"Outer Path: Demonic Statue of the Outer Path!"
Looking at the giant monster that towered like a mountain in the distance, Yusuke felt an unprecedented shock.
He had seen giant Tailed Beasts or summoned beasts on the battlefield before, but none of them could compare in size to the monster before him.
Although there was still a distance between them, Yusuke could still feel the immense pressure the Outer Path: Demonic Statue of the Outer Path exerted on him.
"So Danzō's recent actions were to join forces with Hanzo to deal with the Akatsuki organization, which hasn't fully formed yet?" Seeing the Outer Path: Demonic Statue of the Outer Path appear, Yusuke also realized the actions Danzō and Hanzo had been secretly preparing for.
Without hesitation, Yusuke immediately accelerated towards the location of the Outer Path: Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.
Although according to the original plot, Yahiko was already dead at this point, Yusuke still held a glimmer of hope, hoping for a miracle to happen.
Yusuke felt great sympathy for Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan. Their dreams were originally very simple, but because of Hanzo and Danzō's persecution, they had gone down the wrong path. Of course, Yusuke also knew that Obito had definitely played a part in instigating this.
At this moment, Yusuke didn't have time to think too much. He didn't take long to reach the vicinity of the Outer Path: Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.
Standing on a high ground, Yusuke saw from afar nine pale blue, translucent, dragon-shaped energy bodies, or rather, phantoms, moving back and forth throughout the valley, hunting down Rain ninjas and Root ninjas.
Yusuke's gaze quickly locked onto Nagato, Konan, and Yahiko, who was lying beside them. Yahiko's eyes were wide open, and his chest was still. He was clearly dead.
Yusuke sighed. There was no need for him to intervene in the battle at this point, so he hid to the side and quietly observed the battle in the valley.
The Rain ninjas and Root ninjas used various techniques to attack these dragon-shaped phantoms, but to no avail. Whether it was ninjutsu attacks or physical attacks, they all passed right through the phantoms. They couldn't block them or inflict any damage.
When the dragon-shaped phantoms touched the Rain ninjas or Root ninjas, they extracted a human-shaped energy body, like a soul, from their bodies. All the ninjas who were hit died instantly, without exception.
The Rain ninjas and Root ninjas didn't know what these dragon-shaped phantoms were, but Yusuke knew that this was the ultimate sealing jutsu, "Phantom Dragon Nine Seals," used by the Rinnegan to control the Outer Path: Demonic Statue of the Outer Path!
The Phantom Dragon Nine Seals could extract the souls of living beings it touched from their bodies and seal them within the Outer Path: Demonic Statue of the Outer Path. In the original story, Pain, the Deva Path, used this jutsu to extract the Tailed Beasts from the jinchūriki.
In Yusuke's opinion, this was a more powerful sealing jutsu than Shiki Fujin!
"Maybe my Zanpakuto can hit these dragon-shaped phantoms," Yusuke thought to himself.
At this time, Nagato looked ferocious. While controlling the dragon-shaped phantoms to reap the lives of Rain ninjas and Root ninjas, he was also constantly blocking Hanzo and Danzō.
After discovering that they were helpless against these dragon-shaped phantoms, Hanzo and Danzō tried to interrupt the Phantom Dragon Nine Seals jutsu by attacking Nagato. However, all their attacks were blocked by the Outer Path: Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, which was guarding Nagato. They couldn't inflict any damage on Nagato.
Following Danzō's instructions, Yamanaka Shika, Danzō's trusted subordinate, tried to use the Mind Body Switch Technique to control Nagato. Unfortunately, the Rinnegan had a strong resistance to genjutsu. Not only did Shika fail to control Nagato, but he was also counterattacked by the Rinnegan's genjutsu resistance ability, and he died with blood pouring from his seven orifices.
The battlefield was in chaos. The Rain ninjas and Root ninjas suffered heavy losses. In just over a quarter of an hour, they had lost more than half of their numbers. Even Hanzo and Danzō, two Kage-level experts, had almost been touched by the dragon-shaped phantoms several times.
Hanzo and Danzō exchanged glances and decided to retreat immediately.
From the current situation on the battlefield, they were no match for the Rinnegan. Continuing to fight would be futile, and they would eventually be killed.
At this time, Nagato's legs were almost crippled because they had been hit by Hanzo's explosive tag trap. There were also dozens of black metal tubes extending from the chest of the Outer Path: Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, piercing his back. His chakra was being excessively drained by the Outer Path: Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, and his cheeks were deeply sunken, like someone who was heavily addicted to drugs and malnourished.
Looking at Danzō and Hanzo, who were dodging his dragon-shaped phantoms, Nagato's face became crazed. He focused his chakra, controlling all nine dragon-shaped spirits to surround and block the two who were trying to escape.
Unfortunately, Danzō and Hanzo were both Kage-level experts and very cunning. Although they weren't Nagato's match in a direct confrontation, escaping from Nagato, who had lost his mobility, wasn't difficult for them.
