On the surface, the rain in Amegakure appeared ordinary.
But the moment Richard arrived, he discovered this was no natural rainfall.
The endless downpour resulted from Pain's Rain Tiger at Will Technique.
This perception jutsu involved the caster injecting their chakra into raindrops, then manipulating them.
Simply put, it was a sensory technique that used chakra to create rain clouds and induce precipitation.
Every raindrop connected intimately to the caster's senses.
The chakra-infused rain would blanket the village, allowing the caster to detect any intruder's presence.
The downpour would persist until the caster released the technique.
Pain—or more precisely, Nagato—employed this technique to monitor Amegakure whether he remained in the village or departed.
In the original timeline, Jiraiya, who had infiltrated Amegakure concealed within a toad, was discovered through this technique.
He was subsequently killed by the Six Paths of Pain and Konan.
Soon, Richard arrived at the summit of Amegakure's tallest tower.
Though the village contained numerous towers, their upper levels remained largely uninhabited, instead serving as repositories for the deceased.
Except for Nagato and Konan who dwelled at the tower's pinnacle, Amegakure's residents occupied the middle and lower levels.
As Richard flew into the tower, he witnessed a figure with white wings—resembling an angel—speeding toward him.
He recognized her immediately.
Few shinobi in the Naruto world possessed flight capabilities.
And only one could fly with white wings: Konan.
A founding member of Akatsuki and its sole female member, codenamed "Angel."
Within Amegakure, Konan was known as the "Angel," complementing Pain, who was revered as "God."
Moments later, Konan, with her pair of paper wings, reached Richard's position.
Just as he remembered, she wore the black cloak adorned with red clouds that signified Akatsuki membership. Her blue-purple hair was gathered into a bun, with a light blue paper flower fixed above her right ear. Her face was delicate, accented by light purple eyeshadow and striking amber eyes.
Save for the small labret piercing her lower lip, Konan embodied classical beauty.
Currently, she employed the Dance of the Shikigami technique, transforming her body into countless paper sheets.
The Dance of the Shikigami wasn't particularly advanced—only a B-rank jutsu.
Yet its effects proved remarkably versatile.
Beyond transforming the user's body into paper, these sheets could condense into various forms according to the user's needs.
Spears, butterflies, wings—the possibilities were extensive.
Of course, the technique had limitations. Once soaked in oil, the paper couldn't transform smoothly.
Additionally, after significant chakra depletion, the technique would release automatically, returning the user to their physical form.
Konan hovered midair, her expression cold as she observed Richard, the intruder.
Richard disregarded her scrutiny, employing his enhanced vision to examine Konan in her paper form.
After witnessing his analysis, Konan remained silent. She manipulated the paper surrounding her to fashion a spear constructed entirely from sheets.
Though it appeared fragile, this paper weapon could easily penetrate human flesh.
After creating the paper spear, Konan raised her right hand.
Then, with a gentle wave, she directed it downward.
As her hand descended, the paper spear streaked toward Richard at remarkable speed.
Richard stood calmly, making no attempt to evade.
When the spear reached him, he unhurriedly raised his right hand and seized it.
Firaga!
Orange-yellow fire materialized from nowhere, instantly engulfing the paper spear in Richard's grasp.
Within a second, the weapon reduced to ash, as if it had never existed.
"I'm not here to create trouble," Richard addressed Konan. "I simply wish to speak with Nagato."
Though he spoke truthfully, Konan clearly disbelieved him.
Moreover, upon hearing Nagato's name, her expression turned gravely serious.
Nagato's existence remained a closely guarded secret.
Even within Amegakure, she alone knew of Nagato.
Others recognized only Pain, not the man behind the vessels.
Without hesitation, Konan directed the paper sheets around her in a more ferocious assault.
Paper rain, paper spears, paper shuriken, paper senbon...
White paper condensed into various weapons and flew toward Richard.
Beyond this, Konan interspersed explosive tags among the paper projectiles.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Richard remained stationary.
However, he summoned a massive flame to create a spherical barrier, completely enveloping himself.
Whether paper weapons or explosive tag detonations, all were repelled by the fiery sphere.
From a defensive perspective, using Firaga to create a spherical barrier offered less protection than employing Blizzaga to form ice mirrors or walls.
But considering his opponent's paper-based attacks, Richard deliberately chose Firaga over Blizzaga.
The tower explosions quickly attracted attention from Amegakure residents.
Yet no other shinobi came to assist Konan.
Any intruder would perish at the hands of God and Angel!
This represented common knowledge in Amegakure.
Seeing Konan already engaging the intruder, other shinobi abandoned thoughts of intervention.
Interfering with the Angel's battle without authorization would bring punishment rather than reward.
After enduring Konan's attacks for nearly a minute, Richard decided to end this tedious confrontation.
Though Konan's Dance of the Shikigami possessed an ethereal beauty, Richard hadn't come to Amegakure for a sparring session.
Under Konan's gaze, Richard dispelled the flame barrier he'd used for defense.
In the next instant, he flashed from the tower's summit to Konan's position.
Blizzaga!
Freeze!
Konan saw Richard approaching but had no time to react before he grasped her shoulders.
Before she could employ her paper clone technique or transform, she found herself encased in a massive ice block taller than a person, effectively sealed.
Done!
After completely freezing Konan, Richard seized the ice block and flew to an underground chamber beneath the tower.
When counterattacking Konan, he had glimpsed the Six Paths of Pain in this subterranean space.
Though he hadn't seen Nagato himself, Richard didn't mind confronting the Six Paths first.
He could address Nagato afterward.
Upon reaching the vast underground chamber, he set aside the ice block containing Konan.
