Within Kiyosuke's perception, the chakra of the Animal Path and its chameleon was crystal clear. Without wasting words, he hurled his spear with force.
Blood splattered instantly as flames seared into the chameleon's organs, forcing a shriek of agony out of it. The pain was so intense that its invisibility broke.
"Detected already?"
The Animal Path stepped out from the chameleon's body, his expression flat. Behind him, the beast vanished.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
A massive rhino and a giant ox appeared at once, their bodies towering and sturdy. One charged toward Jiraiya and Gamaken, while the other barreled toward Kiyosuke.
Gamaken's body was just as large. As one of Mount Myōboku's gang, his strength was not to be underestimated. Though his temper wasn't as rough as Gamabunta's, he raised his shield to block the rhino's charge, then thrust his steel trident forward, hooking its neck and slamming it against the wall.
Kiyosuke moved with agility, dodging the ox's charge. He leapt onto its back, flames igniting beneath his feet. In the next instant, fire engulfed the ox's entire body.
"Mooo!!!"
The beast bellowed in pain, thrashing madly. Under Kiyosuke's deliberate control, it rammed into the rhino. The two massive creatures crashed into each other before disappearing amid the thunderous impact.
"Kiyosuke, nicely done."
Jiraiya laughed heartily, pressing his palms together.
"I'm about to use Sage Jutsu to summon the two Great Sages of Mount Myōboku. It'll take some time, and I can't break concentration. I'll need you to buy me that time."
"No problem."
Kiyosuke grinned.
"I've always wanted to see the Great Sages of Mount Myōboku. Summoning the sages of Ryūchi Cave isn't exactly convenient."
He could summon Ichikishimahime and the others, but with their personalities, he could already imagine how it would go. Ichikishimahime would probably just stand aside and watch him fight, Tagorihime might not even answer the call, and Tagitsuhime might lend a hand—maybe.
The tempers of those snakes were all equally foul.
"Alright then. I'll leave it to you and Gamaken."
With Kiyosuke around, Jiraiya could rest easy leaving his back exposed. He was glad he had brought him along.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
The Animal Path used his specialty again. This time, a winged two-headed hound appeared at his feet.
Both heads snarled, baring sharp fangs. Its eyes, bearing the Rinnegan, carried no visible dōjutsu techniques, but its vision could be shared.
The Giant Multi-Headed Dog!
As long as it was attacked, its body would continuously split, multiplying into more and more heads. Among the Animal Path's summons, this was the strongest.
The beast had been enhanced with a B-rank technique called "Amplification Summoning Jutsu," granting it the condition that "if attacked, it will proliferate." Once triggered, it would activate on its own, endlessly multiplying.
The hound lunged at Jiraiya and Kiyosuke.
Gamaken reacted immediately, stabbing forward with his trident, pinning the beast to the wall.
"This thing splits—be careful!" Kiyosuke warned.
"Got it! I'll do my best!"
As Kiyosuke said, the beast split in two when it couldn't break free, each with one head, smaller in size but just as ferocious. They broke loose and snapped at Gamaken.
Thanks to Kiyosuke's warning, Gamaken knocked one away with his shield, while Kiyosuke seized the other by the tail and slammed it into the ground.
"Grrraahhh!!!"
The hound yelped in pain, instantly sprouting yet another head.
Knowing it wasn't something he could overpower directly, Kiyosuke retreated, sweeping his arm outward. A sea of fire erupted at his command.
"Mirror Flame!"
Flames surged forward, engulfing the hound, intent on burning it to ash. Heat waves swelled, raising the surrounding temperature drastically.
For an amphibian like Gamaken, it was unbearable.
"So hot… my skin's drying out…"
"Bear with it, Gamaken. That's just how Kiyosuke fights." Jiraiya urged him on.
"…Fine," Gamaken muttered.
If it were Bunta here, he'd probably be cursing up a storm already.
"Why is he only using Summoning Jutsu?"
Jiraiya noticed that the Animal Path had relied solely on summoning this entire time, without using any other techniques. Did he really think summoning alone was enough to defeat them?
Kiyosuke leapt onto Gamaken's shoulder.
"This guy only knows Summoning Jutsu."
"What? What do you mean by 'only'?" Jiraiya asked.
Kiyosuke explained,
"I read about this in Orochimaru-sensei's intel. Pain is supposed to be a man with short orange hair, someone who can manipulate repulsive and attractive forces—not this long-haired guy. Also, every member of Akatsuki has a ring, but this long-haired man doesn't. That means he's nothing more than a puppet. A body used purely for summoning.
The Rinnegan has many abilities. If those powers were divided among different bodies, creating puppets isn't impossible. After all, it's the Rinnegan we're talking about."
"And the reason for doing that?"
"To hide in the shadows… or for some other purpose."
Jiraiya fell silent. Kiyosuke's reasoning made sense. Which meant this long-haired man probably wasn't Nagato at all.
Nagato was controlling him from behind the scenes.
Wait… that face…
Jiraiya suddenly remembered. He had seen this man before.
"Kiyosuke, knock off his forehead protector!"
"No problem."
Kiyosuke raised a finger. Sparks shot out from his fingertip like bullets.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
A fat panda materialized, shielding the Animal Path from the attack.
Kiyosuke immediately followed up by throwing two shuriken.
They collided midair, changing trajectory in a flash. Sharing the panda's vision, the Animal Path leapt into the air, dodging them—only to be caught off guard when Kiyosuke fired a flame shot that struck his forehead protector, knocking it off.
The protector clattered to the ground, revealing a scar beneath.
"Just as I thought," Jiraiya said grimly. "This isn't real. He's just a puppet. I fought this man decades ago. He didn't look like this back then."
That scar across his forehead had been carved by Jiraiya's own kunai years ago. The man belonged to the Fūma clan, known for their green hair—not orange like Yahiko's.
Just what had happened over the years?
"So, you've figured it out? Not that it matters."
The Animal Path's tone remained indifferent.
"Jiraiya-sensei. Asakawa Kiyosuke. You'll both die here soon. Even if you've seen through it, it makes no difference."
"Summoning Jutsu!"
Boom! Boom!
Two more puffs of smoke appeared beside him.
One was a fat man. The other, bald.
Both bore the Rinnegan. Both had black piercings embedded in their faces.
"Two more puppets? I wonder what their abilities are…"
"We'll know soon enough."
Kiyosuke launched another stream of fire.
The fat one stepped forward, raising his hand—and absorbed the flames completely.
"Chakra absorption. Ninjutsu won't work on him."
"Well, that's troublesome."
For a shinobi to be unable to use ninjutsu… their power would be cut down drastically.