"It has to be because of those eyes."
Shima finally spoke, her face grave as she looked between the two of them. "All three have the Rinnegan, so they must be sharing vision through those eyes."
Standing nearby, Vincent gave the slightest nod. Trust the well-traveled toads to piece it together this fast. That would save them a lot of trouble.
"That makes things tricky," Jiraiya murmured, brow creasing. They had some guesses now, but still knew too little about the enemy's abilities. In the dark like this, even Sage Mode could get you killed.
"Then maybe we withdraw?" Fukasaku suggested. Of the group, he was the cautious one.
"No need," Shima said, shaking her head. "There are three of them, but there are four of us. We still have the advantage." As she spoke, she glanced at Vincent.
Jiraiya nodded and looked his way too. "I will try to pin two of them down. You go for that one." His gaze flicked up toward the Animal Path standing high above.
The idea was clear. Vincent would keep the summoner busy while Jiraiya tangled with the other two. If all three were occupied, shared vision or not, they would struggle to cover one another.
"Got it," Vincent replied. The plan made sense.
They moved first.
Vincent exploded forward like a fired shell, streaking straight for the Animal Path.
"Serious Punch!"
No testing the waters. He led with a kill shot. His right fist, loaded at the hip, blasted out with a gale of force that howled for the Animal Path's chest.
"Summoning!"
Hands clapped, a seal flashed, and a stone panda sprang into existence between them. The same summon had shrugged off Jiraiya's Hair Needle Senbon earlier without a scratch.
"Trickery."
Vincent's voice was cold. His fist did not slow. If anything, it hit harder.
Boom.
His pot-lid fist hammered the stone panda. A deafening crack split the air. Fractures spidered across the summon's body, then the panda burst apart, shards of rock scything outward.
The Animal Path did not flinch at the loss. He kicked back hard to open the distance.
"Where do you think you are going?"
Vincent surged after him, distance collapsing by the heartbeat. His right fist drew back to the hip again.
"Taste pain."
The Animal Path's voice was flat, almost godlike in its indifference. From his sleeve a black rod shot out, two fingers thick, streaking straight for Vincent's chest.
Vincent's pupils narrowed. He knew this weapon. In the original story, Naruto had been pinned to the ground by rods just like these, limbs pierced, helpless, Hinata beaten before his eyes.
He crossed his forearms and layered Armament Haki over them.
Clang.
The rod slammed into Vincent's hardened forearms with a crisp ring. Pain ran up his arms. The rod hit hard. But it was only pain. His skin did not break, and the tip of the black stake chipped on impact, a dust of black grit falling away.
The Animal Path flicked his sleeve and drew the rod back, eyeing the blunted tip. The point was gone. The edge had been ground flat.
"Such power," he thought, growing more cautious. Farther off he could see the Preta Path and the Human Path trading with Jiraiya without a quick result either way. "Then I will remove one piece first."
His form blurred. He tried to slip past Vincent to gang up on Jiraiya.
"Did I say you could pass?"
Vincent met him head-on.
"Serious Punch!"
He had waited for this angle. He intended to end it in one blow.
The Animal Path's eyes shrank to pinpricks. He crossed the black rods and raised them in front of his face, prepared this time.
Vincent's arms turned coal-dark under his sleeves as Armament wrapped them tight. He drove the punch through.
Boom.
Hardened fist smashed into black rods. The impact thundered down the alley. What should have been the weaker flesh did not give way in the slightest.
Crack.
The sharp, lovely sound of breaking glass.
"Shatter."
Vincent roared, pouring more power into his right arm.
Crack. Crack.
The rods split along a dozen lines, then along a dozen more. At last they fractured completely.
The remains gave way and the tail end of Vincent's punch thudded into the Animal Path's torso. The force was mostly spent by then, but it still blew him off his feet.
Bang. Bang. Bang.
He smashed through wall after wall before he finally stopped.
"Not good."
The Human Path, trading blows with Jiraiya, sensed something was wrong. He broke contact to rush to the Animal Path's aid.
"Not so fast."
Jiraiya lunged to cut him off. He dropped to all fours and unleashed sage arts.
"Sage Art, Hair Needle Senbon!"
Thousands of chakra-laced hairs stiffened into needles and screamed toward the Human Path's back to pin him to the ground.
The Preta Path was ready. He ghosted to the Human Path's side and spread his hands. A field blossomed and swallowed the jutsu whole. The senbon, stripped of chakra, fell as limp hair to the stone.
Jiraiya had already worked out their rhythm. He would not waste time.
He sprang like a frog, body compressed, then shot forward.
In the next instant he was above the Human Path, heel scything down.
Boom.
The Human Path cratered under the stomp.
"Without my say-so, you are not leaving this killing ground."
Jiraiya's fighting spirit surged. In Sage Mode he was a force of nature, holding two Paths in the palm of his hand.
----------------------------------------------------
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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