Time rewinds to the battleground of Konan and Shiliew of the Rain.
Although the battle on Oden's side had ended, Konan's situation had reached a stalemate. Shiliew, seeing he was no match for Konan, cleverly chose to enter an invisible state.
Shiliew, in his invisible state, knew this couldn't go on, but it was his only option. He felt he needed time to think about how to deal with this troublesome enemy, as well as the Akatsuki Organization's leader, who had yet to make a move.
Shiliew felt he had been set up by the World Government this time. "The Akatsuki Organization's leader, with members of such strength, has a bounty of 380 million?"
Shiliew really wanted to violently output on the World Government personnel who set the bounty for the Akatsuki Organization's leader if he ever got the chance. This was a downright scam.
But whether he could escape was still a question. Shiliew could only ponder; if he could escape, he would have to use his invisibility.
Konan, seeing Shiliew disappear invisibly, was a bit at a loss for a moment.
Konan was also worried that Shiliew had escaped invisibly, so she reluctantly gave Pain a pleading look.
The meaning was clear: this person couldn't be defeated by her, but he was too shameless, only resorting to such underhanded tricks. It was better to leave it to Pain to finish quickly and, while he was at it, extract his Soul to get information about Blackbeard.
Pain understood Konan's meaning and said nothing more. With his right hand pointed at Shiliew's location, he activated Almighty Pull.
Shiliew, who was still invisibly contemplating, was sucked over by Pain before he could react. Pain's left hand produced a black rod, poised to insert it into Shiliew's body.
Shiliew no longer dared to remain invisible. He raised his hand and thrust a sword at Pain with extreme speed, but Human Path, who was nearby, was already prepared. With a casual wave, Shiliew's attack was deflected, returning without success.
Shiliew was about to withdraw using "Soru," but Pain's prepared attack would not allow Shiliew to have his way. When Pain sucked Shiliew over, he had already controlled Preta Path to lock Shiliew down.
Devour: Sandification World made Shiliew cry out in agony. To prevent Shiliew from retaliating in his dying moments, Konan also didn't stand idle; a bubble enveloped Preta Path and Shiliew.
Preta Path was a dead person, devoid of stamina, and thus immune to the power-weakening effect of Konan's bubble, but Shiliew's strength was completely suppressed under the dual pressure, unable to exert even a trace of power.
"No... don't kill... me, I... I have important information..." Shiliew, who had initially held onto the slim hope of escaping with his invisibility, felt a strong surge of survival instinct as death approached.
Pain did not give Shiliew a chance to live. Pain inserted a black rod, simulated with Chakra to resemble Sea Stone components, into Shiliew's body. Human Path reached into the bubble, and Shiliew's Soul was sucked away by Human Path before he could even scream.
Pain kept Konan's bubble active until Pain's Almighty Pull cooldown passed. Only then, when Pain began to extract the Devil Fruit energy, did he have Konan remove the bubble.
The powerful Shiliew of the Rain was easily killed by the combined efforts of Konan and Pain simply due to his severe lack of intelligence on the Akatsuki Organization and his underestimation of them.
Shiliew's crew of minor characters, who had been intently watching and cheering, suddenly discovered their Captain had been killed, his body slumped to the ground.
The minor characters lacked the courage to avenge their Captain. Terrified, they shouted for the ship to set sail and escape, but how could Pain and Konan grant their wish?
Pain gave Konan a look, and Konan, understanding, began the cleanup. Not long after, the sea returned to calm, and nothing related to Blackbeard could be seen, except for Shiliew's corpse.
The Devil Fruit in Pain's hand gradually took shape. It was a crystal-clear white fruit, shaped like an apple but several times larger.
Pain had already guessed from Shiliew's usage that this was a fruit that could grant invisibility. Pain considered the fruit's application, thinking it could be used in conjunction with Konan's abilities.
For example, for stealth attacks, Pain could have Konan act like a large tree, as in his previous life, with the Six Paths of Pain hidden within. Animal Path could then invisibly go to the enemy's stronghold or base, directly summoning the Six Paths of Pain and Konan for a surprise attack.
The more Pain thought about it, the more feasible it seemed. He then proceeded to use Shiliew's body to create Animal Path. Although Shiliew's body had some damage due to Devour: Sandification World, it was not a major issue, as Pain could repair it through Naraka Path.
In any case, the Souls of the low-level pirates that Pain had exterminated when he last created Asura Path were all stored by Human Path, so there was no need to worry about not having Souls for repairs.
