Chapter 192 – Kakashi vs. Six Paths of Pain
Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!
Water Style: Exploding Water Colliding Wave!
Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!
The battlefield was submerged beneath a cascade of elemental fury.
Dozens of rogue Jōnin unleashed their most destructive techniques in unison, the air thick with the roar of water crashing and wind howling. Colossal dragons of surging water twisted through the sky. Walls of foaming tides rose like tidal waves. Cyclones screamed through the storm-soaked village, tearing debris from the ground and blending it into a chaotic vortex.
A storm of chakra-fueled destruction hurtled toward Kakashi and Might Guy with the weight of a collapsing world.
"Fifth Gate—Gate of Limit: Open!!"
A pulse of chakra erupted from Guy's body, exploding outward in a burst of green light. Steam hissed off his skin as emerald mist enveloped him, forming a fierce vaporous aura.
But he only gritted his teeth.
"Still not enough."
He could feel it—the condensed pressure of countless ninjutsu colliding, the suffocating density of high-level chakra. These weren't ordinary attacks. These were execution-level.
He dropped lower into his stance, heels digging into the broken stone as he focused.
"Sixth Gate—Gate of View: Open!!"
The ground splintered beneath his feet.
"Morning Peacock!!"
With a roar, Guy launched himself forward. Blazing fists tore through the air, igniting into flaming afterimages. Each punch erupted with a burst of fire, flaring like a peacock's plumage—majestic, radiant, and lethal.
Beside him, Kakashi's blade shimmered with icy resolve.
In a flash of cold steel—
White Fang Secret Technique—Twenty-Four Bridges in the Moonlit Night!
Silver arcs of blinding light danced through the air. His blade moved with elegance and death, cutting cleanly through jutsu as though slicing smoke. Water dragons were severed mid-flight. Winds scattered. The earth trembled under the pure sharpness of his will.
---
Back to the Present
The battlefield had been split in two—divided not by terrain, but by dominance.
Guy and Kakashi moved like natural disasters, carving through enemy lines as if the rogue ninja were made of paper. Screams were silenced before they could be fully voiced. Jutsu were shattered before they could complete. It was a slaughter.
Konan, observing from the rooftop, felt her composure fray.
These rogue shinobi were the foundation of Akatsuki's early might—recruits handpicked from the most dangerous Missing-nin across the Great Nations. Each had earned their infamy through bloodshed and betrayal.
And yet…
They were nothing compared to those two.
Konan's gaze narrowed as her fingers twitched at her sides, anxiety stirring in her veins.
She had overestimated the stability of her own forces—and underestimated just how terrifyingly strong these Konoha prodigies had become.
At their age, even reaching elite Jōnin status should've made them outliers.
She herself had trained under Jiraiya. She was no slouch. But even as a woman several years their senior, she had only recently brushed the upper limits of Jōnin-level power.
These two, however—Kakashi and Guy—were monsters.
Konan's lips pressed into a line of frustration. When did Konoha start breeding freaks like this? And why didn't our intel know?!
She cursed the incompetence of their intelligence division. Useless, all of them!
Still, a bitter respect rose within her. Whatever else could be said, Konoha truly lived up to its reputation.
But facts were facts. Their S-class members—Kisame, Sasori—were all currently away on missions.
Only Uchiha Obito, the organization's newest and most mysterious recruit, remained within the compound.
And therein lay the true problem.
If they managed to get through… if Obito saw them and faltered—if the bonds of the past rekindled in that cracked heart—
It could all come undone.
These two alone were already enough of a problem. Add a Mangekyō Sharingan wielder to their side, and Akatsuki's fragile rise could collapse entirely.
Do I call him now? she wondered.
Her fingers clenched slightly. Nagato…
He was their trump card. Their god.
But those eyes—the Rinnegan—came at a steep cost.
Every time he used their true power, it wasn't just chakra that was drained. His very life was consumed, cell by cell. Even with the care she offered, and all the medication they'd tried, nothing dulled the toll.
