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Hiruzen turned his gaze toward Jiraiya. By this point, Jiraiya had already entered Sage Mode and had just destroyed the Asura Path, its body completely shattered into scattered fragments. Before Hiruzen, only the Human Path and the Naraka Path remained. Out of the original five, one had been taken down, leaving four.
Perhaps Kakashi and Might Guy, working in coordination, could truly hold off the remaining four... No, they definitely could. There were other shinobi as well—Choza Akimichi, Shikaku Nara, and the Hyuga clan... If they all joined forces, they could absolutely stop these enemies in their tracks.
Hiruzen glanced over his shoulder toward the rear. Sure enough, Choza and Shikaku had already arrived.
"I'm leaving this place to you," Hiruzen said, looking back at Kakashi and Might Guy.
Might Guy gave an OK sign and immediately settled into a taijutsu stance, his target squarely fixed on the Preta Path.
Hiruzen then turned to Jiraiya. "Jiraiya, I'm leaving things here in your hands."
"Rest assured."
Once he had Jiraiya's firm confirmation, Hiruzen didn't waste another word. He set off immediately toward the meeting hall. The Preta Path made a move to follow, but Might Guy leaped high into the air and brought his leg crashing down in a vicious axe kick. The Preta Path raised both arms to block the blow, fully intending to absorb Guy's chakra on contact. But the sheer force behind the strike was so tremendous that it drove him down onto one knee.
The Animal Path once again activated the Summoning Jutsu. A colossal rhinoceros burst out from a row of houses on one side and barreled straight toward Hiruzen. But from the flank, a massive, rapidly spinning ball of flesh came rolling at full speed and slammed heavily into the rhino. The impact sent the ball bouncing back, tumbling over ten meters across the ground before it finally unfurled—revealing Choza, who steadied himself against a crumbling wall and gasped for breath. The rhinoceros that had been chasing Hiruzen, meanwhile, was knocked completely off its trajectory and plowed straight into a nearby building.
The Animal Path moved to form new hand seals, only to find that his hands would no longer obey—making seals utterly impossible. He looked ahead sharply and saw a young shinobi not far away, straining to maintain his own sealing gesture. A long, slender shadow connected the two of them.
"Kakashi, you need to hurry. I don't know how much longer I can hold this," Shikaku said through gritted teeth.
"I know." Kakashi sprinted toward the Animal Path at full speed, lightning-natured chakra gathering intensely in his palm. "Lightning Cutter!"
The Preta Path attempted to break away and rush to the Animal Path's defense, but Might Guy blocked his path.
"Your opponent is me!"
The Preta Path stared coldly at Guy and clenched his fists as well.
"Fine!" Kakashi shouted. Just as the Animal Path was within arm's reach, the rhinoceros that had crashed into the building moments earlier burst out again and lunged straight at Kakashi. Left with no choice, Kakashi was forced to shift his target. The Lightning Cutter struck the rhino, and the recoil sent him flying backward over ten meters before he finally managed to regain his footing.
"Are you all right?" Choza asked, rubbing his shoulder.
"I'll have to draw away the summon, and then you deliver the finishing blow," Kakashi said, his brow furrowed.
If he still had the Sharingan, there might have been other options. But now, he had no choice but to face the Animal Path and its summons head-on.
Just then, a massive, ghostly head—resembling nothing so much as the King of Hell—suddenly materialized in the distance.
"What is that...?" Kakashi's attention was pulled away.
"That's where Lord Jiraiya is," Choza said. "We can only take down the ones in front of us as fast as possible, and then go help him."
Kakashi nodded, his gaze once again locking onto the Animal Path. Four people against two Akatsuki members... We should be able to handle them, right? Kakashi told himself silently.
...
Jiraiya stared at the gradually emerging King of Hell, a flicker of surprise crossing his features. In the next instant, that very entity swallowed down the Asura Path he had just destroyed.
"What's going on?" Jiraiya stared at the King of Hell, utterly perplexed.
"Unclear. But one thing's certain—this won't be as easy as it looks on the surface," Fukasaku said from his perch on Jiraiya's shoulder. "These three appear far too enigmatic. They're not the kind of opponents who can be dealt with so simply."
"We'll need to prepare for the worst," Shima added from the opposite shoulder.
Jiraiya nodded. Although he had just obliterated the Asura Path—which had been relentlessly firing missiles, lasers, and iron fists—the situation hadn't grown any simpler. There were still two other Pains eyeing him from the side, ready to strike at any moment.
Jiraiya was still weighing his choice of next target when he saw the King of Hell open its mouth once more. From within, the Asura Path—the very one he had just destroyed—stepped out completely intact.
"It looks like things really aren't as simple as I imagined." Jiraiya drew a deep breath. The Asura Path's "resurrection" meant that all of his previous effort had been for nothing.
"But with that enormous thing around, it's going to be difficult to land a fatal blow on any of the others," Fukasaku observed, eyeing the King of Hell with a prickle of dread crawling across his scalp.
"Then we'll just have to try again." Jiraiya clenched his fist. It was as if he was speaking to himself, and at the same time, to Fukasaku and Shima on his shoulders. In short, he would have to do everything he had just done all over again.
...
Hiruzen raced toward the meeting hall at top speed. Along the way, what had once been a flat, smooth road was now pockmarked with craters, as though it had been carpet-bombed. The moment he thought of Deidara and his exploding clay, everything became clear. The shinobi who had been dispatched as reinforcements must have been ambushed by him here and likely lost their lives.
The original meeting hall had been reduced to a stretch of empty ground. What surprised Hiruzen even more was how the battlefield had extended far into the distance, stretching on and on. He advanced several hundred more meters. The Tsuchikage and the Raikage were still locked in their combined assault against Obito. For the moment, there was no sign that a decisive outcome was imminent. Their opponent wore a mask, so his condition was impossible to read.
"Need any help?" Hiruzen called out.
"Hah?!" The Raikage whipped his head around to glare at Hiruzen. Even though sweat was pouring down his forehead, he still couldn't bring himself to utter the word "help." Two against one was already humiliating enough—to ask the Hokage to join as well? He would sooner admit defeat.
"No. We can handle this," the Raikage refused.
Though they hadn't yet managed to injure "Madara Uchiha," repeated exchanges had convinced him that the masked man's actual combat prowess wasn't as extraordinary as they'd initially feared. The real problem was that damned space-time ninjutsu, which prevented him from ending the fight. If he could just find an opening, perhaps a single, decisive blow would finish it. Until then, even if the Hokage joined in, it wouldn't change a thing.
Hiruzen gave a slight nod and continued pressing forward at high speed.
Not far beyond, the battle between Sasori, Ebizo, and Baki was still raging. Sasori had by now shed his black cloak, revealing his grotesquely modified upper body. Beside him stood the reanimated Third Kazekage, relentlessly unleashing Magnet Release. Ebizo and Baki had braced themselves on the defensive, using Wind Release to divert the incoming iron sand away from them. But it was painfully obvious that their condition was far worse than that of the Raikage and the Tsuchikage.