At the same time, Minato flickered and immediately appeared in front of a kunai, the very one he had stuck in the ground earlier when he saved Kakashi.
He was now behind Tendo Pain and tossed another kunai as he moved.
Tendo Pain wouldn't easily use Almighty Push against Minato, so his first instinct was to dodge. But after managing to sidestep to avoid the path of two kunai, he found a third one flying at him from behind.
Tendo Pain was now in a totally awkward spot. Three kunai were flying at him in parallel lines that wouldn't intersect, and they were incredibly fast. He had just made his first move to dodge.
It was like being shot at with laser cannons from both the front and back. No matter how he dodged or blocked, he was bound to be hit by one of them.
But that wasn't the worst part. The worst part was that these kunai were inscribed with the Flying Thunder God Technique. He had no idea where Minato would appear from.
This left Tendo Pain in a dilemma. No matter how he thought about it, he would be shattered by the Rasengan.
"Almighty Push!"
Seeing the three kunai getting closer, Tendo Pain finally had no choice but to use Almighty Push to send them flying away.
Bang!
Almighty Push immediately covered everything around Tendo Pain. As the dust settled, a large area of sand and soil dug deep into the ground was revealed, barren of any life. Even the kunai Minato had used as markers were sent flying.
However, Minato had vanished. Tendo Pain didn't dare to be careless; the Fourth Hokage wasn't that easy to deal with. He scanned his Rinnegan everywhere, hoping to find him.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, a tearing sound came from above. Tendo Pain went on high alert and immediately looked up. Indeed, he saw a kunai falling towards him, followed closely by Minato.
Tendo Pain was about to throw the black rod in his hand to knock away the incoming kunai, but he saw Minato form hand seals, and the kunai instantly multiplied into thousands, falling like a hail of arrows.
"Kunai Shadow Clone Jutsu."
Tendo Pain immediately gave up on the idea of using his black rod to knock the kunai away and kept using the Body Flicker Technique to dodge. When he was learning from Jiraiya, he had learned plenty of these escape techniques to save his life.
But at this moment, Tendo Pain suddenly stumbled. He opened his eyes and was instantly shocked. Beneath his feet, another kunai was buried, with only its handle exposed.
"He planned this from the start, intending to force me here. That means he predicted my every move?!" This thought instantly surged into Tendo Pain's mind, making his scalp tingle.
This was the first time he had felt such turmoil since becoming a "god."
As if to confirm his guess, a golden flash suddenly appeared behind him. Minato had already gathered a Rasengan and was fiercely pressing it down on him.
"Konoha's been relying on you!"
As soon as Minato finished speaking, the Rasengan smashed Tendo Pain into a deep pit.
At this moment, Neji, who had been watching the unfolding events, nodded repeatedly. The Fourth Hokage was truly formidable. Although it seemed to take a lot of time, the actual exchange between them lasted only a few minutes, and the victor was decided.
Looking at Kakashi again, Neji sighed. That guy Kakashi seemed out of place in Minato's squad. Nohara Rin died early, which was one thing, but both Obito and Minato made the ninja world tremble. Yet he was just average...
He could even fight a Chunin for a long time.
And... Minato was the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, Obito was the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki, and Nohara Rin was the Three-Tails Jinchuriki. Wow, looking at it like this, Kakashi was practically the odd one out in Minato's squad.
Returning to the battlefield, Minato stared sternly at the fallen Tendo Pain, still extremely vigilant. According to the intel, this Tendo Pain was the strongest of the Six Paths of Pain, and he needed to be extremely careful.
Piu...
The next moment, Tendo Pain instantly dissolved into a puff of smoke. Minato finally breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed he had been summoned back by the Pain who could use the Summoning Technique. This meant he had indeed defeated him.
"But he can still be revived. I need to find the Pain who can revive them as soon as possible," Minato thought to himself, and then he vanished again in a golden flash.
...
On the rooftop of the Konoha Hokage's office building, Tsunade looked at the heavily damaged Konoha. She had the Slug summon split into numerous clones scattered throughout Konoha to treat the injured and also to observe the latest developments.
But at this moment, the Slug suddenly shrieked. Its gentle female voice carried a sharp edge, as if it had been startled.
Startled was impossible, after all, it was a clone of the Great Forest Sage Slug, but it was indeed very surprised.
However, its scream truly startled Tsunade, almost stopping her heart dead. "Slug, what are you doing? Do you want to scare me to death!"
The Slug clung to Tsunade's shoulder, wriggling, and quickly apologized to Tsunade, "Tsunade-sama, I'm sorry, I... I think I saw a ghost... I just saw Minato defeat that Tendo Pain."
This was the benefit of having clones: they could treat and gather intel simultaneously.
"Huh? Minato? Are you hallucinating from overwork? Minato died 16 years ago! Pull yourself together!" Tsunade roared, her face grim, feeling like the Slug was playing tricks on her.
"Tsunade-sama, no, it's true. That was Minato. His robe even had 'Fourth Hokage' written on it in big letters."
"Hmm?" Tsunade glanced at the Slug, also feeling a bit surprised. The Slug wouldn't lie to her, meaning Minato had truly appeared.
"But Minato is dead. He was swallowed by the Reaper, of all things..." Tsunade furrowed her brow, tapping her chin as she pondered, countless "why's" flashing through her mind.
"Could it be..." A clear-eyed boy with Byakugan suddenly appeared in Tsunade's mind. Although she had doubts, the feeling wouldn't go away.
At the same time, Sasuke had also badly beaten the Human Path. The Human Path had suffered countless Raikiri strikes all over his body, with holes everywhere and blood flowing out.
The Hunger Path was completely suppressed by the taijutsu squad led by Guy, its body tattered. Konan couldn't gain any advantage against Itachi either; after a brief clash, she retreated. The Human Path was being cornered by the combined forces of Konoha's strong shinobi, in a tough fight.
In short, Konoha's situation was excellent. However, like Tendo Pain, all the Pains had turned into smoke and disappeared.
On the outskirts of Konoha, in a forest, the Animal Path retreated after clashing with Morino Ibiki and the Anbu. He came to this spot, clasped his hands together, and summoned the other five Pains and Konan.
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