The King of Utmost Benevolence and Goodness (3K, 1100 Monthly Votes Bonus Chapter)

When Catherine saw Deva Path Pain float into the air, she had already sensed that something was wrong. She immediately pulled out the Magic Carpet hidden in her Backpack. Noticing Bai Cangshu watching her from the corner of his eye, she helplessly brought Hiranaka Hana and the heavily wounded Uchiha Itachi aboard before quickly fleeing.

According to her memories, the Super Almighty Push unleashed after fully absorbing all Chakra was a disaster-class ability capable of completely destroying an area spanning more than ten or twenty li.

In the original work, he had used this move to directly destroy all of Konoha.

This technique had already completely surpassed the bounds of Strong-tier. Though his main body was weak, the Rinnegan’s abilities were indeed absurdly powerful, allowing Nagato to unleash destruction on this level.

Catherine only worried that the Magic Carpet was not flying fast enough, but she forced herself to remain calm. She believed that if her guess was correct, if Mercenary Tao’s Main Mission truly was to protect the woman named Hiranaka Hana, then no matter what happened, as long as she remained with Hiranaka Hana, Mercenary Tao would certainly not allow that attack to strike them directly!

Bai Cangshu raised his head, watching Deva Path Pain unleash Super Almighty Push. Satsui no Hado nearly engulfed his entire body.

Satsui no Hado was precisely a special aura that could only be nourished through fighting and slaughtering powerful opponents like this.

Feed strength with strength, Kill to Feed Kill.

Deva Path Pain coldly pushed both hands forward, and destructive repulsive force erupted with a boom.

At the same moment, Bai Cangshu’s figure instantly appeared in the air, directly before Deva Path Pain.

He spread his hands, driving Cursed Technique: Blue at full power. Without Satoru Gojo controlling his body, the Limitless Cursed Technique imprinted within Bai Cangshu was still not clear enough. He could only use Blue, which was why he had never used Red to attack.

At that moment, under the amplification of his extremely twisted cursed energy, intense attraction instantly created a pitch-black sight before him. It was what ordinary people would see after the dense cursed energy had completely drawn in the surrounding air and manifested it.

Nagato did not care how Mercenary Tao would resist. He gently pushed forward, fully unleashing power capable of destroying a ninja village.

Boom!

Unlike when Shinra Tensei had previously collided with Jujutsu: Stop Force, this time, the entire space trembled at the same frequency. The destructive repulsive force acted indiscriminately upon every inch of air.

Bai Cangshu watched as the air before him shattered inch by inch under the two opposing forces. Those cracks seemed as though space itself had begun breaking apart, extending inch by inch from before Deva Path Pain toward him.

Under the effect of the Limitless Cursed Technique, they were continuously slowed, but every bit of space around Bai Cangshu—above, below, left, and right—kept fracturing. This repulsive force had no blind spots.

In an instant, the demands on the precision of his cursed energy rose geometrically.

Within Bai Cangshu’s Consciousness Space, Satoru Gojo leaned sideways against the Throne of the Heart. He could not seize control of this body, but when the other party had brought him into it, he had still been able to sense the outside world.

Seeing Bai Cangshu’s incomplete Limitless Cursed Technique struggling under such a destructive attack, the corners of his mouth rose into a teasing smile.

"Oh my, oh my. My technique isn’t so easy to handle."

He knew that this body’s owner had become Immortal Body to some extent, so he was not worried that his host would die and leave him as a lonely ghost. He was merely taking this rare opportunity to mock someone who was, in some sense, his kind—a freak who was just as out of place among everyone else.

Satoru Gojo deliberately tapped on the Throne of the Heart.

"How about giving control of the body back to me? I could probably handle a situation like this… maybe."

His words, which were impossible to tell whether they were arrogant or humble nonsense, were met with Bai Cangshu’s disregard.

Bai Cangshu smiled as he looked at Deva Path Pain’s impassive face. Feeling this terrifying attack powerful enough to pulverize the earth for dozens of kilometers, he gained a more direct understanding of what an energy like Chakra could achieve.

The conversion rate was quite high, but… its destructive power was insufficient.

Then, as Deva Path Pain’s expression changed slightly, Mercenary Tao actually spread his hands and dispelled that nearly invincible defensive ability.

Bai Cangshu had already sensed that Catherine’s Magic Carpet had flown far enough away, and it was in the same direction as himself. Unless the enemy was stupid, he certainly would not allow Hiranaka Hana to die.

Rather than struggle to withstand this difficult-to-block technique, he might as well use his Immortal Body to personally experience its power.

He raised his head toward Deva Path Pain—no, toward Nagato behind Deva Path Pain—and revealed an exceptionally cruel smile. Bai Cangshu was not merely cruel to others; he was equally cruel to himself.

"Nagato, I’m here to experience the pain you intend to inflict…"

His words sounded like the moving declaration of some hot-blooded shōnen protagonist, but his actions were those of a complete freak.

He released the Stop Force of the Limitless Cursed Technique. With his hands spread wide, he did not even use Iron Body, allowing the terrifying force of Super Almighty Push to slam into him.

Boom! Terrifying force appeared from every angle of his body in an instant, like a gigantic hand wrapping around his entire body and intending to crush Bai Cangshu to pieces.

