Naruto: From Novice to Grave

Chapter 304 - The Battle Against Payne: A Declaration of Rice Carrying

When the Raikage was thrown back, Onoki launched an attack together with Mei Terumi, using Dust Release first and Lava Release later, timing it perfectly.

For ninjas of their skill level, even without prior training, their teamwork is remarkably smooth.

Pain's skills have short cooldowns and cannot be used consecutively. Although Dust Release attacks are fast, they are not instantaneous and have a noticeable wind-up.

Pain dodged into the air, leaving the five puppets behind him to face the ninjutsu directly.

The Hungry Ghost Path, standing in the middle, suddenly stretched out his hands and used the [Sealing Technique Absorption Seal] to absorb all the ninjutsu of the Tsuchikage and Mizukage, one after the other.

Even though Lava Release is a bloodline limit, and Dust Release is an even higher bloodline limit, it is still a chakra ninjutsu and is completely countered by the Preta Path, so it is not difficult to absorb.

"It was... absorbed?"

"This guy can nullify ninjutsu?"

Everyone who witnessed this scene, especially the Anbu from Iwagakure and Kirigakure, was as if they had seen a ghost. Their leader's powerful bloodline ninjutsu had vanished without even making a ripple.

Has anyone ever seen such a strange way of dealing with ninjutsu?

After Nagato's last shred of pity vanished, he was no longer prepared to give these people from powerful nations another chance.

He wanted to seize this golden opportunity—the gathering of the five Kage, each with only ten ANBU guards—to eliminate the high-ranking officials of the five great ninja villages and clear the way for the Akatsuki to take over the ninja world.

In the past, he might have thought his power was insufficient, but now it's different. He has obtained all the power of the One-Tailed to Seven-Tailed, most of the Eight-Tailed's chakra, and a portion of the Nine-Tailed's chakra.

Previously, he used his own life force to maintain the Gedo Mazo's actions, but now, the Gedo Mazo has revived and can provide him with chakra in return.

Nagato now feels stronger than ever before, a true god. To destroy the five great ninja villages, he will start with the five Kage.

On the ground, the bald Asura Dao pulled out a string of cannonballs from his wrist, while simultaneously activating the mechanisms on his back and head, revealing various uniquely styled missiles and cannons.

These are not the chemical kinetic energy weapons that Higashino Makoto is familiar with, but rather a combination of chakra energy and machinery, a unique product of the ninja world.

The Animal Realm even formed hand seals to summon a large number of strange spirit beasts, encompassing everything from the heavens to the earth, with various shapes, but they all had one thing in common.

Like the Six Paths of Pain, they were adorned with black rod-like decorations and possessed Rinnegan eyes.

This convinced everyone that Higashino's judgment was correct: these eyes were reflections of ninjutsu. Otherwise, you couldn't possibly say that even dogs had awakened the eyes of the Sage of Six Paths.

With no room for compromise, a major battle broke out instantly.

Apart from the five village kage, everyone who can come here today is a master of the ANBU, the elite of their respective factions.

The samurai, lacking the fancy skills of ninjas, and the few members of Takigakure who were not elites, sensed that something was wrong and silently retreated behind the Konoha side, protecting the people of the five great ninja villages in front of them.

The Asura Path and the summoned Yata no Tori launched a saturation bombardment at the crowd, but failed to break through the ninjas' various defensive ninjutsu.

After the explosion, the two sides were locked in combat, with the ninjas having an overwhelming numerical advantage.

The siege began.

The Heavenly Realm, Asura Realm, and Animal Realm are the main forces in the battle, scattered in front, while the Human Realm and Hungry Ghost Realm assist, protecting the Hell Realm in the middle.

Together with the various summoned beasts on the periphery, they share a perspective and form a tightly knit battle unit.

Upon first contact, this unit displayed terrifying combat power combining offense and defense. The various strange ninjutsu of the Six Paths of Pain caused great trouble for the Anbu ninjas from the four villages who rushed forward.

The summoning beast Yatagarasu seemed to have an endless supply of eggs inside its belly, circling rapidly in the air and bombarding the area relentlessly.

The stone panda has strong defenses and roams outside, drawing enemy fire.

The giant crab used bubbles to clear away the negative effects of various ninjutsu while simultaneously retaliating with offensive water-style attacks.

Hellhounds can split, and the more you fight them, the more there are.

The bull charged wildly with astonishing strength, causing ninjas to scatter wherever it went.

The chameleon's invisibility is not very useful in this kind of siege battle, but it will occasionally use its tongue to lift up a ninja, creating conditions for its comrades to attack, while also using its huge body as a shield.

The giant centipede slithered underground, frequently bursting through the ground to launch sneak attacks.

After exhausting the projectile weapons within his body, Shura Path used the laser on his head and the long, serrated weapon within his body to pick off the ninjas one by one.

