Stepping onto the soil of the Land of Rain once more, Nagato felt as if a lifetime had passed.
He recalled the early days, when the Akatsuki—under Yahiko's leadership—ran tirelessly across this land in pursuit of peace.
But now Yahiko was dead, the Akatsuki had been destroyed, and the skies over the Land of Rain remained forever shrouded in gloom.
"What are you thinking about?"
Hearing Yuzuru's voice, Nagato came back to himself and answered quietly, "Nothing. I was just feeling a bit sentimental."
Yuzuru replied calmly, "The enemy this time is Hanzō the Salamander. Even with your current strength, don't underestimate him."
Nagato nodded firmly. "I understand."
Yuzuru nodded and tossed a scroll into Nagato's hands. "This contains intelligence on Hanzō the Salamander. Look it over and think about how you want to approach the fight."
With that, he continued walking toward Amegakure.
Nagato followed behind him and began reading the scroll.
Although he had grown up in the Land of Rain, he didn't actually know much about Hanzō.
He only knew that Hanzō once initiated the Second Great Ninja War and even defeated the current Three Sannin of Konoha—earning the title of 'Demi-God.'
Fighting someone of that level was no trivial matter.
Their pace was quick. In just half a day, they reached Amegakure.
"Yuzuru, I will conceal myself here."
Nagato found a hidden location, set up his camouflage, and hid.
Then he took out a sealing scroll he had prepared long ago.
"Summoning Jutsu: Six Paths of Pain!"
Six corpses appeared in front of him instantly.
According to the intelligence, Hanzō of the Salamander's most intimidating power was his poison.
A single breath of it was enough to render a shinobi unable to fight.
But the Six Paths of Pain were the perfect counter to Hanzō's poison.
No matter how deadly the toxin, it could not affect corpses.
Once everything was ready, Nagato sent the Six Paths of Pain toward Hanzō's base.
Although the bodies used for the Six Paths differed greatly from the originals, Yuzuru's influence ensured they still wore the iconic black cloak with red clouds of the Akatsuki.
Combined with the faint purple glow of their Rinnegan eyes, their presence was overwhelming.
After easily eliminating all guards outside the base, Yuzuru and Pain finally confronted Hanzō the Salamander.
The man was completely wrapped up, and his mouth was covered by a specialized gas mask.
Upon seeing Yuzuru and the Six Paths, Hanzō's pupils contracted.
"Uchiha Yuzuru?"
"What are you doing here?"
Yuzuru answered calmly, "I'm only here as an observer. He's the one looking for you."
Following Yuzuru's gesture, Hanzō froze—and then stared in disbelief.
"Those eyes…"
"What is your relationship with Nagato of the Akatsuki?"
"That has nothing to do with you." The Deva Path stepped forward, his voice icily calm. "Hanzō the Salamander, today is the day you die."
Hearing this, Hanzō immediately charged toward the Deva Path with his scythe.
He didn't know why Yuzuru had arrived with these six figures, but he had to kill them before Yuzuru could change his mind.
"Water Release: Water Shockwave!"
A razor-sharp blade of water swept out. The Preta Path stepped forward and spread his arms.
"Blocking Technique Absorption Seal!"
The water blade was absorbed instantly.
"So you can absorb ninjutsu…" Hanzō's expression didn't change as he swung his scythe at the Preta Path.
Just as the scythe was about to cleave into the Preta Path, the Asura Path rushed in.
He let the blade cut into his body, grabbed Hanzō tightly, and then his head split open—firing a laser cannon point-blank.
But in the next second, only a puddle of water splashed onto the ground.
"A water clone…"
The Deva Path murmured.
Suddenly, a massive salamander burst from underground and devoured the Asura Path whole.
Then its massive jaws spewed a flood of toxic mist, swallowing the remaining Paths.
"It's over."
Hanzō's stare was cold.
Apart from Tsunade of Konoha and that old puppet hag of Sunagakure, no one could survive his poison.
"Whether it's over or not is for me to decide."
A cold voice echoed from within the mist. Hanzō's eyes widened as he looked toward the top of the salamander's head.
The poison dispersed, revealing the five remaining Paths—completely unharmed.
Remembering the laser fired from the Asura Path's head earlier, Hanzō murmured in disbelief, "You… all of you are puppets?!"
The Deva Path replied expressionlessly, "Stop struggling. Your defeat is already certain."
"You insolent brats. The ones who will lose… are you." Hanzō snorted coldly. "Fire Release: Exploding Flame Formation!"
An explosion erupted beneath where the salamander had appeared, engulfing the Human Path and Preta Path in flames.
Hanzō flickered forward with his scythe, appearing before the Deva Path.
"Sword Technique: Iai Slash!"
It was blindingly fast—Hanzō had once used this very strike to defeat the famed swordsman Mifune in an instant.
"You don't honestly think you can defeat me, do you? Ridiculous." The Deva Path raised his hand coldly. "Almighty Push."
A massive repulsive force blasted Hanzō away, smashing him through several walls before he finally came to a halt.
"Kh—!"
Hanzō spat blood. His gas mask shattered.
As the Deva Path approached, Hanzō ground his teeth. "Are you avenging your comrades from the Akatsuki? I… had my reasons for killing them!"
The Deva Path paused. "What?"
"It was Shimura Danzō of Konoha. He sent a message, saying that if I destroyed the Akatsuki, Konoha's shinobi would withdraw from the Land of Rain."
"Everything I did was for peace in this land!"
"Peace?" The Deva Path let out a cold laugh. "Once, you were willing to start the Second Great Ninja War to prove to the Ninja World that small countries are not battlefields for Great Nations to run rampant on."
"Although you failed, everyone still respected you."
"But now, to make other villages withdraw, you killed your own people and had the audacity to claim it was for peace…"
"You have already betrayed your ideals. You no longer deserve to live."
"Feel pain. Think about pain. Accept pain. Understand pain. Those who do not know pain can never understand true peace."
"Starting with you… I will make the world know pain."
As he finished, the Dōjutsu Power swelled in the Deva Path's eyes.
"Shinra Tensei!"