Battle in the Land of Rain
Of course, Six Paths of Pain was a puppet, so even if he were swallowed by the giant serpent, he wouldn't be in any danger; on the contrary, he could escape. In fact, that was also Nagato's plan, intending to work together from the inside to destroy the giant serpent.
However, to Nagato's surprise, the giant serpent that had swallowed the Hell Path immediately chose to dispel the summoning.
The result was that when Deva Path Pain's Shinra Tensei attack arrived, the Hell Path had already been transported to Ryūchi Cave, somewhere in the distance. Naturally, due to the distance, the Hell Path had lost control and become a motionless puppet.
The process was complicated, but it actually happened very quickly. Although Nagato suspected Orochimaru might be involved, he didn't expect Orochimaru to betray him so early on. Nagato was caught off guard and lost his most important Hell Path.
Meanwhile, Nagato, who was controlling the Six Paths of Pain, frowned and said to Yahiko and Konan, "Orochimaru is a traitor. He had information about the Six Paths of Pain and directly dealt with the Hell Path."
That's right, Orochimaru in this life did conduct detailed intelligence gathering on Six Paths of Pain.
Although Six Paths of Pain didn't make many moves, Orochimaru pretended to be dissatisfied when he first joined the group and challenged Six Paths of Pain.
Orochimaru then used the Impure World Reincarnation to gather detailed information from some of the enemies killed by Six Paths of Pain.
The final conclusion is that the Hell Path is capable of reviving the other five Paths of Pain, making it the most troublesome of the Six Paths of Pain.
Therefore, Orochimaru used the most difficult-to-defend first attack after the betrayal to directly take down the Hell Path.
Of course, Orochimaru paid a heavy price. Due to his positioning, his main body was quickly attacked by the other five Paths, as well as Sasori and Kakuzu.
If it weren't for the fact that his unique Substitution Technique was so unbeatable, anyone else would have died several times over. In the end, Orochimaru managed to escape successfully with the help of Hiruzen Sarutobi.
However, Orochimaru still expended a huge amount of Chakra to escape the encirclement.
However, the loss of the Hell Path is troublesome for the other five Paths of Pain, but it doesn't mean that Nagato will give up.
The battles to come will only become more intense.
On the other side, after finishing his communication with Yahiko and the other two, Yichen set off with Ishinose Kiyoshi and the Outer Path Statue Fragment.
By the time Yichen arrived at the Land of Earth border, Ishinose Kiyoshi had already received news from the Anbu through the shark that the Konoha Army had entered the Land of Rain.
Therefore, Yichen did not linger and flew directly to the Dark Akatsuki base of the Land of Rain.
When Yichen arrived above the Dark Akatsuki Organization's base in the Land of Rain, a chaotic battle was already raging below.
On Konoha's side, there's Hiruzen Sarutobi, Shimura Danzō, Orochimaru, and... Chiyo.
The Dark Akatsuki Knights consist of Pain, Sasori, and Kakuzu.
Scorpion and Chiyo chatted about their grandmother-granddaughter relationship at the far end. These two would exchange a few blows and a few words, and it was estimated that it wouldn't be long before a winner was decided.
Danzo probably deliberately chose Kakuzu as his opponent. Kakuzu's biggest weakness is the coordination between his five hearts. Five against one is the most unsolvable situation. With this ability, even without any particularly powerful attacks, Kakuzu still quite effective among Kage Level opponents.
However, this was nothing to Danzo, because Danzo shamelessly did not choose a one-on-one confrontation, but instead brought along a group of Root elites.
Kakuzu's anticipated five-on-one fight turned into a five-on-a-group battle. When Yichen looked down from his vantage point, Kakuzu was already missing two hearts and was struggling to hold on against the combined attacks of Danzo and the Root elites.
The final battlefield was Nagato and his apprentice Hiruzen Sarutobi and Orochimaru, along with a large number of Konoha elites led by Kakashi.
As for the peripheral members of Dark Akatsuki gathered by Juzo Biwa, Yichen didn't see them; he had no idea that such a group of people existed before.
Of course, when calculating the Akatsuki Organization's combat strength, Yichen never included ninjas like Juzo Biwa in his calculations.
The Summoning Beast of the Hell Path were restrained by Orochimaru's Snake Style Ninjutsu, while Hiruzen Sarutobi personally engaged Deva Path Pain. The Ninja Army provided support from the sidelines.
Orochimaru himself remained in command of the Ninja Army, filling in any gaps and ensuring their survival. His chakra expenditure was immense, so this was a way of conserving his Chakra.
The current situation is clear: the Dark Akatsuki Organization is at a disadvantage. Kakuzu's defeat is inevitable, and Sasori will be unable to break the stalemate in the short term.
On Pain's side, after a fierce battle, only the Deva Path, Animal Path, and Preta Path remained. The Human Path and Asura Path had been destroyed.
Most importantly, Pain's abilities have been fully mastered, and with Konoha's well-equipped forces, defeating him one by one will not be too difficult.
The only problem is the Heavenly Path; its abilities are too unsolvable, and Konoha hasn't figured out a way to deal with it yet.
Yichen's arrival naturally and quickly attracted the attention of those below.
Hiruzen Sarutobi looked grim; victory was within reach when Yichen, this unexpected variable, suddenly arrived.
Hiruzen Sarutobi wanted to say a few words to Yichen, at least to get Yichen to remain neutral. But Deva Path Pain didn't give him a chance to speak.