It was as if… the eyes had never belonged to him to begin with.
Still, the battlefield was breaking. Their rogue shinobi—drawn from every corner of the shinobi world—had no unity, no loyalty. They fought for survival, for a place to exist. But they did not fight for the organization itself.
Now, seeing Kakashi and Guy cut through their numbers like wheat before the scythe, hesitation began to bloom.
Some held back their next jutsu.
Others turned their heads, scouting escape routes with subtle glances.
They fought only because Konan was watching—because they feared exile, or worse, the wrath of the Akatsuki's unseen leader.
If she didn't act soon, "strategic withdrawal" would become outright desertion.
Step. Step.
Konan's eyes widened slightly.
She turned.
And there he stood.
Nagato.
---
"...Nagato," she said quietly.
His arrival brought no comfort. Only tension.
She could feel it in her gut—this battle had escalated too far.
Even if Nagato crushed them, would the cost be worth it?
But Nagato's voice was even, without urgency.
"Stand down."
His words rippled like thunder.
The rogue ninja didn't hesitate. They dispersed in an instant—vanishing into alleys, vaulting over walls, vanishing like ghosts.
Kakashi and Guy slowed their advance, both of them now standing on alert.
Then—whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Six new figures landed silently behind Nagato.
Identical eyes. Identical cloaks.
Rinnegan.
Deva Path. Asura Path. Human Path. Naraka Path. Preta Path. Animal Path.
The Six Paths of Pain had assembled.
Kakashi felt his breath catch for a brief moment.
He had heard of the legend.
But seeing it—six bodies, six minds, one will—his senses screamed danger.
"So this is the Eye of the Sage," Kakashi murmured, tightening his grip on the White Fang blade.
This wouldn't be easy.
But that didn't matter.
Kakashi's blade hummed with purpose.
There is nothing in this world I cannot cut—not even gods.
He stepped forward, eyes burning with intent.
"Hand over Obito."
Nagato didn't respond. He only raised his arms slowly, as though embracing the heavens.
Then, softly—too softly—he began to speak.
"How many floors can a sack of rice be carried up…?"
Kakashi: "...???"
Guy: "...???"
Nagato tilted his head at a perfect 45 degrees, gazing skyward with unsettling calm.
"A sack of rice… to the second floor… so heavy… it must be washed clean…"
Kakashi blinked. "What the hell are you talking about?"
Guy frowned. "Did he hit his head?"
"I said, hand over Obito!" Kakashi barked, losing patience.
But Nagato stood unmoving, whispering cryptic phrases that made less and less sense.
Something about rice, stairs, and purification.
Kakashi's frustration peaked. Screw your 'feel pain' speeches. I'll show you real pain.
He lunged—but his instincts screamed in warning.
Without thought, he grabbed Guy and yanked him back.
BOOM!!!
A blinding wave of force erupted from Nagato's body.
It wasn't a jutsu in the traditional sense. It was raw gravitational power—reality itself bending outward.
Stone shattered. Buildings exploded. The very air seemed to implode.
Everything within a radius of fifty meters was erased.
Silence followed.
Even the rogue ninja watching from a distance were frozen in place.
"So this is the Rinnegan…"
"That power… it's unreal."
"Is he really human?"
Kakashi wiped a thin line of blood from his brow, heart pounding.
But instead of fear, he felt exhilaration.
Yes… this is what I came for.
If Akatsuki's so-called god had been anything less, Kakashi might've been disappointed.
Now?
He was ready.
Behind Nagato, the Animal Path stepped forward—an orange-haired man with sharp eyes and high topknot. His hands blurred through a long series of seals.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
Poof! Poof! Poof!
Smoke burst across the plaza.
Then came the hiss of scales.
Massive centipede-like summons slithered out from the mist, each one armored, monstrous, and roaring.
The battlefield had changed.
This wasn't just a skirmish.
This was the beginning of a legendary battle—
Konoha's prodigies vs. the Six Paths of Pain.