On the battlefield of Kiri village.
The Six Paths of Pain encountered resistance from the Edo Army.
These Edo bodies were almost all legendary strong warriors (Kage-level) from throughout the history of the shinobi world, including even legendary ninja like the First Hokage.
Currently, both Asura Path and Animal Path were engaged in fierce struggles. Preta Path, on the other hand, hadn't encountered any Edo Army yet, so his situation was much better.
As for the remaining three—Deva Path and others—they had clashed with Kiri's Anbu Black Ops. After a fierce battle, the enemy was decisively defeated—many were killed, many others wounded.
At this moment, a surviving Kiri Anbu knelt on the ground, dazed and motionless.
Behind him stood Human Path, pressing one hand firmly onto the Anbu's head.
[Heart Layer Infiltration]
This was Human Path's special ability—requiring no machines whatsoever. Simply placing a hand on the target's head allowed direct access to their thoughts, far surpassing ordinary Sensor ninjas in interrogation effectiveness.
Within just a few seconds,
Human Path obtained the information he needed. Then, raising his hand, he brutally yanked the Anbu's soul straight from his body, instantly killing him.
"Madara Uchiha is hiding in the basement beneath the Mizukage building at the center of Kiri. Nagato must be there too."
Human Path thought to himself.
As the trio prepared to set off toward the Mizukage building, they suddenly froze mid-step.
Another expert had appeared—the Preta Path had been defeated.
And it was a crushing defeat, an overwhelming domination that left no room for resistance.
Their opponent was a mysterious old man leaning on a cane, wearing sunglasses, and carrying a turtle shell on his back.
Receiving this report, Nagato quickly made a decision—he could no longer afford to remain scattered. All Pain bodies must regroup immediately and consolidate their strength.
A dozen seconds later.
Whoosh!
Animal Path arrived first and joined up with the other three Pain bodies. However, he looked quite battered—his long hair was disheveled, and one arm had been severed.
That wasn't surprising; he had been up against none other than the Ninja God Hashirama Senju and the Second Hokage Tobirama Senju. Although those two were in Edo form and lacked their former glory, they were still formidable opponents.
His severed arm had been hacked off by Tobirama during a chaotic clash. He had summoned numerous beasts to counter Hashirama's wooden golem technique at that time.
"Boom! Boom!"
Upon arrival, Animal Path immediately performed [Hand Seal] using his only remaining hand, slamming it onto the ground and summoning more Pains.
One of them was Asura Path. As the firepower specialist among the Six Pains, he had previously been brutally beaten by Mist's Gold and Silver brothers alongside the Second Raikage. His mechanical puppet body was nearly shattered beyond repair—far worse off than Animal Path.
And Preta Path? Even worse.
He had become nothing more than a pile of twitching flesh fragments, completely unrecognizable as human.
Seeing this, Naraka Path stepped forward, activating his ability and summoning King of Hell, who could control life and death.
The King of Hell stood several meters tall, opening its massive mouth wide as it extended a long purple tongue tipped with a hand. It swallowed the injured Animal Path, Preta Path, and Asura Path one by one, then began chewing them repeatedly.
Not long after,
It spat them out again—completely repaired and restored.
Beasts Path's severed arm had regenerated, and Asura Path was also fully restored to combat readiness.
This was the terrifying thing about the Six Paths of Pain—so long as they couldn't all be destroyed at once, Pain could resurrect them endlessly, like an unstoppable perpetual motion machine.
In the original timeline, Jiraiya in Sage Mode had exhausted himself just to destroy three of Pain's bodies, only to see them instantly repaired moments later.
Such despair was unimaginable.
But soon enough, something unexpected occurred before Nagato's eyes.
The Preta Path had taken the worst beating and needed the most time to heal. However, after King of Hell spat it out, even though it appeared fully recovered, the Preta Path suddenly began mutating again.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Its body swelled rapidly, distorting and splitting its facial features and limbs. As the other five Pains stared in shock, it morphed into a hulking beast.
Crash!
Finally, the Preta Path's cells divided beyond their limit, exploding into countless fragments that rained down like hail across the battlefield.
"That old man Heiyan with the turtle shell isn't an ordinary ninja. His chakra contains a strange power—if you face him, be careful..."
Nagato analyzed inwardly.
At this moment, Heiyan's Sage persona had become Nagato's second greatest threat, just beneath Madara Uchiha.
Nagato abandoned the Preta Path.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
With five members remaining, the Six Paths of Pain entered what was arguably their strongest formation. While the Impure World Reincarnation forces were still en route, they surged straight toward the Mizukage building, ready to strike at the enemy's core.
After Pain left.
Swish!
