Starting with the Uchiha clan, they began cultivating demonic arts.

Chapter 176 Nagato's Crushing Defeat

After continuously maximizing his own buffs, ensuring that his basic stats wouldn't be completely overwhelmed by Uchiha Touya, Nagato, floating in the sky, finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Standing on the ground, Uchiha Tou looked at Nagato Uzumaki in the sky and a smile appeared on his lips.

He had originally planned to kill Nagato before causing trouble for Jiraiya and the others, but Nagato had summoned the two toad sages from Mount Myōboku, which saved him a lot of trouble.

"Sage Mode... You don't think you're the only one who can do that, do you?!"

Although Uchiha Tou's appearance remained unchanged, the natural energy surrounding him seemed to be devoured by some invisible force, surging wildly into his body.

Even the sun in the sky burst forth with dazzling light for a moment, then dimmed again, its endless light being absorbed by him. In Nagato's perception, Uchiha Touyu seemed to have become an endless black hole.

"Nagato, watch out... That opponent's Sage Mode is terrifying! It can absorb so much natural energy!"

"I know...it seems we all underestimated him!"

However, this state did not last long. Originally, Uchiha Hiu could be in Sage Mode at all times, constantly absorbing the natural energy produced by the planet. But after realizing that he was about to enter an energy state, he cut off his pathway to absorb natural energy.

That's why he needs to add the Sage Mode buff before battle, and he doesn't dare to stay in Sage Mode for too long, otherwise he might directly slide into the evolutionary direction of the Otsutsuki and become an energy-state life form.

"Ready? Don't blink!"

Looking at Nagato standing in the sky, Uchiha Tobi said something leisurely, and his Susanoo armor, which was covered in flashing lightning, instantly appeared in front of Nagato.

A look of horror appeared in Nagato's purple Rinnegan eyes, and a terrifying repulsive force erupted from his body once more:

"Shinra Tensei!"

"Shinra Tensei!"

With a loud bang, the two identical repulsive forces collided and remained locked in a stalemate for a moment before Nagato was thrown back.

"How is this possible...? How could that guy...? How could that guy possess the Rinnegan?!"

Nagato, who had been thrown out, crashed to the ground and rolled for a moment before standing up. However, the look of horror in his eyes as he looked at Uchiha Touyu, who stood tall in the sky, was no longer concealed.

"Theoretically, the Rinnegan is indeed the manifestation of the Sharingan's final evolution... However... this guy is just an ordinary Uchiha, how could he... it's really puzzling."

Black Zetsu, attached to Nagato, was equally puzzled. He muttered a few words. On the surface, it seemed that with the addition of Hashirama Senju's cells and the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan, it was possible to awaken the Rinnegan. But in reality, Black Zetsu knew very well that without Ashura and Indra's chakra, awakening the Rinnegan was just a pipe dream!

It's important to know that Madara Uchiha's strength is among the best of all the Indras throughout history—not every Indra has brothers and sisters, and not every Indra's brothers and sisters can awaken the Mangekyou Sharingan!

Even if Indra's reincarnation had the highest talent, without siblings, it would be impossible for Madara Uchiha to reach the level of the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan. It can be said that Madara Uchiha's strength would rank at least in the top three among Indra's thousand-year reincarnations!

Hashirama Senju was even more monstrous. In the battles between the reincarnations of Indra and Ashura, Indra always had the upper hand. Even in the original battle between Indra and Ashura, Ashura had to bring the Nine-Tails to fight against him.

However, as the Ashura of this generation, Hashirama Senju completely annihilated Madara Uchiha, the Indra, and even forced Madara Uchiha to summon the Nine-Tails as a beast, but Madara was still brutally beaten by Hashirama Senju!

When Madara Uchiha had the Three Tomoe Sharingan, he was brutally beaten by Hashirama Senju. When he had the Mangekyou Sharingan, he was brutally beaten by Hashirama Senju, who had awakened the Sage Body and Wood Release. When he had the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan, he was brutally beaten by Hashirama Senju, who had learned Sage Mode!

It can be said that Madara Uchiha, the reincarnation of Indra, led a tragic life in which he was repeatedly beaten by Hashirama Senju. Until his resurrection, he never won against Hashirama Senju even once.

