It's good that he can check Deva Path's power to pull and push. But it doesn't mean the fight will become very easy for Zoro.
Pain's post troublesome ability is they can share their visions. Well, it's more of Nagato being able to see from every Pain's eyes, so he can see from many angles and move the Pains appropriately.
After seeing Zoro cut the Chameleon's neck easily, the Animal Path Pain summons the big 3 headed dog which makes Zoro frown because he remembers that this dog is just unkillable.
If he cuts this dog, it will simply split because each part will turn into another dog. Sealing this dog or immobilizing it might be the best way to get rid of it, but Zoro can't do any of those.
So the best he can do is avoid the dog and try not to kill it while it attacks together with the other Paths of Pain.
The big immortal dog keeps attacking Zoro. It's big, but it can move fast and its attacks are strong. Each time it slams its paws, the ground cracks and dents because it's very powerful.
Zoro uses his Observation Haki to help him avoid the dog's attacks. But then he needs to react to the other Pains' attacks. Their coordination is perfect because they are basically just 1 person in 6 bodies.
The 7 Swordsmen of Mist that Zoro killed a few years ago have good team work, but they were nothing compared to these 6 who are in perfect sync.
'No wonder Jiraiya struggles so much when fighting them. He doesn't have information before fighting them. Yet he manages to kill some and even send one back to Konoha for investigation. That guy is a beast.' Zoro thinks about Jiraiya's fight against Pain that he doesn't really remember how it goes.
Again, Zoro dodges the dog's paw slam. But then he gets pulled by Deva Path Pain. He wants to send a flying slash attack, but the Asura Path Pain and the Preta Path that can absorb chakra attack him.
The Asura Path has 6 mechanical arms and each arm has turned into rotating drills. But he doesn't attack using the drills. Instead, his head opens and something like a gun barrel appears.
A bright blue light appears on the barrel. Zoro can sense a high amount of chakra accumulating there. Then, the Asura Path shoots the concentrated chakra at Zoro who still gets pulled by Deva Path.
Unable to dodge, Zoro quickly crosses his swords in front of him to block the chakra blast. He covers his whole body and his swords with Armament Haki to defend himself.
The force of the pull makes the chakra blast feel stronger when it hits Zoro. The pull also prevents Zoro from getting thrown by the chakra blast for a while. He finally gets thrown back when the Bansho Ten'in wears off.
But he gets caught by the Preta Path that has been waiting behind him. The Human Path is also there helping the Preta Path holding Zoro that gets blasted by the chakra shot.
When he finally touches Zoro's back, the Preta Path quickly uses his ability to absorb chakra. He absorbs Zoro's chakra to weaken Zoro and removes his jutsu.
Zoro obviously won't just let them. He swings his swords as strong as he can, sending a cross flying slash attack that destroys the chakra blast. Then he spins his body and swings the swords in his hands parallel to each other toward the Preta and Human Path.
He used advanced haki on his swords, making his attack sharper and stronger. So the 2 Pains get cut quite easily by his swords. They get cut like training dummies.
This is not the first time Zoro faces a chakra absorption technique. But the chakra absorption of Rinnegan is much stronger than the other techniques he has ever faced, so he needed to break it quickly.
Even if his battle skills are mostly depending on his physical power, swordsmanship, and haki, he is still affected by chakra. Chakra is essential for anyone living in this world.
If he is low on chakra, he will become very weak and people can actually die if they lose all of their chakra. So even Zoro needs to be mindful of his chakra even if he doesn't use it that much for battles.
After he kills the 2 Pains, a giant bird suddenly attacks him, forcing him to move away. Then the giant dog picks the 2 destroyed Pains and brings them to the Naraka Path that always stands behind the Deva Path Yahiko.
The Naraka Path summons the King of Hell and the dog throws the destroyed Pains into the King of Hell's mouth. Zoro clicks his tongue because he knows what is happening there.
Soon, the destroyed Pains come out of the King of Hell's mouth in their perfect shape. There's no sign of damage at all in their bodies even though Zoro has just decapitated them.
"Tsk! This really is a ridiculous ability."
Zoro knows he needs to destroy the Naraka Path first if he wants to defeat them. But he also knows that because it is Rinnegan's ability, Nagato can just use it through any of the Pains.
