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Hayato had gone completely berserk. His towering frame, his massive arms—every punch carried earth-shattering force. Each blow from his huge fists slammed into the Gedo Statue, shaking the ground with such power that even its body began to crack.
And this was the Gedo Statue—just the husk of the Ten-Tails, but still absurdly powerful. Normally, no human could even scratch it. Yet now, under Hayato's relentless barrage, even it was breaking apart.
Crack!
Black rods forged from yin–yang chakra stabbed into Hayato's body. But bang, bang, bang—they couldn't pierce his skin. At most, they left shallow cuts before snapping uselessly.
The already battered Gedo Statue lashed out again, and Hayato roared, "One hundred!" His fury surged even higher. He raised his massive fist and smashed down, carving a hole in the statue's body wide enough to fit a water tank.
"Roooaaar!!" The Gedo Statue let out a miserable wail—not from consciousness, but from sheer primal instinct.
Nagato, standing nearby, was frozen in shock. He knew exactly how strong the Gedo Statue was. He had summoned it himself. But now, this thing that even he could barely control was being completely overpowered—injured—by Hayato. The boy's strength was beyond belief.
And Nagato wasn't the only one shaken. In the shadows, half-black, half-white, Black Zetsu and White Zetsu stared in disbelief.
"Impossible. This is the Ten-Tails' vessel. Even as just a husk, it should be untouchable for a human. How can he have this kind of strength? Damn it… where did this monster come from?"
Hayato didn't care what anyone thought. He straddled the Gedo Statue, pounding it again and again, each strike splitting fresh cracks across its body.
Boom!
Finally, the statue couldn't take it anymore. Even a husk had limits. If the beating continued, it would've been destroyed outright. With a puff of white smoke, the summoning was released, and the Gedo Statue vanished.
Boom!
Hayato's fist slammed into empty ground, shaking the earth violently.
With the statue gone, the chains binding Konan also disappeared. She lost her footing from the tremor and fell hard on the ground—but her face lit up with relief. Hayato had beaten the monster.
"ROOOAAARRR!!"
Hayato's missed strike only enraged him further. His feral eyes locked onto Nagato.
Nagato's face went pale. Those bloodthirsty eyes, combined with the way Hayato had just torn apart the Gedo Statue, made his legs move on their own. He stumbled back, terrified—because at the end of the day, Nagato was still just a child.
Hayato roared and swung his colossal fist straight down at him.
"No—Shinra Tensei!!" Nagato screamed in panic, activating one of the Rinnegan's powers.
The repulsive force of Shinra Tensei clashed head-on with Hayato's descending fist. With a deafening explosion, the collision created a shockwave visible to the naked eye. The earth split open, trees shattered, houses collapsed. It was like the end of the world had fallen on them.
Hayato blinked in surprise—Nagato's technique had actually stopped him. But the cost was steep. Nagato's small body trembled, visibly thinner, drained from the effort. It was his first time unleashing Shinra Tensei with such force, and it burned through his life force like wildfire.
Hayato didn't care. Seeing his strike blocked only made him roar again. His other fist came crashing down.
"Shinra—damn it! Chibaku Tensei!!" Nagato gritted his teeth. Shinra Tensei had a cooldown period, and he'd already pushed himself past his limit. He couldn't use it again right away. Instead, he switched to another Rinnegan technique.
A black sphere of chakra formed above Hayato, releasing a massive gravitational pull. The force yanked at his body, trying to drag him upward, to imprison him within the forming satellite.
Hayato's enormous frame trembled under the pull. He let out a furious roar, stomping the ground so hard it split open. Then, with an earth-shaking leap, he hurled himself straight toward the growing Chibaku Tensei.
The technique's suction was already immense. Now, with Hayato's own momentum added to it, his body shot upward like a cannonball.
Nagato smirked coldly. "Fool. You might be powerful after transforming, but you've lost your mind. You're nothing more than a beast. Charging straight into Chibaku Tensei… you've sealed your own fate."
In the blink of an eye, Hayato reached the sphere. Raising his enormous fist, he roared and slammed it straight into the heart of Chibaku Tensei.
"....."