Animal Path is the summoning medium for all Paths. Only Animal Path's summoning Ninjutsu can ignore spatial distance, allowing him to summon Demonic Beasts from other realms to fight for Pain.
Animal Path has two core Ninjutsu: one is "Summoning Technique," which utilizes the unique spatial properties of the Rinnegan to summon a large number of different types of Animal Path Summoned Beasts. At the same time, it can sign a contract with the summoned person to achieve the purpose of summoning.
Pain could also completely allow Akatsuki Organization members to sign summoning contracts voluntarily in the future. This way, whether it was for rescuing people or gathering everyone, it would be a good fallback.
The second core Ninjutsu of Animal Path is "Amplification Summoning Technique." Summoned Beasts, when attacked, will automatically multiply, becoming more numerous with each strike.
The Summoned Beasts summoned by Pain's Animal Path include: crabs, lobsters, chameleons, splitting dogs, Yatagarasu, rhinos, buffaloes, pandas, centipedes, etc., as well as people or beasts with whom contracts have been signed.
The Amplification Summoning Technique is only effective on Summoned Beasts; it does not work on people.
As of now, all Six Paths of Pain have descended. Pain's strength has also greatly surpassed his previous life due to the Six Paths' bodies consuming Devil Fruits.
Preta Path (Suna Suna no Mi), Human Path (Door-Door Fruit), Animal Path (Transparent Fruit), Asura Path (gluttony-gluttony fruit), Naraka Path (Rumble-Rumble Fruit). Only Pain himself chose to forgo consuming a Devil Fruit.
With such strength, if enemies are ignorant of Pain's abilities and slightly underestimate his presence, there is a possibility of being instantly killed.
The enemy's unfamiliarity with Pain's abilities will be the biggest reason for their frequent failures. For the forces of this world or the World Government to understand Pain's abilities or weaknesses, they may have to pay a very heavy price to find out.
World Government, Marineford
Akainu still received the CP0 investigation report and learned of the Akatsuki Organization's objective. Lucci and others ultimately chose to exchange intelligence for the opportunity to participate in the mission.
Akainu, who had not originally intended to involve CP0 in the upcoming operations, accepted Lucci and his group's terms at Staff Officer Tsuru's suggestion.
Staff Officer Tsuru simply told Akainu that there is strength in numbers and that CP0's desire for revenge was worth utilizing, thus increasing their chances of success.
After Akainu received the intelligence, Staff Officer Tsuru was summoned by Akainu to discuss the next steps. Now, personnel from all sides were ready, and it was time to decide which approach to take against Akatsuki.
"Staff Officer Tsuru, there are a few issues before us that are worth noting."
"The first issue: should we act now to capture everyone in the Akatsuki Organization, or pretend not to know their secret, wait for them to secretly build Pluton, and then reap the benefits?"
"The second issue: if we act now, should everyone be deployed, or should we let Hawkeye and Hancock deplete the enemy's strength before making our move?"
"The third issue: what if Kozuki Oden refuses to talk after being captured? Do we really have to kill him?"
After receiving the intelligence, Akainu pondered what to do next, but being indecisive, he threw the questions to Tsuru.
"Fleet Admiral, I believe there's a significant problem with your first question."
"If we don't act, the enemy already knows about CP0's infiltration, even though CP0 has withdrawn."
"But do you think the enemy will boldly and confidently build a warship?"
"For the second question, so far, besides knowing Kozuki Oden's strength, do we truly understand the strength of this organization?"
"Although our arrangements already show sufficient Pay attention to for this organization, since the enemy dares to openly confront our World Government..."
"Do you think the enemy would have no trump cards or strength?"
"As for the third question, well, we still have to catch him first..."
Staff Officer Tsuru, as expected, was shrewd and analyzed each of Akainu's questions thoroughly.
"Then, Staff Officer Tsuru, what do you think we should do?" Akainu, after hearing Tsuru's analysis, also understood the principle of specialization and asked in a teaching-like manner.
"What we need to do is very simple..."
"That is to have Mihawk, Hancock, and CP0 lure them out."
"They definitely need Materials to build a warship. Have the Marine auxiliary force mobilize and directly control the storerooms of every key shipyard. Once the enemy can't resist making a move..."
"Then, the Shichibukai and CP0 will test out their true trump cards."
"Kizaru and the Three Vice Admirals can then set off for Water 7 and act as the situation demands."
Tsuru calmly stated the plan that aligned with the World Government's interests... To be continued...