After all the Root ninjas and Rain ninjas retreated, Nagato severed his connection with the Outer Path: Demonic Statue of the Outer Path. The black metal tubes connecting him to the Outer Path: Demonic Statue of the Outer Path snapped, and the giant Outer Path: Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, deprived of chakra, disappeared in a puff of white smoke.
Thus, this disgraceful conspiracy war finally came to an end. The fine rain continued to fall, and the entire valley was filled with the corpses of the dead, except for two young men with vacant eyes and expressions of despair.
Realizing that they were not out of danger yet, Konan managed to muster her strength and used Paper Release to wrap Yahiko's body like a mummy. Then, she supported Nagato, who was already severely depleted of chakra, and rushed towards a hidden cave base.
Upon reaching the cave, Konan gently laid down Yahiko's body and collapsed against the cave wall, unable to stop the tears that flowed from her eyes.
Just yesterday, everything had been so beautiful. Yahiko had been alive and well, full of vigor as he looked towards the future. But reality was so cruel. Now, Yahiko was nothing but a cold corpse. Their dreams and future no longer existed.
"I was wrong. Yahiko was wrong. The whole world was wrong!" Nagato punched the ground hard. Blood immediately poured from his fist, but he didn't care at this moment.
"There is no such thing as peace. There is no such thing. There is no such thing," Nagato first screamed hysterically, then his voice became lower and lower, as if he was muttering to himself.
At that moment, a faint sound of footsteps echoed in the cave.
The footsteps grew closer and closer, indicating that someone was slowly approaching them. In their view, anyone coming to them at this time must be up to no good.
Nagato tried to stand up, but because of his severe leg injuries and severe depletion of stamina and chakra, he fell back down, coughing continuously, clearly unable to fight.
Konan, who hadn't expended much chakra during the battle, immediately stood up, blocking Nagato, and vigilantly watched the direction of the cave entrance.
A blurry figure grew closer and clearer, eventually slowly emerging from the shadows at the entrance. Nagato and Konan could finally see who was making those footsteps.
The person looked like a young man, about fourteen or fifteen years old, with black hair, handsome features, and wearing a Konoha ninja uniform. But his right shoulder was clearly injured, and a bloodstain stained his clothes.
Yusuke, who had secretly followed them to the cave, looked calmly at the two miserable figures in front of him.
Nagato was hunched over, coughing continuously, his eyes filled with madness. He had clearly gone completely dark because of Yahiko's death.
Konan looked at him vigilantly, her sorrowful eyes revealing a determination.
Yusuke knew that this was her determination to sacrifice herself to protect Nagato.
"So this is the legendary Rinnegan? If it were a fair fight, I'd still be far from his opponent, right?" Yusuke thought to himself, looking at Nagato's pale blue eyes with swirling patterns.
Seeing Yusuke's gaze locked on Nagato, Konan immediately became nervous. Half of her life had already passed. She wouldn't allow the other half of her life to die here.
"Paper Release: Paper Shuriken!" Konan quickly formed hand seals, and dozens of paper shuriken made of Paper Release flew towards Yusuke.
Yusuke activated his Zanpakuto, Ryujin Jakka, and a sword enveloped in flames immediately appeared in his hand.
With a gentle swing, a blade of light made of flames flashed, leaving a long fiery trail, burning all the paper shuriken in the air to ashes.
Konan, who had loved origami since she was a child, had always invented and practiced Paper Release jutsu. This showed that Konan actually had a lot of talent in ninjutsu.
Konan, who was naturally averse to fighting, had only developed Paper Release jutsu out of interest. Therefore, she hadn't paid attention to its many weaknesses.
If Konan had mastered other types of ninjutsu, she could have actually fought Yusuke for a while with her abilities. Unfortunately, Paper Release was no match for Yusuke, who was skilled in fire-type powers.
Seeing that Yusuke easily countered her jutsu, Konan looked despairing. She knew that she was no match for this young man.
Yusuke retracted the flames from his Zanpakuto and pointed it at Nagato, who looked dispirited.
Konan immediately blocked the blade, and Nagato struggled to stand up, trying to pull Konan behind him. But he was now too weak to even move.
"Your target is me, the one with the Rinnegan. Let her go, and I'll do whatever you want." Nagato said, panting heavily.
Konan didn't speak. She just closed her eyes, stubbornly blocking Nagato, using her chest to push against the tip of the blade in Yusuke's hand.
Yusuke didn't speak, but his heart was actually wavering. To kill or to let go, he didn't know what to do.
If Yahiko were still alive and Nagato hadn't gone dark, he wouldn't have bothered them.
But it was clear that Nagato's mind was twisted now. He was likely to become a very dangerous enemy in the future. If he let him go, he would leave himself and the village with a major threat.
The three of them stood motionless, and no one spoke. The dim cave was silent, except for the occasional sound of water dripping from the rock wall. Time seemed to stand still.
After a long silence, Yusuke's sigh broke the silence. He had made his decision.
With his decision made, Yusuke didn't hesitate. A flash of killing intent appeared in his eyes, and his Zanpakuto slashed through the air, leaving a cold blade of light. A perfectly good head flew into the air.
Seeing this, Nagato's eyes widened in fury, "No!!!"
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