Nagato's main body possessed a significant weakness without the Six Paths of Pain. In his early years, due to his lack of proficiency with the Rinnegan, his legs were severely injured by paper bombs during the battle with Hanzō the Salamander.
Although his legs weren't destroyed, the injuries never fully healed, leaving him with very poor mobility. This weakness persisted even in the future when he was resurrected via Reanimation (Edo Tensei).
However, currently, the presence of Black Zetsu seems capable of compensating for this flaw to a certain extent. To someone like Nagato, who had suffered past physical trauma, a White Zetsu clone was the ultimate "supplement," capable of restoring his bodily functions to their peak state.
Under the gaze of Shinichi's Byakugan, as White Zetsu used part of his body to fill the wound on Nagato's shoulder, the chakra of the two individuals began to merge.
Facing two masters of the Flying Thunder God, like Hyuga Shinichi and Minato Namikaze, Zetsu understood that controlling the Gedo Mazo was useless. Against such high-mobility ninjas, the massive body of the statue offered little advantage.
To deal with these specific enemies, Zetsu repaired Nagato's physical wounds and swiftly snapped the black rods connecting his back to the Gedo Mazo.
Nagato, previously trapped in place, regained his mobility. His legs were quickly covered by White Zetsu's cellular tissue, fully restoring his lost movement speed.
"....."
Hyuga Shinichi watched silently without acting rashly. The Nagato now possessed by Zetsu exuded an overwhelming pressure—one that even the Six Paths of Pain had never possessed.
If Shinichi's guess was correct, the current Nagato not only unified all the abilities of the Six Paths into one body but also, through White Zetsu, eliminated his physical frailty and lack of mobility.
Facing such an opponent, Shinichi had to be extremely cautious. At the same time, he made a quick assessment of Nagato's combat power: in today's world, without the presence of Six Paths-level ninjas, Nagato was undoubtedly at the very top of the first tier.
"Tsk..."
Thinking about Nagato's troublesome abilities made Shinichi's head ache slightly, but he had no intention of retreating. He flipped his hand, revealing a kunai.
Even against such a formidable foe, he couldn't back down. Black Zetsu had only just taken over the body and was already exerting immense power; given more time, he would only grow stronger.
Since they had to face this threat sooner or later, it was better to force a "decisive battle" now, while the opponent wasn't yet fully accustomed to Nagato's body.
If they could eliminate Black Zetsu here, neither Konoha nor the Hyuga clan would face any threatening enemies in the near future.
"Universal Pull (Banshō Ten'in)!"
Just as Shinichi was making his plan, the Zetsu-controlled Nagato suddenly beckoned with his hand, and a powerful suction force enveloped Shinichi.
Shinichi didn't resist. As he flew toward Nagato, he quickly adjusted his posture in mid-air, wrapping his body in a layer of Lightning Style chakra.
Universal Pull, huh... Perfect!
Holding a kunai across his chest, Shinichi hurled it toward Nagato's head while mid-air. Under the influence of the suction, the kunai traveled even faster than Shinichi himself. Nagato didn't have time to restrain the flying Shinichi before the sharp tip of the kunai reached his brow.
"What impressive reflexes..."
Black Zetsu was startled by Shinichi's mid-air adjustments and jerked his head to the side. The kunai grazed past his head and pinned itself to the wall behind him.
Simultaneously, Shinichi followed up, descending from above to strike a palm toward Nagato's forehead.
Despite being the one controlled by the suction, Shinichi instantly turned the passive into the active, launching the first strike.
Black Zetsu's sensing ability was excellent, and possessing Nagato gave him incredible agility. Facing Shinichi's attack, he performed a spring-step backflip, instantly widening the gap.
However, the interior of Gedo Mazo's mouth was narrow. After retreating only a few meters, Zetsu felt his body stop; he was pressed against the wall. Glancing sideways, he saw the kunai Shinichi had thrown earlier pinned right next to his head.
Realizing his path was blocked, Black Zetsu's pupils shrank. Sensing danger, he performed a side roll without thinking. A split second after he moved, Shinichi's figure appeared instantly above the kunai.
Shinichi, appearing out of thin air, held a sharp black rod and lunged downward.
"Squelch!"
Fortunately for Nagato, he dodged in time. Shinichi's thrust missed, and the black rod drove deep into the ground.
Just as the disheveled Nagato dodged Shinichi's Flying Thunder God Level 2, a brilliant blue light flashed behind him.
Startled, he turned his head to see Minato Namikaze appearing behind him, a Rasengan spinning rapidly in his hand, slamming it toward Nagato's back.
The coordination between Shinichi and Minato was seamless. Their attacks were multi-staged and incredibly fast; at this moment, Nagato's Almighty Push (Shinra Tensei) hadn't even finished its "cooldown."
Facing Minato's assault, Nagato was cornered with nowhere to run.
"Heh!"
However, Black Zetsu let out a mocking chuckle. Instead of dodging, he began to weave signs.
Just as Minato thought his finishing blow would connect, a nearly transparent protective film appeared on Nagato's back. The Rasengan's chakra was absorbed the moment it touched the film, rendering it completely powerless.
"?!"
This anomaly caused Minato's pupils to shrink in shock.
Before he could process it, an arm suddenly sprouted from Nagato's shoulder. With lightning speed, it grabbed Minato's throat.
Minato frowned and flipped a kunai, preparing to sever the arm, but another arm sprouted from Nagato's back and grabbed Minato's wrist, forcefully suppressing his counterattack.
Simultaneously, on the forearms of the two hands pinning Minato's throat and wrist, two fist-sized cannon ports condensed and aimed directly at him, with dense chakra gathering inside.
"!!!"
