Naruto: Drop System

"Such a vast area… so this is the legendary Wood Release kekkei genkai?"

Watching the approaching sea of trees, Tendo Pain felt somewhat surprised. He finally realized why Wood Release was known as the power that ended the Warring States era. A jutsu of such scale—even Nagato with the Rinnegan would need the strongest form of Tendo Pain's "Super Shinra Tensei" to match its destructive range. But using that Super Shinra Tensei required recalling all the other five Paths of Pain's chakra, and even for someone of Uzumaki blood like Nagato, it was very taxing.

On the other hand, for Yagyu, this sweeping forest appeared to be just an opening move. Like the forest itself, Yagyu's immense chakra reserves left Nagato in awe. Though they hadn't even met in person yet, the Paths of Pain set aside their usual arrogance of "god." Nagato knew his next opponent was a "new god" in the making. Yet the shinobi world could not accommodate two gods; one of them had to die.

In Nagato's view, Yagyu had become the greatest obstacle to achieving peace. And so he told the three reanimations—Hashirama and Tobirama Senju, plus the Second Tsuchikage Mū, who were being controlled by Hiruko (Hundred Faces) yet stripped of their minds:

"I'll take the primary offensive. You support me from the side. If you find an opening, don't hold back—wipe out both me and Konoha's Wood-Release ninja together."

Among the Six Paths, Nagato cared only about Yahiko's body. And Tendo Pain here was merely a Simulacrum Summoning clone of White Zetsu. He wouldn't hesitate to sacrifice it. The other Paths all had small portions of their original bodies stored away, so if they got destroyed—even reduced to dust—Nagato's true Six Paths jutsu could resurrect them via the Hell Path's power. Trading the Six Paths for Yagyu would be more than worthwhile.

"Understood," Hiruko nodded. "But controlling three bodies at once means they'll only show about 70% of their original strength at best—maybe just 50%."

"That's enough," Tendo Pain said calmly. "Even if they don't kill him, so long as they stall him until the Four- through Seven-Tails are sealed, we win."

"Got it. Let's go."

With Hiruko's command, the Second Tsuchikage Mū advanced. Wrapped in white bandages, riddled with cracks, Mū's body faded before their eyes. This was the stealth technique ranked second only to the Hōzuki clan's "Hydrification," known as the "Non-Person's Stealth." A step beyond the Transparent Escape Technique, it earned Mū the title of "The Null-Man," rather than some name referencing his Dust Release's disintegration powers.

No sooner had Mū gone invisible than the forest closed in on them. This vast expanse of foliage, like countless green boa constrictors unleashed, rapidly approached. Yet the Paths of Pain and the Senju brothers made no effort to dodge. Indeed, there was nowhere to escape—without flight, even burrowing underground was futile amid root attacks.

So the Six Paths not only avoided retreat; they accelerated into the midst of the forest. The Senju brothers did likewise. The moment the Paths entered the sea of trees, branches all around them—imbued with some uncanny sentience—began lashing out, trying to bind them. But the Paths didn't waste ninjutsu to block. They wouldn't spend precious chakra on mere branches. By continuously flickering and dodging—view-sharing six perspectives—there was no way for the vines to catch them unless they sealed every single gap.

Realizing that, the vines abruptly halted. The forest, too, stopped advancing. A massive woodland now stood in the drizzly Land of Rain, forming a gigantic rainforest of permanent existence.

Rumble—

A rush of water soon drowned out the patter of rain. The Six Paths turned to see raging water—like a floodgate opening—surging in their direction. The torrent even toppled a few colossally thick trees that would have required a dozen men to encircle. In a forest, being caught by such a flood left little chance of escape unless you could fly or tunnel through the ground at incredible speed. The raging current was too powerful for normal water-walking.

Even so, the Six Paths didn't attempt to climb some massive treetop or have the Animal Path summon a flying beast. Instead, the Preta Path stepped forward, arms raised, summoning a translucent white field from his palms. As the flood came crashing in, it didn't submerge the Six Paths. The roaring water twisted toward the Preta Path's palms, as if pulled by a black hole. Through the translucent barrier, it poured into the Path's body. Like an infinite void, he consumed countless tons of water.

Still, even the top-tier chakra absorption of the Rinnegan couldn't immediately siphon so great a volume. While the Preta Path stood paralyzed to absorb the jutsu, three high-pitched humming sounds pierced the air around the Paths of Pain. Glancing around, they spotted three large orbs of differing colors but identical size—each circled by whirling shuriken-like air currents. The harsh buzzing came from those high-speed rotating eddies.

"Shinra Tensei!"

Seeing the three orbs converging from three sides, Tendo Pain opened his arms and uttered a soft command. He unleashed a force like Wind Release—though distinctly unlike any normal wind—to try blasting away the tri-sphere jutsu and scattering their elemental nature. But whether because the Tendo Path was a mere Simulacrum Summoning and subconsciously held back, or he underestimated their power, the repulsive force only shattered the outer shells of these orbs without dispersing their embedded transformations.

