Chapter 49
PAIN--Nagato
He was fast. He had already known that, yet whatever technique he was using allowed him to move at a speed which was nearly impossible to follow. Yet his speed was but a minor inconvenience, for it was not his speed which was the greatest threat to him.
No. It was his uncanny intelligence.
Even during his first interaction with the Akatsuki, Hikari Hyuga had proven himself to be a menace as he figured our Deidara and Sasori's weakness in a few minutes, and he had done the same for Kakuzu and Hidan.
And as he felt the chakra signature of one of his bodies vanish, Nagato realised that he had now done the same for him. One battle. That was all it had taken for him to figure out his most well-guarded secret, and as the dust cleared, he stood there grinning as he took out the rod that had hit in the shoulder and gave him a smile.
"You are not the only one with a few trump cards," and that was irksome, for he saw a green hue cover his wounds, which began to heal at once, as Tsunade Senju's summon began to do its work.
"He knows your secret," Konan's voice came in from the side.
"He does, but I wonder how he knew which of my paths to target first," Nagato wondered, as he repelled Terumi Mei's katon jutsu.
"Do you need me to intervene?" and for a second, he considered her suggestion, for without the path, he now lacked the ability to heal or respawn the rest of his bodies.
Still, he did not need her yet.
"Not yet," he whispered, even as Tsunade Senju jumped out of the forest, and the damage that she had taken in protecting Hikari was now all gone as she swung a giant tree at him.
"I am not done with you yet!" the Hokage screamed.
"Bring me the girl," and he had not missed how they had sent that blonde girl forward to ask for reinforcements, and until she was done with her, he could hold out here on his own.
"As you wish," and with that, the connection vanished, as he found himself facing an attack from three sides, yet that was not enough.
"SHINRA TENSEI!" and the force of his attack pushed them all back once more, as Pain landed on the ground, slowly, as the rest of his paths came and stood beside him.
"So, it seems that you have somehow figured out one of my secrets," he whispered as he stared straight into those pale, pupil-less eyes.
"But that is all futile in the end," and with that, the rest of them, all of his paths bit their thumb and pushed their hands into the ground.
"Ninpo: Chikushōdō!" and three massive animals were summoned, all of which rushed towards them, ready to swallow them whole.
"You think you can beat us with those summons?" Senju Tsunade taunted as she rushed forth and met the raging Rhino head-on, and to this day, her strength surprised her as she hit its horn with a punch.
BOOOOM!
And the Rhino's steps halted, as Terumi Mei jumped up and cycled through her own set of seals.
"Yōton: Yōkai no Jutsu!" and the spray of Lava from her was set to envelope the bird whole, yet Pain had long stopped waiting as his paths rushed forward at his command, and immediately one of his paths began absorb her ninjutsu much to her angst and he saw the Hyuga boy try and rush to her aid, but none of his movements were hidden from him as the Asura Path put itself between him and the Mizukage while another one did the same for Tsunade Senju.
The boy was quick enough to maneuver around, but by then it was too late, as the bird hit the Mizukage straight on and sent her flying through the air while his own powers were ready to be used once more.
"Shinra Tensei," and yet once more, fire raged from under his feet as he flew up to avoid the attack, while he cycled through a set of seals quickly.
"Katon: Phoenix Flame Jutsu…" and Pain scoffed.
"Have you forgotten that Ninjutsu is useless against me…" and no matter what he may try, Pain was ready to defeat him, yet just as he tried to absorb those fire jutsus, suddenly the fire vanished as snakes emerged from within the flames and immediately wrapped themselves around his Path.
"You are not the only one with summons, you bastard," and the distraction was enough for him to blitz right at his back, as Pain rushed to avoid the punch heading straight for his face, and the fore exploded right beside him, and the flames tinged his face as the boy smirked.
"Swallow him whole GARAGA!" he screamed, and he felt the ground under him shake before suddenly it tore up as a giant snake rose from underneath it, its jaws open and ready to swallow him whole.
Still, he jumped into the air, yet not missing how despite having many a life-ending wounds on her body, Tsunade Senju appeared right above her head, and tried to punch him into the snake's body.
"You are too persistent," and he was getting frustrated with them, as he let out his rage.
"ENOUGH!"
BOOOOM! BOOOOM! BOOOOM!
And the world was ripped apart once more, as the ground tore up again, and the forest was pushed back by miles and miles, as both Tsunade Senju and that damned Hyuga Boy were sent tumbling through the grounds.
BOOOOM! BOOOOM! BOOOM!
Yet in this carnage, he suddenly noticed the signature of his Preta path vanished, and he did not even need to turn his head to see a bleeding and injured form of the Mizukage rise up from the ground, while the unmoving form of one of his paths was buried under the ground.
Blood soaked her dress's side, and she was absolutely battered, yet still, even against the likes of Hanzo, he had not lost so many of his paths.
