Naruto: Talent Entry Perks

"Afei, how can I restore your energy?"

In the Hidden Rain Village, Nagato—now acclimating to his renewed body—flew swiftly toward the battlefield. After gaining confidence in his form, he finally spoke.

He realized just how powerful Afei was. Without Afei's armor and chakra, he might be weak again, even relearning to walk. But now, his body was strong, swift, and the Wood Release awakened by Hashirama's cells felt more refined than ever.

Nagato wondered how formidable they'd be once Afei fully recovered.

"Afei, how do I restore your strength?" he asked again.

"There are only two options," Afei replied honestly. "I can absorb your chakra like you did mine earlier—especially your Yang and Wood chakra—or, you can channel the chakra of the tailed beasts through your Hungry Ghost Path. Their chakra is pure—the yin‑yang balance forms the tailed‑beast jade within them."

Nagato nodded, then left the village behind.

He had mastered his new abilities. Rather than simply flying, he transformed his Shura Path arms into twin flame‑propelled cannons and blasted toward the battlefield like a jet.

As his chakra aura neared, everyone noticed. Even spies and ninjas paused:

"What… is that?"

"That kind of chakra… like a tailed beast."

"Is he the real Akatsuki leader?"

Inside the battlefield, even Akatsuki members stared in awe:

"Is he our true leader?"

"That chakra fits the Sage‑Eye owner."

Konan, flying overhead, covered her mouth, tears in her eyes: "Nagato… amazing!"

Nagato responded with a gentle, confident tone: "Konan, well done—I'll take over now." She nodded and retreated—Nagato's only vulnerability was gone.

He then announced loudly: "Akatsuki, fall back."

They all turned into afterimages and withdrew. So did the Raikage's forces:

"Evacuate! Return to the Land of Lightning now!"

Even the ninja puppets vanished, teleported off‑screen. Only five remained on the field: Nagato above; Izayoi on the ground; and the AB duo plus two Yukitos forming a triangle around him.

Izayoi watched intently, small bubbles flickering around Nagato—likely hidden status indicators. Suddenly the ground shook as Nagato descended with a heavy crash.

"Tianyin!"—the Gravity Pull Technique echoed.

But Killer Bee, not Izayoi, was lifted and swallowed into the dust.

Raikage shot in after him—but Nagato's first strike was not at Izayoi but at the Raikage team.

Laser energy erupted. Killer Bee—halved-tailed—fired his chest beam at Nagato's laser: BOOM! The explosion rattled all onlookers and shook the island.

Killer Bee attempted to rise but the ground erupted with wooden roots tying him down as Nagato declared:

"Wood Release: Silent Killing Binding Technique! Eight‑Tails Jinchūriki, lend me your chakra!"

The chakra of Bee drained swiftly, transforming Afei's energy. Nagato smiled as the armored clone revived.

He hurled the bound Bee to the Fourth Raikage, who caught him and stared at Nagato. But Nagato focused only on Izayoi, breezily warning the Kumogakure trio:

"You should retreat—the next fight won't be safe for you."

Fourth Raikage, stunned, replied: "I am the Fifth Kage!" He ordered Bee carried away by the Yukitos in retreat.

Left standing: Izayoi, Nagato, and the Raikage. Both Izayoi and Nagato ignored the Raikage, fixing their gaze on each other.

Using the Rinnegan, Nagato scanned Izayoi's pupil and chakra strength. Izayoi, exhilarated, analyzed Nagato's visible status panel:

Rinnegan (gold)

Super‑Shadow Qualification (gold)

Chakra Control (gold)

Bloodline Genkai: Wood Release (dual‑gold)

Ninjutsu Master (purple)

Uzumaki, Senju, Otsutsuki bloodlines (purple)

Psychic Master, Seal Genius, Medical Genius, Puppet Genius, Illusion Genius, Physical Genius (blue/purple)

A total of 14 attributes—worthy of a top‑tier boss.

Izayoi noticed Nagato's golden‑level Wood Release, likely amplified by Afei's shared chakra. He was impressed.

Finally, Nagato spoke, testing Izayoi:

"Your eyes aren't Samsara Eyes—how do you know about the Outer Path Statue? Was it on the moon? What do you know of its powers?"

