The Animal Path climbed out of the rubble. Jiraiya had both of the other Paths tied up, but against Vincent he felt the edge of death.
He snapped his hands together and slammed them to the floor.
Boom.
A veil of smoke billowed. The two Paths grappling with Jiraiya vanished on the spot.
"What?" Jiraiya's head whipped around. Both enemies were gone. "They disappeared."
Fukasaku was just as startled. They had lost the thread again.
"Over there," Shima said, pointing. Her finger aimed at the far end of the plaza where Vincent stood.
"So that is where they went. That youngster forced Nagato this far?" Fukasaku's eyes widened. The quiet young man had pushed their opponent to summon reinforcements for a three-on-one.
Vincent had been about to finish the Animal Path when two more figures flickered into view behind it.
"All together then?" he said, utterly unafraid.
The three Paths moved as one, their attack sharp enough to cut the rain.
Vincent flooded his body with Armament Haki.
The trio's timing was perfect. If he took a clean hit from one, the other two would descend like a storm.
The Human Path came first, hand reaching for Vincent's crown. "Insects," Vincent said, and punched straight for the palm.
"Summoning."
The Animal Path slammed both hands to the ground. A massive rhino tore into existence and thundered forward, horn lowered at Vincent's chest.
Boom.
Fist met horn with a tooth-aching crackle of fractures.
Another report split the air. The rhino's strongest point shattered under Vincent's punch. The rest of the beast could not withstand the leftover force.
It burst apart in a red rain.
Vincent drew his fist back without a flicker of fear.
A warning pricked the back of his skull. Observation Haki flared.
Out of the falling blood stepped the Human Path, palm driving for Vincent's head. Vincent twisted. The strike slid off target and slapped onto his shoulder.
The Human Path could rip a soul free, but only with a hand pressed to the crown. Off by inches, the technique did nothing.
Vincent did not waste the opening. His right fist hammered forward.
Boom.
It was too fast to dodge. The blackened knuckles collided with the Human Path's shoulder and blew half his body away. With one leg gone he toppled, unable to stand.
"I have you," Jiraiya said, flashing to Vincent's side. "Sage Art, Ultra-Big Ball Rasengan."
A sun-bright sphere of chakra filled his palm and he slammed it into the Preta Path. It melted away into the absorber's field, and the Preta Path skated backward, wanting no part of Vincent's fists.
Vincent looked down at the crippled Human Path and did not hesitate. His heel came down.
Crack.
The skull collapsed underfoot. White and red spattered the stones, streaked with black receiver-like fragments.
The Human Path was dead.
"Impressive," Jiraiya said, giving Vincent a quick thumbs-up.
"Luck. They have no answer to taijutsu," Vincent answered mildly, then pointed ahead. "Two left. One each, Sensei?"
"Fine by me." Jiraiya nodded toward the summoner. "I will take that one."
"Then I will take the absorber," Vincent said, eyes on the Preta Path.
"You underestimate God," the Animal Path said flatly. His gaze was winter-cold.
Another figure dropped from above and landed between them.
"Yahiko," Jiraiya breathed. He knew the young man in the black cloak with red clouds at a glance. Nagato and Konan's teammate. His student. An orphan with only one name.
"Long time no see, Jiraiya-sensei," Yahiko said, eyes like frosted amethyst.
"Nagato said you were dead," Jiraiya replied, voice even.
"I died and felt a pain none of you have known. So I became a god."
Jiraiya shook his head. The mystic pose meant nothing to him. "So you joined Akatsuki too?" He glanced at the clouded cloak, then the two silent Paths behind Yahiko. "Or are you Pain himself?"
"Yes and no." Yahiko planted his feet. "I am Pain. They are Pain." He gestured to the Animal and Preta Paths, and to the ruined corpse of the Human Path under Vincent's boot.
Jiraiya's frown deepened.
"I am no longer Yahiko. Call me the Deva Path." He gave the briefest introduction of the Paths by title. Animal. Preta. Human, now destroyed.
"Jiraiya-sensei," the Deva Path said before Jiraiya could answer, "there is no need for you to understand. Soon you will be a corpse." His gaze slid to Vincent. "I will leave your body whole."
"Arrogant," Vincent snorted. He looked the so-called god up and down with open disdain. "You think showing up stops the two of us?"
Jiraiya knew Yahiko's strength. One Yahiko, two Yahikos, it had never been enough.
"The old me, perhaps not," the Deva Path said. "But now I am the Deva Path."
He rose from the ground, body lifting on invisible force. His left hand extended. His voice turned to iron.
"Feel pain. Consider pain. Accept pain. Understand pain. Those who do not understand pain can never understand true peace. I will not forget Yahiko's pain."
His last words dropped to a murmur. Then his voice climbed like a bell tolling sentence.
"From this moment, let the world know pain. Shinra Tensei."
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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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