Chapter 37: The Wrath of Heaven and Earth
"Too slow!"
Uchiha Akira's voice rang out, laced with contempt. Then, under the invisible pull of gravity, his form dissolved into a flash of lightning and vanished.
Universal Pull was different from Almighty Push. The force of this Rinnegan ability was not instantaneous; it was a process of steadily increasing power. In his memories of Nagato's assault on Konoha, when this technique was used on Kakashi, the jonin had initially been able to resist before being overwhelmed as the gravitational force escalated.
But Akira knew this. From the very first moment, he channeled his full strength, erupting with all his speed to break free from the gravitational field's effective range before it could build to an inescapable level.
Seeing Uchiha Akira disappear without a trace, a flicker of intense displeasure crossed the Deva Path's impassive face. The opponent was not only incredibly fast but also possessed rich combat experience. His own mastery of the Six Paths techniques was still unrefined, and he had been outmaneuvered.
The situation had become awkward.
On a hilltop several miles from the battlefield, Uchiha Obito and the pitcher-plant-like form of Zetsu stood watching.
"Zetsu, report the situation," Uchiha Obito demanded, his voice low.
With a Byakugan user on the field, neither he nor Obito could get too close. But this wasn't a problem for Zetsu. Even the Byakugan could not detect a White Zetsu using the Mayfly Technique—a fact proven by their long-term infiltration of Konoha itself.
"Nagato seems to be at a disadvantage," Zetsu reported with a slight, amused lilt.
"At a disadvantage?" Obito's visible eye narrowed behind his mask. "Is Uchiha Akira that powerful?"
Zetsu gave a casual shrug. "That Uchiha is simply too fast. Nagato's Six Paths technique is imperfect, and his practical combat experience is lacking. If this continues, Uchiha Akira will dismantle him piece by piece."
"Lord Madara," Black Zetsu's raspy voice emerged from the shared form. "Shall we intervene to assist Nagato?"
"No need to hurry," Obito shook his head, a cold chuckle escaping him. "Let Nagato stew in his frustration for a while. Besides, the Deva Path is not weak. It won't be so easy for Uchiha Akira to destroy it."
"I will step in at the critical moment," Obito stated firmly. "It will also serve to remind Nagato not to entertain any... independent ideas."
On the secondary battlefield, Yamanaka Shigeyoshi, Hyuga Kaoru, and Aburame Shiigo were being harried and worn down by the three massive summoned beasts. They were barely holding on.
Of the three, Hyuga Kaoru was faring the best. Her entire skillset was close-quarters combat, and her agility allowed her to weave and dodge amidst the beasts' assaults.
Yamanaka Shigeyoshi was in the worst shape. His taijutsu was average, and he was clearly struggling under the relentless pressure, sporting several fresh cuts and gashes.
Aburame Shiigo's situation was slightly better, but still precarious. The eight-clawed crow was too fast, evading his insect swarms. After the hellhound incident, the Animal Path had grown extremely wary of his bugs and kept its summons at a distance.
BOOM...
The colossal crab scuttled sideways through the ruined terrain, its massive claws carving deep gouges in the earth. One huge pincer swung down in a crushing arc toward Yamanaka Shigeyoshi and Hyuga Kaoru as they tried to evade!
Too slow... I can't get clear in time! Panic surged in Shigeyoshi's mind as the shadow of the claw engulfed him.
"Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm!"
A cold voice cut through the chaos.
With a sound like a cannon shot, an invisible shell of compressed air slammed into the descending crab claw, knocking it just off its lethal trajectory.
BOOM!
The claw hammered into the ground mere feet from Shigeyoshi, shaking the earth violently and throwing up a wall of mud and rock.
The impact staggered the giant crab, momentarily exposing the Animal Path rider perched on its back.
"A chance!" In the swirling debris, Yamanaka Shigeyoshi's eyes gleamed. His hands flew through seals.
"Mind Body Switch Technique!"
In an instant, his consciousness shot forth, invading the mind of the figure atop the crab.
I've got it! Elation flooded him.
Then, he was utterly bewildered. Before he could process anything, his vision swam, and he found himself in a bizarre, monochrome space. It seemed constructed of intersecting black and purple lines. Above, in a sickly sky, a pair of gigantic, cold Rinnegan stared down imposingly.
"Wh-what is this...?"
A vast, icy, and overwhelmingly dominant will erupted from those eyes. It was arrogant, emotionless, and tenacious beyond measure.
CRUSH.
In a fraction of a second, the sliver of consciousness Yamanaka Shigeyoshi had sent out was annihilated, ground into nothingness.
Back in his own body, Yamanaka Shigeyoshi let out a blood-curdling scream and collapsed to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut.
"What... happened?!" Hyuga Kaoru's eyes widened in alarm.
Before she could move to aid him, two massive crab claws rose high and smashed down toward Shigeyoshi's prone form!
As she prepared to dart forward, her Byakugan caught another threat. She immediately twisted her body and shot away at a sharp angle.
SWOOSH-BOOM!
The giant eight-clawed crow dove like a living spear, piercing straight through the spot where she had just been standing.
The ground trembled violently, shrouded in dust and debris.
Through her Byakugan, Hyuga Kaoru saw the grim truth clearly: Yamanaka Shigeyoshi was already a pulverized mass of flesh and bone. He was dead.
This is bad... Her heart sank like a stone.
Suddenly, her expression changed again. She whipped her head toward the primary battleground between Uchiha Akira and the Deva Path.
There, the heavens themselves were transforming.
Lightning flickered and writhed within the dark, churning thunderheads. A massive vortex seemed to be forming in the clouds, drawing arcs of lightning toward the center of the conflict like rivers flowing to a sea. The sky rumbled with a deep, continuous roar, as if some primordial beast slumbered within the boundless cloud cover.
The deafening sound made Kaoru's very soul tremble.
"The celestial phenomena... they're changing!" she yelled, then without a second thought, blasted off at full speed into the distance. She paid no heed to the summoned beasts that might give chase.
Hearing her cry, Aburame Shiigo, not far off, also immediately broke away and sprinted after her.
Uchiha Akira stood atop a high ridge, strands of electric energy coiling around him like serpents. He looked down upon the Deva Path, whose expression remained cold.
It's almost ready. Let's use the power of the heavens themselves and see if it can shatter the Deva Path.
He raised his right hand, his mind a whirlwind of calculation.
"Domain of Thunder!"
Crackle-ZZZT... Accompanying the fierce hiss of electricity, a brilliant blue tendril of light extended from his raised hand, spearing up into the roiling black clouds above.
BOOOOM!
The next instant, it was as if a celestial dam had broken.
Endless lightning gathered like a cascading waterfall. Bolts of raw, incandescent power rained down from the sky, striking relentlessly at the Deva Path's position on the ground.
In the blink of an eye, the entire world within the Deva Path's sight was transformed into a cataclysmic sea of thunder.
The endless, raging lightning painted a scene of such horrifying power that Nagato, watching from several kilometers away, felt his pupils constrict violently. A profound sense of dread surged from the deepest part of his being.
This is bad... Nagato's heart plunged. He can actually harness the thunder of the heavens and earth!
He couldn't even begin to fathom the scale of destruction Uchiha Akira could unleash by leveraging the unique, storm-wracked terrain of the Land of Rain itself.
(End of Chapter)
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