Starting with Naruto, I'll become stronger through my own efforts.

Chapter 148 Xia Zuo Opens the Battle (Continuing the Journey, Update 1/3)

Xia Zuo's words were so pointed that Nagato was naturally greatly shocked.

Only then did he realize that the Fifth Hokage knew of the Rinnegan's existence and had defined it as a ninja's power rather than a god's power.

Like a frog at the bottom of a well, unable to immediately grasp the vastness of the sky.

Having never witnessed the power of the Six Paths level, Nagato was like a frog in a well, unable to comprehend the Fifth Hokage's disdain for him, and wondering why he would say such a thing.

However, this does not prevent Nagato from giving a higher estimate of Xia Zuo's strength, believing that he should be stronger than Jiraiya.

Jiraiya, Shisui Uchiha, and the Fifth Hokage were three extremely powerful Kage-level ninjas. Although Nagato felt confident that he could defeat them, he was not sure he could control the scope of the battle.

After Nagato and Konan killed Hanzo, they were busy rebuilding the Akatsuki organization and constructing Amegakure.

Over the years, countless efforts have been invested to achieve the prosperity we enjoy today.

Nagato was truly reluctant to part with his hard work, so he decided to accept the Fifth Hokage's suggestion.

Payne Tendo stared intently at Xia Zuo and said, "I know a great battlefield where even if you go all out, you won't cause more casualties or destruction."

All the ninjas participating in this battle were Kage-level ninjas, and they quickly moved to the designated battlefield.

The Akatsuki had Pain, Itachi Uchiha, Kisame Hoshigaki, and Kakuzu and Konan who arrived later, a total of ten Kage-level fighters.

The artistic duo, Deidara and Sasori of the Red Sand, were away on a war mission, while Zetsu and Obito Uchiha had gone to the Land of Water; neither of them were in the Land of Rain.

The number of people on Konoha Village's side was smaller. The Fifth Hokage, Sasuke, Jiraiya, Shisui Uchiha, and Kakashi Hatake, although all of them were Kage-level ninjas, there were only four of them.

The three members of the Flying Thunder God Genma Squad—Genma Shiranui, Raido Namiashi, and Iwashi Tatsumaki—were too weak. As soon as Xia Zuo arrived, he ordered them to retreat.

Looking at the 10:4 numerical advantage between the two sides, Xia Zuo couldn't help but joke, "If only we could bring Orochimaru-sama here too. With him here, we could get support from the First Hokage and the Second Hokage, which is true Kage-level combat power."

Jiraiya, unwilling to give up, advised, "Fifth Hokage, if things get bad, you must retreat as quickly as possible. Don't worry about me and Shisui."

Xia Zuo glanced at him unhappily, but seeing that this simpleton was thinking of him, he held back his spitting and commanded, "Jiraiya, I am the Hokage. On the battlefield, you should obey my orders, not give them to me."

"Alright, I understand, so please stop talking."

"Jiraiya, you have a mission."

Xia Zuo pointed at Xiao Nan and ordered, "This female ninja is your disciple. You deal with her and don't let her interfere with my battle."

Jiraiya opened his mouth as if to say something, but under Xia Zuo's stern gaze, he changed his words and said, "Yes, Hokage-sama."

Xia Zuo looked at Uchiha Shisui and smiled gently, "Shisui, your mission remains the same. I hope that when you return to Konoha today, you will be carrying the head of that rogue ninja."

Uchiha Shisui nodded heavily, without saying anything.

But his suddenly opened Mangekyou Sharingan, the overwhelming killing intent that erupted from his body, and the powerful chakra fluctuations spoke volumes without words.

Zheng Shui's Mangekyou Sharingan gaze posed a real threat, forcing Itachi Uchiha to also awaken his Mangekyou Sharingan and meet the gaze of his once most admired older brother.

Seeing Uchiha Shisui's stance, Jiraiya sighed deeply, then formed hand seals and slammed them on the ground, summoning Gamabunta.

However, he did not intend to rely on Bunta for the battle. Konan's paper wings were agile and maneuverable, which Bunta, who was good at strong attacks, could not handle.

"Bunta, go back and tell the boss that I need to enter Sage Mode."

Gamabunta snorted in dissatisfaction, "Jiraiya, you're getting more and more of a coward!"

"What kind of enemy could I, Grandpa Wen, not handle? You want to call my father and mother out? Don't I, Grandpa Wen, have any dignity?"

As he spoke, Bunta, with his nostrils flared, bent down to see what kind of enemy they were dealing with.

Yes, toads don't have necks; they can only bow their heads by bending over.

