Tsunade's mind raced through what would happen if she agreed to Han Yu's deal, and the consequences if she refused.
She didn't know what sort of person he was, much less what would happen if she refused her deal.
Her rapid thinking made Tsunade's chest rise and fall, and even Han Yu couldn't help letting his gaze linger on the sight for a moment.
Only after grinding her teeth audibly did Tsunade ask Han Yu, "What do you want the Strength of a Hundred Technique for?"
"That's none of your concern," Han Yu said with a smile. "As long as you pay the right price, I can also take care of Konoha's reconstruction after the disaster."
Their conversation had suddenly turned to post-disaster reconstruction. Han Yu seemed very confident he could defeat Pain.
Tsunade stared at Han Yu without blinking, as if trying to see through the scheme beneath his smile.
But no matter how long she stared, a faint smile remained on Han Yu's face from start to finish. He showed no fear under her gaze, and instead stared right back at her.
They stared at each other like that, making the scene somewhat strange for a moment.
In the end, Tsunade nodded. She could think of no other way to deal with Pain, so she could only place her hopes on Han Yu, hoping he really could resolve the matter.
After Tsunade agreed, the smile on Han Yu's face grew brighter. Pain, who was in the pit, regained his ability to move and leaped out of the hole.
"I'll give you a chance to die fighting. You first, or me?"
Han Yu smiled faintly as he spoke, and the composure on his face made it hard for Tsunade to look away.
Damn it, he's clearly just a kid. Why does he have such a distinctive air about him?
Tsunade stared at Han Yu in a slight daze. She had never seen anyone fight like this before. He clearly didn't seem to have used any Chakra, yet he had such tremendous fighting power. How had he done it?
Pain stared intently at the man before him. He rapidly formed Hand Seals, and five clouds of smoke burst open around him. The other five Pains appeared at his side.
"Oh? Is this the Six Paths of Pain? They look rather interesting."
Han Yu showed no panic at the sudden increase in their numbers. Instead, he studied the six of them with some curiosity, looking just like a curious child.
"Preta Path."
Deva Path Pain's voice came out low, and the round-faced man standing beside him immediately broke into a run.
"The Preta Path can absorb Chakra and Ninjutsu. No matter how strong your Chakra is, you can't possibly beat him!"
Deva Path Pain watched Preta Path Pain charge at Han Yu, his face cold and dark. The chill in his eyes made it seem as though he already regarded Han Yu as a man doomed to die, without a trace of feeling.
Unfortunately, he had placed his bet on the wrong man. Preta Path Pain's fighting style of absorbing Chakra and Ninjutsu was indeed formidable, but his opponent this time had no such thing as Chakra at all!
Han Yu's eyes flashed, and the temperature around them instantly plummeted. Frost even formed on the surrounding objects.
By the time Tsunade reacted, Han Yu was already holding a snow-white long sword. It seemed that the sudden drop in temperature between heaven and earth was caused by the sword's appearance.
"This sword is Hyorinmaru, the strongest ice-type Zanpakutō. You should feel honored to die by its blade."
The moment Han Yu took hold of Hyorinmaru, his easygoing air vanished, replaced by a suffocating aura of majesty.
That aura didn't merely suppress others through strength; it was an overwhelming presence that came from within!
Deeply captivated by his aura, Tsunade couldn't help asking, "Who exactly are you?!"
Han Yu slowly raised Hyorinmaru, the blade gleaming coldly as the corners of his mouth curved upward. The air around them seemed to congeal under Hyorinmaru's pressure, making it hard to breathe.
He slashed, and a pale-white blade of sword energy tore across the sky, accompanied by Han Yu's light chuckle.
"Just a Grocery Shop Owner passing through."
The charging Preta Path Pain raised a hand and used his ability to absorb Chakra and Ninjutsu, intending to absorb Hyorinmaru's slashing sword energy.
But this sword energy wasn't made of Chakra, so how could he possibly absorb it?
The sword energy pierced Preta Path Pain, and in an instant, its extreme cold froze his body from the inside out, turning him into an ice sculpture. A light tap shattered him into ice fragments scattered across the ground.
An instant kill!
"How is that possible... He's so strong!"
Tsunade, who had harbored considerable doubts about Han Yu's abilities, stared blankly at him from a short distance away, her red lips hanging open, unable to speak.
