His gaze swept across the battlefield, passing over his son, Naruto, who was clad in a blazing golden chakra coat.
Although Naruto had perfectly mastered the Nine-Tails and displayed unbelievable power, he was indeed as Minato had thought.
Due to the haste of time, he had simply had no opportunity to come into contact with or train in Sage Mode.
Though the Nine-Tails Chakra Mode was powerful, its core was not Senjutsu.
This key, enough to tip the scales of the war, was currently held in his hands alone.
And to rely solely on his own Sage Art: Rasengan to breach Nagato's absolute defense formed by eight Truth-Seeking Orbs and deliver a decisive blow to his main body?
'A drop in the bucket...' Minato clenched his fists tightly.
Knowing the weakness, yet suffering from a lack of sufficient power to strike it.
This added a heavy layer of helplessness atop mere despair.
At that very moment.
The ripple in Nagato's eyes, triggered by The Collector's words, was instantly swallowed by icy resolve.
His figure, suspended mid-air, shifted slightly as he manipulated an inconspicuous black Truth-Seeking Orb, silently sliding it into the area densely packed with the Alliance's top-tier powerhouses.
There, Raikage Ay had just regrouped with Killer Bee, Ōnoki was holding his breath, concentrating for the next round of Dust Release, and Gaara's gold sand was poised to strike.
Kakashi was still catching his breath, Hatake Sakumo stood guard by his side with his blade, while Mizukage Mei Terumi swiftly adjusted her chakra, preparing to provide support...
That Truth-Seeking Orb, like a dormant heart, suddenly erupted with a chilling, dark radiance!
"Danger!! Evade! Defend!!"
The golden figure of Minato was the first to detect the lethal energy fluctuation. His voice, torn by utter horror, ripped through the air, resounding across the entire battlefield!
The markings of the Flying Thunder God Technique flashed around him almost the instant he sensed the anomaly!
However, the eruption of a Truth-Seeking Orb was a law of annihilation. Its speed of destruction surpassed the neural reflex limits of the vast majority of Shinobi!
The next moment!
BZZT, BOOM!!!
There was no earth-shattering shockwave or roar, only a bizarre, deafening sound as if space itself was being forcibly torn apart and obliterated!
Centered on that Truth-Seeking Orb, a sphere of destruction, pitch-black with terrifying arcs of energy dancing at its edges, abruptly expanded!
Time seemed to freeze at that instant.
All conventional defensive Ninjutsu, upon touching the expanding sphere of annihilation, dissipated soundlessly like bubbles in sunlight!
Raikage Ay, driven by instinct, pushed his Lightning Release Chakra Mode to its limit, attempting to withstand it head-on. But the raging lightning turned to nothingness the moment it made contact with the annihilating force.
A terrifying sensation of burning and disintegration spread across half his body, his pride and joy. The smell of blood and char filled the air simultaneously.
He let out a beast-like roar of pain and was violently blasted away!
Ōnoki's Dust Release barrier had not yet fully formed before it was directly dismantled by the pure destructive force. His small, frail body was sent flying like a kite with its string cut.
Gaara's hastily gathered gold sand shield was as fragile as paper before the annihilating power. He himself was sent tumbling by the violent energy turbulence!
Kakashi's Mangekyo Sharingan spun frantically. The spatial distortion of Kamui barely formed at the edge of the annihilation, but the violent spatial tremors nearly knocked him unconscious!
If not for Hatake Sakumo's quick eyes and swift hands, dragging Kakashi into a rapid retreat, Kakashi would likely have suffered severe injuries!
Mei Terumi was slightly farther from the epicenter, but the defensive walls formed by her Lava and Boil Releases evaporated like thin ice before the annihilating force!
She cried out in alarm as she was sent flying by the energy. If not for a flash of Minato's golden light, instantly appearing beside her and pulling her into the range of a Flying Thunder God transfer, the consequences would have been unthinkable!
Even so, her arms and multiple parts of her body were grazed by the annihilating energy, leaving deep, bone-chilling wounds!
BOOM!!!
The sphere of annihilation violently contracted and collapsed, then completely dissipated!
What remained was a pitch-black, bottomless crater, dozens of meters in diameter.
The crater's edge was not scorched earth, but a smooth, cut surface as if existence itself had been forcibly erased.
Remnant black-purple electric arcs crackled in the air, emitting a nauseating aura of destruction.
The battlefield fell into a brief, deathly silence.
Only the pained moans and heavy gasps of the wounded rose and fell intermittently.
The air was thick with the smell of blood and dust, and heavier still was the lingering scent of death.
Raikage Ay struggled to stand, but the numbness in half his body caused him to collapse heavily, his dark red blood staining the gravel beneath him.
Ōnoki coughed violently, supported by Kitsuchi and Darui, his face ashen.
