Nagato was very strong. Although not yet familiar with the various abilities of the Rinnegan, if he burned his life force, he could unleash power surpassing that of an ordinary Kage.
However,
Power is power; strength is strength.
In the Shinobi World, unless the gap in physical performance and mastered Ninjutsu is too vast, combat experience and intelligence become even more important.
Because he had always fought Shinobi, Nagato subconsciously assumed the enemy's non-physical attacks were all Ninjutsu, so his first reaction was to use the Preta Path's ability to absorb them.
The result was like this.
Although the injuries weren't severe due to repelling the flames in time,
Burns were extremely painful, the kind that etched into the bones.
Nagato now had burns all over his body; just standing made him tremble with pain.
If he made any significant movements, he would probably pass out from the pain.
This had nothing to do with willpower; it was the brain's protective inhibitory effect on the body.
In this state, Nagato had actually already lost.
Shinobi were that kind of profession. Without high-speed regeneration ability, even a tiny mistake could decide the outcome.
"Any last words?"
Ryuji asked calmly, slowly walking toward Nagato. His arm armor shifted, and a power device ejected a sword glowing red-hot. Raindrops falling on it instantly vaporized, unable to lower the blade's temperature in the slightest.
This was the Thermal Blade.
The blade was hollow, with an internal electric current circulation heating system. It required only a tiny amount of Chakra to maintain the current circulation heating, keeping the blade continuously at high temperatures, possessing greater destructive power and lethality.
To ensure the hollow blade wouldn't be easily broken, the forging materials used were Chakra Metal and volcanic stone.
Chakra Metal goes without saying, to ensure Chakra Conductivity. Volcanic stone was an otherworldly material that could maintain hardness under high temperatures and amplify heat. This allowed for a big move where increased Chakra could instantly release heat exceeding 5000 degrees Celsius, capable of easily cutting through steel.
It was a weapon specifically prepared to deal with the Preta Path and Asura Path.
Aside from the Asura Path and Preta Path... corresponding preparations were made for the other Paths as well. Although due to time constraints, the preparations weren't exhaustive, there were at least contingency plans.
Nagato stared at Ryuji, silent.
But his gradually heavy breathing indicated his inner state wasn't as calm as his appearance.
He had already resolved himself to at least drag this guy down to hell with him.
"It seems you have nothing to say."
Ryuji stopped three meters away, raised his left hand toward Nagato, and a gun barrel extended from his palm.
Bang!
A bullet intertwined with electricity shot out.
Nagato stared fixedly at the approaching bullet, eyes wide open. An invisible repulsive force erupted, rebounding it.
Ryuji was waiting for this exact opportunity.
His body lightly leaped back, avoiding the repulsive impact. The moment he landed, he counterattacked.
And the repulsive wave dissipated at just the right moment.
Even wearing heavier, clumsier armor, his timing was still impeccable.
"Urgh... Aaaaah!!!"
Nagato gritted his teeth against the pain, activating the Asura Path's ability. The heart-wrenching, lung-tearing pain made him unable to suppress a scream.
But the pain couldn't slow his movements at all. His four arms spread simultaneously, attacking from four directions.
One extended a cannon barrel, gathering dense chakra energy. One transformed into a chain sword, whipping out to slash. The other two opened their fingers wide, reaching out to grab.
Bang!
The armor leg devices expelled flames. Ryuji suddenly accelerated, swinging the Thermal Blade.
Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!!!!
The four arms hadn't even had time to execute their moves before being cleanly severed one after another.
After severing the arms, the Thermal Blade's momentum undiminished, continued slashing toward Nagato.
Nagato wanted to retreat, but the pain all over his body made him pause just as he was about to move.
That pause meant there was no more chance to dodge.
Watching the Thermal Blade getting closer and closer, Nagato could even feel the heat radiating from it. But instead of fear, he felt relieved, as if finding release.
'Ah, just like this.'
'This cursed world... if there is a next life, I hope never to come to a world like this again.'
Nagato closed his eyes, waiting for death, but suddenly heard a 'bang, bang' cracking sound from beneath his feet.
His heart jolted, eyes snapping open.
Two thick vines broke through the ground, tightly entangling Ryuji's wrists.
Bang!
Another vine broke out from behind, wrapping around Nagato's waist and violently hurling him far away.
"Don't even think about it!"
Ryuji tore off the vine with his free left hand, flames sprayed from his feet as he chased after Nagato.
"You're not going anywhere!"
A steady voice sounded from behind. In the misty heavy rain, a figure shrouded in a long robe suddenly appeared, a long sword in hand stabbing into a junction point of the armor.
Amidst the ear-piercing 'screech' of metal friction and sparks, the armor from Ryuji's left shoulder to underarm was dismantled.
Ryuji's heart skipped a beat. Giving up chasing Nagato, he backhanded the Thermal Blade toward the black-robed figure.
Clang!
The long sword was severed. The Thermal Blade, momentum undiminished, struck the black-robed figure, splitting it in two. Then it turned into two sections of wood and fell.
Body Replacement Technique!
