"I never imagined that Jiraiya- sensei possessed such powerful Genjutsu! It seems I truly underestimated him!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Pain's Rinnegan began to twitch erratically, and he lost consciousness shortly afterward.
When he came to his senses again, he was already pinned to the ground by Jiraiya's greatsword, and the two Pains beside him had already died.
"It's over!"
Jiraiya breathed a slight sigh of relief, but as he finished, he suddenly heard Sage Fukasaku's cough on his shoulder.
As if a chain reaction had been triggered, Sage Shima on the other side, also started coughing.
"What's wrong? Are you alright?"
"Cough cough... It's nothing! I just used up too much energy!"
"It's quite strenuous to coordinate with the old man to use this Ninjutsu. My chin will probably get wrinkles. I'll have to take good care of it when I get back..."
"I'm so sorry!"
As they talked Jiraiya had already started walking towards the front of the passageway.
Once he was far away from the three people behind him, a spatial rift suddenly appeared above the Human Path, Animal Path, and Preta Path, immediately taking the three corpses into it.
Just as the spatial rift closed, three figures arrived.
"Huh? Where's the body?"
These three were none other than Asura Path Pain, who had come to provide support after realizing that something was wrong.
Seeing the empty battlefield, the three people present were somewhat puzzled.
"There seems to be a spatial fluctuation! Could it have been taken away by his Summoning Beast?"
The three from the Human Path ultimately perished in the belly of Toad. Is Jiraiya now so cautious?
Pain had considered this possibility, but he never imagined that someone named Snake had intruded and stolen his puppet.
"Forget it! I can handle him on my own!"
After they finished speaking, the two figures quietly disappeared into the darkness.
On the other side, Orochimaru looked at the three humanoid puppets lying quietly in front of him.
"I never imagined the Rinnegan could be used in this way. It's quite Outer Path Technique!"
He was most interested in these strange and unusual things, not to mention that he now had a Rinnegan. As long as he knew the principles of the Six Paths of Pain, he could also use this kind of puppet.
There's nothing he can do; he has a treasure trove but doesn't realize it. After all, he's a wild Ōtsutsuki. Not only does he need to obtain the Ninjutsu Rinnegan Urashiki, but he also needs to research more uses for the Rinnegan from Pain.
Just as he was about to examine the puppet in front of him more closely, the small window that was peeping in front of him changed again, drawing his attention back once more.
In just a short while, another change occurred on Jiraiya's side.
Asura Path Pain to Jiraiya, was stopped by Darui arrived just as he was about to set off.
The two of them smashed the water pipe next to them, and the water rushed into the river outside.
Such a big move must have caught Jiraiya's attention. In fact, Jiraiya had already noticed it the moment Asura Path Pain.
Jiraiya is not the same Jiraiya he used to be. Even if you let your guard down, he still has the reaction speed.
After recognizing that it was Darui who made the move, he quickly followed, intending to help the other party, when a figure attacked him again at the next moment.
The two rushed out through the broken pipe, fought each other, and then separated.
Darui didn't linger with the other party and went to Jiraiya's side after they parted ways.
Upon seeing the two ninjas before them, who also possessed the Rinnegan, Jiraiya and Darui's expressions immediately turned serious.
To their even greater surprise, another ninja appeared in front of them through the pipe; it was Deva Path Pain.
"I'm really surprised, teacher! I didn't expect you weren't the only one on this trip!"
Standing on the high ground, Pain looked down at Jiraiya and Darui with an arrogant expression.
It seems he doesn't care much about Darui's identity or background; one or two doesn't make much difference to him!
"Pain! Who exactly are you?! Counting the previous three, you now have six pairs of Rinnegan!"
When Jiraiya asked him a question, Pain didn't try to hide anything and answered his question directly.
"Six Paths of Pain! Pain is not a name, but a whole!"
These words confirmed Jiraiya's suspicions, and Sage Fukasaku on his shoulder, then spoke up:
"So there were six of you! Luckily you didn't come alone this time, or you would have been in grave danger!"
Its words were affirmed by Jiraiya, and even Darui, who was standing to the side, couldn't help but nod in agreement.
Upon seeing the Deva Path Pain, the young man's appearance gradually overlapped with the image of Jiraiya's eldest disciple.
"You... you are Yahiko?"
Pain had no intention of answering the other's questions any further, and directly commanded the Naraka Path and Asura Path on his body to attack Darui.
Pain, on the other hand, set his sights on Jiraiya. Jiraiya was able to easily defeat the three Human Path, which made Pain think more highly of him.
"Jiraiya- sensei, you shouldn't have come here!"
The two men began to fight fiercely, and while they were locked in a heated battle, a pair of eyes in the riverbed watched the scene silently.
This person was none other than Hozuki Mangetsu, who had somehow appeared in the river. Darui was in the open, while he was in the shadows, making him a trump card.
He hadn't forgotten that this was the Akatsuki, and the few people who had appeared now couldn't possibly be all of the organization's members.
Just as he was about to make his move, a pitcher plant's head suddenly popped out from the water pipe not far away, almost scaring him half to death.
"It seems we underestimated the resolve of the Five Great Nations, no, the six great powers!"
"It should be just the two of them who came this time. Konoha and Hidden Cloud Village have always been entangled, so it's not surprising that they would cooperate!"
Black Zetsu and White Zetsu were talking to themselves. They had just scouted out Amegakure and found no other intruders besides the two in front of them.
This situation isn't too bad. As long as two people remain, even if other countries know that this place is a bandit's den, they won't dare to make any rash moves.
Intelligence is always the most important thing. Without intelligence support, any ninja village that wants to attack them can only pay with lives.
Given that the six major powers each have their own agendas, no one wants to be the sucker unless they can unite.
"We need to speed things up! If this continues, more ninja villages will likely unite, which will severely hinder our plans!"
"Let's deal with the enemy in front of us first! These newcomers seem to be quite strong!"
Hozuki Mangetsu, nestled on the water's surface, dared not move an inch, even slowing down its breathing.
The fact that the other party could come to his vicinity without him noticing was enough to prove that the other party's stealth ability was no less than his own, so Hozuki Mangetsu dared not be careless for even a moment!
"We can't stay here any longer! If we drag this out any longer, the Akatsuki members will probably all arrive!"
Hozuki Mangetsu felt a growing sense of urgency. This was the enemy's stronghold, and if the battle couldn't be ended quickly, they would have to consider running away.
Just as he was filled with worry, in a secluded space within the Akatsuki, a Masked Man slowly pulled out the syringe from his body...