The desert battlefield fell into an eerie silence.
The Allied Shinobi huddled behind cover, the sound of them swallowing saliva clearly audible.
Minato's fingertips turned white as he gripped his Kunai, his gaze locked onto that lazy figure on the throne.
The image of The Collector extracting the Nine-Tails from Kushina's body churned in his mind; any rash move now could invite total destruction.
Tsuchikage Onoki hovered in mid-air, the glow of Dust Release flickering in his palm before finally fading away in dejection.
Raikage Ay's Lightning Release Armor crackled; his enraged fist finally slammed into a nearby stone pillar, sending rock fragments flying, yet he didn't dare take a single step toward Takuno.
The Akatsuki's side was equally silent.
Tendo Pain's Rinnegan stared at Takuno; he knew the other party remaining a bystander was the best possible outcome, but could he really count on him to stay that way?
He had never understood what the other's goal truly was.
Things had already reached this point, yet the other party still had no intention of making a move?
Could it be that the goal of wanting the Chakra Fruit he mentioned back then... was real?
Takuno had no interest in this frozen battlefield.
He lazily adjusted his sitting posture, his fingertips lightly tapping the armrest of the stone throne, while his gaze drifted toward the roaring Incomplete Ten-Tails in the distance, as if evaluating a newly acquired collectible.
The stagnant balance was shattered by a shrill roar.
The Ten-Tails broke free from its brief silence, taking the lead to shatter the stillness.
However, its roar was not directed at the Shinobi Allied Forces, but at The Collector.
Its ten massive tails suddenly straightened, and the single Rinnegan on its forehead locked onto Takuno, who was reclining on the stone seat in mid-air, letting out a deafening howl.
It sensed a familiar aura from this lazy figure.
That belonged to it!
It absolutely would not allow a part of itself to exist outside, nor would it allow anyone other than itself—
To have another Ten-Tails exist in this world!
The Ten-Tails charged toward The Collector as if it had gone berserk!
Its mountain-like body crushed the desert ground, leaving behind deep canyons.
Ten massive tails entwined with destructive chakra tore through the air, carrying a piercing sonic boom as they viciously stabbed toward the figure suspended on the stone throne!
The blood-red single Rinnegan on its forehead locked onto Takuno's Wood Clone; its violent hatred and predatory instinct transformed into physical pressure, causing even space to twist and tremble!
"ROAR!!!"
The deafening roar kicked up a sandstorm, and the Allied Shinobi below turned pale with horror at this sudden turn of events.
Many instinctively backed away, as if the mere aftershocks could crush them.
The pupils of Minato and the others shrank, their hearts leaping into their throats.
This monster's target had actually shifted to that most unpredictable existence!
"What?!"
For the first time, Tendo Pain's cold Rinnegan erupted with intense ripples, his orange hair dancing wildly in the violent air currents.
An unprecedented chill spread from his spine!
Nagato's will was still connected to the Ten-Tails through the black receivers, but just a moment ago—
That violent, primal hatred originating from the Ten-Tails itself instantly collapsed the guidance channel he was barely maintaining!
The Ten-Tails was out of control!
It was no longer a weapon, but a monster following its instincts of consumption and destruction!
Nagato's heart sank to the bottom.
The appearance of The Collector was already a massive variable, and now the Ten-Tails had completely broken free of his will to pounce on this unfathomable being.
This meant his plan seemed to be slowly veering off track, sliding toward an unpredictable abyss.
"ROAR!!!"
The Ten-Tails' massive tails tore through the air, and the desert below was plowed into bottomless trenches by the terrifying wind pressure.
Before this disaster beyond imagination, the Allied Shinobi were as small as dust; many were blown away, their desperate cries drowned out by the sonic boom.
However, at the moment this catastrophe descended, a strange sliver of "hope" flickered through the minds of the Allied high command.
"Good! Fight!"
Raikage Ay squeezed these words out from between his teeth, his violent Lightning Release Armor flickering with excitement.
He stared intently at the Ten-Tails charging toward The Collector, his eyes burning with naked ferocity and anticipation.
Regardless of whether The Collector was friend or foe, as long as he clashed with this world-destroying monster, no matter who won or lost, it would be a huge advantage for the Allied Forces!
He even secretly prayed for both sides to suffer, for them to perish together! Let these two monsters disappear together!
Ōnoki, suspended in the air, felt the same as he watched the scene.
The destructive power of the Ten-Tails, the unfathomable strength of The Collector...
