Chapter 354: Crushing Everything in Their Path

Chapter 354: Chapter 354: Crushing Everything in Their Path

At the breach atop the tower, the Animal Path stared coldly down at Jiraiya on the ground below and slowly said, "Jiraiya-sensei. So you came after all."

Kakashi and Guy were both startled. They immediately turned and stared blankly at Jiraiya.

Clearly, hearing the Animal Path address Jiraiya as Sensei had caught them completely off guard.

Neither of them had ever imagined that Jiraiya could have such a connection with the leader of the Akatsuki.

Jiraiya, however, still looked utterly confused.

In an uncertain tone, he asked, "You... are you Nagato?!"

Jiraiya had lived alongside Nagato, Yahiko, and Konan for three whole years, so he was extremely familiar with all three of them.

Even putting aside the difference in appearance, there was the matter of his hair alone.

The Animal Path standing before him had a head of orange hair, completely different from the red hair characteristic of Nagato’s Uzumaki lineage.

And yet, the man had called him Sensei.

That meant he had to be one of Nagato, Yahiko, or Konan.

The Animal Path replied indifferently, "You don’t need to know that much."

Jiraiya’s expression immediately darkened.

He raised his head and glanced at Konan, who was hovering high in the sky and coldly overlooking the entire battlefield. His heart suddenly skipped a beat as a thought occurred to him.

"Could the man in front of me be Yahiko? But... how could Yahiko possess Nagato’s Rinnegan? And why do the other two have the Rinnegan as well?"

Beside him, Kakashi quietly asked, "Lord Jiraiya, you and him...?"

Jiraiya sighed softly and explained, "Yeah. He’s very likely one of the disciples I once left behind in the Land of Rain. I just never expected him to go down the wrong path."

Guy swallowed hard and asked somewhat nervously, "Which one of them is actually the leader of the Akatsuki? Why do all of them have the Rinnegan described in our intel?"

Jiraiya replied with a grave expression, "As far as I know, there’s only one pair of Rinnegan. Something strange is definitely going on here. Be careful. The enemies we’re facing this time are nothing like the usual ones!"

Atop the tower, the Animal Path slowly began forming hand seals.

As he did, he said, "Jiraiya-sensei, it’s unfortunate... but I have to eliminate you."

With that, the Animal Path slammed both hands onto the ground.

Poof!

Poof!

Poof!

In an instant, three clouds of white smoke erupted simultaneously.

Immediately afterward, three enormous figures burst from within!

All three were gigantic summoned beasts.

One was a massive bird soaring through the sky, another was a green chameleon clinging to the top of the tower, and the last was a gigantic centipede coiled around the tower itself.

"This..."

Seeing the Animal Path summon three gigantic creatures at once, even someone as experienced and well-traveled as Jiraiya couldn’t help but stare in astonishment.

Kakashi looked utterly helpless. "How does he have so many summoned beasts?!"

At that moment, the chameleon’s body faded from sight as it entered a state of camouflage, becoming completely invisible.

Meanwhile, the enormous bird in the sky suddenly dove toward Jiraiya and the others on the ground, while the gigantic centipede began crawling down the tower toward them with terrifying momentum.

Seeing this, Jiraiya immediately bit his finger, rapidly formed hand seals, and shouted, "Summoning Technique!"

Poof!

After the white smoke dispersed, a gigantic toad wielding a sasumata appeared before Jiraiya.

It was none other than Gamaken of Mount Myoboku.

Compared to the hot-tempered Gamabunta, who specialized in offense, Gamaken was far more proficient in defense, making him better suited for situations where they were heavily outnumbered.

Leaping onto Gamaken’s head, Jiraiya said, "Buy me some time. I’m going to summon the Two Great Sage Toads!"

"I’ll do my best."

Gamaken replied in his deep, muffled voice.

By then, the giant bird had already swooped down upon them. With no time to spare, Gamaken immediately raised his shield in front of himself.

Clang!

The giant bird’s extraordinarily sharp beak slammed into the shield, producing a piercing metallic crash!

The tremendous force of the collision not only sent the giant bird flying backward, but knocked Gamaken completely off his feet as well.

Rumble—!

Amid the violent trembling of the ground, the giant centipede suddenly burst out from underground, its razor-sharp mandibles clamping down on Gamaken’s right leg.

Ignoring the injury to his leg, Gamaken immediately rolled over and drove the sasumata in his hand down over the giant centipede’s head, pinning it firmly to the ground.

For the moment, the enormous creature seemed completely unable to move.

The clash between the three gigantic summoned beasts shook the earth, sending clouds of dust billowing into the air as shattered rocks flew in every direction!

Watching the battle from where he had retreated to the side, Kakashi’s expression darkened.

A battle on this scale was already extremely difficult for someone of his current strength to interfere in. One careless move, and he could easily be caught up in the fighting and swatted to death by one of the gigantic summoned beasts like a mosquito.

