Full Power, Tearing Pain Apart

Join Akatsuki?

Ao had no interest whatsoever.

Still, he did not refuse Deva Path Pain outright.

The person before him was merely an ordinary puppet, no different in nature from Sasori of the Red Sands beside him.

Uchiha Ao had no intention of spending every day running around outside, carrying out missions to earn money.

Although Otogakure was currently running a considerable fiscal deficit and relying entirely on Orochimaru's past savings to stay afloat.

As long as he monetized some of the technologies in his hands, earning money in this era would not be difficult with the right approach.

The simplest option was improving crops.

Once the genetic technology in his hands matured, he could cultivate a batch of high-yield crops. Selling that technology to the major nations would earn him a fortune.

At this stage, the foundational research for genetic recombination was essentially in place.

With the assistance of ninjutsu.

Many key pieces of equipment had found substitutes.

The conditions to begin experiments were already in place.

Ao had long made his plans.

After completing Orochimaru's reincarnation experiment, he would begin an experiment to fuse three Chakra attributes into Kekkei Tōta.

The subject would be Kimimaro.

He would help him evolve his Kekkei Genkai while eliminating the hidden danger of his bloodline disease.

"Leader, this Uchiha brat doesn't seem very willing!"

Sasori of the Red Sands fanned the flames from the side.

He could not stand Uchiha Ao's lofty attitude, as though he stood above everyone else and looked down on them.

As if everyone he saw were an idiot.

His eyes were filled with disdain.

Pain said nothing. He merely raised a hand slightly, and a black Chakra rod appeared in his palm.

"Banshō Ten'in!"

A tremendous gravitational force seized Uchiha Ao.

He, along with everything around him, was dragged into the air and pulled straight toward the space above Pain.

Ao tried to break free with all his strength.

But he found it difficult to move under that force.

"Sage Art Release: Deep Forest Emergence!"

Ao could only form hand seals with both hands, creating a forest across the ground. Using the power of the Wood Release vines, he evaded the attack.

Ao concealed himself within the Wood Release forest.

Empowered by Sage Art Chakra.

The range of Deep Forest Emergence expanded to several hundred meters.

It also became more agile, gaining the ability to absorb Chakra and petrify enemies.

Yet Pain swung the black Chakra rod in his hand, knocking aside every attack from Deep Forest Emergence.

During the exchange.

Pain revealed the slightest moment of hesitation.

Uchiha Ao caught that opening instantly.

"He didn't use Shinra Tensei... Is he running low on Chakra?"

Ao muttered.

It seemed that the earlier Fire Release Sage Art had not been entirely ineffective. At the very least, it had consumed a great deal of Pain's Chakra.

Temporarily preventing him from using Shinra Tensei.

Ao made a rough estimate.

About twenty seconds.

What a troublesome opponent.

Ao muttered.

He did not dare use the Spirit Transformation Technique to directly assume the Sage Soul's strongest form for battle, because the Six Paths of Pain possessed the power to absorb souls.

Deva Path Pain's abilities were limited, but there was no telling whether Nagato behind him would notice and suddenly summon the Human Path.

Once he was in a soul state...

He had no ability to resist at all.

"I've already found your weakness! Shadow Writing Dust Realm!"

Ao sneered as the Three-Tomoe Sharingan instantly unleashed its ocular power.

He attempted to interfere with Pain's movements through genjutsu.

However, the other party was completely unaffected and easily discovered his whereabouts, forcing Ao, who had already lurked behind Pain, to retreat once more.

Genjutsu was ineffective!

Damn!

What a pain.

Ao cursed inwardly.

The emergence of an ocular technique like the Rinnegan was simply too effective at countering the Sharingan.

Ao gave up on using genjutsu to attack.

There was no need to waste ocular power for nothing.

He could only control the Wood Release vines with all his strength, using them to attack and delay Pain's advance.

