Chapter 355: Hanging by a Thread

Chapter 355: Chapter 355: Hanging by a Thread

Gazing at the enormous sphere suspended high in the sky, still growing larger by the second, Hyuga Kagami’s expression turned grave as he murmured to himself, "Perhaps even I underestimated Nagato..."

The scene before him undoubtedly proved one thing: when Nagato went all out, he was simply not someone an ordinary Kage-level shinobi could contend with.

Under a single Chibaku Tensei from the Deva Path Pain, Jiraiya—whom Hyuga Kagami had placed such high hopes on—had been rendered completely powerless, showing none of the dominance with which he had defeated three of the Six Paths of Pain in the original timeline.

Even Killer B, the Eight-Tails’ jinchūriki, had been sealed away without the slightest chance to struggle. Before he could even display the true strength of a perfect jinchūriki, he had already been completely suppressed.

Lowering his gaze, Hyuga Kagami carefully examined a building in the distance.

As Akatsuki’s headquarters, the central area of Amegakure was covered with a large number of sealing formulas. These sealing formulas could not only block the long-range perception of sensory-type shinobi, but could also interfere with the Byakugan’s reconnaissance capabilities. As a result, even with the Byakugan, there were many areas Hyuga Kagami could not see through at a glance.

Even so, Hyuga Kagami was far from helpless.

Based on the distribution pattern of these sealing formulas, as well as Konan’s position in the sky, his extensive experience quickly allowed him to narrow Nagato’s possible hiding places down to several locations.

And the building he was currently observing was the most likely one among them.

"Could it be there?"

Hyuga Kagami’s expression grew even more solemn.

The situation had completely deviated from his expectations. There was now a massive gap in his calculations regarding their combat strength. Their side no longer had enough power to hold back the Six Paths of Pain, divert Nagato’s attention, and drain his chakra.

Therefore, he would probably only have one chance to launch his surprise attack at his leisure. If he guessed wrong, then he would have no choice but to fight Nagato head-on!

At that moment, Shisui, who had already left the tower where Hyuga Kagami was hiding, circled around to the opposite side to avoid exposing Kagami’s position. Then, using the gravitational pull of Chibaku Tensei, he suddenly leaped toward the enormous sphere suspended in the sky.

The Deva Path Pain, floating in midair, quickly noticed Shisui.

However, Shisui was currently dressed as a Konoha ANBU and was wearing a mask. Because of this, Pain assumed he was merely another Konoha ANBU who had been caught in the gravitational pull of Chibaku Tensei. He paid him little attention and made no additional move against him.

After all, in Nagato’s eyes, an ordinary ANBU wasn’t even worth taking seriously.

But the instant Shisui was pulled onto the surface of the enormous sphere by Chibaku Tensei, he activated his Mangekyō Sharingan without hesitation and unleashed his Susanoo.

In an instant, an emerald-green phantom erupted from his body!

"Uchiha Shisui...?"

The Deva Path Pain frowned, immediately guessing Shisui’s identity.

With his Susanoo activated, Shisui completely ignored the Deva Path Pain nearby. Instead, he pushed his Mangekyō Sharingan to its limit, continuously pouring its ocular power into his Susanoo.

Under that tremendous influx of power, Shisui manifested the largest Susanoo he had ever unleashed in his life.

"ROAR...!"

With a thunderous roar, the emerald-green Susanoo, resembling a towering deity, grew another size larger. Its form, which had previously consisted of only an upper body, gradually manifested a complete set of limbs.

Possessing all four limbs was a sign that a Susanoo was approaching its Complete Body form.

Although Shisui’s current Susanoo still had an obvious gap compared to a true Complete Body Susanoo, reaching this stage was already exceedingly rare.

From atop the tower, Hyuga Kagami watched the scene with growing concern for Shisui.

Shisui’s Sharingan were only ordinary Mangekyō Sharingan. Once their ocular power was excessively depleted, it could not be restored. By recklessly pushing himself this hard, Shisui could very well end up completely blind.

