Chapter 413: The Power of the Rinnegan

Hanzo stood on top of the salamander Ibuse, taking out his chain sickle from a scroll.

The sickle was the most convenient weapon for Hanzo to use; with the chain added, it became even more flexible, greatly increasing its attack range.

He had once defeated Mifune, the famous genius samurai of the Land of Iron, with a single Iaido slash while wielding the chain sickle.

But Hanzo was now not prepared to engage Muyue in close combat or compete in swordsmanship, because he feared he would lose.

From the start of the battle until now, Hanzo had lost to Muyue in every aspect; he had already lost the confidence to kill Muyue alone.

Hanzo planned to use the length of the chain to spar with Muyue.

His sickle was also coated with a deadly poison; even a scratch would allow the toxin to quickly spread throughout the body.

Hanzo's current tactic was simple: he would hold Muyue back, while a hundred elite Rain ninjas frantically attacked the Ninja Sect ninjas, forcing Muyue to show an opening.

This was the last method Hanzo could think of to kill Muyue.

If Hanzo were given a chance to start over, he would choose to bring all the ninjas of the Hidden Rain Village.

As long as one was not as strong as the God of Shinobi, Hashirama Senju, they could be overwhelmed by a human wave tactic.

His Water Release alone could not block Muyue's Fire Release, but if hundreds of ninjas used Water Release together, then Muyue would surely be the one to be routed.

Moreover, no matter how strong a jutsu was, chakra and stamina were limited; the more powerful the jutsu, the more chakra it consumed. Hanzo believed that even Muyue definitely could not casually unleash Fire Dragon Rampage.

"I underestimated your personal strength. If I had summoned my summoning beast from the start, perhaps the course of battle would have been different. You won't get another chance from now on," Hanzo said in a deep voice.

Next, he would truly devote himself completely to this battle, doing his utmost to hold Muyue back, waiting for the moment Muyue showed an opening to kill him.

"If you could tell your subordinates to stop, your words would be more imposing." Muyue unhurriedly took out a gas mask from a scroll and put it on.

Of course, Muyue had not come to fight Hanzo without preparation; he had prepared quite a few gas masks.

Hanzo's expression turned somewhat ugly. Muyue had come to meet him and yet was still carrying a gas mask at all times; even if he didn't attack, Muyue might take the opportunity to strike.

"Spit poison!" Hanzo commanded the salamander to spew poison mist.

The salamander immediately opened its large mouth, and highly toxic purple mist sprayed out, surging toward Muyue.

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!!

Hanzo himself was not idle either; he instantly fired three kunai with explosive tags attached toward Muyue.

Muyue, unlike him, did not have immunity to the salamander's toxin; as long as the gas mask was destroyed, Muyue would soon be poisoned and paralyzed.

But Muyue, having activated the Transparent World, immediately detected Hanzo's movements and swiftly threw shuriken to intercept.

As for the poison mist, Muyue had no good way to deal with it, but wearing the gas mask, he didn't have to worry about it for now.

It could only be said that a good summoning beast could indeed effectively enhance a ninja's strength.

Although Muyue also had a summoning beast, it was safer to use Kurohane as a means of transport given its strength.

Next, Hanzo took the principle of caution to the extreme; as soon as there was any sign of attack from Muyue, he would instantly use the Water Body Flicker Technique to flee, and when idle, he would use poison gas and ninja tools for attrition.

But Muyue really couldn't afford to ignore Hanzo, otherwise Hanzo would dare to charge directly into the Ninja Sect ninjas with his sickle and massacre them.

Under Hanzo's deliberate maneuvering, the battle between Muyue and Hanzo turned into a game of cat and mouse.

Although Muyue still held a considerable advantage, he was somewhat restrained because of the salamander's poison mist, and the pace of the battle began to slow down.

Hanzo had never fought such a miserable battle in his life, but at this moment he had no choice, because in a direct fight he really couldn't win.

Because of Hanzo's orders, the battle on Nagato's side became extremely fierce.

