The Deva Path raced. Sasuke pursued. The two arrived before a canyon twenty kilometers outside Amegakure. The rain had stopped.
Clouds gathered and scattered at the horizon. With the Deva Path's eyesight, he could faintly see it: the drifting black core floating in the direction he ran.
Sasuke hadn't spotted the core yet, but he had his own judgment. "He deliberately distanced himself from the village he controls. Planning something big? The ability of the Rinnegan's Deva Path… could it be that jutsu…"
The Deva Path glanced back toward the rainy village.
"This distance… should be enough."
Whoosh! His Akatsuki cloak billowed. The Deva Path leaped into the air, flipped, and landed facing Sasuke. SLAM! His hands clapped together before his chest, forming the 'Snake' seal!
―Chibaku Tensei!
HMMMMMMMMM―!
The black core suspended high above erupted with ten thousand strands of blinding white light. It blotted out the sun. Day turned to dark. Tidal forces of gravity pulled. The very earth trembled and heaved!
"So it is Chibaku Tensei! The activation method is a gravitational core, just like Madara's!"
Why did Sasuke differentiate? Because his own Chibaku Tensei, like the 'Six Paths: Chibaku Tensei,' used the opponent directly as the 'gravitational core,' making it far faster to activate [Reference: Momoshiki fight].
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The ground within the gravitational field cracked like a spider's web. Thousands upon thousands of massive boulders tore free and shot skyward!
"In a Chibaku Tensei with a separate core… that core is its greatest weakness…"
He didn't need Itachi to explain it. Sasuke, veteran of countless battles, knew this instinctively!
"Under that indiscriminate gravitational pull, you don't even need to aim precisely. A long-range attack will be drawn to the black core on its own!"
Standing atop a rising boulder, Sasuke's Susano'o expanded around him to its Crow Tengu form. A great arrow, shaped from Kagutsuchi's black flames, materialized on the bowstring!
The Deva Path saw his intent.
"He intends to attack the core of the Chibaku Tensei?!"
SHWOOOM!
The flame-arrow tore through the air!
"You will not succeed!!"
The Deva Path swept a hand, his power manipulating the rising stones along the arrow's path, weaving a dense interception net beneath the black core!!
CRACK-CRACK-CRACK-CRACK―!!!
The flame-arrow smashed through, inching closer to the core!!
BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM…! By now, the first wave of stones had slammed into the core's surface, forming the skeletal framework of the heavenly body.
BOOM!
The arrow broke through the net, burying itself halfway into the forming Chibaku Tensei. Its power blunted by the barrage, it failed to reach the core.
Sasuke frowned. "Insufficient force…"
He immediately prepared a second arrow. But seeing the Chibaku Tensei swell larger as more rock accreted, he dismissed the bow.
Too late.
He poured all his ocular power into reinforcing the Susano'o's armor.
BOOM!!
The Crow Tengu Susano'o, with Sasuke inside, slammed into the underside of the forming planetary mass!
"GRRRRAAAAAAAAAGH―!!!"
The Deva Path maintained the seal, his face contorted in a savage roar.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Below, several mountainous boulders shattered into countless fragments and launched upward like rain, burying the Susano'o deep within the star's interior!
CRUNCH―CRACKLE―!
Finally… the Chibaku Tensei was complete.
In Amegakure, Konan stepped onto the lookout platform of the central tower. She gazed at the giant star on the horizon, brow furrowed. "Was it necessary… to make one that large?"
"Huff… huff… huff…" Nagato's breaths were labored. "The opponent… is Sasuke Uchiha, bolstered by the combined powers of Senju and Uchiha! We cannot afford carelessness. Besides… compared to the moon created by the Sage of Six Paths all those years ago… this scale is utterly insignificant!"
"At any rate… Sasuke Uchiha is powerless now."
…
The Deva Path stared up at his star. "In that ultra-high-pressure, sealed environment… how long can your Susano'o last, Sasuke Uchiha?"
On the mountain peak behind him, Orochimaru watched with slitted eyes.
"Chibaku Tensei. The ultimate sealing jutsu of the Rinnegan's Deva Path. It's said that Naruto of the past required eight tails to break free from its seal. Sasuke-kun in White Cursed Seal Stage Three… his absolute power should not lose to Naruto's eight tails. However…"
"Hm?" The Deva Path's expression shifted violently.
