Uchiha orphan, so what if I'm ruthless?

Uchiha Taiga stood before the Deva Path and waved his hand.

A smile played on his lips, and a rare light gleamed in his eyes—like a hunter who hadn't exercised in a long time finally encountering prey worth hunting.

The last time he felt this excited was with Uchiha Madara.

When that man stood before him, he had felt this exact thrill. Not just because the opponent was strong, but because they were strong enough that he could go all out without holding back.

Now, the Six Paths of Pain gave him that same feeling.

But it still wasn't enough to fully satisfy him.

The Shinra Tensei the Deva Path had just unleashed looked spectacular, crushing the earth within a radius of one or two hundred meters.

But Uchiha Taiga knew that wasn't its maximum output.

The Deva Path's summoned beasts were still around, and the other Six Paths of Pain were still present.

If the Deva Path had truly used a full-power Shinra Tensei, the other Paths and summons couldn't have survived unscathed.

Uchiha Taiga remembered it very clearly.

During Pain's assault on Konoha, the Deva Path had unleashed a full-power Shinra Tensei that instantly leveled the entire village.

And when he activated that massive Shinra Tensei, all the other Paths of Pain had collapsed. That was true maximum output.

What the Deva Path used just now was, at best, a greeting—a test to see how much pressure Uchiha Taiga could withstand.

Since it was just a probe, it meant Nagato hadn't yet resolved to go all out.

But Uchiha Taiga had already decided to go all out. Not out of hatred, but simply because he wanted a true man's one-on-one battle.

What a perfect opponent.

As he thought this, the Deva Path raised his hand, fingers slightly spread, aiming his palm right at Uchiha Taiga.

The purple glow of those Rinnegan seemed to gather at the center of his palm, as if charging up.

Uchiha Taiga's eyes lit up.

Instead of retreating, he took two steps forward and raised his own hand.

His posture perfectly mirrored the Deva Path's.

The air between the two men froze.

The wind stopped.

The sound stopped.

Even time seemed to halt for a fraction of a second.

Then, both men spoke simultaneously.

"Shinra Tensei." The Deva Path's voice was deep and devoid of emotion.

"Wheel of Fortune." Uchiha Taiga's voice was light, carrying a hint of joy.

Two invisible forces erupted simultaneously in that instant.

The two repulsive forces collided in midair. The air compressed instantly, seemingly distorting the light itself, while the rubble on the ground was pushed and sent tumbling outward by the sheer force.

The moment the two forces clashed, there was a split second of absolute silence, as if all sound had been swallowed up, leaving the world in dead stillness.

Centered on the point of impact, the air twisted and warped like a wrung-out cloth. Light refracted through that area, making it look as though everything was being viewed through a layer of rippling water.

Then, the shockwave erupted, expanding in all directions from the epicenter of the clash. It was as if someone had detonated a massive bomb at that exact spot, pouring all its energy outward.

The ground was torn apart. Dirt, shattered rocks, and snapped tree roots—everything on the surface was swept up by the shockwave and hurled outward.

The flying debris smashed into each other in midair, shattering into even smaller fragments before continuing their outward trajectory.

Dust filled the sky, blotting out the sun and casting a dim gloom over the entire battlefield.

The Deva Path was sent flying backward. His feet left the ground as his body traced an arc through the air, hurtling backward like a kicked pebble before crashing into the same small hill he had been smashed into earlier.

Uchiha Taiga was also pushed back. His feet never left the ground, but the sheer force sent him sliding backward.

His feet plowed two deep trenches into the earth, dirt churning up on either side like two plows tilling a field.

He slid back forty or fifty meters before finally coming to a halt, pulling his feet out of the dirt and standing up straight.

He looked at his own palm, then at the figure embedded in the distant mountainside, and his grin grew even wider.

"Exhilarating!"

Inside the small mountain, rubble began to fall away.

The Deva Path stepped out from the pile of crushed rock. His movements remained composed, his face still completely expressionless.

He looked at Uchiha Taiga in the distance and fell silent for a moment.

Then, he raised his hand again.

At the exact same time, Uchiha Taiga raised his hand as well.

'Wheel of Fortune: Attraction Mode.'

In that instant, the Deva Path felt his body being yanked forward by a tremendous force, as if an invisible rope had been tied around him with the other end in Uchiha Taiga's hand, and the man had given it a violent tug.

His body flew uncontrollably toward Uchiha Taiga.

The speed was incredible, so fast that his robes snapped wildly in the wind.

Simultaneously, Uchiha Taiga also flew toward the Deva Path.

The Deva Path had actually unleashed an attractive force at the exact same time.

Two people, two silhouettes, hurtling toward each other in midair at breakneck speeds.

Then, they collided in the sky.

Bang!

Fists and feet clashed as they completed a fierce taijutsu exchange in midair.