Tobirama Senju reappeared on the empty battlefield.
Earlier during the battle, when he severed the Beasts Path's arm, he had placed a Flying Thunder God formula on the body before intentionally letting it escape.
Just now, he had been hiding within nearby ruins, personally witnessing the Six Paths of Pain reunite. He saw all six with Rinnegan eyes, watched the Naraka Path heal its comrades, and witnessed the Preta Path explode before him.
"Six people possessing Rinnegans? That's unbelievable. No… Judging from their actions and behaviors, there seems to be some kind of coordination—as if these six were actually clones of a single person..."
Tobirama quickly formed his analysis based on what he observed.
In his opinion, the Rinnegan wasn't something common like cabbage leaves. Even Madara Uchiha endured great hardship to awaken a single pair—how could these six possess them so easily? Therefore, Tobirama boldly deduced that these six were in fact one individual, likely using some powerful ability granted by the Rinnegan to create this illusion.
"Regardless of who the enemy is or why they invaded Hidden Mist, perhaps… he could defeat Madara Uchiha and finally set us free—from the curse of Impure World Reincarnation that binds our souls."
Thought Tobirama silently to himself.
Just then, his body suddenly stiffened, and his eyes lost their luster once more.
It wasn't just Tobirama—across Hidden Mist, every single Impure World Reincarnation puppet was seized by Madara's will at that very instant.
Using Rain Tiger at Will Technique, Madara located all enemy positions and manipulated the Edo corpses into action, precisely intercepting invaders and concentrating forces to eliminate intruders.
The Six Paths of Pain soon arrived outside the Mizukage building. There stood Uchiha Madara's Elephant Path Clone, already crossing his arms and waiting patiently.
"It's indeed the Rinnegan..."
When Madara Uchiha saw the eyes of the five Pains, even he himself couldn't remain calm.
No, that is impossible.
To awaken the Rinnegan, one must simultaneously possess the power of both the Uchiha and the Senju—more precisely, an Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan combined with Hashirama cells. Even then, awakening it would require a long passage of time.
Such harsh conditions had only ever been met by Uchiha Madara alone throughout over a thousand years of shinobi history.
Therefore, upon seeing the Six Paths of Pain, Madara Uchiha himself was utterly perplexed. These people seemed to materialize out of thin air.
As Madara Uchiha examined the Six Paths of Pain, Nagato, through the perspectives of his six puppets, also observed Uchiha Madara.
"The current year is Konoha 38. As a figure from the Warring States period, even if Madara were still alive, he wouldn't be this young. It seems he has used the Elephant Rotation Clone Jutsu; just like Nagato, his original body remains hidden in the shadows while controlling these clones."
Nagato, familiar with the abilities of the Rinnegan, quickly made an accurate judgment.
At this moment, beneath the tense and deadly atmosphere before the Mizukage building, Madara Uchiha spoke first.
"I will give you only one chance to live. Tell me your identities, your organization, and your purpose for attacking Mist. Otherwise, death will be your only outcome."
He said coldly, exuding absolute authority.
"What you just said is exactly what I want to say to you."
Deva Path replied equally emotionless, like a superior being speaking in a frigid, indifferent tone toward Madara. "Surrender, Nagato-boy, and we may spare your life."
"It seems there's no room for negotiation."
Upon hearing those words, Madara Uchiha lowered his arms, his gaze brimming with killing intent.
Pain's response was even more direct—asura Path launched a direct assault, rushing toward Madara like an arrow released from its bowstring.
Just at that moment—
Todoroki!
Two figures descended from the heavens like a mountain collapsing, unleashing powerful gusts of air that instantly suppressed and crushed the Asura Path underfoot.
Tobirama Senju had arrived using the Flying Thunder God Technique, bringing Hashirama Senju with him.
"Try challenging me if you can survive them first."
Madara Uchiha sneered playfully, lightly leaping onto the rooftop of the Mizukage building, overlooking the battlefield below.
Clearly, he intended to use the two strongest Impure World Reincarnation Puppet—First and Second Hokage—as test subjects to gauge his opponent's depth while exhausting their strength.
"The two previous Hokages of Konoha, huh? Indeed, they're qualified enough to face me. Having the opportunity to fight against them isn't too bad either."
From a cave outside Mist, Nagato murmured to himself.
Since these two were blocking the way, he'd just have to defeat them. It might cost some extra time, but nothing too burdensome.
Nagato felt no worry about losing to Uchiha Madara, for he believed confidently that he had developed the Rinnegan's powers to their fullest extent—a level Madara had yet to reach.
Thus,
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Deva Path took the lead, followed closely by the rest of the Pains, charging directly toward Hashirama and Tobirama.
[Monster Strength]!
