Chapter 502

"Hehehe, the show is about to begin!"

In the deep forest of ice and snow, a white snake that blended with the surrounding snow suddenly opened its mouth, revealing sharp fangs.

Soon after, a pallid hand reached out from within.

Orochimaru, soaked from head to toe, wearing a long robe of the Dawn Organization, gazed into the distance at the fierce battle.

At the end of his line of sight.

In the sky, a huge sea eagle was entangled with a huge centipede.

Meanwhile, on the other side, deafening sounds came over from time to time.

The rhinoceros's mournful cries, the giant dog's frantic barks, the lizard's hisses, the earth trembling from time to time, and the flashes of Ninjutsu all showed the intensity of the distant battle.

"They probably don't have time to pay attention to my side's movements~"

Ignoring the battle over there, Orochimaru locked onto a direction and stealthily approached.

This proposal to besiege and kill Dong Shilang also had his share.

Although Pain did not let him join, Orochimaru had plenty of ways to sneak in.

As for the purpose… naturally it was for the Rinnegan.

With Dong Shilang as Hokage holding the leader's attention, he just happened to seize this opportunity to go and take the Rinnegan.

After his previous transaction with Dong Shilang, he has been verifying Dong Shilang's intelligence.

With the passage of time, he has figured out the opponent's abilities; this strike can be said to be an action he has long plotted.

On the other side.

Boom!

A muffled sound came.

"Yuzhibo rebound!"

The flame fan in his hand blocked in front of him, deflecting some obviously poisoned thousand-blade projectiles, and he swung the flame fan in front of his body.

A whirlwind formed, blowing away the surrounding purple mist.

"The puppeteer's poison is really annoying."

After complaining about Scorpion's move, Dong Shilang waved the Grass-Cutting Sword in his hand, a cyan-blue blade of light slashing toward the ground.

At that moment, an arm protruded from the ground—it was Pain with a head full of orange hair.

"Is… the Human Path?"

Seeing the opponent go through all-around protection, disregarding everything to grab his bare foot, it must be the Human Path.

This guy's ability seems to be able to pull the enemy's soul out of his body.

How could he possibly let the opponent get close?

"If you don't bring something big, it seems there's no way to defeat you."

Looking around at the forest devastated on a large scale, and not far away, already turned into four split hounds, Dong Shilang felt he had still underestimated the Rinnegan's ability a bit.

"Defeat us?"

The renewed Heavenly Path emerged from a strange summoning beast, and in his gaze toward Dong Shilang there was also a hint of wariness.

"We are Pain, we are gods, and today the one who will be defeated is you, Yuzhibo Dongshilang!"

As the Heavenly Path stepped out of the great mouth of King Yama, behind him, the Human Path that had just been cut in half by Dong Shilang's sword light reappeared.

"Really troublesome!"

Looking at this King Yama summoned from the Hell Path, Dong Shilang also felt a toothache.

"Lord Dong Shilang…"

A cry for help came from Zhongbing Wan.

Turning his head, he looked not far away, where Zhongbing Wan and a mountain eagle were entangled with split hounds, rhinoceroses, and other summoned beasts.

He knew these two couldn't hold on much longer.

"If that's the case…"

He set the grass‑cutting sword and flame fan he held before him, Dong Shilang clasped his hands together and began to gather.

'Hurry, don't let him activate Ninjutsu!'

In Heavenly Dao's eyes, Dong Shilang's chakra at this moment was like a calm lake, suddenly beginning to boil.

A somewhat glaring blue light made his pupils involuntarily begin to contract.

'Myriad Phenomena Heavenly Pull'

Without the slightest hesitation, Heavenly Dao directly exerted his ability this time.

To prevent his ability from being interrupted, he also controlled another Pain, placing it in front of Heavenly Dao.

'Naive!'

'Just a Myriad Phenomena Heavenly Pull, and you think you can interrupt my Ninjutsu?'

'How could this be possible.'

As Dong Shilang's chakra surged in his eyes, a crimson light appeared beside him.

Then came a skeletal frame, muscles, skin, and finally it donned a layer of orange‑red armor.

Upon appearing, this half‑body armor giant extended both arms forward, plunging one into the ground before him.

Simultaneously manifesting two more arms, wielding a long sword, it slashed a blinding sword light toward where Pain was.

'No, Asura Path can't block it!'

Asura Path can serve as a meat shield to block the grass‑cutting sword.

This red‑chakra giant's sword strike is astonishingly powerful; Asura Path simply cannot withstand it.

Clang!

A muffled sound came.

It is the Hungry Ghost Path; this guy can absorb enemies' chakra and other energy attacks.

At this moment, it appeared before the Heaven Path and Asura Path, blocking Dong Shilang's slash.

To prevent the opponent's Kusanagi Sword, Heaven Path originally let Asura Path—this Pain with a physique unlike any other—stand in front of them.

But I didn't expect the opponent could also manifest such a chakra giant and swing such a slash.

