The moment they saw the Zabuza assimilated body caught by Nara Wataru's Shadow Possession Technique, the Konoha ninja unleashed their jutsu at once.
Lightning Release, Wind Release, Fire Release—even swarming insects.
None of them aimed for his head. In fact, they deliberately avoided it, afraid of damaging the Sharingan in Zabuza's left eye.
The Zabuza assimilated body had wrapped that eye in bandages on purpose. This was part of the persona he had crafted for himself: a left eye bearing an ever-active three-tomoe Sharingan that could not be closed.
Crash!
A storm of attacks descended on him—only for the body to dissolve into water.
It was a Water Clone.
"That's bad!"
One of the Root ninja shouted. The Konoha shinobi all turned at once and saw that Nara Wataru, who had been hiding in the rear, was dead. Zabuza had cut off his head with the Executioner's Blade.
"And you came to hunt me without a Hyuga's Byakugan."
"What I excel at most is Silent Killing."
The Zabuza assimilated body sneered coldly. With a single Body Flicker, he vanished again, and thick mist rose once more. Being able to use ninjutsu without hand seals truly did raise a shinobi's overall combat ability by a tremendous margin.
The Executioner's Blade was not a fast weapon, and the Zabuza assimilated body's style was not one of rapid, decisive slashes either.
Within the mist, he could conceal not only his voice and scent, but now even deceive sensory ninja into mistaking him for nothing more than a patch of fog.
Time passed bit by bit.
Using his refined Silent Killing Technique in tandem with Shadow Clones feinting from different directions, the assimilated body slaughtered all sixteen Konoha ninja.
"Come out."
"How much longer are you going to watch?"
The Zabuza assimilated body sent a pulse of Water Release chakra through the Executioner's Blade, shaking the blood from its surface.
He did not regret killing those Konoha ninja in the slightest. The Root members had all taken part in the Uchiha massacre. As for the ANBU, they could only blame their luck.
If one insisted on drawing strict lines, then the ANBU had done nothing wrong, and neither had the assimilated body.
No one was truly at fault.
It was simply that the world they lived in was built on contradictions from the start.
"It seems everyone underestimated you."
A cold, stern voice sounded from the distance.
The Deva Path of Pain and Konan stepped forward.
Apparently, everyone truly had underestimated Zabuza. Based on the power he had displayed, he could massacre ordinary jonin at will with Silent Killing alone.
The Zabuza assimilated body widened his eyes in feigned shock.
"T-Those eyes… the Rinnegan?"
"Who are you?"
At this point in time, anyone who knew of the Rinnegan would be stunned by Pain's eyes.
"I am the god of a new era."
"I will lead this world into peace."
The Deva Path spoke with supreme solemnity, then continued with a flood of grandiose words.
The meaning, in essence, was simple:
The Five Great Ninja Villages were already targeting Zabuza. Alone, he would not be able to withstand them forever. But if he joined the Akatsuki, he would not only survive—he would also gain many opportunities to clash with the Five Great Villages.
The Zabuza assimilated body's mission truly was to join the Akatsuki, but agreeing too readily would be suspicious. In truth, aside from Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki, most of the Akatsuki had only joined after being beaten into submission.
Raising the Executioner's Blade, the assimilated body let out a cold laugh.
"Then let me see just how powerful the Rinnegan truly is."
"If it's too weak, I'll be taking those eyes for myself."
The Deva Path was not surprised in the least.
He and Konan had seen this sort of thing many times before.
"Universal Pull."
He merely lifted his right hand, and a tremendous force of attraction suddenly burst forth. The assimilated body lost control of his body and was dragged straight toward Pain.
The Rinnegan truly was formidable.
"Water Dragon Jutsu."
The assimilated body raised his left hand and instantly fired off a Water Dragon at Pain.
"Almighty Push."
The Deva Path remained utterly calm.
He had seen many people resist while being dragged in by Universal Pull, but all of them had been true experts.