Then it saw six pairs of pale purple Rinnegan, two pairs of blood-red Mangekyou Sharingan, and a shark face with far more chakra than its own. It looked nothing like the face of a dead person.

Even more critically, the Fifth Hokage, Natsume, was actually on the battlefield—someone who had been repeatedly lifted up by the Great Toad Sage within 15 days.

The above are said to be ruthless individuals no less so than the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju.

He was truly a ruthless ninja who dared to kill anyone.

Wen Tai gasped in shock, wondering what his pride meant. Could that thing be worth three insects and two butterflies?

The enormous toad said in a deep, booming voice, "Jiraiya, my brother, I'll go get my parents right now to help you out."

Before he finished speaking, Bunta voluntarily dispelled the psychic connection, turning into a cloud of white smoke.

The smoke was then washed away by the rain and disappeared.

Ignoring the farce between Jiraiya and the toad, Xia Zuo turned to Kakashi Hatake and said, "Your strength is relatively weak here, so you'll be in charge of Kakuzu, who is the weakest on the other side."

Kakashi Hatake broke out in a cold sweat: "Excuse me for speaking frankly, but the Fifth Hokage, Kakuzu, is a renowned mercenary ninja who trades gold for money. He's a veteran Kage-level ninja, and I'm truly no match for him."

"Why don't you send me to deal with Kisame Hoshigaki?"

Xia Zuo laughed: "Kakashi, the battle between ninjas is essentially an intelligence war. I believe that once you know the specific information about Kakuzu, you will definitely be able to kill him."

"Even if we can't kill Kakuzu outright, we can force him to retreat."

Then Xia Zuo told Kakashi all the information about Kakuzu, focusing on the characteristics of the Earth Grudge Fear and the situation of five hearts and five lives.

Finally, Xia Zuo said with a smile, "Kakuzu might say later that he once fought against the First Hokage."

Kakashi Hatake asked in surprise, "Is he bragging, or is it true?"

Xia Zuo replied, "All I know is that he did receive a mission to assassinate the First Hokage, and he did carry it out, but he returned severely injured."

"But only he knows the specifics; in any case, the other party involved, the First Hokage, has no recollection of it."

Xia Zuo chuckled maliciously, "Perhaps the assassination attempt was carried out because when the First Hokage was attacked, he casually swept across the battlefield with a Wood Release technique and didn't even notice the existence of an assassin."

Kakashi Hatake:

Xia Zuo chuckled twice and asked, "Are you confident you can take down Kakuzu now?"

Kakashi Hatake composed himself: "I'm confident I can defeat him, but he has five lives, giving me four chances to try and fail. I'm afraid it will be difficult for me to kill him outright."

Xia Zuo said nonchalantly, "It's alright, defeating Kakuzu is enough. You'll get an A-rank mission when we get back."

After saying that, he walked towards Payne Tendo, who was at the head of the group opposite him.

As he walked, Xia Zuo looked around at his surroundings and said, half-guessing, "Could this be the battlefield where Hanzo and Danzo attacked the First Akatsuki, taking Konan hostage and causing Yahiko's death?"

Pain, expressionless, calmly said, "Fifth Hokage, you seem to know a lot?"

Xia Zuo chuckled: "It's alright, there are many details I don't know either."

"But I'm curious, what are you trying to express by bringing me here? Is it a way of remembering Yahiko?"

Payne Tendo replied, "I didn't think that much about it. This is the closest no-man's land I know of."

"Yahiko died here, half of the original Akatsuki members also died here, and Hanzo's body was crushed here by me."

"Fifth Hokage, this place is entirely worthy of being your final resting place."

Xia Zuo glanced at Pain Tendo and sneered, "With just these six puppets? Even if you add the Hidden Mist Village's Ninja Swordsmen, the Hidden Sand Village's puppeteers, the Gold Exchange's ace headhunting ninja, and the Paper Angel Konan, you still wouldn't be a match for me."

"Nagato, unless you appear before me yourself, Akatsuki has no chance of winning today."

Payne Tendo fell silent again before speaking, "That's an exaggeration. If you can defeat eight Kage-level fighters—"

"Then let's give it a try."

Xia Zuo stopped talking, took off his straw hat, activated his Swift Escape mode, and instantly disappeared from everyone's sight.

"Let's give it a try!"

Payne Tendo suddenly spoke: "Shinra Tensei!"

An invisible repulsive force suddenly erupted from his body, repelling all the chakra and matter that Nagato deemed harmful.

This included Shazo, who was rushing towards Payne's Hell Path at high speed.

Xia Zuo's speed was unbelievable. In the instant he was thrown back, he used the impact of the repulsive force to accelerate to a speed far exceeding the propagation of the repulsive force, thus avoiding the terrifying power of [Shinra Tensei].

