Nagato uses stronger attacks through the 6 Pains after Zoro provokes him. This guy is really holding to his ideal and will get triggered once someone pokes at it, just like what Zoro does just now.
The 6 Paths of Pain are attacking Zoro fiercely without holding back. Nagato doesn't try to save his chakra anymore now and just goes all out to defeat Zoro.
His Shinra Tensei has particularly gotten much stronger. But he still avoids using Bansho Ten'in because Zoro always uses it to strengthen the flying slash attacks.
Instead of using Bansho Ten'in on Zoro, Nagato actually uses it to pull the defeated Pain so the Naraka Path can fix them. He fixes them quickly so they can attack again.
They continue to fight and Zoro actually doesn't have any problem killing them, except for Deva Path and Naraka Path. Nagato is very protective of them and always keeps them at the back.
"Seems like you plan to tire me out by sending them as disposable pawns. But are you sure your chakra will last longer than my stamina? Can your chakra keep up with all the fixings?"
Zoro says it while smirking. Nagato has a bitter expression while looking through the Pains. What Zoro says might come true because he really needs to use a lot of chakra to fix the Pains and use them to attack Zoro.
But he keeps destroying them without much effort now after he gets used to them. The giant summons they call are also useless. Zoro can stop them with one hand and cut them with a swing of his sword.
For him, the only real problem is the Deva Path's Push and Pull power, especially the Push. He still can't overpower it with his attacks, which is unacceptable for his idiot brain.
Those who are smart will tell him that he can try to look for other ways to defeat the Deva Path without overpowering the Push force, like avoiding it and attacks while it can't be used.
But a muscle brain like him won't agree because he only wants to overpower the Push force. He wants to confront it directly and break it because for him, there's no use of winning if he can't completely crush his opponent at their best.
For Zoro, being the strongest means that no one can defeat him even if they do everything they can in their best conditions. That kind of victory is proof that he is truly stronger than them.
That's why he always prefers direct confrontation where he tries to overpower his enemies and that's why he doesn't like underhanded tactics.
He obviously has used underhanded tactics in the past like when he killed Danzo. But that's because that old guy was trying to use him and it pissed him so much.
Zoro has some regrets about that now, but he won't do something like that if he had the power to defeat Danzo fairly at that time.
Also, he was still immature back then. He has realized now that it might be better if he reported it to Minato back then and let Konoha handle that matter themselves.
But well, had he not killed Danzo himself at that time, then that old man might send more Root ninjas after him because surely Konoha won't just kill Danzo right off the bat.
Even though Danzo was like that, his loyalty to Konoha was real. His problem was being too extreme with his actions and he would use any means necessary to achieve his goals, even if it means killing an entire clan.
Anyway, Zoro has some regrets about his method to kill Danzo, but not the kill itself. Konoha was in shambles because of it for a while back then, but it was none of his problems really.
He just killed someone who tried to kill him, it's as simple as that. The effect on Konoha was none of his business. It was their own fault for not chaining Danzo and giving him too much freedom with whatever he did.
Back to the present, the battle between Zoro and Pain has become a battle of endurance now. Zoro just keeps destroying them while Pain just keeps fixing themselves.
Both of them have gotten really tired from this battle that has lasted for hours now. Zoro admits he has underestimated Nagato's chakra reserve and Nagato also admits he underestimated Zoro's stamina.
The winner is still unclear now, but it's clear that someone is tired of this whole thing already. Konan suddenly appears on the battlefield, flying above the trees with her paper wings while looking down on them.
"Konan, why are you coming here?" Nagato asks through the Deva Path Yahiko.
"Sorry Pain, but we can't prolong this battle any longer, so I will join you." Konan actually doesn't call him Nagato, but Pain. Probably to hide Nagato's true identity from anyone else when she talks to Nagato through Pain.
"Hoh, you finally come here, the person who was with the one who controls these puppets." Zoro smirks while looking at Konan.
He is not surprised by Konan's arrival because he has sensed it. But what he says sure has surprised those who hear it. Nagato, Konan, Zetsu, and even Obito who spies on them are surprised.
They are not surprised that he knows the 6 Paths of Pain are puppets because he has fought them for so long. It won't be strange for him to finally realize what they are.
But it's surprising to know that he actually sensed Nagato and Konan who hid very far from the battlefield. They had made sure to stay as far as possible while still in the control range of the corpses, which is a few kilometers away.
So they are sure Zoro would never find them no matter how good his sense is because even the best sensor type shinobi they've met could never find Nagato's location.
Yet Zoro finds it out and it doesn't seem like he has just found it. Now they finally fully understand why he could always find Zetsu whenever the plant-like guy gets closer to him even though Zetsu is known to be great at hiding his presence.
"You know that I'm coming here?" Konan asks sceptically.
"Yep, sensed you coming since you left your hiding spot a while ago." Zoro points at their hiding spot location correctly, showing them that he is not bluffing.
They are surprised, but then they are confused because they see him sheathing his swords back into their scabbards.
"What are you doing?"
"Well, I'm leaving. This doesn't seem like a fair fight anymore. It was a nice 1 on 1 before even though you use 6 puppets. But it will become 1 on 3, so I'm out."
"1 on 3?" Konan is confused because if Zoro counts the 6 Pains as 1 person, then it should be 1 on 2 instead of 1 on 3.
"Yeah, 1 on 3 because I'm sure the guy who hides there since the beginning will also join you now that you've appeared." Zoro points far to his left, into the trees that aren't destroyed yet, far away from him.
Konan doesn't see anyone until the hidden person decides to show up. It's a masked guy with only 1 eyehole in his mask that shows his sharingan. Surely Konan knows who he is.
"What are you doing here?" Konan is displeased.
"I just want to observe because I'm very curious about his abilities. Turns out, he is much better than I expected. It really would be a shame to lose someone that strong. But if he can't be our ally, then he will only get in our way." Obito, also known as Madara by Konan is walking slowly towards them.
"See? I don't think it's good for me to fight all 3 of you right now. It will just get me killed." Zoro doesn't seem worried even though he says that.
Suddenly, a small black-white cat jumps onto Zoro's shoulder and licks its front left paw. Even Obito is surprised by this cat's sudden appearance because he didn't see it coming even with his sharingan.
"As much as I don't like running away, I will still do it to keep my life because it's the most precious thing to me now. So I will leave this place now. Smell ya later, folks."
Zoro waves his hands before his whole body suddenly falls into the shadow as if it's water. His enemies can't even react yet when the shadow moves away at a very high speed and disappears.
Everyone tries to find him, but to no avail. Zoro has already gone very far using Torao's skills to enter and move in the shadow. Their presence is completely hidden in the shadow, so no one can find them when they are hiding there.
"Tsk! He gets away." Zetsu who has just come voices his displeasure immediately.
"This guy is much more dangerous than we thought. He already finds out so much about Pain's secrets in just a few hours. While he is clearly an idiot, his battle senses are very sharp. He is a top level threat, at the same level as the Kages."
Everyone seems to agree with Obito. Zoro is much more dangerous than they thought and the next time they meet, the result might be completely different.
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Chapter 118. Zoro vs Shukaku
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