After observing for some time, Ao finally caught several of Pain's weaknesses—Pain was unfamiliar with the properties of Wood Release, and Shinra Tensei also had a brief interval between uses!

A battle plan immediately formed in his mind.

Seeing that the right opportunity had arrived on the battlefield, Ao formed seals again the instant Pain used Shinra Tensei once more.

"Sage Art: Wood Release: Wood Dragon Technique!"

He had studied the First Hokage's fighting style and believed that Tree World Descends and Flower Tree World Descends were both large-scale battlefield-control ninjutsu, mainly used to reshape the environment and absorb vast amounts of scattered Natural Energy.

Then, through the abundant Natural Energy gathered by the altered battlefield, he could unleash large-scale offensive Wood Release techniques.

If Senju Hashirama could cast such enormous Wood Release ninjutsu without relying on Natural Energy to enhance it, then he truly was a god...

In Senju Hashirama's hands, the Wood Dragon Technique displayed incomparable vitality and possessed immense restraining and offensive power.

Any enemy ensnared by the Wood Dragon would instantly have a large amount of Chakra absorbed.

The Wood Release Chakra within Ao's body was nowhere near as abundant as Senju Hashirama's. It was merely on par with the ocular power of the Three-Tomoe Sharingan, and only with the support of Sage Art could he use this move.

Its scale was several times weaker than Senju Hashirama's Wood Dragon Technique.

It was only a little over a meter thick and several dozen meters long.

But that was already enough to deal with Deva Path Pain.

After all, he did not possess the massive body of a Tailed Beast.

The instant Pain broke free from Tree World Descends, the Wood Dragon had already arrived before him. Ao's timing was perfect.

Seeing that he could not dodge, Pain immediately turned sideways and raised his right hand before the Wood Dragon, his icy palm touching its surface.

"Shinra Tensei!"

He tried to unleash the repulsive force again.

But his expression suddenly changed drastically.

His hand went limp and fell slack.

A terrifying force of Chakra absorption came from the Wood Dragon.

Before the Chakra in his body could be converted into the repulsive force of Shinra Tensei, it had already been drained dry.

In just an instant, the Wood Dragon coiled around him like a snake, firmly trapping him in place before plummeting rapidly to the ground.

"Leader!"

Seeing this, Sasori of the Red Sands cried out. It was his first time seeing the unapproachable leader of Akatsuki in such a miserable state.

Wood Release.

Was it truly the number one Kekkei Genkai in the Ninja World!?

Even those eyes could not withstand it...

Although Sasori of the Red Sands was extremely nervous, he had no intention of helping. He even subconsciously moved away from the battlefield, leaving the attack range of Tree World Descends.

Crack!

"Sage Art: Wood Release: Wood Insertion Technique!"

Seizing this opportunity, Ao formed seals again.

Countless spikes suddenly erupted from the Wood Dragon's body. A thorny forest burst forth, piercing Pain full of holes.

Splurt!

His entire body was instantly torn apart by the thorns formed by the Wood Dragon, reduced to fragments.

The Wood Dragon exploded in an instant as well, unleashing one final devastating strike.

Fragments of the Akatsuki Robe fluttered in the wind as a wisp of Red Cloud slowly drifted to the ground.

Deva Path Pain's body had already vanished.

"I was lucky enough to seize an opportunity... Pain didn't understand the characteristics of the Wood Dragon Technique... Next time, it probably won't be this easy..."

"Sensei..."

Ao panted heavily. After continuously using several high-level Wood Release ninjutsu for so long, his Wood Release Chakra was nearly depleted.

But he understood that the battle had only just begun.

Against the complete Six Paths of Pain next, he had no idea whether he could hold them off!

"Are you still not going to show yourself?"

"If you don't come out soon... you'll lose your most precious disciple."

His gaze turned toward the depths of the valley behind him.

Orochimaru should have awakened by now. So many days had passed; the anesthetic's effects had long since worn off.

While his soul adapted to his body, he would also be able to walk normally.