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Tsunade used her own body as a shield, positioning herself directly in front of Hiruzen as debris, shattered stone, and choking dust rained down upon her from above. Once the dust had settled enough for her to see clearly, she lifted her head and scanned the battlefield. Her eyes immediately locked onto the horrifying sight of Mei Terumi, impaled through the abdomen. For a single, terrible moment, Tsunade's mind went completely blank.
Death was an unavoidable reality in any large-scale war. No one could escape its cold, impartial grasp. And while all human lives were equal in the abstract, the truth of the matter was that people were not equal. Mei Terumi's life was far more valuable than that of most. Not merely because she was the Mizukage, but because the Hidden Mist Village, having been battered and bloodied by successive, catastrophic blows, had been drained of its talent to the point where finding another suitable candidate for the title of Mizukage would be an almost insurmountable challenge. For the village to have produced someone like Mei Terumi after enduring the horrors of the Bloody Mist era was already nothing short of extraordinary.
Midorima might, in some respects, have been even better suited to serve as Mizukage. But only if he were actually willing to accept the role. Even now, though the Hidden Mist Village had largely returned to a state of normalcy, the memory of his time as a branded rogue ninja still kept him at a certain emotional distance from the village.
And yet, despite all that, the bond between Midorima and Mei Terumi remained remarkably strong. If Mei Terumi were to die here, on this battlefield, there was no telling what Midorima might do in response. The searing, bone-deep agony of losing someone dear on the field of battle was a pain Tsunade understood with terrible, intimate clarity. She had lived through it herself. On a battlefield much like this one, her younger brother and her beloved had both...
Tsunade gritted her teeth so hard her jaw ached, and she forced herself to her feet.
Jiraiya had attempted to surge forward and rescue Mei Terumi, but he was immediately blocked and intercepted by the Preta Path and the Human Path. At the same moment, the Naraka Path summoned the King of Hell, which promptly devoured the heavily damaged Asura Path into its gaping, otherworldly maw. The tide of battle could shift with dizzying, unforgiving speed, and in the blink of an eye, the ragtag team of Jiraiya, Mei Terumi, and Might Guy found themselves teetering on the very brink of utter defeat.
Pain withdrew the black rod with a sharp, brutal motion and kicked Mei Terumi's limp body away. From his position beside Tsunade, Might Guy did not waste a single word. He immediately launched himself towards the spot where Mei Terumi had fallen, moving with all the speed he could still muster.
Tsunade clenched her fists, prepared to charge in after him. But before she could take a single step, a streak of blinding lightning exploded across the battlefield right beside her.
"Lady Tsunade, you stay here and watch over Lord Hokage! Leave the Mizukage to us!" The voice was rough, powerful, and resonant, echoing across the war-torn landscape like a thunderclap.
Tsunade's head snapped towards the source of the lightning. It was the Raikage. He had plowed straight through the Human Path, which had attempted to bar his path, and scooped up the unconscious Mei Terumi into his arms.
Pain saw this and immediately raised his palm, preparing to unleash the Universal Pull upon the Raikage. But at that exact moment, the ground beneath his feet suddenly bulged upward. A colossal arm, constructed entirely of solid stone, erupted from the earth and swung directly towards Pain with devastating, crushing force. Pain was forced to retreat hastily. Yet even as he withdrew, the stone arm extended fully, continuing its relentless assault. "Almighty Push!"
Pain had no choice but to alter his strategy on the fly. He unleashed the Almighty Push, obliterating the oncoming stone appendage in a shower of pulverized rock.
"Pain! Take this!"
A sudden shout rang out from above. Pain's gaze shot skyward just in time to see Might Guy plummeting towards him like a meteor. His body was angled downward, both legs pressed together, aimed directly at Pain's face with devastating, pile-driving force. His descent speed, while not quite matching the velocity of the Morning Peacock, was still breathtakingly fast, rivaling even the Raikage's legendary swiftness. The air around him grew noticeably, dangerously hot from the friction of his passage.
Five seconds. That was the mandatory cooldown period after each Almighty Push. And in that brief window, Might Guy, with his extraordinary taijutsu, was more than capable of inflicting catastrophic damage. The earlier display of the Morning Peacock's raw, overwhelming power had already left a deep, lasting impression on Pain. "I must eliminate him," Pain muttered to himself, his eyes fixed on the rapidly approaching Might Guy. He raised his palm, aligning it directly towards the falling shinobi.
Among all these shinobi, the one who posed the greatest threat to him was, without question, Might Guy. He absolutely could not be allowed to survive. Pain's resolve was set in stone.
