Sora followed Danzo's order and joined the battle.
Hanzo of the Salamander, seeing Sora about to take action, retreated to Danzo's side, intending to observe the fight from a safe distance.
Sora assessed both Nagato and the massive Gedo Statue before forming hand seals.
"Earth Style: Heavenly Covering!"
As Sora completed the seals, a massive rock cover descended from a dimensional rift above, crashing directly onto the Gedo Statue.
The Statue's giant hand smashed upward, shattering the rock covering into pieces.
Nagato directed the Chakra Dragon toward Sora, attempting to drain his chakra as it had done to the others.
Sora dodged swiftly, his hands rapidly forming new seals.
"Earth Style: Celestial Clay!"
A torrent of clay fell from the dimensional hole above, adhering to the Gedo Statue's massive form.
"Fire Style: Flame Deluge!"
Sora gathered chakra in his throat and spat out a sea of flames toward the Gedo Statue, the fire expanding to an immense width.
"Shinra Tensei!" Nagato shouted, raising his hands.
The almighty push deflected the flames that were heading toward himself, Yahiko, and Konan.
However, the Gedo Statue, now covered in clay, was baked by the intense flames. The clay hardened into mud, cracking across the Statue's surface until it began to crumble.
Hanzo and Danzo watched the Gedo Statue intently, wondering if it was still under Nagato's control.
The Statue let out a deafening roar before clasping its hands together and slamming them toward Sora.
Sora immediately used Body Flicker Technique to evade the attack.
The Gedo Statue's hands struck the ground with tremendous force. The earth shattered, creating a massive crater. The resulting shockwave sent Konan and Yahiko's body flying.
Nagato had no time to worry about them now. In fact, it might be better for them to be away from this battlefield.
Under the cover of the dust cloud, Sora secretly formed the seals for a Summoning Technique.
When the smoke cleared, Sora appeared a short distance from Nagato, his body parallel to the ground with his feet braced against the rock wall.
"Fire Style: Dragon's Flame Song Technique!"
Sora exhaled four fire dragons that attacked Nagato simultaneously from different directions.
Nagato spread his hands wide.
"Sealing Technique: Absorption Seal!"
Using the seal absorption ability of the Rinnegan, Nagato created a protective shield that absorbed all four of Sora's fire dragons.
Sora arched his body slightly.
"Thunder Breath: First Form: Lightning Flash!"
Thunder and lightning erupted from Sora's body as he transformed into pure lightning, rushing toward Nagato with blinding speed.
Nagato's Rinnegan locked onto Sora's movement. The legendary dojutsu could track Sora's movements, and as a member of the Uzumaki clan, Nagato possessed exceptional sensory abilities. Even if he couldn't see clearly, he could sense Sora's position.
"Shinra Tensei!"
Just as Sora was about to slash Nagato with his sword, a powerful repulsive force struck him, sending Sora flying backward.
Sora slid across the ground for a considerable distance before coming to a stop.
Nagato was panting heavily. Controlling the Gedo Statue for the first time was proving extremely difficult.
Combined with Sora's relentless attacks, Nagato was struggling to hold on.
Sora turned his head to look in Konan's direction, and his pupils contracted in surprise.
Yahiko's body was missing, no longer beside Konan.
Konan was frantically searching for Yahiko's body, but with Rain shinobi and Root ninja attacking, she was forced to defend herself instead of continuing her search.
Nagato frowned, looking at Sora who was preparing to attack again.
If this battle dragged on any longer, both he and Konan would perish here.
He couldn't die yet. Yahiko had told him to survive with Konan no matter what. Yahiko's ideals still needed him to fulfill them.
Nagato gave the Gedo Statue one final command before breaking the black chakra rods connecting him to it.
With great effort, Nagato severed the chakra connection.
The Gedo Statue spat out two more chakra dragons, targeting Sora, while Nagato rushed to Konan's side despite the excruciating pain in his legs and his weakened state.
"Shinra Tensei!"
Nagato repelled the Rain shinobi and Root ninja attacking Konan. He coughed twice, blood speckling his lips.
"Konan, we need to escape," he gasped.
Konan cast one last desperate look around for Yahiko's body but saw nothing. With no choice left, she helped Nagato flee from the battlefield.
Sora evaded the chakra dragons and attempted to pursue them, but the Gedo Statue blocked his path.
Nagato and Konan managed to escape, and the Gedo Statue disappeared in a cloud of smoke.
Sora let out a relieved sigh.
To be honest, if Nagato and Konan hadn't escaped, Danzo would have ordered him to kill them while he watched. Sora had been holding back from the beginning.
In Sora's view, Nagato's death now would create significant complications.
The system had indicated that certain major events were inevitable. If Nagato died, someone else would take his place and fulfill his future role.
Rather than dealing with an unknown replacement, it was better to let Nagato live. With Nagato, Sora could plan based on his knowledge of the future.
And now, Yahiko was in Sora's possession.
When the shockwave had blown Yahiko and Konan away, Sora had used the Summoning Technique to call forth a White Snake, which swallowed Yahiko's body and returned to Ryūchi Cave.
Sora knew he would eventually leave Konoha, and he needed potential companions for the future.
While Sora wasn't familiar with Yahiko's abilities, he understood that Yahiko was extremely important to Nagato.
Perhaps through Yahiko, Sora could establish some form of cooperation with Nagato.
The prerequisite, of course, was that Yahiko was actually still alive.
And Yahiko would need to stay out of Nagato's way—otherwise, Sora would have to eliminate him.
Sora returned to Danzo's side.
"I apologize, Lord Danzo. I couldn't kill him," he said with his head bowed.
Danzo waved his hand dismissively. "This is not your failure."
The Gedo Statue had left a strong impression on Danzo, and Nagato's Rinnegan concerned him greatly. At the same time, this was Danzo's first opportunity to see Sora in combat.
In Danzo's estimation, Sora had performed admirably. If not for their lack of information about Nagato's abilities, Sora might have captured him.
Danzo turned to Hanzo of the Salamander. "Who is that red-haired boy?"
"I don't know much about him," Hanzo replied. "His power was... unexpected."
"The Akatsuki organization has been dealt with," Danzo said gravely. "My part of our agreement is complete."
Hanzo nodded. "I understand, and you will have my full support going forward."
Danzo looked at the surviving Root ninja and ordered, "Clean up here immediately, then gather and follow me back to Konoha!"
The remaining Root ninja began to clear the battlefield, retrieving the bodies of their fallen comrades.
Sensor-type ninja could probe memories from corpses, and these dead Root operatives carried many secrets. They couldn't risk leaving the bodies behind.
After the cleanup was complete, Danzo left the Hidden Rain Village with his forces and made haste back to Konoha.
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