The declaration was simple, yet carried a pressure that chilled the heart and soul.
Natsuhi's pupils constricted, 'This level of oppressive force… I had only felt it from Shura-sama and Hikari-sama before. But compared to them, the being before me carried an additional layer of lofty arrogance.'
Suppressing her discomfort, she channeled Chakra into the seal on the back of her right hand to transmit information while issuing another warning: "Withdraw from the territory of the Land of Stars immediately! Or state your true purpose! Otherwise, we will apprehend you in accordance with the Land of Stars' Security Laws!"
"Apprehend a God?" Deva Path's voice held no inflection, as if he had heard something utterly ridiculous yet insignificant.
No more words were needed.
Almost the instant Deva Path finished speaking, the most burly of the four, the bald, clearly mechanically-modified Asura Path, moved!
His motion was less a charge and more a cannon-like blast!
The ground at his feet exploded into a small crater as his body shot towards Natsuhi's group of four using terrifying brute force. A single punch tore through the air with a shrill shriek!
"Mysterious Peacock Method: Tiger!"
Natsuhi reacted with extreme speed, her hands flying through hand seals. Powerful purple Chakra surged forth instantly, forming a ferociously roaring Chakra Tiger in front of her that met Asura Path's iron fist head-on!
Boom-!
The violent collision of Chakra erupted in a dull roar.
Purple Chakra fragments scattered. Natsuhi's Mysterious Peacock Method trembled violently from the punch, and she herself staggered back several steps, barely managing to dissipate the terrifying force, a trickle of blood seeping from the corner of her mouth.
"Sensei!" Chino cried out.
'Such power…' Natsuhi was inwardly horrified. Her Mysterious Peacock Method was renowned for its balanced offense and defense, yet it had nearly been shattered by a single blow from the enemy!
"Damn it!" Shunji roared, he and Hazuki simultaneously attacking from both flanks, their kunai and shuriken aimed at Asura Path's seemingly cumbersome body.
However, their attacks merely produced a series of clashing sounds upon impact, failing to leave even a scratch.
Asura Path didn't even acknowledge them. His other arm morphed abruptly, launching several projectiles glowing with Chakra Light, locking onto Natsuhi!
"Look out!" Natsuhi swiftly evaded. The projectiles shot past her, exploding into several charred pits in the open ground behind her.
"Don't you dare hurt Natsuhi-sensei!" Chino's Ketsuryugan flared wide, emitting a crimson glow.
The Ocular Power of the Ketsuryugan surged towards Asura Path like a tide, attempting to control him with a Genjutsu before using the eyes to turn his blood into a bomb.
However, the expected scene of the enemy falling under an illusion did not occur.
Her mental energy, upon touching the opponent, felt as if it had entered a cold, dead, lifeless space!
"How is this possible?!" Chino grunted, her small body swaying violently, her face instantly turning deathly pale, "He… there's no blood flow in his body! No emotions! Not even any life!"
Even more terrifying, when she tried to forcibly peer into those Rinnegan, a power far more horrifying than her Ketsuryugan lashed back!
Chino spat out a mouthful of blood. The backlash from the forcibly broken Genjutsu made her vision go dark, and she nearly collapsed.
"Chino!" Shunji hurried forward to support her.
"I… I'm fine…" Chino wiped the blood from her lips, her eyes filled with disbelief and fear.
'Those eyes…'
'What kind of monster was this?'
Chino forced herself to stand and issued a warning: "Sensei… he… he's a puppet!"
Nagato observed coldly through Asura Path's perspective.
'This Star Jonin's strength was acceptable, but only at the level of an ordinary Jonin.'
'The girl with the Dojutsu Kekkei Genkai had strange abilities. With her bloodline, she could approach the level of a Special Jonin, but she was still too weak.'
'The other two were just ordinary Chunin, cannon fodder.'
'Asura Path alone was enough to crush them all.'
The battle was almost entirely one-sided.
