Five small mushroom clouds appeared near Amegakure. The tremendous shock waves from the explosions sent Zero-One, Zero-Two, and Zero-Three flying far away.
Ensei Uchiha's handiwork was decent. Even explosions at such close range hadn't done much damage to the Artificial Humans. They rolled around for a bit, then got back up and stood in front of Ensei Uchiha.
Taking advantage of the moment, Kakashi Hatake immediately asked, "Ensei, what was that thing you just pulled out of Rin... out of the Zero-Two Model? Her soul?"
"You bastard, what exactly did you do to Rin?"
Kakashi Hatake's voice was already full of panic. He could keep his cool when it came to other matters, but when it involved Rin Nohara, it was hard to control himself.
"Uh... you're pretty observant."
"First, I can assure you that this thing is only meant to disgust Obito Uchiha. He brought it on himself by letting me find out who he is."
"Second, it does count as a kind of soul. I won't explain how it came about. In any case, it didn't come from a real human."
Kakashi Hatake listened without rushing to judge whether it was true. He simply committed the information to memory and began thinking about what kind of jutsu the enemy was using to extract souls.
As they spoke, the smoke from the explosions finally began to clear under the influence of a force.
Seeing this, Ensei Uchiha couldn't be bothered to deal with Kakashi Hatake. He called out directly:
"As expected, Deva Path isn't so easy to blow up."
"Nagato, how about we talk? If you attack again, you won't have much of Yahiko's body left."
During the explosions, the other five Paths of Pain had been blown away, but Deva Path had used Shinra Tensei at the last possible moment to repel all the Self-Destruct Flies.
Deva Path Pain didn't react to those words. He simply rose higher into the air.
Konan, standing nearby, immediately began to retreat.
"Oh? Looks like he's about to use a big move!"
"Kakashi, use Kamui and warp him away!"
Ensei Uchiha said this to Kakashi Hatake beside him. But hearing Ensei Uchiha's words, Kakashi Hatake replied awkwardly, "I haven't fully mastered the Mangekyo yet. I probably... can't do it!"
Ensei Uchiha grumbled helplessly, "What good are you? Useless!"
Then he controlled the three Artificial Humans and brought them to his side. Using the ocular power stored in his Shadow Clone and combining it with the power inside the three Artificial Humans...
"Ultra Shinra Tensei!"
Unlike the wide-area attack Ensei Uchiha remembered, this technique produced a focused shock wave aimed in a single direction.
That made sense. In the original story, it had been used to destroy Konoha. Now that it was aimed at a single person, it was natural to concentrate as much force as possible.
As for how he could sense it so clearly, it was naturally because he had used a similar power himself.
At that moment, Ensei Uchiha was enveloped in deep blue Chakra, like a cloak draped over him.
His red eyes glimmered with a faint blue light, while the pure white pupils at their centers drew the eye.
"Looks like there's no dodging this one!"
As Ensei Uchiha spoke, a giant resembling Susanoo appeared. It raised both hands and released a similar repelling force, blocking Ultra Shinra Tensei completely.
Soon, Ultra Shinra Tensei ran out of time, and most of the ocular power injected into Ensei Uchiha's Shadow Clone was used up.
After consuming a tremendous amount of Chakra, the giant resembling Susanoo gradually broke apart and vanished.
On top of that, the Chakra inside the three Artificial Humans had also been greatly depleted.
The only one still at full strength was, naturally, Kakashi Hatake, who had sat out the entire fight.
At a thought from Ensei Uchiha, the three Artificial Humans beside him charged forward together, using all kinds of techniques to attack the weakened Deva Path.
At that very moment, Konan, who had just hidden herself, joined the battle and began fighting the three Artificial Humans.
If you can't find it by searching the book title, try searching the author's name. Maybe it was just renamed!
Ensei Uchiha wasn't sure whether Konan's Paper Style counted as a Kekkei Genkai. It didn't have many powerful offensive jutsu, but it was incredibly useful.
The Explosive Tags detonating one after another were just like Tobirama Senju's Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags.
After fighting for a while, Deva Path finally recovered and rejoined the battle.
Banshō Ten'in and Shinra Tensei alternated, completely disrupting the three Artificial Humans' rhythm.
For a while, the three Artificial Humans Ensei Uchiha had poured his heart into were thoroughly suppressed, and they were having a miserable time.
Seeing this, Ensei Uchiha had no choice but to take out more of his stored blood and use Summoning Jutsu once again.
This time, however, there were far fewer Self-Destruct Flies than before.
"That's enough. If you don't stop, I'll release these things in Amegakure..."
Under the threat of the Self-Destruct Flies, Nagato and Konan finally stopped.
Neither of them showed any signs of fatigue. By contrast, Ensei Uchiha's three Artificial Humans were already battered and full of holes.
"Come over and talk."
Deva Path didn't move, but after some hesitation, Konan took the initiative to approach.
Deva Path Pain stepped in front of Konan. After an exchange between the two, Konan eventually walked over.
"How did you find out who we are? Did Master Jiraiya tell you?"
Konan asked first. Her tone seemed to hold a jumble of complicated emotions.
"Jiraiya? I'm afraid not. He doesn't even know you're still alive. As for me... it's simple. I have eyes that can see the past and the future."
"I'll give you some information for free. Believe it or don't! Hand over Shisui later, and we'll be even."
"Nagato's eyes belong to Madara Uchiha. After his battle with Hashirama Senju, Madara awakened another level of the Sharingan: the Rinnegan."
"By the way, the Sage of Six Paths originally had the Sharingan too."
At that, Nagato immediately interrupted Ensei Uchiha.
"No, that's impossible. I've had these eyes since birth!"
Ensei Uchiha rolled his eyes and mocked him:
"I just said, believe it or don't! Who do you think I am, your personal explainer?"
"Just shut up and let me finish."
"The one who killed the original Akatsuki was Obito Uchiha. It happened when you fell into Hanzo's trap and your legs were crippled..."
"By the way, Obito Uchiha was also behind Hanzo's attack on you. Danzo had a hand in it too..."
"In short, Yahiko was killed because of Obito Uchiha and Danzo."
"As for Danzo, I heard he died recently. Who knows if that's true?"
Hearing this, Konan should have remained skeptical, but deep down, she had already chosen to believe him. She couldn't help asking, "Why would he do that?"
Ensei Uchiha gave a derisive smile and continued:
"Why? Obviously, for Madara Uchiha's eyes."
"He needed Nagato to grow strong enough to use Samsara of Heavenly Life and revive Madara Uchiha."
"And you're the pawns in Madara Uchiha's resurrection."
"If I were you, I'd destroy those eyes right now and leave certain people's schemes in ruins."
"But I doubt you can. Madara Uchiha left a contingency in the Rinnegan. You probably..."
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