Chapter 163: Crow Ninjutsu and Deva Path Pain

After parting ways with Hyuga Asana, Uchiha Yuan returned alone to the Uchiha clan compound.

He had just arrived home when Shisui came running in, excitement written all over his face. "Yuan-senpai, I did it!"

"What did you succeed in? You're so hyped," Yuan asked.

"The crows! I've successfully raised crows as my summoning beasts—and I've developed a new jutsu."

As he spoke, Shisui formed hand seals, channeling his chakra into dozens of crows. A moment later, a crow clone appeared before Uchiha Yuan.

"Yuan-senpai, this is a clone technique I developed using crows as the medium. It consumes much less chakra than the Shadow Clone Technique.

And I can control this clone to explode when it contacts an enemy, dealing damage to surrounding targets.

I tested it earlier with Elder Icarus—even his Three-Tomoe Sharingan couldn't see any flaws. The explosion can be triggered without any seals, though the blast power is a bit weak."

Uchiha Yuan was surprised. He hadn't expected Shisui to not only tame crows so quickly as summon beasts but also create techniques like crow clones and explosive clones.

He recalled that in the original series, Uchiha Itachi's explosive clones were quite powerful. Shisui's version was probably still under development.

He also remembered that Itachi could use crows for genjutsu, which Shisui seemed to have not yet mastered.

Later, Yuan and Shisui went to the training grounds, where Shisui demonstrated the explosive clone.

Yuan offered suggestions for improvement and also signed a summoning contract with the crows himself.

Meanwhile, at the Akatsuki base in the Land of Rain, the members who hadn't seen their leader in a long time cornered Konan, hoping to find out where Nagato was.

Since Yahiko's "death," Nagato had gone missing, and the organization's day-to-day operations were run by Konan.

While Yahiko, disguised as a regular member, still helped behind the scenes, Akatsuki's official leader had always been Yahiko, followed by Nagato. Konan lacked the standing to command full authority.

To make matters worse, just two days ago, one of Akatsuki's important bases had been destroyed. Many members were captured by Amegakure ninja, and the ambush had left Akatsuki seriously weakened.

With insufficient manpower, rescue efforts were impossible. Yahiko and Konan were at a loss.

Many members blamed Konan's poor leadership for the loss and decided to seek out Nagato.

Truthfully, even Konan and Yahiko hadn't seen Nagato in a long time. Every time she tried to enter his room, a repelling force bounced her away.

After repeated attempts, she eventually gave up.

Today, when the members collectively confronted her, she discussed it with Yahiko and led them to Nagato's room.

"Nagato is in there, but I can't open the door. Try it yourselves," Konan said, pointing to the door.

The members looked at one another. Eventually, the strongest among them tried to force the door open.

Predictably, he was sent flying. The others, unwilling to give up, tried together—and were all repelled as well.

"Should we try ninjutsu?" Konan suggested. She hadn't seen Nagato in a long time either and was curious.

The others agreed, and they launched various jutsu at the door.

Just then, the door opened.

A familiar figure stepped out, followed by a man with long, orange hair—originally the male Animal Path's body.

Seeing Nagato should have been a relief, but the members weren't happy—their ninjutsu were about to hit him.

In the nick of time, the orange-haired man raised his hand, and a powerful repulsive force deflected all the attacks.

Konan let out a sigh of relief and ran forward to examine her long-missing companion.

She recognized the man. His corpse had been delivered to Nagato by her and Yahiko.

Now that body stood revived. Konan guessed this "revival" had something to do with Nagato's Rinnegan—especially since the eyes in the corpse matched Nagato's.

"Long time no see, Konan!" Nagato waved.

"Long time indeed… And he is…?" Konan asked, stressing the last word.

"He's a puppet I control using the Rinnegan," Nagato explained.

Seeing Nagato safe, the others were relieved. But given the crisis, they quickly reported the destroyed base and captured members.

The mention of Amegakure triggered Nagato. He recalled their ambush by Hanzō, and how Yahiko had nearly died. Coldly snorting, Nagato sent the Deva Path flying out.

High in the air, the Deva Path merged its chakra into the rain, and by sensing the flow, quickly located the imprisoned Akatsuki members.

Its eyes were linked to Nagato's, allowing him to see the scene below—members were trapped inside a cave, while hundreds of Amegakure ninja were digging traps, preparing an ambush.

Nagato closed his eyes and transferred a large portion of his Rinnegan's power to the Deva Path.

Once grounded, the Deva Path raised its hand toward the distant ninja.

"Banshō Ten'in!"

In an instant, nearly a hundred exposed Amegakure shinobi were pulled toward him.

"Shinra Tensei!"

Then those same ninja were violently repelled, crashing into distant cliffs.

As he advanced toward the cave, any enemy in his way was effortlessly blasted aside by Shinra Tensei.

Eventually, no one dared approach.

At the cave's entrance, he destroyed the seal with a black receiver and freed the captured members.

Back at the base, Deva Path returned. Konan and Yahiko (disguised) visited Nagato's room.

"Nagato, what's with this body?" Yahiko asked.

Nagato didn't hide anything and explained everything.

"This was based on Yuan's suggestion. I transmitted my Rinnegan's chakra to this corpse through these black rods. That allows it to move—and grants it partial use of my Rinnegan abilities."

Konan nodded. "How many of these puppets can you control?"

"Six. The Rinnegan possesses six Outer Path abilities. I plan to collect appropriate bodies and assign each one a separate ability.

These corpses will be the Six Paths of Pain.

This one… is the Deva Path Pain."

(To Be Continued...)