All the Rain ninjas attacked with all their might, constantly bombarding Nagato and the others with ninja tools and jutsu.

Eight against a hundred; on average, each person on Nagato's side had to face about twelve opponents.

The key point was that these Rain ninjas were not weak; they were all elites from the Hidden Rain Village.

Strictly speaking, aside from Kakuzu, Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan, the remaining Ninja Sect ninjas might not even be able to defeat these Rain ninjas in one-on-one fights.

Kakuzu killed one charging Rain ninja with a tentacle fist, but was soon attacked by other Rain ninjas; due to the large numbers, even Kakuzu inevitably got injured.

However, Kakuzu had the Earth Grudge Fear, allowing him to quickly seize hearts to restore his strength; although he couldn't return directly to his prime, he could recover most of it, and he alone held back half of the ninjas.

But the remaining half of the ninjas also put great pressure on Nagato and the others; the weaker ones, Kuroda and Ikeda, soon sustained injuries.

"Water Release: Water Rampage!"

Seeing Kuroda trapped beside him, Yahiko immediately used ninjutsu to help him break free, and rushed forward to kick away the Rain Ninja trying to ambush Kuroda.

Every Ninshu ninja was fighting with all their might. Kakuzu and Yahiko struggled to withstand the pressure, while Nagato kept forming hand seals, unleashing one ninjutsu after another from his palms and mouth, serving as the main damage dealer in the team.

Konan used her Paper Secret Technique to relieve pressure for Yahiko and the others, while the rest supported Nagato and kept watch for ambushing Rain Ninja.

Driven by life-or-death crisis, the group's cohesion skyrocketed. Everyone played their part and did not interfere with each other.

"How terrifying. Naivety is contagious." Kakuzu glanced at the Ninshu ninjas out of the corner of his eye and sighed.

It was hard for Kakuzu to imagine that the Ninshu ninjas now fighting side by side had only known each other for a few months.

Facing such an almost certain death battle, even the weakest Ninshu ninja did not flee, retreat, or betray their comrades.

Kakuzu had thought the cautious Chichang would also run, but Chichang fought especially hard.

Of course, they were just trying. In Kakuzu's view, without Chichang, the battle might have been easier. Yahiko and Nagato couldn't unleash their full strength because they had to protect their Ninshu comrades.

If Kakuzu hadn't recovered most of his strength and held back half the enemy ninjas, the team would have already suffered casualties.

"If the village had been like this back then, then the result would be…" Kakuzu kicked away a nearby Rain Ninja and actively cut off his own train of thought.

Because he knew that group of profit-driven high-ranking officials would never be like this.

If the high-ranking officials of Takigakure were here, they would definitely choose to abandon the weaker ninjas directly and wouldn't bother to protect them.

Despite their synergy, the enemies were too many and too strong. Nagato and the others inevitably fell into a disadvantage, and the gap was widening rapidly.

Nagato was extremely anxious, but he had no way to turn the tide. Though he knew many ninjutsu, none had the power of Muyue's Fire Dragon Wild Dance.

Noticing the situation on Nagato's side, Muyue deliberately pulled his own battlefield with Hanzō closer to Nagato.

The battle-hardened Hanzō quickly caught Muyue's intention. He stayed expressionless, pretending not to notice, and allowed Muyue to approach the valley.

This was exactly the opportunity he had been waiting for.

Yahiko was already not as strong as Kakuzu, and without Earth Grudge, the immense pressure made it difficult for him to hold on.

Nagato, worried, rushed forward to relieve Yahiko's pressure, but doing so prevented him from using ninjutsu at high frequency to suppress the enemy. Soon Nagato himself was surrounded by Rain Ninja.

"Wind Release: Wind Blade!"

Muyue suddenly stopped tangling with Hanzō, flashed beside the Rain Ninja, and flung two sharp wind blades, instantly killing the Rain Ninja surrounding Nagato and Yahiko.

The Rain Ninja knew Muyue was the greatest threat in this battle, so many of them immediately attacked him.