Even if someone manages to sneak in, there's the Human Path's soul extraction and the Hungry Ghost Path's chakra absorption—

Even though everyone was an elite expert, they were thrown into chaos by this strange, unified tactic. Not only could they not break through, but they were also constantly being hit, and casualties soon appeared.

They must be separated.

The ninjas who knew Earth Release, in coordination with the Iwagakure Anbu, unleashed various Earth Release techniques. In an instant, the battlefield was filled with earthen walls, undulating terrain, and muddy swamps.

The battlefield was divided, the formation of Pain's Six Paths and the summoned beasts was broken, and the situation quickly reversed.

At this time, in addition to the Tsuchikage and Raikage who were fighting against Pain, Mei Terumi and Rasa also joined the battle after they had obtained information about the enemy's ninjutsu.

On the Konoha side, the Anbu have always been protecting the Hokage.

But no matter what, we are all in this together now. The Akatsuki is the common enemy of the ninja world. We should let the four great ninja villages see the terror of the Akatsuki, but we cannot let them fight alone.

Not only must Konoha fight alongside everyone, but they must also demonstrate absolute strength.

Minato waved his hand and gave the order, instructing everyone to join in.

With the addition of Konoha's Anbu, Pain's Five Paths suffered a crushing defeat, demonstrating that Konoha's Anbu's strength far surpassed that of the other four major ninja villages.

Most importantly, half of the ten Anbu members who came with them instantly entered Sage Mode. Their ninjutsu were all Sage Techniques, which the Preta Path could not absorb.

Yamato quickly formed hand seals and placed his hands on the ground.

[Wood Release: Advent of the Tree World]

Having mastered Sage Mode, Yamato's strength far surpasses that of the pitiful workaholic from the world of Sasuke, earning him the nickname "Little Hashirama of Konoha."

As the battlefield expanded, countless large trees burst forth from the ground, binding together numerous spirit beasts, especially the hellhounds that had already split into packs.

Itachi then activated his half-body Susanoo, rampaging through the area and eliminating his targets one by one.

The three-headed dog could not withstand the attack of the white natural energy and did not even have a chance to split again.

The centipede hiding underground was too large and was pushed out by the Wood Release technique.

Although the Yatagarasu, which attacked from mid-air, escaped the capture of the Wood Release technique, it was caught by the Sand Wave, a combined attack by Rasa and Gaara, and fought back desperately.

Itachi activated Susanoo to its fourth form, and the chakra giant grew legs, increasing its height dramatically to resemble a towering giant. Its exaggerated size required no weapon, and it crushed the Yata no Naga along with the sand waves with a single hand.

The other five paths and the summoned beasts were also smashed to pieces by the surging ninjas.

It was only then that everyone realized that the two members of Konoha's Anbu were surprisingly powerful. Higashino and Minato hadn't even made a move, yet the scene had already been quelled in no time.

Compared to the Six Paths of Pain, the terrifying Wood Release and the god-like Susanoo Giant seem more like the power of gods.

The four Kage were somewhat dazed. They knew that Konoha was very strong now, but it was too strong. The strength of just two Anbu members was already comparable to that of the Kage of each village.

Besides Makoto Higashino and the Fourth Hokage, how many other terrifying beings like this exist within Konoha?

As Ōnoki watched all this, it was as if he were seeing Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha reborn. If those two had joined forces back then, this would probably be the result.

Taking advantage of the moment when the Tsuchikage and Raikage stopped fighting, Pain broke free and rushed towards Killer Bee, intending to capture the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki first.

But just as he approached his target, a cold glint of a kunai flashed before his eyes, followed by a yellow figure that raised its hand and used ninjutsu to slap his face.

【Sage Art: Wind Release: Rasengan】

The powerful wind blast tore Pain's upper body clothes to shreds, revealing his body, which was also covered in black decorations.

Even a dead puppet will become an uncontrollable piece of trash if it is hit by a ninjutsu of natural energy.

Pain reacted extremely quickly, and at the critical moment, he activated [Shinra Tensei] to push Minato Namikaze aside, while also propelling himself into the higher sky.

The fierce battle that had just taken place suddenly calmed down.

Standing atop everyone's heads, the tattered Pain didn't care about the loss of the other five Paths and the summoned beasts; those were all renewable tools.

The only thing he cared about was the Heavenly Dao, because it was created using the body of his friend Yahiko.

To his surprise, Konoha's strength far exceeded his expectations, posing a significant threat to Akatsuki's plans.

In comparison, the other four major ninja villages were entirely expected and not taken seriously by him.

But God will not lose. For the ideals of his friends, for lasting peace, the core strength of the five great ninja villages must die here today.

He didn't want the last bit of chakra left in the Eight-Tails either.

All those who stand in God's way are unforgivable.

Pain slowly ascended into the air, gathering the maximum amount of chakra while chanting his declaration of pain.

"Feel pain, contemplate pain, accept pain, understand pain. Those who do not understand pain cannot understand true peace."

【Super Shinra Tensei】.