering and binding the Preta Path while still holding the others at bay. Within moments, it was caught in their crushing grip.
Then—
Flash!
The Human Path lunged at Shion from behind. But the ground split beneath it, trees bursting upward to snare its limbs.
Crack!
With a sickening twist, the Human Path was crushed into an unrecognizable mess.
At that exact moment, the Deva Path's cooldown ended once again.
"Shinra… Tensei!!"
The blast was far stronger than before, wiping out everything within two hundred meters. The vast forest Shion had raised was obliterated, his kunai scattered, and he himself was hurled across the battlefield.
Flash!
The Asura Path, newly repaired, retrieved the mangled remains of the Preta and Human Paths, handing them over to the Naraka Path to be restored by the King of Hell.
Standing calmly in the distance, Shion sighed. "Six against one is already unfair… but reviving each other? That's just cheating."
Pain shook his head. "The Six Paths are one. You cannot stand against their power… nor can you stand against God."
Shion snorted. "All this talk of gods… I don't see one here. Just a lunatic with a god complex."
He glanced around. Earlier, while civilians had been evacuated, both sides had held back slightly. But now? Between his Wood Release and Pain's Shinra Tensei, every building was gone. The battlefield was nothing but churned earth.
"Still…" Shion's lips curled. "That might actually work in my favor. Can't come all this way and go home empty-handed, right? I should at least bring back some… souvenirs."
Forming the Ram seal, he slammed his hands together.
"Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence!"
Once more, massive trees erupted from the barren soil, clawing upward to the sky. Pain blasted them apart, but within the five-second gap before he could repel again, Shion pressed forward—kunai flickering, trees surging.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Explosions ripped across the battlefield as the Asura Path unleashed missile after missile. Fire roared through the trees, but the flames were snuffed out as fresh growth surged to replace them.
One misstep was all it took. The Asura Path was seized, bound tight by writhing roots.
Flash!
CRASH!!
Shion appeared at its side and smashed it apart with a single monster-strength punch. Before the Deva Path could repel him again, he grabbed the mangled body and was blasted away along with it.
"Pfft."
He spat dirt from his mouth, brushing off minor wounds that his Sage Body was already healing. Pulling out a sealing scroll, he swiftly stored the Asura Path's remains away.
Pain's eyelids twitched.
"Just a little souvenir," Shion said with a grin. "Don't mind me."
But the trees didn't stop growing. His next target was clear—the Human Path.
Once again, roots surged up and bound it fast.
"Don't bother struggling. You're just a corpse puppet—no pain, no instincts. Against Wood Release on this level, you're not breaking free."
Crack!
The Human Path's skull shattered under his punch. Shion casually unrolled another scroll and sealed the remains.
His eyes then shifted to the Animal Path, which had done nothing since the Hellhound and Eight-Headed Bird had been snuffed out earlier. Long ago, Nagato had realized that his giant summons were far too vulnerable to Wood Release.
Moments later, another repulsion sent Shion flying, but he returned unfazed, his body healing with each breath. By now, only one figure remained standing—Pain, reduced to a single Path.
"FOOLISH MORTAL!!!"
The voice thundered with rage. For the first time, the Deva Path's emotionless face twisted with fury.
"You have angered a god! A god beyond your comprehension! Are you prepared to face divine wrath?"
From within the shattered tower, Shion's senses caught it—a cold, sinister chakra beginning to rise, swelling outward.
He spread his hands. "Really? Power-ups already? You're going to run out of those fast. Besides, I only came to borrow something. No need to get so serious."
The Deva Path lifted his head. "No matter what happens—even if it costs my life—Yahiko's body will never fall into your hands!"