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The owner of the Rinnegan looked utterly terrifying. His lower half was encased within a massive apparatus. His hands were connected to two pipes. His upper body was unclothed, revealing an unnaturally "emaciated" physique.
One couldn't even call it "emaciated" anymore; it seemed only bones remained, the skin truly just a layer of "skin," giving the impression that "flesh" had completely vanished.
On his back, dozens of black rods were densely inserted, a horrifying sight.
The only part of the person that appeared somewhat normal was his head of red hair.
Apart from that, his entire body exuded a sense of "impending death." Anyone seeing him for the first time would instinctively think—this person won't live much longer, right?
And this person was Nagato, the mastermind behind the Paths of Pain!
The apparatus beneath Nagato assisted his movement. Nagato's legs had been destroyed by Hanzo, so he couldn't walk. Of course, the apparatus also helped Nagato better control the Six Paths of Pain.
Nagato had a certain distance limitation for controlling the Six Paths of Pain. So when the Paths came for Tsunade, Nagato also had to secretly follow behind; otherwise, he couldn't control them.
Now, Nagato opened his eyes and spoke softly.
"Jiraiya-sensei."
It was a precious memory, one of the few moments of warmth from his childhood with Konan and Yahiko.
After a moment of silence, Nagato said nothing more and closed his eyes again.
He was no longer a child. The warmth of childhood was just that—childhood warmth. And his childhood was over.
I'm sorry, Jiraiya-sensei.
******
On the battlefield.
The Deva Path looked coldly at Jiraiya, offering no superfluous dialogue, only uttering two simple words.
"Kill him."
His tone held no fluctuation. Facing his former teacher, his first words were "Kill him."
Immediately...
"Bansho Ten'in!"
A tremendous attractive force generated. Jiraiya, caught off guard, was instantly pulled towards the Deva Path.
The other five Paths also attacked simultaneously!
Could Jiraiya defeat Pain? With sufficient intelligence, perhaps. But without intelligence, as the original story demonstrated, Jiraiya would absolutely be killed by Pain!
And what intelligence did the current Jiraiya have on Pain's group?
None at all!
The outcome of this battle was self-evident.
In the distance, Kagaya smiled slightly. He intended to intervene. Jiraiya's presence here was unexpected for him. However, knowing Jiraiya would lose, there was no need to watch further.
This would be his first time taking action since receiving his transplanted eyes. To be honest, Kagaya was quite looking forward to it. Just what could the so-called Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan achieve?
The fight between Jiraiya and Pain didn't last long before Jiraiya was clearly at a disadvantage. Not only due to lack of intelligence but also because, compared to the original story, Jiraiya now also had to protect Tsunade, increasing the pressure further.
Under these circumstances, Jiraiya naturally fell into disadvantage quickly. His defeat was evident.
The other Jonin also wanted to help, but they were quickly dispatched by the Six Paths of Pain. As for Kakashi and Guy, they were still entangled with Sasori and Kakuzu.
Jiraiya was panting heavily. He looked at the leader of this group (the Deva Path), feeling a sense of familiarity, but couldn't recall immediately. Moreover, the relentless onslaught from those around gave him no leisure to think.
Now, he was somewhat exhausted—he might die here.
Jiraiya's only chance to turn the tables was to abandon Tsunade, let these people kill her, and simultaneously evade them to buy time to enter Sage Mode. Only then would he have a fighting chance.
Jiraiya needed a certain amount of time to enter Sage Mode; he couldn't activate it at will. Protecting Tsunade now left him no time for Sage Mode. He didn't even have time to think about the leader's identity.
But trading Tsunade's death for Sage Mode? Don't be ridiculous. Jiraiya would rather die here than do that.
Yet the problem remained: without Sage Mode, defeating these people was impossible. He would be killed. And after his death, Tsunade would certainly die as well.
His heart grew colder.
Tsunade seemed doomed. Even though she had begun overcoming her hemophobia, so what? At least in this battle, Tsunade couldn't recover.
The only potential combatants were their summoning beasts. But the problem was Tsunade and Jiraiya's summons were already called out, currently fighting the enemy's summons.
Now, they couldn't even rely on summons. They could only rely on themselves!
Suddenly, a moment of carelessness. A black rod pierced Jiraiya's left arm, blood spraying out.
The Deva Path looked coldly at Jiraiya. "You could abandon that woman and leave by yourself."
Jiraiya retreated a few steps, avoiding an attack from the Human Path. "Are you joking?"
During the fight, Jiraiya had managed to kill a few of them, but for some reason, after a while, those people returned perfectly intact.
Hearing Jiraiya's words, the Deva Path said nothing more.
Jiraiya, knowing Tsunade was likely doomed either way, still refused to give up on her.