Gaara had blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, his Sand Armor cracked in multiple places.
Minato stood at the center of the devastation, his golden Hokage robe fluttering in the aftermath of the explosion.
He looked at the shocking scene before him: top-tier powerhouses instantly losing most of their combat strength, severely wounded and groaning.
The sense of powerlessness was heavier than ever before.
He scanned his surroundings, his gaze passing over every wounded comrade, finally settling on that bottomless black crater.
Facing Truth-Seeking Orbs that could easily annihilate conventional Ninjutsu and gravely injure Kage-level powerhouses, what means did the Alliance still have?
No matter how fast his Flying Thunder God was, how many could he save?
And above that crater, still permeated with an aura of destruction, Nagato looked down coldly upon it all. Eight Truth-Seeking Orbs slowly orbited him like satellites, exuding absolute pressure.
"Bansho Tenin!"
Nagato's fingers splayed slightly. The severely wounded Killer Bee was torn from Raikage's side by an invisible gravitational pull, his neck instantly falling into a cold palm.
"Bee!!"
Raikage's eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets as he tried to rise, but the lingering annihilating force from the Truth-Seeking Orb scorched his organs, making him cough up blood.
The Eight-Tails chakra within Killer Bee churned wildly, attempting to resist. But a Truth-Seeking Orb behind Nagato had already transformed into a black spear, piercing his abdomen!
"Ugh... Eight-Tails, don't even think...!"
"Futile." A cold light flashed in Nagato's Rinnegan as the gravitational field suddenly intensified.
Amidst the sound of tearing flesh, dark red Tailed Beast chakra gushed from Killer Bee's orifices like a torrent, coalescing into a twisted, ghostly ox-octopus figure in Nagato's palm.
The Eight-Tails' roar and Killer Bee's death throes shook the battlefield in sync. The Alliance members could even hear the crisp sound of bones cracking as chakra was forcibly ripped away.
The hovering barrier of Truth-Seeking Orbs easily deflected the Flying Thunder God kunai Minato threw.
The light of Senjutsu chakra exploded into sparks on the surface of the black spheres but could not penetrate in the slightest.
Six Paths Nagato hovered in mid-air. Accompanied by a piercing sound of chakra being torn.
The massive chakra of the Eight-Tails was forcibly extracted, transforming into a dark red torrent that surged into Nagato's body.
After absorbing this power, Nagato's white robe fluttered without wind. The purple light in his Rinnegan grew even brighter.
The aura of the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki deepened further, as if it would twist and tear the very space itself.
"Hmph, nothing more than this." Nagato's whisper echoed across the battlefield, cold and emotionless.
With a casual flick of his wrist, Killer Bee's body plummeted from the sky like a rag, crashing straight towards the cracked earth.
Within the Alliance ranks, Naruto had long been ready.
His golden Nine-Tails chakra coat suddenly flared. Pushing off with his feet, he transformed into a golden flash, instantly arriving at the landing point.
"Got him!" Naruto's arms steadily caught Killer Bee's heavy body.
Upon landing, sand and dust flew. Naruto knelt on one knee, carefully placing Killer Bee on the ground.
This Kumo uncle's face was deathly pale, his breathing faint, but his chest still rose and fell. Clearly, he had not died immediately after the Tailed Beast extraction like other Jinchuriki.
Not far away, Raikage Ay struggled to take a step.
He was covered in blood. His Lightning Release Armor had long been shattered in the earlier Truth-Seeking Orb explosion. His left arm hung limply. Every step seemed to drain all his strength.
"Bee...!"
Raikage roared, his voice hoarse from agony and fury.
He staggered forward, bloodshot eyes making him look like a wounded lion.
Naruto looked up. A flicker of relief passed through the vertical pupils of his Nine-Tails Mode.
"Raikage, wait!" he said quickly.
"Uncle Bee won't die! Kurama just told me that at the last moment, the Eight-Tails split off a tiny portion of its chakra and left it inside him!
This small portion wasn't extracted. The Eight-Tails saved his life in its own way!"
Raikage finally arrived, dropping to his knees beside Killer Bee with a thud. His rough hand trembled as he reached for his brother's pulse.
Confirming the weak but steady beat, the tension in his shoulders eased slightly, but his rage remained.
"Damn you, Nagato... I'll repay this humiliation a hundredfold!"
Nagato watched all this with cold eyes. The Truth-Seeking Orbs orbited silently, as if gathering power for the next round of destruction.
"Futile struggle," he muttered. His Rinnegan swept over the scene below, finally locking onto Naruto. "Nine-Tails, you're next."
At that moment.
Madara erupted into deafening laughter, his Rinnegan flashing with a near-fanatic light.
"Hahaha! So this is the power of the Ten-Tails? Truly worthy of being the ultimate power towards an ideal world, something I schemed for decades to obtain! This vast, boundless chakra! This divine might enough to reshape the world!"
