Konoha's Genius is a bit Ordinary?

At this moment, Pain stood upside down on the ceiling of the cave, his Rinnegan gazing indifferently at Natsuro, who was positioned in the center of a massive hollow space within the cavern.

Natsuro turned around, floating midair without falling, when a voice echoed near his ears:

"Shinra Tensei!"

In an instant, Natsuro felt an overwhelming repulsive force pushing him toward the depths of the chasm. Even the two Flying Thunder God kunai he had thrown earlier were caught within the range of the repulsion.

At this point, Natsuro knew without a doubt he had walked right into a trap. The situation was clearly a meticulously planned ambush!

Taking a deep breath, Natsuro quickly dismissed the unnecessary thoughts. This wasn't the time to dwell on such matters.

Even though his kunai had failed to escape the repulsion's grasp, Natsuro prepared to teleport back to the Flying Thunder God mark he had left outside the cave, ensuring his escape.

But the next moment, Natsuro's eyes widened in shock.

Impossible. His sensory field was entirely confined to the cave, unable to extend beyond its walls. He couldn't sense his external Flying Thunder God mark!

Realizing this, he quickly pieced it together. If his opponents had gone through all this trouble to trap him, they would undoubtedly have prepared countermeasures against the Flying Thunder God Technique.

The solution? Restricting his sensory abilities.

It was a simple yet highly effective strategy. But was it really that easy to restrict Natsuro's perception?

Few understood the difficulty of this task better than Orochimaru.

Natsuro was genuinely surprised. It was his first time experiencing such a complete restriction of his sensory range. However, when he considered the Rinnegan's presence, it became less surprising.

So much for invulnerability. Even the Flying Thunder God has its limitations.

The Rinnegan, after all, was a force that had reigned as the pinnacle of bloodlines before the advent of the Rinne Sharingan. It represented the ultimate power of this world.

Utilizing electromagnetic forces, Natsuro adjusted his position to mitigate some of the repulsive force.

Nevertheless, he crashed into the cavern floor with a resounding impact. Dust and debris erupted in all directions, leaving a massive crater in the ground. Above, the entrance to the cave sealed itself, cutting off any way out.

Although the cavern wasn't particularly deep, Natsuro emerged relatively unscathed, feeling nothing more than slight numbness in his legs.

As the dust settled, Natsuro saw four figures standing before him, prompting a bitter smile to creep across his face.

"Really? Four members of Akatsuki? You sure know how to make a guy feel important," Natsuro remarked, stepping out of the crater. Standing opposite the familiar faces, he felt a momentary sense of surrealism.

Itachi Uchiha, Kisame Hoshigaki, Kakuzu, and Hidan…

"Impressive! You tanked that hit without a scratch—no blood, nothing. No wonder they sent all four of us to handle you," Hidan exclaimed loudly, a tinge of disappointment in his voice.

As someone particularly attuned to blood, Hidan had been eagerly watching the crater's bottom. But not a single drop of Natsuro's blood was left behind. A missed opportunity, in his eyes, as acquiring even a small sample of Natsuro's blood would have made him unbeatable.

"Stay sharp. This one's no ordinary opponent," Kakuzu warned, his narrowed eyes betraying his unease.

"What's this? Scared already, Kakuzu? A coward! We're four against one. Even the boss would have a hard time handling us all at once!" Hidan sneered, taking the chance to mock Kakuzu.

"Hmph. You don't understand," Kakuzu retorted with a cold snort, refusing to elaborate further. However, his guard was fully raised.

Seeing Natsuro triggered a peculiar sense of déjà vu in Kakuzu, a feeling that reminded him of Hashirama Senju. The sensation was so absurd that Kakuzu almost laughed it off.

Almost.

Because Kakuzu had witnessed the First Hokage's power firsthand.

If this boy truly possessed strength comparable to Hashirama's, they were in serious trouble even with four members present.

Meanwhile, Itachi remained silent, his typically aloof demeanor unchanged. His eyes, however, were fixated on Natsuro, though he avoided making direct eye contact.

Kisame simply observed Natsuro with his shark-like eyes, showing neither fear nor hesitation. Still, he had no intention of being the first to act. He was in no rush to become the "guinea fish."

Natsuro waited for a moment, allowing his numb legs to recover. Yet his opponents showed no signs of initiating an attack. Eventually, he broke the silence.

"You go through all this trouble, summoning the famed Rinnegan no less, just to stand around like this? Surely you're not here to waste time?"

The tension in the cavern thickened as Natsuro's words echoed.

"And also, after so long, the wielder of the Rinnegan hasn't come down yet. It's probably not because he looks down on me but because he can't come down, right?" Natsuro smirked.

"My guess is he's worried I might escape using the Flying Thunder God, so he has to stay at the core of the barrier at all times, right?"

"Hey, Kakuzu, do we have a traitor in the organization? How else would he know all this?" Hidan exclaimed, his eyes wide with suspicion.