As for Guy, once the battle fully erupted, the fighting spirit surging within him overwhelmed his earlier nervousness.

At this point, he was actually starting to look eager to jump into the fray.

Just then, a figure suddenly flickered into existence behind Kakashi and Guy.

Already on guard, Kakashi immediately unleashed his Chidori, spun around, and thrust straight toward the enemy who had ambushed them.

Crackle—!

Amid the dazzling lightning and deafening crackle of thunder, Kakashi finally saw his attacker clearly.

It was one of the three Akatsuki members with the Rinnegan who had been standing atop the tower earlier!

"At this distance, there’s no way you can dodge!"

At such close range, Kakashi had absolute confidence in his Chidori.

But just as his right hand, wreathed in brilliant lightning, was about to pierce the man’s chest, the highly concentrated Lightning Release chakra surrounding it suddenly vanished without a trace—

as though it had been completely absorbed by something.

Thud!

Without the concentrated Lightning Release chakra, Kakashi’s outstretched hand struck harmlessly against the man’s chest, producing nothing more than a dull impact.

Kakashi’s eyes widened in shock.

"How...?!"

Guy was startled as well, but as a taijutsu specialist, his body reacted instinctively. He launched a flying kick at the attacker, trying to cover Kakashi’s retreat.

The one who had appeared behind Kakashi and Guy was naturally the Preta Path of the Six Paths of Pain, the one capable of absorbing chakra.

Taking advantage of the situation, he grabbed Kakashi’s right hand, which had struck his chest, with one hand while blocking Guy’s flying kick with the other.

Seeing that his right hand had been seized, Kakashi made a split-second decision and activated Chidori once more, intending to take advantage of the opening and strike his opponent directly in the heart.

But the instant the lightning began to flare, some inexplicable force drained it completely away, exactly as before.

This time, however, Kakashi saw it clearly.

The heavyset Akatsuki member before him, with the Rinnegan in his eyes, seemed to possess an ability similar to the Dark Release Kekkei Genkai—one capable of absorbing chakra.

The Preta Path glanced coldly at the shocked Kakashi before suddenly lashing out with a powerful kick, sending him flying.

Guy hurried over and helped Kakashi up.

"You okay?"

"Cough, cough..."

Kakashi coughed heavily twice and spat out a mouthful of blood before saying between ragged breaths, "He can absorb chakra instantly. Ninjutsu probably won’t work against him!"

"Then leave him to me!"

Guy clenched his fists and roared, "Eight Gates—OPEN!"

In an instant, Guy opened six gates in succession!

A tremendous wave of energy erupted from his body, forming an upward-rushing vortex so powerful that even the curtain of rain was blasted apart to either side.

But just as Guy was about to attack, the Preta Path suddenly stepped backward—

and vanished into thin air right before his eyes.

"He disappeared?"

Guy looked utterly frustrated. He had just opened the Eight Gates, only for his enemy to disappear without a trace.

Still lying on the ground and not yet fully recovered, Kakashi warned him, "Careful! He hid inside the mouth of that giant chameleon that can turn invisible!"

Although the Preta Path was extremely fast, he still couldn’t escape the perception of Kakashi’s Mangekyo Sharingan. In that brief instant just now, Kakashi had seen through the secret behind the Preta Path’s sudden disappearance.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Suddenly, amid a series of sharp whistling sounds, countless missiles rained down from high above, hurtling toward Kakashi and Guy as they searched for the Preta Path.

Hearing the sound, Guy looked up.

His scalp immediately went numb.

Without hesitation, he grabbed the injured Kakashi and sped away.

But unexpectedly, the missiles seemed to possess tracking capabilities. After curving through the air, every last one of them changed direction and continued chasing after Guy and Kakashi, relentlessly staying on their heels.

On Jiraiya’s side, Gamaken was holding his own against two opponents at once without falling into the slightest disadvantage.

Meanwhile, Jiraiya, standing atop Gamaken’s head, had finally succeeded in summoning the two Great Sage Toads, Fukasaku and Shima.

Glancing at the Animal Path standing atop the tower, Fukasaku asked, "Little Jiraiya, is that the ’Child of Prophecy’ you told us about?"

Jiraiya nodded.

"So those really are the Rinnegan!" Shima paused before abruptly changing the subject. "Pa, things have already come to this. What’s the point of still talking about the ’Child of Prophecy’?!"

Fukasaku nodded. "Mm. He may possess the Rinnegan, but he definitely isn’t the ’Child of Prophecy’ the Great Toad Sage spoke of."

Jiraiya hesitated for a moment before pleading, "You two... I want to try talking some sense into him!"

Shima said unhappily, "Does he look like he’s willing to listen to anything you have to say?!"

Fukasaku agreed, "Little Jiraiya, your opponent is a powerful shinobi who possesses the Rinnegan. If you show mercy, we may very well be the ones who end up dead."

