Akatsuki

Smack!

Gigue casually flung the Deva Path, whose entire body had already been twisted out of shape, onto the ground. Glancing at the remaining five Paths of Pain, Gigue said flatly,

"Yahiko's body is important to you, isn't it? Put down the Jinchuriki. Take the corpse back and restore it."

On the other side, Nagato agreed through the Animal Path's mouth without a moment's hesitation, slowly setting the Jinchuriki down on the ground.

Gigue raised a hand and released a burst of repulsive force, sending Yahiko's body flying toward the remaining Paths of Pain. The Asura Path leaped forward, caught the Deva Path in his arms, and immediately handed him over to the Hell Path.

Under the Hell Path's ability, the Deva Path soon emerged from the King of Hell's mouth completely unharmed.

Though he had always regarded himself as a god, Nagato had recognized the gap in strength between them after their brief clash. Seeing that Gigue had no intention of wiping them out, he controlled the Paths of Pain and prepared to retreat using the Reverse Summoning Technique.

Only then did Gigue carefully study the Six Paths of Pain before him. To be honest, even back on Blue Star, he had felt that the Six Paths of Pain were the most intimidating boss in Naruto. The soundtrack that seemed almost divine, the first appearance of the Super Shinra Tensei and Planetary Devastation—they had completely overturned the standards of ninja combat. For a time, Gigue had even thought Naruto was about to end there.

As for the trio of Nagato, Yahiko, and Konan, Gigue saw them as a weaker version of Team Seven. One represented realism, while the other represented idealism.

And in that fictional world, realism had ultimately lost to idealism.

At that thought, Gigue could not help