"Shinra Tensei." Deva Path Pain once again extended his hand towards Konoha.
"Here we go again." On Konoha's side, everyone groaned in dismay, but they still immediately took action.
While the Shinra Tensei skill is troublesome in single-target battles, it's still manageable.
However, this move proved problematic for the ninja army. Because the strength of the ninjas varied, not everyone could withstand it on their own; many ninjas needed the support of their comrades to maintain formation and avoid being knocked away. Without defense, their formation would crumble.
Once the formation is disrupted, it becomes difficult for the ninja army to effectively fight against Kage Level opponents.
Therefore, every time Deva Path Pain uses Shinra Tensei, Konoha defends with all its might. Not only does this consume a lot of Chakra, but it also results in personnel losses every time.
Taijutsu Ninja protect Ninjutsu ninjas, trying to prevent them from being carried away by the repulsive force. Ninjutsu Ninja, on the other hand, unleash various Defensive Ninjutsu at their fastest speed.
This time was no exception; a few unlucky ones were not protected by Defensive Ninjutsu and were eventually knocked off the group by the impact.
Then these people were easily killed by a Giant Hell Hound from the Animal Path.
In the Konoha Army, there was no time for grief. Some ninjas quickly Hand Seals and unleashed offensive Ninjutsu to trap the approaching hellhound. Then, with a series of attacks, they sealed the hellhound away.
Every time Deva Path Pain used Shinra Tensei, Hiruzen Sarutobi would take the initiative to attack, trying to destroy one of Pain. At the same time, this was also a way to relieve the siege of the Deva Path Pain to abandon his attack on the Konoha Army and instead support the other Pain.
This tactic was very effective before, Six Paths of Pain had limited abilities. Once an experienced ninja like Hiruzen Sarutobi an opportunity with one of the Pain, it was easily destroyed.
The Human Path and the Asura Path were destroyed by Hiruzen Sarutobi in this way.
This time as well, Hiruzen Sarutobi believed that Deva Path Pain would abandon his attack on the Konoha ninja and come to the aid of the Animal Path, which he had been attacking.
However, this time Hiruzen Sarutobi guessed wrong.
Nagato decided to play a lose-lose game, abandoning the Animal Path and continuing with Shinra Tensei.
"Not good." Realizing his tactics hadn't worked, Hiruzen Sarutobi immediately warned Orochimaru, "Watch out for the Tsuchikage!"
Orochimaru was currently among the Konoha troops, looking up at Yichen. Even without Hiruzen Sarutobi's reminder, Yichen had been on guard against Yichen ever since Orochimaru appeared.
So, aside from having his own Summoning Beast and the Summoning Beast of the Hell Path entangle each other, Orochimaru focused most of his attention on Yichen.
Yichen met Orochimaru's gaze, smiled slightly, and then shouted, "Orochimaru, you Konoha Rogue Ninja, how dare you show yourself in public! Today I will clean house for Konoha!"
"Sage Art - Porcelain Release - Kunai Rain. Shinra Tensei!"
Yichen knew First Shinobi War was inevitable, so he had already entered Sage Mode on the way here. Now he's unleashing a barrage of powerful attacks right from the start.
The Porcelain Release, enhanced by Senjutsu, revealed its power on the battlefield for the first time.
Yichen's Porcelain Release was at its maximum power under Sage Mode. The attack lasted for a full minute.
Considering Orochimaru's agility, Yichen's Kunai Rain directly covered the entire Konoha team.
Below, in the Konoha Army.
"Wind Release - Flowing Air Dance." Faced with the sky full of Kunai, a large number of Wind Release ninjas stepped forward and unleashed a large-scale group Wind Release, blowing away a large number of the Kunai that were falling.
"Earth Release: Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall." Many Earth Release ninjas used the transformed Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall to protect themselves and their comrades.
Orochimaru Hiruzen Sarutobi, unleashed a large-scale Earth Release under Hiruzen's murderous gaze: Earth Release - Earth Prison Technique, enveloping almost all of Konoha ninja.
However, the effect was only so-so. Although Yichen's Porcelain Release - Kunai Rain was not strong in terms of attack power, the speed and power of each Kunai were greatly increased under the enhancement of Senjutsu Chakra.
In addition, the repulsive force of Shinra Tensei, and the fact that the attack power is already affected by gravity from above, will increase.
Therefore, in Konoha's defense, Orochimaru's large-scale Earth Prison Technique only slightly delayed the time it took for Konoha to be attacked. However, this time was short, not even lasting 20 seconds, Earth Prison Technique was riddled with holes by the Kunai Rain kunai.
Of course, Orochimaru's Defensive Ninjutsu was somewhat useful, giving the Konoha ninja a second chance to strengthen their Defensive Ninjutsu. In particular, it gave Kakashi time to use his newly learned S-rank Ninjutsu.
Kakashi had learned an S-rank offensive Earth Release, but at this moment he used it as Defensive Ninjutsu above everyone's heads, providing the Konoha Army with protection for about ten seconds.
However, aside from Orochimaru and Kakashi, most of the Konoha ninja's Defensive Ninjutsu could hopefully block the Kunai Rain for a few seconds. But Yichen's Kunai Rain lasted for more than 20 seconds, and the continuous attacks meant that after their two defenses were broken, they had no chance to organize a third round of defense.