He clenched his fists, screaming silently in his heart: Fight to the death!
Minato's azure eyes were also locked onto the imminent point of collision, sharp as a blade.
He knew The Collector's terror better than anyone, but at this moment, the aura of the Ten-Tails, completely out of control and destroying everything, frightened him even more.
However, he did not believe The Collector would die here.
At this moment, his heart was incredibly conflicted, worrying that The Collector might take his anger out on the Allied Forces after being provoked.
Yet he also vaguely hoped this mysterious powerhouse could heavily injure or even destroy this world-ending monster.
Obito, hidden in the folds of the Kamui Dimension, his crimson Sharingan contracted violently in shock and uncertainty.
The Ten-Tails losing control to attack The Collector was completely beyond his expectations!
Had Nagato actually moved against this man? Or...
He looked at the berserk Ten-Tails; was this the Ten-Tails' own will?
Had Nagato lost control, or had something gone wrong with the Ten-Tails itself? How would The Collector respond?
Just as the Ten-Tails' massive tails, capable of tearing mountains apart, were about to reach the suspended throne at the critical moment—
Takuno, reclining on the stone seat, seemed to frown very slightly under his mask.
It wasn't fear, but rather an extreme, impatient annoyance at having his peace disturbed.
As if a sleeping ancient dragon had been awakened by the clamor of ants.
He still maintained that lazy posture, not even lowering the hand supporting his face.
Only the other hand, resting casually on the throne's armrest, very nonchalantly raised two fingers.
Snap.
A snap of the fingers so faint it was almost imperceptible.
In an instant, time seemed to freeze for a moment.
Those ten world-destroying tails, in the space less than ten meters from the throne—
Seemed to slam into an invisible, absolutely insurmountable Wall of Sighs!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Ten dull thuds that made everyone's hearts stop exploded in succession!
Space was like the surface of a lake with a giant boulder thrown in, suddenly rippling with visible waves!
The Ten-Tails' terrifying power, capable of shattering mountain peaks, struck that invisible barrier and was like a clay ox entering the sea!
There was no explosion, no shockwave spreading!
All destructive energy, all impact momentum, were instantly absorbed within those distorted spatial ripples, returning to total nothingness!
The Ten-Tails' massive body came to a sudden halt due to this inconceivable obstruction, its immense inertia causing it to let out an unwilling and pained cry.
For the first time, the blood-red single Rinnegan on its forehead revealed clear confusion and... a hint of instinctive dread!
In this moment where time and space seemed to stagnate.
The Collector, reclining on the stone throne, seemed to show a flicker of impatience at having his peace disturbed.
His eyes, hidden behind the shadows, did not fully open; only his left eye slightly cracked open a slit.
Hum!
An indescribable sense of pressure instantly permeated the area!
It wasn't an eruption of chakra, but a manifestation of near-rules, a declaration of authority transcending mortal power!
Within the slit, a slowly rotating, singular eye was exposed to the dead air.
A deep purple base, etched with ancient and mysterious concentric circle patterns.
And upon those patterns, six pitch-black tomoe, like stars orbiting a black hole, slowly revolved in a profound trajectory.
Six-Tomoe Rinnegan!
This exotic eye had only opened a slit, yet the pressure it contained was enough to make the berserk Ten-Tails freeze, its destructive roar catching in its throat.
"Noisy."
A syllable devoid of emotion escaped from The Collector's lips like a divine decree.
At the moment these words fell, the Six-Tomoe Rinnegan in his open left eye slightly narrowed.
"Shinra Tensei."
No world-shaking roar, no complex hand seals.
Just the drive of a single thought!
BOOM!!!
A terrifying repulsive force that words could not describe erupted suddenly, centered on The Collector!
Air lost the meaning of its existence before this absolute power, instantly compressed into a visible layer of transparent barrier.
Carrying a will that could pulverize everything, it slammed head-on into the Ten-Tails' terrifying hundred-meter-tall body!
Time seemed to be stretched infinitely at this moment.
In the almost dull reflections of the Allied Shinobi's pupils, that world-ending beast, the Ten-Tails, which just moments ago had left the entire Shinobi Allied Forces helpless and on the verge of collapse—
Its mountain-like body, heavy and containing the infinite power of the nine Tailed Beasts, now seemed like a weightless, worn-out balloon swatted away by a child!
No struggle! No resistance! It didn't even have time to let out a cry!
Sshhh!
