Pain

The shockingly thin man sat on the life support device, his brow furrowing slightly.

"Sakura Haruno?"

Nagato pondered the name, uttering it slowly, before falling silent again.

"Where are the others, Nan?" he asked after a long silence.

Obito still had spies hidden in the Obito of Land of Water. Although they were not of high rank, they knew that there were three people from Konoha.

"I only saw her," the woman replied; she was clearly just a Paper Clone of Nan.

"Yeah?"

"Sakura Haruno must have split up with her companions," the Paper Clone added. "Although splitting up reduces combat effectiveness, Konoha ninjas have always been known for their exceptional courage."

She made a sarcastic remark.

Nagato remained noncommittal.

"It's a pity, it can't be used in the sea..." He frowned slightly and said in a deep voice.

With their impenetrable reconnaissance abilities, Akatsuki's operations were often conducted with ample intelligence, much like having a full map cheat code in a video game, giving them complete insight into the enemy's movements and making them virtually invincible. However, in the ocean, Zetsu's Earth Release techniques were unusable, forcing the Akatsuki to play a game of hide-and-seek with the enemy in a storm with extremely low visibility. This feeling of utter darkness was something the Akatsuki hadn't experienced in years, making what should have been a simple mission to seize the Three-Tails incredibly complicated, leaving Nagato somewhat frustrated.

No wonder Madara secretly set up a plan here. The Land of Water is far from the mainland, communication is difficult, and the marine environment is not conducive to Zetsu's operations. He doesn't want the Land of Water to escape his control...

"Let Sasori and the others search for and deal with the remaining two Konoha Ninja," he said thoughtfully. "First, let's use the Dao to take care of that thorn in our side..."

"You don't need to rush in, Nagato," the woman sneered. "Let me fight her first... Maybe I'll take care of her before you even have to lift a finger!"

The man was slightly surprised.

He turned to look at Nan and blurted out, "You're no match for her."

Nagato knew that Nan was not just a pretty face; she was very strong, even comparable to some members of Akatsuki. He didn't deny that.

But...

"Even if you practice techniques specifically designed to counter her," Nagato bluntly stated, "It's impossible to defeat her."

Yes, in Nagato's view, Minami has indeed reached the "Kage" level, and her techniques are quite effective against Sakura Haruno, but she is still not an opponent of the same level as Sakura Haruno!

According to Nagato's classification system, above mortals stands the "Kage," who reigns supreme in the world; above the "Kage" is him, the "God" who regards the "Kage" as mere ants.

While Sakura Haruno is not yet as powerful as a "god," she has undoubtedly far surpassed ordinary Kage Level. In the past few years, Akatsuki's battles against her initially showed her dominance, but later she lost the upper hand in one-on-one fights. This year, Kisame was defeated by her in a one-on-one fight, and Itachi was forced to retreat. This girl has unknowingly grown into a dazzling new star and a major threat to Akatsuki!

At least Nan has little chance of winning against her.

However, his way of speaking was a bit too blunt.

"Ugh...!" The woman groaned in exasperation.

Are there really such big differences between women?

Nan was secretly a little unconvinced, but she was used to not arguing back; she lifted the paper curtain and walked out of the tree hole.

The six people outside the cave were already fully prepared and ready to go. Hearing the sound, Pain turned his head.

The black rods stuck in his face did not ruin Pain's appearance; instead, they made the features that originally belonged to Yahiko appear even more eerie.

Faced with Pain, the reborn form of her deceased lover, Nan quickly calmed down.

"Madara previously used the power of the Tailed Beast to prepare a technique," Pain calmly, "Intending to use it against Sakura Haruno."

Pain knew that Nan meant well and hoped that he would avoid using the power of the Dao as much as possible, as that would be a heavy burden on his weak body Nagato.

However, he had no room to hold back when dealing with Sakura Haruno, so Pain could only patiently explain to Minami.

"But he failed." Nan already knew what Pain wanted.

Not long ago, Obito's actions in the Land of Lightning not only intensified Nagato's distrust of him, but also made Nagato more wary of Sakura Haruno.

The Masked Man's dishonesty made Nagato even more suspicious of his intentions, especially regarding that mysterious, energy-intensive technique that required the power of multiple Tailed Beast to complete. What exactly was that technique? It was definitely not an ordinary Ninjutsu, but Obito was vague about it. Nagato even began to find Zetsu suspicious.

The infighting within Akatsuki is unrelated to Sakura Haruno, so we'll leave that aside for now.

More importantly, the Masked Man was confident that he could take down Sakura Haruno before he acted, but he failed. In the end, the Ice Release Girl returned to Konoha unharmed, and the sense of her Chakra not only did not weaken, but actually became slightly stronger.

What exactly happened in the Land of Lightning?

The man who claimed to be Madara Uchiha prepared so much, yet he still couldn't defeat her. Just how strong is Sakura Haruno?

Even Nagato, who considered himself a god beyond all living beings, began to find that the girl becoming troublesome.

Pain nodded, took a step forward, and said in a deep voice, "So this time I will go all out."

"Is she really that strong?" Nan Liu frowned beautifully and asked in a low voice.

Pain pressed his lips together, looked up at the gloomy, dark sky, and remained silent.

Rainwater streamed down his hair and handsome face.

Knowing the threat posed by Sakura Haruno, Nagato personally came to the Land of Water after learning that Sakura might be there.

"The rain has changed."

After a long silence, Pain finally spoke.

The woman frowned slightly, wiped the rain off her face, and looked up at the sky.

"Um."

The rain had become much gentler than before, the first such change in several days.

Nan's expression shifted.

"The storm is about to end." Pain said slowly, his expression stern and his voice cold, "Which means that the Three-Tails will soon be successfully resurrected."

He turned around and met Nan's gaze.

"Then, it's time to take action."

Pain turned his head and looked ahead, his sharp gaze seemingly piercing through the thinning rain curtain.

It seemed to fall on two women locked in a life-or-death struggle in the far distance.

On the turbulent sea, the Angel of God Nan Benzun scattered into blood flowers, then suddenly solidified into a physical form.

She appeared silently in mid-air above Sakura Haruno's head, slashing down with her paper sword!

The sword sliced through the air and raindrops, whistling sharply, and landed on the pink-haired girl's head with a ruthless angle and unstoppable momentum!

Whether in terms of speed, power, angle, or the unexpected timing of the attack, it was a perfect strike.

A murderous aura was palpable!

Even those exquisite eyes, as cold as an ancient iceberg, seemed to burst forth with a burning killing intent!

Die!

However, what Nan saw was that the girl responded correctly with extraordinary speed.

Tilting the head and rotating the shoulders.

Sakura Haruno twisted her body to the limit.

The paper sword slashed down, grazing Sakura Haruno's Billboard Brow, cheek, and shoulder, and carrying a few strands of hair, narrowly grazing the girl's outer garment.

Swish!

The sword's wind was still fierce, but it missed by a hair's breadth!

The Paper Angel his pupils to shrink sharply, and for the first time, a strange expression appeared on his usually icy face.

Astonished.

She... actually dodged it?

Before Nan could think any further, the girl's voice suddenly came from beneath him. "Well done."

Sakura Haruno's lips curled into a faint smile.

Nan's expression froze for a moment, and then, in the next instant, the radiance of Chakra erupted from below, and a fierce counterattack completely engulfed her!