Seven Water Island, East Coast.
Pain brought Konan to a hidden spot not far from the Blackbeard Pirates. After unanimous discussion, everyone agreed with Golden Lion's suggestion.
Pain and the others decided to deal with these outsiders first, to prevent them from learning secrets or causing unnecessary trouble by interfering once the major battle began.
During yesterday's meeting, Konan compiled all the intelligence and formulated today's battle plan. Pain and Konan would deal with the people sent by Blackbeard.
Oden's disciples and Golden Lion were assigned to deal with the people from the Big Mom Pirates. Pain and the others did not underestimate the incoming forces, so they chose to deploy everyone.
As for the two Shichibukai, Pain and the others knew they were arranged by the World Government, so they chose not to move against them for now.
From the moment Konan's battle plan was established, it was destined that the people sent by Blackbeard and Big Mom would be crushed and eliminated.
Because the strength of both sides was completely imbalanced, not on the same level. However, Pain and the others were unsure of the strength of the people sent by the Four Emperors, hence this arrangement.
Pain did not bring Naraka Path and Asura Path this time. Pain left these two Paths on Sky Island, as they were a hidden trump card that Pain did not want to expose yet.
Pain and Konan were lurking here because Konan was using her ability to investigate the personnel structure of the enemy forces. Konan used her ability to control a paper crane, which flew onto Shiliew's pirate ship.
At this moment, Shiliew was in the ship's hold, listening to his subordinates' investigation report, completely unaware that enemies were already observing them in the dark.
After hearing the intelligence, Shiliew stood up and walked out of the hold, looking thoughtfully in the direction of Water 7. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a small paper crane perched on the mast, seemingly observing something.
Shiliew's eyes narrowed, and without any visible movement, the paper crane was already sliced into a pile of shredded paper, scattered on the ground.
Shiliew turned his head to look at the coast, knowing that the enemy had approached.
Konan sensed the destruction of the paper crane immediately. After telling Pain that they had been discovered, she and Pain openly walked towards Shiliew's pirate ship.
In Shiliew's line of sight, four figures gradually appeared, wearing identical uniforms and looking at him with cold expressions.
"Yo, you must be Pain, the leader of the Akatsuki Organization, right?"
"Is there something you need from me?"
Shiliew looked directly at Pain, pretending not to know the purpose of their visit.
"Clearing some obstacles to make the path wider," Konan answered Shiliew's question on behalf of Pain.
"Hehehe hahaha, clearing obstacles, huh?"
"How interesting. I didn't come looking for trouble with you, but you've delivered yourselves to my doorstep. Do you think my blade isn't sharp enough?"
"But it doesn't matter. After today, all of you will be dead men."
"I originally planned to see what secrets you held before acting, but now it saves me a lot of trouble."
After Shiliew finished speaking, he disappeared.
Konan looked at the vanished enemy, then at Pain with a puzzled expression.
"He's invisible due to some ability, but he's slowly approaching us," Pain explained Konan's confusion.
Shiliew's ability was a formidable trump card against other enemies, but he was currently within Pain's Rain Tiger at Will Technique, so every move Shiliew made was within Pain's perception.
"Leave him to me. I want to test this person's strength and see my own progress," Konan proactively requested Pain.
"Alright, I'll observe from the side. If there's danger, I'll intervene."
Pain trusted Konan's strength but also feared any unexpected incidents. After stating this unequivocally, he moved aside with the two Paths.
Just then, Shiliew's sneak attack arrived.
Shiliew's sneak attack succeeded, slicing Konan in half with a single strike, turning her into a flurry of scattered paper pieces.
Shiliew did not believe his opponent would be dealt with so easily. His body vanished again, retreating to a certain distance to observe.
Konan's true body reformed from numerous paper pieces in one spot. The Konan Shiliew had just sliced was both her true body and a paper Clone.
Shiliew looked at Konan, who could transform into paper pieces, and felt the same confusion Spandine once had: "What is this? An Ability User? A Paper-Paper Devil Fruit?"
