Upon hearing Uchiha Akira's advice, Naruto felt a surge of determination, and at that moment, he also activated the chakra of the Nine-Tails!
The overwhelming chakra within Naruto erupted completely!
With his Uzumaki Clan's naturally vast chakra reserves, now amplified by both Sage Mode and the Nine-Tails' chakra, Naruto's chakra reached an astonishing level, even shocking him!
A terrifying amount of chakra burst forth from his body, creating a powerful chakra whirlwind!
"His strength… it's that powerful!?" Sensing the chakra erupting from Naruto, Karin's face displayed an expression of disbelief.
However, soon Karin's gaze shifted to Uchiha Akira.
Although she didn't know exactly what was going on, from the conversation between the two, it was clear that Naruto's power was something Uchiha Akira had lent him, right?
So, the most powerful one was still Uchiha Akira—there was no doubt about it!
"Sage Art: Rasenshuriken!"
Naruto seemed determined now. After having his Rasenshuriken absorbed twice, he once again unleashed the Rasenshuriken.
A colossal Rasenshuriken formed once again, and Naruto hurled it straight at Preta Path!
This time, Preta Path didn't dare to absorb the technique and immediately dodged out of the way!
The Rasenshuriken, missing its target, landed on a distant hill, triggering a massive explosion as the Wind Release completely engulfed the hill!
When the explosion finally subsided, the once over 100-meter-high hill had been leveled completely!
It was as if the entire hill had been erased with an eraser. The sheer destructive power left even Naruto in silent awe. Had he just obliterated a hill?
"Let's go again!" With newfound confidence, Naruto charged straight toward Preta Path!
"Summoning Jutsu!" The Animal Path quickly joined the fight, rushing to assist Preta Path!
Nagato understood that, with Sage Mode and the amplification from the Nine-Tails' chakra, Naruto's power had grown immensely—far too much for a single body of the Six Paths to handle!
Even with both Preta Path and Animal Path fighting together, Naruto still had the upper hand in the battle!
"Alright, Naruto is starting to show that destructive power from the original series!" Watching Naruto dominate two of the Six Paths, Uchiha Akira silently nodded.
In this battle, Naruto was merely his ally.
The real focus of the fight remained between Uchiha Akira and Nagato.
Now that Naruto was holding off two of the Six Paths of Pain, that was more than enough help!
Taking a deep breath, Uchiha Akira began opening the Eight Gates.
The first gate, "Gate of Opening, open!"
The second gate, "Gate of Rest, open!" Then the third, the Gate of Life, and the fourth, the Gate of Pain...
"Is he using the Eight Gates?" Seeing the chakra around Uchiha Akira begin to surge, Deva Path Pain's Rinnegan clearly detected several gates being opened in succession.
There was no way he could allow Uchiha Akira to continue opening gates. Chakra surged through Deva Path's hand as he raised it, preparing to use Shinra Tensei.
"Shinra Tensei!"
However, as Deva Path Pain launched his attack, Uchiha Akira raised his own hand and shouted the same command!
Moments later, a similar repulsive force emanated from Uchiha Akira's hands.
Ordinary ninjutsu can be seen—flames, lightning, water—but this repulsive force was invisible and intangible, impossible to see!
Nevertheless, the two Shinra Tensei forces collided violently, warping the air with their intense power!
"What? Shinra Tensei? So, he really has an ocular ability that allows him to steal others' powers?"
Seeing Uchiha Akira use the same Shinra Tensei, Deva Path Pain's heart sank!
He had heard that Uchiha Akira had stolen the abilities of the masked man during their first encounter. He had also stolen Konan's techniques during their fight.
And now, he could even steal Shinra Tensei?
It seems that this must be the ability of Uchiha Akira's Mangekyō Sharingan.
While Shinra Tensei was a formidable ability, it had a cooldown of several seconds, so Uchiha Akira didn't intend to keep using it constantly.
After the two Shinra Tensei forces clashed, Uchiha Akira followed up with his next powerful move!
"Wood Release: Advent of a World of Flowering Trees!"
The ground split open as countless vines burst forth, rapidly growing. These vines seemed to come alive as they surged toward the Six Paths of Pain, attempting to bind them!
Faced with the relentless assault of these vines, the Six Paths swiftly dodged!
The Rinnegan's shared field of vision allowed the Six Paths to perfectly see their surroundings.
Even the vines attacking from blind spots were easily avoided!
After about half a minute of frenzied growth, the vines finally stopped, but by then, the entire landscape had been drastically transformed!
