Yūhi Kurenai Heavily Injured

Shimura Danzō attacked the Akatsuki Organization?

Hearing this news, Jiraiya's expression shifted. He finally understood why Nagato and Konan hadn't contacted him all these years.

Frankly, Jiraiya wasn't the least bit surprised by Danzō's actions. The reputation of the Darkness of Shinobi was such that people could believe any evil deed was tied to him.

Regardless, Shimura Danzō was still a member of Konoha. Even if his actions were personal, they fundamentally represented Konoha's inclinations.

In short, Konoha hadn't just attacked the Akatsuki Organization—it had directly killed the organization's original leader, forging an irreconcilable blood feud with Nagato and Konan.

"It was precisely because of Konoha and Hanzo of the Salamander's siege back then that I understood the fragility of the Akatsuki's ideals. To truly maintain world peace, I must make you great nations feel the same pain we small nations endure!"

Pain's cold voice echoed within the tower. Konan shot him a worried glance, but in the end, Deva Path Pain didn't continue laying out the full plan. Instead, he floated slowly in midair:

"Now, you great nations still want to strip away everything the Akatsuki has, but I am no longer the person I once was!"

"Shinra Tensei!"

Before Jiraiya could speak again, a terrifying repulsive force erupted instantly. Prepared for it, Uchiha Shūichi's figure flickered like lightning, one hand grabbing Yūhi Kurenai as crackling lightning carried them both out of the attack range in a flash.

Jiraiya, unfamiliar with the abilities of the Six Paths of Pain, sensed the wall of repulsive force rushing toward him. His expression shocked, he snatched Yamanaka Fū beside him and retreated at top speed.

Only Hyuga Homura, standing farther away, was left dumbfounded. Facing the overwhelming wave of force surging toward him, he gritted his teeth:

"Kaiten!"

Kaiten was a secret technique of the Gentle Fist, typically taught only to main family members—though in truth, any branch member who became a Jonin could usually master it.

The Byakugan lacked the Sharingan's copying ability, but its observational power was more than sufficient. As long as the physical requirements were met, most Gentle Fist techniques could be roughly deduced after a single viewing with the Byakugan.

Hyuga Homura's Kaiten was self-taught. It might not match the main family's honed perfection, but it could still be called an absolute defense with no blind spots.

Yet against Shinra Tensei, this so-called absolute defense was barely stronger than glass. In an instant, Hyuga Homura was sent flying.

Fortunately, though Kaiten failed as a defense, it still acted as a cushion. Sent hurtling backward, Hyuga Homura coughed up blood and broke who knew how many bones, but at least he wasn't killed in one blow.

"All Six Paths of Pain coming out at once—now that's an unexpected honor!"

Uchiha Shūichi set down Yūhi Kurenai. The Three Tomoe in his eyes suddenly underwent a strange transformation, shifting into an eerie four-pointed shuriken. He cast a brief glance past the Six Paths of Pain... at Konan behind them.

Konan paused for a moment, then leaped into the air. A pair of white wings spread from her back, and her clear voice rang out beside Pain:

"I'll deal with that Uchiha. He doesn't seem like an easy opponent."

Deva Path Pain nodded slightly and replied flatly:

"Go, Konan. Leave our teacher to me."

In the original story, Konan's record seemed unremarkable, but in truth, she was a tough customer within the Akatsuki. Pain had no worries about her.

For one thing, Sasori of the Red Sands had only joined the Akatsuki after a fierce battle with Konan. In other words, Konan's strength was by no means weak even among Kage-level Ninja.

Spreading her white wings, Konan flew straight toward Uchiha Shūichi, unleashing a barrage of Paper Release techniques mixed with Explosive Tags, bombarding him with thunderous explosions.

In truth, Konan's techniques lacked any flashy finesse. No matter how varied her Paper Release became, it couldn't compensate for its inherent lack of offensive power.

So when it came to direct combat, Konan could only rely on turning paper into Explosive Tags for pure, unrefined bombardment.

From a certain perspective, even the future explosion prodigy Deidara might not match Konan in sheer explosive output. The 600 billion Explosive Tags of the Art of the Godly Paper Person were more terrifying than Deidara's final self-destruction.

The Paper Release Secret Technique could produce 600 billion Explosive Tags, but that was Konan's accumulated stockpile over many years. In ordinary combat, she couldn't transform that many.

Still, even one ten-thousandth of that—60 million Explosive Tags—would be enough to blow away an average Kage-level Ninja.

Yet despite Konan's seemingly merciless, relentless bombardment, her movements were oddly rigid, her techniques monotonous. Destructive Power was high, but against a ninja of Uchiha Shūichi's caliber, it posed little threat.

Amid the constant explosions, Uchiha Shūichi and Yūhi Kurenai retreated farther and farther, gradually pulling out of the tower battlefield entirely, vanishing from everyone's sight.

It seemed some evacuation had been carried out earlier. The streets of Amegakure were nearly empty of villagers, allowing the two sides to fight freely, turning the sky and earth dark.

"Fire Release—Phoenix Flower Claw Crimson!"

"Shuriken Shadow Clone!"

"Dance of the Shikigami Paper!"

Yūhi Kurenai, who had been scrambling to evade, glanced at the chaotic battlefield and gave a bitter smile. Against Konan flying in the sky, her genjutsu was of little use.

And stripped of her specialty in genjutsu, Yūhi Kurenai was just an ordinary Elite Chunin, only able to contribute with techniques like Shuriken Shadow Clone.

When Konan unleashed Dance of the Shikigami Paper—a technique immune to physical attacks—even throwing shuriken became pointless, leaving Kurenai helpless.

The next moment, countless white sheets of paper split from Konan's body, then coalesced into three clones. With a flick of their hands, sharp paper shuriken flew straight at Yūhi Kurenai.

These shuriken were not only as sharp as steel but also bore the seals of Explosive Tags, making each one a small bomb with no small explosive power.

Yūhi Kurenai dodged and weaved, thinking she had escaped the blast radius. But amid the explosions, shredded paper fragments spun out, slicing into her and leaving a mist of blood in their wake.

In the Ninja World, Explosive Tags relied purely on flame heat and air expansion for damage, lacking internal shrapnel like steel balls. Even if their explosions were louder, their power fell short of modern grenades.

But Konan's paper was different. Infused with Chakra, the white paper's material approached metal. At the moment of explosion, the paper fragments acted like sharp grenade shrapnel, possessing terrifying lethality.

Yūhi Kurenai had treated them as ordinary Explosive Tags, believing she had escaped the kill zone. She never expected to be pierced by the paper fragments.