Maybe Nagato only uses an ability on a corpse because it is easier and more efficient. But it doesn't mean he can't use all of Rinnegan's abilities through just 1 corpse.
The current Nagato is already crippled, but he shouldn't be as sickly as when he attacks Konoha and fights Naruto a few years later. So he might do unexpected things that even Zoro didn't read in the story.
'If he can use any ability through any Pain, then he can always revive all of them. And if it fails, then he can just use 1 Pain to use all of his abilities. There's still Konan too who will assist him anytime and I'm sure Obito is observing this battle from somewhere, be it through Zetsu or with his own eyes. Damn! This battle really doesn't look good for me, and it's not beneficial either.'
Zoro can't find any benefit he can get by continuing this battle, so he asks Torao who hides in his shadow if they can just leave using Torao's ability to move through the shadows. But he gets an unexpected answer.
'There is a benefit you can get you know. You can collect information about Pain's abilities and their power. Even if you don't defeat them now, the information you get will be useful in the future when you fight them or the other Rinnegan users, most specifically Obito and Madara who will use that pair of Rinnegans.'
'But I already read and saw them in the manga.' Zoro makes a reason.
'You fool! Just reading or seeing are different from experiencing it yourself. You should know this well because you always collect information about your targets before the hunt. There will always be things you won't know without experiencing them yourself, right?'
'R-right. So you mean I need to keep fighting?'
'Yeah, no need to reveal your true power, but try to make them use most of their abilities. I will get you out of here when you think it's enough.'
Zoro agrees with Torao, so he prepares to fight the Pains again. He has seen Pains' abilities, but he still needs to know how great they truly are in battles by pushing them more.
He wants to push Nagato to his limit, so he takes a deep breath and exhales a lot of air to prepare for the fight. His opponent is 1 person in 6 bodies with powerful abilities, so he needs to be serious.
Zoro charges forward with his blackened swords ready to slash his enemies. The Pains also charge forward with the Deva Path Pain on the front. Only the Naraka Path stays behind, unmoving with his King of Hell because he needs to revive the other Pains if they get destroyed.
Before clashing with the 5 Pains, Zoro suddenly jumps to the left. He avoids a powerful Shinra Tensei that destroys a big part of the ground and anything in its path.
Zoro lands and wants to attack, but his swords are blocked by Asura Path's blades and drills that come out of his mechanical arms. He wants to cut them, but then a giant bird dives from the sky with its sharp beak ready to pierce him, so he jumps back.
The Human and Preta Path Pains run towards him from both sides. There's also a giant 3-headed dog charging from behind. He is pinched and needs to escape.
So he goes after the weakest link, the Human Path Pain on his left. He points the swords in his hands forward, toward the Human Path like a bull ready to hit its target with its horn.
"Three Sword Style: Bull Ogre Brave Claw!" (Santoryu: Gyuki Yuzume!)
Zoro hits the Human Path Pain with his swords. He doesn't hold back and intends to kill the Human Path Pain. So his swords are really sharp and he manages to cut the Human Path that doesn't have a defense technique into a few parts.
But then Zoro quickly moves his swords to block the powerful Shinra Tensei from Deva Path Pain. His jutsu's cooldown is over, so he can use it again to attack Zoro and throw Zoro quite far away.
After he gets thrown, Zoro sees the Pains fix the broken Human Path again, which really is annoying.
Zoro keeps fighting them for some more minutes, but the result doesn't change. They somehow always manage to fix the broken Pain, no matter which.
Only the Deva Path and Naraka Path that haven't been broken yet. Deva Path only gets his left arm severed, but they fix it quickly, unlike the other Pain that only gets fixed after being broken completely.
The Pains protect the Naraka Path very seriously even if it means destroying themselves. It's because as long as the Naraka Path is still fine, they can get fixed in no time.
But it obviously pisses Zoro off. He still can't really see their full power. Sure he has destroyed a few of them, but it feels like they were just playing with him.
"Seems like you are also observing me just like how I observe you, huh? Fine, then. If you really want to see my power, then I'll show it to you."
Zoro's aura suddenly rises along with the swords in his hands that are raised. Then suddenly, fire comes out of his swords, covering them completely in a second.
"Three Sword Style: Demonic Fire Swords!"
After all these years of learning, Zoro finally can use his Fire nature transformation and this will be his first time using it in a real battle.
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Chapter 116. Not So Hard to Kill
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