162 Chapter 157: Pain for the world.

Sitting on the black circle, surrounded by four ANBU shinobi who shared her chakra, Tsunade suddenly opened her eyes and felt a shiver run down her spine. She frowned as she stood up and walked towards one of the pillars on the roof of the building.

"Katsuyu is already with almost everyone in the village" She raised her fist and punched the pillar, causing it to shatter into pieces and fall into the abyss.

"Tsunade-sama?" one of the ANBU ninja, worried, tried to approach Tsunade, but she raised her right arm shaking her head.

"Excuse me. Carry on."

The shinobi nodded. At the same time, Katsuyu, over Tsunade's shoulder, let out a small worried sigh. She saw how Kakashi died, but she didn't want to tell Tsunade. It would be horrible to know that Minato's student, the fourth Hokage, was beaten beyond recognition. 'Hime-sama feels guilty for Kakashi-san's death. She knows who it was, at least she senses it. I have to try harder if I want Hime-sama to be calmer.'

Tsunade looked at the sky, but then a person appeared beside her. It was Chouji, who, with a worried expression on his face, clenched his fists and wasted no time. "Tsunade-sama! We already know the power of one of the enemies!"

Tsunade calmly replied, "I hear you" This made the ANBU shinobi also turn their full attention to the boy.

"He's a grown man between 25-30 years old, with six piercings in his nose and seven in each ear. No matter what it is, he can push it away and bring it closer. Including ninjutsu techniques."

"Does he repel ninjutsu attacks?"

That albino-haired shinobi put his fist on the ground and asked his question. Chouji did not hesitate to answer. "That's right. However, five seconds have to pass before he can use it again."

"Good job. You heard him, Katsuyu. Tell everyone."

"Right away, Hime-sama."

"Tsunade-sama..." Chouji looked at the ground and remembered Toru's face. "Team Chōza went to support Kakashi-sensei. Out of everyone, I'm the only one who survived..."

"Go to Chōza's location, Chouji. If you take him to the hospital, he'll survive, but it has to be fast."

"What...? So he's not...:

"Indeed."

"What a relief..." Tears began to fall down Chouji's cheeks. However, he remembered who it was that allowed him to escape. "What about Kakashi-sensei, is he okay?"

At this question, Tsunade maintained her silence. Chouji understood and, with the remorse of not having been able to help, he jumped off the building and ran as fast as he could.

Tsunade returned to the center of the circle, but she sensed someone's presence. A dangerous presence. She quickly turned to look at that person and could see the eyes of the Six Paths.

'Pain...'

***

Shizune, Ino's father and that cat-masked ANBU ninja hid within the walls of the building.

They have managed to discover Pain's secret. The message left by Jiraiya said: "The real one is not among them" and after gathering all the formation, they deduced that the piercings of each Pain's Path, carried chakra, like an antenna that sent and received signals. Which left them with only one conclusion. The real Pain is near and is pulling the strings of the Six Paths, as if they were puppets controlled over long distances.

"The real one has to be hiding somewhere high and close to the village. We have to warn Tsunade-sama to send a search party."

They all nodded their heads, but were interrupted by a sudden explosion on the roof. Inoichi and the ANBU ninja backed away, but the only one who didn't was Shizune. As they noticed and the dust settled, they heard a male voice.

"Don't move or she dies" The Human Path put his hand on Shizune's head and looked with narrowed eyes at Inoichi and the ANBU ninja.

Inoichi gritted his teeth at this. He could do nothing to defend Shizune and this caused anger to increase in his heart. Not only did he not know where his daughter was, but he could also hear people screaming. This was already making him tired.

That man's voice, with a monotonous voice, was once again heard echoing in that place. Then, the information was revealed...

"Myōbokuzan, huh..."

Inoichi opened his eyes in disbelief. The Human Path raised his arm and something strange came out of Shizune's body. She fell to the ground and that man disappeared into the dust that rose again.

