https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-548-Naruto-Side-Story-Naruto-Master-of-the-Sun-s-Breath-Arrives/12558820/
https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-549-Naruto-Side-Story-Pure-Power-Sage-Mode-with-Yang-Release-Chakra-Mode-Part-2-/12558823/
Chapter 549: Naruto Side Story - Pure Power, Sage Mode with Yang Release Chakra Mode! (Part 1)
Chapter 549: Naruto Side Story - Pure Power, Sage Mode with Yang Release Chakra Mode! (Part 1)
Naruto stood atop a giant toad from Mount Myoboku, appearing above the massive crater.
Dust and mist filled the air around Konoha due to Tendo Pain's recent use of Shinra Tensei in battle, devastating the village.
Naruto, having just been summoned from Mount Myoboku, failed to recognize his beloved village in its current state from within the large crater.
As the dust began to settle, revealing the Hokage Rock on the cliff face, and sensing the familiar chakras of his friends and mentors, Naruto finally realized this was Konoha—a Konoha that had been decimated.
Naruto was speechless, but his eyes gradually filled with anger.
Having noticed Naruto's arrival, Nagato, who had intended to leave, halted and controlled Tendo Pain to land near Naruto.
At the same time, Jigokudo repaired the damaged Paths of Pain and once again sent the Animal Path to Konoha.
The Animal Path performed hand seals and summoned five Pain bodies to Tendo Pain's side, reuniting the Six Paths of Pain.
"Six of them," Fukasaku the Hermit said solemnly.
Having fought the Paths of Pain before, he was well aware of their formidable strength when working together.
"Unforgivable! How dare you reduce Konoha to this state," Tsunade growled, emerging from the ruins and striding towards the Paths of Pain, her eyes filled with hatred and a sense of responsibility as the Fifth Hokage.
Her anger toward Nagato, coupled with her duty to protect the village, caused her to forget that she had depleted her chakra and was in no condition to fight. Nonetheless, she was prepared to attack the Paths of Pain.
Although Nagato's primary target was Naruto, Tsunade's words had truly enraged him, so he was more than happy to kill her as well.
Controlling the Asura Path, Nagato sent it charging towards Tsunade.
Whoosh!
Bang!!
Naruto, having activated his senjutsu chakra and concentrated his Yang Release to the extreme, instantly appeared above the Asura Path and struck it with a Rasengan, reducing it to pieces.
"Granny, go and rest. I'll handle things here. This little Akatsuki group doesn't require the Fire Shadow or other Konoha ninjas to intervene," Naruto said, his back turned to Tsunade.
Of course, this was a way of saving face for Tsunade, as Naruto had sensed that her chakra reserves were nearly depleted.
"Jiraiya, take Granny to safety," Naruto instructed.
After some thought, concerned for Tsunade's safety, Naruto decided to have Jiraiya protect her.
After all, Jiraiya's strength wouldn't have much impact on the battle anyway.
Tsunade, on the other hand, took out a slug and had it relay the information she had gathered to Naruto.
Finally, Naruto asked the question he had been dreading, "Did Kakashi-sensei go out on a mission?"
With the enhancement of Sage Mode, Naruto's sensory abilities encompassed the entire Konoha.
He sensed the chakras of Sakura, Shikamaru, and Hinata, among others, and most of them were in terrible shape.
Tsunade lowered her gaze, choosing to remain silent and not answer Naruto's question.
Sometimes, silence is an answer in itself.
"I see," Naruto said softly, lowering his head slightly.
From the very beginning, Naruto had suspected the outcome, but he hadn't dared to think about it and had tried to push those thoughts away.
Naruto's face was cold as he glared at the Paths of Pain. Never before had he felt such intense killing intent towards someone.
After killing the Toads' sage and now destroying Konoha, killing Kakashi—Naruto's anger knew no bounds.
Nagato had not only crossed Naruto's bottom line but was relentlessly pushing further.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
The Animal Path slammed its hand onto the ground, summoning a massive rhinoceros that charged towards Naruto.
Naruto, however, stood his ground, unmoving. He began gathering chakra in his right hand while simultaneously concentrating his breath, quietly waiting for the perfect moment to strike.
As the gigantic rhinoceros closed in, Naruto lashed out with a hand blade.
The difference in their sizes made Naruto's attack seem like a futile attempt to stop the charging beast.
But the next moment, no one would dare think that again.
"Konoha Hand Blade!"
Bang!!
Naruto's palm struck the rhinoceros with tremendous force, sending it flying like a cannonball. In mid-air, the rhinoceros couldn't withstand Naruto's power and disintegrated into white smoke.