After pushing his Susanoo to its absolute limit, Shisui panted heavily as he controlled it and began digging into the enormous sphere with its bare hands.

Because he was worried about injuring Jiraiya and the others sealed inside, he did not dare use the spiral-shaped sword wielded by his Susanoo. Fortunately, the Susanoo itself was enormous, so even digging with its bare hands was remarkably fast. After only a few strikes, it had already carved a large opening into the massive sphere.

Through the opening, Shisui spotted a head of white hair and saw half of Jiraiya’s body exposed. Overjoyed, he shouted, "Lord Jiraiya, hold on a little longer! I’ll get you out right away!"

Jiraiya, still restrained by Chibaku Tensei, was equally delighted. He quickly warned, "Be careful!"

BOOM...

The instant Jiraiya finished speaking, Shisui and his Susanoo suddenly staggered, nearly sent flying away by an inexplicable force.

Fortunately, one hand of Shisui’s Susanoo was gripping the edge of the opening in the enormous sphere with all its strength, allowing it to barely steady itself.

"Hm...?"

Not far away, the Deva Path Pain let out a faint sound of surprise.

Without a doubt, that attack just now had been the Deva Path Pain’s Shinra Tensei. However, Pain had clearly underestimated the strength of Shisui’s Susanoo, so his casual attack had failed to achieve its intended effect.

Knowing that Pain would not give him another opportunity, Shisui made an immediate decision. He controlled his Susanoo and swung its spiral sword, driving it fiercely into the enormous sphere and instantly carving away a massive section of it.

Shisui’s strike not only completely freed Jiraiya and the two Toad Sages beside him, but also exposed half of Killer B’s body.

"Just one more strike!"

Gritting his teeth, Shisui prepared to swing his sword once more.

Seeing that his previous attack had failed to knock Shisui’s Susanoo away, the Deva Path Pain simply abandoned Shinra Tensei and brought his hands together once more.

In an instant, the Rinnegan’s ocular power, which had stopped flowing into the technique, was once again poured into the core of Chibaku Tensei.

The enormous sphere suspended in the sky—which had been constantly shedding chunks of rock and debris and was already showing faint signs of breaking apart—immediately began to condense once more. Even the fragments of stone that had already fallen through the air suddenly reversed direction, soaring upward again before being drawn back onto the enormous sphere.

Shisui, standing directly on the sphere’s surface, bore the brunt of the sudden gravitational force and was violently dragged to the ground.

His Susanoo struggled desperately against it, but even the colossal spectral warrior was forced down beneath the overwhelming pull of Chibaku Tensei, dropping onto one knee.

Seeing that everyone was about to be sealed inside Chibaku Tensei once again, Killer B, with no hope of escaping himself, steeled his heart and unleashed all of his chakra.

BOOM...

As Killer B released his power, eight enormous tails resembling octopus tentacles instantly erupted from his body!

Then, using his own body embedded within the enormous sphere as an anchor, Killer B suddenly stretched out all eight tails and, with all his strength, hurled Jiraiya, the two Toad Sages, and Shisui away.

With the tremendous force of Killer B’s brief eruption of power, Jiraiya, the two Toad Sages, and Shisui narrowly escaped the effective range of Chibaku Tensei, each of them falling back to the ground.

"Huff... huff..."

After landing, everyone began gasping heavily for breath.

Jiraiya and the two Toad Sages were in an extremely battered state, while Shisui, who had already dispelled his Susanoo, was completely exhausted. Even remaining on his feet was becoming difficult.

Looking up at Killer B, who had once again disappeared after being sealed within the enormous sphere, and then at Shisui beside him, whose legs were trembling so badly that he could barely stand, Jiraiya understood the situation clearly.

If he were caught by another Chibaku Tensei, there probably wouldn’t be anyone left who could rescue him.