"Idiot!" Kakuzu snapped, barely holding back his frustration. "If we had a traitor, do you think he'd have stepped into this trap? You just gave everything away, fool!"

"Tsk, so it's true then." Natsuro's smile deepened as he processed Hidan's words. "To limit my sensory abilities, they even went so far as to tether the Rinnegan itself to this barrier's core. Quite the tradeoff, I'd say."

At the same time, Natsuro felt a subtle sense of relief. He wasn't particularly eager to face Pain directly.

"You damned bastard! You tricked me into spilling the beans!" Hidan roared, enraged. Gripping his massive crimson scythe, he charged straight toward Natsuro.

The other three members of Akatsuki made no move to stop him. They were more than happy to let Hidan test the waters, especially given his immortality, he was perfect for such a role.

As Hidan rushed toward Natsuro, his eyes lit up as he observed Natsuro standing motionless. A sly grin spread across his face as he suddenly hurled his triple-bladed scythe forward.

Though the scythe appeared to be a melee weapon, it was deceptively versatile. The massive weapon spun rapidly through the air, its imposing size and razor-sharp edges radiating a menacing aura.

Despite the danger, Natsuro remained unfazed. He merely extended a hand toward the incoming scythe.

"Haha, you're asking for it now!" Hidan sneered. His blood-red scythe had double-edged blades. Catching it with bare hands would inevitably result in injury, leaving behind the blood he needed for his ritual.

As he imagined the triumph of taking down such a high-priority enemy, Hidan began mentally crafting the best way to gloat to Kakuzu afterward.

But Hidan's grin froze, his eyes widening in disbelief.

His scythe had stopped mid-air, mere inches from Natsuro's hand. Natsuro had caught the weapon by pinching the blade between his fingers.

How is this possible?! Hidan thought, stunned. The sheer strength needed to halt his spinning weapon like this was beyond comprehension.

Before Hidan could recover, Natsuro seized the rope connected to the scythe attached to Hidan's waist and gave it a sharp tug.

Hidan let out a startled cry as he was yanked forward, hurtling toward Natsuro.

In Natsuro's other hand, dense chakra began to condense and swirl erratically.

"Rasengan!"

Without hesitation, Natsuro drove the Rasengan into Hidan's chest, right in the center of his astonished expression.

"Boom!"

Hidan let out a guttural scream as his body spun violently like a cannonball, slamming into the cave wall. A cascade of debris fell, half-burying him.

The other three members of Akatsuki finally reacted. While they had intended to let Hidan gauge Natsuro's capabilities, they hadn't expected him to be beaten down so thoroughly and so quickly.

"What an idiot!" Kakuzu cursed, his hands already forming seals.

"Fire Style: Searing Migraine!"

A massive wave of flames erupted from Kakuzu's mouth, filling the cavern with intense heat. The scorching firestorm surged toward Natsuro like an unstoppable tide.

Simultaneously, Itachi flung several shuriken while breathing out a series of fireballs that enveloped the projectiles, accelerating them.

"Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!"

Kisame, on the other hand, had also been preparing to attack but halted when he saw his two companions both using Fire Style jutsu. Releasing his Water Style here would only hinder their efforts.

Still, Kisame wiped the sweat from his brow, grimacing at the oppressive heat. He hated such environments.

Meanwhile, Hidan pulled himself free from the rubble. Though his chest was grotesquely twisted, it didn't seem to hinder his movements in the slightest.

"Ouch... ouch, ouch!" Hidan clutched his chest, groaning loudly in pain. Then, catching sight of the massive flames surging ahead, his eyes lit up, and he yelled, "Kakuzu, keep going! Burn that guy to ashes!"

Kakuzu, still spewing fire, nearly choked as Hidan's shout momentarily distracted him, almost causing the flames to backfire into his own mouth.

Meanwhile, Hidan continued his impromptu cheerleading routine, clearly harboring a grudge against Natsuro for the earlier Rasengan.

Suddenly, Hidan's voice faltered. He froze as he noticed a figure standing on the back of his Bloody Triple Scythe. Slowly, almost hesitantly, he lifted his gaze.

And there he was, Natsuro, looking down at him from above with an icy, unwavering stare.

How is this possible?!

The question echoed in Hidan's mind, but he had no time to ponder it.

Natsuro, balanced effortlessly on the flat side of the scythe's blade, wasted no time. With chakra-enhanced strength surging through his body, he delivered a devastating kick straight to Hidan's chin.

In an instant, Hidan was launched upward, unable to even scream. He shot through the air, crashing into the cavern ceiling, his head embedding itself deep into a massive boulder. The force left his entire body dangling, grotesquely lodged in the stone.

Meanwhile, Natsuro landed gracefully, shaking out his fists and stretching his legs. For a brief moment, he paused, a contemplative expression crossing his face.

He couldn't help but think to himself, Am I... stronger than I thought?

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Currently on Chapter 253 - Hinata's Path