***

Running at full speed, Toru blinked a couple of times, but his vision was already almost completely dark. He could still see a blurred light in front of him, but nothing more than that. He shook his head, for he has run out of time. The blindness has already defeated him. So, with that feeling of disappointment about himself, he activated the Kodō Shigan and continued running.

"¿...?"

Their eyes met, Chouji passed by him, but he ignored him and continued running. Toru, besides that, felt something liquid on his hands. When he smelled his hand, he realized it was Kakashi's blood. So he wrapped his hands in Shakuton for a second and the blood disappeared and evaporated. Although he didn't dislike staining his hands when he killed someone, he didn't want Konan to tell him again that he stunk. With this blindness besides, it's impossible to see if his clothes were stained with blood.

'There they are' He saw the building and jumped in the air three times until he landed. He skidded on the ground with his feet and then looked up. He realized that Pain was in front of Tsunade accompanied by four ANBU shinobi.

However, no one seemed to notice, as he heard something Pain said.

"It seems that Naruto is not in that village. Myōbokuzan, huh..."

Hearing this, Toru connected the puzzle and discovered in a second that Naruto is also training Senjutsu with the toads in Myōbokuzan. Surely it was one of those elderly toads that were on Jiraiya's shoulders that night who told Naruto about Senjutsu.

Still, this didn't matter to him and he started walking in Pain's direction. Everyone heard his footsteps, so it was inevitable to attract attention.

Aside from the shock of knowing that Pain knows where Naruto is, Tsunade's eyes widened in shock at the sight of Toru's face. A memory from the past overlapped with reality. Tsunade saw that crazy girl reflected in Toru.

'He looks exactly like Asahi Kyoko...'

"I'm done with what you ordered me to do, Pain. Kakashi is no longer a problem."

"What was it he said?" The purple-haired, masked kunoichi took a step forward upon hearing this. If her old comrade is dead, that means no one here besides Tsunade stand a chance against this kid.

"Well done, Toru. I'll be sure to make it up to you when we get the Kyūbi."

"Hm... if you say so."

Tsunade clenched her fists tightly and frowned. "What do you think you're doing, Toru, your mother wouldn't have wanted this for you!"

Toru appeared at Tsunade's side and whispered in her ear. "The dead don't talk, Tsunade. But they can follow you for the rest of your life. You treated me like a criminal even when I was innocent..."

"Damn you!" The ANBU shinobi raised their weapons and glared at Toru with murderous intent. However, this boy, with a monotonous voice, continued to speak.

"Tell me, Tsunade. Now that I'm a real criminal, what will you do about it? I'm sure you have a brilliant plan in your mind as usual. Come on, you can frame me for as many crimes as you wish. I assure you none of it matters, after all" With that said, he disappeared and reappeared next to Pain.

"Looks like we've been wasting our time. Uzumaki Naruto is not here."

"I know. I didn't feel Naruto's chakra anywhere. I had no way to communicate it to you, since when I got to Kakashi's, you were gone."

"That was a small mistake on my part. Now..." Pain raised his hand and looked at Tsunade with narrowed eyes. "One last question" He turned his back to everyone and walked to the edge of the building looking at the sky and sighed. "That chakra you have concentrated in your feet, is it to protect you from my power? It's a pity, any effort is useless when you are facing an overwhelming force and the five great nations know it well."

'Here it goes again. Same old speech' Somehow, although he understood Nagato's ideals, he had grown tired of hearing the same speech for two years. Yes, he's right, but having to repeat it every so often had become tiresome.

"You consider yourselves the center of the world, you think you can escape death, but peace has made you idiots and reckless. When you kill someone, someone else comes back to kill you. It is an inevitable cycle driven by hatred."

Tsunade clicked her tongue. "Enough of this nonsense, Pain!" However, he continued with his speech.

"War always brings pain, injury and death to both sides."

