Saving the Uchiha clan starts with becoming the clan leader.

【Yasaka Magatama】

Three deep crimson magatama appeared in Susanoo's palm.

The instant the laser cannon was fired, Susanoo also reached out and threw out the three tomoe in his hand, which collided with the dazzling laser cannon. The two destructive energies annihilated each other, and the ground beneath them was obliterated, creating a deep crater.

Back and forth,

Another draw.

At this moment, Payne truly experienced firsthand how difficult Zongxian was to deal with.

"...Susanoo?"

Payne frowned slightly.

This thing is much harder to deal with than expected. Its defense is quite formidable. Even a Shinra Tensei that isn't fully charged can't break it in one go. He managed to withstand the aftershocks from the collision of those two destructive forces using the power of the Preta Path, while Uchiha Sogen relied on his Susanoo to defend against the impact.

and also,

Its attack power is undeniable. With such a large size, it's easy to imagine that it must possess terrifying physical attack power. With a wave of its hand or a step, it can change the surrounding terrain and landform, giving Mother Earth a face-smoothing treatment. In addition, it also has the means to launch long-range energy attacks.

"With such abilities, it's no wonder the Uchiha clan has such a great reputation. Such power... indeed gives them the right to be arrogant."

Payne said softly.

but,

This arrogance,

It's useless against the Rinnegan.

No matter if you're a dragon or a tiger, you all have to obediently lie down. Since ordinary methods are useless, then we'll use unconventional methods and go all out to beat them hard, so that these arrogant Uchiha will understand that in front of a true god, their resistance is ultimately futile.

Asura Path's left hand split open at the wrist, and his right hand pulled out a long string of rockets resembling a string of chili peppers from the crack. Hundreds of rockets were launched, trailing long tails of flame as they passed through the smoke and dust, bombarding the deep crimson Susanoo.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The explosion sounded like popping beans.

The crackling and popping sounds were incessant.

and,

This is not finished.

They weren't playing chess; this was a fight to the death, where there was no rule of taking turns making moves. Their previous exchanges were probing, so their attacks were tentative and only went so far as to resemble a game of chess with alternating attacks.

After two rounds of probing, having gained some confidence, the real fierce battle began. Asura Path's bald head opened up like flower petals once more, and chakra laser cannons were fired amidst a barrage of rockets.

When the Asura Path launched its attack...

Payne didn't just stand by and watch.

"Lightning Release: False Darkness".

The Lightning Release technique that Kakuzu had used before was once again displayed in Pain's hands. Moreover, compared to Kakuzu, the Lightning Release technique released by Pain was obviously much more terrifying in power. It could be seen from its appearance that the Lightning Spear released by Pain was more than a size larger.

This series of attacks was swift as thunder and fierce as a torrent.

however--

Payne's face showed no sign of the ease that comes with victory.

The Rinnegan allows for shared vision.

Pain and the Asura Path couldn't see clearly due to the smoke and dust kicked up by the explosion, but the Yatagarasu, which was soaring in the sky and fighting Uchiha Chihaya, could see everything clearly from its high vantage point. Under its powerful attack, Uchiha Sogen's Susanoo was indeed broken.

however,

It only broke Susanoo.

That flame fan, passed down through generations of the Uchiha clan and serving as proof of the clan leader's identity, blocked the remaining power after shattering Susanoo, and—

Zongxian raised his flaming fan, which had absorbed enough power, and fanned it forward.

[Uchiha Rebound]

launch.

The roaring storm,

At this moment, it roared out, surging forth like an iron cavalry.

[Sealing Technique Absorption]

With the shared vision, the Preta Path, which "saw" Sogen waving his fan, stepped forward and stretched out his hands to meet the oncoming storm, successfully intercepting Sogen's counterattack. At the same time, Pain formed hand seals.

"Earth Escape - Earth Rising Spear".

Just as the storm began, sharp, hard rock spears burst forth from the ground, exploiting the vulnerability of the first-form Susanoo in its inability to defend against attacks from underground. Taking advantage of the moment when Susanoo was shattered by the previous attack, the rock spears soared into the air, dodging the incredibly hard flame fan, and fiercely stabbed towards Zongxian's throat, heart, kidneys, spine, thighs, abdomen, and even buttocks.

"Clang!"

All that could be heard was a crisp sound that pierced through the wind and echoed in my ears.

It looked like rocks and iron blocks colliding together.

