Nagato never expected there would be a technique in the ninja world capable of copying others' jutsu, even reproducing Kekkei Genkai techniques.
Karatachi Yagura, feeling the chakra depletion within his body, couldn't help but furrow his brows.
As an elite of the Mist Village, he wasn't lacking in chakra, but his opponent seemed to have far more chakra, and the jutsu they used consumed an unusually large amount.
He had tried various methods, but his opponent's jutsu activated without hand seals, incredibly fast, and once deployed, it provided an all-around attack and defense with no blind spots.
Yagura also attempted to push through the repulsion force, hoping to inflict damage on Nagato, but whether with ninjutsu or taijutsu, all of it was repelled by his opponent's technique.
Under this technique, he was almost in an invincible position. The more he resisted the repulsion force, the greater the backlash, making it easier to get injured.
Moreover, his opponent seemed to have a power similar to the Uchiha clan's Sharingan, able to copy any jutsu, or rather, directly learn and master them.
Yagura wasn't ignorant about the Uchiha clan's famous Sharingan. Its genjutsu, copying ability, and insights made it extremely disadvantageous for regular ninjas to face an Uchiha who had awakened their eyes in one-on-one combat.
The copying ability of the Sharingan could replicate an opponent's jutsu, creating a psychological advantage or catching the opponent off guard during battle.
Of course, according to the chakra release rules for ninjutsu, the prerequisite for copying a jutsu was that the Uchiha's body must possess the same chakra nature as the one being copied.
For example, without fire chakra, one couldn't copy Fire Style jutsu.
Feeling the massive chakra depletion within his body, Yagura began to feel the urgency. He never imagined this mission would be so troublesome!
From the perspective of difficulty and danger, this could easily be considered an S-rank mission.
While Yagura felt a headache coming on, Nagato was also facing the same trouble.
There's no other reason. Although Karatachi Yagura's strength was inferior to his, his battle experience far exceeded his, and he was incredibly calm and slippery. He wasn't fooled by the intentional openings and traps that were laid out.
Especially his masterful use of the Water Mirror Technique and the Clear Mirror Still Water Technique, which were so effective they could even rival his Rinnegan's Shinra Tensei.
The Water Mirror Technique could reflect the enemy, using their ninjutsu along with it, equal in power.
The Clear Mirror Still Water created a water mirror to protect oneself, not only defending against large-scale damaging ninjutsu, but also reflecting the ninjutsu back at the enemy.
A complete shield.
In this situation, Nagato found it difficult to quickly defeat Yagura, especially after his chakra was partially absorbed by the Preta Path in close combat. Yagura became even more cautious and careful.
Now, the two of them were in a situation where Nagato wanted to quickly finish off Yagura and then go assist Yahiko.
But Yagura was delaying and restraining him, not allowing Nagato to interfere with the fight between Hanzo and Yahiko.
Both could see that Hanzo currently had the upper hand in the battle with Yahiko. Yagura was waiting for Hanzo to end the fight, then join him to deal with Nagato together.
The only unexpected factor was whether a bounty ninja named Kakuzu would intervene.
Yagura glanced in Kakuzu's direction, seeing that he was only with a few subordinates, helping the female ninja handle the Mist and Rain ninjas, preventing them from entering the battlefield. This made him relax slightly.
Although he didn't know why Kakuzu was adopting this hands-off approach, it was still a relief for their side that someone as powerful as Kakuzu, who could potentially alter the balance of the battle, was staying neutral.
Just as Yagura was starting to feel reassured, believing the situation was still under their control, countless emerald green arrows suddenly appeared from a hidden passage on the opposite side of the hall.
They rained down like a storm, pinning the Mist and Rain ninjas to the ground or connecting them together.
The sudden attack made everyone on the field startled, causing them to scatter and break their formation.
Even the four who were locked in a standoff, Nagato and Hanzo's group, retreated back to their own sides, with the two factions clearly separated.
The emerald green chakra arrows vanished into sparkling light in front of everyone's eyes. A young ninja walked out from a hidden, dark passage.
"Is it just you?"
Kakuzu, seemingly not surprised by the arrival, glanced behind Shisui. After seeing that the familiar figure was absent, he furrowed his brows.
"Just me is enough," Shisui said, quickly scanning the surroundings. After confirming that Nagato, Konan, and the others were relatively unharmed, he sighed in relief and answered Kakuzu's question.
"That's Hanzo of the Salamander, the demi-god of Amegakure. He really trusts you!" Kakuzu grunted.
Kakuzu still recognized Shisui's strength. After all, with those Mangekyō Sharingan and the versatile Susanoo, his power was already among the top in the ninja world.
Though Hanzo was powerful and known as a demi-god, from their previous battle, Kakuzu judged his strength to be around the level of a Kage.
Compared to the two monsters he remembered, there was still a huge gap.
But Shisui, with eyes like that of the Shura of the Ninja World and the same techniques, was enough to win the battle, even if he wasn't quite as strong as the Uchiha ancestor. With Nagato and the others on his side, they were sure to win.
"That's a Konoha ninja!"
Hanzo's gaze landed on the forehead protector Shisui wore, and his inner fury suddenly surged. The difficult situation he had been put in by both Iwagakure and Konoha flashed vividly in his mind.
Iwagakure he could handle, but how dare they come to demand the three from him when the leader of the Akatsuki was under Konoha's thumb?
With the arrival of Konoha's reinforcements, Karatachi Yagura immediately sensed that the situation was bad. Though the newcomer claimed to be alone, who knew if that was the truth?
Summoning Jutsu!
Hanzo bit his fingers, pressed his palm to the ground, and with a puff of smoke, shouted loudly.
As the smoke dissipated, a huge Salamander appeared in the hall.
Upon seeing this massive creature, everyone on the battlefield—Nagato, Yahiko, as well as their allies, Yagura and the Rain and Mist Ninjas—became tense.
Since Hanzō had summoned the Salamander, it meant he was going all out and no longer focused on capturing Yahiko and the others unharmed.
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