Naruto had spent a month training with Mu Yue, and his greatest achievement was mastering the Yang Release. But it wasn't his only achievement.
He had also honed his chakra control, learned various taijutsu techniques, and gained an understanding of wind and yang chakra nature transformations.
Mu Yue's profound knowledge, combined with Naruto's unique shadow clone training method, resulted in a remarkable synergistic effect that led to incredible progress within just one month.
Although it might seem unfair to Jiraiya and Kakashi, Naruto had to admit that Mu Yue's teaching abilities surpassed those of all his previous mentors.
"With this level of power, they won't stand a chance if the Deva Path's abilities haven't recovered," Nagato assessed the situation and quietly controlled the Deva Path to retreat behind the other Paths of Pain.
The Deva Path was the strongest among the Paths of Pain, its power far surpassing the others.
Naruto's display of strength not only surprised Nagato but also shocked the Konoha ninjas observing the battle.
"Naruto has become so strong," Sakura exclaimed, her eyes wide as she witnessed Naruto effortlessly defeat one Path of Pain after another, following up with a hand blade that instantly dispatched a formidable summoned beast.
Hyuuga Hinata, using her Byakugan to observe the battle, felt relieved to see Naruto's overwhelming prowess.
"Naruto-kun, keep it up!"
Hinata silently cheered for Naruto and began searching for a strategic position from which she could provide timely support.
Bang! Bang!
The Animal Path once again performed the Summoning Jutsu, quickly bringing forth three summoned beasts.
This time, the toads of Mount Myoboku took action.
Naruto was not alone in this battle. In addition to Fukasaku and Shima, the powerful toads Gamabunta, Gamakichi, and Gamahiro had also accompanied them to Konoha.
The five toads worked together to easily subdue the Animal Path's summoned beasts.
"The one at the front can absorb all ninjutsu, and the one second from the back can repel all ninjutsu, but there's a five-second interval between uses... Also, all the Paths of Pain share the same field of vision.
Bang! Naruto threw a specially made smoke bomb and performed the seals for the Shadow Clone Technique.
Swish, swish, swish!!
The last shuriken flew towards the Pains.
However, for Pains that could share vision, evading Naruto's direct shuriken attack was simple.
The next moment, three Narutos holding Rasengan emerged from the smoke and charged at the Pains.
Hungry Ghost Path disdainfully blocked at the forefront and activated an absorption shield.
The Narutos' Rasengan had no effect on Hungry Ghost Path.
Immediately after, the remaining Pains seized the opportunity to attack Naruto.
But something unexpected happened that took Nagato by surprise. The three Narutos turned into white mist and vanished; they were all Shadow Clones!
"The real attack is here! Sage Art: Rasengan!"
A kunai next to Hell Path transformed into Naruto, who smashed a Rasengan infused with senjutsu chakra into Hell Path's body.
Boom!
Hell Path's eyes widened as he fell to the ground, powerless.
Naruto stood beside Hell Path's corpse, coldly eyeing the remaining four Pains.
"Naruto Uzumaki, you've become much stronger after becoming a sage like Jiraiya," remarked Deva Path Pain.
At the same time, far away, Nagato exerted himself to use chakra to adjust his state and ensure Deva Path's abilities recovered sooner.
"Why don't we retreat? You've already expended too much chakra," Konan, beside Nagato, suggested.
Not only was Nagato controlling the Six Paths of Pain and battling the many Konoha ninjas, but he had also used Shinra Tensei to destroy Konoha, leaving him in a poor state.
"No, if we leave now, it will be hard to find Naruto Uzumaki again," Nagato refused Konan's proposal.
The Akatsuki had already gathered the one-tailed to eight-tailed beasts; they only lacked the nine-tailed beast to realize Nagato's ideal. He couldn't retreat at this step.
"For peace, even if it's fleeting, sacrificing some of my lifespan is worth it."
Nagato poured all his energy into the remaining four Pains, controlling them to attack Naruto.
Hungry Ghost Path and Human Path simultaneously burst forth with chakra and charged at Naruto.
"Jiraiya-sensei?" Naruto frowned, unsure of the Akatsuki leader's ploy.
"Just when I wanted to deal with you, you came to me instead."
Since it was the middle of battle, Naruto didn't think too much and immediately refocused on the fight. He ignored Human Path and prepared to deal with Hungry Ghost Path first.
Although Human Path had the terrifying ability to extract souls, Naruto, in Sage Mode with Yang Release enhancement, was confident he could prevent Human Path from getting close.
Deva Path Pain and Animal Path Pain didn't charge forward together, but they utilized their shared vision for assistance.
