The streak of light racing from the horizon, rapidly closing in, instantly drew the attention of everyone on the battlefield—even the Deva Path, who looked up toward it.
Boom!
In an instant, the light crashed to the ground, kicking up a massive cloud of dust and smoke amidst a thunderous roar.
"Who is it?"
"Such powerful chakra!"
"Everyone, stay alert!"
The Hidden Sand shinobi's faces were filled with shock and uncertainty, their fear spreading like wildfire.
The appearance of the Deva Path, with his Eyes of the Sage, had already left them deeply unsettled. Now, with this new anomaly on the battlefield, they were becoming increasingly jittery.
The earlier clash between the Fourth Kazekage and 'Upper Rank One' had devastated the grassland's vegetation with gold dust, so the rising dust swirled and spread rapidly in the wind, faintly threatening to blot out the sky.
The Deva Path's brow furrowed slightly as he looked toward the spot where the light had landed, though the area was completely shrouded in dust, rendering his vision chaotic.
Unlike the panicked Hidden Sand shinobi, he remained unfazed.
Whether the newcomer was an ally of 'Upper Rank One' or not, it didn't matter to him. In fact, drawing out the powerhouse behind 'Upper Rank One' would save him the trouble of interrogating them.
Thus, he slowly raised his hand, aiming at the spot where the light had landed.
Whoosh!
But just as the Deva Path was about to unleash 'Shinra Tensei' to clear the dust and reveal the enemy who had arrived as a streak of light, a low sonic boom rang out. A flash of silver suddenly shot from the dust, piercing the Deva Path's body in an instant and pinning him to the ground.
"What!?"
Not only the Hidden Sand shinobi but even Itachi and Kisame, standing farther away, were stunned by the scene.
The strike was too sudden, too ferocious!
Only then did the onlookers notice that the silver flash that had struck the Deva Path was a silver metallic spear. After pinning him to the ground, it continued to emit powerful electric currents, crackling with a fierce sizzle as it formed a lightning cage that restrained the Deva Path.
At that moment, a figure clad in an ornate haori, with an ancient lamp hanging at their waist, slowly emerged from the dust.
The sunlight bathed their body without causing any reaction. Standing in the morning light, they coldly regarded the Deva Path, pierced by the silver spear. "It's over. This is an Ω-grade restraint device. You can't break free."
The Deva Path, impaled by the spear and controlled by the electric currents, struggled to turn his head to look at the mysterious figure.
The mysterious figure's brow furrowed slightly.
They noticed that the Deva Path, despite being restrained by their Ω-grade device, showed not the slightest trace of panic.
Farther away, Uchiha Shinji, who had hurried to the battlefield's edge, witnessed the mysterious figure's attack on the Deva Path.
"That was close…"
Staring at the Deva Path, pierced by the spear and nearly immobilized, Shinji felt a chill of relief.
Had he not been cautious from the start, masquerading as an Akatsuki member to eliminate demons and misleading the 'Lampbearer' from the Demon Slayer world, those bizarre tools would likely have been used against him.
The Deva Path's durability far surpassed that of an average shinobi.
In the original timeline, during Nagato's invasion of the Hidden Leaf, the Deva Path served as his proxy, enduring countless attacks from Naruto in Sage Mode and later in a berserk state, yet still maintaining combat capability. No other shinobi, not even Jiraiya—one of the Sannin—could have withstood such punishment.
Yet, despite this, the Deva Path was so thoroughly restrained by the 'Lampbearer's' spear that even turning his head was a struggle, rendering him seemingly combat-incapacitated. Had it been Shinji, the mysterious figure's words—"It's over"—might have been true.
Whoosh.
Suddenly, another figure descended from the sky, landing steadily beside the Deva Path.
"How is this possible!?"
Everyone present was shocked.
The newcomer not only wore the Akatsuki's red-cloud cloak but, like the Deva Path, also possessed the Eyes of the Sage!
Shinji, however, wasn't overly surprised.
He recognized the figure as the Animal Path, one of the Six Paths of Pain. He even spotted, in the far distance, the Asura Path, Hell Path, Human Path, and Preta Path, who had thrown the Animal Path to the battlefield.
The mysterious figure on the battlefield, upon seeing the Animal Path, felt a jolt of realization.
At that moment, the Animal Path, freshly arrived, didn't rush to free the Deva Path. Instead, they quickly formed hand seals and pressed their hands to the ground. "Summoning Technique!"
Poof.
With a surge of white smoke, the Asura Path, Hell Path, Human Path, and Preta Path were summoned directly to the battlefield.
With that, the Six Paths of Pain were fully assembled!
Whether it was the Hidden Sand shinobi, Itachi, or Kisame, none could hide their shock. If the Deva Path's appearance had stunned them, the gathering of the Animal Path, Asura Path, Hell Path, Human Path, and Preta Path transformed their shock into outright horror!
One pair of Eyes of the Sage appearing in the shinobi world might be acceptable, but six pairs at once was simply terrifying!
Shinji, meanwhile, rapidly assessed the situation in his mind.
The Six Paths of Pain were undeniably one of the strongest forces in the shinobi world at present. In the original timeline, they nearly single-handedly razed the Hidden Leaf Village, a feat that cemented their strength as surpassing Kage-level.
But their opponent this time was no pushover!
The mysterious figure's swordsman attire and the markings on their forehead indicated mastery of Breathing Techniques and the activation of the Demon Slayer Mark, likely granting them access to the 'Transparent World.' Moreover, they had almost certainly seized the Demon King's power from Muzan Kibutsuji, making their strength undoubtedly greater than that of the demonized Tanjiro, 'Upper Rank One.'
In other words, they were likely the strongest being in the Demon Slayer world!
Or rather, the strongest demon!
That alone was manageable, but the real trouble was their identity as a 'Lampbearer.' Being a 'Lampbearer' meant they possessed infinite possibilities.
Even the Six Paths of Pain didn't have guaranteed odds of victory!
Thus, Shinji realized that to ensure victory, he needed to draw more shinobi world forces to the battlefield to collectively take down this Demon King from the Demon Slayer world!
Poof.
Without hesitation, Shinji activated the 'Shadow Clone Technique,' creating ten shadow clones and sending them in different directions to request aid from nearby shinobi forces.
Thanks to 'Jikibi' and his subordinates scattered across the Land of Grass, he knew exactly which villages' shinobi armies were nearby—better than anyone else currently on the battlefield.