FWOOSH!
Black flames erupted from the fissures spiderwebbing the Chibaku Tensei's surface!
―Flame Dragon Torch!
BOOM! Then… a wooden dragon wreathed entirely in Amaterasu's black fire burst through the seal!
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Following it… seven more Flame Dragon Torches shattered free in succession!
Orochimaru: "He's used that technique. The one that completely exhausts his own chakra reserves."
The Deva Path was astonished. "To this extent…? In that case, I must create an even larger one…"
SLAP!
He formed the 'Snake' seal again, intending to expand the Chibaku Tensei further.
But then… the eight swaying dragon heads beneath the star opened their maws and vomited forth torrents of searing black flame!!!
The Deva Path was forced to abort his seal, scrambling back in haste!!
The black flames scoured the earth!!
A deafening explosion shook the sky. The bottom of the Chibaku Tensei was hollowed out. A colossal entity wrenched itself free and landed amidst the inferno.
It was a monstrous fusion of the eight 'Flame Dragon Torches'!
Orochimaru stated solemnly, "The fusion of Wood Dragon, Blaze Release, and the Eight Branches Technique―'Yasaka Sacred Dragon.' Powerful enough to escape the seal of Chibaku Tensei."
Rustle-rustle-rustle…!
On the head of the fourth dragon from the left, Sasuke revealed himself. The Crow Tengu Susano'o instantly materialized around him.
Orochimaru: "By releasing the White Cursed Seal to Stage Three, the concept of chakra quantity loses practical meaning. But this Yasaka Sacred Dragon… it drains every last drop of Sasuke-kun's personal chakra, beyond what Stage Three provides."
RUMBLE-RUMBLE-RUMBLE…!
Now, the Chibaku Tensei also began to disintegrate. Boulders rained down upon the earth.
The Deva Path's expression turned grave. "Sasuke Uchiha. In this shinobi world, the only one I have deemed a 'monster' was the leader of Amegakure years ago, 'Hanzo the Salamander'… and now, you count as one."
Sasuke murmured with complex emotion, "You have no idea… what a true monster really is."
SHOOM!
He commanded the eight dragon heads to converge. The swirling, roaring black flames compressed―taking the form of a spiraling Rasengan―condensing into a sphere of Amaterasu flame containing chakra comparable to a Nine-Tails' Tailed Beast Bomb!
The Crow Tengu Susano'o drew its bow. The great arrow pierced the fiery sphere. Instantly, violent winds whirled. Dark flames flickered and blazed.
"'Yasaka Sacred Arrow'… the most powerful technique I can currently wield…"
SHOOM!
The Deva Path's pupils constricted. Swirling air currents gathered at his feet, launching him skyward…!!!
The Yasaka Sacred Arrow was nocked and aimed skyward.
The Deva Path's ascending figure flickered in and out of view amidst the rain of disintegrating star-rock.
Sasuke didn't dare loose this arrow―concentrating nearly all his remaining chakra―rashly.
BOOM!
When the dust settled, the Deva Path hovered high above, arms spread wide!
Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "I heard… in the previous life, Nagato destroyed a village with a single strike. Is it that technique? No time to ponder. If the Yasaka Sacred Arrow cannot counter it… the only path left before me… is that one!!"
SHWOOOOOM!!!
The Yasaka Sacred Arrow pierced the clouds, splitting the heavens!
The Deva Path looked down, a ruler surveying his domain.
"This pain… was originally meant for Konoha to feel. Now, you shall bear it alone!!!"
―ALMIGHTY PUSH (MAXIMUM)!
FWOOSH! A blinding white radiance illuminated the world!
SHWOOOOOM…!!!
The Yasaka Sacred Arrow tore through the luminous expanse for a hundred meters, ripping a gash in the light, but ultimately… it was annihilated.
Orochimaru raised a hand to shield his face. "Sasuke-kun…!!!"
Facing the oncoming radiance, Sasuke formed a seal, a wry, breathless laugh escaping him. "Well… this got out of hand…"
Zzzzzzzz― The blinding light consumed his form.
BOOOOOOM-RUMBLE-RUMBLE-RUMBLE―!!
The sky shattered. The earth collapsed.
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
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