The Demonic Statue of the Outer Path's sudden movement caught both Shinji and Nagato by surprise, leaving them completely unprepared.
But comparatively speaking, this sudden turn of events was more advantageous to Nagato, who was clearly at a disadvantage in the battle.
However, in his recent clash with Shinji, Nagato had not only expended a great deal of Chakra, but the three Tomoe in his Rinnegan had also vanished due to the loss of his Dojutsu. After all, the Three-Tomoe Rinnegan was not a stable state.
Nagato's Dojutsu had yet to recover, so he couldn't help the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path wrest the Tailed Beast Chakra from Shinji. All he could do was cover his eye and crouch halfway atop the statue's head, watching everything unfold.
Shinji's Dojutsu was clearly far stronger than Nagato's, so he reacted at once.
His Susanoo stretched out both arms and seized the chains embedded in its body, trying to stop them from dragging the Tailed Beast Chakra out of it.
Shinji had originally planned to swing his blade and cut the chains apart.
But the blow that had wounded the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path had already exhausted the power he'd built up. To swing that same strike again, he would have to accumulate Chakra for a while.
Yet the chains spewed from the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path's mouth had an overwhelmingly powerful effect against Tailed Beasts. Their Chakra couldn't resist them at all, so Shinji had no time to calmly gather Chakra. He had to counter them immediately.
Otherwise, before he could gather enough Chakra, the chains might already have dragged every last bit of Tailed Beast Chakra out of his Susanoo.
The struggle of strength began anew.
But this time, the opposing sides were no longer Shinji