As Hungry Ghost Path approached Naruto, it opened its absorption shield.
Nagato's strategy was to have Hungry Ghost Path nullify Naruto's ninjutsu and then use Human Path's ability to finish him off.
However, Naruto had honed his abilities during a month in Loulan and a week in Mount Myoboku, and he was now far more capable than the information Akatsuki had on him.
"Frog Kata!"
Naruto gathered natural energy around him and concentrated Yang Release to the extreme, then swung his palm at the approaching Hungry Ghost Path.
Something unexpected happened. Just as Hungry Ghost Path was about to grab Naruto, his palm hadn't even touched it.
Boom!!
Hungry Ghost Path flew backward at high speed.
Swish!
"Konoha Sword Strike!"
Naruto instantly sidestepped to his left, dodging Human Path's grasping hand, and simultaneously swung a transparent qi blade at the flying Hungry Ghost Path to finish it off.
The Konoha Sword Strike's qi blade resembled the Daytime Tiger and didn't contain chakra, so Hungry Ghost Path couldn't absorb it.
"Naruto has grown so much," Tsunade thought, feeling relieved yet vexed as she watched Naruto effortlessly annihilate three Pains.
They, the seniors, couldn't shield Naruto from the wind and rain, and now he had to protect them.
"Shadow Clone Technique!"
After creating some distance from Human Path, Naruto immediately created a shadow clone.
However, this time, Naruto's shadow clone wasn't for combat but to assist him in using the Rasengan Shuriken.
Buzz, buzz!
When the rapidly spinning chakra shuriken appeared in Naruto's hand, its powerful chakra drew everyone's attention on the battlefield.
"Sage Art: Wind Release: Rasengan Shuriken!"
Naruto didn't choose the closer Human Path but threw it at the distant Deva Path Pain.
Although he didn't know why Deva Path Pain wasn't using repulsion or attraction to interfere, based on current intelligence, its abilities were very troublesome, and it was best to deal with it as soon as possible.
Since Deva Path's abilities were about to recover, Nagato didn't hesitate to control Human Path to charge at the Rasengan Shuriken, using its body to block the Rasengan Shuriken's advance.
Boom, boom, boom!!
Blinding explosion engulfed Human Path, tearing it and the surrounding ground to pieces.
"Phew, two left," Naruto panted, observing the situation on the field.
Since Gamabunta didn't know the Split-faced Beast's trait of splitting, he accidentally allowed it to split, and with Animal Path summoning new beasts, Mount Myoboku's toads were mostly occupied dealing with them.
"Summoning Technique!"
Animal Path summoned a giant bird to attack Naruto.
With his senjutsu chakra nearly depleted from the previous battle, Naruto played it safe and burst forth with chakra to dodge swiftly.
The observing Konoha ninjas might not have noticed anything, but Nagato, who was closely monitoring Naruto, detected that his movements had slowed.
With Tendou's formidable might, there was no way for Naruto to oppose him without Sage Mode.
"Although there's still a little left, now is not the time to conserve it."
Naruto immediately took out a large scroll from his back, preparing to use a summoning jutsu to call upon his shadow clone that was currently absorbing natural energy at Mount Myoboku.
All he needed to do was to cancel Sage Mode and then voluntarily dismiss the shadow clone, allowing the natural energy within the clone to return to his original body, thus enabling him to regain a full state of Sage Mode once more.
Naruto had two such shadow clones, and based on the current battle, it seemed they would be enough to deal with the upcoming fight.
"Banshou Ten'in!"
The moment Tendou Pain's strength was fully restored, he made his move.
However, his target was not Naruto but Fukasaku, who was beside him, gathering senjutsu chakra and preparing to use the Frog Song.
The Frog Song was an extremely terrifying senjutsu genjutsu, and even with Fukasaku and Shima working together, they needed some time to gather their power.
After seeing how fiercely Naruto had dealt with four Pains, Fukasaku wanted to join forces with Shima to quickly get rid of the remaining two Pains. Unexpectedly, Pain chose to target this marginal supporting toad instead.
Fukasaku's body flew at high speed and was about to collide with the Tendou Pain holding the black rod.
"Damn it!" Jiraiya anxiously shouted, but he had no means to stop what was about to happen.
"Boss!" Gamabunta, who was entangled with the Split-faced Beast, was furious and wanted to rush to Tendou Pain and cut him into two pieces.
Swish!
At that moment, Naruto gave up on summoning his shadow clone and used all his remaining senjutsu chakra to perform the Body Flicker Technique. He maximized the explosive power of the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique and pushed Yang Release to its limits.
"Stay away from Grandpa Toad!"
