Jiraiya had fully entered Sage Mode.
Vincent nodded. He could feel it. Jiraiya's aura had undergone an earth-shaking transformation, his presence like a completely different person. If Jiraiya's strength had been a "one" before, it was now well above a "two."
High above, the Animal Path felt it as well.
"Master Jiraiya didn't just summon a pair of toads," Shima muttered, puzzled as she glanced at Jiraiya. "Why do you insist on fighting him?"
"Because he was once my student," Jiraiya answered honestly.
On his shoulder, Fukasaku's face shifted dramatically. "The Child of Prophecy?!" He remembered the Great Toad Sage's prediction.
Jiraiya gave a small nod. Fukasaku turned his gaze on the Animal Path and said solemnly, "So he did not walk the right path after all. Then we end it here."
Shima struck first. Her mouth opened and from her long tongue a second mouth seemed to bloom, spewing an inferno of flame.
The Animal Path swiftly performed another summoning. A hulking bear materialized before him, blocking the flames.
Fukasaku didn't stay idle. He joined his partner in their husband-and-wife assault.
"Water Slash!"
A jet of pressurized water burst from his mouth, cleaving the burning bear clean in two.
Unfazed, the Animal Path clapped his hands again.
"Summoning!"
Smoke enveloped him, and when it cleared two new figures stood by his side.
"What in the world…" Jiraiya's eyes widened. He looked at the twin silhouettes and could not immediately grasp what had happened.
"They look like more of Pain's summons," Vincent said, frowning. Then his expression hardened. "And they have the Rinnegan too."
"What?"
Jiraiya's heart lurched. He looked again and saw it himself. Both new arrivals bore those same pale violet eyes, concentric black rings radiating outward, their very gaze enough to make the world spin.
"Whatever you are, if your goal is to destroy the world, then I will destroy you first!" Jiraiya shouted, squaring his stance without hesitation.
Vincent stood beside him, scrutinizing the newcomers. Recognition clicked immediately.
"The Preta Path… and the Human Path," Vincent muttered under his breath. Memories of their abilities surfaced clearly in his mind.
One specialized in reading memories, an intelligence gatherer. The other absorbed chakra, the strongest defense among the Six Paths of Pain.
Vincent chose not to tell Jiraiya directly. Best to keep suspicions at bay.
"Jiraiya, whatever they do, don't let them close to you," he called instead.
"Got it."
Jiraiya nodded firmly.
"Little Jiraiya, who is this?" Shima asked, gesturing to Vincent.
"A Leaf shinobi. My partner," Jiraiya replied.
"I see." Fukasaku nodded, then turned back to their foes. "Then it is my turn to join in."
Jiraiya suddenly began waving his hands and hopping in place on one leg, chanting:
"Now with sage arts in place of jutsu, under heaven's canopy, the gallant Jiraiya"
Pow!
Both Shima and Fukasaku's fists cracked into his face. "Stop shouting nonsense in our ears!"
"My entrance ruined again…" Jiraiya groaned pitifully.
Vincent rubbed his temple, speechless. He thought to himself that Jiraiya might be better suited to a children's theater, where no one would interrupt his dramatic entrances.
Suddenly, the Human Path struck.
He lunged with frightening speed, reaching straight for Vincent's head.
"Get lost!"
Vincent snarled and lashed out with a kick.
Bang!
The Human Path was blasted away like a cannonball, crashing through a wall. He collapsed in the rubble, both Rinnegan eyes ruptured by the impact.
"Then we strike too!" Jiraiya bellowed. He launched into sage arts.
"Sage Art: Goemon!"
Together with Shima and Fukasaku, he unleashed a devastating combination. Fukasaku exhaled wind release, Shima belched fire release, and Jiraiya spewed oil from his mouth. The three elements twined together into a roaring blaze that engulfed their enemies.
It was a higher level version of the classic Toad Oil Flame Bomb, magnitudes stronger.
Yet Pain did not flinch.
The Preta Path vaulted to the front, extended his hand, and absorbed the onslaught whole.
"Not even a scratch?"
Jiraiya froze, stunned that his attack had vanished as if it never existed.
"Jiraiya, try close combat," Vincent called.
He knew Preta Path's trick. Any ninjutsu, any chakra technique, would only be swallowed whole.
"Understood."
Jiraiya discarded his sandals, formed a massive sphere of blue chakra in his palm.
"Super Giant Rasengan!"
The colossal spiral sphere, larger than a house, crashed forward. The Preta Path absorbed it effortlessly.
Vincent acted at the same moment. He appeared at the Preta Path's flank and swung a fist at his head.
In a grotesque contortion, the Preta Path barely dodged, body bending in unnatural angles.
Jiraiya reacted instantly, dropping to all fours.
"Sage Art: Hair Needle Senbon!"
A storm of white needles shot from his mane, raining toward the Human Path, who had crept in to ambush Vincent.
Another anomaly.
The Human Path's eyes remained shut, yet he sensed the incoming assault.
"Summoning!"
With a seal, a giant panda materialized behind him, its body shielding him completely. Every hair-needle embedded harmlessly in the summon's hide.
Another attack wasted.
Jiraiya bounded back to Vincent's side.
"This is insane. He didn't even open his eyes. How could he evade my strike?"
"This is no simple summoning," Fukasaku said gravely. "Our attacks struck from blind spots, but it was as though he had another set of eyes watching for him."
"Could it be those eyes?" Vincent seized the moment to speak, pointing toward the Animal Path standing aloof above them.
"When the others moved, he did not. He only watched," Vincent explained.
Jiraiya followed his gaze. Realization dawned on his face. He clapped his hands together in sudden understanding.
"I see it now. Their shared vision… it must be because of those Rinnegan eyes!"
----------------------------------------------------
The deeper he goes, the more the truth unravels. Don't wait read ahead and witness Vincent's rise before the world catches up!
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