Afei, fearing Nagato would expose the statue's moon origin, interrupted:

"Chief, why talk? Just grab him with Human Path and search his soul!"

Nagato nodded, and summoned the Earth:

"Wood Release: Sea of Trees!"

A massive wave of living wood exploded from the ground, targeting Izayoi.

Izayoi responded: breathtakingly unleashing a Shinra Tensei-level repulsive storm.

Two repulsion forces—Nagato's and Izayoi's—collided. Instead of dissipation, they formed a tangible, hemispheric shield, moving swiftly like a colossal light barrier.

The Fourth Raikage, caught off guard, was slammed far away, forced to use terrain to block the whirlwind.

The shield blasted the battlefield clean: corpses, puppets, earth—everything was swept aside.

Izayoi and Nagato disappeared into scattered dust, now just two dots on the horizon.

The Raikage thought: this must've been what facing Founding Hokage felt like…

Observers murmured:

"Is this the leader's true power—the Sage Eye plus Wood Release?"

"Is this the New‑Era Valley of the End duel?

The mood among the Akatsuki members wasn't much better than that of the Fourth Raikage.

Even the usually arrogant Hidan turned to Kakuzu in disbelief:

"Kakuzu, you fought with the First Hokage… how did you survive?"

"…"

Kakuzu remained silent.

Whoosh—

Back on the battlefield, Nagato and Izayoi had already begun their fierce duel.

As the repulsive storm faded, Nagato's hand—which had just released the technique—unleashed a gravitational force that pulled Izayoi off the ground toward him.

At the same time, his other hand, which had mechanically transformed into a cannon, fired a giant laser at Izayoi.

He was testing whether Izayoi's eyes possessed the Hungry Ghost Path—the power to absorb ninjutsu.

At this level of combat, information was crucial. For Super Shadow‑level opponents, the fight wasn't just brute force—it was about intelligence.

Just as Nagato fired, his own feet lifted off the ground and he launched himself forward.

Izayoi raised one hand to counter with gravity and formed a water dart with the other.

Water Style: Hard Vortex Water Blade!

Seeing the water dart coming at him, Nagato immediately canceled the Shura Path laser and converted gravity into repulsion. A transparent wall of force blasted the projectile away and barreled toward Izayoi.

Izayoi did the same—his own gravity turned into a repulsive wave.

Their opposing forces collided again, forming another dome-like transparent white shockwave.

But unlike before, this time the barrier vanished quickly after forming.

Both combatants landed and silently confirmed one another's limits.

Nagato could use both the Deva Path and Asura Path simultaneously—but not the Deva Path and Hungry Ghost Path together.

If he had to choose, absorbing ninjutsu to replenish chakra would be more efficient than spending it.

It seemed his Rinnegan either didn't include the Hungry Ghost ability—or he was holding it back.

Both men rushed toward each other once more, as if wordlessly agreeing: repulsion alone wouldn't decide the outcome. They needed more.

The Samsara Eyes allowed them to see chakra clearly. If either one began molding chakra for a technique, the other would instantly notice.

Since neither began any complex chakra changes, both opted for close combat.

Nagato, empowered by the Asura Path and Afei, launched a heavy straight punch.

But Izayoi, as though foreseeing it, didn't counter with brute force.

Instead, he feinted a strike, left behind an afterimage, and vanished.

Nagato's punch missed. Several wooden branches extended from his arm, stabbing through the afterimage like snakes.

Izayoi reappeared behind him and didn't strike with taijutsu—instead, lightning flickered in his hand as he threw a spear.

Lightning Style: Chidori Sharp Spear!

The bolt flew at high speed—but didn't pierce Nagato.

It stopped short, hitting a transparent white shield.

This wasn't repulsion. It emitted suction—drawing the spear's lightning chakra in and absorbing it into Nagato's body.

Then, Nagato's back squirmed. His cloak turned pale and split open as it spit out a barrage of long wooden spikes toward Izayoi.

Wood Style: Cutting Technique.

The surprise attack from close range left Izayoi slightly off guard.

Seeing the swarm of spikes close in, he immediately released Shinra Tensei.

The repulsive force knocked away both the wooden spikes and Nagato himself.

But Nagato, midair, already had his hands together.

