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"Yahiko… how can it be you? What happened to Nagato?! What have you done to him!?"
Gamaken leapt aside, narrowly avoiding the falling torrent of fire, and clung to the massive wall of the underground conduit. Jiraiya's eyes were wide the man standing before him looked like Yahiko… but possessed Nagato's Rinnegan.
"Jiraiya-sensei," the figure spoke — his tone calm, detached. "Those six bodies you see… none of them are alive. They're corpses."
Jiraiya's pupils constricted. He turned slightly toward the mysterious newcomer the member of the D-Organization known as [Nian], the only one with confirmed activity.But there was no time for analysis; his attention snapped back to Yahiko's face.
Pain the Deva Path raised his hand.
With a single [Shinra Tensei], he reversed the attacks in midair. Around him, the rest of the Six Paths emerged a complete formation.
At the center stood the Deva Path, once Yahiko now a god in his own mind. He gazed down at Jiraiya with a look of cold pity.
"Jiraiya-sensei… you truly understand nothing. You're an outsider now."
His voice deepened.
"Don't wear that same expression of concern and anger. The one before you is no longer your student I am God. And God fears nothing."
"Instead," he said, raising his hand, "you should fear me."
The air crackled.
Behind him, five other Paths moved in unison white-armored puppets and black-armored warriors rushing to engage.
To the left, the white-armored puppet clashed against the Asura Path.To the right, the black-armored puppet met the Human Path head-on. Above, the Naraka Path joined the battle; below, the Preta Path sprang forward. And at the far end, the green-armored puppet faced the Animal Path, who had already summoned a monstrous bird to meet it in combat.
The battlefield erupted chaos from every direction but the three central figures remained locked in confrontation.
Jiraiya's face darkened.He had believed all three Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan had survived. But now it was clear… Yahiko was dead. And perhaps that loss had driven the remaining two into this darkness.
His voice was heavy."Nagato… tell me, when did Yahiko die?"
Pain's expression didn't change. "That no longer concerns you, Jiraiya-sensei."
"Only those who understand pain who live pain can truly comprehend what peace means. To achieve peace, one must first know suffering."
Boom! Boom! Boom!
A chain of summoning seals burst open as the Animal Path raised his hands. In flashes of smoke appeared monstrous beasts a bull, a rhino, a giant centipede, and the massive multi-headed Hellhound.
The twin beasts thundered across the conduits toward Jiraiya and Gamaken.
"Hold on tight, Jiraiya-sama!" Gamaken roared.
He hurled his weapon toward the charging rhino, the spear spinning through the air before striking with a massive impact.
He didn't wait to see the result flipping backward, he raised his shield high and slammed it straight into the bull's skull. The explosion of force echoed through the tunnels.
The rhino collapsed first, legs twitching helplessly. The bull followed, crying out as its knees buckled beneath the crushing blow.
"Well done, Gamaken!" Jiraiya shouted.
The giant toad grinned through his exhaustion. "Heh, I've still got a long way to go!"
As the self-proclaimed "second brother" of Mount Myōboku's underworld, Gamaken was both polite and powerful though a touch lacking in confidence.
Jiraiya's expression remained grave. Even defeating two summoned beasts meant little. This was only the beginning Nagato himself hadn't even lifted a finger yet.
Elsewhere, the centipede and the Hellhound charged straight toward Neji. The centipede's countless legs clattered across the pipes — clink, clink, clink — a sound that would chill most hearts. For many, such a monstrous creature would awaken primal fear — an unstoppable tide of legs, claws, and fangs.
But Neji merely observed calmly. The Hellhound's silhouette darted between the gaps of the centipede's coils.
"So you're using the centipede's body to hide your true attack?" he murmured. "You underestimate me."
The centipede tightened its massive coils, forming a living grinder of claws and carapace that surrounded Neji completely — sealing all escape.
Bzzzt!
A black surge of lightning exploded outward. The centipede froze mid-motion, its entire body trembling violently.
Crack!
Its armor split open and before the Hellhound could retreat, the creature's massive body detonated into countless fragments, scattering like black dust across the water.
Inside the blast zone, Neji lowered his arm slowly. Black lightning danced along his hand — the aura of Armament Haki, fused with the overwhelming pressure of Conqueror's Haki.
The Hellhound roared and lunged — only to halt midair.
Neji's cold eyes narrowed.A wave of invisible force spread across the chamber.The air itself rippled.
Even Jiraiya and Gamaken felt it — a crushing pressure pressing against their chests, their very souls.It was suffocating — primal — godlike.
So this is his power…Even Jiraiya felt his heart tremble. Such killing intent… even most jōnin wouldn't withstand it.
Pain's brow furrowed. For the briefest moment, control over his six bodies faltered.One — the Asura Path — even lost an arm.
BOOM!
The Hellhound crashed hard into the flooding pipes below.
Neji raised his gaze toward the Deva Path. "Tell me, so-called god… do you understand what overwhelming power truly means?"
Whummm—!
The air distorted.A torrent of black-and-gold energy burst from Neji, the world itself dimming — as if color had been drained away. Everything fell silent, save for a single radiant sphere forming in his palm — the [Energy Cannon].
The power swelled, chakra fusing with pure will. Even Jiraiya's eyes widened in disbelief.
"That chakra… and that other force it's like a Tailed Beast Bomb!"
"Gamaken! Brace yourself!"
"Haah!!"
With a deep shout, Neji thrust his hand forward. The [Energy Cannon] roared to life, streaking toward Pain like a blazing comet.
For the first time, the god's expression shifted.
He extended both arms, the Rinnegan gleaming with divine fury.
"[Shinra Tensei]!!"
The two colossal forces collided light and darkness, god and mortal shaking the entire underground world to its core.
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~Support with 200 PowerStones = 1 Bonus Chapter
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