These two pandas—one massive and one smaller—were simply too fierce!
Protected by [Bàtǐ Armor], none of the surrounding summoning beasts could inflict any damage upon them.
Instead, the enormous spiked club they wielded became an unstoppable force.
Especially with their monstrous strength amplifying every strike.
Each blow packed the power of ten thousand jin—over five metric tons!
Simply touching it meant injury; brushing against it meant death! It was brutally terrifying.
Even [Animal Path] Pain's expression darkened, his lips twitching involuntarily.
He felt their summoned beasts weren't even on the same level...
Well, considering everything, that made sense enough.
After all, Mooncake had specialized ninjutsu techniques and weapons boosting his summoned beasts.
Their actual combat strength must far surpass ordinary summoning beasts.
Besides, that physical-attack-immune 'Hell Hound' had already been sealed at the beginning.
The rest of the summoning beasts posed no real threat.
Originally, [Animal Path] Pain planned to use [Rinnegan] abilities to control these two summoning beasts.
But unexpectedly, the larger panda closed its eyes tightly, cutting off vision entirely. It swung its massive club relying solely on hearing for attacks.
The smaller one proved even more cunning.
It climbed onto the larger panda's back, casting spells while guiding its bigger companion at the same time.
Giving Pain zero opportunity to cast genjutsu or take control!
"This has gotten troublesome."
As three or four summoning beasts crumpled beneath the giant panda's club in just thirty seconds,
[Animal Path] Pain's expression grew increasingly serious.
Originally assuming this opponent was just some brat around ten years old—surely not difficult to handle.
Never expected him to possess such formidable strength! Such incredible tenacity!
Even [Animal Path] struggled to subdue them.
Looks like he needed to bring out more real power now!
In an instant, [Animal Path] Pain performed another technique.
This time directly summoning all five other Paths.
Completing the Six Paths of Pain.
Time to get serious!
...
Far away, suddenly witnessing five more Pain figures appear, each possessing a [Rinnegan] eye,
even Orochimaru got startled.
"That's...six Rinnegans?!!!"
The sensation was...
Like waking up overnight to find six Uchiha ninja standing before you, each with an activated [Mangekyō Sharingan]—equally shocking.
Perhaps even more terrifying.
After all, the [Rinnegan] ranked first among the [Three Great Dojutsu], hadn't appeared publicly for decades.
Moreover, he didn't know
these six [Rinnegan] eyes were merely projections from Nagato's single eye.
"Getting scared?"
"Do you want to run?"
Shimoku smiled slightly, turning to Orochimaru.
"Absolutely not."
"I'm simply excited..."
Orochimaru narrowed his eyes, licked his lips, and trembled with excitement from head to toe.
Six [Rinnegan] eyes!
How much invaluable experimental material!
At this moment, he practically wanted to join the battle immediately, defeat one or two Pain bodies during the chaos, and seize several pairs of [Rinnegan] eyes.
"Don't get too excited," Shimoku added calmly. "Those aren't real."
"The real Rinnegan isn't here—don't even think about it..."
Shimoku pointed out directly, dousing Orochimaru's excitement with a wave of cold logic.
"I see!"
"That fits better. That makes more sense..."
"A rare Dojutsu like this mustn't be so common."
Orochimaru sighed with regret, quickly pushing away his greedy urges.
Then he resumed watching the battle unfold calmly, as if playing the role of an uninvolved spectator.
...
On the other side, after all six Paths of Pain appeared,
they didn't hesitate and attacked immediately.
The offensive Asura Path charged forward at once, working together with several remaining summoning beasts to surround Mooncake and the two bears.
The Preta Path, known for its defensive prowess and ability to absorb chakra and Ninjutsu, directly rushed toward Shimoku's clone, ready to pin it down.
The Human Path, specializing in close combat and capable of "extracting a ninja's soul," suddenly vanished from sight.
As for the remaining Deva Path, Naraka Path, and Animal Path,
they took positions at the back.
While continuously summoning more beast companions, they offered random support.
The Asura Path Pain was a burly man, muscular and powerfully built—
an entirely modified humanoid weapon.
His entire body was covered with weapons.
From the laser emitters on his head, to the numerous missiles on his arms, to saw blades inside his torso... practically every part of him served as weaponry.