No one answered Shiliew's question. With Shiliew in an invisible state, Konan was unable to track his movements with her Devil Fruit ability, and thus couldn't trap him in a bubble.
But Konan had already thought of a solution: Shiliew would surely reveal himself during his next attack. At that moment, she would control him.
To force Shiliew to show himself, Konan unleashed a large-scale "Dance of the Shikigami" to compel him to appear.
Although Shiliew was invisible, he could still use the Navy Six Styles.
When Konan launched her attack, he had already moved out of her attack range, lurking invisibly on the side, waiting for an opportunity.
Pain knew Shiliew was outside Konan's attack range but did not warn her, letting Konan fight freely. As long as there was no danger, Pain would not intervene.
The "Dance of the Shikigami" quickly ended. Seeing that Shiliew had not been forced out, Konan also knew that the enemy was not within the attack range.
As Konan was pondering how to deal with the upcoming battle, Shiliew's sneak attack appeared again.
This time, Shiliew was not just doing a normal slash. His hands were imbued with Intermediate Haki, and he launched a "Light Rain" attack towards Konan.
Konan was once again directly turned into paper pieces by this attack, reappearing on the other side. In Konan's perception, her body felt as if it had been sliced by many swords in an instant, as dense as fine rain falling upon her.
Because Konan had not anticipated Shiliew's attack trajectory, she still couldn't trap Shiliew with her ability.
Shiliew's attack failed, and he vanished instantly. He reappeared next to Konan again for another sneak attack, launching a "Rain Sword Heart" attack towards her.
"Rain Sword Heart" was one of Shiliew's ultimate techniques. Shiliew used his rapid sword drawing to stab 18 times within one second, each strike aimed directly at the heart, like raindrops falling on the same spot in an instant.
The power of this move, combined with the element of surprise, would easily cause anyone else to be hit and killed.
This move also appeared very suddenly, but after being ambushed several times, Konan gradually figured out Shiliew's attack trajectory.
Konan quickly created a giant bubble using her ability. This bubble became a battlefield, enveloping both Konan and Shiliew.
At the moment Shiliew revealed himself, a bubble also appeared on him. This bubble was supposed to envelop Shiliew, but it was pierced by Shiliew's "Rain Sword Heart."
At the same time, the remaining power of the attack struck Konan, turning her into scattered paper pieces.
If Konan didn't have her special Physique, which allowed her to ignore all physical attacks, anyone else would have been unknowingly severely injured by Shiliew long ago.
Of course, that 'anyone else' did not include Pain.
Shiliew wasn't feeling well either. After being enveloped by the large and small bubbles, Shiliew had a strange feeling. His eighteen powerful sword strikes seemed to have been significantly weakened, as if half of their power had been drained.
Then he felt as if the enemy had been stabbed to death before his eyes, with blood splattering everywhere.
When Shiliew came to his senses again, his body was once again enveloped by the strange bubbles, and the power within his body seemed to be rapidly draining, making Shiliew feel weak all over.
Without time to think, Shiliew divided a part of his Mental Energy to resist the strange feeling, while simultaneously Qi Gathering into his sword, launching a "Rain and Dew Equally Shared" attack with gathering momentum.
Shiliew's Sword Qi erupted all over his body, like countless raindrops bursting forth from within him, transforming into Sword Qi that shot in all directions. The bubbles were instantly shattered, and attacks scattered everywhere, but they did not kill the enemy as ideally expected.
Konan's body transformed into scattered paper pieces, finally reforming her figure calmly in the distance, watching Shiliew.
After unleashing his ultimate move, Shiliew was gasping for breath. Already in a state where he had lost considerable power due to being enveloped by the bubbles, forcing himself to Qi Gathering and unleash his ultimate move made him even more exhausted and powerless.
The consumption of Mental Energy resisting the illusion, coupled with physical exhaustion, everything was developing unfavorably for Shiliew.
Shiliew knew that this time, he had hit a wall... To be continued...