Kakashi was troublesome, and Sakumo with his endless parade of bizarre weapons was even more troublesome.
For Nagato, gritting his teeth and taking down this father-son duo wouldn't really be that difficult.
But his time was tight, and he needed to save his chakra to give Konoha something big.
Most importantly, the Human Path had already obtained news that the Nine-Tails jinchūriki wasn't in Konoha. It was time to let Konoha know the consequences of selling him fake rice!
Abandoning the Hatake father and son who were jumping around with their guns, the Deva Path used repulsive force to slowly lift off the ground, flying toward the Hokage building in the center of Konoha.
Seeing this, Kakashi was about to step forward to stop him, but Sakumo held him back.
"Kakashi, forcing him to retreat is already pretty good! Right now the priority is to hurry and save people! Your Uncle Rinjin is over at the Hokage building, so don't worry!"
Hearing this, Kakashi finally nodded through gritted teeth.
Seeing this, Sakumo immediately felt relieved.
He was lying to Kakashi—he had no idea where Rinjin was.
But!
What does Konoha's troubles have to do with me, Hatake Sakumo? I'm on the Hidden Rain Village payroll~
Besides, everyone could see Princess Tsunade's strength. Even her husband wasn't worried, so why should he stress about it!
On the other side, Rinjin dodged through the crowds, tiptoeing like a thief as he snuck near the Hokage building.
In the air, the Deva Path descended from the sky, landing directly on the Hokage building's rooftop.
At this moment on the rooftop, Tsunade stood with a group of ANBU behind her, seriously watching Konoha as smoke rose from all directions.
Konoha's foundation was too weak.
It was hard to imagine that a major village that once dominated the ninja world had fallen to today's state of having no one available.
Even though Tsunade had allocated large amounts of funding to support basic education like the Ninja Academy, Konoha's new talents were still few and far between.
Out of desperation, Tsunade had even recruited small fry like Uzuki Yugao into ANBU.
You had to know that in the Hidden Rain Village, a little girl like Uzuki Yugao—called a special jōnin but really just a chūnin—couldn't even reach the middle tier.
Konoha had been comfortable for too long. Even though Tsunade had worked hard for several years, this deep-rooted chronic illness hadn't been eradicated.
In contrast, the Hidden Rain Village, located between the three great nations, might joke around normally, but when it came to real fighting, each one was more ruthless than the last.
After all, they could fight fiercely in the village over different beliefs, so outside the village they were even more merciless.
The Deva Path slowly descended, and Konoha's ANBU immediately went on alert, drawing their swords.
At this moment, the serious-faced Tsunade slowly turned around, looked at the Deva Path, and slowly said:
"You are?"
"Forgotten so quickly? Lady Tsunade!" The Deva Path's cool voice rang out.
Just then, Rinjin had also climbed to a second-floor window, perking up his ears to listen to the conversation above.
He heard the Deva Path say in a deep voice:
"The one who came to buy rice from you three years ago. But it seems there was a problem with the goods!"
Below, Rinjin clung to the windowsill with one hand while vigorously picking his ear with the other, feeling like something was wrong with his brain.
"Talking nonsense." His wife's voice rang out.
"Now we demand a return. How terrible was that bag of rice!"
"You chose that bag of rice yourselves! Once we sell it, absolutely no returns!"
Hearing this, the Deva Path coldly glared at Tsunade, his expression instantly darkening.
"Fine! How many floors must a bag of rice be carried? A bag of rice must be carried to the second floor!"
As he spoke, a gentle breeze swirled at the Deva Path's feet, and his body began to slowly rise. His emotionless low murmur continued.
"How exhausting is a bag of rice? A bag of rice needs washing How exhausting is a bag of rice? A bag of rice needs washing"
Watching the Deva Path fly higher and higher, Tsunade's beautiful eyebrows immediately furrowed.
"This guy is so petty."
Muttering, Tsunade looked toward a purple-haired ANBU beside her and quietly asked:
"Did I go a bit too far?"
"A bit~" The ANBU nodded.
Thinking this, Tsunade immediately leaped down from the Hokage building, chasing after the Deva Path while shouting:
"Wait, Pain! I agree to refund your money!"
However, the Deva Path no longer paid attention to her.
High in the sky, the deep voice continued.
"I washed so much mud from that bag of rice, and you won't refund and even curse me! Every grain has mud, who likes your bag of rice! Fine... add water..."
Accompanied by a blinding white light blooming in the sky,
Instantly, terrifying repulsive force suddenly burst from Konoha's center.
In a moment, the earth shook and mountains swayed. The entire Konoha was like it had been swept by a desktop cleaner—houses crumbled, and mudslides carried away everything.
Below, Rinjin covered his forehead, rolling around helplessly in the mudslide with no will to live.
I think I really have some serious illness~
Could it be that the monster has invaded my soul, causing me to hallucinate???
That shouldn't be right—the monster has been pretty well-behaved these past ten-plus years!
Could it be that my past life memories are too vivid?
Unable to figure it out, Rinjin speechlessly crawled out from the ruins.
At this moment, Konoha had already become unrecognizable.
Large amounts of rubble mixed with soil piled up against the surrounding walls, while in the village center, a huge crater had appeared.
Seeing this scene, Rinjin smiled bitterly and shook his head, unable to help complaining:
"You really are the ninja world's Tao Yuanming~"
Muttering, Rinjin quickly walked out of Konoha while the villagers hadn't yet reacted.
He was currently wearing Akatsuki uniform—staying any longer would hurt innocent people.
Besides, he had zero interest in the upcoming plot where that loudmouth used Talk-no-Jutsu on Nagato.
And that Naruto kid didn't have just half the Nine-Tails—the one inside him was the complete Nine-Tails.
When it came down to it, Pain's assault on Konoha was just a rehearsal for the Fourth Great Ninja War. What really required Rinjin's intervention was the legendary old man Madara!
At the same time, on the other side of the village, Tsunade's magnificent chest rose and fell continuously as she gasped for breath, pushing away the large stones in front of her.
The instant Pain used Almighty Push, she had also urgently summoned Katsuyu to protect everyone.
Obviously, with her chakra reserves, supporting the entire village's medical work was a bit of a stretch.
However, fortunately, she had died once and been revived by Rinjin using the One's Own Life Reincarnation Technique.
Therefore, she had also gained some characteristics of an immortal body.
For example, chakra—although this inexhaustible chakra wasn't much in total, only at genin level, it was more than enough to support her in battle.
Most importantly, she could inject this endless stream of chakra into the Strength of a Hundred Seal to achieve rapid recovery effects.
Simply put, her advantage over Rinjin was that she came with a built-in battery pack.
Both being close-combat types, Rinjin was a warrior who focused on stacking defense, while Tsunade was a paladin who focused on holy light.
Within moments, the chakra in Tsunade's Strength of a Hundred Seal was full again, and her combat power returned to its peak.
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