Shortly thereafter, the Six Paths of Pain—each with black chakra receivers embedded in their bodies and wearing headbands marking them as Amegakure rogue ninja—appeared before him.
Except for the hairless Asura Path, the Deva Path, Human Path, Animal Path, Preta Path, and Naraka Path all possessed vibrant orange hair.
As Richard studied the Six Paths, Nagato likewise controlled them to observe his visitor.
Though Nagato had never encountered Richard personally, he quickly identified him.
Nagato maintained vigilant attention on Konoha's situation and would hardly overlook Richard, who had recently gained such prominence there.
Richard knew Nagato observed him through the Six Paths.
Yet this didn't concern him—he pondered whether destroying the Six Paths might allow him to plunder extraordinary abilities from them.
Logically, he shouldn't be able to plunder abilities from these corpse puppets.
But attempting cost nothing. Even failure meant little, as he could still plunder abilities directly from Nagato.
After examining the Six Paths, Richard first summoned Masamune from his system space.
Wielding the massive blade, he attacked the Naraka Path without hesitation.
The Naraka Path possessed few abilities—only three.
These included Psychic Communication: King of Hell, King of Hell Judgment, and King of Hell Resurrection.
Typically, the Naraka Path gathered intelligence and provided support among the Six Paths.
But when other Paths "fell in battle," the Naraka Path could resurrect them through the King of Hell technique.
By summoning the King of Hell, placing damaged Paths into its mouth, and allowing it to "process" them, the damaged Paths could be "reborn."
In terms of combat prowess, the Naraka Path's capabilities were modest.
But its presence made battles extraordinarily complicated.
In an instant, Richard vanished from sight and materialized before the Naraka Path.
Gravesong
Upon reaching the Naraka Path, Richard executed Gravesong without hesitation. Four lightning-fast slashes instantly bisected the Naraka Path's body.
Slash! Slash! Slash! Slash!
Though the Naraka Path could repair other Paths, it lacked the ability to mend itself.
Without suspense, employing superhuman speed far beyond ordinary reaction time, Richard effortlessly reduced the Naraka Path to dozens of fragments.
While dismembering the Naraka Path, Richard activated his plundering ability.
Nothing was plundered.
Though his attempt yielded nothing, Richard felt no disappointment.
Had he actually plundered abilities from the Naraka Path, that would have surprised him.
Nagato witnessed Richard's attack on the Naraka Path but had no opportunity to intervene.
Richard's speed exceeded comprehension.
So rapid that Nagato couldn't react.
Even with awareness, he lacked time to direct the remaining five Paths to intercept Richard.
After Richard dispatched the Naraka Path, the Animal Path summoned spiritual beasts: the Giant Crab, Chameleon, Multi-Headed Dog, and others.
While controlling the Animal Path, Nagato simultaneously directed the other Paths.
The Asura Path launched finger missiles and rockets at Richard.
The Deva Path employed Universal Pull toward Richard.
As for the Human Path and Preta Path:
The Human Path, specialized in close-quarters combat and possessing the Soul Absorption Technique, attacked Richard.
The Preta Path, capable of absorbing jutsu and chakra and primarily defensive, positioned itself near the Deva Path to protect it.
Nagato's strategy couldn't be faulted.
Unfortunately, his opponent was Richard.
Richard observed the other Paths' attacks but remained unconcerned.
Super Speed!
First employing his superhuman velocity to evade the Deva Path's Universal Pull and the Asura Path's finger missiles, he appeared before the Preta Path.
Gravesong!
Just as with the Naraka Path, he executed Gravesong.
Though using the same technique, it more than sufficed for the Preta Path.
The Preta Path could only absorb ninjutsu and chakra through direct physical contact, drawing an enemy's energy into itself.
Richard understood precisely what abilities the Preta Path possessed.
Therefore, he avoided ninjutsu against it and prevented any opportunity for physical contact.
Slash! Slash! Slash! Slash!
Like the Naraka Path before it, the Preta Path was instantly reduced to more than a dozen fragments.
How is this possible?
After witnessing Richard destroy both the Naraka Path and Preta Path within seconds, Nagato's expression registered shock.
Since creating the Six Paths of Pain, this marked the first occasion where two Paths fell within moments.
Though four Paths remained, Nagato recognized something had gone terribly wrong.
Richard had first eliminated the Naraka Path, which could "resurrect" other Paths.
Then he destroyed the Preta Path, which possessed absorption abilities for chakra and jutsu.
Though Nagato couldn't identify the technique Richard employed, he observed that it didn't utilize chakra.
Had it employed chakra, the Preta Path could have absorbed energy from Masamune rather than being sliced into dozens of pieces.
He knows the weaknesses of the Six Paths!
How is this possible?
Did Konan betray this information?
These thoughts flashed through Nagato's mind.
Beyond Richard knowing Pain's weaknesses, Nagato couldn't conceive any explanation for such a precisely tailored strategy.
Nagato wasn't wrong.
Richard did indeed understand the Six Paths' weaknesses.
But one assumption proved incorrect.
Richard hadn't learned from Konan—his knowledge stemmed from being a traverser who had seen this world's future.
Though puzzled by Richard's insight into the Six Paths' vulnerabilities, Nagato refocused on controlling his remaining Paths rather than dwelling on the mystery.
Nagato's control remained flawless.
But against Richard's superhuman speed, the Six Paths moved far too slowly.
Effortlessly, Richard eliminated the Human Path, which could extract souls and read memories; the Asura Path, which excelled at long-range attacks; and the Animal Path, which specialized in summoning.
Less than thirty seconds later, only one of the Six Paths of Pain remained—the Deva Path.
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