"BOOM BOOM!!!!"
Laser beams erupted from the ports. A deafening explosion filled the statue's mouth, the blinding light forcing even Shinichi to squint.
As the explosion occurred, a figure appeared silently behind Shinichi. Sensing the person with his Byakugan, Shinichi breathed a sigh of relief.
"What was that?"
Minato Namikaze's voice came from behind him.
Nagato had used the Preta Path to absorb the Rasengan and the Asura Path to counter and attempt a killing blow, but Minato hadn't been hit; he had escaped instantly using the Flying Thunder God.
He and Shinichi had marked each other with the jutsu formula, so their movements didn't rely solely on the location of kunai.
Although he escaped, Nagato's dazzling display of "ninjutsu versatility" left Minato secretly alarmed. He had never encountered such a powerful opponent.
Minato was curious about Nagato's abilities and guessed that Shinichi must know something, as Shinichi and Jiraiya had fought this leader previously.
Jiraiya's report hadn't detailed the battle much, as he believed the Six Paths of Pain were defeated and the details were no longer vital. He hadn't expected Nagato's main body to be a "perfect existence" capable of using all the Six Paths' techniques.
Now, intelligence on Nagato's ninjutsu was critical.
"Long story short: he can absorb chakra, so ninjutsu is useless," Shinichi said.
"The technique that repels everything is called Almighty Push (Shinra Tensei)—it's an omnidirectional repulsive force with about a five-second interval."
"The one that pulls people in is Universal Pull (Banshō Ten'in)."
"The physical transformations and extra arms are the Asura Path combined with White Zetsu."
"He can also rip out souls and is a troublesome summoning technique."
As if to verify Shinichi's words, the smoke and light cleared, and the Gedo Mazo vanished in a cloud of white smoke.
Suddenly losing their footing, Shinichi and Minato plummeted toward the ground.
At the same time, a giant bird burst through the smoke, diving toward them in mid-air with its beak wide open.
Standing atop the giant bird was Nagato, half-covered by Black Zetsu. Nagato's half of the face showed despair and apology toward the two, while Black Zetsu's half was excited and full of anticipation.
In Black Zetsu's view, the falling Shinichi and Minato had no leverage. They were helpless.
Their Flying Thunder God kunai had returned to the moon with the Gedo Mazo; they couldn't possibly sense them. Even if they had other marks to escape, Zetsu didn't care—he could simply use the bird to leave the Land of Rain and head for the Mist Village.
Fighting Minato and Shinichi was merely a necessity; winning was great, but failing to kill them didn't matter as long as it didn't stop him from resurrecting Madara Uchiha.
In Black Zetsu's mind, he was already invincible.
"Hehehehe..."
Black Zetsu let out a triumphant chuckle.
Minato watched the incoming beak coldly, pulling out a kunai to use a "secret technique," but Shinichi, falling beside him, suddenly grabbed his wrist.
As the Flying Thunder God activated, Minato instantly appeared below, next to Konan.
Having sent Minato away, Shinichi crossed his fists, his gaze hardening as the beak closed in.
"Rotation (Kaiten)!"
Chakra erupted from Shinichi. He tilted his body and began to spin violently, creating a high-speed, high-density chakra sphere.
The moment the beak touched the Rotation, the giant bird lost control, spiraling downward in the direction of the rotation.
Black Zetsu, standing on the bird's head, didn't even have time to react before his summon went out of control.
"What happened?!"
He cried out in his mind. Seeing the bird falling helplessly, he didn't dare stay and leaped off.
"BOOM!!!!" The bird crashed into the ground with a massive roar, its head buried deep in the earth before vanishing in a puff of smoke.
Losing his "mount," Black Zetsu cursed his luck. While in the air, he wove signs and summoned a giant chameleon just as he reached the water's surface. The chameleon's tongue flicked out, pulling Nagato into its mouth and turning invisible.
Shinichi landed steadily on the ground with a loud thud.
While the chameleon was invisible, Shinichi's Byakugan could clearly see its movements.
Realizing that escape was difficult, Black Zetsu manipulated the summon to approach Minato quietly, intending to assassinate the Fourth Hokage.
A two-on-one fight was troublesome; Zetsu felt it best to eliminate one first. Minato had landed early and was looking around for the enemy—a perfect opportunity.
However, he seemed to have forgotten that Minato wasn't alone. There was also a Hyuga Shinichi with the Byakugan and the Flying Thunder God!
The chameleon approached Minato and Konan silently. Just as it was about to strike, Shinichi appeared behind Minato.
With their mutual marks, they could reach each other instantly. They were prepared.
Shinichi acted first. Bolstered by the Sixth Gate, he thrust an Air Palm (Kūshō) toward the transparent chameleon. Terrifying chakra poured out, striking the chameleon's head with a force comparable to Kaguya's Eighty Gods Vacuum Attack.
"BOOM!!!!"
The summon was killed instantly, its head shattering in a spray of blood. Nagato, covered by Black Zetsu, flipped out and tumbled back dozens of meters. In mid-air, he beckoned toward the chameleon's corpse, using Universal Pull to hurl the massive body at Shinichi and the others.
Using the corpse as cover, Black Zetsu had no intention of continuing the fight. He wove signs to summon more creatures to stall them while sprinting toward the outskirts of the city, intending to flee the battlefield entirely.
Shinichi and Minato guessed his intent. Minato grabbed Konan and flickered away from the falling corpse, chasing after Nagato.
Shinichi was only half a step behind him. As he pursued, he condensed a black rod in his hand and hurled it like a javelin toward Nagato's back.
Running, Black Zetsu heard the whistle behind him. He turned his head, and his expression changed.
"What a troublesome brat..."
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