Looking at the unconscious Amaru lying on the ground, Konan slowly reached out toward her.
Seeing this, Asura Path decided to head first to the location of the massive Chakra he had sensed earlier.
That was likely the true body of the so-called [Zero-Tails].
But just as he started moving in that direction, Shinno, who had seemingly lost all signs of life moments before, instantly rose and delivered a flying kick that sent Asura Path flying.
The speed was so fast that neither Nagato nor Konan had time to react. It made Shinno's cruelness even more apparent.
He could continue playing dead even as his adopted child was about to die before his eyes.
But the moment Pain showed the slightest intention of moving toward his base, he immediately couldn't sit still.
At this moment, Shinno was not inside his Ancor Vantian. The Dark Chakra from the Zero-Tails' main body couldn't be supplied to him without limit.
Therefore, he had planned to feign death and pass out.
With his [Regeneration Technique] secret technique, he could easily use Chakra to ensure his body was damaged but not killed.
After kicking Asura Path away, Shinno didn't even bother with a parting remark. He immediately sprinted toward the direction of his base.
He even used the Eight Gates Technique stolen from Konoha to further increase his escape speed.
During this process, he didn't even glance at Amaru lying on the ground.
Naturally, he didn't notice that Amaru had slowly begun to regain consciousness from her coma. The scene of him completely abandoning her and revealing a side completely different from his usual self was witnessed entirely by Amaru.
Konan, of course, also noticed Amaru waking up.
But looking at the distant Asura Path, perhaps due to some unknown sentiment, she did not take the little girl's life. Instead, she used paper again to cover the girl's eyes, pretending she was still unconscious.
Then, Konan extended paper wings and flew to the Asura Path's side, taking him with her to chase after Shinno.
Shinno's speed, enhanced by the Eight Gates Technique, was far faster than that of an ordinary Ninja. In the brief moment they were delayed, he had already returned to his base.
After ordering all the Soragakure's Ninja to go out and block the enemies, Shinno activated the Ancor Vantian's flight function.
He knew that if he couldn't deal with those two today, his years of planning would be ruined here.
With the ground shattering, the fortress, comparable in size to a small town, rose into the air powered by the Zero-Tails' energy.
Shinno immediately used the communication device to ask his subordinates for the location of Konan and Asura Path.
He intended to blast these two into oblivion with the fortress's Chakra Cannon.
As for Amaru, who was still on the ground?
He didn't care.
Unfortunately, Konan's flying speed was not slow either.
The Soragakure's Ninja encountered along the way could barely withstand a casual strike from either of them.
Although it wasn't Deva Path who had come here, preventing the direct use of Shinra Tensei to clear the area, the weapons summoned by Asura Path from another dimension were more than enough for this group.
Missiles carpeted the ground, lasers cleared the area.
Coupled with Konan's rain of explosive tags.
It was only because the Ancor Vantian was meticulously built by the Soragakure's Ninja over more than a decade that its defense was somewhat passable.
Otherwise, just the aftershocks of the explosions would be enough to make it crash.
After casually crushing a Soragakure's Ninja's throat, the two directly entered the Angkor Fortress's control hall.
They had expected Shinno to probably try to escape before they arrived again, but surprisingly, the guy was just standing there brazenly, waiting.
"Have you already resigned yourself to your fate? If you want to surrender, it's too late now."
Asura Path spoke bluntly. After the fight broke out between them, the plan to recruit Shinno had basically fallen through.
Unlike recruiting a Missing-nin like Deidara who was alone, the blood debt of Shinno's subordinates was very real.
Even if Shinno suddenly said he was willing to join now, Nagato probably wouldn't trust him.
"Hahahaha… it's you who are seeking your own doom! I am invincible now!"
Shinno was now inside the base. The endless supply of Chakra filled him with infinite confidence.
After letting out several loud laughs, his aura surged violently.
The clothes on his upper body instantly burst apart from the airflow, and his white hair turned black and long again, flowing behind his head.
His appearance was almost identical to that of a certain world's battle race when they went berserk. He was only missing was a tail.
Besides stealing the Eight Gates Technique, Regeneration Technique, and information about the Zero-Tails from Konoha, Shinno had also stolen another secret technique, [Body Revival Technique].
As everyone knows, the Eight Gates Technique is a Taijutsu with extremely strong side effects.
It can greatly enhance the user's physical qualities, but the cost is the user's life.
Under the stimulation of intense Chakra, the user's cells suffer irreversible damage. Opening the final gate, the [Gate of Death], inevitably leads to death.
But Body Revival Technique can enhance cell vitality, improving physical qualities while also increasing cell endurance.
At the same time, the [Regeneration Technique] secret technique allows one to break through the limits of self-healing, enabling ultra-fast regeneration of damaged tissues. Moreover, the body regenerated after damage becomes tougher than before.
Each of these three secret techniques had certain side effects when used alone. However, when operated simultaneously with massive Chakra support, they formed a self-consistent system.
As a result, Shinno's body, constantly tearing and regenerating internally, was further increasing in strength.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The first sound was Shinno's fist connecting with Asura Path's head at extreme speed.
The next two were missiles hitting Shinno.
However, compared to Shinno, whose damaged areas were healing visibly, Asura Path, whose head was dented by the punch, looked much worse.
Of course, this was just one of Nagato's corpse puppets. Even if Shinno destroyed it, it would just mean making a new one… almost no loss.
"Konan, move further away."
But Konan was personally present, and she was one of the few people Nagato still cared about.
Hearing Asura Path's words, Konan didn't hesitate and immediately increased her distance from Shinno.
She knew Nagato was about to get serious.
"Come on!"
Empowered by his strength, Shinno spoke with confidence, even daring to stand still and provoked the opponent.
Asura Path's head grew additional faces on each side. Simultaneously, its robe was torn apart by weapons extending from various parts of its body, revealing three pairs of arms and a large, saw-like tail.
This was Asura Path's complete form.
The top of its head split open, revealing a laser cannon inside.
Without any hesitation, it started with a cannon blast.
"Super Revival Fist!"
Shinno, not to be outdone, unleashed the fist technique he developed by combining the three secret techniques.
Unfortunately, limited by his inherent physical strength, even enhanced by the secret arts, this punch didn't possess the world-shattering power of a certain watermelon-headed Ninja in the future.
In comparison, Shinno's base was too small. Even with a higher multiplier, the final output was limited.
But this level was enough to deal with the Asura Path.
Boom!
Shinno charged through the laser cannon's penetration and reached Asura Path's side, then punched and broke Asura Path's arm.
However, what was revealed underneath wasn't bone and flesh, but even denser steel weapons.
Steel blades and iron saws simultaneously slashed across Shinno's body. His blood spilled all over the ground as if it were free.
Yet, the guy didn't show any sign of weakness on his face.
Two guys: one with infinite regeneration, the other simply a corpse. Who knows how long this fight would last.
Clearly, someone's patience was running out.
Bang!
Asura Path and Shinno in his Eight Gates state were forcibly separated by a figure who abruptly broke into the battlefield.
"Is it really you, Konan?"
Just as Konan was also shocked by the powerful figure who had silently broke into the battlefield and was preparing to act, a familiar voice sounded from behind her.