But Muyue was agile, and none of the Rain Ninja attacks connected.

"Finally, I've been waiting for this moment." A flicker of delight flashed in Hanzō's eyes as he gathered chakra and shot a water line at Muyue.

"Master, be careful!" Nagato was about to thank Muyue when he noticed Hanzō's attack and quickly shouted a warning.

But Hanzō's timing was perfect. By the time Nagato warned him, the attack was already near Muyue. Muyue dodged as best he could, but only avoided a fatal hit. Blood splattered as the water line pierced Muyue's abdomen, leaving a bloody hole.

Muyue was now not far from Nagato. With his sharp eyesight, Nagato could clearly see the splattering blood and the gushing hole in Muyue's abdomen.

It was just the blood flowing from one person, yet in Nagato's eyes, the entire world was stained red, as if the whole world had been cursed.

"What a pity. If Sōsuke hadn't brought people, Hanzō wouldn't have had a way." Kitsuchi showed a regretful expression.

Personally, Kitsuchi admired the loyal and righteous Muyue more than the unscrupulous Hanzō.

Hanzō's sneak attack this time erased all of Muyue's previous advantages and established a huge advantage for himself.

A wound of this degree would affect Muyue's combat ability, and Hanzō's poison gas could also enter Muyue's body directly through the wound.

Although he admired Muyue, Kitsuchi would not offer help, after all, Muyue's Ninshu were also suspected of killing Iwa ninja.

Shimura Danzō had a smile on his face. The situation was heading in the direction he most desired.

Although Muyue was injured, he still had combat power. Even if Hanzō defeated him, he could still consume most of Hanzō's strength.

Then, he would have his subordinates step forward disguised as Rain Ninja to help, with the reward being just a pair of Rinnegan.

"Uncle Sōsuke!" Beside him, Yahiko, seeing Muyue injured, anxiously pulled bandages from his ninja tool pouch.

But before Yahiko could hand the bandages to Muyue, the Rain Ninja and Hanzō attacked again.

Watching the injured Mugetsu and Yahiko, who was once again in danger, Nagato felt a sense of despair in his heart.

He realized that the peace he had been pursuing might be wrong—people could never understand each other.

Even though their ninja sect had never done anything against the Village Hidden in the Rain, Hanzō had still deceived them into the valley, intending to wipe them out.

Mugetsu-sensei possessed strength greater than Hanzō's, yet because he had to protect them, he was wounded by the despicable and cunning Hanzō.

An organization doing the right thing falls into crisis through deception, and a noble and upright person is harmed by the schemes of a vile and treacherous one—is this world truly normal?

"Does everyone really have to experience the same pain themselves before they can understand each other?" Nagato clenched his fists, his thoughts turning extreme under the influence of his negative emotions.

"I can't do anything. I haven't managed anything." Looking back on his life, Nagato saw his entire existence as a failure written in bold.

If he could use the Rinnegan, perhaps he could have prevented the Leaf ninja from killing his parents, instead of going berserk afterwards and killing them.

Killing the Leaf ninja brought Nagato no sense of vengeful satisfaction, because no matter how much he avenged them, his parents would never return.

If he could master his own power, he wouldn't have lost control of the Rinnegan and killed so many enemies.

There were people he didn't want to kill. The Akatsuki was dedicated to achieving peace through non-violent means; killing was the last resort, an extreme measure.

Not only could he not properly use his own strength, but even everyday small tasks he failed at—his speeches lacked the passion Yahiko had, his cooking tasted bad, and when he thought about it, he couldn't even express his emotions well.

"Even so, I still want to protect Yahiko, to protect Mugetsu-sensei..."

Nagato clenched his fists tighter and tighter, not loosening them even as his nails dug into his flesh.

The immense chakra inside Nagato began to riot in response to his emotions, and a terrifying aura rose from him.

Kakuzu turned back and was astonished to see Nagato; he had no idea there was another strong person in the ninja sect besides Mugun.

