"Rinnegan?!"
Jiraiya, Fukasaku, and Shima all turned their heads in unison toward Senju Haruto—only to realize he really did possess the Rinnegan.
For Jiraiya, the shock was overwhelming. He already knew Haruto carried both the Byakugan and the Sharingan—just those two dōjutsu alone were enough to shake the shinobi world. But now… the Rinnegan as well?
This kid… does he intend to collect every eye technique in existence?
And wasn't the Rinnegan supposed to be the eyes of the Sage of Six Paths himself? How in the world had Haruto awakened it?
"You… you also have the Rinnegan?" Pain's Deva Path blurted out, unable to contain his disbelief. He wondered if his eyes were deceiving him—but no. Haruto's pupils were unmistakably those of the Rinnegan.
"What's going on here?" Jiraiya demanded, voice edged with urgency.
"This was something I discovered by chance," Haruto answered evenly. "I once visited the Uchiha clan's Nakano Shrine and uncovered the stone tablet hidden there. Its text can only be read by an Uchiha who has awakened the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan."
He paused, eyes narrowing. "That tablet revealed a truth: the ultimate evolution of the Sharingan… is the Rinnegan."
The words struck like thunder. Even Jiraiya, Fukasaku, and Shima—all seasoned veterans—were left reeling.
Even Nagato himself had never known such a thing. After all, he wasn't of Uchiha blood, had never awakened a Sharingan—how could he have discovered this?
"The Sharingan's final evolution… is the Rinnegan?" Jiraiya repeated in disbelief.
"That's right," Haruto said. "Once a wielder evolves their Sharingan into the Eternal Mangekyō, if they also possess the body of a sage… they can ascend to the Rinnegan."
"The body of a sage? You mean Sage Mode?" Jiraiya asked instinctively.
Haruto shook his head. "Not quite. Sage Mode channels nature chakra, but what I'm referring to is something deeper. The true 'sage's body' is our Senju clan's unique kekkei genkai—Wood Release."
In truth, Haruto wasn't lying. Everything he had revealed was information he had pieced together from hidden records—and from another source entirely. Long ago, Uchiha Madara had awakened the Rinnegan only after fusing himself with the cells of Senju Hashirama. With Obito chosen as his successor, Madara had entrusted the Rinnegan to Nagato before his own death.
But Nagato had never uncovered this secret.
That so-called "sage's body" was none other than Hashirama Senju himself, heir of the Senju bloodline and the reincarnation of Asura, son of the Sage of Six Paths.
Of course, Haruto's own Rinnegan wasn't awakened in that same way. He had obtained it as a reward through his own path—but the principle still applied. In truth, Haruto suspected that Madara's awakening wasn't merely due to Hashirama's Wood Release. It was Asura's chakra itself that had made the Rinnegan possible.
"Rinnegan…"
The moment Nagato realized Haruto possessed the same eyes as himself, his resolve nearly cracked. The Eternal Mangekyō alone was already an insurmountable threat. Add Wood Release to that… and now the Rinnegan as well?
That meant Haruto had access to all of his powers.
How am I supposed to fight against that?!
Nagato's breath grew heavier, more ragged. Desperation forcing his hand, he pressed his palms together and poured his remaining chakra into the Deva Path, determined to seal Haruto at all costs.
Meanwhile, Jiraiya steadied himself, forcing down his astonishment as his gaze swept once more across the remaining Paths of Pain.
And then his eyes locked onto one face.
"…That's… Yahiko?"
The resemblance was undeniable. Deva Path's features were the spitting image of Jiraiya's lost pupil.
The Deva Path leapt back instantly, with the Animal Path and Preta Path rushing in to shield him. Then the Deva Path clapped his hands together.
From Nagato's vantage point, a mere Shinra Tensei would never suffice. Instead—
"Chibaku Tensei!"
With a thunderous shout, a black sphere shot from the Deva Path's hands and rose into the sky. The orb radiated crushing gravity, pulling everything around it into its orbit. The tower walls cracked and tore free; the ceiling collapsed in chunks. Even the ground quaked, and the massive wooden construct beneath Haruto began to lift helplessly from the earth.
"This is the very power the Sage of Six Paths once used to seal the tailed beasts!" the Deva Path bellowed, his voice echoing as the growing sphere consumed all around it. "Once captured… there is no escape!"
From Nagato's perspective, Haruto was the greatest obstacle standing between him and the Nine-Tails. If he could eliminate Haruto here, everything else would fall into place.
But the jutsu's cost was staggering. Even abandoning the Animal and Preta Paths, the chakra toll on Nagato's frail body was unbearable.
Blood sprayed from his lips, crimson streaks trickling from his nose.
Outside, Konan—preparing her explosive tags—saw the tower crumbling from the jutsu and gasped.
"That technique… Chibaku Tensei?!"
Her eyes widened. In so short a time, Haruto had already forced Nagato into this desperate gambit.
"Just what… is this man?" she whispered, torn between dread for Nagato's failing body and the realization that she had no means to break this deadlock.
But Haruto remained utterly unshaken. He cast one disdainful glance at the Deva Path and said flatly:
"Unfortunately for you, you are no Sage of Six Paths. You're just a boy wielding the Rinnegan."
His voice carried no hint of concern. Why should it? Chibaku Tensei could never restrain someone infused with the chakra of five tailed beasts.
And more importantly—this technique was far from invincible.
"Great Thunderous Bow!"
Haruto raised his head to the sky. Susanoo erupted around him once again, but this time its weapon was no chakra blade.
From its left hand, lightning chakra condensed into the shape of a colossal bow, crackling with raw power. Thunder rumbled as violet and azure currents coiled together, clashing and grinding until they twisted into a single blazing arrow of storming lightning.
The Susanoo's right hand drew the string to its fullest, the arrow vibrating with destructive force.
At the very instant it reached maximum tension, Haruto roared and loosed the bolt.
The thunderclap was deafening. The arrow streaked upward, piercing the heavens, and smashed into the black sphere.
The resulting explosion erupted in a blinding white flare that lit up the entire sky above Amegakure.
Not only the villagers, but shinobi far beyond the village borders witnessed the phenomenon.
High above, a blond youth riding a clay bird froze mid-flight, eyes wide. Then, with a solemn nod, he whispered in awe:
"…Now that… is true art. Hm!"
...
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