Jiraiya, still locked in a deadly dance with the Preta Path, found his attention momentarily torn away by the explosive clash between Might Guy and Pain. Seeing Might Guy momentarily gaining the upper hand, a faint, fleeting sense of relief flickered through his heart. But out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of the King of Hell opening its mouth once more. From within its yawning depths, the Asura Path stepped forth, fully restored and operational. Without a word, the Asura Path aimed the mechanical apparatus atop its head directly at the descending Might Guy and fired another devastating chakra laser.
"Might Guy, look out!" Jiraiya shouted desperately. But his warning came a fraction of a second too late.
When Might Guy was less than two meters from Pain, the laser slammed into him with catastrophic force. Even so, his body continued its relentless downward trajectory. But the impact had altered his course, sending him careening past Pain, missing his target by the narrowest of margins. The black cloak adorning Pain caught fire from the residual heat, though the flames were extinguished almost instantly. When Might Guy finally crashed into the ground, the very earth seemed to shudder. The soil beneath his impact zone shattered into a spiderweb of cracks and fissures. The shockwave was so immense that even Pain was forced to stagger backward a full three steps.
Might Guy's attack had missed its mark. His legs were now buried deep in the pulverized earth, and his lower body felt completely, terrifyingly numb. Try as he might, he could not make his limbs respond.
"You are truly impressive. Unfortunately... you failed to kill me. And there will be no second chance." Pain now stood directly beside him. The right sleeve of his cloak had been partially burned away, exposing his forearm and hand. In that hand, he gripped a slender, pitch-black rod.
"Even if you kill me, do you honestly believe you can win?!" Might Guy snarled, glaring up at Pain with unbridled, burning fury. Even at the very precipice of death, he could not suppress the raging fire within his heart.
"No. But I will take great satisfaction in slaughtering every last one of you!" Pain raised the black rod high, aiming its lethal tip directly at the crown of Might Guy's skull.
"...If that's how it's going to be, then I absolutely refuse to die here! I'm going to survive! I'm going to live to watch you fall!" Might Guy forced a defiant, pained grin onto his face. With every last drop of strength remaining in his body, he hurled himself sideways. No matter what happened, he could not allow a fatal blow to strike a vital point. Otherwise, his life would end right here, right now.
"That is not for you to decide!" Pain tracked the desperately moving Might Guy and thrust the black rod down in a vicious, reverse-gripped stab.
Might Guy's attempt to twist away came too late. But just as the rod was about to pierce him, the ground beneath his body suddenly heaved upward, flipping backwards like a wall abruptly rising from the earth. Might Guy was carried along with the surging soil, tumbling safely to the other side of the newly formed earthen barrier. Pain's black rod punched straight through the wall, shattering it into rubble. But Might Guy was no longer there. Pain's gaze snapped upward, and he saw Onoki hovering in the air, holding Might Guy by the collar.
"So, you have arrived as well," Pain remarked, his eyes narrowing as he studied the Tsuchikage.
The presence of both the Tsuchikage and the Raikage could only mean one thing: the Allied Shinobi Forces had completed their landing. He absolutely had to kill the shinobi before him as quickly as possible. If he delayed, executing his plan would become exponentially more difficult. Without the power of the Ten-Tails at his disposal, the task of slaughtering every last shinobi on this island was already monumentally daunting.
So where in the hell was Midorima? Mei Terumi was on the verge of death. Had he truly not sensed it? Would he still refuse to show himself?
Seeing Mei Terumi being carefully transported to Tsunade's side and placed under her care, Pain's frustration deepened into a cold, simmering rage.
"If we hadn't shown up, wouldn't that have been terribly rude of us, considering how much noise you've been making?" Onoki replied dryly. With a casual flick of his wrist, he tossed the gravely injured Might Guy towards the Raikage, who caught him effortlessly and carried him over to Tsunade.
Tsunade looked down at Might Guy's battered, broken form, her expression a complex tapestry of grief and grim resolve. Earlier, he had only sustained damage to his arms—injuries that, while serious, had not completely immobilized him. But now, there was no question that his legs had also suffered catastrophic trauma. Whether he would ever fully recover remained to be seen. But one thing was absolutely certain: his fight was over for today.
"I was... just a little short," Might Guy muttered, his voice thick with bitter frustration.
"You cannot continue fighting," Tsunade stated firmly.
Might Guy offered no response. His gaze drifted over to Mei Terumi, whose abdomen was soaked in blood, and he asked with deep concern, "How is Lady Mizukage?"
Tsunade shook her head. "She's in better shape than Lord Hokage. But as for when she might recover... I honestly cannot say."
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