Gods Don't Show Their Health Bars (Update 3/3)

Pain 'Heavenly Dao preparations were finally complete, Nagato's will descended upon it, taking over the control of the compressed Chakra in Heavenly Dao's place.

[Super Shinra Tensei]

Rumble--!

Centered on the body of the Heavenly Dao, a spherical repulsive shockwave spread outwards.

The shock wave traveled at speeds far exceeding the speed of sound, thus compressing the air and creating a sound barrier, producing a series of muffled, booming sounds.

Wide, radiating cracks appeared on the ground beneath the Heavenly Dao's feet. The towering trees around him were torn apart instantly, like Maze being harvested by Scythe, and then disappeared into the spreading repulsive rings.

At this moment, it was not only the earth and Forest that were impacted, but also the space within a few hundred meters centered on the Heavenly Dao.

The large space was filled with non-air-induced folds, and fish-scale-like interference ripples appeared for a moment before shattering, then turning into violent spatial tremors.

Because he did not reclaim the power of the other Six Paths of Pain, Nagato's [Super Shinra Tensei], performed through the Heavenly Dao, did not reach its strongest level.

However, the power of such a repulsive shockwave still exceeds the scope of Ninjutsu.

If it were to erupt in Amegakure, it would inevitably destroy all the steel buildings, turning the entire Amegakure into ruins and killing everyone below the Jonin on the spot.

If it were to erupt in the heart of Konoha, it could destroy half of the Konoha, including iconic structures such as the Hokage Rock and the Hokage Building, which would be completely wiped out.

Even the complete version of [Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence], personally unleashed by Hashirama Senju, could not withstand [Super Shinra Tensei].

However, Shazo's [Deep Forest Emergence] can resist it because each tree is imbued with the power of Magnet Style, and the Electromagnetic Force enhances the tree's resilience and defense.

The repulsive shockwave of [Super Shinra Tensei] only spread 1300 meters before being blocked by the massive energy consumed by the layers of giant trees that were covered in electric arcs.

"This is impossible!!"

"That's absolutely impossible!!!"

"God! How could he be defeated by Ninja?!"

Nagato couldn't believe that his [Super Shinra Tensei], which he unleashed with all his might through the Heavenly Dao, could be blocked by a mere Wood Release Kekkei Genkai.

His near-collapse distorted the Heavenly Dao, which should have been expressionless; his facial muscles twitched as the Black Rods tore them apart, drawing out thin streams of blood.

"God?"

As a user of Wood Release, Shazo controlled all information in the Forest, and he heard Nagato's wails through the Six Paths of Pain.

Shazo laughed loudly and said, "Hahaha, what is a god?"

"Those who are divine and enlightened, those who are untouchable! Those who hold the laws of heaven and earth! Those who carry out divine punishment!"

"Most importantly, God is an omnipotent and powerful being, a great being whose health bar will never be revealed, no matter how his enemies attack him!"

"Nagato (whispering), you're such a cripple. You can easily kill someone and not only see their health bar, but you're also left with half their health. What right do you have to call yourself a god?"

"In the Ninja World, there are only two gods I can truly acknowledge."

"You are not, nor is Hashirama Senju First Hokage, because you are all people within my reach. How could I possibly consider you gods?"

Shazo stood atop a newly grown giant tree, looking at the distorted expression on Heavenly Dao, and asked with a smile, "Now I'm going to take away the Konoha Ninja. Who objects? Who agrees?"

Pain Deva Heavenly Dao slowly raised his head and looked at Shazo Zuo, saying, "The mere Fifth Hokage, with a mere Wood Release Kekkei Genkai, thinks he can make a god bow down? You're courting death."

Shazo asked curiously, "Nagato, you didn't even dare to appear in front of me, and had to use the power of the Rinnegan in a fragmented way. You had no hope of winning at all."

"The way you are right now, even though you know you can't win, you're stubbornly refusing to admit defeat, which is really putting me in a difficult position."

"Do you expect me to destroy all your Pain puppets and eliminate the core members of Akatsuki before you admit defeat?"

"Or perhaps, the only option is to kill Konan?"

This last sentence completely enraged Nagato.

Yahiko, Nagato, Konan have helped, supported, and encouraged each other since childhood. They survived to adulthood in the war-torn Land of Rain, and their bond is irreplaceable.

Especially after Yahiko was killed by Hanzō, Konan and Nagato, who were lucky enough to survive, regarded each other as treasures, as beings more important than their own lives.

Both of them were willing to die for each other without hesitation.