The piercing shriek of space being torn followed belatedly!
The Ten-Tails' massive body was like it had been viciously slapped by the palm of an invisible giant god.
At a speed several times faster than when it had pounced, it turned into a massive, tumbling afterimage, flying backward toward the Allied Forces!
"Get out of the way!!"
At this moment, Nara Shikaku's voice shouted over the alliance's public channel, finally managing to wake the motionless Allied Shinobi from their shock.
RUMBLE!!!
The Ten-Tails tumbled through the air, tearing through the clouds and dragging a long trail behind it, finally crashing down on the horizon!
A dull thud that made the entire battlefield tremble echoed out, and a mushroom cloud of sand and dark-purple chakra rose into the distant sky, blotting out the sun!
The shockwave turned into a visible ring of sand, like a tsunami of death, spreading rapidly in all directions and swallowing everything in its path!
In the center of the desert battlefield, there was dead silence.
The wind stopped.
The sand no longer swirled.
Even the groans of the injured completely disappeared at this moment.
All the Kage... all the surviving Allied Shinobi.
All the members of the Akatsuki.
And Tendo Pain suspended high in the air, as well as Obito peering from the Kamui Dimension...
Their thoughts, their breathing, their heartbeats.
It was as if they were all completely frozen by the scene of that world-ending beast being flicked away like dust with such casual ease!
Recalling the world-destroying roar of the Ten-Tails and the desperate resistance of the Allied Forces just now felt like an absurd and distant nightmare.
An Allied Genin closest to the center of the battlefield dropped the Kunai in his hand with a "clang" onto the ground that had been melted into glass by the high heat.
His knees buckled and he fell to his knees, his lips trembling violently, his unfocused eyes staring fixedly at the figure in the sky still lazily reclining on the stone throne.
A trembling question, filled with the deepest level of awe and bewilderment.
Like the final mutterings of a drowning man, light yet incredibly clear, echoed over this dead desert:
"Is... is this... a god?"
Because, at this very moment, only a god... could do such a thing!
Just then.
Before the dust rising from the Ten-Tails' crash site had even settled, a terrifying wave far exceeding anything before, enough to freeze one's soul, suddenly erupted from within!
Hum!!!
The air let out an overburdened low hum, as if the entire space were being squeezed by an invisible giant hand.
The pervasive dust was forcibly pulled in like a massive suction vortex, instantly dissipating!
As the dust cleared, the Ten-Tails' current form was revealed!
Its massive body was buried deep in a giant impact crater, the cracks on its surface being forcibly mended by violent chakra.
However, the most despair-inducing thing was its head, held high.
Within its gaping, abyssal maw, a darkness energy ball like never before was condensing!
It wasn't the purple or dark red of an ordinary Tailed Beast Ball.
It was a pure "black ball," so deep it seemed capable of swallowing all light!
Its size far exceeded any known Tailed Beast Ball, its diameter even surpassing the Ten-Tails' own head, looking like a miniature black hole suspended over the desert!
Sizzle... sizzle...
The energy level it contained didn't even need sensing; just looking at it with the naked eye was enough to plunge any living being into the deepest despair.
It was a Tailed Beast Ball that fused the essence of the nine Tailed Beasts' Chakra, ignited by the Ten-Tails' own destructive will and compressed to the extreme.
Enough to instantly wipe the entire Northern Desert, along with the tens of thousands of Allied Shinobi on it, completely off the map!
"What... what is that thing?!"
An Allied Shinobi screamed out, the Kunai in his hand long since dropped, his legs as heavy as lead and unable to move.
"A Tailed Beast Ball... impossible! This scale... this energy..." Ōnoki hovered in the air, his face filled with horror.
He stared fixedly at that black celestial body, cold sweat pouring from his forehead.
He clearly felt that even his Dust Release was as small as a firefly before the sun in the face of this power!
"Oh no! Quick! The highest-tier defensive barrier!!"
Nara Shikaku's voice roared frantically through Inoichi's mental link, carrying an unprecedented panic.
All his tactical calculations seemed pale and laughable before this world-destroying energy!
A defensive barrier? That was more like trying to put up a thin sheet of paper before a massive tsunami!
Fortunately, the opponent's target wasn't the Shinobi Allied Forces, but the problem was...
A Tailed Beast Ball of this power—even the power of the mere aftershocks would absolutely exceed their understanding.
Regardless, activating the highest-scale defensive measures would definitely not be wrong!