Nagato and Minato

Outside a town in the Land of Rain, a blast rang out, and a shockwave swept through the entire town.

"Kushina, you'd better run now. They're Akatsuki. We can't fight them like this."

Anju was somewhat puzzled. Why had Akatsuki attacked Kushina?

Had their Tailed Beast plan already begun?

Damn it, Naruto hadn't even started Ninja Academy yet.

It was happening so far ahead of schedule. He hadn't prepared anything at all!

"No, I can't run."

Kushina's face was ashen. A Tailed Beast Ball had come down, yet the three people on the other side were completely unharmed.

She could also sense danger coming from all directions.

Elsewhere.

Minato Namikaze was surrounded by five people in red clouds on black backgrounds, standing atop a massive bird.

"Your eyes..."

The first thing Minato Namikaze noticed about these ninja was the strange appearance of their eyes.

"These are the eyes of a god. I am Pain, leader of Akatsuki."

At that moment, Deva Path Pain floated down from the sky.

"What do you want?"

"I want to invite you to join our organization."

"For what purpose?"

"To bring peace to the Ninja World."

"Heh, what a grand ambition, but..."

At that moment, an explosion sounded in the distance, and even Minato Namikaze could no longer remain calm.

He formed a hand seal, intending to use Flying Thunder God.

"Don't bother. To keep you here and make you hear me out, I made a few small preparations as well."

"What did you do?" Minato Namikaze was astonished. His Flying Thunder God could not be used.

"Just a few tricks." Nagato waved a hand dismissively.

Seeing that Flying Thunder God was unusable, Minato Namikaze immediately used Yin-Yang Sealing Bind. Several Black Chains shot toward the puppets around him.

"Preta Path: Sealing Technique Absorption!"

The Black Chains pressed against the sealing shield formed by the Preta Path. The two sides strained against each other, neither able to overcome the other.

"Hellhound!"

Animal Path Pain shouted, and a massive canine summon, four meters tall and powerfully built, immediately sprang out from behind a nearby tree.

Minato Namikaze frowned and darted aside.

Several missiles then struck Minato Namikaze's former position.

When the smoke from Asura Path's missile explosion dispersed, only a Substitution Log remained where Minato Namikaze had been.

"What? Don't tell me Sealing Jutsu is the only move you know."

Deva Path Pain looked strangely at the Masked Man.

Minato Namikaze was extremely worried about Kushina's situation.

Even he had people specially assigned to deal with him. He had no idea what Kushina was facing.

"Damn it!" Minato Namikaze spread his hands, then brought them together, forming a small red sphere between them.

"Take this—Flame Sun Courage!"

The red sphere stuck to the Preta Path's shield, but it did not vanish immediately.

"Hm?"

Deva Path Pain looked curiously at the red sphere. It was clearly a Chakra ball formed from a ninjutsu, yet it had not disappeared under the Preta Path's absorption.

"Flame Sun Courage!"

Meanwhile, Minato Namikaze did not remain idle. He threw another Flame Sun Courage at the Hellhound. With such a large body, it was an excellent target.

The moment the Hellhound was struck by Flame Sun Courage, it immediately began to split apart.

One became two, two became four, four became eight, eight became sixteen, then thirty-two, sixty-four, one hundred and twenty-eight...

Pain realized something was wrong and immediately tried to dispel the summon, but failed. The Space-Time Lockdown prevented the Hellhound from disappearing at once, and Animal Path's Chakra had already been exhausted.

The Hellhound's splitting also required the summoner's Chakra. Splitting so many times in such a short period was simply beyond what Animal Path's Chakra could sustain.

After Animal Path Pain collapsed, the Hellhound vanished along with its master's depleted Chakra, and Flame Sun Courage crashed straight into the ground.

The ground was immediately melted by Flame Sun Courage.

Nagato, watching from afar, remained calm after seeing it clearly. It was merely a highly condensed sphere of chakra.

After absorbing the Flame Sun Courage, the Preta Path let out a breath as well. The intense heat of the Flame Sun Courage had made its puppet body swell slightly.

Before Pain could speak again, the Flame Sun Courage on the ground exploded.

A shockwave swept outward, and Pain easily blocked it.

However, the Animal Path, having lost its chakra, was naturally caught up in the explosion.

Minato Namikaze quickly fled into the distance.

"Deva Path: Banshō Ten'in!"

At that moment, Minato Namikaze felt a pulling force dragging him toward Pain.

"I think you should hear me out before leaving."

Minato Namikaze had no desire to pay Pain any attention. He needed to find Kushina; this was no time to chat with Pain.

"I have no interest in world peace. I only care about Kushina!"

"Oh? Then there is nothing to discuss, because the Nine-Tails is part of my plan as well."

"You're insane. You're targeting the Tailed Beasts? Aren't you afraid the Five Great Ninja Villages will unite against you?"

"Haven't you already done the same? Heh, so I want to bring you into this too." Pain stared at Minato Namikaze after saying that.

Only then did Minato Namikaze remember that, while carrying out Anju's mission, he had attacked the Jinchuriki of all five great ninja villages.

Was that why this guy had sought him out?

"What do you want the Tailed Beasts for?"

"The Tailed Beasts are weapons. Once I gather all nine, I will possess the most powerful weapon. Then I can bring peace to the Ninja World."

"But conflicts between people will still exist."

"So what if they do? As long as you can suppress those who refuse to submit, peace can exist." Deva Path Pain reached a hand toward Minato Namikaze. "Come. Witness peace with me."

"No. I refuse." A new Flame Sun Courage appeared in Minato Namikaze's hand.

"Then I apologize. If we cannot be friends, we can only be enemies."

After Minato Namikaze threw out the Flame Sun Courage, Deva Path Pain extended his hand, and the pulling force instantly turned into a repulsive force.

The Flame Sun Courage itself used Yang Attribute Magnetic Force to bind Fire Attribute Chakra. Once it was jolted by the repulsive force, the entire sphere was instantly pushed back. Minato Namikaze tilted his head, and the Flame Sun Courage flew past his face.

The intense heat of the Flame Sun Courage also destroyed Minato Namikaze's Transformation Technique.

"Poof."

Minato Namikaze transformed into Kushina Uzumaki.

Deva Path Pain froze as well.

"You?"

Minato Namikaze swiftly retreated, running in the direction the Flame Sun Courage had flown.

"Explode!"

Before long, the Flame Sun Courage struck a Barrier Wall.

Without another word, Minato Namikaze detonated the Flame Sun Courage.

Then he used the Flying Thunder God to teleport to Kushina's location.

Deva Path Pain was somewhat puzzled, because he had clearly sensed that after Minato Namikaze's Transformation Technique was dispelled, there had been no new disguise.

That meant...

Deva Path Pain looked toward the town. "Kushina Uzumaki, are you the real Masked Man? How interesting."

Because Minato Namikaze had broken through the blockade, Pain could no longer stop him.

A new Animal Path puppet emerged from the Naraka Path, while the body destroyed by the Flame Sun Courage was restored as well.

Elsewhere, Kushina and her three companions watched their surroundings with grim expressions.

Three ninja in black robes patterned with red clouds formed a triangular formation around Kushina's group.

Farther away, a short, fat man watched Kushina with a cold gaze. It was not that he did not dare to attack; he was responsible for ambushing Kushina, but with her Tailed Beast Cloak, there was simply no way to catch her off guard.

At that moment, another Kushina appeared beside her.

Minato had arrived.