56.Pain's Six Paths
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Inside the rapidly moving spiritual barrier, the group struggled to stabilize themselves. Kaito urgently commanded, "Gurē, enlarge and get us to the ground!"
"Alright, just remember to block those attacks for me, Gurē!"
Gurē's form grew larger again, and Kaito and the others swiftly landed on his back.
"Getting hit passively is not my style."
Kaito produced a beautifully crafted longbow in his hands and drew the bowstring aimed at the persistently pursuing crow. Spiritual power burst from his hands, forming an arrow.
"Spiritual Arrow!"
The arrow of light shot out, quickly splitting into a barrage of arrows that flew towards the Six Paths of Pain, tracing blue streaks through the air.
"Shinra Tensei!"
Pain's Deva Path stretched out his hands, and an invisible repulsive force burst forth, easily deflecting all the arrows.
"We can't give him a chance to breathe!" Kaito drew his longbow again.
"Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Technique!"
"Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Technique!"
Izuna and Chiri, both battle-hardened ninjas, simultaneously formed seals and unleashed the same jutsu.
Six fiery dragons soared up, converging on Pain from different directions.
"Sealing Technique: Absorption Seal!"
The plump-faced Preta Path of the Six Paths leaped up, extending his hands, and in an instant, absorbed all the fire.
Meanwhile, another volley of arrows shot by Kaito had reached him.
"Sealing Technique: Absorption Seal!"
Preta Path repeated his technique, positioning his hands towards the incoming arrows.
However, this time his technique was ineffective.
Hiss!
An arrow of light pierced through his palm.
Hiss! Hiss! Hiss...
In a blink, he and the crow beneath him were riddled with arrows, and more arrows passed through him towards the figures now behind him.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
The long-haired Animal Path crouched down, slapped his hand on the back of the crow, and in the instant before the crow dispersed, summoned a giant stone panda that blocked all the arrows.
Finally, Gurē managed to bring Kaito and the others to the ground amidst this opportunity.
Kaito looked up as the Six Paths of Pain, under the influence of Deva Path's abilities, slowly descended, the Preta Path having reverted back to his original form.
"You can go now, Gurē," he patted Gurē on the head. The upcoming battle was no longer something this little creature could partake in.
"I'm off then, Gurē. Be careful, Kaito," Gurē didn't try to act tough and shrank in size to fly away immediately.
Kaito once again looked towards the Six Paths of Pain in the sky.
By now, he had identified the Deva Path, Animal Path, Asura Path, and Preta Path, with only the Human Path and Hell Path remaining. One could extract souls, and the other could summon the King of Hell, posing a significant threat to Izuna and Chiri, whose essence were soul-based. He needed to find an opportunity to eliminate them first.
"Uchiha Kaito, your existence interferes with the plans of the Akatsuki," Deva Path declared from above, looking down at Kaito with cold eyes. "In the name of god, I will eliminate you."
"Ha?" Kaito's mouth twitched. "Are you claiming to be a god? That's really terrifying."
"No matter what powers you possess, no matter how many allies you find," Pain landed steadily on the ground, "it's all meaningless in the face of god."
"Begin your ugly struggle," Deva Path extended his right hand. "God will eventually forgive your transgression."
Kaito's forehead throbbed as he clenched his teeth. "Great, you've successfully angered me. Now I want to see what a 'god' looks like when he turns into mud."
Although he appeared furious, those who observed closely would notice his eyes remained calm.
"Mangekyō Sharingan!"
In that moment, Kaito and the others simultaneously activated their Mangekyō Sharingan, forming the same seals.
"Jikan no Hana!"
The pentagram rotated, and with the boost from the other two pairs of Mangekyō Sharingan, Kaito's dōjutsu turned into swirling cherry blossoms that enveloped the Six Paths of Pain.
Unquestionably, there is a qualitative gap between the Mangekyō Sharingan and the Rinnegan.
Even though Nagato's eyes were not the original, the gap was not one that could be easily bridged.
To ensure his dōjutsu affected Pain, Kaito had developed a combination genjutsu based on the Sharingan.
Using his powerful mental strength
as a catalyst, he resonated with the Sharingan of his peers, linking their powers to augment his dōjutsu significantly.
"Jibaku"
In the moment he accelerated Pain's perception of time, he also applied a dōjutsu that slowed down time perception to Izuna and Chiri.
Both of their faces simultaneously showed purple and cherry blossom patterns as they entered Sage Mode through their curse seals, then drew their long swords and vanished from sight.
Swoosh! Swoosh!
Two streaks of brilliant white light from swords flashed between the Six Paths of Pain, and the heads of the Human Path and the Hell Path were instantly sent flying into the sky.
By then, three seconds had passed since Kaito activated the Jikan no Hana, the exact duration it could affect Pain, who possessed the Rinnegan.
"What's happening?" from a distant tree, Uchiha Obito inquired to Nagato, who sat below the tree, his back pierced with metal rods.
Nagato coldly responded, "The genjutsu affected their reaction speed. However, that genjutsu won't work on me anymore."
"Humph, it better not," Obito continued to observe the battle.
"Shinra Tensei!"
As their normal perception of time resumed, the remaining four Paths of Pain scattered. The Deva Path then thrust out his hand, forcefully knocking Izuna and Chiri away.
Both ninjas flipped in the air and drove their swords into the ground, creating deep marks.
"Bind!"
As Kaito's eyes spun with a five-pointed star, a pentagram-shaped seal appeared beneath the feet of the Deva Path. Several chains of spiritual energy emerged from the seal, wrapping around the Deva Path.
"Bizarre Arm Rocket!"
From a distance, the Asura Path extended its arm, its fist detaching from the wrist and rocketing towards Kaito with a trail of fire.
"Damn!"
Kaito dodged, causing a momentary delay in the chains, allowing the Deva Path to escape the seal's range.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
The Animal Path slammed a palm on the ground, raising a cloud of dust as several colossal creatures emerged.
A massive crab, a red three-headed dog, a bull, and a rhinoceros.
The bull and the rhinoceros pawed at the ground, charging towards Izuna and Chiri, respectively.
The three-headed dog opened its vicious jaws, lunging at Kaito.
Meanwhile, the crab sprayed streams of foam towards the trio.
Kaito smirked, instantly shrinking under the barrage of foam, transforming into a paper figure that disintegrated with the wind.
Shortly after, another Kaito with hands in a seal appeared on the other side, summoning Izuna and Chiri to his side.
"Sage Art: Great Fire Annihilation!"
Izuna stepped forward, releasing a fire technique infused with natural energy. The intense flames created a sea of fire in front, burning the charging bull and rhinoceros back to their summoning realm.
"Water Release: Bubble Wave!"
From a distance, the Animal Path directed the giant crab to continuously spray foam at the sea of fire.
"Sage Art: Song of the Dragon Flame!"
Izuna formed seals again, and four fire dragons burst from the sea of fire, roaring towards the remaining four Paths.
The Deva Path used Shinra Tensei to block the Song of the Dragon Flame, while the other three Paths each dodged.
"Bind!"
Seeing the distance between them widen, Kaito's eyes spun with the five-pointed star once more. The seal appeared, chains emerged, and the Animal Path was thoroughly bound.