Zzzla! Zzzla!
Silver-white lightning kept flashing across Ryosuke's skin.
Each time it flickered, a large patch of skin would tear open, and then, under his powerful recovery, it would regenerate at ultra-high speed.
First, there was Zetsu's clone that could fool the Byakugan.
Then Pain's Super Shinra Tensei easily tore apart the defensive barrier arranged above the city.
Two unexpected events in a row instantly shredded Ryosuke's side's defensive setup.
If Ryosuke were to fly over, even with Time Stop acceleration, by the time he arrived, he would probably only see Oda Ieyasu's corpse, and a city that had been massacred.
Ryosuke could only choose the most radical, and also the fastest method, Heavenly Transfer Technique.
Ryosuke shook his wrist, lifted the Ruin Greatsword with one hand and rested it on his shoulder. He nodded at Sakamoto and gave a thumbs-up,
"Awesome."
Sakamoto froze for half a second, then grinned.
He scrambled up, hoisting Oda Ieyasu and Little Hideyoshi, one under each arm, and fled the battlefield.
His legs were still trembling, but it didn't affect his escaping speed at all.
Sakamoto's job was done.
Next, it was Ryosuke's battlefield.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Several figures descended from the sky and stood behind Pain.
They were the remaining Six Paths of Pain and Kisame.
The Animal Path slapped the ground, and more than a dozen giant summoned beasts appeared.
Among them, one lizard-shaped summon opened its mouth. Its abdomen wriggled, then reached the throat, and with a gagging sound, it spat out over a thousand ninja covered in mucus.
These ninja wore forehead protectors, but not from any known village.
Each forehead protector had the word "Fire," "Earth," "Lightning," etc. written on it.
They belonged to various Daimyo, secretly trained elite ninja. Their average strength was at chunin-level, and among them were quite a few jonin and Kekkei Genkai holders.
Back then, the Daimyo of the Land of Water also had such a batch of ninja.
Unfortunately, after successive unrest and infighting among financial conglomerates, the Water Country's secretly trained ninja either died or fled, and in the end, barely any remained.
Ryosuke's gaze scanned over them.
The Six Paths of Pain.
Kisame.
One thousand elite ninja.
Uchiha Itachi, Zetsu, Obito, and Konan were nowhere to be seen.
They must have hidden within the city, waiting for the right time to strike.
But… within the city…
Ryosuke looked toward Kyoto.
In the past, Kyoto was so prosperous. The people living there had a unique accent full of age and character.
Sometimes they gave off a slightly arrogant feeling, but once you truly interacted with them, you could feel the seriousness and classical beauty beneath that arrogance.
"I hear the mourning of the dead."
Ryosuke's expression gradually turned icy.
Before, he had thought Pain was a fellow traveler, just walking a different path.
But now, he wanted to question Pain, "Is this the peace you seek?"
Ryosuke listened to the breathing of the world, listened to the wails of those who died unjustly.
He didn't want to say another word.
He just wanted to kill.
The blade in his hand turned, countless tiny stones around Ryosuke floated as if freed from gravity. Ripple flames burned along the blade, igniting the stones and dust.
Golden flames spread among the swirling dust, scattering in the air like burning souls of the dead, or like countless eyes hanging in the heavens, glaring down.
Ryosuke took a step.
BOOM!
The earth trembled and shattered.
Ryosuke charged forward, and trails of crimson-gold flames streamed from the Ruin Greatsword's tail.
The tens of thousands of golden flames gathered in the sky fell like world-ending meteor showers smashing into the earth.
"Th-this is Ryosuke?!"
The one thousand elite ninja had mentally prepared before the battle. The conglomerates even found them many recordings of Ryosuke's fights.
Every one of them came with the resolve to die, thinking this would be an extremely brutal battle.
But…
They stared blankly at the tens of thousands of golden flames descending.
Even before the flames touched them, separated by a hundred meters, their foreheads burned, their hair curled from heat, and the eyes looking up felt scorched with pain.
Brutal?
Was the brutality one-sided, on their side alone?
"Defensive ninjutsu!"
Kisame shouted.
This was what these pampered Daimyo-ninja were like.
On paper, their strength and ninjutsu mastery were indeed jonin-level. But unlike shinobi from the villages who constantly took missions for money, Daimyo-ninja stayed home training to maintain secrecy most of the time.
When they encountered a situation they had never faced, they froze, not knowing what to do.
