Uchiha orphan, so what if I'm ruthless?

As soon as Uchiha Taiga finished his sentence, the surrounding summoned beasts began to retreat.

The three-headed hound scrambled up from the ground, and the giant bull quickly shuffled backward.

The chameleon retracted its tongue, splayed its four legs wide, and slid backward on its belly.

Yatagarasu flapped its wings a few times, kicking up a fierce gust of wind before clumsily taking to the sky.

The Asura Path's chest cavity closed, sealing away the missile launchers. His body returned to that of a normal human as he rapidly retreated.

His method of retreat was peculiar. Instead of turning and running, he walked backward, keeping his eyes locked on the Susanoo the entire time.

The Preta Path crawled out of the massive crater. His body had been mangled by the Susanoo's punch—countless ribs were broken, and his left arm was bent at an impossible angle, yet he still managed to drag himself out.

His movements were agonizingly slow. Supporting himself with one hand while the other hung limply at his side, he crawled outward like a dog with a broken leg.

Once out of the crater, he struggled to his feet and limped backward.

The Human Path remained unseen, but Taiga's Byakugan never lost sight of him. The invisible figure moved toward the rear flank at a steady pace, maintaining a perfectly synchronized distance with the other Paths of Pain.

The Naraka Path, already standing at the edge of the battlefield, retreated the fastest.

He only took a few steps back before ducking behind a massive tree, hiding his body behind the thick trunk with only half his head exposed, his Rinnegan still fixed on the battlefield.

All the summoned beasts, all the Paths of Pain—they were all retreating.

They weren't fleeing; they simply knew what was coming next.

Standing within his Susanoo, Taiga watched it all unfold.

He didn't give chase. Instead, he simply raised his head and looked at the man in the sky.

The Deva Path hovered in midair, his arms still spread wide, his robes billowing in the wind. His mouth was still open, his previous words having been cut off halfway by Taiga's interruption.

A moment of silence passed.

It was a fleeting moment, but Taiga felt it—like a running machine suddenly jamming for a split second before resuming its operation.

The Deva Path's hands drew in slightly. His Rinnegan gazed down from above, the purple rings slowly rotating within his pupils.

Then, he spoke.

"Shinra Tensei."

In the next instant, the space between heaven and earth was filled with an overwhelming repulsive force.

The power descended from the sky, erupting from the Deva Path's body and crashing down upon Taiga's position.

An invisible, intangible force exploded outward. At that moment, space itself seemed to warp, as if the entire sky were collapsing.

Taiga felt a colossal weight bear down on him from above, a sensation like the entire world was sinking. The air was compressed, the ground caved in, and even the light seemed to bend under the sheer pressure of that force.

Centered directly beneath the Deva Path, the earth within a radius of one to two hundred meters was pressed down as if by an invisible, giant hand.

The ground cratered, rocks were pulverized, and the soil was compacted. Everything above ground level was flattened in an instant.

The trees, the grass, the bushes, the boulders... everything was ground into dust under the repulsive force of Shinra Tensei. It was like a biscuit being crushed against a table by a heavy palm, instantly reduced to crumbs.

Those remnants were pushed outward by the repulsion, spreading like ripples across the surface of a lake.

Dirt, gravel, and wood splinters mixed together, forming a ring-shaped wave that surged in all directions.

Right in the dead center of this crushed earth, the pale gold half-body Susanoo still stood.

But it only held on for a split second.

The moment the repulsive force crashed down, the Susanoo began to deform.

Starting from the ribs, it let out a violent creaking sound, like someone forcefully twisting a branch on the verge of snapping. Cracks appeared on the surface of the bones, splitting from one into two, two into four, until they covered the entire Susanoo like a spiderweb.

Then, the Susanoo began to sink, crushed downward by the repulsive force. Its entire frame bowed, like a man bending under an unbearable weight.

The ribs began to shatter. Pale gold fragments of chakra flew off the Susanoo, glinting in the sunlight like shards of broken glass.

The fragments drifted in the air for a fraction of a second before the repulsion blasted them far away, vanishing into the gray dust.

The Susanoo's skeletal frame completely shattered, and the remaining chakra membrane tore apart, like a thin sheet of paper shredded by a gale.

Stripped of all protection, the repulsive force slammed directly into Taiga's body, pinning him flat against the ground.

The earth continued to cave in beneath him. His body sank into the ground, face up, staring at the sky.

