"So they really are puppets... I was wondering why all six of them had the Rinnegan..."
Looking at the scene before her, Tsunade's pupils shrank slightly as she muttered to herself.
The Deva Path's eyes widened in shock.
His strongest trump card had been instantly destroyed by that man called Arisu. Four Paths had been wiped out in just moments.
That man's strength... was so terrifying it was suffocating.
Somewhere deep within a hidden place in the Hidden Rain Village, Nagato also panicked.
Without caring about anything else, he immediately recalled the Naraka Path.
As long as the Naraka Path remained, he could at least revive the destroyed Paths.
Meanwhile, Arisu had no intention of continuing the fight.
His figure flashed as he appeared beside Hatake Sakumo's body, bent down, and picked up the cold corpse.
He then wrapped an arm around the equally stunned Tsunade and activated the Flying Thunder God Technique, disappearing instantly.
"What?! What happened here?!"
Konan had just arrived at the battlefield.
The moment she saw the ruined scene before her, with four Paths of Pain completely destroyed, her face instantly turned pale.
"Pain... what happened?", Konan asked in disbelief, her voice trembling slightly.
As Nagato's most trusted confidant, she knew better than anyone how powerful the Six Paths of Pain truly were.
Without knowing their abilities, even one of the Five Kage would have to pay a heavy price.
Even when they killed Hanzo of the Salamander, they hadn't suffered losses this severe.
Back then, Hanzo had been killed the moment they first fought.
But this time, Pain had directly lost four Paths.
The Deva Path had long since lost his usual composure.
The pride of being a "god" had completely shattered.
He had never imagined that in such a short time, he would be completely unable to come up with any effective way to fight back.
"...Konan, have the other Akatsuki members withdraw."
"Just tell them the enemy has already escaped the Hidden Rain Village. Strengthen the security around the village."
The Deva Path spoke calmly, his voice almost emotionless.
"I understand."
Konan nodded with a worried expression, but she couldn't help looking at the Deva Path one more time.
"Nagato, are you alright?"
Konan asked quietly, her voice full of concern.
The Deva Path stood with his back to her.
Of course he wasn't alright.
Four of the Six Paths had been destroyed all at once. How could he not cough up blood?
He had greatly underestimated Arisu. He never imagined Konoha had someone so terrifying.
He had nearly been scared unconscious.
But the Deva Path's voice remained steady, without the slightest ripple.
"I'm fine."
Only after hearing that answer did Konan feel a little relieved. She turned into sheets of paper and quickly flew away.
Konan, who followed him through both joy and sorrow, never going against him in word or deed.
After Konan had completely left, the Deva Path's body swayed slightly as the Naraka Path immediately appeared.
He summoned the enormous King of Hell and threw the four destroyed Paths into its terrifying mouth.
After a series of scalp-numbing chewing sounds, the destroyed Paths walked out one after another.
Their bodies were completely restored, as if they had never been damaged.
Hummm!
A strange distortion suddenly rippled through the air.
A black vortex slowly appeared.
As the twisted ripples spread outward, Uchiha Obito and the Pitcher Plant White Zetsu stepped out.
The moment they appeared, both of them revealed unconcealable shock.
They had secretly watched everything that had happened here.
They had seen with their own eyes how Arisu instantly destroyed four Paths of Pain with overwhelming force.
That crushing display of power sent chills down their spines.
"The Six Paths of Pain actually... ended up like this."
Under his mask, Uchiha Obito's face was dark and bitter as he spoke in a low voice.
The Akatsuki had mobilized all of its forces and carefully prepared this battlefield, yet they still couldn't stop an old man who was nearly sixty.
Even worse, four Paths of Pain had been destroyed, while Arisu calmly left with Hatake Sakumo's body.
This was the greatest humiliation since the Akatsuki had been founded.
To fight like this right outside their own front door, they had completely lost face.
"Why... didn't he keep chasing us?"
Uchiha Obito couldn't help asking the question that had been bothering him.
The Deva Path stood where he was, his expression still as cold as a god's.
"I don't know. At the moment, the most reasonable guess is that the old man was only able to unleash such terrifying strength because he used some forbidden secret technique that burns away his own life."
"Such a technique can grant the user power far beyond normal for a short period, but the price must be enormous."
"Otherwise, there's no way to explain how a ninja nearly sixty years old could instantly destroy four of the Six Paths of Pain and then leave safely while surrounded. That's already beyond common sense."
The Deva Path calmly voiced his speculation.
Uchiha Obito fell into a long silence.
More than anyone else, he knew how terrifying Arisu was.
During the era of the Third Great Ninja War, he had fought Arisu head-on.
At the time, he had been consumed by rage. Before he could even activate Kamui, Arisu had instantly overwhelmed him with absolute speed and power.
Only by barely escaping into the Kamui dimension had he managed to survive.
Now, after so many years, seeing the Six Paths of Pain instantly defeated brought that mountain-like pressure back once again, making it hard for him to breathe.
Countless thoughts ran through Obito's mind.
He couldn't help thinking about the original plan.
Should he revive those old monsters now?
He had Hashirama's cells.
He also had White Zetsu.
And Senju Tobirama had left the Reanimation Jutsu to him...
Uchiha Madara, Uchiha Izuna, and Senju Tobirama...
There was no doubt about the strength of those three. They definitely had ways to deal with Arisu, perhaps even completely turn the situation around.
But...
Thinking of this, Obito quietly clenched his fists until his knuckles turned pale.
Although he had been raised by those three, deep down he no longer wanted to remain their pawn.
He wanted to personally control the Eye of the Moon Plan and carry it out according to his own will, instead of becoming a tool in someone else's hands.
At that moment, the Pitcher Plant White Zetsu standing nearby narrowed his eyes as he silently observed Obito's every move.
On the surface, he was a watcher sent by Madara, Tobirama, and Izuna to monitor Obito.
But very few people knew the deeper truth.
The Pitcher Plant White Zetsu was actually an undercover agent sent by Great Sage Arisu of Mount Myoboku.
His mission was to monitor every key figure, including Madara himself.
Layer upon layer of hidden identities made his role extremely complicated.
"Pain."
Uchiha Obito suddenly looked up, his voice calm again.
"We need to speed up the plan to capture the Tailed Beasts.", Obito ordered.
He was going to accelerate the plan.
He needed to gather all the Tailed Beasts as quickly as possible.
By then, he would gain power great enough to rival Arisu, or even surpass him.
The Deva Path slowly raised his head, his Rinnegan calmly fixed on Obito.
"Uchiha Madara, why didn't you show yourself to stop Arisu just now?"
The man before him claimed to be Uchiha Madara, yet at such a critical moment, he had done nothing.
That made Pain begin to suspect him.