The rain over Amegakure grew heavier by the moment.
Kakashi leaned halfway out from behind a collapsed sheet-metal building. Rainwater streamed down his forehead protector, blurring his vision.
The Deva Path stood at the center of the ruins, its black cloak patterned with red clouds completely still despite the downpour.
Those cold Rinnegan stared toward the shadows where the Konoha shinobi were hiding.
"Kakashi-sensei…"
Shikamaru's voice came from behind him, barely above a whisper.
"Those things can't be killed. We've taken them down several times already, but they get back up every time."
"And they all have different abilities. One can repel every attack, another can absorb ninjutsu, one summons animals, and another can rip out souls… We can't fight them like this."
Kakashi did not look back.
His exposed right eye remained fixed on the Deva Path.
He already knew all of that.
Before coming here, he had read the scroll Teizawa gave them so many times he had practically memorized it.
The Six Paths of Pain consisted of six corpses made into puppets, each possessing a different ability.
Worse still, they could be revived indefinitely.
Unless they found the true body controlling them, it did not matter how many times they destroyed the puppets.
The problem was that they had no idea who the controller was or where he was hiding.
How were they supposed to find him?
"Just hold on a little longer."
Kakashi's voice sounded strained.
Even he did not know how long "a little longer" was supposed to be.
Elsewhere among the ruins, Yugito stood drenched in blood.
None of it belonged to her.
It had come from the Animal Path's summoned beasts.
Blue tailed-beast chakra surged around her body, while two tails swayed gently behind her. Every raindrop that touched her instantly evaporated, surrounding her in clouds of white steam.
She had pushed the power of Matatabi, the Two-Tails, to its limit.
The summoned beasts might as well have been made of paper before her claws. A single strike was enough to tear one apart.
But there was no end to them.
Darui stepped out from behind her.
He was soaked to the bone, and Lightning Release chakra still danced across his fingertips with a sharp crackle.
His expression was grim.
The Preta Path was a perfect counter to him. Whenever he used Lightning Release, the enemy absorbed it and threw it back at him.
He had already been blasted by his own Lightning Release three times.
His entire body was scorched black, and his clothes had been reduced to strips of fabric.
"We can't keep this up," Darui rasped. "We're almost out of chakra, but they just keep coming back."
Akatsuchi approached from the other side, leaning on a stone spear like a walking stick.
A shard of rubble had torn open his leg, and blood ran down his calf into his boot.
More than half of Iwagakure's elite shinobi had already fallen.
Every survivor was wounded, and their morale had reached its lowest point.
In the distance, the Naraka Path stood with its palms pressed together and its eyes closed.
Every so often, it would approach one of the fallen Pains and place a hand on the shattered body.
The damage would be repaired in an instant.
Then the Path would rise again, completely restored and seemingly even stronger than before.
Despair spread through the shinobi like a plague.
"We've been played."
Akatsuchi gritted his teeth.
"These things were never trying to kill us. They're here to keep us trapped."
"They're waiting for us to exhaust our chakra so they can wipe us all out at once."
Kakashi knew Akatsuchi was right.
They had fallen into Pain's trap from the moment they entered Amegakure.
Pain had deliberately drawn them in different directions.
He had intentionally allowed them to believe they still had a chance.
He wanted them to struggle in despair while slowly draining their chakra, stamina, and will to fight.
This was nothing more than a cat playing with a mouse.
And they were the mouse being toyed with.
"Kakashi…"
Guy emerged from the ruins and landed beside him, completely drenched.
"Those things can't be killed. I opened the Sixth Gate and kicked one of them to pieces, but it got back up a little while later. Is there anything we can do?"
Kakashi was silent for a moment.
"There's only one way. We have to find the true body controlling them and destroy it. Otherwise, it won't matter how many times we kill these puppets. They'll keep coming back."
"Where's the true body?"
"I don't know."
Guy fell silent.
Yugito emerged from the ruins and landed atop a mound of shattered stone, looking down at the Pains still wreaking havoc in the distance.
Her golden eyes burned with fury, though an almost imperceptible trace of exhaustion lay beneath it.
Inside her, Matatabi roared.
The Two-Tails wanted to break free and tear those damn puppets to pieces.
But Yugito did not dare release it.
Undergoing a full tailed-beast transformation inside Amegakure would mean exposing herself right under the Akatsuki's nose.
It would give the man with the Rinnegan the perfect opportunity to capture a tailed beast.
She could not take that risk.
"Darui," Yugito asked without turning around, "what do we do now?"
Darui gave a bitter smile.
"I don't know."
Yugito did not ask again.
The Human Path suddenly appeared beside them and reached for an elite Iwagakure shinobi.
The man failed to evade in time.
The Human Path seized him by the throat and lifted him off the ground.
His soul was forcibly ripped from his body, transforming into a faint glow before disappearing into the Human Path's palm.
His body collapsed like a pile of mud, its face frozen in terror.
"Fall back! Hurry!"
Akatsuchi's shout thundered through the rain.
The surviving Iwagakure shinobi scrambled backward, but the Asura Path's barrage was already raining down on the area.
Several more shinobi fell amid the deafening explosions.
The Animal Path's summoned beasts surged in from every direction, completely surrounding them.
Kakashi gritted his teeth.
Lightning Cutter formed in his palm as he charged toward one of the summoned beasts.
Guy followed close beside him, having opened the Sixth Gate of the Eight Gates.
His fists and feet struck with unstoppable force, each blow powerful enough to pulverize anything in its path.
Kurenai cast genjutsu from the rear, attempting to disrupt the movements of the Pains.
But the Rinnegan repelled every illusion.
Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth, and her face turned deathly pale.
Konoha's genin were in even worse shape.
Shikamaru's Shadow Imitation Technique could not restrain those lifeless puppets.
Choji's Expansion Jutsu seemed like a child's toy against the enormous summoned beasts.
Ino's Mind Body Switch Technique was completely useless.
The puppets possessed no consciousness for her to seize.
Despair soaked into everyone as thoroughly as the rain.
Someone suddenly shouted for them to retreat east.
Everyone immediately surged in that direction.
The Pains followed behind them at an unhurried pace, like wolves driving a flock of sheep.
When the Konoha shinobi rushed out of a narrow alley, they suddenly saw another group running toward them from ahead.
Kakashi stopped, tightened his grip around his kunai, and frowned.
Then he recognized their faces.
Darui, Yugito, Akatsuchi, and the elite shinobi from the other villages.
Every one of them was gasping for breath and covered in blood.
Pain had driven them all into the same place.
Everyone remained silent for a moment.
Then, as if by unspoken agreement, they turned their backs to one another and formed a defensive circle.
The Six Paths of Pain emerged from every direction.
They completely surrounded the exhausted shinobi.
The rain continued to fall, heavier than ever.
(End of Chapter)
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