It's already too late.
On Nagato's body, a terrifying Chakra was brewing, blowing his red hair into the air. His Rinnegan widened, revealing sinister bloodshot veins.
A powerful pressure emanated from Nagato's Rinnegan, forming an invisible aura around him, causing the approaching Konoha Ninja to halt.
Nagato bit his finger, ignoring the restraining power of the Shadow Imitation Jutsu. He forcefully slapped his palm on the ground, shouting loudly:
"Summoning Jutsu: Gedo Statue!"
First, two enormous wooden palms broke through the earth, followed by a withered wooden body. The aura it emanated made one's soul tremble.
The gigantic demonic creature, like a towering mountain, opened its huge mouth and roared loudly, issuing a thunderous and terrifying bellow.
The sound waves transmitted through the air.
Dozens of Konoha Ninja were all blasted away by the sound waves caused by the creature, heavily falling onto the ground and stone walls, getting up in a disheveled state.
"Wh-what is that?"
The Root Ninja were utterly shocked.
It wasn't the size of the creature, but some unknown mysterious power that instilled a primal fear in them.
The creature lowered its head, and slender Black Rods were spat out from its mouth, accurately piercing into Nagato's back.
"AAAAAAHHHHHH!"
Whether it was the joy of the impending slaughter or the pain from the rods piercing his body, Nagato's scream didn't sound human.
"Is that kid out of his mind?"
"The Summoning Beast is actually attacking its master..."
The Konoha Ninja didn't dare to approach, believing Nagato was in a delusional, frenzied state.
But Nagato didn't care about what the Konoha Ninja thought; their thoughts were irrelevant.
A large amount of Chakra flowed from his body, conducted through the Black Rods piercing his back and into the creature's mouth, brewing some dangerous power within.
The Black Rods broke, and Nagato fell to the ground, gasping heavily.
His face became gaunt, and a chilling smile appeared on his lips, hideous and sinister.
"Die... all of you die..."
He cursed like this.
As the Konoha Ninja hesitated, the creature made new movements again.
Its huge mouth emitted a purple light, and a giant purple Chakra dragon suddenly flew out from the creature's mouth.
The flight speed of the purple Chakra dragon was incredibly fast, and in the blink of an eye, it engulfed more than a dozen Konoha Ninja in its body.
Their corporeal shells fell to the ground, as their ethereal spiritual bodies were devoured by the purple Chakra dragon.
"Run away! That thing can directly consume souls!"
Seeing this, the surviving Konoha Ninja were terrified, losing any will to fight, only thinking about how to escape successfully.
The purple Chakra dragon glided through the sky, and every Konoha Ninja it touched had their soul ripped from their body.
"Heavenly Attraction of All Creation!"
Nagato aimed his palm at the direction of the escaping Konoha Ninja, and their bodies were uncontrollably pulled toward Nagato.
They screamed in terror, and the purple Chakra dragon immediately flew past, leaving a deathly silence in its wake.
In less than half a minute, two squads of Root Ninja, along with the Shimura Clan—a total of dozens of Konoha Ninja—were completely wiped out.
Seeing the total annihilation of the Konoha Ninja, Nagato let out a sigh of relief and dispelled his Summoning Jutsu, allowing the monster spewing the purple Chakra dragon to vanish into white smoke, feeling lighter. Using this technique was still too strenuous for him—he almost couldn't sustain it.
"Nagato, are you okay?"
Konan rushed over to support Nagato's body.
Nagato's hands and feet were cold, his body emaciated, and his expression slightly twisted—one could imagine the immense pain he was enduring all alone.
"I'm... I'm okay, Konan... It's not safe here, let's go quickly..."
Nagato strained his body, indicating that he was fine.
Suddenly, he lifted his head and looked straight ahead, and Konan followed his gaze. The ground rose slightly, and a pitch-black humanoid figure emerged from the earth, revealing half its body.
Black Zetsu.