"KAITEN!" and with that, a red dome of chakra emerged, and decimated the wood and the stones, pushing down on them, as Hikari Hyuga and Tsunade Senju emerged out of the rubble.
Bruised. Battered. Bleeding.
Yet alive.
And it seemed as if Tsunade had used her own body to shield the Hyuga boy, for an entire piece of her arm had been crushed, and an entire piece of her abdomen was simply missing.
Any normal human would be dead by now, and yet she stood there smiling at him, as he saw her flesh mend itself infront of his eyes.
He did not know how she was doing this, yet he had an inkling that it was somehow connected to the expanded mark on her forehead.
"I can see now why everyone fears you so much, Hikari no Hiken," and it was the Mizukage who sang his praise.
"Indeed," he agreed, as he summoned back all his paths while he gathered chakra.
"Even Hanzo, with all his might, failed in bringing down even one of us, and yet somehow you have managed to put down two," and that boy was the architect of it all. Still, the battle had cost him a lot, and he saw that dark hue retreat from his body, revealing his natural pale skin, as the boy collapsed to his knees.
"But it seems that is your limit," and without his speed, the battle was his. Tsunade Senju and Terumi Mei were strong, yet neither of them was capable of standing against him even if he had lost two of his paths.
"Why are you doing this, Yahiko?" Tsunde Senju's voice rang through the clearing, and so she did remember his friend's name.
"Yahiko is long gone," he answered, as he decided to end it all.
"All that remains now is his Pain," and they all moved at once as the Hyuga boy began to cycle through a series of handseals,
"This is it, Tsunade-sama, Mizukage-sama. The rest is in your hands," and he saw the boy wince, as his chakra levels dropped to their end as he plunged his hands into the ground.
"Leave it to us!"
"You have done enough," the two female kunoichi roared forth, as they made their own move, and he was intrigued once more by their plan.
"Doton: Sando No jutsu!" and the ground around them shifted, as earth rose from their sides and began to cover them all in a dome.
"I do hope your healing is as robust as you say, Hokage," Terumie Mei's voice raged from the side.
"I would hate to boil you along with them all," and by now all of Tsunade Senju's wounds had healed.
"Aye! You need not worry about me! Boil us all," and suddenly their plans began to make sense, as he heard the Mizukage's whisper.
"Futton:…." And Terumi Mei was not so feared because of her mastery over Katon or Suiton. No, she was feared because she was amongst the very select few shinobi within the world who possessed a Kekkei Tota.
Hers was a technique that allowed her to devastate entire battlefields on her own, and there was a rumor that she had once been ambushed by a hundred shinobi from her village during the rebellion, and yet in the end, all it had taken for her to kill them all was one jutsu.
One technique, and to this day, they have not found a single bone belonging to those hundred men.
"….Kōmyōkyaku!"
And in the blink of an eye, a thick corrosive mist spread all over the place, and he felt it tear into the skin of his puppets, as their skin, muscles, and bones all began to melt away.
"We need to get out of here," he ordered, yet before he could use his technique, Tsunade Senju was upon him, as she refused to back down, and tore through his paths in the blink of an eye, even as the acid ate through her skin.
"You are not getting out of here, you bastard!" and she crushed the Asura Path, and the Mizukage's technique had begun to dull their senses and techniques.
He had to act. He had to act fast.
"SHINRA..." and yet she was there just above him, ready to punch down and just as he tried to activate his technique, he failed, and one glance was enough to make him realise that the acid had not just burnt through his muscles, it had also begun to rust the chakra rods providing his paths with chakra.
"NO!" he raged, as he realised their ploy, and he heard the rods fall to the ground, as the acid ate through Yahiko's bones and skin.
"Don't you dare underestimate us KAGE!"
"CHAAAA!" and just as her smoking fist was inches from his eyes, he felt a hand on his shoulder, as a cold and familiar voice cut through the silence in the blink of an eye.
"It seems like you have found yourself in some trouble..." and the last thing he saw before the burning sensation vanished was that all too familiar Sharingan spin through the air.
BOOOOOM! BOOOOOM! BOOOOOOM!
.
.
.
Away from the battle, Ino Yamanaka rushed through the forest as she continuously tried to send a message back to the village for reinforcements. Yet as she did so, she cursed her weakness, and, useless as she felt the three chakras behind her dwindling as they pushed themselves beyond their limits in their fight against Akastuki's leader.
'Ino from the Hokage Platoon. Please send reinforcements. Facing Pai..." and just as the message had begun to go through, a massive explosion pushed her back once more.
BOOOOM! BOOOOM! BOOOOM!
And she was thrown back, her message interrupted, and as she opened her eyes, she found herself staring at a figure standing in her path. It was a girl with purple hair and eyes with a pair of wings surrounding her back.
"Where do you think you are going...."
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PS: This was one of my favourite fights to write. I have always loved Mei's abilities as a shinobi. Hope you guys like it!