Chapter 56

"Almighty Pull."

Pain raised his right hand, and an irresistible force yanked Kakuzu through the air. The threads of his Earth Grudge Fear writhed and strained, but it was useless against the pull.

"Almighty Push!" Just as Kakuzu was about to collide, a powerful repulsive force erupted from Pain. Kakuzu was sent flying even faster than he'd been pulled in, as if colliding with an invisible wall of steel.

Kakuzu spat a mouthful of dark blood, his insides feeling completely rearranged. His five hearts, to be precise, felt like they'd been ripped open. Two attacks had left the S-rank rogue ninja severely wounded and sprawling on the ground. His proud Earth Grudge Fear was utterly useless against Pain.

"You're strong. Very strong," Kakuzu rasped, managing to prop himself up, struggling to his feet. "But you can't make me submit." He thought, 'I fought the First Hokage and walked away unscathed. Even the First Hokage couldn't break me. I would rather die than surrender!'

"From now on," Pain said, his voice flat, "you will manage our organization's finances."

Kakuzu paused. "Deal."

The offer was just too good.

Pain remained silent. 'I should've just led with the money. I didn't even need to fight.'

As Kakuzu turned, his eyes widened and he froze. "What is that?"

Pain followed his gaze. On the distant horizon, a massive dark red orb, like a second, darker sun, was growing in the sky.

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The swirling dark crimson orb at Naruto's fingertip was his own creation, drawing inspiration from Frieza's devastating Planet Buster and Planet Destruction Ball, while also incorporating elements of Menma Uzumaki's Great Rasen Ring from the Limited Tsukuyomi world. He'd even used in his own unique understanding of malice, honed during his childhood, and the concept of the Spirit Bomb's energy absorption.

It had the terrifying ability to absorb malice and convert it directly into destructive power. In theory, the more malice it drew in, the more potent it became. This malice wasn't limited to his own, it could be directed at him, or at anyone else, as long as it was pure hatred. Any form of malice, regardless of its source, could be siphoned and transformed.

It was, at present, Naruto's most potent technique, a testament to his own ingenuity. He hadn't given it a name yet.

"Feel pain. Contemplate pain. Accept pain. Know pain!"

Floating in mid-air, Naruto began to chant softly, drawing out each word with deliberate slowness. His voice wasn't loud, but it resonated, clear as a bell, in the mind of every living person in Kusagakure. Even if they clamped their hands over their ears, even if they pierced their eardrums, Naruto's words still echoed within them. As long as there was life within them.

Naruto's mastery over Ki was truly remarkable. He had perfectly mimicked King Kai's signature technique. While he couldn't broadcast to the entire world, covering whole Kusagakure was more than sufficient for his purpose. 

As long as one lived, one possessed Ki. And where there was Ki, there was no escaping Naruto's perception. As long as they remained within his senses, they were forced to listen to every word of his chant.

With each word, dark crimson orb above Naruto's fingertip inched closer to Kusagakure. The technique itself wasn't slow, Naruto could have unleashed it in an instant. Its gradual descent was entirely intentional. He wanted to drown the Kusa-nin and Kusagakure in despair. He wanted to dismantle them piece by agonizing piece, to let them truly feel the crushing weight of their powerlessness against absolute strength. A swift, instant death would be too merciful.

Everyone had to pay for their sins.

Even those without chakra could feel the suffocating energy radiating from the orb. All activity ceased. Every eye turned skyward, fixated on the 'Dark Star' slowly descending. Despair wasn't the only thing blossoming in Kusagakure. Malice, raw and surging, fueled the orb, its dark crimson glow growing steadily larger, more ominous. 

In a morbid twist, the Kusa-nin were inadvertently contributing to their own destruction. As long as malice festered, as long as hatred burned, the orb's power would only continue to swell. Like a Spirit Bomb, it had no theoretical upper limit.

"Sto- stop it!" The Elder of Kusagakure pointed a trembling finger at the approaching orb, his voice a hoarse scream. 

The Kusa-nin who had been hiding in the shadows finally broke cover, running out into the open. They launched jutsu after jutsu at the sphere, but their attacks were swallowed without a trace.

They could only watch, helpless, as the massive orb of light descended.

Finally, some Kusa-nin broke. Unable to bear the crushing pressure, they abandoned all orders and bolted, sprinting desperately for the village outskirts. All thinking same 'I am still young. I don't want to die...'

'That's right. Nobody wanted to die.'

'Karin's mother hadn't wanted to die either.'

'But she died. Bitten to death by them.'

One broke, then a second, then a torrent. Kusa-nin scattered, fleeing in frantic desperation. The moment his foot crossed the village line, there was a wet *pop*.

A fine red mist hung in the air where his head had been. His headless body crumpled to the ground.

The hundreds of Shadow Clones Naruto had created weren't just for show. They formed a perimeter, a cage from which there was no escape.

"Hahaha... Kusagakure is finished!" The Elder collapsed, slumping to the ground as he pointed at the sky, his sanity finally shattering into peals of mad laughter. "We're all doomed! Hahaha!"

Naruto's voice echoed one last time, a final, chilling whisper.

"Let Kusagakure feel your pain Karin!"

"Almighty Retribution!"

Hearing the echo of 'Almighty Retribution' in his ears, and seeing his newly subdued subordinate, Kakuzu, cast him a bewildered look, Pain, who had merely been passing by Kusagakure, felt a faint, uncharacteristic ripple of confusion.

He gently pointed his finger downward.

The massive orb descended, enveloping the entire village in an instant. A blinding light erupted, and the very ground began to tremble, twist, and crack. Houses collapsed like sandcastles in a tide. The temperature soared, a searing, bone-deep heat that vaporized everything it touched. An earth-shattering roar followed as a colossal mushroom cloud of dust and fire rose into the air, climbing higher and higher as if to pierce the heavens.

"Hahaha, well done, you brat! After all this time, you've finally done something that brings me joy," Kurama's delighted laughter echoed, booming, within Naruto's sealing space.

He watched the blazing crater where a village had once stood, his expression one of pure, undisguised contempt.

'Harbinger's Bloom,' he thought, giving the technique its name. 'A preview of what's to come.'

"Filthy fireworks," he muttered.

Beside him, Karin looked up at him, her face full of adoration. In her eyes, he was not a monster, but a hero. The place that had brought her nothing but pain was gone. Her heart had never felt so light.

Kusagakure had been erased from the map.

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Narrator:

Naruto brought down Harginger's Bloom, malice-infused spirit ball vanishing it from elemental nations.

So… was that overkill, or just very enthusiastic urban planning?

Should Pain sue for intellectual property theft, or start taking notes?

Is it still genocide if no one misses them?

Find out more next time on...

"Villain Arc? No, this is the Closure Arc"

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