The sharp Hanzō also sensed something was wrong and immediately stopped his attack, using the Water Body Flicker Technique.

"Shinra Tensei!"

Nagato's Rinnegan trembled violently, unleashing a powerful repulsive force that sent all the ninjutsu and ninja tools aimed at them flying away.

Boom! Boom!

Some ninjas who were close were directly embedded into the surrounding rock walls by that powerful repulsion.

"I didn't expect there to be a ninja of this caliber in the ninja sect besides Sōsuke." Hanzō, having evaded the attack, frowned deeply. The strength the ninja sect had shown far exceeded his expectations.

"Banshō Ten'in!"

Nagato reached his hand toward the nearby Rain ninja, who instantly realized in terror that their bodies were being pulled forward uncontrollably at high speed.

"Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!"

Mugetsu seized the opportunity and spat out a volley of fireballs, annihilating all the ninjas being pulled in.

This sudden turn of events shocked all the ninjas present.

"So this is the power of the Rinnegan?" Shimura Danzō's eyes flashed with greed, but he did not take action.

Although he greatly desired the Rinnegan, Shimura Danzō had not lost his reason; the current situation clearly seemed to be slipping out of Hanzō's control.

"I overestimated Hanzō's strength." Thinking of the cost he had paid in this operation, Shimura Danzō's face turned grim.

To incite conflict, he had lost some Root elites, all of whom he had trained with vast amounts of money and resources—losing even one displeased him.

If the objective had been achieved, Shimura Danzō could have accepted it, but the battlefield situation was heading in the direction he least wanted to see.

"There's another expert." Huang Tu was shocked by the strength displayed by the ninja sect.

Hanzō had led a hundred elite Rain ninja, set up traps in advance, and had the terrain advantage—such thorough preparations still failed to take down the nine ninjas of the sect.

At that moment, Nagato's mind was in chaos; his body acted purely on instinct. He didn't know what he was doing; there was only one voice in his mind: protect his comrades and inflict pain upon the enemy.

Nagato flickered and appeared before a Rain ninja, his hand grabbing toward the opponent's abdomen, directly pulling out his soul, instantly taking down another.

Although Nagato's displayed strength was not as great as Mugetsu's, his eerie methods made the Rain ninja feel deeply uneasy.

"Super Water Dragon Bullet Technique!"

Since the salamander was still gathering poisonous mist, Hanzō did not dare to approach and instead used Water Style from above to strike at Nagato.

But Mugetsu was only injured, not incapacitated. Re-entering the Flame Breathing Chakra Mode, Mugetsu once again made everyone present realize who the true strongest on this battlefield was.

"Fire Release: Wild Fire Dragon Dance!"

A massive amount of blazing flames was spat out by Mu Yue. Mu Yue rapidly expelled the flames, forming a small sea of fire that then split into fire dragons.

Because the flames were so hot, the damp valley became dry, and the accumulated water on the ground vanished without a trace under the scorching heat.

The incomparably dazzling fiery dragon swallowed Hanzo's thick water dragon, once again making everyone understand that if the flames are strong enough, there is no fear of water.

In the valley, no Rain Shinobi dared to attack Mu Yue and his team anymore; they all retreated rapidly, afraid of being caught in the terrifying flames.

After all, these were terrifying flames that even the Demi-God Hanzo could not block.

Only Mu Yue's shadow clone used Water Release to launch attacks, standing out conspicuously on the battlefield where all Rain Shinobi were routed.

If this were Hanzo from ten years ago, he might have praised Mu Yue as the strongest Fire Release user and actively spread his fame.

But now, Hanzo only wanted to know how to kill Mu Yue.

The strength the Ninja Sect had displayed was too great; besides the top-tier powerhouse Mu Yue, there was also a remarkable ninja like Nagato.

Such a Ninja Sect was already enough to threaten the Rain Village's position in the Rain Country.

Hanzo racked his brain but found that he had already lost the chance to kill Mu Yue.

