The Animal Path rode atop a gigantic bird, sweeping past above Senju Tobirama's head. With nothing more than the "bird eggs" dropped by its summon, Tobirama's Edo Tensei body was blasted into pieces.
Although the Tobirama under Orochimaru's control failed to intercept the enemy, the intelligence that an enemy was approaching was successfully relayed.
Far offshore.
The group waiting for Orochimaru to gather intelligence had grown idle. Hyuga Shinichi used the Flying Thunder God to send over a small boat, and everyone gathered on it to rest briefly.
Orochimaru, who was intently controlling Edo Tensei, suddenly opened his eyes—he was already aware of the incoming enemy. However, he had no intention of warning Shinichi and the others. He glanced at the group resting on the boat and placed one hand on the railing.
At the same time, a small white snake slithered out from Orochimaru's sleeve, slipped into the seawater, and vanished.
The sound of the snake entering the sea was extremely faint, completely masked by the torrential rain. Yet at the very instant the snake entered the water, Hyuga Shinichi seemed to sense something. He suddenly opened his eyes, glanced at the calm-looking Orochimaru, and spoke:
"Orochimaru-sama, since we're already partners, shouldn't we be working together wholeheartedly?"
"What you're doing now will chill an ally's heart."
Orochimaru believed his movements were well hidden, but how could such small tricks escape the Byakugan?
Although Shinichi appeared to be resting with his eyes closed, part of his attention had always been on Orochimaru.
When facing someone like Orochimaru, how could Shinichi possibly trust him completely without any precautions?
"Hehe, do you really have time to worry about me?"
"The enemy is about to arrive. You'd better focus your attention elsewhere."
Seeing his little trick exposed, Orochimaru didn't care. He glanced toward the direction of Amegakure and spoke in a grave tone.
As he finished speaking, Orochimaru's body suddenly collapsed into countless small white snakes. They scrambled off the boat one after another and plunged into the sea.
"White Snake Substitute? When did he—?!"
Hearing the commotion, Jiraiya sprang to his feet, staring at where Orochimaru had been, his face full of disbelief. He hadn't noticed Orochimaru casting any ninjutsu at all, yet the Orochimaru who had just been using Edo Tensei before his eyes had vanished without a trace.
Everyone on the boat had heard Orochimaru's warning and immediately stood up, going on guard.
Rising to his feet, Hyuga Shinichi swept his gaze thoughtfully across the surface of the sea, then turned his head toward Amegakure.
In the time it took them to speak, the Asura Path riding the giant bird had already drawn much closer. Shinichi narrowed his eyes slightly and saw, beneath the dark clouds at the horizon, a black silhouette racing toward their position.
The enemy's flight speed was extremely fast. At the same time, the Animal Path also spotted the lone boat on the sea, realized these were intruders into the Land of Rain, and accelerated further while rapidly forming hand seals.
The disturbance in the sky naturally drew everyone's attention. Just as the giant bird flew directly overhead, more than twenty "bird eggs" were dropped toward the sea.
These "eggs" were enormous—three to four meters in diameter. Through Shinichi's Byakugan, he could clearly see the highly unstable chakra packed inside them. With just one glance, he sensed imminent danger.
"BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!!!!"
Blazing red light erupted from the bird eggs, engulfing the entire sea area in an instant.
The shockwaves from the explosions were powerful enough to temporarily disperse the rain clouds that perpetually hung over the Land of Rain. The towering flames formed a mushroom cloud like a nuclear blast, while colossal waves surged across the ocean, crashing toward Amegakure's coastline.
After a long while, the explosions finally subsided. Several shattered wooden planks floated on the sea's surface.
"Summoning Jutsu!!"
At the same time, the Animal Path standing atop the giant bird finished forming hand seals. With a low shout, the other five Paths appeared beside him.
The moment the flames below dissipated, all Six Paths of Pain leapt down from the sky together.
Splash—
A series of soft splashes rang out as the Six Paths landed on the sea's surface. With the Deva Path at the lead, they scanned their surroundings, searching for any survivors who might have endured that attack.
