Senju Haruto was different from Jiraiya.
As someone who had once watched Naruto in his previous life, Haruto understood the Six Paths of Pain better than anyone else. He knew each path's abilities clearly.
The Animal Path, for instance, had no real offensive capability beyond summoning jutsu. And its summoned creatures were nothing compared to Haruto's Wood Golem and Wood Dragon.
Even Jiraiya, Fukasaku, and Shima—who had all seen countless battles—were stunned into silence by the sight before them.
They couldn't help but question whether they even belonged here, standing in the middle of such a fight.
"Jiraiya."
Haruto did not immediately crush the Animal Path. Instead, he stretched out the massive hand of his wooden construct, inviting Jiraiya to step on.
Jiraiya didn't hesitate. He leapt up, landing beside Haruto on the shoulder of the towering wooden giant.
"I was planning to enter Sage Mode and fight alongside you," Jiraiya admitted, unable to hide the tension in his voice.
"No need to trouble yourself," Haruto said with a calm shake of his head, signaling that Jiraiya should simply watch.
For others, the Rinnegan's shared vision ability was a nightmare. But for Senju Haruto, it was nothing impressive.
With his current power, he could utterly overwhelm the Six Paths of Pain.
Once he was sure Jiraiya would not be caught in the crossfire, Haruto guided the wooden construct forward, its enormous hand reaching for the Animal Path.
Seeing this, the Animal Path quickly summoned a massive centipede to block the advance, then retreated.
Even though he had received intelligence about Haruto beforehand, the sheer pressure of facing him in battle was crushing.
And the vaunted shared vision of the Rinnegan? Against Haruto, it was practically useless.
Even if the Paths saw Haruto's movements, their bodies couldn't react in time. The speed difference was far too great.
And Haruto and Jiraiya were perched atop the wooden colossus, far outside the Animal Path's range of attack.
"Just another summoning beast."
As the summoned centipede crawled rapidly up the arm of the wooden golem, Haruto clapped his hands together once more.
As long as his chakra reserves held out, he could create as many Wood Dragons as he pleased—dozens, even hundreds if he wanted.
The Animal Path's beasts, by comparison, were limited.
But this centipede wasn't aiming directly for Haruto or Jiraiya. Instead, it climbed high, then suddenly leapt off, diving toward the sealing pyramid that bound the Hellhound.
"A diversion!"
Jiraiya shouted in alarm, quickly warning Haruto.
But the centipede's speed was nothing compared to Haruto's Wood Dragon. Within mere breaths, the dragon surged forward, wrapped around the creature, and crushed it to pieces.
At that exact moment, however, two more of the Six Paths appeared.
The Asura Path and the Human Path.
The Asura Path, heavily modified into a living weapon, unleashed a barrage of mechanical attacks—
Homing missiles.
Finger rockets.
A concentrated laser from its head.
It hardly looked like ninjutsu at all, more like a storm of mechanical destruction, and all of it aimed straight at Haruto.
Until now, only the Animal Path had been actively fighting. But with the Rinnegan's shared vision, all the other Paths had already absorbed every detail of Haruto's strength.
They didn't need words. Their coordination was flawless.
The Human Path seized the opportunity, leaping toward the Hellhound's seal, attempting to shatter it.
Among all the summoned beasts, the Hellhound was without a doubt the most dangerous.
But Haruto had no intention of giving him the chance.
The instant the Human Path leapt into the air, its body unable to change course, Haruto spun chakra in his hand and infused it with elemental transformation.
"Wind Style: Rasenshuriken!"
A technique originally created by Naruto himself—but for Haruto, replicating it was effortless.
As he hurled the Rasenshuriken, his eyes spun, flaring with the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan.
Chakra erupted violently, manifesting into the massive armor of Susanoo, shielding both Haruto and Jiraiya.
BOOOOM!
The Asura Path's barrage slammed into Susanoo, exploding into smoke and fire—but failing to even scratch the colossal warrior.
Susanoo's defense utterly eclipsed the Asura Path's firepower.
Meanwhile, the Rasenshuriken streaked unerringly toward the Human Path.
Though it hadn't been looking directly at Haruto, the shared vision of the Rinnegan still revealed the oncoming technique.
The density of chakra within the jutsu was overwhelming—chaotic, destructive, terrifying.
At the last moment, the Human Path twisted its body in midair, narrowly avoiding a direct hit.
But what it didn't know… was that the Rasenshuriken's true power wasn't in the throw.
BOOOOM!
The moment it thought it was safe, the Rasenshuriken detonated, its microscopic blades swallowing the Human Path entirely.
Its body was shredded into nothingness.
The Asura Path and Animal Path froze in shock.
"That jutsu…"
Jiraiya's eyes widened in disbelief.
That was the technique Minato Namikaze had failed to complete—yet Senju Haruto had unleashed it effortlessly.
And its destructive power… was beyond anything he had imagined.
"No," Haruto corrected him calmly. "The one who truly completed it was Naruto. I merely saw it once, and learned it instantly."
"You learned it… by seeing it once?"
Jiraiya blinked, wondering if he had misheard.
That jutsu was an S-rank technique at minimum. The training alone was said to be impossible for anyone else.
Yet Haruto said he had mastered it in a glance.
Was he even human?
"I'll teach you later," Haruto said with a teasing smile—though his expression hardened immediately afterward.
Susanoo's massive blade cleaved downward, unleashing a wave of cutting energy toward the Asura Path.
The attack was so fast, the Asura Path barely had time to register it, let alone evade.
This was Haruto's overwhelming advantage.
Even if his enemies shared vision, even if they could see his every move—his speed was so far beyond theirs that they simply couldn't react.
BOOOOM!
The Asura Path was torn apart by the blade of Susanoo.
Power beyond comprehension.
Force that crushed everything in its path.
The Animal Path stood frozen, trembling as it stared at the towering Wood Golem clad in Susanoo's armor.
It couldn't even imagine a path to victory.
Forget defeating Haruto—even surviving long enough for the remaining Paths to arrive was a hopeless dream.
Jiraiya swallowed hard, realizing with a start that their secret infiltration had somehow turned into an outright assault on the Akatsuki's core.
And yet… one question gnawed at him.
"Why… why does every one of these bodies have the Rinnegan?" Jiraiya muttered, bewildered. "That power—wasn't it only Nagato's?"
And more than that… none of the faces matched the Nagato he once knew.
"Perhaps Nagato isn't among them at all," Haruto replied flatly.
"What do you mean, not among them?" Jiraiya frowned, not understanding.
"Look closely at those black rods embedded in their bodies," Haruto said. "If I'm right, they're receivers—channels to control them."
He paused.
"Remember what we heard earlier? About this tower demanding that they bring in corpses?"
Jiraiya's eyes widened at the implication.