"Hmm?"
Habara sat atop his hawk, circling amongst the clouds above the Land of Rain. In his sensory mode, he could easily feel the abundant chakra filling the rain below.
Because of this chakra interference, Habara couldn't sense the situation on the ground. He could only vaguely make out several chakra signatures that seemed to be moving.
"Is it the Rain Tiger at Will Technique?"
This technique of infusing chakra into the rain to perform wide-area surveillance... other than the Rain Tiger at Will Technique, there didn't seem to be any other explanation.
What was Nagato up to? Habara silently estimated Nagato's current strength and decided to go down and take a look. Considering Nagato's power at this time, because Jiraiya was still traveling the ninja world, the Six Paths of Pain were not yet complete. Aside from being somewhat wary of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path's "chakra dragon," Habara wasn't particularly concerned about Tendō's other jutsu.
Conversely, if the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path did appear before Habara... it was important to remember that the Demonic Statue was merely an empty shell that had lost its power. It wasn't some indestructible object.
Even if, by some chance, the difference in strength between them was too great, Habara could always escape. Nagato couldn't chase him, after all. The chakra reception range of the Six Paths of Pain was very limited, and Tendo could only operate near Nagato.
After weighing the pros and cons, Habara made his decision. He reached out and patted the hawk's head, and with a cry, the gray hawk spread its wings and dove downwards.
Just as the hawk was about to plunge into the dense forest, Habara leaped from its back. The gray hawk then pulled up, soaring back into the sky.
Under the drizzle, the dense forest was permeated with Nagato's chakra, which made Habara feel somewhat uncomfortable. His sensory abilities were significantly hindered.
With no other choice, Habara took a deep breath and increased the "output" of his sensory perception. He then discovered that two people seemed to be fighting in the distance.
He was about to rush over there when he suddenly stopped... because something was slowly moving towards him.
Habara flicked his wrist, and a mercury longsword materialized in his hand. He quickly retreated, slashing the sword at a large tree. The tree, so thick it would take two people to encircle it, snapped in half. Its upper section slowly tilted and then crashed heavily to the ground, splattering mud and water everywhere.
An aloe-like head emerged from the severed trunk.
Although Black Zetsu and White Zetsu's main bodies weren't using chakra camouflage at this moment, they shouldn't have been so easily discovered... This meant that the person who attacked was a very strong sensory ninja.
His attack power was also extraordinary. To be able to cleave such a large tree with a purely physical sword strike meant this person was on the level of a berserker.
And when Black Zetsu saw Habara's forehead protector, he was clearly taken aback.
"A Konoha ninja... I think I know who you are," Black Zetsu said.
Then, the White Zetsu half of his face added, "But for some reason, his chakra signature seems different from before."
Hearing this, Habara realized that this wasn't his first encounter with Black Zetsu. Back during the Nine-Tails Incident, he had crossed paths with him.
So the question was, White Zetsu was essentially unkillable, since the concept of a "main body" was irrelevant to him. Other White Zetsus were more or less the same. But what about Black Zetsu? Could he be killed?
As Habara was pondering this, new enemies appeared. He raised his head and saw a figure slowly descending from the sky.
Black cloak, red cloud patterns, long purple hair – it was the Akatsuki's "Angel," Konan.
Konan's attack power was also very formidable, but only if she had time to prepare the battlefield. In a surprise encounter, her threat level would be drastically reduced.
"Be careful. This Konoha ninja is no ordinary person," Black Zetsu warned Konan.
A ninja fast enough to prevent Obito from phasing, nearly kicking him to death, couldn't possibly be ordinary.
Konan ignored Black Zetsu, but she secretly heightened her vigilance. She landed on a horizontally growing branch of a large tree and looked down at Habara. "Konoha ninja, why have you invaded the Land of Rain? The fighting between Amegakure and Konoha should be over."
Habara let the rain fall on him. He looked at Konan. Perhaps because she always maintained a grim, resentful expression, she looked much older than she actually was.
"I'm just passing through. But your accusation doesn't hold water. Konoha did indeed make peace with Amegakure, but that peace treaty shouldn't protect you... You're rogue ninjas from Amegakure, aren't you?"
"We can't let him leave," Black Zetsu said again.
Black Zetsu wasn't sure if Habara could recognize him. During the Nine-Tails Incident, he was attached to Obito's body, and his appearance was vastly different then. However, Habara was a powerful sensory ninja... So, based on the worst-case scenario, Black Zetsu hoped to eliminate Habara here. Otherwise, Habara might connect the Nine-Tails Incident to Amegakure. If Konoha were to launch some kind of operation as a result, it would clearly be detrimental to his "mother's revival plan."
"You don't need to remind me. Since he has intruded upon the Land of Rain, he will never leave this place."
As her words fell, Konan's body dissolved into countless paper fragments.
However, at that very moment, a blinding white light suddenly erupted in the gloomy forest. Countless bolts of lightning scattered in all directions, following the rain and the accumulated water on the ground. Konan felt a bolt of lightning rushing towards her, and then, her vision began to slowly spin.
In that instant, Konan had been cut in half at the waist. Her two halves fell from the sky and landed in the mud.
Habara now stood where she had been.
In terms of technique execution, Konan was also a "mage." Faced with a sudden attack from an assassin, she had little recourse, except...
First, she could fly.
Second, she was... well, a Logia type.
Konan's secret technique, "Dance of the Shikigami," allowed her to freely transform and reshape her body. Therefore, until she exhausted her chakra, simple physical attacks were essentially ineffective against her.
Her upper body flew back up, while her lower body transformed into fluttering pieces of paper, rejoining her severed torso.
"Incredibly fast..."
Konan flew in the air. Facing this high-speed ninja, she prepared to adopt a strategy of maintaining distance and fighting a mobile battle.
After his first strike failed, Habara immediately realized the problem. However, all of his attacks were very physical. If he were to consider attack-type ninjutsu involving elemental transformations... there was one.
Konan finished speaking, and then she saw the high-density chakra shuriken held in Habara's hand.
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