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With the threat of the charging bull gone, the Deva Path's assault still did not let up. After Midorima had hurled the bull aside mid-charge, Hiruzen's body continued hurtling forward. The Deva Path once again produced the black rod and thrust it viciously toward Hiruzen's abdomen. Hiruzen followed the same strategy, using the Earth Spear technique to harden his entire body. Yet, at the very instant the black rod struck his stomach, a tremendous repulsive force slammed squarely into his chest—so fast he didn't even have time to react.
However, he was only thrown back about two meters before someone "caught" him. A pair of arms threaded under his armpits from behind, locking over his shoulders and hoisting him up. At the same moment, the Human Path and the Animal Path closed in and seized him tightly.
"What's going on?!" Hiruzen thrashed from side to side, only to find that his body was completely immobilized by the three figures. No matter how much strength he mustered, he couldn't budge an inch. Worse still, what truly sent a chill of horror through him was the sensation that his chakra was vanishing at an alarming rate, as though it were being absorbed by something.
"Damn it!"
Midorima saw that Hiruzen had been locked down by the Preta Path, and his heart seized with alarm. This particular ability was disgustingly vile—insatiable in appetite, taking everything in and giving nothing back. In the original story, even Naruto, while in Sage Mode, had been caught and drained nearly dry by the Preta Path. Hiruzen's combat experience was, of course, beyond reproach. Among those still alive, almost no one possessed richer experience than he did. Back then, Naruto had been in Sage Mode, his chakra reserves immensely abundant. And even so, the Preta Path had still absorbed his chakra. The only reason Naruto had escaped that predicament was because the Preta Path, unable to balance the natural energy contained in the senjutsu chakra, had undergone petrification into a frog-like state.
Hiruzen had not entered Sage Mode, so there was no possibility of the Preta Path being petrified. Under these conditions, Hiruzen's chakra was being siphoned away at terrifying speed by the Preta Path. Midorima absolutely could not stand by and watch Hiruzen get completely drained. In a flash, he appeared beside the Preta Path. He was just about to kick the Preta Path away when, just as his leg was already raised, an immense gravitational force seized him and dragged him relentlessly away. In the blink of an eye, he was pulled right in front of the Deva Path and promptly kicked square in the abdomen. As Midorima was sent flying, the Asura Path aimed both fists at him, and the fists suddenly detached from their wrists, rocketing toward him in attack.
In an instant, Midorima had already put several dozen meters between himself and the Asura Path. He activated the Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu, his target being Hiruzen, still trapped by the three Paths of Pain. Until he could completely eliminate the Preta Path, Midorima dared not use any large-scale ninjutsu—any chakra expended would simply be absorbed by the Preta Path, only serving to replenish its reserves. Thus, the sheer number of shadow clones was entirely a diversion; the real body would deliver the finishing blow.
The Deva Path saw through Midorima's intent. As the horde of shadow clones surged toward the Preta Path, the Deva Path once again unleashed Universal Pull. A massive gravitational wave suddenly swept toward Midorima's clones, drawing them all in. The moment they were gathered together, the Deva Path, the Naraka Path, and the Asura Path launched into a rapid, devastating assault against the multitude of clones. Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! After a string of bursting sounds, the shadow clones dissolved into puffs of smoke one after another.
The Deva Path had expected Midorima to be hidden somewhere among those clones. But after every last one had been destroyed, there was still no sign of Midorima. What was going on? The Deva Path froze for a moment, then scanned the surroundings. Right then, Midorima burst forth from the ground directly beneath the Preta Path's feet, kicking him flying into the air. The Human Path immediately moved to counterattack, but Midorima slammed a Lightning Cutter straight into its face, punching clean through in an instant. He then swiftly carried Hiruzen several meters away.
By this point, Hiruzen had already been drained of a significant amount of chakra by the Preta Path. His whole body was visibly weakened and listless. He took several deep, panting breaths before finally regaining his composure. "Leave this place to me," Midorima said.
Hiruzen's lips parted slightly, but then he shook his head. "I have no reason to retreat."
Midorima understood Hiruzen's thinking. After all, this was the Hidden Leaf, and Hiruzen was the Hokage. No matter what, he had no grounds to back down.
"Then... I'll take three, you take two..." Midorima proposed.
"No. Same as before," Hiruzen said, pushing himself up from the ground. "I can handle it."
Though Hiruzen said this, Midorima couldn't fully trust it. The root of his concern lay in the fact that the Preta Path had already absorbed a large portion of Hiruzen's chakra. With his strength diminished and the enemy's bolstered, Hiruzen's advantage wasn't as great as he claimed.
"Then we move together and see who's faster!" Midorima said. Hiruzen had barely agreed when Midorima was already right beside the Preta Path.
Among the Six Paths of Pain, aside from the Deva Path, the two Midorima considered the most troublesome were the Preta Path and the Naraka Path. The Preta Path could absorb chakra, demanding extreme caution when confronting it. As for the Naraka Path, the King of Hell it could summon was capable of using the Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique to completely restore any of the other Paths that had been destroyed. So even if he killed the other four, as long as the Naraka Path remained alive, those he had destroyed could be brought back perfectly intact.
Hiruzen, after having his chakra absorbed, was notably weaker than before. Facing these two, he could very easily slip up. That was why Midorima made his move on the Preta Path without a second's delay. Almost in the same instant that the Preta Path attempted to counter, Midorima deflected its wrist and concentrated his tailed beast chakra into his right fist, punching straight through the Preta Path's chest.
Midorima's stance on the Preta Path was crystal clear—end it quickly and decisively. He couldn't afford to give the Preta Path any opening. Otherwise, the moment the Animal Path or the Asura Path reacted, killing the Preta Path would become exceedingly difficult. That was why Midorima's attack was executed at full speed, striking with absolute certainty. Not only did the Animal Path and the Asura Path fail to react in time, even the Deva Path hadn't anticipated that the Preta Path would be taken out in an instant.
Just as the Deva Path prepared to use Universal Pull on Midorima, Midorima had already flashed past him.
"What are you doing?!" Startled, the Deva Path immediately heard a violent, tearing sound from behind him. He whipped around to see that Midorima had ripped one of the Naraka Path's arms clean off.
"With that, you shouldn't be able to summon the King of Hell anymore, right?" Midorima tossed the severed arm onto the ground and turned to the Deva Path with a smile.
"You seem to understand us very well," the Deva Path said, staring hard at Midorima. He truly could not see through this young man before him.
Midorima spread his hands. "The role of intelligence is irreplaceable. I won't make a move until I've gathered sufficient information on the Akatsuki. And as for you, Pain—or rather, Nagato—my understanding of the Akatsuki likely far exceeds your imagination. As for this so-called 'peace' you speak of, there may well be other ways to achieve it."