Nagato could disregard his Pain puppets because they could be replenished and manufactured at any time.

He could also disregard the core members of the Second Akatsuki, because there had been many changes in the core members over the years, and it would be easy to replenish them from the Five Great Shinobi Villages.

But Nagato cannot ignore Konan.

He gritted his teeth and said, "Fifth Hokage Shazo, you dare to lay a finger on Konan! I will kill you!"

Shazo laughed, "Kill me? You think you can?"

"Fine, I'll destroy all your toys first, maybe that will calm you down."

Nagato's [Super Shinra Tensei] did not achieve the desired effect and failed to rescue all the Akatsuki members from the Wood Release forest.

But he still managed to rescue several of Pain's.

Pain, the Animal Path, was the first to attack. He slammed his hands on the ground, Rinnegan into them, and unleashed a massive summoning array on the ground.

[Animal Path - Summoning Technique - Amplified Summoning Technique]

From a mountain of white smoke, a three-headed Hellhound, Yatagarasu with a beak full of sharp spikes, and a Chameleon that appeared and disappeared instantly emerged.

Shazo knew a lot about these three "little" creatures.

Ignoring the Hellhound and Chameleon's actions, he first focused his attention on the Yatagarasu.

[Magnet Style - Geomagnetic Origin Light]

Shazo used Magnet Style to connect with the Earth's magnetic field, and with the help of the Yatagarasu's enormous body, he applied a tremendous electromagnetic force, forcibly pressing the Yatagarasu to the ground.

Then Shazo puffed out his chest and spat out clear seawater at the giant summoning beast.

[Water Release · Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave]

Kisame Hoshigaki Akatsuki, stepped forward despite his injuries and quickly Hand Seals to perform the same Ninjutsu.

[Water Release · Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave]

Kisame Hoshigaki's mastery of Water Release was clearly superior, and the water he released was more powerful and fierce, creating waves that directly knocked back Shazo's Water Release.

Two identical Water Release created a massive amount of water, turning the entire battlefield into a vast ocean. The surging waves crashed and splashed, then turned into a torrential downpour.

The Yatagarasu and Hellhound were completely soaked. The Hellhound looked increasingly disheveled, and the Yatagarasu's feathers were so heavy that it could no longer fly.

Surprisingly, the Chameleon, capable of camouflage, did not reveal its presence.

It's unclear whether it was simply lucky to be outside the area affected by the downpour, or whether its camouflage ability was so strong that it could not only conceal itself but also hide the nearby rainwater.

As Kisame Hoshigaki's giant wave crashed down, Shazo felt the prelude to his next Ninjutsu was ready, so he once again stirred up his surging Chakra and unleashed an even more lethal Ninjutsu.

[Ice Style: Ice Age]

Centered on Shazo's hand slapping the water's surface, the chill spread wildly, and the surging waves quickly turned into thick ice porridge, then froze within 10 meters of Shazo.

Giant waves turned into Iceburg, seawater into Ice Field, Forest into icy jungles, and even the two enormous spirit beasts were completely frozen.

The Three-Headed Hellhound and the Yatagarasu, pinned to the ground, were both turned into living Ice Sculpture.

Fortunately, the Hellhound and the Yatagarasu are huge and warm-blooded animals. Although they were frozen like dogs, they were not in danger of losing their lives and were even able to struggle to some extent.

On the contrary, the Chameleon, which had been hiding all along, was forced to break its cloaking because its limbs were frozen.

The Chameleon looked at Shazo, who was creating the cold, opened its mouth to aim, and then stuck out its long tongue, wanting to take Shazo's life.

But Chameleon are already slow-moving, and now, affected by the cold, they are even slower, making people anxious.

When Shazo saw the Chameleon open its mouth, he raised his right hand and pointed at it.

[Ice Style: Freezing Ray]

A beam of light, almost black and blue, shot from Shazo's fingertip. The cold air it emitted condensed into water vapor along its path, creating a crystal-clear, snow-white ice crystal trail. Even Carbon Dioxide formed snowflakes.

The [Freeze Ray] hit the Chameleon's mouth, instantly freezing its poised tongue.

Blue frost spread from the Chameleon's head, merging with the chill rising from its feet at its knees, turning the giant summoned beast into a massive block of ice inside and out.

The Chameleon died, but its resistance drew Shazo's attention, buying time for Naraka Path.

Taking advantage of the situation, Pain Naraka Path traversed through layers of Forest, approaching the desiccated Human Path, grabbed the corpse, and shoved it into a mouth the size of a doorway.

