Boom!
Accompanying Deva Path Pain's words, a colossal giant statue, far surpassing any Tailed Beast, was summoned. Its entire body was a dull, earthy brown like withered wood, covered in divine cracked patterns, its torso resembling a heavy, rigid, tattered robe.
Ten massive tails lashed back and forth, easily sweeping away Senju Hashirama's Wood Release forest in an instant. Specifically, two of its nine closed eyes had opened; clearly, the Ichibi and Nibi had already been sealed within it.
Its body was imprisoned by countless iron chains, and it was riddled with Chakra Black Rods. The moment it appeared, it let out a roar.
'Gedo Lightning!'
Almost in an instant.
Deva Path Pain controlled the Gedo Statue, directly unleashing a sky full of lightning that blanketed a thirty-kilometer radius. Countless Wood Release creations were utterly destroyed, and even many of Senju Hashirama's Buddha statues were demolished.
'Chakra Dragon!'
Without hesitation, Deva Path Pain immediately activated a second move. A massive Chakra Dragon emerged, sweeping directly toward Senju Hashirama.
Meanwhile, on the other side.
The unprepared Senju Hashirama felt his Chakra draining frantically the moment the Chakra Dragon touched him; even his soul felt as though it were being pulled away.
"How impressive!"
"As expected of the Rinnegan, but I, Senju Hashirama, am not bad myself!"
"Watch this..."
"Sage Art: Gate of the Enlightenment!"
Senju Hashirama became very serious and clapped his hands together again.
Boom!
Ten torii gates descended directly from the sky, crashing down onto the Ten-Tails of the Gedo Statue.
Even the Gedo Statue was instantly sealed, immediately losing its ability to fight.
'Hokage-Style Sixty-Year-Old Technique - Kakuan Entering Society with Bliss-Bringing Hands!'
Senju Hashirama didn't waste words.
The moment the Gedo Statue was temporarily sealed, a giant wooden arm appeared, marked with the large character for'Sit,' and slammed down ruthlessly onto the Gedo Statue's head.
Almost in an instant.
Although the Gedo Statue was countless times more powerful than the Nine-Tailed, it was still instantly suppressed by Senju Hashirama's two great Sealing Jutsus.
It couldn't be helped!
It goes back to the previous point: no matter how strong the Gedo Statue was, or that it already contained two Tailed Beasts, Nagato himself was still too weak.
Furthermore, the Gedo Statue isn't a Tailed Beast; it is merely the shell left behind after the Ten-Tails was split. Thus, the Gedo Statue itself has no inherent abilities; no matter how strong it is, it cannot cooperate with its host like other Tailed Beasts...
How much of the Gedo Statue's power can be exerted depends almost entirely on the abilities of the host, Nagato!
But, unfortunately.
Although Nagato comes from the Uzumaki Clan and his own Chakra is stronger than an average Ninja's, he is still far inferior compared to Senju Hashirama.
Though he possesses the Rinnegan, it isn't his own power after all, and he finds it difficult to exert the Rinnegan's full potential.
And what about Senju Hashirama?
Currently, he is using a White Zetsu as an Edo Tensei vessel, combined with the Edo Tensei Jutsu newly optimized by Senju Tobirama. He was recently summoned in a perfect form, allowing this Senju Hashirama to exert nearly 100% of his full strength.
Under these circumstances...
A mere weakened Rinnegan Ninja like Nagato truly lacks the qualifications to win a one-on-one fight against Senju Hashirama!
"How can this be?"
Seeing this scene, Deva Path Pain's eyes nearly split with rage.
This was the first time he had encountered such a powerful Ninja, which for a moment left him feeling a bit flustered and troubled.
It couldn't be helped!
Fundamentally speaking, Nagato was not actually a top-tier powerhouse.
Before using the Rinnegan's powers, his talent as a Ninja wasn't even as good as Yahiko's. His true rise only began the moment Yahiko died, when Nagato completely darkened and started using the Rinnegan.
But the problem is.
The reason the darkened Nagato was strong wasn't because his Ninja skills were exceptional, but simply because he relied on the Rinnegan to crush others.
Like the Ōtsutsuki Clan that appeared in the later stages of the original work, although their innate abilities were incomprehensibly powerful, their actual combat skills were quite average. When facing enemies, they could only rely on sheer numerical power to mindlessly suppress them.
However, when facing Ninjas like Naruto and Sasuke who had some skill, they could still be overturned by Naruto and Sasuke's superior combat abilities.
The current Nagato is the same!
In the past, when facing ordinary Ninjas, he could naturally rely on the Rinnegan to crush them all the way.
Now, it's different!
Facing a powerhouse of the same level like Senju Hashirama, this so-called'strong man' instantly showed his true colors.
Whether it was his keen insight during battle or the connection between his moves, everything was subpar. So, even with the Rinnegan's power, he was suppressed throughout the entire engagement with Senju Hashirama, failing to showcase the Rinnegan's true greatness at all.
It couldn't be helped!
Aside from his fixed set of moves, he was inferior to an ordinary Jonin in other aspects!
"Damn it, I..."
Deva Path Pain's face looked grim.
But before he could continue speaking, the entire puppet suddenly collapsed to the ground as if its strings had been cut.
Seeing this, Senju Hashirama's face was filled with confusion.
"What happened?"
"He was fine just now, why did he suddenly fall?"
Rubbing his forehead, Senju Hashirama's mind went blank.
But in the next second.
Boom!
A loud explosion suddenly rang out from a mountain hollow not far away.
Upon seeing this, Senju Hashirama and the others immediately rushed toward that direction.
...
Meanwhile, on the other side.
At Nagato's hiding place, Uchiha Jin appeared boldly.
Although he wasn't a specialized sensory Ninja, the point was that he was the Hokage of Konoha, and he possessed an innumerable number of subordinates.
Clearly.
While Senju Hashirama and Nagato were fighting, he had already dispatched the Konoha Ninjas. Now that Senju Hashirama and Nagato had been fighting for so long, Uchiha Jin had naturally long since found Nagato's hiding spot.
This was only normal!
After all, Uchiha Jin, having seen the original work, knew very well that although Nagato could control the Six Paths of Pain from a distance, that distance couldn't be too great. Therefore, he was certain Nagato must be hidden not far from the combat zone.
In addition, Nagato was unable to walk and could only stay in a wheelchair year-round. Now, in order to fight Senju Hashirama, he had even given up controlling the other five Pains.
Especially now, the battle with Senju Hashirama would undoubtedly make the already frail Nagato even weaker.
Under these circumstances, even with Konan by his side, it would be difficult for Nagato to hide himself again.
And indeed, that was the case.
Through Konoha's countless Ninjas, Uchiha Jin directly found Nagato's hiding place and even cornered Nagato and Konan on the spot.