The moment he gripped the sword's hilt, the people around him felt as though Han Yu were the master of this entire realm.
They had thought it was an illusion, but now it seemed to be true.
"What, did you tire yourselves out fighting just now? Is that all you've got?"
Han Yu held the hilt and waved it casually. In his hand, Hyorinmaru looked like an utterly ordinary long sword, but after seeing what had just happened, how could anyone still think it was just an ordinary katana?
"There's something strange about this guy. He's no ordinary man. We can't underestimate him. Let's attack together!"
The other five Pains exchanged glances and shot forward at the same time. A dazzling array of Ninjutsu appeared in their hands, and a single use of the Shadow Clone Technique increased Han Yu's enemies from five to over twenty.
"Heh heh, is that all? Not even enough to get stuck between my teeth!"
The sudden increase in their numbers didn't alarm Han Yu in the slightest. Instead, he chuckled and darted forward, swinging the frigid Hyorinmaru at the Pains.
Pale-white slashes trailed wisps of cold air, coating everything they passed in a thick layer of ice.
Six Pains instantly turned into ice sculptures under Han Yu's sword, but one of the Pains followed it with a cold laugh.
"I admit you really are a formidable fellow, but your biggest mistake was choosing not to keep fighting with long-range sword energy slashes!"
"All of us Pains can share our fields of vision. Now that you've made this mistake, we won't give you another chance!"
The Pain sneered and let Hyorinmaru cut through his body. As expected, he was sliced in two. At that moment, a figure flashed toward Han Yu from behind—it was Asura Path Pain's original body!
"It's over! This is what you get for arrogantly taking on the Six Paths of Pain alone!"
Asura Path Pain threw a punch with tremendous force. The monstrous strength behind it was enough to rival Tsunade when she unleashed her power; taking the punch head-on would not be pleasant.
As he attacked, Asura Path Pain seemed to glimpse a smile on Han Yu's face. His fist struck Han Yu, but Han Yu actually vanished!
"What speed!"
"I've never seen anyone move that fast."
"I once saw the Fourth Hokage fight. His Body Flicker Technique was incredibly fast too, but it seems... this young man is even faster!"
Pain wasn't the only one surprised. The Konoha ninja watching the battle wore equally astonished expressions. In all their experience, they had only seen such speed from the Fourth Hokage.
"Hey, look here!"
A cheerful shout made Asura Path Pain turn his head, only to be met by a fist growing rapidly larger in his vision. It slammed into his face.
The moment he was sent flying, a ring of ripples from a sonic boom appeared around his head.
Asura Path Pain was already essentially a cyborg, so his end under that blow was somewhat less gruesome than Preta Path Pain's. He was merely reduced to mechanical fragments scattered across the ground.
Another instant kill!
If Deva Path Pain had been capable of ordinary human expressions, his forehead would have been covered in cold sweat by now.
Han Yu hadn't used any Ninjutsu, much less Chakra.
Deva Path Pain was certain that although the man before him had used neither of those things, he possessed another strange kind of energy, one that might far surpass Chakra!
"Your turn!"
A cold light flashed in Han Yu's eyes, and he surged forward. Before anyone could even blink, Hyorinmaru's blade was already pressed against Deva Path Pain's neck.
With just a little pressure, he too would become an ice sculpture and shatter into icy mist.
"Please wait! Whatever you need, we can give it to you. We can even offer double!"
A hint of panic had entered Deva Path Pain's voice. He could see the difference in strength between himself and his opponent clearly. No, it could no longer be called a difference—it was a chasm!
Looking at Han Yu before him, smiling back at him, Deva Path Pain felt a rare flicker of fear in his heart.
This is completely beyond what we can handle!
The thought surfaced in Deva Path Pain's mind. They had trounced Konoha, only for Han Yu to come and trounce them in turn. Deva Path Pain racked his brains but couldn't figure out where Han Yu had come from.
He had never heard of such a powerful young man appearing in any ninja village.
The shock on the faces of the Konoha ninja watching the battle had turned to blank stares. They could no longer begin to guess how strong Han Yu was.
As the Fifth Hokage, Tsunade might not have been the strongest person in the village, but she could still rank among the top three. Yet she had still been gravely injured when she encountered the Six Paths of Pain.
The Six Paths of Pain had razed Konoha to the ground with a single move, yet now a young man carrying a long sword was beating them soundly and had even killed two Pains in an instant!