At the alley entrance, Jiraiya searched for targets while looking at Rinjin with disdain.
Just as he aimed at a middle-aged man wearing a Hidden Waterfall headband, something unexpected happened.
A woman with pure white wings swooped down from the sky, accompanied by a sharp, low shout.
"Paper Shuriken!"
In an instant, a large number of papers folded into airplane shapes shot toward Rinjin and Jiraiya without warning.
However, the next second, soft explosion sounds rang out.
The bodies of Jiraiya and Rinjin that had been hit instantly turned into two wooden logs.
It was the Substitution Technique.
After the failed strike, the woman in the black robe with red clouds who was flapping her wings in the air quickly moved her gaze around.
The advantage of her elevated position was clear as day. Konan quickly found traces of her former teacher under the large tree outside the alley.
In an instant, another shower of paper poured down.
Jiraiya wasn't about to back down. His hands instantly formed seals.
"Fire Release: Flame Bullet!"
Flames and the paper rain violently collided.
Nearby, Rinjin, who had turned into a tree stump, leisurely lay on the ground watching the two fight back and forth.
The paper rain gradually overwhelmed the flames. Jiraiya suddenly dodged, avoiding the oncoming paper shower.
He wasn't Rinjin—he didn't have the ability to take this paper rain head-on, which was as dangerous as kunai.
With a flash step, Jiraiya gathered a bit of senjutsu chakra and spat toad oil all over Konan's head and face.
In the blink of an eye, Jiraiya had broken through Konan's Dance of the Shikigami.
The street had originally been bustling with people coming and going, but when everyone saw Konan flapping her wings, they all lowered their heads and left the area without a word.
Even the shop owners on the street quickly packed up and left their stores.
In no time, the entire street became deserted.
From the corner of his eye, Jiraiya quickly scanned the surrounding situation, his brow furrowing slightly.
If Tsunade hadn't warned him, he wouldn't have immediately recognized this cold, beautiful woman with purple hair as the once shy, smiling Konan.
But now, he had confirmed this girl's identity.
Just as Jiraiya was about to say something, an enormous summoning beast suddenly charged out from behind Konan.
The summoning beast was essentially a red crab that walked upright, with two pairs of massive claws.
The moment the crab appeared, it spewed a large amount of foam from its mouth.
Jiraiya quickly retreated, scrambling onto a rooftop in just a few moves.
On the ground, Rinjin also released his transformation technique and quickly dodged to the side.
Facing the menacing crab, Jiraiya didn't back down. He brought his hands together.
"Wild Lion's Mane Technique!"
As his words fell, his hair rapidly extended, instantly binding the crab tightly.
With a slight application of force, the poor crab was broken into seven or eight pieces, ready to be plated.
After dealing with the summoning beast before him, Jiraiya looked seriously toward the alley across the way.
On the opposite rooftop, a strange man in a black robe with red clouds, with odd black rods piercing his face and Rinnegan eyes, stood shoulder to shoulder with Konan, also looking expressionlessly toward Jiraiya.
"Rinnegan... Is that you, Nagato? Where's Yahiko?! Konan! Let him come out to see me!"
Jiraiya, having confirmed the opponent's identity, shouted loudly.
Hearing this, Konan squinted slightly. As if she hadn't heard her teacher's words, she straightened her wrinkled collar and flew toward the tall tower in the village center.
Seeing this, Jiraiya was about to intervene but was blocked by the strange man with Rinnegan.
"No need to ask, Jiraiya... sensei... Yahiko has become a god!"
The cold voice rang out, devoid of any warmth between former teacher and student.
Then, the strange man looked toward Rinjin beside Jiraiya and brought his hands together forcefully.
"Summoning Technique!"
Instantly, a hellhound with two heads and black rods piercing its body poked its heads out of white smoke and charged toward Rinjin and Jiraiya without a word.
Seeing this, Jiraiya immediately raised his hand to bite his finger and quickly formed seals.
Boar-Dog-Rooster-Monkey-Ram
"Summoning Technique!"
As his words fell, similar white smoke exploded on the battlefield. A shield shaped like a flat dish quickly emerged from the smoke, blocking the hellhound's sharp fangs.
"Ken, I'm counting on you!"
"Right! I'll give it my all!"
As the smoke cleared, a red, fat toad holding a flat shield in one hand and a spiked double-headed short staff in the other nodded earnestly.
Jiraiya, standing on the toad's head, looked toward Rinjin not far away and quickly spoke:
"Rinjin, give me a hand capturing this guy!"
"You got it!" Rinjin nodded and was just about to reach into his ninja tool pouch when strong arms grabbed him from behind.
The next second, powerful suction force emanated from the person behind him.
Inside Rinjin's body, chakra began rapidly draining away.
Feeling what was happening inside his body, Rinjin slightly turned his head to look behind him.
Behind him, a muscular man with Rinnegan was firmly restraining Rinjin, and the chakra absorption was coming from him.
It was the Preta Path of the Six Paths of Pain.
Seeing this, Rinjin barely held back a laugh.
Great~
Everyone knows to pick the soft persimmon!
But you had to choose the biggest one?!
With a slight application of force in his arms, Rinjin easily pried open the Preta Path's iron-like grip.
Then he instantly turned around and waved his large hand, grabbing the Preta Path's head like picking up a chick.
Ignoring the Preta Path, who was trying to pry his fingers off like a child, Rinjin waved cheerfully at Jiraiya:
"Jiraiya, caught one! Let's get out of here~"
Looking over at the sound, seeing that the Preta Path's head had been squeezed into a pear shape—big at both ends and small in the middle—Jiraiya pursed his lips speechlessly.
Retreat?
Like hell I'm retreating!
I haven't gathered any intelligence yet—what am I retreating for?!
Muttering to himself, Jiraiya shook his head and answered while dodging the hellhound's surprise attack:
"Not retreating yet—this little bit of intel isn't enough!"
Hearing this, Rinjin rolled his eyes speechlessly.
Not far away, the Animal Path, who had been rapidly forming seals to summon more creatures, immediately changed his summoning target.
He had to recall the Preta Path first!
On the other side, Rinjin, casually holding the Preta Path, suddenly felt familiar spatial fluctuations and his eyes lit up.
Want to summon this guy back?
Dream on!
Did you think I learned the Flying Thunder God Technique for nothing?!
Without thinking, chakra surged violently from within Rinjin's body, and chain-like black runes instantly crawled all over the Preta Path's entire body.
Although he didn't know contract sealing techniques that could sever the connection between summoning beasts and their summoners, his mastery of spatial ninjutsu was no joke.
If he could spatially transfer, he could cut off the force guiding spatial transfer.
Black runes rapidly poured from Rinjin's palm and instantly closed at the Preta Path's back.
The moment they closed, the Preta Path in Rinjin's hand stopped struggling.
And far away in the tall tower at the center of the Hidden Waterfall Village, the gaunt Nagato's pupils dilated slightly.
Just now, within his sensing range, the Preta Path's existence seemed to have been completely erased!
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