In Toru's mind, that night was projected. Pain, wounds... death. Even though this is his second life, he suffered a lot because of these factors. If he had only recovered his memories from the beginning, he would still be that man without emotions and morals. Driven by that strange desire to protect the world. But that never happened and Toru doesn't even know how he feels about it. These emotions are quite disastrous.

"The five great nations have suffered! Stop trying to justify your actions! I've had enough of your slander'!"

"No one is justifying anything, Tsunade. You are simply blinded by the Will of Fire" Toru took a leap and stood up in the air. As if something was holding him up. "Human beings... we are supposed to be thinking beings. Look at nothing but such mediocre thinking" He took another leap again, hovering in midair.

At the same time, Pain began to float and, with an emotionless look he said, "Feel the pain.... Behold the pain..." His robe moved to the rhythm of the wind as he rose into the air. "Accept the pain... Behold the pain!"

-On the outskirts of Konoha-

Puff! Enveloped in a cloud of smoke, Konan along with five of the Six Paths appeared. Konan looked at the sky in confusion and a strange wave of chakra began to envelop everything.

"What's going on?"

The Animal path answered, "God's judgment."

She for a moment looked worried and then shook her head. She also did not see Toru, so it was to be expected that this boy continues to be in the village. One of the Paths saw Konan's concern instantly and to calm the situation a bit, said, "He is with me..."

***

"Hm... what is this...?" Okaminaru looked up at the sky in confusion. She watched as birds fled and some forest animals ran scared into the bushes. 'Chakra pressure.... Will Toru-dono be alright?'

The human girls beside her could see this strange phenomenon as well, but like Okaminaru, they did not know the cause. Pain was still attacking the village, but they couldn't leave because of the giant wolf blocking their way. The only thing they could think was that Toru had a lot to do with it.

"It's pretty weird... the chakra on the ground is stirring..." Touching the ground with her palms, Ino used her abilities as a sensor ninja and was able to know about this in better depth, but the information was still confusing.

"I have to go..."

"I think the same thing, Onee-sama."

Hanabi and Hinata, both sisters activated their Byakugan and looked at the wolf with intentions of knocking her out, but if they thought better of it, it would only be a waste of energy that would lead to nothing.

***

"Those who do not know true pain, will be unable to feel true peace" He stretched out his arms to demonstrate the greatness of his power. His eyes looked at that ruined village whose inhabitants were still alive.

"Pain, what do you plan to do?" However, Toru only followed him because he thought they would go to Myōbokuzan, but he soon realized that this was something worse.

"A divine judgment."

When Toru heard that, he remembered that day when he was recruited to be an Akatsuki member. That power of pushing things with the power of chakra and how the whole place was destroyed in a single second. He narrowed his eyes and finally understood.

"I see..." He climbed even higher and surveyed the large village. He... could no longer see anything. Blindness had completed its process and the light was lost in this boy's eyes. Now only the memory of this village remained, still lingering in his mind. 'I already broke my ties with this village. So whatever happens from here on, it's none of my business' With his eyes closed, he folded his arms and waited patiently.

'I will never forget Yahiko's pain...' His pupils, like a pair of binoculars, focused on the place. "And now!" The sunlight blinded the onlookers.

Tsunade ran to catch up to Pain along with her ANBU shinobi, but it was impossible.

"What are you planning to do, Pain!" The answer she expected never came. "Katsuyu, protect them all... please..."

"As you command, Hime-sama."

The sun's rays gently caressed the world. The animals fled in the face of God's impending judgment. And then, in the midst of that light, like a true god, he had to prove it.

"Pain for the world..."

A gigantic gust of wind began to stir around Pain. In the distance, many watched their Hokage look to the sky. Some had noticed it from before, but now they all looked up at him.

"Shinra Tensei"

The doom of that village was only beginning.

To be continue...

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Merry Christmas to all. This will be the last chapter of the year, but if you manage to reach 300 power stones before the end of the year, I will publish 2 more chapters. Thanks for always reading, I wish you all the best and soon a happy new year.