"No, what does Nagato mean by giving me a Rinnegan?"
Looking at the bottle containing the Rinnegan, Jiraiya was completely stunned.
"Nagato said that even with just one Rinnegan, he could deal with the Raikage and the others. But, I think he's just trying to hold on."
"So, he gave me one Rinnegan. Even if he ends up losing and dying, the enemy won't get a complete pair of Rinnegan?"
"Yeah, that's about the gist of it."
Jiraiya sighed.
He completely couldn't understand Nagato's thoughts.
If you know you might die, why still go to your death?
Wouldn't it be better to just go back to Konoha honestly?
Before coming here, Jiraiya had Orochimaru make two corpses to be used as substitutes.
These two corpses were made using cells from the White Zetsu's cells. While they might not be the best for resurrection, they were definitely good enough to serve as lifelike decoy corpses.
"Maybe, Nagato has his own convictions."
The ninja profession is very strange.
Every ninja has their own unique Ninja Way.
It's like the Dao Heart in cultivation novels.
Once a person does something against their Dao Heart, at best, they'll lose strength; at worst, they'll die and lose their way.
Violating one's Ninja Way doesn't bring such terrifying consequences, but it will lead to a state of confusion.
Nagato had been "God" for so long, and aside from Konan, he saw everyone else as mere tools.
You want him to surrender before the battle even starts?
That is basically impossible.
Because a "god" can never lose!
Konan, heading towards the Hidden Cloud Village ninja gathering point, looked at Nagato, whose right eye was tightly shut, feeling a bit of heartache.
His body was already very weak, and now, with the loss of one of his Rinnegan, the burden of controlling the Six Paths of Pain had increased. While it wasn't noticeable in the short term, over time, it would definitely worsen his condition.
"Don't worry, Konan, I won't lose."
"Mm, I believe in you."
Konan nodded firmly, as if she truly believed in Nagato.
"Find a slightly farther place to hide. I'm worried that if a fight breaks out, you'll get caught in it."
"It's fine. I can fight too."
"Listen, don't fight this time. Whether I win or lose, you need to save your strength to help me clean up afterward."
"Alright, I'll listen to you."
The Land of Rain wasn't that big, and the Hidden Rain Village was close to the border of the Land of Grass.
With the help of Konan's Paper Jutsu, they quickly made their way to the ninja gathering point in the Hidden Cloud Village.
In the forest, after Konan successfully hid herself and Nagato, Nagato couldn't help but start controlling the Six Paths of Pain to move forward.
"I'll go greet them first."
"Be careful."
"Don't worry."
Soon, the Deva Path of Pain arrived above the Hidden Cloud Village ninjas.
Meanwhile, the Fourth Raikage was still waiting for the time to act alongside the other Four Great Shinobi Countries.
Once the time came, ninjas from the five great villages would enter the Land of Rain from different directions, determined not to let any Akatsuki member escape.
Until...
"Shinra Tensei!"
A powerful repulsive force appeared, sending all the Hidden Cloud ninjas flying.
Fortunately, the ninjas accompanying Raikage were all elite.
The immense power of Shinra Tensei only caused minor injuries to a few, and there were no serious injuries.
"Damn it, I never expected him to take the initiative to strike."
The appearance of Shinra Tensei made Raikage A realize that the one who destroyed the Hidden Cloud Village had finally appeared.
Looking up at the sky, he saw Devs Path Pain slowly descending.
"You sure have some guts."
As Pain landed, he didn't respond to Raikage A's words but instead asked, "Do you now understand what pain is?"
Darui and C, standing next to Raikage A, exchanged glances. They hadn't expected the enemy who destroyed the Hidden Cloud Village to seem... a little off in the head?
"Yes, I indeed feel the pain you're talking about. But I also understand that you must have your own suffering, however..."
Raikage A paused, recalling the village that had been destroyed by the person in front of him, and the countless ninjas and villagers who died.
Suddenly, his face twisted with rage.
"...But my pain surpasses yours!"
Pain: ???
Isn't that supposed to be my line?
"Boom!"
With a burst of lightning chakra, the Fourth Raikage unleashed his full power, aiming to quickly kill the person before him and avenge the fallen.
Despite the fierce onslaught from the Fourth Raikage, there was no change in Pain's expression.
He simply extended his right hand, aiming it at the Raikage.
"Shinra Tensei."
One couldn't deny, the repulsion force was both offensive and defensive—truly effective.
A single Shinra Tensei sent Raikage Ai's explosive dash into a joke.
However, Raikage Ai did not lose heart.
He had long been mentally prepared to be pushed back by the repulsion force.
Once the repulsion disappeared, he immediately charged toward Deva Path.
In the blink of an eye, he was already in front of Deva Path, and the time it took was less than a second.
The repulsion of the Shinra Tensei was indeed powerful.
In the original story, only Naruto in his Tailed Beast form could withstand it and even break through the repulsion.
However, as strong as it was, this move had a deadly flaw.
It had a five-second cooldown.
This meant that to use Shinra Tensei again, five seconds had to pass.
Raikage Ai didn't know this; he simply wanted to use his speed to deal with Deva Path.
In the entire ninja world, besides Minato's Flying Thunder God, his speed was the fastest.
"Lightning Style: Lightning Blade!"
Raikage Ai attacked without holding back, going straight for the kill—he wanted this person dead.
Deva Path Pain's speed was not fast at all, and facing Raikage Ai's attack, he couldn't dodge.
Fortunately, he didn't need to dodge.
"Swish~"
Blood splattered as a transparent figure suddenly appeared between Deva Path and Raikage Ai.
"This is... a summoning beast?"
That's right, it was a chameleon summoned by the Beast Path.
This summoning beast could blend into its surroundings, becoming invisible.
Raikage Ai had his full attention on Deva Path and didn't notice the chameleon that was now spraying blood.
"Whoosh~"
It was too quick.
In the instant the chameleon was killed by Raikage Ai, a figure from the Asura Path appeared behind Deva Path.
The Asura Path was very decisive and immediately launched several small missiles at Raikage Ai.
These missiles are just a bit slow.
At least, in the eyes of Raikage A, these missiles are slow.
"Boom boom boom!"
Several missiles exploded, but Raikage A didn't suffer any injuries.
The moment the missiles appeared, he had already evaded them.
With his speed, these missiles couldn't hurt him.
*********
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