Uchiha Touyu even suspected that Hashirama Senju's strength was perhaps even greater than that of the First Hokage, Ashura.

After all, there is a clear reference point for both sides. Kurama's strength has only become stronger than it was a thousand years ago, not weaker. Since the original Kurama was able to participate in the great war a thousand years ago instead of being regarded as a burden by Indra and Asura, it is clear that although his strength was slightly weaker than that of Indra and Asura, it was by no means worlds apart.

In the battle between Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju, Kurama was able to intervene, but the power he displayed was only so-so. In fact, in a one-on-one fight, even without considering the Sharingan's genjutsu and the Wood Release's advantage over the tailed beasts, Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju would have had an easy time defeating Kurama.

This also shows that Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju were not much weaker than their ancestors, and Hashirama Senju might even be stronger than Ashura!

These two reincarnations of Indra and Ashura were already considered the most talented combination in a thousand years. Even so, after fusing with Hashirama Senju's cells, Madara Uchiha spent several decades, almost to the point of exhaustion and old age, before he finally awakened the Rinnegan.

A regular Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan, fused with a few cells from Hashirama Senju, thinks it can awaken the Rinnegan? How is that even possible?

However, the eye power displayed by Uchiha Hiu convinced Black Zetsu and Nagato that although his eyes only had three tomoe, he had indeed awakened the Rinnegan, and his use of the Rinnegan was definitely superior to Nagato's.

That's obvious. Nagato's eyes were transplanted, and in terms of application, they could never compare to those of Uchiha Hiu, who had awakened them in their original, natural state.

Floating in the sky, Uchiha Touya stretched slightly, his joints cracking. It had been a long time since he had fought at full strength.

Even in the battle against Killer Bee, the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, Uchiha Touu actually suppressed a lot of his power. He didn't use either Sage Mode or Rinnegan, but only White Fang Blade Technique and Lightning Release Chakra Mode.

Now, feeling the abundant and inexhaustible power within his body, and looking at the opponent before him who was barely worthy of a fight, Uchiha Touyu also slightly mustered his spirits.

When Uchiha Hiyu's gaze fell upon Uzumaki Nagato, Nagato felt a vague sense of being locked onto by a natural enemy, and his body trembled slightly.

"Watch out, Nagato! That guy's about to strike again!"

The toad sage perched on his shoulder shouted a reminder, and at the same time, Uchiha Hiu transformed into a bolt of lightning, slashing down with his long sword once more!

A thunderous sound exploded in the air, and at the same time, a white umbrella-shaped shockwave rose up around Uchiha Tou. The aftershocks from the movement alone were no less powerful than a typical C-rank or even B-rank wind-style ninjutsu!

Since acquiring the Rinnegan, Nagato had never been unable to see his opponent clearly. However, when faced with Uchiha Hiu breaking the sound barrier and reaching a speed of five times the speed of sound, Nagato only felt a blur before his eyes and the blade was already upon him.

Fortunately, under Sage Mode, Nagato's perception ability was greatly enhanced. Even if his eyes couldn't see clearly, he could still feel the opponent's attack approaching. In an instant, two more arms grew on his shoulders, crossing and blocking the black longsword.

With a crack, both arms instantly shattered into pieces, but Nagato also took the opportunity to escape Uchiha Hiu's attack range and breathed a sigh of relief.

"The abilities of the Asura Path? All show and no substance!"

Before Nagato could catch his breath, Uchiha Tobi appeared before him again with a terrifying sonic boom, as if by teleportation, and once again delivered a simple slash.

"Sage Art - Frog Kumite!"

The two toads standing on Nagato's shoulders extended their tiny frog fists and formed invisible energy arms composed of natural energy, which slammed into Uchiha Touu who was charging at them. They were briefly locked in a stalemate with Uchiha Touu's long sword before being directly knocked away.

However, this brief stalemate allowed Nagato to recover, and with a glare, he unleashed Shinra Tensei once more.

This time, however, the Shinra Tensei was not intended to attack Uchiha Tou, but rather to send Nagato himself flying!

"Tsk, what's the point? If you keep dodging like this, you're no match for me!"