Fortunately, the Hungry Ghost Path is nearby.

"Hmm!"

Focused, Nagato was about to increase chakra input to interrupt the opponent's ninjutsu, while simultaneously controlling the Hungry Ghost Path to rush at the opponent.

Beside Dong Shilang, and in the surrounding deep forest, tiny twigs began to sprout from the frozen ground covered by heavy snow.

"Wood Release: Tree World Birth"

Having gathered a large amount of chakra, while also dividing attention to resist Heaven Path's ability, Dong Shilang finally used his own ninjutsu.

Moreover, as soon as he struck, it was the Wood Release that shook the Ninja World.

"Scatter!"

Seeing these, like a tide, the trees frantically surging toward us, Nagato in the dark directly controlled the Six Paths of Pain, began to disperse and evade.

While evading, he also didn't forget to remind that the puppet, Scorpion, had been almost destroyed.

Having just taken out a scroll inscribed with three characters, preparing to fight Dong Shilang again, Scorpion didn't expect the opponent to have such a move.

Looking at the incoming mass of tree branches, he controlled Crimson Flow Amber to begin evading.

However, he soon discovered that, compared to those fast-growing trees, his Crimson Flow Amber still needed improvement in flexibility.

"Crack crack crack!"

Along with Crimson Flow Amber's groan of being unable to bear the load.

Scorpion had no time to hesitate.

The scorpion tail protruding from behind Crimson Flow Amber wildly cut around the body.

"Boom!"

As wood chips flew around, above Crimson Flow Amber, the entrance/exit opened wide.

A figure flashed past, no time to pity his own work; a few agile leaps began to dodge the surrounding trees that seemed to have self-awareness.

But unfortunately, his action was still a step too slow.

"Slap!"

Several tree branches in succession, seemingly unwilling to let Pain escape, whipped out crackling sounds, striking toward Scorpion.

"Oh no!"

Although he could still struggle, Scorpion saw the surrounding dense vines, as if possessing life, began to autonomously attack, intercept, and block his evasion range.

He knew he couldn't last long.

"Shinra Tensei"

"Bansho Ten'in"

Just when Scorpion thought he'd likely be caught by the opponent this time.

A mighty force field brushed past his side, blasting the surrounding trees, sending wood chips flying.

After that, he involuntarily lost balance and flew toward the leader's direction.

As for the Heaven Path that did these, it also didn't feel good.

He merely paused a moment; those vines around him, as if enraged, madly surged to encircle his area.

In order to let Heaven Path and the Scorpion in his hand escape, the Pain beside him had to start trying to destroy these vines.

"Roar!"

As for the other side, those spirit beasts pressing down on Zhongbing Wan and Zuoshan Eagle, due to their size.

After merely putting up a resistance that could be called insignificant, they were entangled by these vines that could bind tailed beasts, wrapping around their bodies.

Then these spirit beasts felt chakra continuously drawn from their bodies, and even the vines wrapped around them began to frenziedly absorb their flesh and blood to grow more lush.

"We can't stay here any longer!"

Seeing the surrounding trees, as if injected with chicken blood, they became even more active.

Nagato in the dark was extremely anxious.

"Go!"

The tall Asura Path pulled open his own arm.

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh!"

Rocket shells, as if free, bombarded the surrounding trees.

Having slightly halted the momentum of these trees, Asura Path's motion did not stop.

He hoisted the long-haired Beast Path onto his shoulder.

"Boom!"

As he exerted force, the ground beneath him sank half a meter due to his sudden burst of immense strength.

And Heaven Path, taking advantage of this gap, brought Scorpion and flew toward the sky.

Rustling, mixed with the crisp sound of vines whipping.

Heaven Path and Beast Path had just escaped; the remaining four paths were already entangled by the surrounding dense trees.

And began to take root and sprout on them, absorbing their chakra and nutrients in their flesh.

"Spirit Technique"

Still flying in mid-air, as soon as he saw he had flown out of the range of Wood Release, Nagato saw the plight of the other four paths, dared not be the slightest negligent.

Manipulating the Animal Path, he formed seals and summoned the other four paths to his side.

"Wood Release... truly terrifying!"

Heaven Path slowly floated down with the scorpion, glanced at the several Pains beside him and at the summoned beasts still struggling in pain in the distance; his gaze grew increasingly grim.

In that short moment, the bodies of the Hungry Ghost Path, as well as the other Human Path, Hell Path, and Asura Path, were already filled with tree vines.

Moreover, a significant portion of his own chakra had also been absorbed by those trees just now.

Boom!

There was no time to marvel at these; under Nagato's control, the Animal Path immediately made the summoned beasts retreat, then turned its gaze toward the forest that had suddenly appeared.

"Looks like... I can only use that!"

In the dark tree hollow, Nagato understood the battlefield's changes as if they were the back of his hand.

He had already realized that relying solely on a few clones would likely be impossible to defeat Yuzhibo Dongshilang.