"It's been a while, Hokage Namikaze."
Pain stood dozens of meters away from Minato Namikaze and the others, his expression calm as if old friends had reunited.
If not for the surrounding devastation constantly reminding the three stunned shinobi of what he'd just done, no one would associate this composed figure with the chaos left behind.
"Darn it!"
Guy and Asuma slowly pushed themselves up, their faces twisted with fury.
They longed to shatter this man's skull and avenge the comrades who lay fallen before them.
"Stand down first."
But in the next second, a hand landed on both their shoulders, gently pulling them backward with subtle force.
"Hokage-sama..."
Both turned toward Minato, surprised to see deep shadows covering his face, his eyes so dark they seemed impenetrable.
"I'll handle this. Both of you are still injured."
Minato gazed at Deva Path Pain while explaining to his two subordinates eager to fight.
Outwardly, he kept walking forward, scanning the surroundings where over a thousand troops had been wiped out in an instant. Even someone of Minato's composure struggled to grasp the full weight of this tragedy.
Yet the perpetrator looked so indifferent, igniting his burning rage.
This was completely different from what he experienced back in Konoha. This time, he helplessly watched elite ninjas—his village's pride—slaughtered by enemy jutsu before his very eyes.
Strictly speaking, this might have inflicted even deeper wounds upon him than that previous incident.
"Is this the answer Akatsuki gives to the entire Shinobi World?"
He took one step forward. Chakra surged around him, making his aura solid and tangible.
Though filled with anger inside, Minato maintained his usual gentle tone, slightly laced with sarcasm this time.
While speaking, Minato subtly signaled the two shinobi behind him.
Since Pain is here, Nagato must be nearby.
Based on deduced intelligence, the enemy should fall into the category of being physically immobile, which explained why he always controlled puppets to walk under the sun instead of appearing personally.
If they could locate him earlier, perhaps this battle wouldn't need to drag on like this.
From previous experiences fighting Pain, Minato believed he could either quickly defeat or at least stall them, allowing Guy to track Nagato down from a distance.
Although Guy showed signs of chakra exhaustion now, if he truly unleashed his full strength, he remained an undeniable force on the battlefield.
"Exactly. When dawn breaks, the Shinobi World will change forever. How can one seek peace without first understanding suffering? As commander of this alliance, Minato Namikaze, are you ready?"
Deva Path Pain fixed Minato with a serious gaze.
Around him lay overturned earth, and his words felt like proclaiming the birth of something new.
Sunrays shone from behind, outlining Deva Path with golden edges.
"If you're willing," he continued, glancing around, "you could simply hand over the Jinchūriki of the Nine-Tails. Even I cannot say I welcome such pointless losses."
Minato glared coldly at Deva Path but didn't respond. A faint smile appeared on Deva Path's face, as if he had expected this.
"In that case, I'll just take it myself. But first, better kill you off."
Whoosh—
A whistling sound once again came from the distant sky.
A female figure shot out from beyond the distant mountain peaks, flipping through the air several times before descending in this direction.
Still mid-air, she began forming hand seals at once. Her hair and clothes were disheveled in the wind.
At the moment she touched the ground, her hands slammed onto the surface. Tadpole Characters—ancient summoning markings—instantly spread across the ground.
It's Animal Path!
Minato shifted into an open-legged stance, his body tensed.
White smoke erupted beside Deva Path, and several familiar figures gradually appeared within it.
Unconsciously, his hand gripped the handle of a kunai, ready for anything.
He'd just spotted where Animal Path arrived from—and no doubt Guy had too.
Once the fight between himself and Pain started, Nagato would definitely become distracted—this would be the best time to locate him.
Still, he knew if Nagato truly was as immobile as intelligence suggested, there must be someone guarding him or he was hiding extremely well.
Even more so, the possibility couldn't be ruled out that Nagato's real body wasn't exactly as assumed.
So earlier, the hand signals he gave Guy and Asuma were mainly meant for tracking down Nagato's location—not engaging in battle.
