Six Paths of Pain

Sakura Haruno remained unmoved by his arrogant demeanor.

A long-calm sea breeze suddenly blew up, ruffling Sakura's hair. Soft pink strands danced in the wind, brushing against her smooth chin and teasing the girl's pink lips.

Sakura Haruno reached out and pressed down her restless hair, her blue eyes calmly gazing at the Animal Path, a faint smile suddenly appearing on her face.

"Before that," she said, "How about answering one of my questions first?"

The Animal Path frowned.

He remained silent, gesturing for the other person to ask a question.

But what Pain received was not a question from a young girl, but a colossal creature that suddenly rose from beneath his feet!

Water Release: Water Dragon Biting Blast!

The ocean environment provides ideal conditions for Water Release sneak attack. Sakura Haruno had already used the same technique on Konan, but she didn't mind using it on the Animal Path again!

A ferocious dragon burst from the water, its gleaming teeth almost touching Pain's robes. But the latter reacted extremely quickly, leaping up the instant he sensed the subtle fluctuations in Chakra, barely dodging Sakura Haruno's killing move.

The Animal Path escaped unscathed, but the woman behind him was powerless to dodge and was torn to pieces by the sea dragon!

Crash!

The water dragon, exhausted, used up its last bit of Chakra and scattered into a shower of water in the air.

A misty haze, interspersed with tattered pieces of white paper, drifted down in a flurry.

"... Paper Clones." Sakura Haruno frowned slightly.

The woman had already left, leaving behind only a Paper Clone to conceal her identity.

"Tsk."

The girl sighed regretfully.

As he descended into the Animal Path, five strange, sinister-looking men, all adorned with black rods, suddenly appeared before him.

The leader had a handsome face, but his eyes were extremely cold. The unique ripple-like pattern in his eyes was eye-catching, and the tiny black rods inserted into his nose and lips gave him an extremely bizarre appearance.

Deva Path Pain.

Sakura Haruno's gaze was fixed intently on him.

This person is completely different from the Animal Path from before.

She could sense a strong aura of danger emanating from this man, making her hair stand on end and a chill rise from her tailbone all the way to the top of her head. Every cell in her body was warning her of the danger this man posed. Her nerves naturally tensed up, Chakra involuntarily accelerated wildly, as if boiling.

That was a feeling Sakura Haruno had never experienced before. It was a feeling she had never had even when she was in deep danger, not even when she faced Kisame, Itachi, or the mysterious man she had fought in another world.

He will die.

Unlike the previous Animal Path, which was barely enough for her to warm up, this time Six Paths of Pain were gathered, meaning... one wrong move and she could die at his hands!

Even without any intelligence to emphasize it, Sakura Haruno already knew how dangerous this man was just by standing in front of him.

Sakura had never fought a battle she was so uncertain about.

"Is this your problem?" Deva Path stepped forward, his eyes icy, his words devoid of warmth.

The Deva Path, an individual born from Yahiko's body, is the head of the Six Paths of Pain and also the primary perspective from Nagato manipulates the Six Paths of Pain.

Hundreds of miles away, through the eyes of the Deva Path, Nagato "saw" Sakura Haruno for the first time.

"Is she Sakura Haruno?"

The emaciated man sat on the life support device and spoke slowly.

As she spoke, Konan walked in from outside the treehouse, her face pale, her clothes soaked, and her breath slightly ragged.

After the Animal Path rescued her, it sent her back here—with the help of Pain's power, Konan used a Substitution Technique that spanned hundreds of miles, swapping her position with the Paper Clone on the island.

The woman pulled a clean, crisp red robe from the wall, draped it over herself, and covered her shapely figure, which was revealed when the robe clung to her body damply, as she answered Nagato's question.

"Yes." Her eyes flickered as she looked up at Nagato. "You need to be careful. She... is troublesome."

Nagato glanced at Konan with a hint of surprise.

Konan's rise to her current position is not solely due to her status as a founding member of Akatsuki, but also to her extraordinary and powerful skills. This is something no ordinary woman, or even an ordinary ninja, could achieve. Without sufficient self-confidence and unwavering determination to keep up with Nagato, she could not have grown to such a level.

Yet even the mighty Konan one day revealed a deep fear of another woman in his presence, her eyes even softening...

The battle with Sakura Haruno just now must have left a very deep impression on her, right?

He was completely outmaneuvered by his opponent, and all his efforts were merely a warm-up for them. In the end, he was left in such a sorry state, almost losing his life.

Konan... was completely subdued.

"I know," Nagato said softly.

Even without a woman's reminder, Nagato could clearly sense this from the perspective of the Deva Path Dao.

The girl standing opposite the Deva Path, with her seemingly delicate and frail body, contained an astonishingly powerful force.

As long as you face her and truly feel her aura, your blood will naturally rush and your heart will feel awe.

A dangerous adversary.

An opponent that even a god would feel threatened by.

Throughout the entire Shinobi World, Akatsuki was an enemy of the world, so Nagato had imagined scenarios of fighting against various powerful Shinobi World.

This planet is teeming with powerful individuals, including the Five Kage such as the Hokage, Mizukage, and Raikage, as well as Jinchūriki from various villages and top-tier fighters like Jiraiya. Dealing with them might require some effort, but it wouldn't be too difficult—even with that mysterious man who calls himself Madara Uchiha, Pain was only wary, not terrified.

Only the person before me can be called an opponent.

Nagato's heart was surging with emotion, but Pain remained as cold as ever, his eyes showing no ripples.

The Deva Path stood at the very front of the Six Paths of Pain, as quiet as a statue.

He wasn't short, a head taller than Sakura Haruno, and when he looked at the girl, he naturally lowered his head slightly, subtly conveying a sense of looking down on her.

—God remains proud, and Sakura Haruno is worthy to be his opponent, but victory will ultimately belong to God.

In silence, the girl answered his question.

"I'm just making sure..." she said, "That the fight won't be disturbed by irrelevant people."

The girl's tone remained calm and indifferent.

Yet, a chilling murderous intent overflowed from those soft lips and those calm words.

"She's already incapacitated, are you still going to finish her off?" Pain asked.

"Could it be..." The girl's lips curled into a playful smile, "That I should release the tiger back into the mountains?"

Pain remained silent, seemingly unable to refute. However, his Rinnegan, which rippled like water, narrowed dangerously.

A long time.

"Ruthless and exceptionally skilled," he said. "Sakura Haruno, you have become a major threat to Akatsuki. That's why I'm breaking with Akatsuki's rules and dealing with you personally."

"Should I feel honored to receive special treatment from 'God'?" the girl sneered.

"Before I kill you, I want to ask a question," Pain said indifferently, ignoring Sakura's sarcasm, "How did you obtain my information?"

Sakura Haruno stared at him intently.

Pain didn't expect an answer from her, but he asked anyway.

Do you think I'd tell you?

The answer was as expected. Pain showed neither anger nor agitation, simply stating calmly, "It's alright. After defeating you... I'll naturally find a way to get the answer."

God's arrogance was undisguised in Pain's calm words.

"Yeah?"

Sakura Haruno's smile vanished from her face.

Her expression was indifferent, devoid of surprise, joy, anger, or sorrow; only a profound calm remained.

However, beneath this calm exterior, the girl's Chakra began to surge, and a massive amount of energy within the Yin Seal was released wildly.

"Then... come and kill me."

The girl said this.

The sea breeze stirred. The seawater began to surge restlessly.

[The fight against Pain won't be too long...]