It was as if Mu Yue knew the intel on his salamander; when Mu Yue was injured, the cooldown time of the salamander's poisonous mist was still over four minutes.

Nagato's outburst cleared a batch of Rain Shinobi, Mu Yue killed some more, and combined with the Rain Shinobi Kakuzu had killed earlier, there were only about twenty Rain Shinobi left on the field capable of fighting.

Seeing Mu Yue's terrifying strength, the heavy casualties among his subordinates, and Nagato's bizarre methods, Hanzo could not help but feel the urge to retreat.

Based on this battle experience, although he could not defeat Mu Yue, due to ninjutsu compatibility and his summoning beast's deadly poison, it was not easy for Mu Yue to defeat him either.

Back at Rain Village, there were more Rain Shinobi who could fight for him, and although the Ninja Sect had strong members, it had very few ninjas and could absolutely not face the entire Rain Village in a direct battle.

"For the sake of the Rain Country and Rain Village, I cannot die." As if trying to convince himself, Hanzo muttered softly.

With that thought, Hanzo no longer hesitated and decided to abandon his plan to eliminate the Ninja Sect—he would retreat.

"Cancel the plan. Retreat!"

Hanzo cast one last look at the incredibly dazzling fire dragon. As the strongest Water Release user, failing because of Fire Release was a defeat he would never forget for the rest of his life.

Finally, Hanzo turned into a puddle of water and vanished from the spot.

The Rain Shinobi, receiving Hanzo's order, also retreated quickly, as if granted amnesty.

After today, no matter how much the Rain Shinobi respected Hanzo, they had to admit that the strongest position in the Rain Country had changed hands—Ninja Master Sousuke was now the strongest ninja in the Rain Country.

The power of Sousuke and Hanzo was indeed different, but not because Hanzo was stronger than Sousuke; rather, Sousuke was stronger than Hanzo.

Shimura Danzo stared at the dazzling fire dragon, his heart full of wariness.

At that moment, Danzo's evaluation of Hanzo plummeted. He never expected that Hanzo had achieved nothing at all—the Ninja Sect hadn't even lost a single person.

This made Danzo very frustrated: Mu Yue was only injured, the Rinnegan ninja was at full strength, and his Root elites had died for nothing, achieving no effect.

"You stay and wait for an opportunity." Leaving those words, Shimura Danzo left without hesitation.

The Rinnegan was powerful, but Danzo valued his own life more; if he participated in the battle personally, it could be dangerous.

Danzo was not afraid of death, but he believed that his death would be a great loss to Konoha, and for the sake of the village, he could not die.

"Hiruzen is too indecisive—Konoha cannot do without me," Danzo thought to himself.

Although he had not achieved any tangible results, Danzo still felt that his actions here were meaningful.

Without this operation, he would not have known the strength of the Ninja Sect, that the Ninja Sect had the Rinnegan, or that the Ninja Sect leader's Fire Release was the strongest in the ninja world.

A failed operation could not discourage Shimura Danzo; if this time didn't work, he would think of another way next time.

"The Rain Country is about to change."

Kitsuchi took one last admiring look at the dazzling fire dragon, then left with his subordinates. He needed to bring this intelligence back to Iwagakure. Even without counting the other ninjas of the Ninja Sect, the three of them—Mu Yue, Kakuzu, and Nagato—combined already formed a considerable force.

Although Hanzo's reason for attacking the Ninja Sect was to give Iwagakure an explanation, there were still some doubts about this incident, so Kitsuchi would not act rashly.

Moreover, given the strength Mu Yue and the others had displayed, the forces Kitsuchi had brought were insufficient.

If they truly had to deal with Mu Yue, Kitsuchi felt that either his father should act personally or a jinchūriki should be sent, otherwise it would be really difficult.

"Teacher, are you okay?" After waking up, Nagato, ignoring his own weakness, quickly asked about Muyue's condition.

"Just a minor injury." Muyue replied with a warm smile.

If Muyue had wanted to, he could have avoided getting hurt; sometimes getting hurt is actually better.