"Konan… you weren't bullied by that Aoba guy while you were in Konoha, were you?"
Inside a temporarily carved-out cave, Nagato looked at the cold-faced Konan with some worry.
"...", Uchiha Hikari wasn't speaking quietly. After all, the distance between her position and Aoba's wasn't exactly close. If her voice were too soft, it wouldn't carry over.
So what she said could be heard by practically the entire Cloud Hidden Village.
Konan naturally heard it as well.
Her expression showed a bit of helplessness. After all, there were so many female ninjas from other villages at home, especially with that little maid who really was like a ninja tool and could do absolutely anything.
It really wasn't easy to explain. She couldn't help but sigh softly.
"No. Aoba treats us very well."
"..."
Nagato's gaze flickered, as if he wanted to say something, but stopped himself.
———
On the other side.
"..."
Aoba also didn't know what to say.
At this moment, the Six Paths of Pain all turned to look at him together.
"Aoba, you—"
"Ahem!"
Aoba couldn't help but cough dryly, directly interrupting him. Then he turned to look at Uchiha Hikari and said with righteous conviction.
"Although I don't know where you heard these rumors, this is clearly slander! Someone deliberately spread these rumors to smear me and smear Konoha!"
"I have never treated any female ninja as a ninja tool."
"Hm?"
Uchiha Hikari's originally indignant expression froze slightly because of his righteous words.
Because when he said this, he was full of upright energy, his eyes clear and without the slightest trace of impurity. He really didn't look like he was lying.
More importantly, compared to that pitch-black Black Zetsu, this Aoba clearly looked more like a good person.
As for how she could see his eyes clearly from such a distance, that was of course thanks to the Sharingan.
However, Uchiha Hikari quickly thought of something else. Whether he was a good person or not had nothing to do with her.
"Even if you didn't do those things, you're from the Senju clan, right?"
"I'm not."
"Liar. I know Wood Release is that Senju Hashirama's bloodline ability. You must be his descendant. You're still lying at a time like this. You really are a bastard ninja!"
Uchiha Hikari's eyes were icy as she gritted her teeth.
Aoba: "..."
'Since when did I become Senju Hashirama's descendant? Then what does that make me and Tsunade?'
'You really can't joke about ethics like this.'
'Looks like it still comes down to beating her up before communication could happen.'
But Uchiha Hikari, who had been sealed for hundreds of years, seemed a bit slow. She even only knew the word "bastard" when it came to cursing people.
Not being good at cursing didn't mean she wasn't good at killing.
The three tomoe in Uchiha Hikari's eyes spun, instantly transforming into the Mangekyo pattern.
"Mangekyo Sharingan?"
Even the Six Paths of Pain were somewhat surprised, clearly not expecting another expert of this level to suddenly appear.
And in the very next instant, the many Cloud ninja who had mustered their courage and were still waiting to see how things would end, most of them saw the Mangekyo pattern from Uchiha Hikari's eyes reflected in their own pupils. Immediately after, they felt the chakra inside their bodies get drained in an instant.
"This… what is this…"
They didn't even have time to voice their doubts before collapsing to the ground from complete chakra exhaustion.
Actually, not just them. Aoba and the Six Paths of Pain also sensed an intrusion of spiritual power.
But it was all blocked.
"So you also have abilities like that guy with the ripple eyes."
Uchiha Hikari looked at Aoba in surprise. Before today, her dojutsu had only ever been blocked by that ripple-eyed Uchiha Madara.
"But it's not over yet!"
As her words fell, blue chakra flames ignited over Uchiha Hikari's body.
This was chakra she had absorbed from other ninjas.
"Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation!"
Uchiha Hikari formed seals with both hands again, spitting out Fire Release with even more terrifying might than before toward Aoba and the Six Paths of Pain atop the wooden giant's head.
In an instant, flames soared into the sky and a sea of fire surged forward, endless blazing inferno engulfing Aoba and the Six Paths of Pain.
Seeing this, the Preta Path was about to step in again to intercept the Fire Release, but Aoba stopped him.
"Pain, take the Eight-Tails and the Fourth Raikage away first. Don't rush to seal them for now. If my guess is right, Black Zetsu is probably already looking for a chance to make a move on you. This woman is here to stall me. Go back and protect your main body and Konan. I'll finish things here very quickly."
"I understand."
Pain wasn't the type to hesitate. After weighing the pros and cons, he decisively picked up the unconscious Fourth Raikage and Killer B and left the area.
Black Zetsu knew his abilities. If he still dared to make a move under those circumstances, it meant he was very confident in dealing with him.
For the safety of himself and Konan, getting the puppets back quickly was the priority.
Besides, he had already seen Aoba's strength. Keeping these Six Paths puppets here wouldn't be of much help anyway.
Aoba naturally wasn't about to let the flames burn him.
Several massive wooden palms pushed forward like a barrier, directly blocking all the flames outside them.
But Aoba himself didn't stay idle either.
He brought his hands together.
"Water Release: Great Exploding Water Shockwave!"
A torrent even more terrifying than the sea of fire appeared. The raging inferno was almost instantly swallowed by a vast ocean.
Within the steam produced by the collision of fire and water.
Uchiha Hikari stared at the Water Release crashing down like a tsunami from above, without the slightest hint of fear on her face.
Instead, what appeared was disdain and contempt. Then her left eye widened again, the pupil trembling slightly as two dojutsu were released at the same time.
"Amaterasu!"
"Kagutsuchi!"
Blood quickly overflowed from Uchiha Hikari's left eye, sliding down her cheek and adding a few touches of ferocity to her pretty face.
Whoosh!
At the moment the dojutsu was released, the world around them immediately changed color.
A violent wind suddenly howled up.
Uchiha Hikari's usage of Amaterasu and Kagutsuchi was different from Sasuke's in the original story.
Pure Yin Release chakra transformed into scorching black flames before the girl.
As specks of black fire fell, the rocky ground began to show many pitted marks, melted by the searing black flames. Inside the pits, even molten red magma flowed.
Then, under Kagutsuchi's control, the black flames turned into a blazing, violent fire tornado, carrying scorching and savage power as it charged toward Aoba.
Wherever the Amaterasu tornado passed, everything was reduced to ash.
That originally overwhelming Water Release was instantly dissolved into steam by the extreme heat.
Even several massive wooden palms were mostly destroyed in the blink of an eye.
The Amaterasu tornado swept toward Aoba's position with unstoppable momentum.
Half the sky was darkened like night under its glow, and the air was unbearably hot.
Yet, when it was still more than ten meters away, it was blocked by an even more terrifying repulsive force.
Buzz!
Then, after a humming sound, the previously unstoppable fire tornado completely collapsed in an instant.
Aoba raised one hand. His eyes had completely turned into a blue clearer than the sky itself.
Looking down from above at the astonished Uchiha Hikari, he said.
"Uchiha Hikari, if this is all the strength you have, then this fight will be over very soon!"
In the next moment, the wooden giant strode toward Uchiha Hikari's position, several raised fists smashing down at her at the same time.
As enormous clouds of dust billowed up, the entire mountain peak was flattened in the blink of an eye.
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