"Iwata, what are you doing!?"
Facing his comrade's questioning, Iwata looked utterly bewildered.
"I... I don't know either."
"I just had a moment of confusion, and when I came to, this is what happened, it wasn't me..."
Iwata wanted to explain, but the sound of rushing wind from behind cut him off.
Nagato's eyes were indifferent, his whole body brimming with Chakra. His hair and robes, soaked by the rain, billowed as if in a windless void, the surrounding raindrops scattering as if in fear.
He pushed off with his feet, cracking the ground, and shot forward like a cannonball, covering the distance of five or six steps in an instant, his right hand ruthlessly reaching for Iwata.
Thud!
A figure flew in from the side, kicking him in the waist.
The immense force sent Nagato flying away even faster, for over ten meters. He bounced on the ground a few times before grabbing the ground to stand up, sliding several meters before barely coming to a stop.
Nagato supported himself on the ground with his left hand, his right hand clutching his kicked waist. He looked up at the one who attacked him… wearing a high-collared long robe, with reddish-brown short hair, and from his appearance, he looked about the same age as himself.
—Senki Ryuji.
Nagato's pupils contracted once more.
He had already unleashed his full strength, yet the other party could still keep up with his speed.
Was the earlier attitude of a strong one testing and evaluating a weaker one not just a bluff?
"Tsuchiya, you go and attack the Akatsuki's camp!" Ryuji threw two scrolls to a big man with a solid-looking face in the group. "Just make good use of the weapons I gave you yesterday, and even a few dozen against three thousand won't be a problem. Moreover, Rasa will take action when he sees the commotion."
"Yes!"
Tsuchiya stowed the scrolls and led the team away.
Ryuji looked at the bewildered Iwata and barked, "Why are you still standing there?"
"Y-yes, yes."
Hearing the reprimand, Iwata, unsure whether to follow Tsuchiya to attack the Akatsuki's camp or stay to explain, immediately felt relieved.
After accepting the order, he immediately chased after them.
Nagato wanted to pursue, but seeing the blades Ryuji held against the throats of his other three comrades, he gave up.
"Nagato, don't let him control you! If we don't get the information back, everyone will die!"
Hearing his comrades' shouts, Nagato still didn't move. His strange eyes stared coldly at Ryuji.
His mind was in chaos right now; he couldn't listen to his comrades' pleas. He wanted to kill Ryuji.
It was true, Ryuji didn't kill Konan.
But he was the root cause of everything.
Konan's death and Ryuji's earlier words, 'Akatsuki's actions are not for peace', vaguely gave him an idea.
He wasn't clear on what exactly it was.
It was just a spark, a seed. The answer still needed him to confirm and explore.
But he was certain, the answer was definitely not the Akatsuki that Yahiko built, nor was it his delusion of peace.
Therefore, he didn't want to save Akatsuki at all. His earlier impulse to pursue was purely instinctive. Now, having calmed down, he remained unmoved.
"Nagato, hurry…"
The voice cut off abruptly as Ryuji slit their throats with his blade.
Yet Nagato remained unmoved, his pupils merely contracting for a moment before turning even colder.
Seeing this, Ryuji frowned.
Nagato himself was powerful, and there was also the unstable factor of the Rinnegan.
To prevent Nagato from going berserk in a crisis, Ryuji had used Konan's life to force him to commit suicide.
Unexpectedly, such an accident occurred in the end.
No, it wasn't an accident.
'I got careless.'
After seeing Iwata's expression and reaction later, Ryuji knew he had been under a Genjutsu.
'Being able to silently place a Genjutsu on a captain during a collective operation of a hundred elite troops could only be the work of Uchiha Madara.'
'Moreover, that kind of Genjutsu, set with conditions and activated with a delay, was exactly the same as the Uchiha Clan's Transfer Seal Technique.'
'Currently in the Shinobi World, aside from Uchiha Madara, no one else could do it.'
Ryuji had already considered that Madara might personally intervene; otherwise, he wouldn't have brought Aka along.
But he naively thought the key point was Nagato, and that even if Madara interfered, it would be through Nagato.
He never expected the target to be Konan.
"The situation has developed into the worst possible scenario." Ryuji sighed, scratched his head, and looked at Nagato. "If I said Konan's death was caused by someone secretly manipulating things, would you believe me?"
"Whether I believe it or not, what difference does it make?"
Nagato was unusually calm, not directly summoning the Outer Path Statue.
Perhaps he thought he could win!
In the original work, he only summoned the Outer Path Statue when his legs were injured by Hanzo's Fire Release and he was in a desperate situation surrounded by hundreds of elites.
He stared coldly at Ryuji and continued, "Whether someone was secretly plotting or not, the fact that you intended to harm us remains true. I will absolutely not let you go."
"That's true." Ryuji gave a light laugh, then his expression turned serious. "Well then, try to kill me!"
Nagato snorted coldly and charged forward violently.
The air whistled, rain splashed.
In Ryuji's field of vision, Nagato's entire body seemed elongated and distorted.
A person couldn't be elongated and distorted for no reason. This was an illusion caused by Nagato's speed reaching an extreme, exceeding the eye's ability to capture.
Pain caused his spirit to erupt. His Chakra became stronger, his speed even faster.
However,
Even though the opponent's speed exceeded his eyes' ability to capture, with the tactical contact lenses providing data assistance, Ryuji could still calculate his landing point in advance.
