Clang!
Facing this strike, Pain—already mentally prepared—precisely jammed the two black rods in his hands into the circular hole of the Executioner's Blade and held it firmly in place.
The grating sound of grinding teeth began to echo.
Shinji and Pain were locked in a contest of strength.
At first glance, they seemed evenly matched. But when distinctive, mysterious blood markings surfaced across Shinji's face, that balance was instantly shattered.
Blood Manipulation Technique· Crimson Scale Surge · Load!
The blood within Shinji's body began flowing at double speed, and immense power surged forth without end.
The most immediate change was that the Executioner's Blade—previously locked in midair—began steadily pressing downward, inch by inch.
Until, with a muffled thud, it cut into Pain's right shoulder.
For the first time, an unmistakable look of surprise appeared on Pain's face.
He clearly hadn't expected his opponent's strength to spike so dramatically in an instant.
If he hadn't used the black rods to alter the falling trajectory of the blade at the last moment, that strike would have landed on his head instead of his shoulder.
Seeing the unwavering determination in Shinji's eyes, Nagato understood that if this continued, Yahiko's body would be further damaged.
Although the Naraka Path could repair corpses, Nagato could not accept that!
More importantly… the five-second cooldown had ended.
Shinra Tensei!
Boom!
Shinji was blasted away by an irresistible force.
However, just before being sent flying, he tightly gripped the Executioner's Blade and, using that force, dragged the blade across Pain's body—dealing a second wound to the Deva Path.
With injuries this severe, an ordinary person would have long since lost the ability to fight.
But in the end, Pain was merely a corpse controlled by Nagato—similar in principle to Sunagakure's puppet techniques.
So despite the significant damage, Pain's Deva Path still stood there imposingly.
What surprised Pain, however, was that he had expected the one named Hidan to immediately rush in and deny him any chance to recover.
He had even prepared how to continue this "evaluation"—for example, testing whether they could survive under his assault.
That's right. Even after being injured, Nagato still insisted that this was merely an assessment of potential recruits—and that he had been holding back.
But things rarely unfold as expected—
"You coughed up that much blood. You dead or what?"
"I've got plenty of blood. Can't I spit out a couple mouthfuls? You know I bleed myself for fun every day."
Shinji wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and shot back.
Why was his complexion always so pale—almost sickly?
Simple. Bleed yourself every day and see what happens!
He relied entirely on his near-immortal regenerative ability to stockpile "blood bags" for combat use.
Sometimes he even felt like shouting at Hidan, Damn it, I'm not even human anymore!
"Did you get it?" Asked Hidan behind Shinji.
"What do you think?"
"Good. In a moment, I'll personally send this bastard to meet Lord Jashin!"
Overjoyed, Hidan immediately reached out and smeared a hand along the blade of the Executioner's Blade, licking up the blood that had stained it.
When the Executioner's Blade didn't require self-repair, it still absorbed blood—but extremely slowly.
After ingesting Pain's blood, Hidan threw his head back and laughed wildly. His skin rapidly turned black, white skeletal patterns spreading across his body.
Then he sliced open his palm with a kunai, letting blood drip in a steady stream onto the ground.
With a stomp of his right foot, he began tracing a ritual circle.
During all this, five seconds quickly passed, and the so-called weakness of the Deva Path ceased to exist.
Yet Shinji made no immediate move. He simply stood guard in front of Hidan.
This strange behavior instantly caught Pain's attention.
Banshō Ten!
The moment Pain raised his right hand, Shinji knew something was wrong. But Hidan was in the middle of his ritual behind him—there was nowhere to dodge.
With a sharp whoosh, Shinji, gritting his teeth as he resisted, was dragged through the air toward Pain.
The black rod—capable of sealing chakra flow—thrust forward at once.
Though Shinji's feet carved two deep furrows into the ground, he only managed to delay it for a brief moment.
Clang!
Shinji placed the Executioner's Blade horizontally before him, blocking the strike and narrowly avoiding being skewered like candied fruit on a stick.
All he had to do now was stall for time until Hidan completed the ritual.
As for whether Hidan's Curse Technique: Death Controlling Possessed Blood would work on a corpse…
Honestly, he wasn't sure.
After all, who goes around researching whether a technique works on dead people?
But since the connecting medium—blood—still existed, it should theoretically be fine.
"So the one called Hidan is your true trump card?"
"Hmm?"
Faced with Pain's sudden "I've seen through you" remark, Shinji was momentarily stunned.
"I don't know what he's doing or what that transformation signifies. But as an omnipotent god, the warm-up ends here."
"Feel the pain of this world… and try to survive."
What is this nonsense…
Shinji couldn't help glancing back before replying with a conflicted expression, "I think you really shouldn't. What if you actually get yourself killed? Wouldn't that just cause more trouble later?"
Hand on heart, he was sincerely advising the other party to think twice.
But Pain's stance was clear: I'm not listening. Not listening. Not listening!
He had to regain face!
And so—
"Super · Shinra Tensei!"
"Holy—don't you dare—"
BOOM!!!
A terrifying force instantly swept across nearly half the forest, flattening everything into wasteland.
Shinji and Hidan vanished in the blink of an eye, flung who-knows-how-far into the distance.
The destructive power of Super · Shinra Tensei spoke for itself!
At full force, it could even erase the entirety of Konoha in a single blow!
Of course, the attack just now hadn't reached that apocalyptic level—it had merely destroyed half a forest.
"What a pity…"
Nagato murmured, then began coughing violently.
It wasn't only because using Super · Shinra Tensei had placed an enormous burden on his body, further shortening his lifespan.
What shocked him more was that at the very instant he released Super · Shinra Tensei, his connection with the Deva Path had been severed. He had no idea what had happened.
"How are you, Nagato? Why did you have to use that technique?"
Konan asked with concern and confusion. Even from such a distance, she had heard the world-shattering impact.
After coughing for quite some time, Nagato waved his hand weakly.
"A god's image must be invincible. Those two were indeed troublesome. To avoid any accidents, I had no choice but to have the Deva Path use Super · Shinra Tensei to eliminate them in one strike."
"But for some reason, the connection between me and the Deva Path was cut off."
"Cut off?!"
Konan was deeply shocked.
Nagato's expression darkened further. "Yes. If my guess is correct, it must have been their final counterattack before death—they destroyed the chakra receiver embedded in the Deva Path."
"What kind of attack could break through the repulsive force of Super · Shinra Tensei? That's unbelievable!"
Konan looked utterly incredulous.
Even now, Nagato had no answer.