Boom, boom, boom—

Instantly, a thunderous explosion rocked the area. Even Hinata and Karin, kilometers away, heard a sound like rolling thunder. With that ear-splitting burst, three distinct hues—red, blue-white, and translucent white—flared among the trees. Roaring flames shot skyward, turning the falling rain into clouds of steam, while the blue-white glow at another area froze both rain and forest in the blink of an eye, creating a frosted woodland.

That third orb, pulsing with translucent white, unleashed raging gales full of lethal needle-like projectiles. Any creature caught there would be chopped to bits by wind blades and shredded at the cellular level by countless needle flechettes—a horribly brutal death. This was the Wind Release: Rasenshuriken. The other two? Flame Release: Rasenshuriken and Ice Release: Rasenshuriken.

Such was the Rasenshuriken series Yagyu had developed over the years. With the fire dissolving into steam, the raging winds scattering the vapor, the once lush forest stood in ruins. Not even the robust trees could survive the combined impacts of floods, repulsion, and the trifecta of ice, fire, and wind. Meanwhile, Preta Path had finished absorbing the water.

...

"So you're the leader of the Akatsuki?"

At last, Yagyu—who'd been attacking from a distance—revealed himself, perched atop a towering tree, gazing down at the Six Paths. Without preamble, he identified the reality:

"Though each of you has chakra, I can smell corpses even from afar. These six are specialized corpses—your real body must be elsewhere. If I'm right, you're Jiraiya-sama's old disciple, Nagato!"

The Paths offered no response. Tendo Pain raised his gaze; the terrifying might of the Rinnegan gave him a lofty bearing:

"Wood-Style user Yagyu, you're the greatest obstacle to the Akatsuki's peace. Your death is the key to it."

"Heh, funny—my thoughts are the same," Yagyu answered, smiling. "Your death is the key to my peace. Once the Akatsuki is gone, my power can impose fear on the entire ninja world, the way the First Hokage once did. Then no nation or village would dare start a war."

"One god is enough for this world… and that god is me!"

Tendo Pain pointed his palm toward Yagyu and intoned:

"Banshō Ten'in!"

A horrifying gravitational pull seized Yagyu, yanking him off the treetop at high speed into Tendo Pain's grasp. Simultaneously, the Asura Path's mechanical arms whirred open, firing a cluster of rockets at Yagyu.

Yagyu made no attempt to counter with ninjutsu. He simply vanished without warning, reappearing atop another towering tree an instant later. In this forest, every trunk brimming with Yagyu's chakra, he could activate countless forms of Wood Release—and even place the Flying Thunder God seal anywhere with a mere thought. Within this domain, the Six Paths were at a disadvantage.

If he wanted, Yagyu could fill the area with hundreds of his Hiraishin markings, turning himself into a silver flash reminiscent of Minato in the Third War, slaying dozens of Iwa-nin in moments. Yet he refrained.

Just as Nagato was willing to sacrifice all the Paths, Yagyu knew killing the Paths alone was pointless. If Yagyu truly wanted to eliminate Nagato, with "Hundred Faces" acting as an inside ally, there were multiple ways to reach Nagato in person. But Yagyu chose not to. He was merely stalling, letting the Akatsuki complete the sealing of the Four- and Seven-Tails. The real showdown would come in the late stages of the Fourth Great Ninja War, Yagyu's rightful arena. For now, it was "Hundred Faces' show."

Clap—

Suddenly, Yagyu slammed his hands together, and a blue aura shimmered around him. Rather than an outward surge of chakra, these blue wisps manifested as though from outside, flowing into him. In the next second, his red pupils turned a golden hue, a crimson face pattern appearing around his eyes. Though unlike Jiraiya's, the Paths instantly recognized it: Sage Mode.

Whish, whish, whish…

Once more, Asura Path fired a barrage of rockets at Yagyu. Another mechanical segment opened in its other arm, revealing a large cannon barrel that shot forth a massive laser beam. Yagyu did not dodge with Flying Thunder God this time; instead, he quickly formed seals:

"Sage Art: Yin Release—Lightning Dispatch!"

He thrust out both palms, releasing branching arcs of dark-purple lightning. Boom, boom… The small but potent branches obliterated the incoming rockets, producing a gorgeous firework explosion. Still charged with energy, the lightning continued downward, menacing the Six Paths. The massive laser beam clashed head-on with a single sliver of dark-purple lightning, which halted it in its tracks.

Seeing the torrents of lightning raining down, the Preta Path stepped forward again, raising his arms to absorb them. But a second later, he abruptly ceased absorbing and flickered away, noticing vines sprouting beneath him. With the Preta Path gone, Tendo Pain had no time for Shinra Tensei, so the rest of the Paths flickered apart as well.

Rumble—

When the web of lightning crashed onto the ground, the ensuing explosions rivaled the Rasenshuriken blasts before it.

...

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