Seeing that Sasuke gave no clear answer, Pain chose the simplest course of action—attack.
"Shinra Tensei!"
A powerful repulsive force erupted from the Deva Path, surging straight toward Sasuke!
While Sasuke and Pain clashed fiercely—drawing nearly all attention—
Another figure moved.
Swift and silent, weaving through the ruined battlefield's smoke and debris, she reached the immobilized Naruto.
"Naruto-kun!" A gentle yet urgent voice called out.
"Hinata?!" Naruto's eyes widened in shock.
"Naruto… it's too dangerous here! You have to go!" he shouted anxiously, unwilling to see her dragged into this.
"No!"
Hinata lifted her head. Though her face was pale with fear, her Byakugan shone with unprecedented resolve.
"This time… I'm going to protect you, Naruto-kun!"
Risking everything, Hinata began pulling the black receivers from Naruto's body one by one.
The moment he was freed, Naruto didn't check his own injuries—he immediately urged her to retreat.
Hinata hesitated, worry written across her face—but ultimately prepared to step back.
And then—
Thud.
A sickening sound of metal piercing flesh came from behind her.
Without warning, a black receiver shot from the shadows like a venomous serpent, impaling Hinata clean through the chest.
Her body stiffened.
Her pupils contracted.
Blood spilled from her lips.
She made no sound.
Still carrying a trace of worry and confusion on her face, she collapsed forward onto the cold rubble, crimson spreading beneath her.
Naruto, who had only taken a few steps forward to rejoin Sasuke against the Deva Path, suddenly felt it.
He turned.
What he saw—
Hinata's fallen form.
The bloodstained black rod protruding from her back.
And in the distance—the emotionless figure of the Animal Path.
"HINATA—!!!"
The scream that tore from Naruto's throat was raw, primal—rage, grief, disbelief intertwined.
The girl who had just risked her life for him…
Killed before his eyes?
Unbearable sorrow ignited into consuming fury.
Naruto's eyes turned crimson, Nine-Tails chakra surging violently, threatening to spiral into a far more dangerous transformation.
The Tenkai skipped forward.
When the scene stabilized, the battle had ended.
The Deva Path lay heavily damaged among the ruins—barely functional.
The other five Paths of Pain were reduced to broken corpses, scattered lifeless across the battlefield.
Sasuke stood breathing hard, clothes shredded, blood marking his skin. His Sharingan flickered faintly—chakra nearly exhausted.
Naruto looked worse.
His jacket hung in tatters. His body was covered in wounds.
And yet—
The raging fire in his eyes had extinguished.
In its place was calm.
He approached the fallen Deva Path and crouched down, staring at the face that once belonged to Yahiko.
The Deva Path, nearly spent, looked up at the dim sky—then at the battered but composed blond boy.
"You… wanted to meet the real me, didn't you?"
"My true body… is not here."
"If you truly wish to talk… then find me."
"When you do… we will speak face to face."
The light faded from the Rinnegan.
The Deva Path fell still.
Sasuke forced himself upright, frowning at Naruto.
"You're really going? In that condition? To chase down a hidden puppet master somewhere?"
Naruto didn't answer.
Instead, he walked to one of the fallen Paths and picked up an intact black receiver.
Under Sasuke's stunned gaze—
He drove it into his own body.
"—!"
Pain shot through him. Sweat instantly formed across his brow.
But Naruto closed his eyes.
Through the receiver embedded in his flesh—through the chakra interference—
He began tracing it backward.
Searching for the faint but undeniable chakra signal connecting all the Paths…
Tracking it to its source.
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