If the End of the World

"They are..." The six figures in the smoke gradually revealed their true forms—six orange-haired men, all wearing the same Black Cloak with Red Clouds, their expressions equally cold and emotionless, their faces bearing varying numbers of metal studs, and all of them... staring out with a pair of Rinnegan.

"Six Rinnegan!?" Shima exclaimed.

"They're all here..." Jiraiya said with a grave smile, his gaze sweeping across the six Pains one by one, finally settling on the short-haired man standing at the center of the group.

Deva Path Pain.

"As expected of one of the Three Ninja, to possess such strength—worthy of all Six Paths of Pain making a move." Deva Path Pain's voice was as chilling as a winter gale.

At the same time, Asura Path Pain extended his hands—

Click, click, click. Two rows of missile launchers mechanically popped out from his arms, ignited, and a net of projectiles rained down toward Jiraiya.

Konoha, Hokage's Office.

The Third Hokage puffed on his pipe as usual, flipping through a thick scroll in his hands. After a long while, he set the scroll down, tapped the ash from his pipe on the desk, and beneath the shadow of his hat, his eyes were deep in thought.

Sasuke Uchiha, huh...

The teacher had said that when he first digested Naruto's [memories], the Third had felt the urge to kill [Sasuke Uchiha].

Even though the current Sasuke hadn't done anything yet.

Because what the Third hated most were those who betrayed the village.

Sasuke Uchiha hadn't just betrayed the village—he'd even harbored the dangerous thought of [destroying Konoha]... This made the Third, who had spent most of his life in wartime, consider eliminating the threat early to avoid future trouble.

But...

"Ah..." The Third sighed softly, leaning back in his chair.

I'm getting old after all—less bloodthirsty, less decisive... The Third thought, once again recalling the [Konoha Crush Plan] and the disciple who had once made him proud.

Though Naruto's memories lacked the details of [his] battle with [Orochimaru], the Third Hokage was no ordinary man. From the fragments Naruto had unintentionally overheard about that fight, he had roughly pieced together the whole story.

If he'd used [Reaper Death Seal] from the start, it wouldn't have just been [his hands]...

The setting sun bled red, casting a crimson glow through the massive floor-to-ceiling windows into the office, burying the Third's face in shadow. Only the red glow of his pipe flickered uncertainly...

Sage Art: Great Breakthrough!

Jiraiya's hands moved so fast they were invisible; his chest swelled abruptly, and a fierce gale surged forward to meet Asura Path Pain's barrage of firepower. The missiles scattered midair like leaves before a dragon of wind, wobbling down to the ground before exploding in a series of bang bang bang bang.

Whoosh—

Jiraiya's figure blurred through the dust and smoke, charging straight for the outermost Pain—the one who had arrived first, Animal Path Pain!

A direct elbow strike!

A moment ago, Jiraiya had been over ten meters away; in the next instant, his elbow was a centimeter from Animal Path Pain's face.

How terrifying was a body and taijutsu enhanced by Sage Mode? In Naruto's [memories], he had once taken down a Pain in an instant, and now Jiraiya was doing almost the same thing.

If that elbow landed, even if it didn't blow his head off, given Animal Path Pain's body, he'd at least be completely incapacitated.

But a Pain was still a Pain. Jiraiya was fast, but their reactions were no slower—the Rinnegan activated!

Deva Path Pain raised a hand: "Shinra Tensei!"

Jiraiya's elbow had just grazed Animal Path Pain's face, half the force delivered, when he felt an overwhelming repulsive force appear out of nowhere. But his expression didn't change, as if he'd expected this. The instant the force sent him tumbling back, he wrapped his legs around Animal Path Pain's neck—

Using the powerful repulsion acting on himself, he twisted his legs and hurled Animal Path Pain behind him!

Jiraiya flew backward, following close behind Animal Path Pain.

[Animal Path Pain ability: 1. Can summon powerful Summoned Beasts without hand signs; 2. Can directly summon other Pains to his side.]

[Deva Path Pain ability: 1. Shinra Tensei—generates immense repulsive force, repelling all physical attacks; 2. Banshō Ten'in—generates immense gravitational pull, nearly impossible to resist; 3. Chibaku Tensei—creates a gravitational core, pulling in surrounding rock and earth to form a massive meteor for attack, or directly drawing enemies into the core to kill them.]

Jiraiya landed, but relying on the enhanced physical strength of Sage Mode, he immediately leaped again toward the fallen Animal Path Pain, ignoring the other five Pains entirely, focusing only on this one.

[Hell Path Pain ability: 1. Can grab an opponent by the neck, making escape impossible, and summon the King of Hell to interrogate them; 2. Can summon the King of Hell to revive any other Pains, even if injured or dead.]

Jiraiya pulled a scroll from his body and tossed it to Fukasaku on his shoulder: "Old man!"

Fukasaku didn't know why Jiraiya was doing this, but their unspoken understanding told him Jiraiya wanted him to do something. He caught the scroll and unrolled it—

Jiraiya leaped toward Animal Path Pain. Midair, the Pain had just hit the ground. Jiraiya landed precisely, twisting his body in the air and delivering a powerful axe kick that smashed accurately into the rolling Animal Path Pain's back, breaking it.

Almost simultaneously, the scroll landed on Animal Path Pain's back, and Fukasaku barked, "Seal!"

Ninja Academy Classroom.

The child ninjas had long since left. Iruka was alone in the empty classroom, collecting the white papers from each desk. The students had written, as he'd instructed, "If tomorrow were the end of the world, who would you most want to be with?"

"It's always Sasuke..." Iruka muttered, picking up Sakura Haruno's paper and shaking his head helplessly.

Sasuke's appeal to these little girls was way too devastating.

"Huh? Naruto Uzumaki?" Iruka said in surprise, glancing at that desk and thinking back, then muttering to himself in confusion, "Isn't this Hinata's? The Hyuga Clan's eldest daughter actually... that guy Naruto?"

After a moment of astonishment, Iruka shook his head and put it away. Just as he was about to continue, he thought of something, bypassed the other desks, and went straight to the seat where Naruto sat. Picking up the white paper on the table, he read aloud: "If there's ever a time like that, I guess Kurama would be the only one definitely staying with me."

Iruka smiled with amusement. "So it's just one-sided from the Hyuga Clan's eldest daughter, huh... Haha, the feelings of little boys and girls are really hard to figure out..."

"But... who's Kurama? Does that guy Naruto have a friend like that?"

After thinking it over with no clue, Iruka shook his head and continued collecting.

"What's going on? You seem to know a lot about us?" Deva Path Pain's voice sounded not far behind Jiraiya. Jiraiya turned around and smiled. "After all, I'm facing the legendary Rinnegan. Did you think I'd come without any preparation, Yahiko? Or... Nagato?"

Deva Path Pain remained expressionless.

Jiraiya lowered his center of gravity. The battle was far from over.