While Jiraiya was preparing the technique, the other side.
Three figures with the same orange hair and black iron rods on their faces were traveling through the narrow tunnel at high speed.
Their steps were consistent and their movements were uniform, like a puppet being pulled by the same puppet string.
Animal Path, who was running at the front, suddenly stopped and raised his hand to signal Human Path and Preta Path behind him to stop.
"Wait."
His voice was low and cold, without any emotion.
After hearing this, the remaining two people stopped in place almost at the same time.
Animal Path turned his head slightly, put his ear against the cold pipe wall, closed his eyes and listened carefully.
"Frog..."
His eyes suddenly opened and he looked in the direction of the pipe.
"The sound came from that direction."
As soon as the words fell, the three of them did not hesitate and immediately turned around and rushed towards the direction where the frog sound came from.
T-intersection.
As soon as the three of them turned the corner, they saw a white figure running forward with their back to them at the end of the passage ahead.
Jiraiya.
Human Path pulled out the black iron rod from his waist without hesitation and rushed forward like a ghost.
"There."
The iron rod made a sharp sound as it pierced through the air, piercing straight into the back of the figure.
However--
The moment the iron rod pierced the figure, no blood spattered.
The moment the figure was stabbed, it turned into a ball of white smoke and dissipated in the air.
Doppelgänger.
Human Path's pupils shrank suddenly.
Almost at the same moment, a deep voice came from behind the three people:
"Fire Release, Great Flame Bullet!"
Fiery flames spurted out from the wall behind them, instantly engulfing the area where the three of them were.
Feeling the scorching flames behind them, the three of them immediately realized that the person in front of them was their clone.
But in this sealed and narrow passage, Summoning Jutsu cannot be used to resist.
They didn't communicate, but they had the same reaction.
"Bang!"
The three of them jumped up at the same time, clinging to the ceiling with their hands and feet, like a group of agile spiders, avoiding the sea of fire below.
However, the moment they grabbed the ceiling, the originally solid wall suddenly became soft and sticky.
The swamp-like mud quickly wrapped around their hands and feet, firmly adhering to the surface of the ceiling.
Preta Path immediately raised his palm, trying to absorb the Chakra inside.
But almost the moment he raised his hand, a figure quietly appeared in his blind spot with two immortals.
Sage Fukasaku and Sage Shima.
The two Toad opened their mouths at the same time and let out a long and peculiar cry.
"Qua~"
The sound echoed in the small space, clear and long, directly penetrating the hearing of the three people and seeping into their brains.
The pupils of Human Path, Preta Path and Animal Path trembled violently at the same moment.
Their bodies stiffened for a moment, and then the three of them hung in the mire on the ceiling like puppets with their strings cut off, no longer moving.
Sage Fukasaku exhaled and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
"It seems to be working well."
Jiraiya couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief when he saw this.
He quickly pulled out several stone swords that he had channeled from unknown sources, flipped his wrist, and the sword tip accurately penetrated the connection between the shoulders and collarbones of the three people, nailing them firmly into the mire, ensuring that they could not break free in a short time.
"Let's go."
Jiraiya whispered something and was about to turn around and leave.
"Didn't you teach me not to be careless?"
A cold voice sounded behind him.
Jiraiya's pupils shrank suddenly, and his body tilted sideways almost instinctively.
But he couldn't avoid it entirely.
"Pfft--!"
A sharp cold light passed behind him and cut off his left arm.
There was a violent explosion of pain, and warm blood spurted out from the fracture and sprinkled on the wall.
Jiraiya's body was hit by the impact and flew forward, smashing through the wall in front of him, causing gravel and soil to fly everywhere.
His whole body flew out of the tunnel and hit the open water outside hard.
Water splashed everywhere, crimson blood mixed into the water and spread quickly.
Jiraiya fell on the water, knelt on one knee, and tightly covered the fracture of his left arm with his right hand, blood seeping out from between his fingers.
He gritted his teeth, raised his head, and looked at the figure slowly walking out of the tunnel breach.
Asura Path.
His right hand held a sharp blade, with Jiraiya's blood still remaining on the blade.
Behind him, more figures were slowly emerging from the darkness.
Six Paths of Pain, officially debuted.
Six Paths figures stood side by side, standing on the edge of the tunnel breach, looking down condescendingly at the blood-covered figure on the water below.
Jiraiya stood on the water, covering his broken left arm, but his eyes were extremely calm.
"As expected..."
His voice was hoarse, but with a sudden calmness.
"Little Jiraiya, are you okay?"
Sage Fukasaku and Sage Shima on their shoulders saw that Jiraiya was seriously injured, and they couldn't help but become concerned.
"It's okay, but compared to these--"
He raised his head and looked at the figure in the front, the person with the face in his memory.
"Yahiko..."
He whispered to himself.
But Pain seemed to have heard it and spoke.
"Jiraiya teacher... Long time no see."
When Jiraiya heard this title, his voice was a little rough and his tone was trembling.
"Yahiko, why on earth... are you like this?"
Pain looked at him silently. There was no emotion in the pair of Rinnegan, as if he was looking at something that had nothing to do with him.
"Yahiko is dead."
His voice was calm, but it revealed a hint of majesty.
"The one standing before you now is God."
Hearing such an answer, Jiraiya's heart sank.
"... Why?"
he asked, anger in his tone.
"Why do this?"
Pain did not answer immediately.
He just stood there, his pair of Rinnegan reflecting the embarrassed figure of Jiraiya. He was silent for a moment, and then slowly spoke.
"You taught me about the understanding of peace."
His voice was so calm that it was almost indifferent.
"But since 'I' died on that rainy day, I have discovered that peace is just a lie to myself and others."
"In this world dominated by hatred and curses, the only way to peace is to make everyone feel pain."
"In pain, human beings can truly understand each other and truly stop fighting."
Jiraiya listened to those words, looked at the pair of Rinnegan that once belonged to Nagato, looked at the face that belonged to Yahiko, and looked at the expression that was no different from other Pain.
His previous guess seemed to be confirmed.
"Are you...Nagato?"
His voice was trembling a little.
But Pain did not answer.
He just stood there in silence, but silence itself was a kind of affirmation.
Jiraiya lowered his head and looked at the blood pouring out of his broken arm, then raised his head and looked at the figure in front of him that Six Paths once belonged to his student.
"... I understand."
He said with a heavy sense of relief in his tone.
Pain saw this and slowly raised his hand, preparing to give the final blow.
However, the moment he raised his hand, Jiraiya's body was suddenly entangled with a tongue, and then he sank into the water with a "swish" and disappeared without a trace.
Pain's movements paused slightly.
He looked at the water surface with only ripples left, and was silent for a moment.
"Run away..."
His voice was still calm and no emotion could be heard.
After a few breaths, he slowly retracted his hand and ordered in a calm voice.
"Invite people to conduct a nationwide search."