Naruto lowered his head.
Kisame suddenly erupted with a massive amount of chakra, forming a huge hemispherical pool of water in the forest.
His appearance also changed.
Samehada was gone from his back—its chakra had merged and fused with Kisame's own.
This transformation made him, already shark-like, grow a dorsal fin on his head and fish scales on his arms, turning him into a living fish-man.
But he seemed to have no intention of fighting, swimming freely in the water, occasionally raising his head and unabashedly releasing his malice.
Did he just seal off the ground?
Five Rinnegan puppets floated up from the water.
Sasori leapt off his giant bird, landing on the water surface. He tore open his robe, revealing his body—with a huge puppet face on his back, and a scorpion tail extending from its mouth like a tongue.
All of their chakras surged violently.
The first to act were the Rinnegan puppets.
One formed hand seals.
"Summoning Jutsu."
A unique but faint chakra fluctuation came with the white smoke of the summoning.
The tallest puppet raised his hand.
Using the smoke to mask the move—
Click! His mechanical arm split open, revealing several launch ports. Missiles burst through the smoke, trailing flames.
Naruto clasped his hands together.
"Adamantine Sealing Chains!"
Dozens of chains surged from behind him, rushing to intercept the missiles.
They flew fast, but the chains, under Naruto's control, were clearly faster.
The two were about to collide head-on—
At that instant, Pain raised both hands.
His right palm faced the chains, and the left pointed at Naruto.
A technique was activated.
Naruto's pupils dilated.
The chains twisted under a strange force, missing the missiles by a hair.
His own body was then pulled by another opposing force.
Chakra trembled, and an invisible clash stirred small gusts.
Pain was surprised too.
This was the first time Universal Pull (Banshō Ten'in) was this difficult to execute.
It was like pulling someone trapped in a swamp.
He had to use far more chakra than usual just to move Naruto.
Still—Objective: achieved!
To pull Naruto into the missile's path.
But the pulling speed was too slow.
Giving the blond youth time to react—he extended a hand and skipped the chant.
"Hadō #1: Thrust!"
A powerful gust struck, prematurely detonating the missiles before impact. Only some smoke and fire brushed Naruto's clothes, slightly burning them.
Akatsuki had the numbers and attacked like a storm.
As the smoke was just rising, several summoned beasts leapt in to attack.
A crab, a raging bull, a three-headed dog—
Each unique, but all had black chakra rods embedded in their heads, controlled by Pain.
The Yang Nine-Tails lunged from Naruto's right shoulder.
"Watch out!" Naruto warned.
But the Yang Nine-Tails had already grown in size, and with a paw, stomped down.
To ordinary shinobi, these giant beasts might be terrifying. But to a tailed beast—the apex predator—
They were appetizers.
Crushed in an instant under the Nine-Tails' chakra and body.
However…
The other beasts vanished in smoke before suffering fatal wounds—due to some protective technique.
Only the three-headed dog remained, smashed into pulp—
From the bloody mess, a dozen smaller single-headed dogs sprang out.
Each had a black rod in its head—and clinging to them, several clay spiders.
Deidara clicked his tongue, formed a hand seal, and muttered: "Detonate."
The clay spiders swelled, flashed white, and exploded with a roar.
The Nine-Tails' pupils dilated.
Only now did it register Naruto's earlier warning.
The explosion's shockwave made the Nine-Tails stagger, dispersing the chakra beneath its feet.
Its huge body fell.
Kisame grinned viciously, darting up like a swordfish.
Naruto placed a hand on his stomach.
The Four Symbols Seal twisted, swallowing both Nine-Tails, sealing them again, and instantly releasing them once more.
The Yin and Yang Nine-Tails reappeared on his shoulders.
"That was despicable!" the Yang Kurama bared its fangs. "Traps hidden inside summoned beasts—how underhanded!"
Naruto pursed his lips.
The Yin Kurama muttered, "That's because you're stupid."
"I am you!" They started bickering.
Akatsuki's offense continued.
Besides Kisame, only Sasori lacked flight.
He removed his mask.
With his lower face exposed, he still looked human.
But fully uncovered, his puppet body was obvious.
His jaw dropped like a panel, revealing a thick iron tube. Chakra surged, launching dense poisoned needles.
Naruto didn't even try to dodge.
Letting them strike, none could even pierce his defense.
"Sasori-sama, how embarrassing," Deidara laughed gleefully. "Art is an explosion!"
"Your soft, mushy attacks aren't art."
As they argued—
A chakra fluctuation approached.
Naruto drew his sword and slashed.
Blood sprayed, smoke surged—it was an invisible summoned beast.
At the moment it disappeared—
A puppet swung its black iron rod down at Naruto.
But under Naruto's sensory ability, this wasn't even a sneak attack.
Still—this weapon...