Didn't village shinobi also have people who "panic and fumble" when facing sudden events?
Yes, of course.
But those kinds of people had already died on missions before they ever became jonin.
The Daimyo-ninja finally snapped out of it and hurriedly formed hand seals as trained, performing combined ninjutsu.
To be fair, they were weak, but in terms of jutsu-casting speed and coordination skill, they were indeed very professional.
Before the golden fire rain landed, the ninja army used defensive jutsu, and enough people executed two combined ninjutsu, a raging Fire Dragon Tornado, and a roaring Wind-Lightning Flash. One from the left, one from the right, both charging toward Ryosuke.
The summoned beasts also leaped high, pouncing at Ryosuke.
The Asura Path's mechanisms popped open, and more than a dozen missiles whistled through the air.
At the very front, Pain coldly stared at Ryosuke and raised his only remaining left hand.
"Shinra Ten..."
"Star Platinum: The World!"
Pain's thoughts stopped.
The summoned beasts and missiles froze in mid-air.
The two combined ninjutsu rushing from left and right also stopped.
Only Ryosuke kept moving.
Kisame blocked the way, and Ryosuke didn't even look at him. Star Platinum appeared and kicked him flying.
In this battlefield, a Kisame without Samehada was just a super-soldier at best. Not worth Ryosuke spending Time Stop duration on him.
The key, was Pain.
Logically, Pain was the enemy commander. As long as the Six Paths of Pain were eliminated, the remaining resistance would be insignificant, and Ryosuke could safely go after the real body, Nagato.
Emotionally, after witnessing Kyoto's tragedy with his own eyes, such an inhumane scene…
Ryosuke just wanted to hack this bastard in half with one strike.
The Ruin Greatsword lifted high. In the frozen, gray-white world of stopped time, crimson blade-light shone. Ryosuke took the final step and slashed down.
BOOM!
The blade embedded into the shoulder, cutting through the scapula and pressing toward the heart.
"This feeling…"
Ryosuke frowned slightly.
Because he had read Konan's memories, he knew the Six Paths of Pain were made from corpses, controlled by Nagato via black receivers.
He wasn't frowning because corpses felt different from living bodies, he was frowning because this corpse… Was absurdly tough.
Ryosuke tore open the Akatsuki cloak and saw a thick layer of chakra armor.
The armor was extremely hard, made from top-grade materials, engraved with seals that consumed chakra to constantly cast Earth-style defensive jutsu.
Not only the armor, but the skin and muscles beneath also had a metallic sheen. Ryosuke even smelled a hint of medicinal chemicals.
'A corpse… soaked in special drugs?'
To enhance the hardness of the Six Paths bodies, to counter what they saw as the mysterious "space-time ninjutsu" instant-kill ability.
But...
Ryosuke switched from one-handed to two-handed grip, his arms exerted strength again, and despite the chakra armor and steel-like skin, he forcibly sliced the Deva Path Pain into two.
Time Stop remaining, five seconds.
Ryosuke pointed toward the Hell Path at the back.
The Hell Path was the medic among the Six Paths. It could summon the "King of Hell," who would chew damaged Pain bodies to repair them.
Ryosuke feared most the Deva Path's "Planetary Devastation."
If hit, even with Ryosuke's destructive power, it would take ten-plus seconds to break free.
During those ten seconds, he would be targeted by the thousand ninja, plus Uchiha Itachi, Kisame, and the Masked Man.
Even Ryosuke's regeneration might not survive combined ninjutsu + Amaterasu. Not even the true Ultimate Lifeform, Kars, could survive.
Star Platinum appeared and punched rapidly, blowing apart the Hell Path's body.
Thus, the 9.9 seconds of Time Stop ended.
The Deva and Hell Paths flew backward.
"What happened?!"
The Daimyo-ninja cried out, staring dumbfounded at the flying bodies. Their pupils dilated, minds blank.
Seriously? Were they being pranked?
The leader who brought them here to kill suddenly got destroyed by Ryosuke in one exchange, what the heck were they supposed to fight?
Was it too late to surrender now?
"Don't get distracted! Maintain the ninjutsu!"
Kisame roared from the air.
He was also wearing chakra armor, and with his naturally tough body, taking Ryosuke's kick only caused internal bleeding. He wasn't down yet, his voice was still forceful.
But…
Seeing the footprint on his chest and his pathetic flight, how could the ninja stay focused?
Just as morale was about to hit rock-bottom...
