Tobi's and Black Zetsu's retreat also caught the other Akatsuki members by surprise. Pain could have forcibly stopped Black Zetsu and Tobi from fleeing just now, but he chose not to.
In his view, such cowardly behavior from Tobi and Black Zetsu would only lower the other Akatsuki members' opinion of the so-called "Madara" faction.
After Black Zetsu and Tobi fled, Akatsuki's already insufficient manpower became even more lacking. Jiraiya took the initiative to step forward and face Konan, while Minato and Orochimaru exchanged a glance and moved to engage Kisame and Ameyuri. Meanwhile, Hoshiyomi continued to firmly entangle the Deva Path Pain.
The all-star lineup on Konoha's side hadn't even all stepped out yet, and they were already pressing the Akatsuki members so hard that they could barely lift their heads.
To be honest, the strength Konoha was displaying far exceeded Pain's expectations. Watching the situation on the battlefield completely deviate from his predictions, even the Deva Path Pain found it hard to remain calm.
Outside the Land of Fire, in a certain forest, Nagato—hiding there—frowned deeply as he watched the shared vision from the Deva Path.
Things were not going as smoothly as he had imagined. This time, he had truly kicked an iron plate. Fortunately, the situation had not yet become completely irredeemable—he still had his strongest trump card unused.
Seeing the Akatsuki members on the battlefield gradually fall into a disadvantage, Nagato clenched his teeth, barely raised his hands, and formed a seal.
Six Paths of Pain, activate!
As Nagato moved, the five corpses that had been stationed beside him all sprang into action. Nagato examined the five bodies, pondered for a moment, and then issued his orders:
"Asura Path and Preta Path, go support the Deva Path. Animal Path, release your Giant Crustacean and Rhino to assist from the sidelines."
"After summoning the creatures, hide within the Chameleon and infiltrate Konoha. Once inside the village, summon the Human Path and the Naraka Path to cause as much destruction as possible, and continuously revive the Asura Path and Preta Path to keep the battling Konoha forces distracted and overwhelmed!"
After confirming there were no obvious flaws in his plan, Nagato nodded in satisfaction. With a wave of his hand, he sent the remaining five Paths of Pain off to carry out their respective missions.
What he didn't realize was that not far away, Tobi and Black Zetsu were quietly observing his movements.
Seeing Nagato dispatch the remaining five Paths, Tobi couldn't help but smile.
"Before, we couldn't confirm where he actually was. This move of his just saved us a lot of trouble."
Beside him, Black Zetsu also showed a grin.
"Exactly. And more importantly, once he's sent out those five Pains, it'll be even easier for us to carry out our plan."
...
Under the siege of Konoha's all-star lineup, the Akatsuki members present were clearly starting to struggle. Each of the six remaining Akatsuki fighters was being forced to deal with one Kage-level opponent plus at least two elite jōnin.
If that were all, they might still have been able to manage—but for some reason, these opponents seemed extremely familiar with their abilities, which made the situation far worse.
Take the so-called Immortal Duo, for example. Because Kakuzu from the original Immortal Duo had been killed early on by Hoshiyomi and removed from the picture, the current Immortal Duo consisted of Mangetsu and Hidan.
Although Mangetsu's strength was inferior to Kakuzu's, his Hydrification Technique, in some respects, fit the Immortal Duo concept even better.
Mangetsu's Hydrification combined with Hidan's terrifying curse abilities was almost a guaranteed kill in a first encounter. Yet now, none of their abilities could be brought into play at all.
Mangetsu didn't even need much explanation—facing Sakumo and the father-son duo of Kakashi, whose strengths lay in Lightning Release and speed, his water-based combat style turned the fight into a complete tragedy. He was being utterly overwhelmed.
As Mangetsu was being beaten to a pulp, Hidan wasn't faring any better on the other side.
His opponents, Shikaku and Haku, were the ultimate tormentors. This combination simply gave him no opportunity whatsoever to obtain blood.
At the very start of the battle, Haku had directly used Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals, trapping Hidan inside the mirror formation and cutting off any chance for him to coordinate with the other Akatsuki members.
Hidan was initially unconcerned and planned to use his triple-bladed scythe to teach that ice-playing girl a good lesson, but when he raised his hand, he realized something was seriously wrong.
Because several pitch-black shadows suddenly emerged from the cluster of ice mirrors in front of him.
This was the Ice Nightmare Technique, specially developed by Shikaku and Haku to deal with Hidan.
Haku's Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals could perfectly conceal Shikaku's true body. At the same time, the refraction of the ice mirrors cleverly hid Shikaku's shadow, and they could even use the refraction of light to greatly extend the attack range of his shadow techniques.
Hidan, whose intelligence was never his strong suit, encountering this combination was a capital-letter tragedy. No matter how he dodged or how wildly he swung the crimson triple-bladed scythe in his hand, he could not escape the fate of being bound by shadows.
Once restrained, Haku's attacks from all directions showed no mercy. Knowing full well that Hidan was immortal, Haku held nothing back after immobilizing him.
All kinds of weapons formed from Ice Release rained down on Hidan like a storm, turning him into a literal pincushion. After that, Haku formed seals and began shrinking the ice mirrors. The mirrors continuously compressed and fused together, eventually forming a massive sphere of ice.
And so Hidan, completely unable to move, was trapped inside the ice ball.
The other Akatsuki members were in slightly better shape than the Immortal Duo—but only slightly. If no reinforcements arrived soon, total defeat would only be a matter of time.
Just as despair began to creep into the hearts of the Akatsuki members, the ground suddenly started to shake violently. It was obvious that something massive was approaching.
Everyone instinctively turned to look, only to see a gigantic Rhino and an enormous Crustacean charging forward like tanks.
Standing atop the two colossal beasts were two figures, both wearing the black cloaks patterned with red clouds. Seeing those cloaks, Kisame and the others couldn't help but shout in unison:
"Help us!"
Even without their cries, the Preta Path and the Asura Path were already moving. The Asura Path hoisted the Preta Path up and, like throwing a shot put, hurled him straight toward the ice sphere trapping Hidan.
After throwing the Preta Path, the Asura Path did not pause. With a wave of his hand, countless missiles blasted toward the Konoha forces.
At the same time, the Giant Rhino and the Giant Crustacean also entered the battlefield.
The Giant Rhino charged straight at Minato. Faced with this, Minato had no choice but to abandon his offensive against Ameyuri and use Flying Thunder God to evade.
On the other side, the Giant Crustacean spewed massive amounts of foam, forcing Sakumo and the Kakashi father-and-son duo to retreat, finally giving the half-dead Mangetsu a brief chance to recover.
The Asura Path's missile barrage also forced Orochimaru to give up his attack, relieving some of the pressure on Kisame.
After landing, the Preta Path immediately displayed his abilities. To the stunned disbelief of Haku and Shikaku, he directly absorbed Haku's chakra from the ice sphere, releasing the half-dead, pincushion-like Hidan back into the fight.
...
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