Neither of them could do anything about the other.

The chameleon, hidden among the ruins behind Sogen, clearly saw that the rock spears had failed to riddle Uchiha Sogen with holes as expected. The sharp and sturdy rock spears struck Sogen as if hitting a lump of iron, even sparking a few sparks, but ultimately failing to leave any decent wounds on him.

even,

That rock spear that pierced Zongxian's throat

The tip of the gun was also snapped off.

"Sclerotherapy?"

Payne's brow twitched involuntarily.

To think they possess such a high level of hardening technique... the Sixth Hokage certainly has a lot of tricks up their sleeve!

Zongxian glanced down at his pants. Luckily, he had twisted his body in time, and only the fabric on his calves and thighs was torn. The vital parts were still fine, so he didn't have to worry about any unsightly scenes.

However, now is not the time to worry about such trivial matters. Back in World War III, there were times when not only were our pants torn, but we were even fighting naked. In the face of life and death, appearance is of no significance whatsoever.

right now,

What he needs to be concerned about is this fierce battle that has already begun.

Payne's series of attacks were like waves crashing one after another, giving his opponent almost no chance to breathe or retaliate. An ordinary opponent would probably have been left barely clinging to life or would have died long ago under Payne's barrage of attacks.

However, the adjective "ordinary" is not applicable to Zongxian.

Payne's tight, continuous attacks did not cause him any harm. In the instant he withstood the rock spear's thrust, his left hand swayed slightly.

The banana leaf fan arrived as summoned.

Immediately,

He waved a banana leaf fan.

The rock spears around him collapsed instantly, and thousands of them proliferated wildly, attacking Pain. Of the five chakra natures, the most difficult for the Preta Path to absorb is Earth Release, which has the most stable form. The Preta Path was not capable of absorbing all of these rock spears.

then,

The next second.

Shinra Tensei

Payne stretched out his hand, and the unparalleled repulsive force erupted once again, not only destroying all the extended rock spears, but also scraping away a layer of the ground, and with undiminished power, it swept the mudslide back towards Zongxian.

and also,

The attacks from the Asura Path never ceased.

The endless stream of rockets, trailing long fiery tails, accurately bombarded Zongxian, one after another, wave after wave, like tireless waves crashing against an unmoving reef. In any case, such a small amount of chakra consumption was completely manageable.

Faced with such an offensive,

Zongxian waved his banana leaf fan without making a sound.

Suddenly, a crack appeared in the ground, and a mudslide plunged into the bottomless crevice. As for the repulsive impact and the continuous bombardment of rockets, the Susanoo that was summoned again easily withstood it. Such attacks did not pose a fatal threat; at most, they only consumed some of his eye power.

of course,

This was also one of Payne's objectives.

Killing Uchiha Sogen would be ideal, but if a decisive blow isn't possible, then at least exhausting the opponent's eye power is a viable alternative. After all, Pain doesn't believe anyone in the ninja world can rival him in a war of attrition.

and,

Besides these overt methods,

There's another trump card up their sleeve!

Having withstood another wave of Pain's onslaught, Zongxian, holding the Flame Fan in one hand and the Banana Fan in the other, was preparing to launch another counterattack when he suddenly sensed something unusual moving beneath his feet.

I see,

In an instant, the soil churned up, and a hand reached out from underground and grabbed Zongxian's ankle.

[Chapter 377. Rinnegan Meets Rinnegan]

The five fingers were like iron hoops, tightly gripping Zongxian's ankles.

Emerging from underground was a man with long, flowing hair, wearing a Rain Ninja headband with a slash on his forehead, black nails embedded in his face, and wavy eyes fixed on Sogen. A smile appeared on his expressionless face.

Immediately,

He grabbed Zongxian's ankle with his right hand and pulled hard.

As a result,

The Sixth Hokage is finished.

······

Among the six realms of incarnation, the Asura realm is primarily offensive, the Hungry Ghost realm focuses on defense, the Hell realm has the ability to repair other damaged incarnations, the Animal realm can summon spirit beasts to fight and can also summon other incarnations to its side, and the Heavenly realm is a combination of offense and defense, capable of controlling the five elements of transformation.

alone,

Human Way,

Among all the clones, it is the most inconspicuous, lacking any dazzling attack methods and sufficient defensive capabilities. To be honest, it has little presence in battle. However, this does not mean that the Human Path is a dispensable existence.