To stop both Sage Art: Inorganic Reincarnation and the Wood Dragon Technique, the Deva Path unleashed Shinra Tensei once again.
Hayashi knew the technique's greatest weakness.
Shinra Tensei required a five second cooldown before it could be used again.
Five seconds.
That was more than enough.
Hayashi stepped forward with his left foot.
Boom!
The stone floor shattered beneath him, and cracks spread outward like a giant spiderweb.
In the next instant, he appeared behind the Asura Path.
Leaping into the air, he drew back his right fist and drove it toward the back of Roshi's head.
At the critical moment, the Asura Path did not even turn around.
Instead, two cannon barrels emerged from its back and fired directly behind it.
Hayashi had never believed the Six Paths of Pain could react that quickly.
The fastest reaction speed in the shinobi world belonged to him and Minato, followed closely by the Fourth Raikage.
That extraordinary neural response was what allowed the first two to be recognized as the fastest shinobi alive.
Nagato did not possess such speed.
More importantly, the Six Paths of Pain were merely corpses controlled remotely.
Even the best communication network had latency.
Nagato controlled each body through black chakra receivers, and no matter how efficient the connection, there would always be a delay.
The only explanation was that before the Preta Path had been destroyed, Nagato had already predicted Hayashi's next move.
Sometimes true combat instinct was simply that frightening.
The cannons fired.
They missed.
Hayashi planted one hand against the stone floor, twisted his body in a smooth arc, and narrowly avoided the missiles.
At the same time, the Flying Thunder God kunai in his hand shot forward.
It pierced through Roshi's eye socket and exited the back of his skull.
Unfortunately, Roshi was already a corpse.
Such damage had no effect on his movements.
At point blank range, Roshi's left arm transformed into a massive axe and swept toward Hayashi's waist.
Without touching the ground, Hayashi activated the Flying Thunder God Technique.
He instantly appeared beside the kunai embedded in Roshi's head.
The axe missed completely.
Its tremendous force smashed into the marble floor, splitting an entire section apart.
Roshi immediately attempted another swing.
Before he could complete the attack, Hayashi sprang upward.
Natural energy gathered in his outstretched palm.
An invisible impact burst forward and shattered the mechanical axe into pieces.
Without hesitation, Hayashi grabbed both sides of Roshi's head.
Molten lava erupted from Roshi's body.
Hayashi calmly coated his arms with Tailed Beast Chakra, completely isolating himself from the searing heat.
With overwhelming force, he slammed Roshi into the wall.
The impact crushed the back of Roshi's head into the stone, leaving behind a massive crater.
Hayashi allowed him no opportunity to recover.
A Chidori Sharp Spear formed in his left hand and pierced straight through Roshi's waist.
At the same time, a Rasengan materialized in his right hand.
He slammed it into Roshi's head and dragged it across the wall, carving a long, gruesome trail through the stone.
When Hayashi finally released him, Roshi's mangled body collapsed into the rubble.
The Asura Path had completely lost the ability to move.
To ensure there would be no resurrection, Hayashi created another Big Ball Rasengan and drove it directly into Roshi's body.
The corpse exploded into countless fragments.
Nothing remained that could be restored.
Within only a few seconds, Hayashi had eliminated two more Paths of Pain.
Nagato's expression darkened.
Rather than using Shinra Tensei to push Hayashi away again, he instead used its repulsive force to propel the Deva Path high into the air.
Hayashi looked up at the floating figure.
A faint smile appeared on his face.
To anyone unfamiliar with him, it looked warm and approachable.
To Nagato, it sent a chill down his spine.
"This..."
"So this is the Fourth Hokage."
Hayashi's reputation had not been built on words.
He had earned it through countless battles across two Great Ninja Wars.
Nagato's thoughts drifted back to the battlefield in the Land of Rain.
Back then, Hayashi had faced nearly two thousand Sunagakure shinobi alone.
The Akatsuki had intended to assist, so they had witnessed the entire battle from afar.
Their organization had only ever carried out small scale operations.
It was their first time seeing a battlefield involving thousands of ninja.
It was also the first time they had seen corpses piled into massive heaps.
Several members with weaker resolve had vomited on the spot.
Nagato still remembered the single thought that had crossed his mind that day.
Never make an enemy of someone like this.
Now that nightmare stood directly before him.
Hayashi paid no attention to Nagato's thoughts.
His gaze swept across the conference hall.
Only three Paths of Pain remained.
The Deva Path, Yahiko.
The Animal Path, Hanzō.
The Naraka Path, the Fourth Mizukage.
The latter two were fully occupied holding back their opponents and had no opportunity to support the Deva Path.
Hayashi immediately understood Ōnoki's intentions.
Could the Third Tsuchikage truly not suppress Hanzō?
Of course he could.
He was simply holding back.
After witnessing how thoroughly the Fourth Raikage had been defeated, Ōnoki had no desire to risk himself unnecessarily.
At the same time, allowing Hayashi and Pain to fight benefited him either way.
Pain could reveal Hayashi's true strength.
Hayashi could expose Pain's abilities.
Whoever died, Iwagakure would profit.
As for the alliance among the Five Great Nations, Ōnoki had never truly believed in it.
The great villages had never trusted one another.
Still, even he had not expected the Six Paths of Pain to be reduced to a single combat capable body so quickly.
While Ōnoki continued exchanging attacks with Hanzō without revealing his full strength, Nagato reached a decision.
Retreat.
His true objective at the Five Kage Summit had always been the Eight Tails.
With Fugaku already pursuing the Eight Tails' jinchūriki, Nagato had fulfilled his role by drawing away the strongest opponents.
As for the destroyed Paths of Pain...
He felt almost nothing.
As long as Yahiko's body remained intact, the others could easily be replaced with new corpses.
His resolve hardened.
Nagato brought his hands together.
A tremendous surge of chakra erupted from the Deva Path.
Soon, a tiny black sphere formed between its palms.
A dim black light flickered at its center before condensing into a perfect orb.
"Chibaku Tensei."
The Deva Path released the sphere.
It shot upward toward the ceiling of the conference hall.
An overwhelming gravitational force instantly spread throughout the fortress.
Crack.
Hairline fractures appeared across the marble floor before rapidly spreading in every direction.
Broken stones and shattered debris slowly began to rise into the air.
Everyone present felt an invisible force seize their bodies, dragging them toward the sky.
The ground continued to break apart.
Massive boulders tore free from the earth and floated upward, rushing toward the growing sphere above.
"What is happening?!"
"Why is this happening?!"
The samurai who had remained on the sidelines throughout the battle finally panicked.
Only moments earlier, they had been watching the battle from a safe distance.
Now they had become part of it.
The phenomenon extended far beyond the conference chamber.
Throughout the entire fortress, rocks, walls, and debris were being ripped from the ground.
Even Ōnoki, Rasa, and the others, who were still engaged in battle elsewhere, looked on in shock as the terrifying gravity engulfed everything.
=≠=
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