Uchiha Touya slowly rose from the ground, stood in the sky, looked down at the somewhat disheveled Nagato, and spoke calmly.

"Look around you! If you keep dodging like this, the Akatsuki organization might be destroyed."

Upon hearing this, Nagato's eyes narrowed as he scanned his surroundings. Although the battle between the two had only lasted a few rounds, and he had been on the defensive the whole time, for powerhouses of their caliber, simply moving at full speed was enough to be considered a natural disaster, let alone using ninjutsu.

Moving at several times the speed of sound, it was enough to create air shockwaves approaching those of a B-rank ninjutsu. Each of the few Shinra Tensei techniques he casually unleashed was enough to destroy a city block. Every slash that Uchiha Touyu brought down generated sword energy powerful enough to split mountains...

In just over ten seconds, half of the Akatsuki base has been destroyed, and more than a hundred Akatsuki ninjas have died from the aftershocks alone!

Seeing this, Nagato's face turned very ugly. You must know that the current Nagato is not the cold-blooded and ruthless Pain from the original story, and the members of Akatsuki are not those heinous traitors who deserve to die. Nagato still has a lot of affection for the current Akatsuki members.

"Don't waver! Nagato! We don't have the leisure to control the scale of the battle against an opponent like this!"

The two toad sages perched on Nagato's shoulders immediately spoke up to remind him. Upon hearing this, Nagato's expression turned serious, and he nodded slightly.

"I understand, Master Shima, Master Fukasaku!"

Although it was heartbreaking to see the Akatsuki members sacrifice themselves in such a pointless way, they were just ordinary Akatsuki members who died, not close friends like Konan and Yahiko, so it wasn't enough to make Nagato lose his mind.

However, Uchiha Touyu was just saying that casually. Seeing that Nagato did not waver, he didn't care and slashed down with his sword again.

From the beginning until now, apart from occasionally using Shinra Tensei and Manhua Sacred Technique, Uchiha Touyu has relied on his extremely powerful physical abilities to overwhelmingly defeat Nagato and put him in grave danger.

Although Uchiha Touyu has now truly stepped into the threshold of the Six Paths level and possesses all sorts of powerful ninjutsu, he finds that the simplest taijutsu is still the most useful when facing opponents of the same level.

Unless they are unique secret techniques, regular ninjutsu at the Six Paths level can only serve as a support ability in battles of the same level. They can be used to force the enemy to retreat and regroup, but they don't have much destructive power.

Even if Uchiha Touyu possessed a secret technique like the Divine Transcendence Technique, he would still be unable to use it against an opponent who also possessed the Rinnegan due to the limitations of chakra energy itself.

Only physical techniques will never go out of style. As long as you have enough strength, speed, and physique, you can take down either Kaguya Otsutsuki or Isshiki Otsutsuki with a single punch.

Just like now, Uchiha Tou didn't use any powerful offensive ninjutsu or any unique Rinnegan eye techniques. He simply relied on his powerful physique enhanced by chakra and his Lightning Release armor to raise his strength and speed to an incredible level. With a casual strike, Nagato had to do his best to defend.

Seeing that Uchiha Touyu was about to strike again, Nagato, who had just recovered from the five-minute cooldown of Shinra Tensei, activated Shinra Tensei once more, sending himself flying.

"No, this guy is too fast and too strong... We can't even catch our breath, we have no chance..."

Nagato had no time to ponder the rest, because Tobi Uchiha appeared before him again, slashing down with the same blade once more.

However, this time, as he drew his sword, a glint of light flashed in Uchiha Tobi's eyes as he glanced at the toad sitting on Uzumaki Nagato's shoulder.

In an instant, three tomoe appeared in the toad's eyes. In just a moment, Nagato felt the Sage Chakra within his body, which was originally a perfect trinity, tremble.

The sage Shima on one of his shoulders was now under the control of Uchiha Tou's genjutsu, and had completely stopped absorbing natural energy.

Although Nagato could have used Yin-Yang Release and the power of the Rinnegan to help Shima break free of the genjutsu in a second, losing the balance of Sage Chakra in that instant, even without exiting Sage Mode, undoubtedly caused his power to be weakened by a small amount.

(End of this chapter)