He immediately turned to the two Toad Sages beside him and said, "You two, begin!"

Fukasaku and Shima immediately adopted solemn expressions and leaped onto Jiraiya’s shoulders.

As sages blessed with extraordinarily long lifespans, Fukasaku and Shima had experienced countless battles and witnessed many formidable shinobi throughout the ninja world.

Aside from Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha—the two men who founded Konoha and established the shinobi village system—the Akatsuki leader before them, who possessed the Rinnegan, was probably the strongest shinobi the two of them had ever encountered.

Facing an opponent of such overwhelming strength, they knew that the slightest lapse in concentration could cost them their lives. So the moment they landed on Jiraiya’s shoulders, they immediately activated the senjutsu technique, Sage Art: Amphibian Technique!

Jiraiya also brought his hands together, cooperating with the two Toad Sages.

During this process, Jiraiya could not use any ninjutsu that required hand seals. He had to keep his hands clasped together until they had gathered enough natural energy.

At this moment, battles were raging all around Amegakure. Nagato clearly had no intention of wasting time slowly entangling himself with Jiraiya, so the Deva Path Pain extended a hand toward Jiraiya on the ground and said coldly, "Jiraiya-sensei, give up. You cannot contend with a god!"

Jiraiya shouted, "Yahiko! I don’t know what the three of you have been through, but I know that what you’re doing is wrong! Turn back!"

"Wrong?" The Deva Path Pain snorted coldly. "From this moment onward, I will be the one who decides what is right and what is wrong!"

Jiraiya said with anguish, "Don’t lose yourselves in your power! I know this isn’t who you truly are."

Konan, floating in the sky, spoke coldly, "You, the strong, have grown accustomed to ordering the weak around. But now that someone stronger has appeared and you have become the weak, you suddenly tell us not to lose ourselves in power.

"Jiraiya-sensei, if we had no power, would we even have the right to stand here and speak to you as equals? Are shinobi from small villages like us simply supposed to accept whatever fate the Five Great Shinobi Villages bestow upon us? Is any attempt to resist an unforgivable act of evil?"

Jiraiya looked at Konan. "But you’re the ones starting a war now!"

The Deva Path Pain shook his head and replied calmly, "No. We are merely establishing a new order for the shinobi world."

"Yahiko, Konan, it’s still not too late to stop!" After a brief pause, Jiraiya pleaded earnestly, "You were both children who lived through war. You should understand better than anyone just how destructive war can be. That kind of pain takes an entire generation to heal. Do you really want to see even more children in the shinobi world become orphans just like you?"

A trace of sorrow appeared on Konan’s face.

But there was not the slightest hint of hesitation in her eyes.

The moment Yahiko died, Konan had understood that dialogue and mutual understanding could never bring about true, lasting peace.

If they wanted enduring peace, then the only way was to deter the world through overwhelming power!

That was why Nagato intended to gather all nine Tailed Beasts, revive the Ten-Tails, and create an ultimate weapon capable of destroying an entire nation with a single strike, forcing the chaotic shinobi world to maintain everlasting peace beneath the threat of the Ten-Tails.

The Deva Path Pain also paused for a moment before replying indifferently, "That would merely be a brief period of pain."

Seeing that neither the Deva Path Pain nor Konan had any intention of being persuaded, Jiraiya could only ask, "What about Nagato? Where is he? Is he still alive? Why do you have his Rinnegan?"

"Nagato..." the Deva Path Pain murmured before answering, "Nagato died many years ago."

Deep within Nagato’s heart, the person he had once been had already died alongside Yahiko.

The Nagato who remained was nothing more than a ghost who had inherited Yahiko’s dying wish—a puppet willing to resort to any means necessary to bring the peace Yahiko had dreamed of to the shinobi world.

Jiraiya asked in confusion, "But... then why are there so many pairs of Rinnegan?"

"Our reunion ends here!"

