Under the sky, besides the chameleon corpse that had been cut in two and was spraying blood, there was also a petite body falling down. The Animal Path... its hiding place had been found from the very beginning.
Kusuo took a step forward. Since it was clear that he was going to wipe out Pain, there would naturally be no probing.
One slash.
"Sun Breathing, Eighth Form! Blooming Flame Undulation!"
His arm trembled. The sword danced like a spider lily, a magnificent flower of the blade piercing the air, splendid beyond compare. In an instant, a sword aura like a sea of blooming fire wheels leaped out.
SWISH!
Under the slash, the sword aura was cold, carrying a magnificent light. Like a streaking meteor, it instantly smashed towards the body of the Animal Path.
"Dance of the Shikigami! Paper Shield!"
A calm, magnetic female voice sounded.
Hoo~
Countless pieces of paper flew through the sky. The pure white pieces of paper were like countless butterflies, stacking on top of each other one by one, forming a shield comparable to the heavy armor of the Warring States period, standing firm in front of the emotionless body of the Animal Path.
Each of Pain's bodies was hard to come by. It could be said that their original selves were all very strong, so it was not so easy to find a suitable body to control. If losses could be reduced, it was naturally for the best. Just like that, Konan had used her strongest defensive jutsu from the start, wanting to block this magnificent sword aura.
The soft pieces of paper, imbued with Konan's chakra, became abnormally tough. Layer after layer was stacked, its thickness reaching several meters, even stronger than steel.
BOOM!
Then, under the watchful eyes of all, the crimson sword aura brazenly bombarded the Paper Shield cast by Konan.
CRACKLE! CRACKLE!
The sound of thin cracking rose and fell. The sound of the sword aura cutting through each piece of paper was so piercing. So piercing that the corner of Konan's mouth, which had just lifted, suddenly froze.
One second. Two seconds. Three seconds.
It couldn't hold.
The Paper Shield, on which she had placed such high hopes and confidence, was actually pierced by one slash, shattering from the middle and scattering on the ground, forming a sea of white paper. It, which was comparable to the defense of Rashomon, had actually been cut open by Kusuo's slash.
This scene was incomparably shocking.
Jiraiya was also stunned. He pondered. When he had encountered this move before, he had used all his tricks and had only barely managed to break it. How was it that in this brat's hands, it had become as weak as paper? Wait... this move really is made of paper.
SWISH—
The sword aura was unstoppable. After breaking through the Paper Shield, it shot into the sky, still wrapped in an astonishing sword pressure as it slashed towards the body of the Animal Path.
The strange, ripple-like pupils of the Animal Path showed no emotion. It still clasped its hands together and slammed them on the ground.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
POOF!
Another puff of white smoke flashed past. A giant panda body appeared in front of the Animal Path. With its arms spread wide, facing the other side, it stood in front of her. The Summoning Panda puppet. It was one of the Animal Path's strongest defensive skills, the strongest defensive technique among all the Six Paths of Pain.
This move... should be able to block Kusuo's sword aura, right? Konan had just thought this.
The sword aura had already slashed onto the panda's body.
SIZZLE—
Another familiar scene. Like winter snow melting, carrying an astonishing scorching heat. One slash. Just one slash. The sword aura, as brilliant as a solar flame, easily and directly melted the panda's body, and with the momentum of Mount Tai crashing down, it brazenly chopped towards the body of the Animal Path.
BOOM!
World-shaking. A violent tremor and sound. Accompanied by the sizzling sound of metal being cut and melted. White smoke and mist filled the scene.
Konan frowned and squinted her eyes, desperately wanting to know what was going on there. When the smoke and dust had cleared, the scene of ruins made her pupils suddenly contract.
And she saw... one was a bottomless metal giant crater, with sharp and irregular steel lying there. Inside, there was a body that had been destroyed beyond recognition, from which one could barely make out that it was the body of the Animal Path, dressed in an Akatsuki robe.
This... Jiraiya was dumbfounded. Throughout the entire process, he had been a complete bystander, not even getting a hand in at all. As one of the Sannin... to one day become someone else's foil.
This brat Kusuo...
One slash had broken through all the efforts made by the enemy.
Sun Breathing. He had defeated one of the Pains.
"Dance of the Shikigami! Capture!"
Konan's gaze narrowed. She gave a deep look at the red-clothed boy on the ground, then commanded a large number of paper sheets to begin to gather. In the blink of an eye, she had grabbed the damaged Animal Path and taken to the sky. With a large amount of chakra applied, the paper sheets were focused on speed, so they disappeared very quickly.
Jiraiya saw Konan's objective. He stomped his wooden geta sandals on the ground, clapped his hands together, and shouted, "Ninjutsu! Wild Lion's Mane Technique!"
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
Countless strands of white long hair grew wildly from his head, shooting towards Konan's position in the air like sharp needles.
Konan's gaze was cold, not flustered at all. Her mature, almond-shaped mouth parted slightly, "Dance of the Shikigami! Paper Shuriken!"
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
In the sky, countless white paper sheets also transformed into sharp shuriken in mid-air, piercing through Jiraiya's hair with a rustling sound. The two sides canceled each other out, and a shower of hair and paper fell to the ground.
Immediately, Konan controlled the white paper, and flew into the distance with the ruined body of the Animal Path.
Kusuo stood below, watching quietly, not in a hurry. After all, according to Nagato's personality, he was too confident, too arrogant. He, who proclaimed himself a god, would not do something like flee in the face of battle. He would control the Naraka Path to repair the body of the Animal Path, and there would surely be another round of fighting.
"No need, Jiraiya-sensei. Let's go," Kusuo said, stopping Jiraiya's action as he was about to form a seal to shoot a fire jutsu at the opening Konan had flown through.
"Mm." Jiraiya calmed down. He had already fought them once before. He understood that Pain definitely had more than one body, and also had a mysterious and unpredictable repair ability. In short... Pain couldn't be killed. Besides, he could only vaguely sense that there was someone controlling Pain's main body. He couldn't be completely sure that they were made of corpses.
To this, Kusuo, who knew everything, picked up his sword and continued to walk in the direction Konan had flown. In any case, if they continued forward, they would sooner or later meet again. The bodies of the Six Paths of Pain each had their own abilities, were powerful, mysterious, and had frequent new tricks. It seemed very difficult to deal with. But as long as one found the correct method, it was actually very easy to break.
...
"Nagato, I suggest we immediately abandon this place. Don't take unnecessary risks."
In the tallest metal tower, Konan had already brought the damaged body of the Animal Path to Nagato.
In front of him, Nagato's head of white hair had completely lost its vibrant red color, becoming pale and dry. His eyes were sunken. He had the appearance of someone whose body had been completely hollowed out. But the pair of light purple, ripple-patterned eyes in their sockets still radiated an ultimate, heart-pounding fluctuation. That was the power of the Rinnegan, once mastered by the Sage of Six Paths.
"No! I've decided to completely finish off Jiraiya-sensei and that brat here," Nagato's tone was weak, but firm.
"Nagato!" Konan shouted in a low, anxious voice, wanting to say a few more words of persuasion.
But... Crack, crack, crack. After a sound of chewing, the giant mouth of the King of Hell's summoning shadow opened wide. The body of the Animal Path, which had just been shattered by a sword slash, was restored again, walking before everyone completely unharmed.
The Naraka Path opened its mouth and released its fingers. The King of Hell's shadow slowly dissipated.
One, two, three, four... In the room, there were now six figures dressed in Akatsuki robes, with Rinnegan eyes.
Pain, the Six Paths.
-------
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