Naruto appeared instantly in front of Tendou Pain and threw a punch.
"Shinra Tensei!"
Tendou Pain had no choice but to give up on killing Fukasaku and instead used Shinra Tensei, knocking both Naruto and Fukasaku away.
Bang!!
Naruto and Fukasaku were knocked back and fell to the ground.
As his senjutsu chakra was exhausted, Naruto automatically exited Sage Mode and returned to his normal state.
Ignoring his injuries, Fukasaku frantically gave Shima a look, signaling her to use the summoning scroll to bring out Naruto's shadow clone.
The strongest fighter on the field right now was Naruto, and if he couldn't enter Sage Mode, they wouldn't be able to defeat Pain.
Since Naruto's shadow clone continuation technique was something that Shima had come up with while looking for ingredients, Fukasaku was unaware of it.
Even so, Shima understood her partner's intentions and quickly took action.
While Chikushodo and Tendou were pursuing Naruto and Fukasaku, Shima quietly moved towards the summoning scroll.
But just as Shima was about to unfold the summoning scroll and use it, a giant lizard suddenly appeared behind her, swung its tail, and knocked her away.
"Damn it, it's that invisible lizard again," Shima said annoyedly.
After successfully stopping Shima from using the summoning scroll, the lizard held the scroll in its mouth and placed it near Tendou Pain before rejoining the battle with the toads.
After exiting Sage Mode, Naruto quickly adjusted his Yang Release, using it to guide natural energy to strengthen his body. Although it wasn't as effective as Sage Mode, it was enough to withstand Tendou Pain's taijutsu attacks.
However, the problem was that Naruto now had to protect Fukasaku, who was injured and beside him.
Without Sage Mode, Naruto and the injured Fukasaku were at a disadvantage against Tendou Pain, who was assisted by Chikushodo. Soon, they exposed an opening.
"Banshou Ten'in!"
A powerful gravitational force pulled Naruto, and he used his last bit of strength to throw Fukasaku away, after which his body uncontrollably flew towards Tendou Pain at high speed.
Puchi!
Chikushodo quickly thrust the black rod in his hand, avoiding Naruto's vitals and piercing it into his body.
The chakra within Naruto's body instantly turned into a ball of tangled threads, unable to effectively gather chakra to strengthen himself.
Bang!
Tendou Pain grabbed Naruto by the neck and slammed him hard onto the ground. Then, he stabbed the black rod through Naruto's palm and into the ground, further interfering with the chakra within Naruto's body and pinning him to the ground.
"This way, you should be able to behave a little better," Tendou Pain said indifferently.
"Damn it!"
Unable to gather chakra and move his arms, Naruto still did not give up and tried to kick Pain with his legs.
Puchi!
Two black rods pierced Naruto's thighs.
For Nagato, as long as Naruto didn't die, it didn't matter if he was crippled.
After all, what he essentially needed was the Nine-Tails inside Naruto, not Naruto himself.
"Bastard, let him go!"
The toads from Mount Myoboku ignored the bites of the Split-faced Beast and rushed towards Tendou Pain.
"Shinra Tensei!"
Bang!!
Gamabunta and the other toads were knocked back by the force of the jutsu due to their large sizes. Some crashed into the mountain, while others flew into the lake, all of them severely injured.
"This is bad. I've become Naruto's weakness," Fukasaku said, sweating profusely.
Naruto had truly done his best in this battle, and it was the toads who were now holding him back.
"Why did you call Jiraiya? What are you trying to do?" Naruto asked Tendou Pain after he was completely immobilized.
Even if he died, Naruto didn't want to do so as a clueless fool.
"To turn Jiraiya-sensei's unfinished business into reality."
Naruto stared at Tendou Pain, feeling that the other party was talking nonsense. Killing the Hermit, destroying Konoha, and killing Kakashi-sensei—could he still be considered creating a peaceful world and achieving justice?
Naruto's reaction was within Longmen's expectations. After all, the ninja world was always like this, filled with hatred, and people could never truly understand each other.
"So, what do you want to do, Uzumaki Naruto?" Tendou Pain, controlled by Longmen, asked.
"To defeat you, crush the Akatsuki, and bring true peace to the world!" Naruto answered without hesitation.
Tendou Pain laughed, as if he had heard something particularly amusing.
He should have taken Naruto away immediately and extracted the Nine-Tails to insert it into the Outer Path Demon Statue.
But because of their shared connection with Jiraiya-sensei, because of Naruto's comical sense of justice, and because he currently held the upper hand, Tendou Pain decided to refute Naruto before taking him away.
(End of Chapter)
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