Konoha's Orb

Jiraiya knew full well just how powerful the Six Paths of Pain were.

This journey was fraught with danger, perhaps even an unwise decision. After all, he was not Naruto; he had no cheating method like [Nine-Tails' Rampage], nor did he possess a technique with the terrifying single-target destructive power of Naruto's [Rasenshuriken]. Even his Sage Mode was nowhere near as perfect as Naruto's.

Yet unlike Naruto, to whom Nagato and the other two were merely fellow disciples he had never met, they had once been outstanding students in whom Jiraiya had placed great hopes.

His wounded student had gone down the wrong path and, even now, was being manipulated by evil men without realizing it.

Jiraiya absolutely could not stand by and ignore it.

No matter how dangerous this battle was, no matter how great a price he had to pay, Jiraiya had to stand before Nagato in person and have a proper talk with him one more time.

"Things are about to get even tougher, you two sages... I have some intelligence I didn't get the chance to tell you."

Jiraiya remained fully on guard as he spoke softly to Fukasaku and Shima on his shoulders.

Across from him, Deva Path Pain spoke expressionlessly. "You took the initiative to defeat the Animal Path and immediately sealed it away..." A segment of thin black rod emerged from the sleeve of his right arm. "Will you be making a move against the Hellish Path next, Teacher Jiraiya?"

Seeing the Black Rod in Deva Path Pain's hand, Jiraiya's eyes flickered slightly. He replied with a smile, "I'd certainly like to, but are you going to obediently let me seal you away?"

"So you really do know quite a lot... Where did you get your intelligence?" Deva Path Pain paused slightly, his gaze turning colder. "But it no longer matters. You will die here today."

"Is that any way to speak to your teacher?" Jiraiya carefully observed the five remaining Pains: the Deva Path, Asura Path, Hungry Ghost Path, Human Path, and Hellish Path.

Pure ninjutsu attacks would be absorbed by the Hungry Ghost Path. At range, he would be worn down by the Asura Path's mechanical attacks. In close combat, getting restrained by the Human Path and Hellish Path would be troublesome, while the Deva Path's attraction and repulsion were equally difficult to deal with.

What an exceptionally perfect team combination...

"Banshō Ten'in." The Deva Path raised his right hand, and immense gravitational force arrived with his words. Jiraiya's entire body was uncontrollably pulled toward Deva Path Pain.

Deva Path Pain held that sharp Black Rod aloft in his right hand.

"Little Jiraiya!" Fukasaku rapidly formed hand seals on his shoulder. A powerful Sage Art Wind Pressure Bullet followed the pull of gravity, smashing toward Deva Path Pain at the center of the attraction with unimaginable speed and momentum.

At the same time, Shima on his other shoulder extended her long tongue and flicked it behind them, where it snapped around a large tree.

Within the gravitational storm, the Hungry Ghost Path leaped in front of Deva Path Pain and spread his arms, instantly absorbing Fukasaku's Wind Style technique completely.

"What!?" Fukasaku was astonished. He had never imagined that the Rinnegan could directly absorb his technique.

Crack! The tree bound by Shima's tongue was uprooted.

Sage Art: Rampage Lion Technique!

While flying through the air, Jiraiya pressed his palms together. His long white hair wildly grew outward in every direction, wrapping around more than ten trees at once.

"Hiss, hiss, hiss..." Jiraiya's heels touched the ground and his upper body bent backward. The dozen or so trees entangled by his hardened hair shook violently, churning up the soil around their roots.

Sage Art: Heavy Rock Technique!

Jiraiya's center of gravity suddenly dropped, and his feet sank deeply into the ground up to his knees.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Almost simultaneously, two shuriken imbued with Wind Style Chakra shot toward Deva Path Pain.

Under the immense gravitational pull, the destructive power of those two shuriken was not to be underestimated.

Deva Path Pain slashed his right hand through the air.

Shinra Tensei!

The shuriken immediately flew back, shooting straight toward Jiraiya, whose legs were embedded in the earth.

Sage Art: Earth Style Wall!

Boom! Boom! Boom! Three enormous earthen walls rose from the ground before Jiraiya at once. The two shuriken pierced through the first two walls with two sharp impacts before stopping in the third wall.

But...

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh—

All manner of bullets, missiles, and other modern weapons followed closely behind.

Behind Konoha, in the training forest.

"Shadow Clone Technique!"

"Shadow Clone Technique!"

"Shadow Clone Technique!"

"Naruto Uzumaki Barrage!"

Bang! One Naruto plummeted rapidly from the air, then vanished in a puff of white smoke with a poof. The many Narutos in midair landed one after another, and puffs of white smoke burst out with repeated poofs, leaving only one Naruto in the clearing.

"Whew..." Naruto braced his hands on his knees and panted. Before long, he formed hand seals again.

Shadow Clone Technique!

A Shadow Clone appeared beside Naruto's right hand with a poof. Naruto himself extended his right hand, and a visible sphere of Chakra rapidly formed in his palm.

Clone Naruto used both hands to tug and pull at the rapidly spinning Chakra sphere from all directions. Its high-speed rotation immediately became irregular and complex, while enormous power gradually accumulated within the Chakra ball.

Clone Naruto vanished with a poof.

Grasping the Chakra ball, Naruto rushed toward a large tree and forcefully pressed it against the trunk.

"Rasengan!"

Wood chips flew everywhere.

A deep crater was blasted into the trunk. Then the tree began to creak and crack before finally crashing to the ground.

Naruto, too, collapsed onto the ground in exhaustion.

After catching his breath for a while, Naruto stared at the line where the fiery sunset met the distant mountains and muttered, "So beautiful..." He raised a hand to shield his eyes as a question that had plagued him these past few days once again surfaced in the heart of the six-year-old boy.

If he, who possessed memories beyond time, simply continued down the same path as before—Shadow Clone Technique, Rasengan, Rasenshuriken... then what difference would there be between him and [the original him]?

And if there was no difference, wouldn't the outcome be the same as well?

Would he have the Tailed Beast extracted from him, then die?

Naruto could never forget the shock and fear he felt when he first saw that enormous Gedo Statue in his memories, when he saw the monster called [Ten-Tails] revive, and when the man named [Madara Uchiha] revived and dealt with the nine Tailed Beasts as though he were merely playing with them.

Would he have to face enemies like that in the future...?

Was the future... a dead end?

"..." Naruto stared blankly at the sunset for a long time, just as he had often stared blankly these past few days. At last, he rubbed his face hard, and his eyes became resolute!

"I'm going to become Hokage! The dream that the future me couldn't achieve—I'll achieve it!"

Multiple Shadow Clone Technique!

Poof, poof, poof, poof...

Countless Narutos appeared throughout the clearing. Some held shuriken and kunai as they practiced throwing techniques. Some went to the trees and climbed them with their feet. Some sat cross-legged on the spot, refining Chakra. The largest group all held a leaf in their hands, diligently practicing Chakra nature transformation.

And the original body...

The Third Hokage watched Naruto diligently practice using the Rasengan independently through the crystal ball and smiled soundlessly. The old man walked to the window and gazed at the sunset about to disappear in the distance, at Konoha Village beneath the evening glow, and remembered his younger son Asuma, who had [died in battle].

"Konoha's Orb..."

As the dust settled.

Deva Path Pain looked at the muddy, cratered ground and said indifferently, "An Earth Clone..."

The moment he finished speaking, the ground beneath his feet suddenly split open, and a hand seized his ankle!