Chapter 544: Pain
The shockingly skinny man sat on the life-support device, his brow furrowing inadvertently.
"Haruno Sakura?"
Nagato chewed on this name, reading it slowly, and soon fell silent again.
"What about the others, Konan?" After a long time, he finally asked.
The Land of Water still had remnants of Obito's hidden informants. Although their level was not high, they also knew that three people came from Konoha.
"The main body only saw her alone." The woman answered; she was obviously just a paper clone of Konan.
"Is that so?"
"Haruno Sakura should have split up with her companions," the paper clone added. "Although splitting forces reduces combat power, Konoha's ninja have always relied on their extraordinary courage."
She implicitly mocked.
Nagato was noncommittal.
"It's a pity Zetsu can't exert his abilities in the sea area..." He frowned slightly and said in a deep voice.
Relying on Zetsu's all-pervasive reconnaissance ability, Akatsuki's actions were often carried out under conditions of sufficient intelligence, just like playing a MOBA game with a full-map hack, perfectly clear about the enemy's movements, so they were often invincible. However, in the ocean, Zetsu's Earth Release jutsu couldn't be used, and the Akatsuki organization could only play hide-and-seek with the enemy in an extremely low-visibility rainstorm environment. This feeling of a pitch-black map was something Akatsuki hadn't encountered for many years, making a simple mission to snatch the Three-Tails so complicated, and Nagato also felt a bit depressed in his heart.
No wonder Madara secretly laid out his plans here. The Land of Water is far from the continent, communication is inconvenient, and the marine environment is not conducive to Zetsu's actions. He doesn't want the Land of Water to break away from control...
"Just let Sasori and the others search for and deal with the remaining two Konoha ninja," he said while thinking. "First use the Deva Path to deal with that Miss Thorn-in-the-Eye..."
"You don't need to be in a hurry to appear, Nagato." The woman sneered, "Let me fight her first... Maybe I'll have already finished her off without you having to take action!"
The man was slightly surprised.
He turned his head to glance at Konan and blurted out: "You are not her match."
Nagato knew Konan was not an empty vase with only appearance; her strength was very strong, not even weaker than some Akatsuki members. He didn't deny this.
But...
"Even if you have practiced jutsu specifically to counter her," Nagato said bluntly, "it's impossible to defeat her."
Yes, in Nagato's view, Konan had indeed stepped into the "Kage" level, and the jutsu she used quite countered Haruno Sakura, but she and Haruno Sakura were still not opponents on the same level!
In Nagato's classification method, above mortals are the "Kage" standing at the peak of the world; above "Kage" is him, the "God" who views "Kage" as ants.
Although Haruno Sakura wasn't yet as powerful as a "God", she had undoubtedly far surpassed the ordinary Kage level. In Akatsuki's battles with her over these years, they could firmly suppress her at first, later couldn't gain the upper hand in one-on-one, and then this year Kisame was solo-killed by her and Itachi was forced back by her. This girl had imperceptibly grown into a dazzling rising star, a grave threat to Akatsuki!
At least Konan had no chance of winning against her.
However, his way of speaking was a bit too blunt.
"Uh...!" The woman felt a bit aggrieved and snorted sullenly.
Both being women, is the gap really this big?
Konan was secretly a bit unconvinced, just used to not retorting; she lifted the paper curtain and walked out of the tree hollow.
Outside the hollow, the Six Paths of Pain were fully equipped and ready to go. Hearing the sound, Pain turned his head.
The black rods inserted in his face didn't destroy Pain's appearance; instead, they made this face originally belonging to Yahiko look even more eerie.
Facing Pain, who was formed from the rebirth of her deceased lover, Konan's mood quickly calmed down.
"Previously, Madara borrowed the power of the Tailed Beasts to prepare a jutsu," Pain said faintly, "wanting to use it to deal with Haruno Sakura."
Pain knew Konan had good intentions, hoping he wouldn't use the power of the Deva Path as much as possible, as that was a heavy burden on his weak main body, Nagato.