What they failed to notice was a dark shadow slowly rising from beneath the sea. That shadow swiftly passed under the Deva Path's feet and appeared behind him.
Splash—
Whoosh—
Just as the Six Paths were searching for survivors, a faint sound of water breaking rang out. At the same time, two sonic booms made the Deva Path turn sharply to look behind him.
Two toad tongues shot out from the sea, instantly wrapping around the Animal Path's ankles and dragging him straight down into the water.
Glub—
The Animal Path's head was submerged, but at the same time, the other Paths—linked by shared vision—were able to see the underwater scene through his eyes.
The one who attacked the Animal Path was a massive toad. Before the Animal Path could even form hand seals, the toad's tongue flicked, rolling him directly into its mouth. It even let out a loud belch afterward, spitting out a flurry of bubbles.
Inside the stomach sac of Mount Myoboku's Rock Lodging Toad.
Without understanding what had happened, the Animal Path fell straight into the toad's stomach. Upon "landing," he seemed to have dropped into some kind of puddle—but the liquid was highly corrosive acid.
Anything that fell into it would inevitably be splashed. Large portions of the Animal Path's skin were corroded away.
If this had been an ordinary person, such acid would have caused pain intense enough to drive them insane, completely robbing them of combat capability.
But as a corpse puppet, the Animal Path showed no reaction at all, seemingly unaffected by the pain.
What made him uncomfortable instead was the surrounding environment. Inside the toad's stomach, it was pitch black. Even with the Rinnegan, the Animal Path couldn't see his surroundings clearly. While the Rinnegan granted its "hosts" many powerful techniques, it was inferior to the primordial Byakugan and the evolved Sharingan when it came to basic perception.
In this darkness, the Animal Path couldn't even locate his enemy.
But there was one thing he was certain of—he had been swallowed by a toad, and he needed to get out immediately!
He prepared to use Summoning Jutsu from inside the toad. As long as he could summon a large creature, it would surely burst the enemy apart from within.
Just as the Animal Path rapidly formed hand seals to escape, a faint presence suddenly emerged from somewhere in the darkness, rapidly closing in on him.
"Couldn't hold back anymore?"
Though his vision was hindered, a ninja's sensing ability did not disappear. However, since the Animal Path was a corpse puppet, he had no sense of smell, and his skin couldn't perceive temperature, humidity, or airflow.
In his perception, the enemy's chakra was extremely faint—so faint that only by concentrating fully could he barely sense it.
"Rasengan!"
Jiraiya's low shout echoed through the confined space. Azure chakra rapidly condensed into a sphere, exposing itself in the Animal Path's field of vision.
By the time the Rasengan fully formed, it was already too late to dodge. Jiraiya used Body Flicker to appear in front of the Animal Path and slammed the Rasengan straight into his abdomen.
The terrifying force blasted the Animal Path flying, smashing him into the toad's hardened stomach wall before he fell limply into the acidic pool below.
As flesh met acid, a chilling sizzle echoed. Only after landing the hit did Jiraiya pull out a fire starter from his clothes, lighting up the dark, enclosed space.
Glancing at the corpse dissolving in the acid, Jiraiya's expression grew heavier.
A few minutes earlier.
"BOOM!!!!"
As the bird eggs exploded on the sea's surface, the small boat carrying Hyuga Shinichi and the others was instantly engulfed in flames.
Shinichi reacted with lightning speed. The moment Orochimaru escaped and hid, he had already sensed the enemy's approach. At the instant the giant bird dropped its bombs, he linked the chakra of Shisui, Guy, and Kakashi beside him and used Flying Thunder God to take all three away from the area.
Shinichi did not bring Jiraiya with him.
However, when faced with such a sudden and terrifying attack, Jiraiya was still able to respond calmly.
After Shinichi and the others vanished, Jiraiya didn't have time to complain. He twisted his body and dove straight into the sea, rapidly forming hand seals as he descended. While sinking, he summoned a toad to swallow him, using it as shelter against the aerial bombardment.