At that moment, Killer B, the Eight-Tails jinchuriki, who had temporarily shaken off the pursuing multi-headed dog, rushed over and leaped onto Gamaken’s head.

Looking up at the Animal Path standing atop the tower, he asked Jiraiya, "Is he the leader of the Akatsuki?"

Jiraiya nodded, then immediately asked, "What about the Konoha and Suna assault forces? Why is your Kumo assault force the only one that managed to break in?"

Killer B replied, "The Akatsuki stationed quite a few forces outside Amegakure to intercept us. On our side, Lord Raikage held the enemy back, allowing us to successfully break through. I’d guess Konoha and Suna were intercepted as well, which is why they haven’t been able to enter Amegakure according to plan."

After answering Jiraiya, Killer B looked toward the Animal Path atop the tower and demanded, "Where is Yugito?"

Ever since Yugito had fallen into enemy hands in Amegakure, the Kumo’s objective had shifted from prioritizing the destruction of the Akatsuki to prioritizing Yugito’s rescue.

So at this moment, Killer B’s most urgent concern wasn’t killing the leader of the Akatsuki.

It was finding the captured Yugito.

The Animal Path looked down at Killer B from above and murmured, "The Eight-Tails jinchuriki..."

Among all the Tailed Beasts, the Eight-Tails, Gyuki, was second only to the Nine-Tails in strength, making it an extraordinarily powerful Tailed Beast.

And Killer B, the Eight-Tails jinchuriki, was a perfect jinchuriki capable of communicating with and understanding Gyuki. His strength far surpassed that of an ordinary jinchuriki. Even Yugito, the Two-Tails jinchuriki, was nowhere near Killer B’s level.

Therefore, even Nagato, who possessed the Rinnegan, had to exercise a degree of caution when facing Killer B, the Eight-Tails jinchuriki.

And so, the Deva Path slowly stepped forward and came to stand beside the Animal Path.

The instant Jiraiya saw him, his eyes narrowed sharply.

"Ya... Yahiko?"

The Deva Path Pain had been created from Yahiko’s corpse, so Jiraiya quickly recognized him.

But that only left him even more confused, because within Yahiko’s eye sockets were yet another pair of Rinnegan, marked by those strange concentric rings.

Killer B froze for a moment. "Another pair of Rinnegan?"

Jiraiya replied gravely, "No... that makes four pairs already!"

At that moment, the Deva Path Pain brought his hands together.

In an instant, a black sphere containing an eerie power flew out from between his fingers and floated into the sky.

Jiraiya, Killer B, and the two Great Sage Toads all instinctively turned their gazes toward the black sphere hovering overhead.

The strange power emanating from it was simply too unusual to ignore.

Soon, the ground began to crack apart.

Fragments of rock were the first to rise into the air, as though some invisible force were pulling them upward.

As Shima herself began floating into the air, she asked in confusion, "What’s going on, Pa?"

Fukasaku, who was also being pulled upward, was equally bewildered. "Could this be some kind of Rinnegan ability?"

Sensing the impending danger, Killer B shouted, "This is bad! We have to break free from this pull, or we’re dead!"

Realizing that his own body was no longer under his control, Jiraiya cursed, "Damn it! There’s nothing to brace against!"

Words cold as ice escaped the Deva Path Pain’s lips.

"Chibaku Tensei!"

As the Deva Path poured the Rinnegan’s ocular power into Chibaku Tensei, the gravitational force emanating from the mysterious black sphere in the sky immediately began increasing exponentially.

Rumble—!

The bricks and stone covering the ground shattered apart in massive chunks and were dragged into the sky.

Even the nearby towers began to warp and deform under the immense force. Slowly, they were torn apart, until entire towers seemed to be seized by a pair of invisible giant hands and ripped upward into the air!

In an instant, Killer B, Jiraiya, Fukasaku, Shima, and even the enormous Gamaken were all pulled into the sky, gradually buried beneath countless masses of shattered rock and steel piling together around them.

Killer B, the Eight-Tails jinchuriki.

Jiraiya, one of the Legendary Sannin.

Fukasaku and Shima, the Great Sage Toads of Mount Myoboku.

Every single one of them was a figure renowned throughout the entire shinobi world.

And yet, before a single attack from the Deva Path Pain, none of them had even been able to fight back.

In the blink of an eye, they had all been sealed within Chibaku Tensei.

At that moment, the Deva Path Pain slowly floated into the air and declared indifferently, "Before a god, you mere mortals are insignificant!"

Seeing that the main force that had successfully broken into Amegakure had been dealt with so effortlessly by Pain, Shisui, who was hiding inside a distant tower, could no longer restrain himself.

"Senpai, I have to go save them!"

This time, Hyuga Kagami did not stop him.

Because even he hadn’t expected Pain to deal with Jiraiya and Killer B so easily...