Large amounts of epidermal cells began to die. Flame Dragon Scales activated at the same time, while crimson Solitary Jealousy Flame was also ignited. Bai Cangshu’s physique continually refreshed and rose, and his defense increased as well.

After a brief struggle, his skin cracked. Then, with the appearance of the first wound, blood sprayed out.

Pfft!

Bai Cangshu’s body was like a massive leaking balloon, crushed apart in midair by an enormous force before being blasted away by that powerful repulsion.

He crashed into the ground with a boom, and as the earth completely collapsed, he was buried underground.

Nagato stood frozen in his hiding place. He was beginning to find Mercenary Tao impossible to understand. Was this guy a completely insane lunatic?!

No, he could sense that Mercenary Tao had his own Logic when he spoke.

Yet this man, who clearly held life in utter contempt, who clearly possessed a space-time technique that could instantly change his position, who clearly had defensive abilities capable of hardening his body like steel, did not use any of them.

Just for the sake of… experiencing pain?!

Nagato found it absurd. He wanted to use this technique to make the world feel pain, but that pain should have been the torment and suffering others faced after losing things to this power.

How could anyone truly use their own body to experience the pain of Shinra Tensei?

The next moment, he understood why. The ground thousands of meters away exploded.

A fist thrust out from beneath the ground. Though blood still stained the arm, its flesh had already fully recovered.

Bang!

The earth exploded, and that tall figure with the cruel smile rose from the ground once more.

Nagato’s Chakra was depleted, and Deva Path Pain was temporarily unable to use other ninjutsu. The moment he descended from the sky, a figure had already appeared before him.

His Rinnegan trembled. Though he caught the other party’s movements, his body was stiff, and his Body Flicker Jutsu was no longer so fluid. In an instant, his throat was seized.

Having experienced the pain of nearly having every scrap of flesh across his body crushed, Bai Cangshu did not feel any lingering fear. Instead, he found it incredibly novel.

Perhaps some people did not understand that pain was also a unique sensation. Especially when it was not fatal, when you knew it would not result in any serious consequences, humans could also find pleasure in experiencing pain.

Just like when your muscles ached after exercise, yet you could not help repeatedly kneading and touching the sore spots.

Just like how certain lovers left behind special punishment games.

Pain was also a form of pleasure.

Bai Cangshu effortlessly lifted Deva Path Pain. This corpse had once belonged to Yahiko, and one of the tragic aspects of the Naruto World was that many Plot Characters died at very young ages.

These shōnen, who would not even be considered adults by real-world standards, began to think about what they should do to find happiness, and how to bring happiness to others, because of the world’s suffering.

It was precisely because they were young that their thoughts were incomplete.

But it was also precisely because they were young that this world was so dark.

When Bai Cangshu said that his Special Trial: Utmost Benevolence and Goodness suited him best, he had not been joking. In his eyes, such a dark world was simply perfect for someone like him!

In this kind of world, even he would not be constrained by any rules.

Ninjas had no principles to begin with. Today they shook hands and made peace; tomorrow they would fight to the death. Today they formed an alliance; tomorrow they would secretly violate it.

Holding Deva Path Pain, Bai Cangshu looked through those Rinnegan at Nagato, who controlled Pain. The cruel smile on his lips no longer looked like an act in Nagato’s eyes. This was someone cruel enough to treat everyone without distinction.

"Making the world feel pain is not something done on this level, Nagato…"

"If you want to accomplish that, you need to understand the Logic by which this world operates."

"The world has never stopped because ordinary people like you wailed and wept. Whether the world suffers or not has nothing to do with the ordinary people of the Land of Fire, the ninjas of Konoha, or even the so-called Naruto…"

"The world is only held in the hands of kings!"

Nagato stopped controlling Deva Path Pain and merely listened to the madman’s words.

At that moment, a huge figure appeared in the distance. It was a turtle covered all over in spiked shells, with three tails. It made tremendous commotion as it came ashore from the water, then walked across the shattered ground.

Standing atop that enormous turtle’s head was Uchiha Shisui, who had vanished several days ago.

Uchiha Shisui had only one eye open now, and several more wounds covered his body, but he had indeed successfully captured this tailed beast from Kirigakure.

Through the Rinnegan, Nagato saw that scene as well.

Bai Cangshu continued.

"Nagato, if you want the world to truly feel pain, then make the true kings of this world bleed."

"Only that will make the world think about pain and feel pain, heh…"

Because his Chakra was depleted, Nagato did not refute him. Strength was always the most powerful way to prove one’s words. Even the most foolish plan could truly be realized as long as the person proposing it was powerful enough.

Just as Senju Hashirama had distributed tailed beasts in an attempt to balance the villages, there had been no other restraints. Yet simply because Senju Hashirama possessed terrifying power capable of sweeping through the ninja world, every major ninja village had been forced to coexist peacefully with him.

At that moment, Nagato also began considering those so-called kings of the world…

He began to think about who truly started those wars, and who truly had the right to decide whether war would happen.

Bai Cangshu was still not satisfied. He shook Deva Path Pain’s body, making Nagato quietly listen to him.

"I have a plan, a plan of Utmost Benevolence and Goodness…"