Kitazawa wasn't surprised by Nagato's answer.
Right now, there was no way to move him with Talk no Jutsu.
In the original story, Naruto only managed to shake him after beating him down completely.
"Since that's the case, let's talk about something you're actually interested in."
Kitazawa smiled. "The terrain here is open—perfect for a spar. If you defeat me, I'll hand over the Seven-Tails and the Nine-Tails."
"You are quite sensible."
Pain's tone was flat, emotionless.
"But if you lose," Kitazawa continued, "the Akatsuki will join Konohagakure."
"God does not lose," Pain replied, full of certainty.
"After you."
Kitazawa fell silent and raised his hand.
Five-Finger Missiles!
The first to attack wasn't the Deva Path, but the Asura Path.
The Asura Path's body was essentially a puppet, its entire form remodeled with mechanical parts. Its wrist detached from its arm as it pulled out a cluster of missiles from within.
The missiles shot into the sky, all locking onto Kitazawa.
In the original story, the Asura Path had used this very technique to level a large swath of Konoha's buildings.
Compound Ninjutsu: Lightning Water Dragon Bullet!
Kitazawa clapped his hands, and a massive dragon formed of crackling lightning surged forward to meet the incoming missiles.
Boom!
The missiles exploded, blasting apart the lightning dragon in midair.
At that instant, a sharp whistle sounded behind Kitazawa.
A giant chameleon suddenly materialized, lunging in to bite him.
It was a chameleon—one of the Animal Path's summoned beasts.
Kitazawa spun and drove his fist forward.
His punch slammed into the chameleon's teeth first, shattering them, then continued on to strike deep into its mouth.
The sheer force became a violent storm that erupted outward, sending the chameleon hurtling backward.
Chakra Absorption!
The Preta Path flashed in behind Kitazawa, moving at extreme speed.
He reached out with both hands, grasping for Kitazawa's shoulders.
A powerful suction poured from his palms, stirring the chakra within Kitazawa's body into chaos.
Kitazawa vanished on the spot.
The Preta Path's grab closed on empty air.
Homing Missile!
The Asura Path immediately launched a tracking missile, aiming at the drifting leaves Kitazawa had left behind.
Summoning Technique: Giant Crustacean!
The Animal Path slammed a hand to the ground, calling forth a gigantic crab.
The moment Kitazawa landed, the homing missile closed in on him.
Water Release: Wild Bubble Wave!
At the same time, the Giant Crustacean spewed out a torrent of foam, sealing off all of Kitazawa's escape routes.
Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence!
Kitazawa brought his hands together, and the entire desert floor shuddered.
Countless trees burst from the sand, a dense forest rising in the blink of an eye.
Branches surged forward and vines shot up like spears, skewering the homing missile in midair.
The missile exploded with a muffled boom.
The chakra shockwave from the blast was completely absorbed and blocked by the writhing mass of branches and vines.
The surrounding foam was also pierced and torn apart.
As the branches and vines lashed toward the Six Paths of Pain, the Deva Path finally lifted his hand.
Shinra Tensei!
An invisible repulsive force erupted in all directions.
Every branch and vine rushing toward him was blasted away.
Head Laser Cannon!
The top of the Asura Path's head split open, a concentrated beam of energy lancing out.
In an instant, the forest around him was engulfed and wiped out, reduced to splinters under the deafening roar.
"Wood Release is only so-so."
Pain spoke calmly as he surveyed the vast clearing he and the Asura Path had carved out of the forest in an instant.
Kitazawa clapped his hands again.
The devastated forest surged back to life. Trees erupted from the torn earth, thick trunks and dense foliage rapidly filling the clearing once more.
Banshō Tenshin.
Pain no longer paid the forest any mind.
In his judgment, the offensive power of Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence was mediocre; the only troublesome part was its ability to restore the terrain.
A powerful pulling force burst forth, locking onto Kitazawa.
His body was yanked toward Pain, completely out of his control.
Flying Thunder God!
Kitazawa vanished without warning.
Pain's Rinnegan narrowed, his gaze sweeping the battlefield on instinct.
Kitazawa reappeared atop the giant chameleon's head.
When he had attacked it earlier with Monstrous Strength, he had left a Flying Thunder God mark inside its mouth.
Wood Release: Wood Dragon Technique!
Kitazawa clapped his hands together.
A tiny seed burst from the ground and expanded at incredible speed, twisting into a colossal Wood Dragon with a hooked nose and a body covered in thorns.
The moment it formed, the Wood Dragon coiled around the chameleon, constricting with brutal force until the summoning beast detonated in a shower of blood.
Without pausing, the dragon lunged toward the Giant Crustacean.
Water Release: Wild Bubble Wave!
The crab repeated its earlier move, spewing out a torrent of bubbles.
The Wood Dragon plowed straight through, ignoring them completely.
Shinra Tensei.
Pain frowned slightly and lifted his hand.
A devastating repulsive force blasted toward the Wood Dragon.
The dragon's massive body froze in mid-charge, shuddering under the pressure—but less than a second later, its tail whipped out, latching onto the Giant crab and seizing it.
Pain was briefly taken aback.
Even so, his response was swift. Under his control, the Animal Path immediately summoned the Hell Hound.
Unlike ordinary Summoning Beasts, the Hell Hound possessed the ability to multiply. Every time it was struck down, it split into two, and each new body retained that same ability.
In theory, as long as the Animal Path remained alive, the Hell Hound could keep dividing endlessly.