Earlier, upon Minato's signal, Guy and Asuma had both taken a few steps backward, but seeing the multiple Pains appear like this, they still frowned while looking at the Hokage's back.
However, their eyes quickly turned toward the direction where the enemies had arrived.
Could that place be where Nagato was hiding?
They exchanged a look—both saw the same unshakable resolve in each other's eyes.
"Move!"
With a loud shout from Minato, he squatted low and swiftly activated [Flying Thunder God Technique], vanishing from sight.
Before others even realized it, he had already hidden many kunais in various locations, which now allowed him easy movement nearby.
Meanwhile, the other two continued retreating further back, leaping several times until hiding behind some large rocks in the rear, disappearing from Pain's line of sight.
Pain stood motionless, with every individual watching different directions, keeping complete control over their surroundings.
They did not strike first.
Nagato had already deduced Minato's intentions—but he remained unmoved.
Suddenly, a kunai shot forth from an unexpected angle.
Preta Path revealed a slightly fierce grin, then stepped forward one step.
Minato's silhouette appeared next to that kunai, grabbing it and thrusting it directly toward Preta Path.
Covering the kunai was a thin layer of light blue chakra, making it sharper.
Ding—
His movement paused momentarily as the weapon struck the opponent's arm, producing a crisp metallic sound.
Remaining expressionless, he used the momentum to lift his knee aiming straight ahead.
But Preta Path immediately grabbed Minato's arm in response, bending his elbow and locking his shoulder to neutralize the assault.
Deva Path Pain had somehow closed in as well, his gaze locked onto Minato with relentless killing intent surging forth.
He held a black rod in his hand, seemingly unremarkable.
"Hehe."
Faced with the pincer attack from both sides, the restrained Minato suddenly turned into white smoke. The Preta Path paused momentarily, its arms snapping shut empty-handed.
At the same time, the kunai he had been holding unnoticed now appeared behind his opponent.
"Hm?"
The Asura Path standing by narrowed its eyes, sensing something was off.
However, transmitting this information back to Nagato for analysis and then adjusting Preta Path's actions was simply too slow.
After all, Minato was a ninja who mastered the Flying Thunder God Technique.
[Big Ball Rasengan!]
His voice rang out from behind the Preta Path.
Preta Path could absorb ninjutsu — but only if he used his ability actively.
In situations like this, when attacked from behind, there was naturally no way for him to convert the technique into chakra for absorption.
Thus, with a single strike, he was smashed straight into the ground, creating a massive crater. A horn-shaped gaping wound tore open on his chest, scattering shattered mechanical organs across the ground.
After landing this blow, Minato immediately raised his other hand toward the stationary figures nearby, hurling several kunai into the air towards them.
Deva Path's rod was already closing in, and their gazes met for an instant.
But Minato vanished once again from his spot, leaving Deva Path's attack striking empty air.
Reappearing at his original position, a kunai lay deeply embedded in the soil beneath his feet.
Though Deva Path missed his target, almost instantly, he raised his other hand directly toward the reappeared Minato.
With additional "eyes" feeding him visuals, he didn't need to look personally to pinpoint Minato's location.
[Universal Pull!]
A powerful attraction force acted upon the void itself. Minato's body involuntarily tilted forward, pulled toward Deva Path.
Yet how could Minato, having fought him several times before, overlook this signature move?
He had always been on guard for this specific move.
A flash of yellow light streaked past, and Deva Path's technique lost its mark.
Meanwhile, the remaining four Paths spotted the kunai arriving above them and quickly scattered.
Among them, Shura Path aimed its arm at those kunai. Its mechanisms unfolded, launching missiles trailing exhaust fumes that erupted violently, blowing the kunai away.
"This is getting really frustrating!"
Minato's mastery of the Flying Thunder God Technique frustrated Nagato, forcing him to have Deva Path scan the surroundings once again for any trace of his foe.
This time, after vanishing again, Minato reappeared not far from Naraka Path.
Instantly, the rest of the Peins' eyes locked onto his figure.