The next moment, Uchiha Taiga flipped his palm again, and a repulsive force erupted from it. The Deva Path simultaneously unleashed Shinra Tensei, a repulsive force blasting from his own palm.

The two repulsive forces collided in midair once more.

Another shockwave erupted.

The two were blasted apart again.

The Deva Path was sent flying once more, this time even further, landing in a sparse patch of woods.

His body snapped five or six large trees in half, bounced twice on the ground, and finally slammed into a massive boulder before coming to a stop.

Uchiha Taiga was also pushed back, even further than before. His upper body leaned so far back he almost fell over, but he forcibly stabilized himself, his legs plowing through the ground for sixty or seventy meters before stopping.

He stomped his foot, cracking a small crater into the ground to steady his body, and then raised his hand once more.

Attraction.

The Deva Path had just stood up beside the massive boulder when he raised his hand simultaneously—also using attraction!

Just like that, their bodies were once again pulled toward each other by an invisible force.

Another collision, and a few seconds later, they simultaneously unleashed repulsion once more!

A shockwave erupted!

Then, attraction again.

Then, another collision.

Then, repulsion again.

Followed by another shockwave.

Over and over again.

The two men were like two colliding billiard balls, trading blows in midair—crashing together, flying apart, crashing together again, and flying apart again.

Every clash of repulsive forces triggered a violent shockwave, and every shockwave tore up the surrounding terrain all over again.

Three rounds.

Five rounds.

Seven rounds.

The power of each shockwave was greater than the last.

Rasa and the Sunagakure shinobi were the first to arrive at the edge of the battlefield.

They didn't get too close, stopping about half a mile away from the center of the clash. Any further and they would be within the blast radius of the shockwaves; with their level of strength, getting too close would be extremely dangerous.

Rasa stood on a protruding rock, gazing toward the center of the battlefield.

His expression was grim—not out of fear, but because of what he was seeing.

On the outskirts of the battlefield, the three-headed hound lay on the ground, all three of its heads drooping, its six eyes half-closed as if it had lost its soul.

The chameleon lay flat on its stomach, its entire body pressed against the earth, completely motionless.

The giant ox had its front hooves slightly raised and its hind hooves planted, frozen in a running posture but completely still.

The Yatagarasu was perched, its wings half-spread, neither flying nor making a sound.

All the summoned beasts appeared incredibly sluggish and unresponsive.

Rasa's gaze shifted from the summons to a spot slightly closer.

Several figures stood there, their black cloaks with red clouds standing out starkly.

All the other Paths of Pain also appeared completely lifeless.

As Rasa watched, unsure of what to do, the summoned beasts suddenly exploded into clouds of smoke.

Poof! Poof! Poof! Poof!

Then, the bodies of the other Paths of Pain also burst into white smoke and vanished.

Across the entire battlefield, only Uchiha Taiga and the Deva Path remained.

Watching this scene, Rasa's lips moved slightly, but he didn't know what to say.

In the distance, from the center of the battlefield, another deafening boom rang out.

This shockwave was more intense than any before it—so intense that the rock beneath Rasa's feet trembled slightly. Loose stones on the ground bounced from the vibrations, the air shuddered, and their vision blurred.

Dust and smoke surged outward from the center like a gray wall, advancing toward the perimeter.

Rasa raised his arm to shield his face, the dust pelting against his clothes with a rustling sound.

Once the dust settled slightly, he lowered his arm and looked back toward the center of the battlefield.

The ground in that direction was completely unrecognizable. Crushed rock, dirt, snapped trees, and broken branches were mixed together, blanketing the entire area. The earth was scarred everywhere by the sweeping shockwaves.

And at the very center of that shattered land stood two people.

The pale golden chakra flames still flickered around Uchiha Taiga, his eyes shining as bright as stars.

Opposite him, the Deva Path was also hovering slightly. However, he looked much more battered than Uchiha Taiga; his black cloak with red clouds was heavily torn, though his body showed no visible injuries.

Rasa opened his mouth to speak, but it felt as though something was blocking his throat.

At that moment, another shockwave erupted from the center of the battlefield.

The ground caved into a massive crater as rubble and dirt were pushed outward by the repulsive force, spreading like ripples on a pond.

Rasa's expression grew heavy.

Behind him, every single shinobi from Sunagakure and Kusagakure wore the same solemn expression, with many even showing outright terror.

Each shockwave was stronger than the last, yet the intervals between them remained perfectly consistent.

The dust and debris kicked up by the blasts flew further and further, the ground quaking like an earthquake, the blast radius expanding with every collision.

Standing at the very front, Rasa rested his hand on the rock, staring at the two distant figures, and muttered to himself.

"What terrifying power... It's like the wrath of heaven itself."

He paused, his voice dropping even lower.

"Is this the power Taiga wields? And just who is his enemy?"