Kitazawa knew this very well.
The instant the Hell Hound appeared, he flashed in front of the Animal Path.
Taiji Rasengan!
He raised both hands. Yin Release: Rasengan and Yang Release: Rasengan fused together, spiraling into a massive Taiji Rasengan.
But before he could land the blow, the Preta Path stepped in front of the Animal Path.
Blocking Technique Absorption Seal!
The Preta Path lifted both hands, forming an invisible barrier.
The shield vibrated violently as it began to absorb the spinning Taiji Rasengan.
Soul Extraction!
Seeing Kitazawa locked in a stalemate with the Preta Path, the Human Path stretched out his hand to grab him.
Once he had physical contact, he could rip out Kitazawa's soul.
Flying Thunder God!
Kitazawa disappeared again.
The Human Path's grasp and the Preta Path's absorption both failed.
Shinra Tensei.
Pain raised both hands high.
Centered on his body, a wave of pure repulsion erupted outward, sweeping the entire area in an indiscriminate blast.
Ice Release: Ice Rock Dome!
As Kitazawa reappeared, an ice wall rose up in front of him, sealing off the space.
The wall took the brunt of the repulsive force. Cracks spiderwebbed across the ice with a sharp, splintering sound.
The Asura Path lifted his right arm.
His right fist launched like a cannon shell, blazing through the air.
The weakened ice wall shattered completely, and the metal fist hurtled on toward Kitazawa.
Kitazawa stepped in and slammed his own fist forward, meeting the incoming strike head-on and smashing the detached right fist away.
The Asura Path's severed right fist hung in midair, circled once, then shot back toward its wrist.
Flying Thunder God!
Kitazawa had been waiting for exactly this.
During their earlier clash, he had already inscribed a Flying Thunder God mark onto the Asura Path's right fist.
Lightning Release: Double Chidori!
In the next instant, Kitazawa materialized right in front of the Asura Path.
Dazzling lightning erupted from both his hands, each one like a blade of pure thunder driving straight into the Asura Path's body.
The lightning spread in a flash, flooding through its entire frame.
Boom!
The Asura Path's body blackened and went still, completely disabled.
"How troublesome."
Pain hadn't been able to react at all.
There was nothing he could do; the Flying Thunder God was simply too fast.
Even so, he felt no grief at the Asura Path's destruction.
Once a Path was taken out, its chakra simply returned to Pain.
The Six Paths of Pain were at their strongest when united.
In the original story, the Super Shinra Tensei that obliterated Konoha had only been possible after gathering the chakra of all Six Paths.
Besides, the Naraka Path's King of Hell Samsara Resurrection could fully restore any of the damaged Paths.
The moment the Asura Path fell, Pain immediately raised his hand.
Banshō Tenshin!
A powerful pulling force locked onto Kitazawa.
Kitazawa vanished and reappeared atop the Wood Dragon's head.
Right now, the Wood Dragon was battling the multi-headed Hell Hound.
In less than a minute under the Wood Dragon's assault, the Hell Hound had already split into more than twenty clones.
Kitazawa looked down at Pain and brought his hands together.
Yang Release Chakra Mode!
Sage Mode!
His body gave a sharp jolt as chakra surged; black pigment spread around his eyes.
Pain's pupils shrank.
In that instant, Kitazawa's threat level spiked. An intense sense of danger screamed through Pain's mind.
"Sage Mode?"
Thinking of Jiraiya, Pain's expression grew far more solemn.
Kitazawa flicked his hand as if it were nothing.
The desert shuddered. roots sprang to life, twisting into thick ropes that coiled around and restrained all of the Hell Hounds.
Freed from its entanglements, the Wood Dragon immediately lunged straight at Pain.
Shinra Tensei!
Pain's Rinnegan pulsed.
A wave of invisible repulsive force, far stronger than before, blasted outward.
The Wood Dragon's charge slowed dramatically under the impact.
Kitazawa, unconcerned with Pain for the moment, turned his gaze toward the Naraka Path.
Right now, Naraka Path was in the middle of repairing the Asura Path.
Sage Art: Rasengan!
Using the Body Flicker Technique, Kitazawa suddenly appeared in front of him.
Vast amounts of chakra burst forth, spinning and compressing into a massive blue sphere.
Amplified by Sage Mode, the power of this Sage Art: Rasengan far surpassed that of a normal Rasengan.
Pain was pinned down by the Wood Dragon and couldn't move; he hurriedly directed the Preta Path to rush in and intercept.
But he was still a moment too late.
The Sage Art: Rasengan slammed into the Naraka Path, blowing his body apart in an instant.
The Naraka Path had no means of attack or defense.
Within the Six Paths of Pain, his role was purely support and healing.
Chakra Absorption!
The Preta Path had no time to rage over Naraka Path's destruction. He reached straight for Kitazawa without hesitation.
Kitazawa raised an eyebrow as a thought struck him.
He pivoted and sent a surge of Senjutsu Chakra directly into the Preta Path.
The Preta Path froze for a moment.
He didn't understand why Kitazawa was willingly letting him absorb chakra, but his body moved on instinct, and he began drawing in the Senjutsu Chakra.
Kitazawa's lips curled into a faint smile.
Nagato knew of Sage Mode, but he had never learned it himself and didn't grasp its true nature.
In the original story, the Preta Path had turned into a stone frog statue after absorbing Naruto's Senjutsu Chakra.
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