He gazed at Six Paths Nagato, suspended in the air like a deity. His words were filled with pure admiration for the power and confirmation of his own scheme's success.
Meanwhile, at the battlefield's edge, The Collector Takuno still leaned against his stone throne. His indifferent gaze swept over Six Paths Nagato, who exuded a terrifying pressure.
He assessed coolly in his heart.
'The proficiency with the Rinnegan still has room for improvement, but the qualitative change of becoming the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki does compensate for it...'
'This level of power, placed in the 'original work', should be comparable to that of the one-eyed Six Paths Madara who obtained the Ten-Tails chakra.'
'On the current battlefield, Nagato has indeed transcended all existences apart from the Alliance's Uchiha Madara and even myself.'
'He possesses a substantive gap in power.'
Takuno's assessment was soundless, but his very presence weighed on the hearts of everyone on the battlefield like a massive boulder.
And Six Paths Nagato seemed to completely ignore Madara's wild laughter and Takuno's scrutiny. His cold Rinnegan locked directly onto one figure: Naruto.
He raised the six paths staff in his hand slightly. Truth-Seeking Orbs containing an aura of destruction began to gather at the tip of the staff.
Just as Nagato was gathering the power of the Truth-Seeking Orb, poised to strike Naruto, a distorted spatial vortex rippled open beside the Truth-Seeking Orb protective sphere containing Konan.
The figure of Obito emerged from it. His low voice pierced through the battlefield's clamor.
"Nagato, this ends here."
Nagato's gaze sharpened. His posture controlling the Truth-Seeking Orb remained unmoved as he responded coldly.
"Obito... Your Space-Time Ninjutsu cannot penetrate the absolute defense of the Truth-Seeking Orbs, let alone touch Konan inside."
He knew well the nature of Truth-Seeking Orbs to annihilate all Ninjutsu chakra. Obito's space-time ability required physical contact to activate.
Therefore, the opponent's Space-Time Ninjutsu would be ineffective here.
A curve tugged at the corner of Obito's mouth. His low chuckle carried the meaning of holding the winning card.
"Heh, you're right. I indeed cannot directly touch it..."
Before his words faded, his figure began to fade.
"But does this 'absolute defense' truly have no flaws?"
"What?!" Alarm bells rang wildly in Nagato's mind. His six paths staff instantly pointed towards Obito's location.
In the instant before Obito vanished, Nagato, relying on the extreme speed of the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki, had already flashed to the front of the Truth-Seeking Orb protecting Konan!
However, Obito calmly slipped into another dimension using Kamui's intangibility feature.
He only left behind a meaningful whisper, accurately drifting to the ears of Madara, who was observing the battle nearby.
"Lord Madara, the time has come."
Nagato hovered before the Truth-Seeking Orb encasing Konan. The perception granted by the Sage of Six Paths's power frantically scanned the black sphere, trying to find the "flaw" Obito referred to.
The battlefield seemed to have been put on pause. The Alliance, due to this sudden turn of events, gained a temporary respite.
The Edo Madara crossed his arms, his Rinnegan flashing with an all-seeing light, quietly waiting for Obito's so-called "timing" to become reality.
Takuno watched this scene. He had guessed what Obito meant by 'timing' and sighed.
In the end, they still resorted to this method, huh?
It is indeed somewhat uninteresting.
But aside from this, there really aren't many other options.
Six Paths Nagato is not like Six Paths Obito, with more or fewer flaws to exploit. To defeat Six Paths Nagato head-on...
Even binding the current Alliance and Edo Madara together couldn't achieve it.
Even in the original work, if not for Six Paths Obito's own prior breakdown, the final clash between Naruto, Sasuke, and Six Paths Obito would have had an unknown outcome.
Right at that moment.
The alarm transmitted by Nara Shikaku through Inoichi's mental network exploded like thunder in the minds of the Alliance's top brass.
"Emergency! The sensory units report a massive number of unidentified lifeforms appearing from all directions!
"Numbers... exceeding one hundred thousand! The encirclement is rapidly closing in!"
The faces of Minato, Ay, Ōnoki, Gaara, and others changed drastically.
Almost the instant the alarm sounded, a gray-white tide appeared on the horizon.
A dense, swarming army of one hundred thousand White Zetsu, their faces twisted, swept across the wasteland like a tide. They advanced towards the Alliance's final stronghold silently and swiftly, a sky-blotting sight that was suffocating.
However, an even more heart-stopping sight for the Alliance's high command appeared at the forefront of the White Zetsu torrent.
Right there were the figures they had expended effort to kill earlier, those who should have been thoroughly dead.
Now, bearing cracks that the living could not possess, their eyes gleaming with the unique eerie light of Edo Tensei, they stared coldly at the Alliance.