No, it wasn't just the tactical contact lenses.
Ryuji, who had maxed out the Taijutsu skill, could also predict the opponent's position based on rich combat experience and intuition.
If not for his physical strength not keeping up, he could also learn from Madara's example, facing tens of thousands of Shinobi Armies, pummeling them with Taijutsu, and then saying something cool like: "Do you want to dance too?"
If not for such ability, he would have died long ago in Roran when facing Minato.
And the result was as he expected.
His body tilted slightly, letting Nagato pass by his chest by a hair's breadth. At the moment they crossed paths, he extended a blade from his arm, stabbing toward Nagato's carotid artery.
At this moment, Nagato was in a state where his old force was spent and new force hadn't been generated, unable to defend.
Moreover, because of hatred, he had just used his full strength; now, even if he wanted to pull back and retreat, he couldn't.
It seemed like a certain-death situation.
But Nagato just glanced sideways, coldly watching the blade inch closer, his eyes as calm as an ancient well without ripples.
At this moment, time itself seemed to slow down.
Just as the arm blade was about to pierce Nagato, his shoulder suddenly bulged.
A thick arm tore through his clothes, extending from his shoulder, reaching for Ryuji's neck.
A third arm.
'Asura Path!'
The term instinctively appeared in Ryuji's mind. His body instinctively leaned back, then took advantage of the momentum to flip backward, creating distance.
Nagato's expression remained blank. The third hand opened its fingers, and the fingertips shot forward like small missiles, trailing exhaust flames.
Ryuji completely entrusted his body to the instincts honed by maxed-out Taijutsu. The exoskeleton device's power was fully unleashed, steam hissing from the connecting pipes.
He jumped left and right, flipped backward repeatedly, performing a series of serpentine maneuvers to dodge the missiles.
No sooner had one wave settled than another arose.
The third arm's limb shed its outer shell like machinery, revealing six slightly larger missiles mounted on a steel frame.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...
Six missiles fired one after another.
Nagato tapped the ground with his feet, chasing behind the missiles as he charged forward.
Flames actually shot out from the soles of his feet for acceleration. His body underwent further changes mid-charge. Another arm grew from his right shoulder, the front half of the arm a broadsword as wide as an adult's palm.
Ryuji ran and dodged simultaneously, performing another series of serpentine moves to avoid the missile explosions.
But before he could catch his breath, Nagato charged in for melee.
Four arms, one of them possessing a heavy sword one meter long, like a humanoid weapon.
But in close combat, Ryuji wasn't flustered at all.
He could say without taking responsibility that in close combat... as long as the physical attributes were comparable and the opponent didn't know the Hyuga Clan's Gentle Fist or the Eight Gates or similar stuff, he could fight to stalemate even with the Sage of Six Paths.
The two fought intensely relying on their physical performance and skills, employing various means frequently.
Shockwaves rolled, explosions occurred repeatedly. The pouring rain was shaken away by the aftershocks of their battle, unable to get close at all.
If those elite puppeteers were still here, seeing combat of this level would surely leave them speechless in shock.
It's just too strong.
Nagato successively used the abilities of the Asura Path, Deva Path, and Preta Path in battle.
First, he grew two more arms, each with functions like killing weapons, then grew another head.
The kind that opens its skull to fire laser waves.
Combined with the Deva Path's attraction and repulsion forces, even though Ryuji's Taijutsu was unparalleled, he was still being suppressed.
Even using ninja tools to release Ninjutsu attacks would be absorbed by the Preta Path's ability.
Moreover, Nagato grew stronger as he fought.
The various abilities of the Rinnegan, fueled by his life-burning Chakra, grew increasingly powerful.
Facing such a Nagato, Ryuji couldn't help but think: 'If in the original work, Nagato hadn't been injured in the legs while saving Konan, he probably could have killed Hanzo and the others without needing to summon the Gedo Statue!'
"It's time to end this!"
Ryuji threw a smoke grenade during the gap when Nagato used the repulsion wave.
Worried it might be poison gas, Nagato quickly covered his mouth and nose, retreating.
Ryuji seized the chance to open his Personal Space.
The pipes connected to his exoskeleton automatically detached. Various armored parts flew out of the twisting, rotating spatial gate, automatically fitting onto his body and connecting with the pipes.
"Hiss~"
As excess gas was expelled, the upgraded and modified Armor was activated. Dangerous signal lights lit up inside the black face mask.
Nagato remained silent, stepping forward with heavy strides. The arms on his shoulders and under his armpits spread open, ready for a combined assault.
Ryuji raised his right hand, palm facing forward.
"Hum!"
Along with the Chakra Circulation, red light emerged from his palm, then it spews out scorching flames.
Nagato didn't pause, only raising his right arm the moment the flames arrived, the Preta Path ability activating...
The flames weren't absorbed. His arm was instantly engulfed by the fire, which then covered his entire body.
Although he timely repelled the flames with a repulsion wave, his body had already suffered extensive burns.
Especially his right arm, covered in blisters. The pain from all over his body almost made him cry out.
This wasn't Ninjutsu; it was just an ordinary flamethrower.
Ryuji had come specifically for Nagato's Rinnegan; how could he not be prepared?
Not just this thing, he had plenty of other preparations like high-pressure water cutters and physical thermal melting swords.