Asura Path was like a tiger among sheep, his various mechanical weapons appearing one after another, brute force fists, projectiles, laser beams, pushing Natsuhi's group of four into constant peril.
Natsuhi's Mysterious Peacock Method barely held on defensively, blocking most of the attacks, but Shunji and Hazuki were sent flying multiple times by the shockwaves, their bodies covered in countless wounds.
Chino's bloodline secret techniques were largely ineffective against the absolute power and the Pains' bizarre 'non-living' constitution.
"Bastard!" Chino was sent flying by a punch, landing heavily by the riverside, splattered with mud.
She struggled to her feet, watching Asura Path approach again, and the three other enemies behind him who had been watching coldly, as if disdaining to join the fight. A sense of humiliation and anger welled up in her.
She sharply bit her own wrist, blood gushing out.
"With blood as the guide, water as the form…" Chino formed hand seals. The river water, mixed with her own blood, boiled violently and surged into the sky!
"Blood Dragon Ascension!"
Three vicious blood dragons, each four to five meters thick, composed entirely of a mixture of blood and river water, took form with a roar.
Carrying a pungent stench of blood and powerful Chakra Fluctuations, they no longer targeted Asura Path, but instead charged directly at Deva Path, who had yet to move and seemed to be the leader!
The blood dragons were awe-inspiring in their might. Where they passed, the ground was plowed into deep trenches.
Yet, facing this savage assault, Deva Path merely raised his eyes slightly, his Rinnegan still as calm as an ancient well.
He slowly raised a hand, pointing towards the roaring blood dragons.
"Shinra Tensei!"
His indifferent voice rang out.
A terrifying repulsive force erupted abruptly from Deva Path as the center!
The air was compressed to its limit before being violently pushed away, forming a visible transparent force field barrier!
The three massive blood dragons, the moment they touched this invisible barrier, seemed to crash into an insurmountable chasm!
The blood constituting their bodies disintegrated instantly, collapsing into a shower of bloody rain.
The powerful residual repulsive wave didn't stop, sweeping up Chino, who was charging forward, and the attempting-to-support Shunji and Hazuki, sending them flying like autumn leaves in a gale!
The three cried out as they fell to the ground, covered in mud and their own blood, their bones aching as if they had fallen apart. They struggled, unable to get up immediately.
Asura Path advanced with heavy steps towards the fallen Natsuhi, his arm morphing, gleaming with dangerous light, preparing to deliver the final blow.
A trace of despair flashed in Natsuhi's eyes. She tried to gather Chakra but found her internal Chakra had been exhausted in the previous defense.
At this critical moment-
A green figure appeared like a ghost at the edge of the battlefield, then shot forward at a speed difficult for the naked eye to follow!
The target was the seemingly leader-like Deva Path!
The timing was impeccably cunning, right in the brief, almost negligible interval after Deva Path had just used [Shinra Tensei]!
"Hm?" Nagato, through Deva Path's perspective, caught the rapidly approaching green flash, carrying a sharp killing intent.
Deva Path, having just used his technique, couldn't immediately use Shinra Tensei to block again.
Human Path and Animal Path beside him moved instantly, like the most loyal guards, swiftly crossing to block in front of Deva Path!
The sound of kunai colliding rang out crisply.
Human Path precisely deflected the attacker's sword with a knife-hand chop. Animal Path formed hand seals, preparing to summon.
The ambusher, failing to strike in one hit, didn't pause for a moment, instantly retreating and landing in front of Natsuhi, revealing his form.
It was Shisui, with his short black hair, wearing a Konoha's green flak jacket, his face bearing traces of travel but his eyes sharp. He even wore a Konoha's forehead protector.
Shisui glanced at the severely injured Natsuhi and the three young Ninjas lying incapacitated in the distance, his brow furrowing tightly.
"Shisui-san?!" Natsuhi recognized the newcomer, surprise mixing with a sliver of hope born from desperation.