But combining Body Flicker Technique and Flying Thunder God made him nearly impossible to anticipate.
Minato also knew clearly that Naraka Path was the key component among the assembled Paths.
Although he'd instantly killed Preta Path during their first encounter, as long as Naraka Path remained alive, the enemy could quickly revive.
Having initially caught Nagato off guard, Minato shifted his focus to the Naraka Path.
The kunai he had casually thrown moments ago were meant to scatter the four enemies and create an opening for him to strike.
Nagato didn't disappoint him, following the steps almost exactly as he had predicted.
"You're still being underestimated!"
Nagato instantly grasped Minato's series of moves and couldn't help but softly praise.
From the start, by deploying the Six Paths of Pain, he had already anticipated this passive situation.
After all, with their intelligence fully compromised, the threat level of the Six Paths was naturally reduced dramatically.
Meanwhile, the Naraka Path also "saw" Minato appear behind him.
He did not simply wait for death. Instead, he swung his arm, sending a black rod sliding from his sleeve as he twisted his body to sweep it toward Minato behind him.
But his counterattack and movements appeared naive and sluggish in Minato's eyes.
Minato first crouched low to dodge the black rod's attack, then suddenly accelerated, slamming his right hand into the enemy's chest.
The Rasengan exploded violently. The opponent's body stiffened instantaneously before being blasted forcefully backward.
Similar to the Preta Path earlier, the only difference being that the explosion now blew open the back of the Naraka Path.
Ninjas were natural fighters with high offensive power but relatively weak defense. Even though the Six Paths were custom-made puppets under Nagato's control, except for Deva Path, their durability wasn't particularly strong.
What's more, Minato's attacks packed incredible force—one clean hit was enough to disable an enemy entirely.
After attacking the Naraka Path, he didn't continue his assault but chose to retreat instead.
This consecutive offensive consumed a massive amount of his chakra and energy, so after retreating, he squatted halfway on the ground, panting heavily.
Two seemingly simple strikes took down two of the more dangerous members among the Six Paths:
One capable of "resurrecting" other teammates, the other able to absorb ninjutsu chakra to provide powerful protection for allies.
"We must limit his movement range. We can't let him run wild like this anymore."
Nagato murmured thoughtfully.
"Looks like I'll be claiming your body for myself. Compared to the fabled White Fang of Konoha, a man once thought unbeatable, you still fall short."
Sasori's voice echoed through the forest, where the surrounding ground remained pitted and continuously released white smoke, bearing signs of an intense battle that had just taken place.
Facing him, Kakashi was covered head to toe in wounds, looking quite battered.
"Don't talk big," Kakashi muttered darkly, clearly drained of strength as he spoke.
"Hehe, a tough-talking fool," Sasori sneered.
Chakra threads at Sasori's chest vibrated slightly, and the puppet version of Terumi Mei immediately spat another thick yellow liquid forward.
Its pungent stench and strong corrosiveness made Kakashi frown deeply.
Forcing himself to focus, he leapt aside—but just as he moved, Han struck preemptively from the other side.
Even though he had lost an arm in the earlier fight against Kakashi, as a puppet, Han remained fully capable of continuing the battle.
Steam rose from his fists into the air as he struck Kakashi mid-air and sent him flying.
This punch was extremely heavy, and Kakashi's body instantly became deformed from the impact.
"Phew!"
A mouthful of blood spewed from his mouth.
His body also flew backward from the impact, crashing heavily into a rock behind him, causing countless cracks to appear on the rock's surface.
Kakashi clutched his chest. His entire body had lost all strength, and he could only slowly slide to the ground.
On the other side, Sasori kept pressing forward, controlling his puppet as it approached.
His gaze shifted toward the White Fang Tanto not far away; because of the earlier battle, the tanto had been knocked onto the ground. At this moment, he was unarmed, facing what seemed like an unavoidable doom.
Most importantly, he had not only reached his limit but also suffered severe injuries, making it impossible to even think about fighting back.
"Well then… so it ends here."
