At this moment, inside the heart of Konoha—[Hokage Tower].
Deva Path, Animal Path, Preta Path, and Naraka Path—four Pain puppets in total.
Together with a White Zetsu, they had all been trapped within a double-layered barrier.
As for the Sarutobi's Shadow Clone left inside [Hokage Tower], it was instantly shattered by them...
"Yahaha, so it was actually a shadow clone..."
"A barrier trap was set up too!"
"It seems we've fallen into a trap!"
The White Zetsu exclaimed cheerfully, showing not the slightest bit of tension.
As if he hadn't been the one initially deceived by Sarutobi's clone at all...
The Deva Path Pain glanced coldly at the White Zetsu.
Were it not for the fact that this creature was under Madara's command, he would have smashed it into pieces with one slap.
To be deceived by just a clone of the Third Hokage?
Absolutely pathetic!
But now wasn't the time to dwell on such things.
Breaking through these dual barriers first, locating the Third Hokage, and taking him down—that was the priority.
The Deva Path Pain cast another glance toward the outer barrier.
He immediately saw through its intricacies.
"A defensive barrier..."
"It seems not easy to break from the inside."
"Hmm? Seems like it also blocks chakra transmission to some extent?"
Barriers were masterpieces of ninjutsu, after all.
They could maximize a single ability with minimal energy consumption.
Take for instance the famous [Four Red Yang Formation]; with just four Kage-level ninja, an array capable of temporarily containing even the Ten-Tails could be created, demonstrating how powerful a barrier could truly be.
Of course, they also had obvious drawbacks.
Barriers primarily defending against external attacks could be easily broken from within.
Conversely, those mainly defending internal assaults were easily shattered from outside.
Perception-based barriers generally had weak defenses.
Restriction-type barriers had even more varied shortcomings.
Right now, this two-layered defensive barrier was specifically designed to prevent internal breaches.
Breaking through it from the inside wouldn't be easy.
Most importantly,
One of the layers was blocking chakra flow,
Preventing Nagato's original body from transferring large amounts of chakra to other Pain puppets via the black rods.
This significantly weakened his control over the four Pain puppets within the barrier,
Thus preventing them from unleashing their full power.
[Shinra Tensei!]
The Deva Path Pain struck suddenly.
A mighty repulsive force surged outward, slamming violently into the distant defensive barrier.
The barrier bulged outward from the impact but didn't shatter.
Instead, it reflected part of the force back.
It even sent the Deva Path Pain flying backward tens of meters,
Crashing through several walls.
"Is it a layered barrier? Indeed, not easy to break..."
The Deva Path calmly emerged from the rubble, brushing dust from himself.
Remaining as composed as ever in his evaluation.
From that one attack alone, he'd already gauged the defense strength of both layers.
He'd need at least twenty or thirty uses of Shinra Tensei to overwhelm the barriers and finally break through.
Or he could simply unleash [Ultimate Shinra Tensei] to break through instantly.
But that would consume far too much chakra.
Once used, not only would the other four Pain bodies cease functioning,
but Deva Path Pain himself would temporarily enter a weakened state—it wasn't worth it.
"Have the [Asura Path] switch targets and come over here to break the barrier first."
"And also, Sasori and Biwa Juzo who remained outside should come assist as well."
Deva Path Pain made his decision.
He was ready to call in the [Asura Path] from outside for support.
With [Asura Path]'s overwhelming brute strength, breaking such a barrier from the outside would take no effort at all...
As for whether any unexpected changes might occur during this brief delay?
Deva Path Pain didn't seem worried in the least.
Besides his own four Pain bodies,
there were still Sasori, Biwa Juzo, Human Path, Konan, Orochimaru, and even Shimoku Uchiha waiting outside.
Those alone should be more than enough to deal with Konoha.
Better yet, it would let Konoha drain some of that brat Shimoku Uchiha's power, preventing him from challenging himself for the Nine-Tails later on.
Still, that kid was slippery.
Wouldn't give his all so easily, right?