"Universal Pull!"
The moment Ryosuke rushed toward the Animal Path, he suddenly lost control, lifting into the air and flying in one direction.
"Hm?"
For the first time since the fight began, Ryosuke looked shocked.
He stabbed his blade into the ground to anchor himself, then turned toward the source of the pull.
It was an unfamiliar face, with black receivers in his face and body, cold Rinnegan eyes staring at Ryosuke. And the aura he gave off… was the "Deva Path".
Ryosuke vaguely sensed movement underground. A pale hand emerged, pulled the Deva and Hell Path corpses back down, and then tossed up a fresh body.
After a brief wait, that new corpse stood up again.
The Hell Path returned.
Ryosuke's expression grew heavy.
This was the Six Paths of Pain after gaining the conglomerates' unlimited resources.
Since the Six Paths were remote-controlled corpses, they could be swapped like puppet parts.
As long as Nagato had enough chakra and enough suitable corpse bodies implanted with black rods, the Six Paths were truly immortal.
And Zetsu's existence ensured smooth corpse transportation.
Ryosuke could never find the corpse storage location to destroy the "Pain stockpile."
———
"The most rational choice is to abandon Kyoto and use his tracking vines to find me."
Nagato's calm voice echoed in the dim room.
"But he is Ryosuke, so he won't let go."
"Ryosuke will be trapped in that city, by the ideals he insists on."
Behind Nagato, hundreds of black rods pierced his body. Above him hung more than a dozen IV bags filled with various stimulants, all flowing into Nagato through tubes.
Beside him were professional monitors for vital signs, observing Pain's condition and ensuring his chakra output always stayed at optimal levels.
If there was fluctuation, the medicine dosage would adjust accordingly.
Konan looked at Pain with worry.
The medicine provided by the conglomerates was indeed extremely effective, but no one knew what side effects it might have.
It was possible that after this battle, Pain would die from the effects.
"Is it worth it?"
Konan said, "If you and Ryosuke both die in this battle, then everything ends."
The room fell silent, with only the steady "beep, beep, " of the monitor. After a moment, Nagato said,
"I won't die."
"Before I achieve the Tailed Beast weapon plan and bring true peace to the world, I will not die."
"If I really do die…"
He lifted his head with difficulty, a slight smile appearing on his thin face, "Before I die, I will kill everyone who could threaten you. The future of the world… will be yours, Konan."
Konan, "…"
She didn't want the world's future.
She only wanted Nagato and Ryosuke to live.
Konan silently turned around and looked at the surveillance screen. She could no longer stop this battle. The only thing left was to personally witness how it ends.
She looked at Ryosuke on the screen and suddenly felt terrified.
It had been many years since they last parted. They had exchanged letters occasionally, but never spoken face-to-face again.
"If you really die in Kyoto, then… perhaps we will never have the chance to speak again?"
A deep sorrow enveloped Konan's heart.
Because she knew all of Nagato's tactics. In Konan's view, no matter how strong Ryosuke was…
He was doomed to die.
———
After Ryosuke saw the scene of Zetsu throwing corpses, he deduced Pain's tactic, using the Six Paths of Pain as the tactical core to restrain Ryosuke, while one thousand elite ninja and Uchiha Itachi + the Masked Man attacked from the shadows.
Relying on endless "revives," before Nagato's chakra ran out, they had countless chances to test strategies.
But if Ryosuke made even one mistake, it would be a death trap.
All of this sounds complicated, but it happened in a flash. The elite ninja's emotions roller-coastered in seconds, but at least they remained professional enough not to abandon their combined jutsu.
The Fire Dragon Tornado and Wind-Lightning Flash continued toward Ryosuke, who was restrained by Universal Pull.
Star Platinum appeared beside Ryosuke, grabbed him, and threw him into the sky. With brute force, he broke free of Universal Pull and dodged the two lethal combined ninjutsu.
"Go!"
Animal Path controlled the summoned beasts to attack Ryosuke mid-air.
"Ora ora ora ora ora!"
Star Platinum punched wildly, knocking the attacking beasts away. One after another, the dozens-meter-tall summons screamed and flew back, crashing to the ground.
With the beasts blown away, their foul stench scattered. Ryosuke's view cleared instantly, and an iron ball appeared in his hand. He aimed toward the thousand elite ninja, planning to kill as many as he could first.
Suddenly, a black flame crawled up Ryosuke's arm.
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