Blessed by the Rinnegan's power, he could even unleash Taijutsu that defied human limits, dealing devastating damage.
Even without his weapons, he could easily crush bones with sheer force.
Combined with these high-tech attacks, he proved especially effective against large-sized summons, scoring almost certain hits.
Therefore, despite possessing an Unshakable Defense,
Mooncake's side gradually became overwhelmed after the Asura Path Pain joined the battle.
After all, the duration of Unshakable Defense was limited, and it wasn't absolutely invincible.
Moreover, Mooncake's chakra reserves weren't infinite either.
...
Meanwhile, the Preta Path Pain had also reached Shimoku's clone.
Truly living up to his name as a hungry ghost.
His ability allowed him to absorb various Ninjutsu and chakra. Whether shape transformations or nature transformations, he could freely ingest all kinds of chakra techniques.
From Nagato's point of view, this made him ideally matched to deal with Shimoku's clone,
specifically to counter those outrageously powerful Ninjutsu techniques.
Since the very beginning, Shimoku's clone had known its original's intentions.
Therefore, quite cooperatively,
it deliberately unleashed Ninjutsu attacks against the Preta Path, letting the enemy absorb them freely,
as if being held down by him.
...
"It seems your clone and summons are all tied up."
"What? Are you still staying out of it?"
Seeing this, Orochimaru deliberately mocked, attempting to provoke Shimoku.
After all, from his standpoint,
he wished nothing more than for Shimoku and Pain to fight fiercely against each other!
The fiercer their battle, the better it would be for him.
Firstly, he could clearly observe both parties' abilities and hidden cards, analyzing their strengths.
Secondly, if one side could truly kill the other, or at least result in mutual destruction,
it would make it even easier for him to reap the rewards while staying out of the fight.
"Just then, however."
Sipping his orange juice calmly, Shimoku resumed speaking with ease.
At that very moment.
Behind Shimoku's main body, the ground suddenly softened and rippled rapidly.
Then, a figure burst forth from beneath.
With Shimoku himself squarely in its sights!
Undoubtedly, this was the previously vanished Human Path Pain.
Clearly, he had been sneaking up all along, locking onto Shimoku's main body, preparing for a one-hit kill!
Facing the sudden attack from behind,
Shimoku remained seated on his chair, unmoving, completely in control.
He simply allowed the Human Path Pain to rush forward and place his hand directly on Shimoku's head.
The Human Path Pain's power centered on the soul.
Through physical contact, he could read someone else's memories,
And more importantly, extract their soul instantly through touch!
Once removed, the victim would surely die—on the spot; the speed of soul extraction depended on the target's chakra strength.
Unless the target's chakra surpassed Nagato's own, the soul would usually be ripped out in an instant.
"Your soul is mine!"
Human Path Pain smirked slightly, uttering softly, believing he had finally succeeded.
He immediately activated his ability, preparing to yank out this brat's soul.
But in the very next second—
His expression drastically changed, his heart shook violently.
He... couldn't yank out the kid's soul?!!
"Has my ability failed?"
"No, it hasn't!"
"It's because this kid has too much chakra! It's tightly guarding his soul, making it feel as solid as a mountain peak!"
"No matter how hard I pull, it doesn't shift even an inch!"
"This can't be happening!"
...
Naturally, Shimoku had anticipated this all along.
Precisely because he understood the Human Path Pain's abilities and attacking methods,
He dared to remain seated calmly.
Otherwise, before this Pain could even approach,
He would have already torn the enemy apart and minced him into paste.
Regarding this soul extraction ability of the Human Path, when facing ordinary ninja,
It was indeed terrifyingly effective—unpredictable and difficult to defend against.
Unfortunately, it was useless against him...
Dream on!
Even if he had used up half his chakra,
Shimoku's original body still held almost 1,000 Cards' worth of chakra!
Comparable to tailed beast-level chakra reserves!
How easy could such power possibly be to extract?
Even if he sat still and let the Human Path Pain drain for an hour straight, barely half would be taken!
Plus, Shimoku's original body was home to the Perfect Sage Body as well!
Its enhancement of chakra and compatibility toward the soul was considered supreme in the ninja world.
Do you really think a mere Human Path could rip the soul of a sage?
Dream on!
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