Powerful gusts of wind blasted forth from the two Hokages once more, striking from both sides in a direct attempt to take down Deva Path.
Deva Path neither dodged nor retreated but instead spread his arms wide and coldly uttered four words:
"[Shinra Tensei!]"
Boom!
With that, the battle exploded into chaos.
Meanwhile,
Near the Mizukage building,
Obito Uchiha stood on a rooftop, watching from afar the battle between the Six Paths of Pain and Madara Uchiha.
Yes, he had come again.
Originally, Obito had decided to remain hidden and play it safe inside a cave. However, thinking about potentially missing such an incredible spectacle, he eventually couldn't resist and came out.
But he was about to live to regret that choice.
Hmm?
Suddenly, Obito sensed a strong danger instinctively activating Kamui, rendering himself intangible.
The next second,
Boom!
The floor beneath him was punched through by the Second Raikage, who broke through the hole and charged straight up. A towering figure covered in lightning—it was indeed the Second Raikage.
Alongside him were King and Silver, brothers who wielded ninja tools inherited from the Sage of Six Paths.
"I just wanted to see some action; is it really necessary to make such a big fuss over this?"
Obito couldn't help but mutter under his breath. But before he could finish speaking, the Second Raikage charged at him like a wild bull.
They launched into a brutal clash.
Elsewhere,
Heiyan stopped walking, looking toward the two figures standing before him.
One was the Second Tsuchikage Onoki, entirely wrapped in bandages with dual swords sticking out behind his back. The other was the Second Mizukage Gengetsu Hozuki, wearing a high-collared cloak, yellow long hair, and a small mustache.
Whoosh!
Without saying a word, Onoki drew both katanas from behind him and slashed fiercely at Heiyan with lightning speed.
Calmly responding, Heiyan infused chakra into his cane, transforming it into a long blade covered in spiky protrusions, meeting Onoki's attack head-on.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Within moments, they exchanged dozens of blows—neither gaining the upper hand.
In close combat, Onoki possessed two abilities.
First, he could sense movements in his enemy's chakra flow, enabling him to dodge attacks swiftly. Second, he could split both his body and chakra without forming hand seals, creating physical clones for unexpected ambushes and surround attacks to bring his enemies to their doom.
Yet despite his strength, Onoki struggled to take down the old man before him.
Having transformed into the Sage Transformation, Heiyan possessed astonishing defense. Even when struck directly by Onoki's katana, only faint white marks were left upon his skin.
Furthermore, one shouldn't forget that under the armor, Heiyan possessed the Peak Sage Transformation—his terrifying physical strength was precisely where his true might lay.
"Even though he's clearly an old man leaning on a cane, his movements are unexpectedly agile."
Gengetsu Hozuki, observing nearby, commented thoughtfully while stroking his chin.
Because of Gengetsu's naturally combative disposition, encountering a powerful enemy always made him eager to fight. Knowing this mindset well, Madara didn't completely suppress him but allowed partial consciousness to remain, so he could perform better in battle.
Taking advantage of Onoki's clash with the Sage, Gengetsu remained active as well, forming a summoning seal and invoking a technique to summon forth a massive clam.
[Magic·Qi-filled Tower!]
As soon as the clam appeared, it spewed out a massive area of thick fog from its antennae, creating a mirage that covered nearly half of Mist and engulfing both fighters inside.
It's time to end this.
After noticing Gengetsu Hozuki's subtle movements, Heiyan lost interest in continuing the skirmish with the two opponents. After a brief exchange, he decided to unleash his true power.
As he clashed with Onoki, he raised his right arm and activated partial Sage Mode. With his fist charged full of Natural Energy, he hurled a powerful punch forward.
[Sage Art: Monster Strength]
Boom.
Terrifying air currents expanded outward, not only destroying all of Onoki's clones ahead but also sending his original body flying back, nearly collapsing.
"Dust Release: Scattering Beyond Graduation!"
After barely stabilizing his posture, Onoki unleashed his ultimate move without hesitation. Flying into the air, he created a translucent cylindrical barrier with both hands, which shot toward Heiyan at incredible speed, enclosing him inside.
When triggered, Dust Release breaks the target down into atoms, reducing them to ash in a violent explosion.
Heiyan's eyes narrowed. He removed the Kara from his back and flung it high into the air.
Swish swish swish.
Spinning rapidly, the Kara quickly expanded, reaching a diameter of more than ten meters. With a shell close to being absolutely unbreakable, it forcefully pried open Onoki's cylindrical Dust Release.
Then, under Onoki's astonished gaze, the giant tortoise shell soared into the sky and came crashing down like a massive dome, sealing him inside as it rapidly shrank.
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