Six Paths of Pain, Complete!

Hanzo couldn't bear to look at the corpses any longer:

These Akatsuki members, whether they were once Rock Ninja, Sand Ninja, Grass Ninja, or Rain Ninja, whether they were orphans, doctors, or merchants... but, they were ultimately good people. They shouldn't have died, yet they did, under his own command.

"Damn this world!" Hanzo tilted his face up and closed his eyes. Yet, the sweet scent of the salamander's poison, restricted by the mask, filled his nostrils.

After a long while, he finally spoke, his tone as somber as ever, "Collect all the bodies." As soon as he finished speaking, he vanished abruptly.

A "bang" suddenly echoed in the air, followed by a gust of wind that rose and then fell.

The Rain Ninja busied themselves collecting the bodies.

The bodies were placed into body bags and transported to the morgue, arranged neatly. The Rain Ninja worked quietly and solemnly. Soon, one morgue was full, then another. They worked for a long time until all the bodies were collected.

A graceful figure, spreading white paper wings, slipped through a window into the central building amidst the rain, silently.

Konan moved lightly and quickly found the place where the bodies were stored. She opened the bags and looked at each corpse that had been alive just yesterday.

She remembered everyone, heard their dreams. "I'm sorry, I can't take all of you with me."

She selected the Sand Ninja puppeteer, the Rain Ninja teacher, the Grass Ninja, a priest, and a boy from the Fuuma clan. "Now, Nagato needs your help. He needs you all to share the burden!

"My comrades, please wait... we will return, and one day, we will continue to fight together for world peace.

"This temporary separation is only for a better reunion!"

Piece by piece, paper peeled off from her body. Her clothes, her skin, were all paper, connected one after another, attached densely to the body bags, wrapping them into white cocoons.

Five white cocoons floated in front of Konan. Konan said to them, "Let's go," and flew out of the morgue.

They arrived as silently as they left.

They crossed the border and entered the Land of Earth, landing in a barren stone forest. After walking nearly a hundred meters, they walked directly into a dirt wall.

Inside the dirt wall was a large space. This space, no, this entire dirt wall, was largely created by her through the ninjutsu Dance of the Shikigami Paper, a camouflage formed using paper.

Nagato's back was covered in black rods, but now there were far fewer, and he appeared somewhat more relaxed. Yahiko wore a long robe, and black rods of the same kind were inserted into his nose, lips, ears, torso, and various other parts of his body.

However, these black rods were much smaller, so small that a row could be inserted into his nose, looking extremely unconventional.

"Nagato!" Konan placed the bodies down. "I went back to the Village Hidden in Rain. Don't worry, I was very careful, and no one discovered me.

"When I'm vigilant, no one can catch me. Our organization has already been wiped out by Hanzo. I chose five bodies for you." Actually, Nagato's original idea was for Konan to bring back any five ninja.

He had summoned the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, and its overwhelming power had directly transformed him into his current state, making it difficult even to stand.

The black rods on his body established a connection between him and the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, which gave him an idea for "sharing" the burden. That was to use these black rods to create some "clones" and use them as chakra sources.

This way, the pressure on him would be reduced to one-seventh of the original.

Nagato's conscience wouldn't allow him to use "living people."

Therefore, corpses were the best option.

However, he hadn't expected Konan to return to the Village Hidden in Rain and bring back five comrades from the Akatsuki. Nagato said, "That's good. Then let us, in a new form, strive for Yahiko's ideal." He pulled out a black rod and inserted it into the Rain Ninja teacher. The dual relaxation of mind and body made Nagato groan involuntarily.

The Rain Ninja's hair instantly turned orange-yellow, and his eyes opened, revealing a purple, concentric pattern.

Six Paths - Human Path, complete!

Next was the Sand Ninja puppeteer. Nagato avoided some of the modified parts of his body and inserted the black rod into the flesh.

The Sand Ninja opened his eyes, which also had a purple, concentric pattern.

Six Paths - Asura Path, complete!

Then came the boy from the Fuuma clan, into whose corpse black rods were inserted.

Six Paths - Animal Path, complete!

Finally, the remaining Grass Ninja and the priest were also pierced through their bodies with black rods, and they all opened their eyes.

The Outer Paths "Naraka Path" and "Preta Path" were also completed one after another.

A very strange sensation arose in Nagato's heart—he now possessed seven bodies simultaneously.

The vision from the seven bodies intertwined, creating an extremely complex and dizzying visual experience. With eight-tenths fewer black rods, his pressure greatly decreased, and his body slowly began to regain some strength.

Under his control, these corpses also reactivated their physical bodies, began to generate chakra, and, through the black rods, infused the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path at a very gentle rate.

"Konan!" the six Outer Paths and his main body spoke in unison, "It's done. My situation has improved significantly. Given some time, I will be able to stand up... however, my main body will likely never fully recover."

Konan said, "There's a way. Uchiha Kin is currently active on the Land of Earth and Rock battlefields. We'll wait for an opportunity to capture him and have him treat you.

"It's said that he is the best Medical Ninja today, even better than Tsunade. If he takes action, he will surely be able to cure you."

Nagato gave a weak smile. "Konan, you don't need to comfort me. This isn't an illness, it's just that the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path was too overbearing and injured my essence. I shouldn't have summoned it right now...

"No Medical Ninja can do anything about my injuries. Let it be... The priority now is for us to, cough, cough..."

"Leave it to me, Nagato. Your current body is not suitable for strenuous movement. I will find a way..."

Uchiha Kin, however, was unaware that he was being thought of. He slept soundly until morning.

Early in the morning, a person with orange hair wearing Root attire arrived. "Lord Kin, I am here on Lord Danzo's orders to collect the mission report."

"Are you sick?" Uchiha Kin glared at the person. Who would come to rush a mission report so early in the morning? He had been busy with surgery yesterday, helping three people with skin grafts, and hadn't had time to write it. He thought to himself, You have orange hair, you must be that Yamanaka Fu from the Yamanaka clan, right?

Kid, just you wait. When I'm dating your niece, I'll call you uncle, would you dare to agree? Thinking of Ino, who would be born next year, Uchiha Kin felt much better.

He then uttered two words: "Haven't written it."