But to deal with Haruno Sakura, he had no room to hold back his power, so Pain could only patiently explain to Konan.
"But he failed." Konan already knew what Pain wanted to say.
Not long ago, Obito's actions in the Land of Lightning, besides aggravating Nagato's distrust of him, also made Nagato raise his vigilance against Haruno Sakura by another point.
The masked man's lack of candor made Nagato even more suspicious of his motives. Especially that mysterious jutsu with huge energy consumption, what exactly was the jutsu that required borrowing the power of multiple Tailed Beasts to complete? That was absolutely no ordinary ninjutsu, but Obito was vague about it. Nagato even started to feel that Zetsu had also become suspicious.
The internal intrigue of Akatsuki had nothing to do with Haruno Sakura, so it won't be mentioned for now.
More importantly, the masked man had sworn before acting that he could finish off Haruno Sakura, but he failed. Judging from the results, the Ice Release girl returned to Konoha unscathed, and the sensing of her chakra not only didn't weaken but faintly became stronger.
What exactly happened in the Land of Lightning?
That man calling himself Madara Uchiha prepared so much and still couldn't do anything to her. Just how strong is Haruno Sakura?
Even Nagato, who considered himself a God transcending all living beings, began to feel that girl had become troublesome.
Pain nodded, took a step forward, and said in a deep voice: "So this time I will go all out."
"Is she really that strong?" Konan furrowed her pretty willow eyebrows and asked in a low voice.
Pain tightly pursed his lips, raised his head to look at the gloomy and dark sky, and remained silent.
Rainwater flowed down his hair and handsome face.
It was precisely because he knew Haruno Sakura's threat that Nagato personally came to the Land of Water after learning Sakura might appear here.
"The rain has lessened."
After a long while, Pain suddenly spoke.
The woman frowned slightly, wiped the rainwater off her face, and also looked up at the sky.
"Hn."
The rain turned from the previous urgency and heaviness to being much gentler. This was the first time this change had occurred in several days.
Konan's expression changed.
"The storm is coming to an end." Pain's face was stern, his voice clear and cold, as he spoke slowly, "Which also means the Three-Tails is about to successfully revive."
He turned his head and exchanged a glance with Konan.
"Then, it's time to act."
As Pain spoke, he turned his head, looking forward, his sharp gaze seemingly penetrating the gradually thinning rain curtain.
As if landing on the two women fighting to the death extremely far away.
On that undulating sea surface, the main body of the Angel of God, Konan, scattered into a shower of blood, and then abruptly condensed into a solid body.
She appeared silently in mid-air above Haruno Sakura's head, the paper sword in her hand slashing down from the sky!
The sharp sword cut through the air and raindrops, carrying a rapid and sharp whistling sound, falling on the pink-haired girl's head with a ruthless angle and an indomitable momentum!
Whether in speed, power, angle, or the unexpected timing of the launch, this was a perfect strike.
The killing intent was menacing!
Even those exquisite eyes, cold as ten-thousand-year icebergs, seemed to burst forth with fiery killing intent!
"Die!"
However, what Konan saw was the girl making the correct response with extraordinary reaction speed.
Tilting her head and rotating her shoulders.
Haruno Sakura twisted her body to the limit.
The paper sword slashed down, scraping past Haruno Sakura's broad forehead, cheek, and shoulder, carrying away a few strands of severed hair, and dangerously skimming past the coat on the girl's chest.
The sword wind was still sharp, but missed by a hair's breadth!
The Angel of Paper's pupils shrank violently, and for the first time, a strange expression appeared on her frost-like face—
Astonishment.
She... actually dodged it?
Before Konan could have any more thoughts, the girl's voice suddenly came from below her. "Good strike."
Haruno Sakura's mouth curled up, revealing a faint smile.
The expression on Konan's face stiffened, and then the next moment, the radiance of chakra erupted from below, and a fierce counterattack completely swallowed her!