As expected of the Six Paths of Pain, none of them had been caught by the Flowering Tree World—they had all successfully evaded!
However, there was a key difference between Advent of a World of Flowering Trees and the regular Deep Forest Emergence.
While the Six Paths had dodged the vines, at that moment, the flowers on the vines began to bloom.
Soon, pink pollen filled the air!
In the original series, even Madara Uchiha, protected within his Perfect Susanoo, couldn't defend himself from this pollen's poison.
As the pink pollen spread, the Six Paths of Pain were naturally unable to avoid it!
"The pollen is poisonous. It can paralyze the nervous system and even disrupt chakra flow!" Deva Path Pain remarked.
"Moreover, these trees also have the ability to absorb chakra, continuously draining our reserves!" added Naraka Path.
Such was the power of Wood Release—not only did it have strong control abilities, but it also inflicted a debilitating status effect, rendering the opponent unable to sustain a prolonged battle!
"I don't have time to play with you anymore. Let's end this quickly!" Uchiha Akira didn't bother responding to their comments. Instead, he simply declared as he spoke.
With that, he swiftly formed more hand seals.
"Wood Release: Wood Human Technique!"
Countless wood constructs rapidly formed, shaping into the enormous figure of a Kongō-nyoi (Diamond Staff Buddha)!
"Shinra Tensei! Banshō Ten'in! Chibaku Tensei! Sealing Technique: Absorption Seal!"
As soon as Uchiha Akira unleashed his Wood Human Technique, he began stealing the abilities of the Six Paths, one after another!
With each technique, he could absorb their abilities, using them in quick succession. The Six Paths were left scrambling to respond!
Originally, Pain thought Uchiha Akira could only steal one technique at a time.
But now it was clear—Uchiha Akira could use any and all of their abilities!
"This won't work. If we continue fighting, we're all going to be defeated today!"
After battling for several minutes and being continuously overwhelmed, Nagato's mind grew heavier.
In their last fight in Konoha, Nagato had the advantage because Uchiha Akira had been distracted by Hinata's condition. But today?
Uchiha Akira was stronger, and there was nothing holding him back!
More importantly, alongside Uchiha Akira, there was also Naruto, now enhanced with both Sage Mode and the Nine-Tails' chakra!
In the original story, Naruto alone, with just Sage Mode, had fought Pain to a standstill.
Now, Naruto had both Sage Mode and Nine-Tails chakra, and Uchiha Akira was fighting alongside him!
Naturally, with the two of them working together, even the full might of the Six Paths of Pain wasn't enough to stand against them!
What made it even more frustrating was Uchiha Akira's ability to steal their powers, using them to fight back against them—this was mentally exhausting!
After a few more minutes of fighting, Nagato realized that the chance of defeating Uchiha Akira today was far too slim!
But luckily, his main objective today wasn't Uchiha Akira.
After exchanging a few more moves, Preta Path was hit by one of Naruto's chakra-infused fox tails and sent flying.
By pure chance, Preta Path landed near Konan!
Animal Path summoned several creatures to keep Naruto occupied.
Preta Path quickly got up, moved to Konan's side, and placed his hand on her, using his power.
The seal that had been restricting Konan's chakra was instantly absorbed by Preta Path!
"Retreat!" Nagato's thoughts immediately shifted toward escape after releasing Konan's seal.
At that moment, the Six Paths of Pain all stopped fighting and began to withdraw, turning to flee!
However, Konan hesitated, her expression uncertain. She didn't follow the Six Paths but instead remained where she stood.
Nagato had assumed that once her seal was undone, Konan would leave with him!
But after retreating over a hundred meters, Nagato noticed that Konan hadn't followed!
Moreover, Uchiha Akira and the others weren't giving chase—they were simply watching from a distance as Nagato fled. The Six Paths of Pain came to a halt, confused.
"Konan!?" Deva Path Pain called out, his expression filled with disbelief.
"You should go. For now, I don't want to return to the Akatsuki." Konan, her face still hesitant, shook her head as she spoke to Deva Path.
Freedom was precious, but after realizing that there was a terrifying mastermind behind the Akatsuki, Konan felt it was better to stay and find a way to extract the information she wanted from Uchiha Akira.
Her words left Nagato utterly stunned!
Konan didn't want to return to the Akatsuki?
In just a few days, she had already changed sides!?
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Next bonus chapter if we reach 200 Powerstone
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Note: If you are interested, you can read up to chapter 270+ at patreon.com/Emik01.