He looked at Pain Tendo in surprise: "I know that the dynamic vision of the Rinnegan is far superior to that of the Mangekyou Sharingan. There are six pairs of Rinnegan here. It's impossible for me to avoid your gaze."

"But I never expected that Shinra Tensei could be triggered so quickly."

The Heavenly Dao said calmly, "Your understanding of the Rinnegan is too shallow. I, who possess the Eye of God, am the god of the ninja world!"

""

"Give up the struggle, and I will give you a dignified death. You won't feel too much pain."

Xia Zuo laughed loudly: "Even ants try to survive, and you actually advise me to give up resisting? Do you really think you're a god?"

"My god, how dare you, such a noble being, fight a ninja like me on this muddy ground?"

Nagato's self-perception was deeply ingrained and could not be shaken by words. He completely ignored what Xia Zuo said and calmly said through the Heavenly Dao, "Before the gods, all resistance is as powerless as ants."

Payne Tendo raised his hand and emitted a gravitational force that was completely opposite to the repulsive force of Shinra Tensei, capturing Shaza's body and forcibly attracting him.

【All Things Guided by Heaven】

At the same time, in the other hand of the Heavenly Dao, a black iron rod rapidly formed, one end held in its hand, the other end continuously elongating and becoming sharper.

Clearly, he intended to bring Xia Zuo over and then give him a thorough thrashing.

Not only was the Deva Path preparing, but the Human Path of Pain also appeared beside the Deva Path, assuming a poised stance to attack.

Xia Zuo was caught off guard and pulled into the air, but he quickly realized what was happening and activated his Magnet Release Kekkei Genkai.

With no tall metal buildings nearby, he could only maximize his magnetic escape technique, directly connecting to the planet's magnetic field beneath the earth, using magnetic force to counteract gravity and stabilize himself in the air.

As we all know, the Earth's magnetic field is very weak.

In order to counteract the gravitational pull of the Rinnegan, Xia Zuo had to expand the magnetic force to its limit, connecting with the geomagnetic field of tens of thousands of square kilometers.

Such a powerful outburst was extremely strenuous for Xia Zuo; he had to exert all his strength and simply couldn't sustain it.

Fortunately, Pain Deva's Rinnegan was only one-sixth complete, so the [Universal Pull] could only last for a shorter time, and its gravity weakened faster than Xia Zuo's magnetic force.

Xia Zuo sensed the weakening of gravity and unleashed his Storm Release without hesitation.

【Storm Release: Hundred Styles: Light Fang】

The surging chakra soared into the sky and merged into the rain clouds that were almost always present in the Land of Rain.

The next moment, through his own Storm Release chakra, Xia Zuo indirectly controlled the rain clouds, condensing the enormous energy and water vapor contained in the thick clouds that were beyond human reach, and easily drawing down nearly a thousand blue-white lasers.

Under Xia Zuo's control, Koga accurately aimed at Pain, Kakuzu, and Sasori and launched a barrage of attacks.

He also took the opportunity to unleash a concentrated barrage of fire on Xiao Nan, who was flying in the air.

The inherent speed and extremely long range of Storm Release allowed all the Akatsuki members to evade the attack in time.

On the contrary, Xiao Nan in the air, unable to adjust her trajectory, was hit on the wings by a dense barrage of light, fell to the ground, and turned into a scattering of papers.

With her paper-manipulation skills nearing perfection, Konan is practically immune to all physical damage.

Nagato felt utterly powerless at this moment; this was the first time he had felt this powerless since he killed Hanzo the Salamander.

Using the unique abilities of the Rinnegan, he sensed the Storm Release technique used by Xia Zuo and instructed Pain Preta Path to prepare in advance to absorb chakra and neutralize the ninjutsu.

But he never expected that the scale of this Storm Release technique would be so vast. Even with all his strength, the Hungry Ghost Path could only absorb a little over a hundred Storm Release Light Fangs.

But what Nagato didn't expect was that the main energy in [Storm Release: Light Fang] was not chakra, but natural lightning energy.

More than a hundred lightning bolts engulfed it, and the Hungry Ghost Realm was as if it had been struck by lightning more than a hundred times, instantly turning into a charred charcoal emitting blue-purple flames.

The hell realm quickly approached, swallowed the charred piece of food from the hungry ghost realm, chewed it a dozen times, and then spat out a complete hell realm.

Even the black rod that had been blasted away by lightning reappeared on the face of the Hungry Ghost Realm.

Xia Zuo feigned shock and snorted coldly: "Repulsion, attraction, chakra absorption, resurrection, quite a comprehensive set of abilities."

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