More than ten minutes later, Konan's several billion paper explosive tags were finally completely used up. The once imposing wooden construct now looked utterly dilapidated and broken.
Tsunade pressed a hand to her chest. Her rapid breathing made it feel as though she couldn't draw in enough air.
The massive chakra expenditure was making her want to fall into a deep sleep.
Compared to her, Konan was in considerably better shape. After all, those explosive tags were merely tools—her own expenditure wasn't even on the same level as Tsunade's.
One had to admit that when ordinary shinobi explosive tags were used in such enormous quantities, even Wood Release could not completely ignore them.
"Tsunade, it looks like you can't hold on any longer." Pain gazed at the weakened Hokage, feeling a trace of satisfaction in his heart.
In his eyes, only Tsunade had truly been his opponent. As for Kakashi—without his Sharingan, he was no longer someone Pain needed to take seriously.
Next would come the flattening of Konoha and the capture of the Eight-Tails and Nine-Tails.
"Cough... cough!"
"I am the Hokage of Konoha. As long as I still stand, I will not permit you to run rampant here."
Those words were probably the most difficult Tsunade had spoken in many years.
Even back in her youth when she, Orochimaru, and Jiraiya fought against Hanzo, she had never felt this exhausted.
"You are truly tenacious. I admire you as well, Tsunade."
"But now that you are about to fall, who else can be my opponent?"
A streak of lightning and a surge of water suddenly appeared from behind the wooden figure, then moved to stand in front of it.
The Fourth Raikage and the Fifth Mizukage had arrived!
"We are still here!"
"Don't get too arrogant, kid!"
After speaking, the Raikage shot a glance toward Terumī Mei. The two of them immediately charged straight toward Pain. From their earlier observations, they had confirmed that Pain's abilities had noticeable intervals between activations. After witnessing his battle with Tsunade, they refused to believe he had emerged completely unscathed.
As the fastest man in the current shinobi world, the Raikage's speed was truly fearsome.
In the blink of an eye, he was already in front of Pain.
"Lightning Cutter!"
His powerful arm swung down like an indestructible blade aimed directly at Pain's body.
"Too slow!"
The Rinnegan was not famous for nothing.
In Pain's vision, the Raikage's speed was merely somewhat faster than an ordinary person's. Surpassing his dynamic visual acuity? Utterly impossible.
He raised his hand.
"Shinra Tensei!"
A tremendous repulsive force erupted instantly, slamming into the Raikage.
*Crackle!*
The struck Raikage burst apart, turning into a shapeless mass of lightning.
"Lightning clone?" Pain's expression darkened slightly. He hadn't expected that muscle-headed Raikage would actually employ strategy.
At that moment, the original Terumī Mei suddenly transformed, changing from an enchanting beauty into a burly, muscular man. This was the Raikage's true body.
"Lightning Release: Lariat!"
Blue lightning crackled into existence. In the next instant the Raikage appeared beside Pain, his arm resting against the side of Pain's neck—like a close friend offering a sincere greeting.
Only they were not friends.
And the result of this "greeting"... was death.
*Splurt!*
With no resistance whatsoever, Pain's head fell to the ground in an instant.
Konan furrowed her brows. She was about to take action when something occurred to her. The white paper behind her formed into wings, lifting her and carrying her swiftly into the distance.
"Should we kill her?"
Terumī Mei appeared, gazing at Konan's retreating figure with a complicated look in her eyes.
This woman posed a threat to her in both appearance and strength—and she was an enemy.
The Fourth Raikage rolled his neck and answered, "No. That woman still has an enormous amount of paper on her. If all of it is explosive tags, I can't guarantee we'll come out unscathed. Besides, this Pain was just a clone. I don't believe there's any Rinnegan user who has more bodies than the Sharingan has eyes."
Mei nodded in agreement.
This was, after all, the Rinnegan—the eyes said to belong to the Sage of the Six Paths.
Throughout history, aside from the Sage himself, how many people in this world had ever possessed those eyes?
Combined with the intelligence shared by Konoha, the Raikage felt there was absolutely no need to pursue Konan. Just like how Deidara had once used his ultimate technique to devastate everything within a ten-kilometer radius—if this woman were to detonate all her remaining tags, he didn't believe Konoha would emerge intact.
"Hokage, how are you holding up?" Mei looked up at Tsunade, feeling a complicated pang in her chest.
"Yeah, Hokage. Last time you fought both me and that old man Ōnoki, your strength was far greater than what you've shown today. You didn't even use Sage Mode. Is there something wrong with your body?" the Raikage asked with feigned concern.
This question was a probe.
The wooden figure extended one arm and gently lowered Tsunade, setting her down in front of the two Kage.
"If the Raikage believes he can face Pain's real body head-on, then I won't mind giving you that opportunity... *cough cough!*"
Just after speaking, Tsunade coughed several times again.
Looking in the direction where Konan had disappeared, Tsunade's brows knitted tightly.
"I have a bad feeling there's an even more terrifying figure behind all this. If the Raikage can eliminate them... in the future, Konoha will be willing to acknowledge Kumogakure as the leader among the great villages."
Hearing those conditions, the Raikage's heart stirred for a single second—before he forcibly suppressed the impulse.
Are you kidding? Even Pain's clone was this troublesome. Without Tsunade dealing with the other clones, he had no confidence he could instantly defeat the Deva Path.
---
*Step!*
*Step!*
...
Inside the cave, powerful footsteps echoed from the distance.
Nagato sat quietly in front of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, staring calmly into the distance.
When the newcomer entered from the cave mouth, Nagato could only see long, flamboyantly styled hair and armor that belonged to the Warring States era.
Just from his silhouette, one could feel an indescribable sense of dominance.
Strong. Very strong.
"Who are you?"
Nagato asked softly.
It was precisely because of this person's arrival that he had stopped controlling the Pain clones and had instead recalled all his chakra, preparing to confront this newcomer.
By instinct alone, he knew—this was an enemy even stronger than Tsunade.
Kamizuki Hikari? No, not him.
"Who am I?"
"I am an Asura who came from hell. I am a demon who crawled out of underworld!"
"I once placed the hope of peace upon your shoulders, Nagato... and you have disappointed me!"
The figure stepped forward until he stood right in front of Nagato.
Only then did Nagato finally see his eyes clearly. See his face. See the overwhelming aura of dominance.
In that instant, a name flashed through his mind—
A name he had once considered pathetic, someone he absolutely did not want to associate with that name.
"So it was you... Uchiha Madara!"
"I never expected you would actually recall that name." A trace of appreciation flickered through Madara's gaze. Then he stared intently at Nagato. "Now... perform the Rinne Rebirth technique!"
"This rotten body brings me no joy in battle. Now that I have arrived, the shinobi world will kneel before me. And you... it is time for you to fulfill your duty."