Jiraiya's situation was not looking good. He had just summoned the Toad Sages to help him enter Sage Mode. After successfully using Genjutsu to take down several Pains, he realized something was wrong.
"They... are all people I once killed." Jiraiya crouched halfway to the ground, blood staining his lower abdomen red as a black rod pierced his body.
Cold, powerful Chakra flowed from the black rod. In a daze, he seemed to see a pair of dark purple eyes within that ominous Chakra.
The foreign Chakra threw all the Chakra in his body into disarray, making it difficult for him to breathe. Only after pulling out the black rod did he feel somewhat better.
"Such ominous Chakra... Wait! Black rods, corpses..." Jiraiya's pupils shrank slightly as several clues seemed to connect in his mind.
"Pain is everywhere, or perhaps there is no Pain at all..."
Moriyue had not shared the information about Nagato with anyone else, so Jiraiya still did not know who truly controlled the Deva Path. Yet, he had analyzed several clues from the traces Pain had revealed.
At this moment, Jiraiya's fate diverged from that of the original story, opening up an entirely new future.
"Nagato, you're using these walking corpses..." Jiraiya spat out blood and struggled to his feet, slowly making his way out of the pipes.
The rain had weakened considerably. Sunlight rarely broke through the clouds and shone upon Amegakure. For some reason, chaos seemed to be unfolding outside. Jiraiya could not make sense of it. This village was usually as quiet as a silent drizzle, yet today it was astonishingly noisy.
Jiraiya had already guessed the truth. All he needed now was to pass the intelligence on to Konoha. After that, it would be a private matter between master and disciples.
"Brother,