Chapter 172: Pointing Through the Animal Path
Walking through the village, the sound of endless, rustling rain accompanied every step. Ryosuke wore the uniform and forehead protector of the Hidden Rain Village. Even his face had been completely altered.
Raindrops fell against his body. The faint chakra contained within them didn't dissipate right away. As the drops soaked his clothes, they trickled along his form and slid to the ground, guided by the motion of his steps. Yet even when they merged into the soil, the chakra didn't vanish—it subtly flowed in one direction beneath the earth.
Ryosuke tore his gaze from the raindrops and unconsciously looked up at the dark clouds overhead.
Detecting movement over a vast area by using rain and clouds—this was one of the rare high-level perception techniques in the ninja world. It demanded absolute chakra control: the Rain Tiger at Will Technique.
However, the current version in front of him differed from the records Ryosuke had seen.
Its range had expanded exponentially, now covering the entire Hidden Rain Village. The rain was constant and seemingly endless.
It was obvious Pain had enhanced the technique. He had not only increased its scale and lowered chakra consumption, but had also cleverly altered it to recycle the chakra expended.
With these improvements, the Rain Tiger at Will Technique became something unattainable for ordinary ninja. Without immense chakra reserves or the Rinnegan's unique control and absorption abilities, this version was nearly impossible to perform.
"You done with your shift, Ren? Let's grab a drink tonight. As usual, it's your treat."
The voice pulled Ryosuke from his reverie. He turned to see a familiar middle-aged Chunin approaching.
"Next time. It's the end of the month," Ryosuke replied with a wry smile, mimicking the original owner's tone and demeanor.
But within him, the dormant consciousness stirred. Resentment surged from the depths, bleeding into Ryosuke's senses through their shared mental link.
"Heh! Young folks never learn to save. You owe me this time."
Apparently used to the original owner's behavior, the Chunin didn't suspect anything. He chuckled and walked away.
Ryosuke watched his retreating figure. The bitter smile on his face gradually faded, replaced by quiet calm. With practiced ease, he suppressed the awakening emotions, using his illusion mastery to lull the original consciousness back to sleep.
Clearly, the man had once wronged the true owner of this body, or at the very least, had a deeply strained relationship with him. But Ryosuke didn't probe further. Instead, he returned his attention to the rain's converging flow.
He had projected his consciousness into the body of a Hidden Rain ninja named Ren, a man whose name still echoed faintly in the mind he now controlled. After spending time at an inn in a nearby town, Ryosuke found he couldn't directly observe the Hidden Rain Village with his Byakugan. The distance and interference were too great.
Thus, he resorted to infiltration.
Click. Click.
The sound of wet footsteps echoed with each step. While his perception range couldn't bridge the gap between the town and the village, he could still observe through the eyes of another—as long as the chakra he placed in this body remained intact. That chakra continued to relay information to him.
"Maybe... there are no outsiders in Akatsuki. Or if there are, they're not here."
Using this vessel, Ryosuke quickly absorbed most of the village's layout and civilian movement patterns. The deeper he went, the clearer the picture became.
Hidden in the shadows, Amegakure's ninja stood guard with vigilance rivaling Konoha's ANBU. Beneath the surface, countless White Zetsu curled like hibernating children.
In terms of internal security, the Hidden Rain Village surpassed even the Five Great Villages.
Still, Ryosuke sensed no individuals that triggered his alarm.
The inhabitants, aside from a few civilians, were all shinobi. None bore signs of being from another world.
Then again, perhaps his current abilities weren't enough to uncover them.
In that case, he had no choice but to continue probing through this host.
Before long, Ryosuke arrived at a place inaccessible to most.
A road as dark as an abyss stretched before him. Without hesitation, he stepped into the central sector of the Hidden Rain Village.
Instantly, countless eyes turned toward him, monitoring his every move. Even the slumbering White Zetsu underground began to stir.
"Ren, you..."
A voice called from above. A figure stood on a nearby electric pole, glaring down at him.
But before he could speak further, Ryosuke vanished.
"What?!"
The ninja barely had time to register pain at the back of his head before his world turned to black.
Thud.
The sound of his body hitting the ground echoed in the silence. Blood seeped from the gash on his skull.
Thwip! Thwip! Thwip!
A barrage of kunai pierced the walls and street.
The moment Ryosuke struck, the village's defenses sprang into action. Dozens of Amegakure shinobi converged on the scene.
Unfortunately for them, Ryosuke was already gone.
Their responses, while swift by ordinary standards, were laughably slow to him. To his eyes, they moved as if submerged in molasses.
Slipping between attacks with surgical grace, he evaded the storm of kunai and vanished into the rain once more.
"Where is he?!" "This way! I see him!" "Surround the area!"
A phantom darted through the dim streets. In Ryosuke's hand, a kunai infused with wind chakra gleamed like a blade forged from the storm. Each flash of steel ended a life.
Screams and frantic orders rang in his ears.
Most never finished a single sentence before meeting their end.
More reinforcements arrived, sensing the battle.
But all they did was add to the growing pile of corpses.
Ryosuke was not Jiraiya. Unlike the Sannin, he wasn't granted any special attention from Pain. No grand confrontation. No courtesy.
Perhaps Nagato didn't even care.
After all, Ren's chakra signature was utterly unremarkable.