He turned and hurled a small black sphere into the sky.

"Chibaku Tensei!"

The black sphere froze in midair, then radiated gravitational force like a black hole.

The ground cracked and rocks began rising.

Izayoi launched another repulsion wave to scatter the debris and hit the black sphere, but it only trembled and floated higher.

It continued pulling everything into the sky.

Izayoi couldn't stop it—and didn't have time to charge a stronger attack.

More importantly, Nagato wouldn't give him the chance.

Nagato landed outside the gravitational zone. Two shadow clones formed on either side and spat out five elemental chakra types.

The five streams merged into a massive multicolored wave that roared toward Izayoi—propelled by the Chibaku Tensei's gravitational force.

Above was the forming satellite; below, the Five Release Wave.

Even if Izayoi blasted away the wave, he'd be captured by Chibaku Tensei.

Only one option remained—Flying Thunder God Technique—but it would take time to return, and ruin his image after previously mocking others.

Yet, Izayoi only smiled and calmly raised a hand toward Nagato.

In the next instant, Nagato was yanked into the sky—pulled directly into the Chibaku Tensei's gravity field.

"Impossible! How can his Tensei Tensei have such a wide range?!"

Nagato panicked.

Even in his prime form, his own gravitational pull had limits.

Not only that—even with four shadow clones using gravity, they couldn't pull him back.

Izayoi's gravity was in a completely different league.

"Chief, this is a great opportunity—go with it!" Afei shouted excitedly.

Nagato gave up resisting. Instead, he built up chakra to unleash repulsion at the perfect moment.

But Izayoi's next move surprised both of them.

He puffed out his cheeks—and spat out a dense cloud of black dust.

Fire Style: Dust Hiding Technique.

The dust obscured vision—but not from a Rinnegan user. Nagato still saw Izayoi's chakra clearly.

He knew Izayoi wouldn't use a weak trick.

A flicker of flame appeared inside the dust—followed by four more flames of different colors.

They spun around the orange flame, merged, flashed with multicolored light, turned purple-black—then exploded into a blinding white light.

BOOM———

An earth-shaking explosion rang out.

Akatsuki members, Cloud Ninjas, and spies shielded their eyes. Through their fingers, they saw a massive light sphere like the midday sun.

Those with high chakra perception were trembling.

"What insane chakra nature change is this?!"

"Even a Tailed Beast Bomb isn't this intense!"

"It's getting bigger! Will it reach us?!"

"Wait—it's shrinking! Thank goodness!"

The light sphere, before reaching its max size, shrank like a balloon.

As it reduced to person-size, a black silhouette appeared.

The white light transformed into a transparent shield—and Nagato stood inside, having used the Hungry Ghost Path to absorb everything.

Izayoi, Chibaku Tensei, and the Five Release Wave—all gone.

Having absorbed two high-level techniques, Nagato's chakra surged stronger.

He landed and looked up.

The sky had turned orange. Without warning—fireballs began to fall.

Meteors rained from the heavens.

In the eyes of those watching from afar, orange streaks crossed the sky.

The Cloud Ninja Corps immediately recognized it—gritting their teeth in fear and fury.

"Is this… the end of the world?"

"Can this really be called ninjutsu?!"

Spies from other nations were just as shaken.

Even the Akatsuki were frozen in disbelief.

Except for Deidara, who yelled in excitement:

"Brother Scorpion, look! A meteor shower! So artistic and beautiful!"

"Idiot… whose side are you on?" Sasori muttered. But even his eyes were filled with awe.

This was beauty—eternal or fleeting—at its peak.

Nagato asked calmly, "Afei, can we stop this?"

"If the chief and I work together, we can!" Afei replied.

Nagato smiled, "What do I need to do?"

"Just pour in chakra!"

At his cue, Nagato clapped his hands and released vibrant Wood Release chakra.

Then, together with Afei, their voices merged:

"Wood Style… Tree Realm Descends!"

RUMBLE——

Green serpents of wood surged toward the sky.

From above, meteor rain.

From below, a wave of trees.

Red and green like two colliding forces—like Heaven and Earth crashing together.

All three sides watching were left speechless, finally understanding what it meant to reach *Super Shadow-Level Combat Power—*the realm of the God of Shinobi.