Once the surface explosions subsided, Jiraiya immediately launched a counterattack. At the same time, Hyuga Shinichi left Kakashi and the others behind and returned alone to the battlefield—using Jiraiya himself as his Flying Thunder God anchor.
A toad slowly surfaced from the sea and hopped onto a floating plank.
The Deva Path and the remaining five seemed to sense something and turned their heads to look. Under their gaze, the toad opened its mouth, and an arm emerged, bracing against the sea as a figure slowly climbed out.
Jiraiya, with white hair and wooden clogs, stepped out from the toad. He raised his eyes to look at the five figures wearing black cloaks embroidered with red clouds, and his expression froze for a moment.
Though outnumbered, Jiraiya quickly regained his usual composure. His gaze swept across them as he spoke in surprise:
"Rinnegan… all of them have Rinnegan…"
"Just who… are you people?"
As he spoke, his eyes settled on the Deva Path. That face… felt familiar, yet he couldn't immediately recognize it as Yahiko—the boy he had once taught for a time.
At that moment, a figure emerged from thin air, appearing silently beside Jiraiya.
Sensing the movement, Jiraiya turned his head, saw who it was, and complained:
"Shinichi… you brat! If you're going to run, why didn't you take me with you?!"
"Good thing I reacted fast, or I'd have died there!"
Hearing this, Shinichi casually dug a finger in his ear and replied nonchalantly:
"With your strength, how could you not handle an attack like that?"
"And if I'd taken you away, how would I have come back?"
After all, Flying Thunder God had conditions for its use. Shinichi didn't have the ability to place a mark on seawater.
And even if he left a kunai behind, who knew where it would drift by the time he returned? Teleporting back only to swim up to the surface like an idiot—wouldn't that be asking to get beaten down by the Six Paths of Pain?
Shinichi would never put himself in such a passive situation.
Jiraiya understood this perfectly. His complaint was little more than an instinctive vent, a way to ease the crushing pressure those enemies imposed.
After all—being stared down by five enemies with the Rinnegan… even Jiraiya felt the strain.
"Intruders… are there only two of you left?"
The Deva Path clearly had no interest in extended conversation. With an indifferent glance at the two chatting men, he suddenly raised his hand toward Hyuga Shinichi.
In the next instant, a tremendous pulling force seized Shinichi's body, dragging him forward.
"Hm?!"
The Deva Path's technique was strange and eerie—there were no hand seals, no warning at all.
At that moment, Shinichi was completely unable to control his body and was yanked straight toward the Deva Path.
At the same time, a black rod slipped from the Deva Path's sleeve into his hand. As Shinichi was pulled close, the Deva Path thrust the rod forward, aiming directly for Shinichi's heart.
Against Hyuga Shinichi and his former teacher Jiraiya, Nagato showed no mercy whatsoever. From the very first move, he intended to kill.
Between Shinichi and Jiraiya, he chose the younger one. In Nagato's view, a kid Shinichi's age couldn't be that strong. From a tactical standpoint, eliminating the opponent's active combat power as quickly as possible was the optimal choice.
Thus, Hyuga Shinichi became the Deva Path's primary target.
"Shinichi!!!"
The Deva Path's jutsu was unpredictable and unavoidable. Seeing Shinichi about to be pierced through the heart, Jiraiya cried out in alarm.
Yet at the very instant the black rod was about to sink into Shinichi's chest, his figure suddenly vanished.
In the next moment, Hyuga Shinichi reappeared beside Jiraiya.
For some unknown reason, the Shinichi who emerged from that spatial jump seemed to have lost all inertia. He landed steadily on the sea's surface, calmly gazing at the five Paths in the distance.
"Huh?"
Jiraiya sensed something off. He glanced at Shinichi beside him and murmured softly:
"This guy… a shadow clone?"
Before he could think further, Shinichi suddenly charged straight toward the enemy ahead—looking like a reckless brute.
"Hmph!"
The Deva Path hadn't noticed what Jiraiya did. He was still puzzled over how Shinichi had escaped when he saw Shinichi rushing straight at him.
With a disdainful snort, the Deva Path raised his hand once more, aiming at Shinichi.
"Shinra Tensei!"
......
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