"Speed is Mach 3. Distance is..."
Jokichi activated his Sharingan to calculate the time until the missile would hit.
Suddenly, a man wearing a black cloak and a spiral mask appeared in front of the missile. The space in front of him twisted and spiraled, centered on the eyehole of his spiral mask. He and the missile vanished into the spatial distortion together.
Jokichi froze for a moment, then quickly reacted.
He turned around, took out the Second-Hand Recycling Station, and opened it.
The space behind him had twisted at some unknown point. The vanished warhead was flying right out from inside. Its massive roar made his eardrums throb.
"Thud!"
The missile plunged headfirst into the Second-Hand Recycling Station. Jokichi immediately slammed the lid shut.
With a blinding flash of light, the missile turned into a stainless-steel basin before it could even detonate.
Jokichi didn't even bother collecting his spoils. He tossed the Second-Hand Recycling Station into the system space, did a backflip, jumped onto the ocean surface, and fled at top speed.
It was not that he could not win, but rather that he did not want to implicate the innocent people on the ship.
He did not know how long he ran. On the boundless ocean, the ship had already vanished from his line of sight.
Jokichi stopped his steps. The space about ten meters in front of him suddenly twisted. The person wearing the black cloak and spiral mask walked out from inside. Next, he released six men wearing black cloaks with red clouds. They varied in appearance, but all had black metal rods pierced into their faces and eyes with concentric ripple patterns.
The Six Paths of Pain and Obito officially made their appearance.
"Not wanting to implicate innocent people, and deliberately drawing the battlefield here. You are quite impressive," the Deva Path of Pain pointed at Jokichi and praised.
Only, despite speaking words of praise, his expression was completely indifferent. His voice also lacked any emotional fluctuation, as if he were a dead man.
Indeed, the moment Yahiko died, Nagato's heart had also died. He was now living solely for Yahiko's wish.
Jokichi didn't respond immediately. Instead, after sizing them up for a while, he fixed his gaze on the Deva Path. His mouth curled into a sneer as he mocked.
"What right does a guy who attacks an entire ship full of people without hesitation have to say such things?"
"For the sake of peace, sacrifices are unavoidable."
"What a high-sounding 'sacrifices are unavoidable'!" Jokichi laughed mockingly. "Then why cannot the sacrifices be you guys?"
The Deva Path looked completely indifferent. "If our sacrifice could bring true peace, I could go and die right now."
His tone was incredibly calm, devoid of the slightest emotional fluctuation. It was as if he was simply stating a fact, and didn't feel there was anything noble about doing so.
"I admire that!" Jokichi was speechless.
"You deliberately lured us away to avoid implicating others. That shows you are also someone who cherishes life. Then you must surely cherish peace as well!"
"Forget about war. I hate even a generally sad atmosphere."
"Then let me ask you this tentatively. Are you willing to join my organization?" The Deva Path extended his right hand toward Jokichi. "Although this organization is entirely composed of missing-nin, we are an organization that truly operates with world peace as our goal. Are you willing to lend us a hand for the sake of peace?"
"Is this how your organization recruits people?" Jokichi looked at him weirdly.
Not mentioning a single thing about organizational benefits, just dropping an empty boast, and for an illusory goal like world peace to boot...
Could they not learn from Orochimaru? If they didn't rely on force, it would be a miracle if they managed to recruit anyone like this.
"What a pity!" The Deva Path withdrew his inviting hand. "I thought you were a comrade who shared our ideals. I didn't expect you to be no different from those mortals."
"The whole world is drunk, and only you are awake?" Jokichi looked at him mockingly.
"Say what you will. Since you are not prepared to join us, then go die!"
Saying this, the Deva Path raised his right hand toward him again.
"Universal Pull!"
A massive attractive force was generated in his palm, and Jokichi's body was drawn over uncontrollably.
The Asura Path's body underwent a series of changes, manifesting a giant bladed tail behind him. He waited only for Jokichi to get close to slice him in two.
And even before him, Obito twisted space, shooting four giant shuriken out from within. The giant shuriken, accelerated by spatial forces, were incredibly fast. Combined with their massive size, their power rivaled that of an A-rank ninjutsu.
Jokichi remained fearless in the face of danger. While being sucked over, he suddenly raised his head. His sharp pupils turned blood-red, displaying black tomoe in the shape of a hexagonal snowflake. A purple chakra skeletal structure condensed and formed in front of his body, and then sprouted flesh and blood.
In the brief gap while Jokichi was being sucked over, he was enveloped by a purple giant standing twenty meters tall.
"Susanoo!?"
Obito looked astonished, while the Paths of Pain felt surprised.
However, they were not allowed much time to think. The giant ignored the massive shuriken and swung its enormous palm toward the six Paths of Pain and Obito.
"Scatter!"
After saying this, Obito was the first to jump away. The remaining Paths of Pain were not slow either, each leaping to the side.
"Boom!"
The palm slammed onto the water surface, kicking up monstrous waves. The originally calm ocean turned turbulent and surging.
I just wanted to make you guys scatter!
Jokichi sneered internally, locking his gaze on Obito. The hexagonal snowflake-shaped Mangekyo slowly rotated, and tears of blood flowed from the corner of his eye.
Obito's Sharingan caught this detail. He realized things were bad and immediately made his body intangible, but he was a second too late. The corner of his clothes had already ignited with black flames, which then instantly spread across his entire body.
"Why does this guy have the Mangekyo!"
Obito cursed in frustration, running toward the Preta Path. The Preta Path also ran toward Obito.
They had learned about the visual prowess known as Amaterasu from Itachi. Once it latched on, it would not extinguish until the target was burned to ash. They had to use the Preta Path's ability to absorb it.
"Like I would let you succeed!"
Jokichi directed the giant, bringing its palm crashing down toward the location where the Preta Path and Obito were converging.
"Almighty Push!"
From the side, the Deva Path unleashed a repulsive wave. The powerful repulsive wave instantly shattered the Susanoo, which was only in its second stage, blowing Jokichi away along with it.
In mid-air, Jokichi adjusted his posture. He took out the Breath of Wind and fanned it fiercely downward.
"Wind Release: Destructive Disarray Wind."
The air suddenly stagnated, then rioted violently. A volatile hurricane formed a tornado that ravaged heaven and earth, sweeping across the ocean surface and kicking up wave after wave of tsunamis.
The Deva Path had just used Almighty Push; he needed to wait 5 seconds before he could use it again. Among the remaining Paths of Pain, no one was capable of defending against such a frenzied attack.
Left with no choice, the Preta Path, who was rushing toward Obito, stopped in his tracks. He turned and stood at the very front, raising both hands toward the tornado connecting heaven and earth.
"A miscalculation!"
Beneath his mask, Obito's transplanted right eye glowed with a red light as he used Izanagi. He possessed Hashirama's cells; using Izanagi didn't take a long time to activate like it did for other Uchihas.
As a Sharingan lost its light and was consumed, the black flames on his body were completely extinguished. At the same time, the Preta Path absorbed the tornado that connected heaven and earth.