Jiraiya alone could escape. But escaping with Tsunade was impossible. Unless Nagato showed mercy, Tsunade absolutely couldn't be taken away by Jiraiya.
A black rod appeared in hand. The Deva Path looked at the rod in Jiraiya's left arm. Being impaled by a black rod meant Jiraiya's left arm could no longer use chakra; even moving it was problematic. This meant Jiraiya couldn't form hand seals!
"The opportunity is gone, Jiraiya."
The "opportunity" referred to the chance to escape. Before, Jiraiya alone could have escaped. But after being impaled, the injured Jiraiya could hardly escape now.
Raising the black rod, pointing it at Jiraiya. "No one can save you now, Sannin."
Yes. No one could save Jiraiya and Tsunade anymore. That's what the Deva Path believed
A golden skeletal arm swept by. The Naraka Path's head flew high into the air.
The attack came too fast. No one reacted in time.
The next second, everyone froze. The Naraka Path... gone?
And who did...
Before the thought could fully form, the Preta Path was seized by the skeletal arm and crushed alive.
Clapping his hands lightly, Kagaya smiled very brightly at the stunned group.
"Alright, the two most troublesome ones are dealt with."
The evolution to the Eternal Mangekyo further enhanced Kagaya's ocular power and dynamic vision, correspondingly causing a significant increase in his speed.
As mentioned before, Kagaya's speed had long far exceeded what he could fully utilize. It was like if Kagaya's maximum speed was 10, what he could actually utilize was only around 6 or 7. This was because fully utilizing speed required matching reaction capability—for Kagaya, matching dynamic vision.
It's important to understand that the Naruto world was one of high offense and low defense. Forget Kagaya's physique; even the Fourth Raikage, without using Lightning Release Armor, colliding with a wall at top speed would undoubtedly be fatal.
Without reaction capability matching his speed, Kagaya wouldn't need others to kill him; one day he might dash himself to death.
So, each evolution of Kagaya's Sharingan was accompanied by a significant speed increase. It was like the Eight Gates—not gaining power out of thin air, but removing "restrictions." That power was always his own, just previously unusable due to certain "restrictions."
Take Tobirama and Minato. Minato's Flying Thunder God was faster than Tobirama's. Was it because Tobirama hadn't fully mastered it? Don't be ridiculous. Someone like Tobirama, a master of jutsu—you could question him in other areas, but in jutsu, not even Madara was qualified to question Tobirama. That was no exaggeration.
So why could Minato be faster than Tobirama? In Kagaya's view, the only conceivable reason was reaction capability. Minato's reaction ability was stronger than Tobirama's, so his Flying Thunder God could be faster.
While Kagaya spoke, the Deva Path acted. He immediately raised his hand towards Kagaya.
"Bansho—"
A fist smashed into the Deva Path's face, shattering his mouth!
He couldn't even finish the jutsu name before Kagaya's punch sent him flying!
No one saw when Kagaya moved. Not even the shared vision of the Rinnegan saw it clearly!
Kagaya clenched his fist, looking at the Human Path.
"Take me to him."
The Human Path instantly widened his eyes. Others might not know what Kagaya meant, but he did. The "him" Kagaya referred to wasn't the Human Path, but "Nagato." Otherwise, why would Kagaya say that? If he wanted to go to the Human Path's side, would he need to announce it?
The Human Path didn't speak. He merely raised his hand. But with that single motion, before he could react, his head flew high into the air.
Kagaya appeared beside the Human Path, looking coldly at everyone.
"Don't you dare move. I will kill anyone who moves!"
Complete silence!
This speed was simply too fast! This was utterly impossible to deal with!!
No one dared to move.
The reason Kagaya forbade movement was that he understood the Rinnegan's terror. Currently, it was Nagato using it. If Uchiha Madara were to revive now and equip Nagato's Rinnegan, Kagaya's first move would be to run as far as he could, without a shred of hope for victory.
Kagaya was certain the Rinnegan could see his movements with extreme clarity. The reason the Paths couldn't was simply because they weren't being used by the original owner.
Therefore, understanding the Rinnegan's terror, Kagaya naturally didn't dare let these Paths act. He couldn't remember each Path's abilities. If he relied on his speed and let them act freely, he might die without knowing how.
Since his speed was superior, the best method was to use that speed to deny them any chance to act!
No matter how formidable, how incredible you are, my speed is faster. You dare to act? I'll cut you down before you can, preventing you from acting at all.
Kagaya believed this was the most prudent approach.
As for showing off heroics, Kagaya didn't exactly hate it. But facing an opponent with the Rinnegan like Pain, this particular display of prowess could wait. He'd save the bravado for fights against Jonin or the like later.