If possible, it'd be best if he ran straight into the Third Hokage!
Deva Path Pain secretly hoped just that.
Then he quickly contacted the [Asura Path].
Controlling it to move in first and break open the barrier.
Suddenly, White Zetsu shouted in alarm.
"Look over there!"
Deva Path Pain glanced sideways toward a spot several hundred meters away in the distance.
Five massive blood-red [Susano'o] figures suddenly rose into the sky.
Locked in fierce battle...
If even Shimoku's clone had activated [Susano'o], then the enemy must be an extremely powerful opponent from Konoha!
Perhaps none other than old man Hiruzen Sarutobi himself...
"Tsk tsk tsk. So that brat finally showed up?"
"Who on Konoha's side met him? That poor unfortunate soul..."
White Zetsu sneered mockingly, filled with schadenfreude.
Eager for the fight to escalate further.
...
To prevent their target from escaping,
when Deva Path Pain and the others launched a surprise attack on the [Hokage Tower],
Sasori and Biwa Juzo did not follow along.
Instead, they stayed behind on the perimeter, ready to intercept approaching Konoha reinforcements.
Also, should Hiruzen Sarutobi somehow manage to escape from the [Hokage Tower], the two could swiftly eliminate him.
Unfortunately,
they never anticipated one thing—
due to an intelligence leak, the [Hokage Tower] had already become a trap set by Konoha.
Konoha immediately trapped Deva Path Pain and his group inside with barriers...
"That is...? A barrier?..."
"Did our leader fall into a trap?"
Biwa Juzo was taken aback, murmuring softly.
"It seems like that's exactly what happened."
"Should we intervene?"
"Let's go help break the barrier... This kind of barrier should be easier to destroy from the outside."
Sasori coldly replied.
After all, he clearly understood the leader's strength.
There was absolutely no way he could lose.
With that thought, the two dashed toward the [Hokage Tower].
Preparing to slaughter all the Konoha ninja currently maintaining the barrier outside the tower.
At that moment.
The two layers of barrier naturally collapsed effortlessly.
However, just as the two men were about to strike, a sharp killing intent suddenly surged from behind them!
[Lightning Release: Lightning Cutter]!
Powered by Kakashi's expert taijutsu, a flash of blue lightning zipped through the air with a thunderous cry, like a thousand birds shrieking at once.
In an instant, it struck Sasori!
Clearly, Kakashi had been watching these two enemies for a while and had been waiting precisely for this moment to land a fatal blow, having planned carefully.
Unfortunately, Sasori was an experienced opponent not easily defeated.
At the critical moment, he immediately curled up the long metal scorpion tail on the back of his puppet Hiruko for defense, blocking the razor-sharp strike of the Lightning Cutter!
Of course, the S-rank ninjutsu Lightning Cutter possessed incredible piercing power, further intensified by the momentum from Kakashi's high-speed charge.
Even the curled-up steel scorpion tail couldn't completely withstand it. It was pierced straight through, striking Sasori's body.
"Hmm… This feel…"
"This isn't a living body!"
"Is it a puppet?"
Kakashi gasped in disbelief.
He could clearly feel that his Lightning Cutter had already pierced into the enemy's body.
Not deeply, but he didn't sense any blood rushing out. Instead, it felt like stabbing into a wooden puppet — dense and unyielding.
Clearly, this wasn't the enemy's true body at all! What he stabbed into was very likely just a puppet!
[Shin Habapo!] (Needle Barrage)
At this moment, the Hiruko puppet controlled by Sasori instantly turned its head, opening its mouth to fire a large number of poisonous needles and spikes at Kakashi, moving at incredible speed!
There were so many, and the distance was too close — nearly impossible to dodge.
However, right at that moment,
"Here I go!"
With a loud shout, the green-clothed fighter lunged forward again, kicking Kakashi aside.
Then swinging his nunchaku rapidly in wide circles, forming a defensive barrier that blocked all the poison needles and spikes, saving Kakashi's life.
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