One of the Paths of Pain, Reporting In

Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence!

Compared to the Deep Forest Emergence he had unleashed earlier because Jiraiya annoyed him, this was the first time its power had truly lived up to Sora's Sage Body.

Giant trees burst wildly from the ground in an instant. Not even houses or rocks could slow them down.

"Roar!!"

The Hellhound was bound by the giant trees and let out a howl. A Hellhound that could split apart was generally impossible to kill, but the trees kept absorbing its Chakra until it dissolved into smoke.

At the same time, under Sora's control, the trees surged into the sky in an instant. They were so fast that they missed Yatagarasu by a hair.

"What are you looking at?"

Sora's voice rang out above Yatagarasu's head.

The next moment.

"Bam!!"

A punch slammed directly into its head, sending its huge body crashing to the ground and hurtling toward Deva Path Pain.

"Boom."

Yatagarasu dissolved into smoke before it could hit Pain. But behind him, Naraka Path was summoning the King of Hell, which swallowed Asura Path's battered body and began repairing it.

The surging trees didn't stop for a moment as they swept toward the Six Paths.

Pain raised a hand. "Shinra Tensei!"

The immense repulsive force crushed and repelled all the trees. Even Uzumaki Sora, suspended in midair, could only flash to the ground to brace himself.

"Cheaters really are impossible to deal with. Still, the Six Paths of Pain alone won't be enough to stop me."

As he spoke, the trees surged out again during the five-second interval. Three Kunai shot straight toward Deva Path Pain.

Three?

As the Six Paths of Pain dodged the trees, their eyes stayed fixed on the three Kunai.

But in the next moment—

Uzumaki Sora took out three more Kunai and threw them. As the pairs collided, all six Kunai instantly changed course.

"Whoosh!"

Uzumaki Sora vanished and reappeared in an instant, a blue orb of Chakra glowing in his hand. He drove it straight down at Pain.

But the next moment, a figure stepped in front of Pain. A barrier rose and quickly absorbed all the Chakra from the Rasengan.

Preta Path?

"Shinra Tensei!"

The five seconds had passed. Just as Uzumaki Sora was preparing to throw a punch, Pain blasted him away.

That was why you shouldn't use Rasengan just to show off. If you've got Super Strength Fist, why use a Rasengan?

Flashing back to the ground, Sora sent Wood Release surging outward as though it had a will of its own, sending countless trees sweeping toward Preta Path.

A technique like Deep Forest Emergence was more effective against large enemies. Against numerous small targets, getting distracted meant it could be neither here nor there.

"Boom!!!"

The trees wreaked havoc across the ground as they surged onward. With the others kept at bay, they quickly bound Preta Path.

But the next moment—

"Whoosh!"

Human Path broke free of the trees and charged straight at Uzumaki Sora. But the giant tree beneath him surged with new branches, binding him in an instant.

"Squish!"

Crushed by the giant tree, Human Path became an unrecognizable heap.

But just then, Deva Path's cooldown ended again.

"Shinra... Tensei!"

As if enraged, Pain unleashed a much more powerful Shinra Tensei this time, clearing everything within a two-hundred-meter radius in an instant.

The giant trees and the Flying Thunder God Kunai were all pushed beyond the two-hundred-meter mark.

"Whoosh!"

A figure flickered into motion. Asura Path, already repaired, retrieved the bodies of Preta Path and Human Path, while Naraka Path summoned the King of Hell to swallow and repair them.

Uzumaki Sora stood nearby and said helplessly, "I can accept being outnumbered six to one, but bringing them back to life with full health is kind of cheating."

Pain shook his head slightly. "The Six Paths of Pain are one entity. You cannot withstand the power of the Six Paths of Pain, much less the power of a god."

Uzumaki Sora scoffed. "You keep going on about gods, but I don't see one anywhere. There's a late-stage lunatic right in front of me, though."

As he spoke, Uzumaki Sora looked around. When they had evacuated the civilians earlier, both the Six Paths of Pain and he had been testing each other. There were no people left now, but the Wood Release and Shinra Tensei had wiped out every house.

All that remained was dirt.

Still, that meant he could give it a try.

It wasn't easy coming all this way. He had to bring home some local dirt, at least.

Otherwise, the trip would be a loss.

He formed the Snake Seal. Deep Forest Emergence!

Giant trees shot up across the two-hundred-meter clearing, only to be swept away by Pain in an instant.

But during the five-second interval that followed, Sora's Flying Thunder God Kunai once again coordinated with the trees to attack.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Asura Path's missiles bombarded the giant trees. Even the raging fires they started were quickly smothered by the trees' relentless growth.

Under the focused attack, the leading Asura Path was swept up by a giant tree.

"Whoosh!"

"Bam!!"

Sora flashed into view and smashed Asura Path to pieces with a single punch. Then, just before Shinra Tensei hit, he grabbed Asura Path and was blasted away with it.

"Ptui."

He spat out the sand in his mouth. The minor injuries caused by Shinra Tensei had already healed.

Sora took out a Sealing Scroll and swiftly sealed away Asura Path's remains. Across from him, Pain's eyelid twitched.

"Just taking home some local dirt. Don't mind me."

Uzumaki Sora smiled as he spoke, but the giant trees continued to rise without pause.

Next up: Human Path.

Soon, after Asura Path, Human Path was bound by the giant trees once again.

"Stop struggling. You're just a corpse, so you can't feel pain anyway. But you're nowhere near strong enough to break free of a Deep Forest Emergence on this level."

"Bam!"

One punch shattered the head of Human Path, the one among the Six Paths of Pain who posed the greatest threat to him.

After smoothly pulling out a scroll and sealing the body away, Sora set his next target on Animal Path, who had been dodging the whole time.

Ever since the Hellhound and Yatagarasu had been instantly killed by Deep Forest Emergence, Animal Path hadn't done anything but dodge. Nagato, who was controlling him, knew very well that large Summoning beasts were especially vulnerable to Wood Release.

Soon, Uzumaki Sora returned after being blasted away by Shinra Tensei once again.

The injuries caused by the repulsive force were nothing to the Sage Body. They healed almost completely in a few breaths. But across from him, the Six Paths of Pain had been reduced to just one.

"Mortal!!!"

The furious voice rang out. For the first time, anger appeared on Pain's blank face.

"You've successfully angered a god! A god you could never compare to, no matter what you do!"

"Now, are you ready to face a god's wrath?"

Through his perception, Sora sensed a cold Chakra slowly rising inside the shattered platform from earlier.

Uzumaki Sora looked at the platform and shrugged. "You can't just power up when you're losing. Besides, how many times can you do that? I'm only borrowing a few things. There's no need to take it so seriously."

Pain raised his head slightly. "No matter what happens, even if it means death, I won't let you have Yahiko's body!"