After the battle at Cloud Gate Valley in the Land of Lightning, Nagato returned to Jizo Temple in the Land of Rice with the spoils he had long dreamed of, accompanied by Konan.
Boom! The heavy coffin hit the ground, shaking several bits of rubble loose from the roof overhead.
Deva Path Pain stepped forward and raised his hand. Crack! The coffin lid flew open, rolling to one side. After confirming there were no traps or mechanisms, Nagato and Konan approached together.
Inside the coffin, A, the Third Raikage, lay sleeping peacefully amid dendrobium orchids, flowers symbolizing heroism and bravery.
Nagato smiled. "It doesn't look like any preservation was done, yet there isn't the slightest sign of decay. I didn't expect that."
There were only two reasons for it. First, the Third Raikage had died only recently. Second, he had cultivated an extraordinary body that could greatly delay the decomposition of a corpse.
The degree of decay was equivalent to the degree of aging, an element that the Naraka Path could not restore.
If the corpse had already begun to rot before being made into Pain, that degree of decay would remain even after the Naraka Path finished creating the body.
Not only would that affect its appearance, it would undoubtedly affect Pain's strength as well.
"Luckily, we got our hands on him at just the right time~!"
At that moment, Konan noticed the lightning-shaped scar on the right side of the corpse's chest. Curious, she said, "The Third Raikage was said to have emerged unscathed from a hundred battles, with a body even the Tailed Beasts could hardly match. How did he get this wound?"
Oh? Konan really was observant. She had noticed it so quickly.
Nagato pondered briefly. "I think... he probably injured himself by accident. He possessed both the Strongest Spear and the Strongest Shield, but when the strongest faced the strongest, one had to come out on top."
"Perhaps the spear was stronger than the shield. The only one who could hurt him was himself... That's the only answer I can think of. I wonder if that's really the truth."
After considering it, Konan nodded, finding it quite reasonable. "That does sound convincing."
"Excuse me."
A Black Rod slid from Nagato's sleeve into his hand, and he thrust it toward the Third Raikage's shoulder!
Crack! To his surprise, the Black Rod snapped with a crisp sound. "What the hell!"
"..." Konan bent down, picked up the broken section of the Black Rod, and examined the sharp break. "This has never happened when making Pain before."
Nagato sighed. "Yeah! Even without Lightning Release chakra protecting his body, this man's flesh is unbelievably tough!"
To deal with something this brutal, he had to use something brutal...
Clack! A mechanical arm appeared from his shoulder. Its wrist split open, and a gleaming golden drill spun out!
"Looks like I'll have to drill a hole first. This is the Asura Path's Adamantine Drill! Konan, you should step aside for now. It might get a little bloody!"
Konan tucked the broken Black Rod section into her sleeve and looked toward the remains of the former Asura Path recovered from the Cloud Gate Valley battlefield. "I'll dispose of this discarded Asura Path for you, so Pain's information doesn't leak."
"Alright. Thanks for the trouble."
Konan wrapped the Asura Path remains in paper and walked out through the temple doors.
Bzzzz...!!! The Adamantine Drill spun at high speed as it closed in on the Third Raikage's shoulder!
Crack...!!!! Sparks flew everywhere!!!!
A bead of sweat hung on Nagato's pale face as he displayed a rare smile. "Hmph! You'd better give in! Otherwise, I'll have no choice but to start from your ass!"
An hour later, the drilling operation on the Third Raikage was finally complete.
"Whew, that was a huge job!"
Nagato looked at the blood steadily dripping from the stopped drill bit.
"This blood can be used for Impure World Reincarnation."
"But Orochimaru's Impure World Reincarnation should still be incomplete at this point. I can't let him focus on this yet, either. Well, I'll collect it first. It may come in handy someday."
After collecting the blood, Nagato put away the drill and dismissed the Asura Path's mechanical arm.
Then several Black Rods fell from his sleeves. Matching them to the size of the holes, he began implanting them. This process went relatively smoothly.
—Naraka Path!
King of Hell rose up, opened its massive mouth, and swallowed the Third Raikage along with the entire coffin!!
Crack! Crack!
Having finished dealing with the former Asura Path, Konan heard the commotion and came inside.
Crack! Then... King of Hell opened its huge mouth, and a giant blond, bearded man stepped out with his head lowered, his right arm marked with the character for lightning braced against the King of Hell's fang!
Black Rod ornaments covered his palms, shoulders, face, and dark, powerfully built body. Combined with his gleaming Rinnegan, they gave his rugged bearing an even more mysterious and sinister air!
It was worth mentioning that Nagato had not deliberately erased the lightning-shaped scar on the right side of his chest while making Pain. Instead, he covered it with a lightning-shaped Black Rod!
With that treatment, it no longer looked like a scar, but more like a special ornament!
"Done." Nagato dismissed King of Hell.
"This is Pain's Asura Path—the Third Raikage, A. For convenience, let's call him Pain A!"
Konan nodded, then looked at the sweat-soaked Nagato. "You must be exhausted, right?"
Nagato smiled. "I'm fine. I just worked up a sweat. I didn't sweat this much even in battle, but this gain was worth it."
Deva Path Yahiko, Animal Path Pain Rin, and Asura Path Pain A—these were the officially assigned paths among the Six Paths of Pain. Of the remaining three, the Naraka Path had been made from the unnamed Hidden Sand Village corpse killed by Root during the trip to Konoha.
The Human Path and Preta Path were made from Hidden Stone intelligence ninja killed during this trip to the Land of Lightning. To put it bluntly... those three paths were merely temporary workers. Once better options appeared, they would be replaced at any time.
"Do you have candidates for the other three paths?"
"Yes. Some have been dead for a long time, some aren't people we should provoke at this stage, and some are still growing... There's no rush for now."
"Tomorrow is the day we agreed on with Orochimaru. Tonight, let's go to a nearby town and soak in a hot spring, Nagato. You've worked up quite a sweat."
"Ah... alright."
Konan looked toward the corner and frowned. The three "future of Amegakure" Nagato had deliberately captured were a problem.
There was a distance limit to controlling Pain, so they could not watch them constantly. Could they... take them to town as well? No matter how she thought about it, that was inappropriate.
She raised her hand, about to form a seal. "I'll leave behind a Paper Clone to watch them..."
"No need." Nagato smiled. "There's no need to devote energy to specially watching those three."
Konan lowered her hand, puzzled. "Then... are we supposed to find somewhere and tie them up?"
Without a stable rear base, handling such details was difficult in the end.
Nagato smiled. "No need for that either. From the moment I decided to capture them, I had already figured out how to arrange them."
Konan asked, "Could it be... you want to hand them over to Orochimaru?"
"No. We can't give him any extra trouble."
Pain Rin stepped forward, took out the Animal Path's summoning contract, and picked up the three men's hands, pressing their handprints onto it one after another.
After putting away the scroll, Pain Rin said innocently, "This way, no matter where they run, even to the ends of the earth, I can bring them back with a flick of my hand. Just like flying kites, hehe..."
"I see. I really have to hand it to you for thinking of that." Konan was completely convinced.
Nagato strode over to Konan's side and smiled.
"Hot spring, here we go~."
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