Board Thread:Versus Debates/@comment-43403813-20190907005521/@comment-43403813-20191002234727

Any large ninjutsu projectile flying at Deva would convince him to use a Shinra Tensei with adequate longevity. Even if he didn't for some dumb reason, he'd just amp up the shinra Tensei to shift the explosion's trajectory more towards the opposite side.

Nagato's battle with Hanzo was before he knew all the powers of the Rinnegan. Obito began teaching him all the abilities once Nagato agreed to let him join them. And also, he was rescuing Konan and the paper tags had already stuck to his legs and were a millisecond from exploding, so there wasn't any way to avoid it.

Let's be real, if Nagato at that time knew how to use the Rinnegan fully, he would not sacrifice his mobility and impale himself with the Gedo Mazo's rods to take on Hanzo's troops. He'd just use Bansho Tenin on Konan and then gtfo, or he'd use Chibaku Tensei.