Looking at the unconscious Amaru on the ground, Konan slowly reached out her hand toward her.
Seeing this, the Asura Path Pain decided to head toward that massive chakra source he'd sensed earlier. That should be the so-called "Zero-Tails'" main body.
But just as he walked in that direction, Shinnō, who'd previously lost all signs of life, instantly sprang up and delivered a flying kick that sent the Asura Path flying.
That speed was so fast that neither Nagato nor Konan could react in time. Speaking of which, this made Shinnō seem even more cold-blooded.
His adopted child was about to die in front of him, yet he could continue playing dead.
But the moment Pain showed even a hint of moving toward his base, he immediately couldn't sit still.
At this moment, Shinnō wasn't in his Angkor Fortress, so the Zero-Tails' main body's Dark Chakra couldn't be supplied to him without limit.
That's why he'd planned to fake death and pass out.
With the "Physical Regeneration" secret jutsu, he could easily use chakra to ensure his body was damaged but wouldn't die.
After kicking the Asura Path Pain away, Shinnō didn't even say a single word and directly sprinted toward his base.
He even used the Eight Gates jutsu stolen from Konoha during this process to further increase his escape speed.
Throughout this process, he didn't even glance at Amaru lying on the ground.
Naturally, he also didn't notice that Amaru had slowly awakened from unconsciousness. His scene of directly abandoning her and showing a completely different side from usual was all witnessed by Amaru.
Konan naturally also noticed Amaru's awakening.
But looking at the distant Asura Path Pain, for some unknown psychological reason, she didn't take this little girl's life. She just used paper to cover the girl's eyes again and disguised it as if she hadn't woken up yet.
Then Konan extended paper wings and flew to the Asura Path's side, bringing him along to pursue Shinnō.
With the Eight Gates enhancement, Shinnō's speed was much faster than ordinary ninjas. Just that brief delay had allowed him to return to his base.
After sending all the Sky Ninjas out to intercept the enemies, Shinnō activated the Angkor Fortress's flight function.
He knew that if he couldn't eliminate those two today, his years of planning would end here.
As the ground crumbled, the fortress, comparable to a small town's size, took flight under the Zero-Tails' power.
Shinnō immediately used communication devices to inquire about Konan and her companion's location from his subordinates.
He wanted to use the Angkor Fortress's chakra cannons to bombard and kill these two.
As for Amaru still on the ground? He didn't care.
Unfortunately, Konan's flight speed wasn't slow either.
The Sky Ninjas they encountered along the way could barely withstand their casual strikes.
Although this wasn't the Deva Path Pain, who could directly use Shinra Tensei to clear the field, just the weapons the Asura Path summoned from different dimensions were enough for this group to handle.
Missile carpet bombing, laser clearing. Plus Konan's explosive tag rain.
It was fortunate that the Angkor Fortress was something the Sky Ninjas had spent over ten years carefully crafting. Its defensive power was acceptable.
Otherwise, just the explosion's aftershocks would've been enough to crash it.
Casually crushing a Sky Ninja's throat, the two directly entered the Angkor Fortress's control hall.
They'd originally thought Shinnō would probably escape again before they arrived, but unexpectedly, this guy was just standing there brazenly waiting.
"Have you decided to accept your fate? If you want to surrender, it's already too late."
The Asura Path Pain said mercilessly. After their battle erupted, the plan to recruit Shinnō was basically over.
Unlike recruiting solitary rogue ninjas like Deidara, Shinnō's subordinates had real blood debts. Even if Shinnō suddenly said he was willing to join now, Nagato probably wouldn't trust him.
"Hahahaha! You're the ones seeking death! I'm already invincible!"
Now that Shinnō was in his base with an endless chakra supply, he had infinite confidence.
After several loud laughs, his aura surged dramatically.
His upper body clothes instantly burst from the air pressure, and his white hair turned black and long again, flowing behind him.
That appearance was almost identical to a certain fighting race's rampage from another world. He just lacked a tail.
Besides stealing the Eight Gates, Physical Regeneration, and Zero-Tails information from Konoha, Shinnō had also stolen another secret jutsu: "Physical Activation."
As everyone knows, the Eight Gates is a taijutsu with extremely strong side effects. It can greatly enhance the user's physical abilities, but the cost is consuming the user's lifespan.
Under intense chakra stimulation, the user's cells suffer irreversible damage, and opening the final "Gate of Death" is certainly fatal.
But "Physical Activation" can enhance cell vitality, improving physical abilities while also increasing cellular tolerance.
Meanwhile, the "Physical Regeneration" secret jutsu allows one to surpass healing limits, making damaged tissue regenerate at super speed, and the rebuilt body after damage becomes even more resilient.
Each of these three secret jutsu had certain side effects when used alone, but when operating together under massive chakra support, they formed a self-contained system.
So much so that Shinnō, with his body constantly tearing and regenerating internally, was still increasing in physical strength.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The first sound was Shinnō hitting the Asura Path's head with extreme speed.
The next two were missiles hitting Shinnō.
But compared to Shinnō, whose damaged body parts were visibly healing, the Asura Path with his head dented looked much more miserable.
Of course, this was just one of Nagato's corpse puppets. Even if Shinnō completely destroyed it, it was just a matter of making a new one. Almost no loss.
"Konan, stay back."
Konan was personally present, and she was one of the few people Nagato still cared about.
Hearing the Asura Path's words, Konan didn't hesitate and distanced herself from Shinnō.
She knew Nagato was getting serious.
"Come on!"
With power enhancement, Shinnō spoke boldly, even daring to stand still and provoke his opponent.
The Asura Path's head grew additional faces, and his robes were torn by weapons extending from various parts of his body, revealing three pairs of arms and a saw-like tail.
This was the Asura Path's complete form.
His head split open directly, revealing the laser cannon within.
Without any hesitation, he opened with a cannon shot.
"Super Activity Fist!"
Shinnō wasn't outdone either, displaying the boxing jutsu developed by combining the three secret arts.
Unfortunately, limited by his basic physical strength, even with secret jutsu enhancement, this punch didn't have the world-destroying momentum of a certain watermelon-headed ninja from the future.
In comparison, Shinnō's base was too small. Even with higher multipliers, the final output was limited.
But this level was still adequate against the Asura Path.
Boom!
Shinnō directly charged through the laser cannon's penetration to the Asura Path's side, then broke the Asura Path's arm with one punch.
But what was revealed below wasn't bone and flesh, but denser steel weapons.
Steel blades and iron saws simultaneously slashed across Shinnō's body, his blood spilling everywhere like it cost nothing.
Yet this guy's face showed no sign of weakness.
Two fighters. One with infinite regeneration, one simply a corpse. Who knew how long this battle would continue?
Obviously, someone's patience was running out.
Bang!
The Asura Path Pain and Shinnō in the Eight Gates state were forcibly separated by a figure that suddenly burst into the scene.
"Is it really you? Konan?"
Just as Konan was alarmed by the powerful figure that'd silently entered the battlefield and prepared to act, a familiar voice sounded from behind her.