"Traveling, stopping and starting, just happened to be nearby. Heard the commotion and came over," Shisui said succinctly, his Three-Tomoe Sharingan firmly locked onto the four enemies ahead, especially those bizarre Rinnegan.
"These guys… are strong. Very strong." Even Shisui, who had earned his fierce reputation in the Third Great Ninja War, had never encountered such a strange group.
"Unexpected," Deva Path's cold gaze swept over Shisui, "Konoha's [Shisui of the Body Flicker], to actually appear here."
Shisui's heart shook, 'The other party actually recognized me?!'
"The Uchiha Clan, what is their relationship with the Star Ninja, or rather, with the so-called Shura?" Deva Path's voice was devoid of fluctuation, yet carried a questioning tone tinged with interest.
The Uchiha Clan, as Konoha's largest Ninja Clan and one of the obstacles in Nagato's path of revenge against Konoha, had been the subject of much intelligence gathering after his cooperation with Obito, who played the role of Uchiha Madara.
They had paid considerable attention to Shisui, the strongest of the contemporary Uchiha.
Shisui didn't answer. The enemy's powerful strength and strange eyes reminded him of some ancient legends about the Sage of Six Paths.
His hands flew through hand seals.
"Afterimage Clone!"
In an instant, dozens of Shisui's clones appeared on the battlefield, their real and fake forms difficult to distinguish.
Each carried a sharp killing intent, launching attacks simultaneously from all directions against Human Path, Animal Path, and Deva Path!
Gleaming blades, whistling kunai, the assault was seamless!
Natsuhi also mustered her strength, once again using the Mysterious Peacock Method. Purple Chakra transformed into tentacles and blades, assisting from the side, attempting to disrupt the Pains' vision and movement.
Facing this overwhelming offensive, Human Path and Animal Path moved swiftly to block, their Taijutsu surprisingly not inferior, precisely parrying or evading each attack.
Deva Path stood in place, his Rinnegan slowly rotating, as if analyzing the Chakra Flow of every clone.
"Useless," Deva Path stated indifferently. The Rinnegan had already seen through the truth, "Before the eyes of God, all illusions are vanity."
He abruptly raised his hand, aiming at Shisui's true body and Natsuhi's direction behind him.
"Shinra Tensei!"
The powerful repulsive force erupted again!
Shisui's countless afterimage clones shattered and vanished like bubbles in the sunlight.
Shisui's true body only had time to cross his short sword in front of him before being struck hard by an irresistible, immense force!
Shisui flew backwards like a broken kite, landing heavily next to Chino. A sweet taste rose in his throat, and he spat out a mouthful of blood.
He felt as if his internal organs had been displaced, his heart filled with extreme shock, "What kind of Ninjutsu is that?! It's completely unblockable!"
He took the opportunity to pull up the heavily injured Chino and rapidly retreated, regrouping with the struggling Natsuhi, Shunji, and Hazuki.
"Thank you," Natsuhi gasped out to Shisui, her face pale.
Then Natsuhi ordered Shunji: "Shunji, take Chino and Hazuki and retreat first! This is no longer a battle you can participate in!"
The enemy's strength far exceeded Natsuhi's expectations. With just one of them acting, in a single exchange, Chino and Hazuki were severely injured. Only Shunji, with his better physique, was the least injured.
"Sensei! We won't go!" Shunji gritted his teeth. Despite being beaten black and blue, barely able to stand straight, he refused to retreat.
Hazuki also stubbornly tried to stand up, moving towards Natsuhi's side.
Shisui breathed heavily, his gaze fixed on the four figures opposite who had regrouped, unscathed. His heart was also stirring up towering waves.
The enemy's strength far exceeded his expectations!
And four pairs of the legendary Rinnegan!
With his current strength, having lost the Mangekyo Sharingan and possessing only Elite Jonin-level power, even using all his skills, he couldn't even make the enemy take him seriously.