A violent repulsive force exploded outward and shattered the Water Dragon instantly.
At the same moment, a wall of water rose in front of the assimilated body.
But Almighty Push could sweep aside all things. A mere Water Wall stood no chance of blocking it.
The overwhelming force slammed into the assimilated body, making him feel as if his organs were splitting apart.
Universal Pull and Almighty Push truly were terrifying.
Only after facing them directly did he fully understand one thing:
Pain was absolutely stronger than he had looked in the anime.
In the later, godlike stages of Naruto, these two techniques were no longer especially shocking.
But in the early and middle stages, they were absolute tools of slaughter.
Mist billowed out again, and the Zabuza assimilated body vanished into it.
"Wind Release: Gale Palm."
The Deva Path's voice rang out, and a wild gust swept through the battlefield. Its power surpassed even the combined Wind Release of those six Konoha ninja from earlier. Under that gale, every trace of mist was blown away.
The Zabuza assimilated body was briefly stunned, then quickly understood.
Nagato had been called a prodigy even by Jiraiya. At a young age, he had already mastered all five basic nature transformations. Just because the Six Paths of Pain had rarely used ordinary ninjutsu in the anime did not mean they were incapable of it.
"Water Release: Water Dragon Barrage."
The assimilated body began circling the Deva Path at high speed, repeatedly firing Water Dragon Jutsu. Every cast was instant. No hand seals at all.
Even after seeing it several times, Pain still found this no-seal ninjutsu impressive.
A pity.
Zabuza's opponent was a god.
After dodging a few times, Pain released a vast wave of repulsive force from his body. This time, its power was at least fifty percent greater than before. Every tree within five hundred meters was blasted flat.
Konan rose into the air.
Obito, meanwhile, slipped into the Kamui dimension.
The Zabuza assimilated body was hurt even more badly now. Had it been the original Zabuza taking those two blows, he would have died on the spot.
"You still refuse to use the Sharingan?"
"There's no need. My mastery over it isn't that great yet. Against someone with the Rinnegan, it wouldn't be enough to matter."
"I'll join your organization. I never imagined there was a group like this in the ninja world."
The two reached an agreement quickly. Pain did not care whether Zabuza was loyal. How many people in the Akatsuki were truly loyal, anyway?
The assimilated body also saw no reason to continue.
He had made a rough estimate of the Six Paths of Pain's strength. If he revealed the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, the Eight Gates, the Secret Art Bomb, and all his other methods, there was a very high chance he could defeat the Six Paths. Even if his chakra reserves ran short, he believed he could at least force a draw.
"In that case, come back with us to the organization. Meet the others, and let them meet you."
Pain acknowledged Zabuza's strength. Ninjutsu without hand seals held enormous advantages against ordinary shinobi. It would be useful later when capturing the Tailed Beasts.
Konan said nothing. Whatever Nagato wanted to do, she would support.
The Zabuza assimilated body refused.
"Give me some more time first. It's not only Konoha—other villages are hunting me too."
"I'd like to play with them a little longer."
Hearing that, Pain tossed the Void Ring to Zabuza and explained what it did. Once he finished handling his own affairs, he could use the ring to contact him.
After saying that, Pain left with Konan. He did not think Zabuza would dare run. He did not think Zabuza would dare betray them.
Did he think everyone was Orochimaru?
To Pain, killing Zabuza would be as easy as slaughtering a dog.
After Pain and Konan departed, Obito looked at the heavily injured Zabuza, hesitated for a moment, and left as well.
The strength Zabuza had shown was decent, but not truly extraordinary. Taking back the Sharingan would not be difficult for him, so he decided to leave it in Zabuza's possession for the time being.
Besides, his ambitions ran deeper than that.
One day, perhaps he would exchange his own eyes for Nagato's.
More precisely, for Madara Uchiha's eyes.
That old man could stay obediently in the Pure Land.
The Eye of the Moon Plan could be left to him alone.
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