This was a Ninjutsu requiring prior preparation of a substitute near the battlefield, meaning the enemy had prepared in advance.
"Master, are you alright!?"
Aka raced over, asking with concern.
Ryuji didn't respond, instead looking toward where Nagato had landed. There was no trace of anyone there anymore!
He was long gone.
He urgently contacted the Scarab puppets left along the way through the mental link but received no useful information. He couldn't help but glare angrily at Aka. "I told you to watch out for Madara suddenly intervening. What were you doing?"
Nagato was a crucial piece for Madara; he absolutely could not and would not give up on Nagato.
Before coming to the Land of Rain, Ryuji had guessed Madara would intervene to save Nagato at the last moment and had been cautiously guarding against him.
After all, against a powerhouse of that level, even if aged and decrepit, one couldn't determine exactly what kind of power he could unleash.
If not careful, forget about the Rinnegan, even survival would be uncertain.
Therefore, he didn't let Aka participate in the joint attack but had her watch the surroundings to prevent Madara from suddenly appearing and ambushing.
Although if the two joined forces, they could quickly end the battle, it would also mean both focusing their attention on the fight, neglecting factors outside the battlefield.
If Madara suddenly appeared to rescue someone during their battle, they would probably be unable to react in time.
To prevent Madara from intervening to save someone, he focused all his attention on Nagato, resulting in neglecting the situation with Konan, allowing Nagato to fall into darkness right before him.
That was one thing.
After all, he had come specifically to seize the Rinnegan; they weren't related, and he didn't care whether Konan lived or died or whether Nagato fell into darkness, as long as Nagato remained.
But in the end, it all came to nothing. Could he not be angry?
"I'm sorry, Master."
Aka lowered her head in guilt. "While Master was in intense battle with Nagato, a black-robed person suddenly appeared, trying to attack Master. After I intercepted him, he ran away."
"After confirming he wasn't a clone or something, I went to chase him. I never expected..."
"You never expected the opponent would use his real body as bait and use a clone to rescue, right?" Ryuji finished the rest for her.
"I'm sorry, please punish me, Master!"
"Forget it."
Ryuji sighed, no longer angry.
The reason he was angry wasn't because of the failure... alright, there was that element too.
But more because he thought Aka had neglected her duty, not taking his command seriously.
But now, understanding the situation and knowing that wasn't the case, he wasn't as angry anymore.
After all, it was a matter of inferior skill; who could he blame?
He should just blame himself.
If he were more awesome, if he had made Aka more awesome, these things wouldn't have happened.
Or if he were stronger himself, not giving Madara an opening, then the result wouldn't have been like this either.
"You seem quite open-minded."
An aged yet extremely steady voice came through the rain.
Both of them warily looked in the direction of the voice. In the misty rain, a black figure gradually approached.
As the distance closed, the figure became clearer.
The newcomer was wrapped in a large black robe, wearing a pale white spiral mask. Through the holes in the mask, blood-red Sharingan eyes were visible.
—Uchiha Madara.
Ryuji wasn't surprised by Madara's arrival.
He knew Madara had long reached the end of his life span, surviving only by relying on the Outer Path Statue.
Even if there were methods to cling to life briefly without the Outer Path Statue, he definitely wouldn't live long.
Doing as much as possible within the limited life span… for Madara with his long-term plans, there was no time to waste.
Especially since he hadn't found a successor yet.
"What's there to be narrow-minded about?" Ryuji curled his lip, sneering. "My Shinobi career is less than eight years after all. It's normal for my experience to be no match for an old monster like you who's lived nearly a hundred years."
Madara's pupils sharply contracted.
Ryuji could clearly sense the other party's mind was disturbed.
Madara suspiciously scrutinized Ryuji, hesitated for a moment, then tentatively said, "...You seem to know quite a lot."
"I know more than you imagine."
"Oh? Like what?"
"The Eye of the Moon Plan!"
The air froze. Ryuji felt an intense killing intent, so thick it was almost suffocating.
Aka's brow furrowed tightly. She took a step forward.
The surrounding air exploded, churning rainwater splashing, breaking the silent space.
The air flowed smoothly again; the suffocating atmosphere vanished.
Madara looked at Aka with surprise and doubt, his eyes flashing dangerously.
But he didn't attack directly, instead looking at Ryuji.
"Why do you know about the Eye of the Moon?"
Ryuji always had a faint smile on his face, not startled at all by the previous change.
He said calmly, "I've already said, I know more than you imagine. Why care about where my intelligence comes from, instead of asking some questions you want answers to?"
"Although I don't know where you got the information, don't think you can fool me."
"Really?" Ryuji looked at him with a half-smile, asking, "For example, the Eye of the Moon Plan being a trap left by someone else, you don't care about that either?"
"I really shouldn't have thought about convincing you to become my assistant, wasting my mood."
"I also shouldn't have thought about letting you know the truth, making you my assistant to take down Kaguya, wasting my expression."
The two confronted each other, neither yielding.
Their gradually intensifying gazes locked onto each other, then simultaneously, they charged at one another.