Naruto: Starting from the time when the Six Paths of Pain was Kira Yoshikage

"Don't even think about it!"

Just as Elsa was about to kill the two, Emilia shouted and clasped her hands together, and countless ice spikes reappeared, blocking Elsa's attack path.

This was exactly what Elsa wanted. She immediately abandoned her plan to kill Felt and the other woman, and turned to attack Emilia.

Emilia's ice spikes were indeed powerful, but unfortunately, her attack speed was too slow. She couldn't even touch the hem of her clothes, let alone hit them. In just a few breaths, Elsa closed in on her.

He was about to have his chest slashed open by his opponent's sharp blade.

At the critical moment, Pain made his move again, raising his right hand towards Elsa. The invisible force that had just repelled her reappeared, and the latter was once again sent flying without any doubt.

"What an amazing move!"

Even Puck, a great elf, couldn't help but exclaim in admiration, but after saying that, he kept yawning.

As one of the top Pokémon in the RE0 world, Puck's existence consumes a lot of energy, so he must reside in a crystal at night. His daily activity time is from 9 am to 5 pm, and since it is already dusk, it means that Puck must be forced to hibernate.

"Lia...I'm... counting on you...Mr. Payne..."

After saying this, Puck transformed into countless points of light and entered the necklace around Emilia's neck.

It's unclear where his confidence in Pain came from.

Pain stared at Elsa, who stood before him once again unharmed, a hint of solemnity on his cold face. He said in a deep voice, "Emilia, take those two and leave immediately. Leave this dangerous woman to me."

"Mr. Payne..."

Emilia's voice was full of worry, and she subconsciously took a step forward, clearly unwilling to leave alone.

"Don't forget, I'm a ninja." Pain's tone was firm and unwavering. "I've been through missions a hundred times more dangerous than this."

Given Emilia's personality, she would never stand by and watch Payne face such a terrifying opponent alone.

But the moment Payne finished speaking, gazing into his calm yet reliable eyes, she felt a strange sense of peace settle in her heart. Although their time together had been short, Payne had already proven his strength through his actions.

Especially after Elsa's ghostly skills, Emilia clearly realized that staying behind would not be of any help at all, and would only be a burden.

Emilia bit her lip, but finally nodded: "Then... you must be careful! If you need anything, shout no matter what, and I'll come back to help you immediately!"

Pain nodded, his eyes fixed on Elsa, ready to act immediately should she make any unusual move.

After Emilia left the tavern with Felt and Rom, and confirmed that they were safe, Pain suddenly said to Erza out of the blue, "You did your research beforehand..."

There is no doubt that this is a trap.

It was a trap that Elsa deliberately set for Emilia.

She used the badge she valued as bait.

If Emilia follows the clues to this place, it will be close to dusk at the very least. The great spirit Puck beside her will have to enter a dormant state. Faced with Emilia, who is powerful but naive, she can easily defeat her.

If Emilia can't find this place, then the emblem representing the royal selection will fall into someone else's hands, and Elsa's goal will be achieved.

Whether the other party comes or not, Elsa won't lose money.

Elsa sized up Pain, seemingly deciding where to begin. After hearing Pain's words, she chuckled and said, "As a professional assassin, of course I need to thoroughly investigate my target... After all, even I find that thing a headache."

That thing naturally refers to the great elf Puck.

Don't be fooled by its kitten-like appearance; once its true form is revealed, it's a truly terrifying creature.

At least Elsa wasn't confident she could kill Emilia under his protection.

"Is that so?" Seeing Elsa readily agree, Pain said casually, "To be able to obtain such confidential information as the specific time of her hibernation, the source of the intelligence must be... someone familiar with her, or... the assassination mission was ordered by them..."

Information like how long Puck is forced into hibernation isn't something that can be obtained through simple investigation; don't underestimate the vigilance of a Grand Spirit. This isn't the world after JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Part 3, where everyone knows Jotaro's ability is time stop.

"You are very smart and very strong."

Elsa's expression remained unchanged, revealing no useful information. She scrutinized Pain again, seemingly searching for an opportunity to strike. Finally, a bloodthirsty madness appeared on her alluring face: "If it weren't for you, I could already see that child's intestines... But now, it's not bad to see yours."

"Hahaha!"

Almost the instant the words fell, Elsa's hands moved like nimble phantoms, several gleaming throwing knives flying from her grasp, whistling straight towards Pain's face. The knives were incredibly fast, drawing silver arcs in the air.

Pain's eyes were indifferent. Faced with the overwhelming killing intent, he simply raised his hand and waved it. A black rod appeared out of thin air and intertwined in front of him to form an impenetrable barrier.

With a series of crisp "clangs," all the throwing knives were deflected by the black stick and fell to the ground with a dull thud.

Elsa had anticipated this, and a cold smile curled at the corner of her lips. These throwing knives were not intended to harm the enemy, but merely to distract Pain.

The moment the black stick deflected the flying knife, her figure vanished from the spot like a ghost. With her incredible speed, she instantly crossed the distance between the two and appeared in front of Pain in the blink of an eye.

The dagger in his hand gleamed with a ghostly blue light, aiming straight for Pain's head.

"At this distance, you wouldn't have had time to use that move, would you?" Elsa thought to herself, confident that with her speed, her opponent wouldn't have had time to react.

However, just as the blade was about to touch Pain's head, a piercing metallic clang rang out, as if the blade had struck an invisible wall and been forcefully blocked.

Elsa's movements came to an abrupt halt, her confident expression freezing instantly, replaced by a hint of doubt.

"The Blessing of the Wind?!"

In the world of RE:Zero, besides magic, the most magical thing is blessing, which is a kind of buff similar to a domain, an ability directly bestowed by the world.

However, Pain didn't have that ability; it was his Stand Summoning Beast, Gray Tower, that blocked Erza's attack.

Distraction during battle is a major taboo, especially when fighting ninjas. Pain's black rod, like a venomous snake emerging from its hole, swiftly pierced Erza's forehead with lightning speed.

With a soft "plop," Elsa's body jolted violently, and the light in her eyes quickly dimmed. She stared in disbelief at Pain, who had tried to blow his head off but instead ended up blowing her own head off instead.

His body went limp and he collapsed uncontrollably.

"The murderer will eventually be killed..."