Sasori had already lost interest in continuing to toy with Kakashi—once the fun fades, everything becomes boring.
Moreover, the battle commotion from Kakuzu's side had also disappeared, likely signaling its conclusion—Sasori naturally couldn't afford to lag behind.
Thus, the puppet Han leaped high into the air, its steam output reaching peak levels, as its elbow lifted, targeting Kakashi who was unable to move on the ground.
"Hmm?"
Suddenly, he turned his head toward a certain direction, eyes showing a trace of confusion.
It seemed like it was Kakuzu's chakra signature.
But why was it so weak, and why was it fleeing in this direction?
Before he could continue guessing, that familiar chakra surged over.
Swish—
A figure burst out from within the trees—it was indeed Kakuzu.
After a brief pause, the figure spotted him and immediately charged straight in his direction.
Following closely behind Kakuzu were four Konoha ninja.
The few ninjas also noticed Sasori not far ahead, their expressions flickering with surprise.
However, they soon noticed Kakashi not far ahead of Sasori, and their expressions immediately changed.
Kakashi's condition didn't seem good at all, so they accelerated their pace, abandoning further pursuit of Kakuzu, instead adjusting their route into a curved path as they ran toward Kakashi.
"No one can stop me!"
Sasori quickly took action by controlling Han to attack.
He certainly wouldn't let his prey escape now that it was within reach.
But suddenly, one of the Konoha ninja appearing alongside Sasori vanished from the front of the group, a black shadow flashed past, and Kakashi disappeared from the spot.
[Shifting Body Technique]?
So fast!
Sasori's pupils slightly contracted.
Han's attack lagged just half a beat, smashing the ground and the boulder where Kakashi had stood moments ago into pieces.
Now free from pursuit, Kakuzu finally managed to reach Sasori's side safely.
"What happened to you? You look so disheveled!"
Firstly, his eyes swept over the figure who had rescued Kakashi earlier, then he stiffly spoke to Sasori.
If it weren't for Kakuzu's arrival, Kakashi would absolutely have died just now.
"I encountered some unexpected problems. The enemy is very powerful—it's the current clan leader of the Uchiha, Fugaku Uchiha."
Kakuzu looked warily toward the opposing Fugaku Uchiha, lips dry, multiple wounds evident on his body, his chakra presence particularly weak.
"That guy is also another ninja who masters the Mangekyo Sharingan—I think we should retreat first rather than stubbornly resist. My current condition isn't good at all."
He took a breath and continued.
"Damn it, that was too close."
Sasori was furious but also cautious — Fugaku Uchiha had clearly been more than a match for Kakuzu.
They had assumed Kakuzu's side wouldn't have any mishaps, yet unexpectedly they were nearly wiped out in the end — this was where their entire plan had gone wrong.
"Are you alright, Kakashi?"
Fugaku activated the Mangekyou's power to enhance his Body Flicker Technique, rescuing Kakashi from enemy attacks.
Right now, he supported the severely injured Kakashi with his body while asking aloud.
"I'm fine. Thank you, Lord Fugaku."
Kakashi barely managed to keep his eyes open, forcing a weak smile as blood kept streaming from his mouth and wounds.
If it weren't for Lord Fugaku, I'd have been dead meat from that attack.
"Captain!"
The other three ninjas rushed over one by one and took position beside them.
The group warily watched the two Akatsuki members standing opposite them, protecting Kakashi in the center.
"Sasori of Red Sand!"
They recognized the enemy's identity, and many of their gazes fell upon those two puppets that clearly looked extraordinary.
Even someone as strong as Kakashi had ended up like this — clear proof of the enemy's strength.
"Can you still move?"
Fixing their gaze on the enemy side, Fugaku slowly let go of his hands, handing Kakashi over to the others.
As the strongest combatant, he naturally needed to keep his hands free for battle.
Kakuzu's heart had already been reduced to just one remaining, having suffered serious injuries as well, so his offensive capability had dropped to its minimum.
On their side, the remaining four were still mostly in fighting condition, giving them a decent chance against the enemy.
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