What was that?
It had an aura similar to a Truth-Seeking Ball, yet not quite the same.
Like a degenerated, flawed version.
But even a degraded fragment of Six Paths Sage Power still held transcendental strength.
Clashing with Kurama's slashes, sparks flew—but the rod did not break.
Perhaps because it was a puppet and still needed chakra control—
The puppet with the rod had weak taijutsu. Within a few exchanges—
A red flash.
Its right arm, along with the black rod, was sliced off and sank into the water.
Meanwhile—
The missile-launching puppet bent down.
Its head opened like a blooming lotus, revealing internal machinery, where chakra converged—then a laser beam shot out.
Its fists cracked open from the wrists, jetting out as they spun through the air, circling behind Naruto.
He raised a hand.
"Bakudō #39: Enkōsen (Round Lock Fan)."
The laser hit, ripples spread, dispersing the energy.
At the same time, the spinning fists flew close, each wrapped with centipede-shaped clay.
The two Kurama's turned, focused on the threat, and launched small Tailed Beast Bombs.
They collided with the fists, detonating the clay.
But from the smoke, two palm-sized clay birds shot forward.
The two Kurama's were startled.
Naruto reacted instantly, catching them.
Deidara's eyes sparkled. "Boom, baby!"
But instead of seeing Naruto's arms flying off—
Naruto opened his hand. A scroll appeared, sealing the birds inside.
"Summoning and sealing?" Deidara shouted, stunned. "When did you do that?"
Could he really use both techniques in a blink?
Naruto didn't answer.
The next wave arrived.
A surging stream of sand formed sharp spikes, attacking from all directions.
That was...
Gaara's Sand Release?
His sensing swept the battlefield.
A new chakra had appeared—beside Sasori.
It was a humanoid puppet, and the Sand Release came from it.
A puppet possessing a Kekkei Genkai?
Naruto used Shunpo to dodge. The sand pursued but was too slow to hit him.
Pain raised his hand.
"Universal Pull!"
The strange pulling force returned.
Naruto's step was slightly thrown off.
The sand closed in.
From the Kurama's mouths, sizable Tailed Beast Bombs formed and shot out, smashing the sand and dispersing its chakra.
In the brief gap—
Naruto raised his hand, skipped the chant.
"Hadō #54: Abolishing Flames (Haien)."
A spinning purple fire disc launched, slicing toward Pain.
At the last second—
A one-armed puppet stepped up.
It bit its finger, slammed the ground, forming seals.
"Summoning Jutsu."
A giant stone panda appeared, blocking the fire.
But—
Only one hit.
The stone shattered.
The flames pierced through and kept going, slicing into the puppet.
Flames erupted, burning it black.
Even the chakra receivers crumbled instantly.
One puppet, down.
But the next second—
Another puppet waved, and purple fire lit the water surface.
Naruto blinked, surprised.
This was—
"Soul power"?
Can the Rinnegan control souls?
The purple flames formed a circle. From within rose a giant purple head—
Its face was pure violet, eyes were Rinnegan, and it wore a hood with a large "王" (king) character on it.
It opened its mouth.
A hand-like tongue extended, grabbing the destroyed puppet and swallowing it.
Soul energy surged—repairing and restoring.
Sasori still controlled his human puppet, sand surging again.
Deidara seized the moment to mix clay bombs in the sand.
Tendō Pain occasionally interfered with gravity.
Naruto whispered to the Nine-Tails, "I need your power now."
He stared at Pain. "To fight those eyes… I need to get serious."
The Kurama twins responded.
Naruto grabbed his second blade.
He chanted the release phrase.
From both Kurama and Ashura, corresponding powers surged, intertwining—golden light flaring, and four arms sprouted.
"His pressure just increased again!" Deidara clenched his teeth and hovered higher.
Konan flapped her wings, backing away.
"Aren't you using the other mode?" Yang Kurama asked.
Yin Kurama's eyes glowed.
So this is… Shikai?
It could feel its power enhanced by Ashura's blessing.
Naruto shook his head. "For them, a smaller target is better."
"You're using the Tailed Beast's power?" Pain asked, tone as cold as ever. "How interesting."
Naruto didn't answer. His gaze swept the battlefield.
Akatsuki's main attackers—
Were Pain, the missile-firing puppet, and Deidara.
Sasori supported and disrupted.
Kisame waited in the water.
But most critically—three hadn't moved yet:
Konan with her Paper Release, a chubby man, and a puppet with long waist-length hair.
What were they planning?
"Wow, that move is so cool!" Deidara exclaimed, eyes filled with awe. "How did you do it?"
"Stored the power in the blade beforehand."
"You can turn chakra into extra arms?"
Naruto didn't answer.
He just clasped his hands—and golden chains lashed out like whips.
(End of Chapter)