With that, the Deva Path Pain slowly descended to the ground and began walking toward Jiraiya.

Jiraiya immediately went on guard.

He still needed more time before he could enter Sage Mode, so he had to stall for just a little longer.

With the Rinnegan, the Deva Path Pain could vaguely sense that the two Toad Sages on Jiraiya’s shoulders were absorbing the natural energy dispersed throughout the surrounding air. Moreover, the Hokage, Raikage, and Kazekage were still fighting on the outskirts of Amegakure and all three were troublesome opponents.

Therefore, the Deva Path Pain had no intention of wasting any more time on Jiraiya.

He immediately shouted, "Bansho Ten’in!"

The sudden gravitational pull immediately dragged Jiraiya toward the Deva Path Pain.

Having already suffered from the technique once before, Jiraiya was prepared this time. He immediately jerked his head and shouted, "Ninja Art: Wild Lion’s Mane!"

In an instant, Jiraiya’s white hair expanded dramatically, splitting into several thick strands that drove themselves firmly into the ground, anchoring him in place and stopping his body from flying toward the Deva Path Pain.

At that moment, the Deva Path Pain flicked his arm, and two black rods shot out from his sleeve.

Holding the black rods in his hands, the Deva Path Pain slowly walked toward Jiraiya.

At the same time, one figure after another descended from the sky, surrounding Jiraiya from every direction.

Jiraiya swept his gaze around him, and his expression changed drastically.

Five figures had descended from above.

Including the Deva Path Pain walking toward him, there were six in total—and every single one of them possessed the same ripple-patterned Rinnegan.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Amid a succession of sharp sounds tearing through the air, all Six Paths of Pain attacked at once, launching a ferocious assault on Jiraiya.

With his hands still clasped together, Jiraiya could only rely on Ninja Art: Wild Lion’s Mane to barely defend himself. But with all Six Paths of Pain attacking simultaneously, the sheer ferocity of their offensive surpassed anything he had ever faced before.

In only a few breaths, several attacks landed squarely on him before he was sent flying with a brutal kick.

Shisui, who tried to rush forward and assist Jiraiya, was also struck by a kick from the Asura Path and knocked to the ground.

Seeing that Jiraiya was still keeping his hands clasped together even after being knocked down, the Deva Path Pain said disdainfully, "Jiraiya-sensei, I know you’re preparing some kind of secret technique. But it seems you’re not ready yet, and apparently you can’t separate your hands either.

"Hmph. Facing me in that state, I doubt you’ll even last another minute!"

BOOM...

At that moment, amid a thunderous explosion, Kakashi and Guy burst out of the smoke in a sorry state.

Close behind them, the enormous centipede with black rods embedded all over its body relentlessly pursued them.

The Deva Path Pain glanced at the fleeing Kakashi and Guy and said indifferently, "All the rats have gathered. Then I’ll dispose of you all at once!"

The other five Paths of Pain immediately rushed toward Kakashi and Guy.

Because Kakashi had not known the Preta Path’s abilities beforehand, he had already suffered serious injuries, so he was quickly overwhelmed and knocked down.

Guy, on the other hand, managed to hold out for quite some time after opening the Eight Gates. In the end, it took all five Paths of Pain working together to finally subdue him.

Seeing every last reinforcement struck down, Jiraiya’s heart sank into despair.

"Damn it... I was so close!"

The Deva Path Pain walked up to Jiraiya and pointed the black rod in his hand directly at him.

"Jiraiya-sensei, it’s over!"

At the same time, the Animal Path pointed a black rod at Shisui, the Preta Path aimed one at Kakashi, and the Asura Path pointed another at Guy.

Every one of their lives was hanging by a thread.

Thud! Thud! Thud!...

Just when everyone believed that death was inevitable, something completely unexpected happened.

The Six Paths of Pain—including the Deva Path—suddenly seemed to lose consciousness.

At almost exactly the same moment, all six collapsed to the ground...