Shattered rocks and dirt piled up around him, forming a human-shaped crater around his sunken form.

At this moment, Uchiha Taiga looked completely battered. Covered head to toe in dirt and dust, lying in a deep, human-shaped depression, he looked like a discarded stone.

But the corners of his mouth curled up, baring his teeth as he let out a laugh.

"Hahaha..."

His laughter echoed from the crater. It wasn't loud, but in the dead silence following the Shinra Tensei, it was exceptionally clear.

"So this is the power of the Rinnegan."

He lay in the pit, looking up at the man still hovering in the sky.

"How truly fascinating."

As his words fell, without making a single movement, his entire body levitated out of the human-shaped crater.

It was as if an invisible force was supporting his body, lifting him from the depths of the pit.

He rose slowly at first, but his speed rapidly increased, shooting out of the crater like a loosed arrow.

Dirt and gravel shook off his body, scattering in the wind.

His robes snapped fiercely in the gale, his hair whipping wildly behind him as he shot straight up like a cannonball.

He flew until he was at the exact same altitude as the Deva Path, coming to a dead stop and hovering in midair.

At some point, a layer of pale gold chakra flames had enveloped his body—thin, but blindingly bright.

The Deva Path stared at him, expressionless.

His body maintained its posture, his robes still fluttering, his Rinnegan still glowing with an eerie purple light.

But looking through those Rinnegan, Taiga caught a fleeting trace of emotion.

Astonishment.

It was faint, almost imperceptible, but it was undoubtedly there. Something seemed to flicker in those eyes before vanishing, like a ripple on the water that smoothed out as quickly as it appeared.

Taiga hovered in the air, face-to-face with the Deva Path. The distance between them was less than ten meters, with only a gentle breeze blowing between them.

Taiga reached out a hand, his palm facing the Deva Path.

"Why don't you try mine?"

The Deva Path's Rinnegan contracted slightly.

Then, a terrifying repulsive force erupted from Taiga's palm.

The power was incredibly similar to Shinra Tensei—equally invisible, equally colossal, and equally irresistible.

In that instant, the Deva Path didn't even have time to react.

It wasn't that he was off guard; the attack simply came far too fast.

From his perspective, he only saw Taiga raise his hand, and then it felt as though an invisible giant hand swatted him. His body was sent flying backward, completely out of control.

He flew back at a blistering speed—so fast that the air shrieked in his ears, so fast that his robes tore as his body drew a perfectly straight line through the sky.

One hundred meters.

Two hundred meters.

Three hundred meters.

His body slammed into a small hill. With a deafening boom, the hill exploded from the center.

Boulders shattered, rocks tumbled down the slopes, and debris crashed into the ground with heavy thuds.

Half the hill had been obliterated.

Smoke and dust blanketed the area, rising into the air like a gray mushroom cloud.

Taiga flew through the air toward that direction.

Mid-flight, he caught sight of something out of the corner of his eye. In the direction of Kusagakure, several figures were rapidly approaching.

Rasa, Maki, Chiyo, Ebizo, along with the Sunagakure Jonin and numerous Kusagakure ninjas.

The only one missing was Yugito Nii, as if she had known all along what was going to happen here.

These people had clearly been alarmed by the commotion.

Such a massive explosion and such intense chakra fluctuations could be felt from miles away. There was no way Rasa could sit still; he was bound to bring people over to investigate.

Taiga paid them no mind. He retracted his gaze and continued flying toward the ruined hill.

The smoke around the hill gradually cleared, revealing the massive crater left by the impact.

The crater was deep—over a dozen meters in diameter and several meters deep, looking as though a meteorite had struck the earth.

The bottom was piled with rubble, and fissures spread outward from the crater walls like a giant spiderweb.

There was a person at the bottom of the pit.

The Deva Path was walking out from the pile of rubble. His robes were torn in several places, and he was covered in dirt, looking quite battered.

Yet his movements remained as composed as ever, his steps steady, as if that devastating strike hadn't caused him any real harm.

He stepped out of the crater, stood on the rubble at the edge, and looked up at the man flying toward him in the sky.

Taiga slowly descended from the air, landing a dozen meters in front of the Deva Path.

The pale gold chakra flames still burned around him, illuminating the ground within a few meters.

He looked at the Deva Path and beckoned with his hand.

"Come."

He spoke a single word, his tone carrying an indescribable undertone—an excitement that seemed to stem from the very depths of his soul.

"Let's fight to our hearts' content first."