Just as the Naraka Path began to chew, just as he was about to leap away from the location of the Human Path's corpse, black Runes appeared beneath his feet.

The densely packed Runes formed a complex three-layered structure, creating a powerful binding force that firmly controlled the Naraka Path on the ground.

Immediately afterwards, white light flashed within the Runes array, and two Explosive Tag appeared through a spirit medium and were firmly attached to Naraka Path's legs.

[Sealing Technique - Seal Array Transcription - Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags Formation]

The Explosive Tag exploded upon contact with flesh, but the energy of the explosion revealed a larger Runes array, which then summoned four more Explosive Tag, which were then attached to Naraka Path's body and exploded once more.

Then came a series of explosions, each one summoning twice the number of Explosive Tag: 8, 16, 32...

64 photos, 128 photos.

The detonation of the 128 Explosive Tag created a deafening explosion, igniting a giant Fireball and sending a mushroom cloud soaring into the sky.

The Naraka Path was reduced to dust in the violent explosion, vanishing completely and halting the [Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags].

Its operation.

Having destroyed the Naraka Path, Shazo let out a triumphant laugh, "Finally caught the Naraka Path of Pain, capable of resurrecting other puppets."

"Nagato, aren't you going to admit defeat?"

Pain: Deva Path's expression returned to calm, but his aura remained terrifyingly gloomy.

He looked at Shazo with his pale purple Rinnegan and said with absolute certainty, "You actually know information about Pain that Orochimaru and Uchiha Itachi didn't know."

"So, do you know?"

"The more Six Paths of Pain die, the stronger the power concentrated on the Heavenly Dao becomes."

Shazo sneered, "Of course I know. When I split into the Human Path, the aura of you, this toy of the Heavenly Dao, nearly doubled. It's obvious you absorbed the power of the other Pain."

"But I also know that once the power of the Six Paths of Pain is concentrated in the Heavenly Dao, the time he can exert his full power will not be long, otherwise he will damage this physical body."

"This is a puppet made from Yahiko's corpse. I don't think you, Nagato, would be willing to part with it."

Pain: Deva Path's expression remained unchanged, but his breathing became disordered, clearly indicating that Shazo had hit his weak point.

Shazo suddenly chuckled, "Most importantly, I'm not talking to this toy."

Hidden in the shadows, Nagato was taken aback upon hearing this, then shuddered in horror.

Shazo's displayed strength was so astonishing that it unknowingly attracted Nagato's full attention, causing him to overlook the commotion around him.

It wasn't until Shazo reminded him that he Rinnegan immediately "saw" a person in his surroundings.

Shazo.

Nagato quickly realized that this Shazo was not the real person, but a clone created using Wood Release.

To Nagato's greatest surprise, Shazo's Wood Release clone was standing right behind him, pressed tightly against his wheelchair.

The clone of Shazo Wood Release held a Kunai made of solidified ice crystals, pressed tightly against Nagato's throat, ready to sever Nagato's vitals with a single movement.

But Nagato and Shazo both knew that this was impossible, at least not with Kunai formed from Ice Style release.

Nagato possessed the Rinnegan for a very long time, and during the process of his body adapting to the Rinnegan, he developed many extraordinary abilities.

For example, the moment Nagato noticed the Ice Style Kunai, his skin forcibly absorbed the Ice Style Chakra, causing the ice crystal Kunai instantly sublimate and evaporate.

At the same time, a powerful repulsive force erupted, violently blasting Shazo's Wood Release clone away, sending it crashing directly into the wall of the Secret Chamber, breaking its limbs and neck.

If it's a regular clone, it will disappear when its Chakra is stolen.

Even the Shadow Clone Technique of Konoha would turn into a puff of white smoke under such a fierce repulsive force.

Even though this Wood Release clone had crashed into the wall and was almost completely destroyed, its head could still turn and even let out a hearty laugh.

Shazo's laughter was hearty and triumphant, which made Nagato frown involuntarily.

He kept reviewing his actions and checking his surroundings, fearing that he might have left a flaw somewhere, or that Shazo might have already laid a deadly trap.

However, Nagato found nothing and could only look at Shazo's clone with suspicion.

Shazo channeled his Wood Release Chakra, and a small arm grew from his forehead, pointing to Nagato's neck, where there was a thin, shallow wound from which a tiny bit of blood was flowing.

Shazo Zuo said smugly, "Nagato, gods can't show their health bars in front of people, and I've already seen yours."