"Strange, what's going on with these buildings? Does Konoha have this kind of ninjutsu?"
Pain looked at the various buildings around him that had been restored to their original state, somewhat surprised, but only somewhat surprised.
While the ninjutsu for restoring buildings was amazing, it posed no threat to him.
"Shinra Tensei!"
After landing, Pain didn't hesitate and immediately activated his Rinnegan.
His surroundings instantly... A powerful repulsive force erupted, sparking Tsunade, Kakashi, Guy, Naruto, and the others who hadn't yet reacted.
The primary objective of this operation was the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, and the secondary objective was to destroy Konoha, the leading village among the Five Great Shinobi Villages.
To prevent interference, he first dispersed the group gathered together, allowing him to proceed with the next step of the capture plan.
"Summoning Jutsu: Cerberus!"
"Summoning Jutsu: Cerberus!"
"Summoning Jutsu: Cerberus Crab!"
"Summoning Jutsu: Chameleon!"
"Summoning Jutsu: Yatagarasu!"
"Summoning Jutsu: Bullfighting!"
"Summoning Jutsu: Centipede!"
As the Deva Path unleashed Shinra Tensei, the Animal Path summoned a series of enormous summoned beasts that charged towards Guy and Lee.
"Mega Strength Attack!"
The Asura Path charged towards Tsunade.
The Human Path and the Naraka Path blocked Kakashi and Shikamaru and the others who followed.
"Absorption Seal!"
Finally, the Preta Path, with a strange shield, charged towards Naruto.
"Wind Release: Rasenshuriken!"
Naruto was no pushover either; the instant he was thrown back, he created two shadow clones, which landed quickly and coordinated...
He had just completed developing his S-rank ninjutsu.
However, to his surprise, this new ninjutsu, capable of instantly killing elite ninjas, was rapidly absorbed upon contact with the attacking Demon Path.
"Bang! Bang!"
The Demon Path dispersed Naruto's shadow clones, and before he could react, it embraced him completely.
"Chakra Devouring!"
"What's going on?"
Naruto, about to resist, suddenly realized his chakra was being frantically absorbed by the Demon Path, and his body rapidly weakened.
"Nine-Tails, capture complete."
Pain muttered to himself, then turned to look at Goku, who was standing there curiously examining him.
"You actually withstood Shinra Tensei? You're the guy who defeated Kakuzu and Hidan?"
Just now, he used Shinra Tensei to instantly send everyone flying, except for Goku, who remained completely unmoved.
"Your strength is impressive. Why not consider joining us and making this world feel pain?"
"Why make this world feel pain?"
Goku looked at the corpse puppet with mosquito coil-like eyes in front of him, a look of confusion on his face.
His ability to perceive the world and his ki made it easy for him to discern that these suddenly appearing beings were not living people.
They were corpse puppets modified using special methods.
"Because only by making the world feel pain, by making everyone feel pain, will they know fear, will they dare not wage war again, and only then can the world usher in true peace."
Pain, the Deva Path, explained his reasoning to Goku.
Goku tilted his head:
"I don't understand what you're saying, but it's wrong for you to harm the innocent."
He had heard Shikamaru tell him about Akatsuki, knowing that Akatsuki was capturing the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, forcibly extracting the Tailed Beast from their bodies.
Once the extraction was successful, the Jinchuriki would die.
He had also personally captured Kakuzu and Hidan, knowing that these two abused innocent people for money.
"Harm innocent people?" Pain's tone was full of sarcasm:
"Do you know how many innocent people die every time these ninja villages wage war, and how many families are broken because of it?
They are the greatest evil in this world.
And if my plan succeeds, it will bring peace to the entire world forever, so the sacrifice of a few is worthwhile."
"Oh, then they're wrong, you're wrong, you're all wrong."
Goku nodded.
He didn't understand anything too complicated, but anything that harmed innocent people was definitely wrong.
Whether it was a ninja village initiating a war, or Akatsuki sacrificing a few to achieve peace.
"Since you think it's wrong, what would you do if you encountered these major ninja villages starting a war?"
Pain hadn't expected Goku to not side with him, nor with the Five Great Ninja Villages.
Goku replied naturally:
"Of course I'd stop them! Whoever harms the innocent, I'll fight them all, and defeat them all at once."
"Isn't that the same thing I'm doing now? I'm collecting the nine tailed beasts to defeat them all, to make them feel the pain of war, so they'll never dare to start another war."
Pain felt that Goku's ideals were no different from his own.
Goku shook his head:
"But I won't hurt the innocent. I will strive to train and improve myself, using my own power to stop bad things from happening."
"Another naive kid like Jiraiya-sensei. You people will never grow up."
"How can peace be achieved without paying a price?"
Hearing Goku's answer, Pain's tone was filled with sarcasm.
The Goku before him reminded him of Jiraiya, a good man and an idealist.
However, such idealists are destined for failure.
Only he, willing to sacrifice everything, having transcended mortals to become a god, could truly achieve peace.
Whoever stood in his way, even Jiraiya, would be killed without hesitation.
It was precisely because of this resolve that he was destined to succeed.
"No, that's only because you're not strong enough. Just train diligently and continuously grow stronger, and you will definitely achieve it."
Goku said matter-of-factly.
For him, that was just how it was: train, train, become stronger, become stronger.
If he encountered something he couldn't solve, he would continue training, becoming stronger to solve it.
"I'm not strong enough?"
Pain almost laughed in anger.
"I have transcended mortals and become a true god, and you still think I'm not strong enough? Then let me show you, let Konoha, what god-like power is!"
He raised his hand into a claw, aiming at Goku's neck.
"Universal Pull!*
A terrifying suction force instantly appeared, pulling Goku directly into Pain's palm.
"Go ahead."
"Since you don't want to join us, then die!"
Grabbing Goku's neck tightly, Pain pulled out a thin black iron rod and plunged it fiercely into Goku's heart.
"Crack!"
Goku was unharmed, while the black iron rod snapped in two due to the immense force.
"What?"
"God, such a weak god..."
Goku looked at Pain before him and kicked him.
Pain shot out like a meteor, crushing through countless newly repaired houses, his body twisted into a pretzel and fell silent.
If Pain was truly a god, he felt his power was even less than Thor's.
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