No one had ever witnessed the Six Paths of Pain fighting at full strength.
Even during Naruto's battle against Pain, the Deva Path had spent long periods unable to use its abilities because of the cooldown after powerful techniques. As the strongest of the Six Paths, it had remained on the sidelines for much of the battle, greatly reducing their overall combat power.
Combined with the extensive intelligence Konoha had gathered on the Six Paths, the seemingly invincible leader of the Akatsuki had ultimately been defeated.
Today, however, the Fourth Raikage was facing the Six Paths of Pain at their full potential.
The young Raikage stood against the equally young Nagato.
If anything, the Six Paths of Pain were even stronger than they had been in the original timeline.
Most of the corpses had been modified by Sasori, allowing them to retain the ninjutsu they had possessed in life.
None of these shinobi had been ordinary.
Hanzō had once been revered as a demigod, while the Third Mizukage had led an entire hidden village as its Kage.
Now, empowered by the Rinnegan, their abilities had reached an even more terrifying level.
After only a few exchanges, the Fourth Raikage found himself steadily losing ground.
If not for his extraordinary durability, he would have already died countless times.
The Asura Path, Roshi, calmly kept one hand behind his back while raising the other.
With a slight flick of his sleeve, more than forty missiles emerged. Crimson streams of molten lava wrapped around each one like countless scarlet serpents.
This was the Four-Tails' Lava Release.
By combining Lava Release with the Asura Path's mechanized weaponry, the destructive power of the missiles increased dramatically.
With another casual wave of his hand, the swarm of missiles curved through the air and surrounded the Fourth Raikage from behind.
The Deva Path raised a hand.
"Shinra Tensei."
Just as the Raikage prepared to escape with the Body Flicker Technique, an overwhelming repulsive force slammed into him, pinning him directly against the incoming missiles.
"Damn it... this technique again!"
The Fourth Raikage's expression darkened.
He had no way to resist the omnidirectional force.
His back repeatedly crashed into the barrage of missiles as explosion after explosion shook the battlefield.
The Lava Release coating each missile continuously eroded his Lightning Release Chakra Mode, causing the cracks covering its surface to spread further.
Hidden far away, Nagato silently observed the battle through the shared vision of the Six Paths.
Despite maintaining the advantage from the very beginning, there wasn't the slightest trace of satisfaction on his face.
The towering Raikage continued enduring every bombardment through sheer toughness.
Although his Lightning Release Chakra Mode was riddled with cracks, it had yet to completely fail.
As long as his defense remained intact, he would not suffer any truly fatal injuries.
Of course, neither side had revealed all of their cards.
Both were still probing one another.
Without absolute certainty of landing a decisive blow, they preferred to wear the other side down.
Still, the Rinnegan possessed numerous abilities that ignored conventional defenses.
Even the toughest shell could eventually be broken apart.
The battle resumed immediately.
"Dust Release: Atomic Dismantling Jutsu!"
After remaining on the outskirts of the battlefield for so long, Ōnoki finally made his move.
A brilliant white beam shot across the battlefield like a laser, aiming directly at the Deva Path.
His timing was impeccable.
The Deva Path had just used Shinra Tensei and was momentarily facing away from him.
Ōnoki had not targeted it because he already understood the secret of the Six Paths.
Rather, throughout the battle, only three Paths had actively fought.
The Deva Path, the Asura Path, and the Animal Path.
The remaining three had simply stood around the Deva Path in a defensive formation.
Even an ordinary shinobi could tell that the figure standing at the center was the core of the entire formation.
With decades of combat experience, Ōnoki immediately judged that the Deva Path was the key.
The Animal Path specialized in summoning.
The Asura Path relied on mechanized weapons.
But the Deva Path was different.
Its strange abilities of attraction and repulsion completely neutralized the Raikage's greatest advantage, his overwhelming speed.
Every time the Fourth Raikage closed the distance, Shinra Tensei blasted him away.
If the Deva Path could be eliminated, the remaining five, while troublesome, would no longer be able to maintain such an impenetrable defense.
With the Raikage's raw strength, breaking through them would become far easier.
Then something unexpected happened.
The Preta Path, using Yugito Nii's body, suddenly turned around despite never communicating with the others.
She casually extended one hand.
The blinding beam of Dust Release disappeared the instant it reached her palm.
Not an explosion.
Not a collision.
It simply vanished.
The Dust Release had been absorbed.
Ōnoki's pupils contracted.
His attack had been perfectly timed.
More importantly, Dust Release was a Kekkei Tōta.
He had never imagined someone could absorb it so effortlessly.
He had encountered shinobi capable of absorbing chakra before, but this was the first time he had ever seen someone absorb Dust Release itself.
As expected of the Rinnegan.
Neither Yugito, Roshi, nor Hanzō had possessed such an ability while alive.
Only the power of the Rinnegan could have granted them such a terrifying technique.
Although shocked, Ōnoki did not stop attacking.
He had already prepared a follow-up.
"Earth Release: Earth Core!"
A massive square platform burst upward from the ground, lifting the Deva Path above the protection of the others.
"Earth Release: Golem Technique!"
Four gigantic stone golems rose around the elevated platform.
Each gripped an enormous stone spear before thrusting toward the Deva Path from four directions.
"Shinra Tensei."
The Deva Path raised a hand once more.
A tremendous invisible force erupted outward.
The surrounding terrain collapsed into a massive bowl-shaped crater centered on the Deva Path.
Its feet dug deep into the earth as the recoil pushed its body slightly off balance.
At that exact moment, a brilliant bolt of lightning flashed past the spot where its heart had been an instant earlier before detonating dozens of meters away with a deafening roar.
The Fourth Raikage had seized the opening to hurl a spear of condensed Lightning Release chakra.
Ōnoki's eyes narrowed.
"It didn't use Shinra Tensei to block that attack."
"There's a cooldown between uses."
He immediately shouted,
"Raikage! Don't let up!"
The Fourth Raikage realized it as well.
Without hesitation, he condensed another spear of lightning from his Lightning Release Chakra Mode.
Swinging his arm in a wide arc, he hurled it toward the Deva Path.
One spear followed another.
Although each individual spear was slightly weaker than his most powerful attacks, the Raikage's incredible speed allowed him to throw them in rapid succession.
At the same time, the Lightning Release Chakra Mode surrounding his body visibly weakened.
Constantly drawing chakra from the armor to create new spears placed an enormous burden on his reserves.
The Fourth Raikage paid no attention to whether his attacks struck their target or were avoided.
Like a tireless warrior, he continued condensing lightning spears one after another, hurling them relentlessly toward the Deva Path without giving it a moment to recover.
=≠=
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