The bodies mounted. The scent of blood thickened.
But Ryosuke remained unfazed. He felt no thrill in the killing, nor any guilt.
To him, it was all just a matter of allegiance.
He had always been hard-hearted toward outsiders.
"Aren't you going to come out yet?"
That thought echoed in his mind. Even under such a relentless assault, Ryosuke handled it with ease. The moment he acted, his gaze was no longer concealed.
Faint fluorescence shimmered in his eyes. He no longer avoided what he had once tried to hide—his eyes locked on the towering structure at the heart of the village.
With a single glance, he absorbed the sight of the colossal tower and everything around it.
The other members of the Akatsuki were absent, likely sent out on missions. Even Black Zetsu and Obito were nowhere to be found within the Hidden Rain Village.
But Pain—no, Nagato—was on top of that tower. It seemed he had finally sensed the intensity of the battle and had begun to shift his focus.
Yet, just before he could alter the form of his perception technique, Ryosuke's gaze pierced through the tower, past the six puppets, and into its deepest chamber. There, behind the iron doors, he saw a withered figure slumped in a wheelchair. At that moment, all of Nagato's movements stopped.
Their eyes met—fluorescent against whirlpools—as if their gazes had crossed mountains and rivers.
Suddenly, the six puppets perched atop the heretic golem's branches snapped their eyes open, then dove out of the tower like a flock of iron-winged eagles.
"Are you here?"
On a dark street not far from the tower, Ryosuke's eyes radiated impatience. The dormant chakra in his body began to stir.
He slashed another Rain Ninja's throat, blood spraying, then vanished from view. No one present could trace his movement.
Since he couldn't flush out his so-called "phantom enemies," he redirected his attention—to Pain.
That was, after all, the true reason Ryosuke had come to the Land of Rain.
"Where... are the people?"
A hesitant, panicked voice echoed across the bloodstained street, met only with silence.
Many Amegakure shinobi remained, others rushing to reinforce—but none dared speak. Not after witnessing the intruder's power. Even their footsteps were cautious, afraid any sound might provoke him.
Bravery could only carry a Rain Ninja so far. Facing an enemy this overwhelming, even the toughest would hesitate.
The entire battle had lasted mere minutes. Aside from their own screams and cries, the attacker had barely made a sound.
He didn't waste motion or breath—he simply cut them down. Silent. Unrelenting. Like a god of death.
"Is he... gone?"
Once someone confirmed the last speaker wasn't killed, another voice finally broke the silence.
"Forget it. The leader must already know about the invasion. We're not strong enough to join the battle."
After a pause: "If it's truly necessary... Lady Konan will sound the alarm."
Not one of them wanted to face the god of death themselves.
…
Leaping swiftly between rooftops, Ryosuke locked eyes with the six puppets charging toward him.
"Nagato, what's wrong?"
A mature woman's voice rang in Nagato's ears.
"Shh..."
He quietly silenced her.
Then, Ryosuke's perception of the tower was abruptly severed.
The six puppets closed in.
"Who are you? Why have you been hiding in my Hidden Rain Village for so many years?"
Ryosuke came to a halt atop one tower.
Across from him, on another rooftop, six nearly identical figures stood. The one in the lead—an orange-haired youth—stared coldly, asking questions without a hint of curiosity.
"Just a lonely man."
The glow in Ryosuke's eyes brightened. "I've never met a rival who could challenge me. But I heard there's someone in Rain who claims to be a god. So I came to see him."
As he finished, a light mist spilled from his body. His form began to change.
During the earlier skirmish with the Rain Ninja, Ryosuke had fought like any ordinary shinobi. He barely used his own chakra, relying instead on Ren's. Even his physical strength was only that of a Genin—maybe near Chunin level.
But with the same chakra and physical stats, outcomes depend entirely on skill.
And Ryosuke had overwhelmed the Rain Ninja without tapping into his true strength.
Now, however, facing six Rinnegan-powered puppets, each wielding one of the Six Paths abilities—he wouldn't hold back.
His chakra surged. His muscles tightened and shifted. Skin paled. Jet-black hair turned stark white.
In moments, Ryosuke's body had transformed completely.
His consciousness and chakra flooded this vessel. While his chakra might be limited, every other aspect of his power was fully restored.
"God…"
Tendo Pain whispered, the puppet seemingly rattled by the word itself.
But in the next moment, his tone hardened. "Whoever you are... you will die here."
Nagato's emotion pulsed through the puppet's voice.
"Exactly what I wanted to hear."
Now back at full strength—aside from chakra capacity—Ryosuke's eyes were not gentle like Hinata's. They brimmed with anticipation.
For battle.
Boom—
In a blink, Ryosuke crossed the gap between the towers and arrived before the six puppets.
Even with the Rinnegan, Pain could only react on instinct, maneuvering his puppets to evade.
But it was too late.
"Summoned beasts are too much of a hassle… I'd rather skip that part."
The moment that thought crossed his mind, Ryosuke struck.
His fingers pierced the skull of the male Animal Path puppet—the one with the ponytail.
"Soft Fist: Lightning Finger Gun."
A surge of violent chakra surged from his fingertip.
The puppet's body exploded from the inside like an overfilled water balloon—blood, viscera, and bone showered the street, splashing over Ryosuke.
The others barely had time to react.
"The battle... begins."
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