Chapter 111

Jiraiya didn't bother with formalities, knowing that his ANBU team was about to be targeted. He decided to launch an attack and apply pressure on Nagato enough to force him to recall all six of his paths.

"[Senpo: Rasenshuriken]!" Jiraiya unleashed a massive wind release technique, enhanced by Sage Jutsu, hurling it towards Pain, who hovered in the air. This technique was a gift from Kazuki, one that his student Minato had strived to complete when he was alive. It merged shape manipulation and nature manipulation seamlessly.

Pain instinctively sensed the threat from the massive technique and moved to counter it. "[Shinra Tensei]!" A shockwave rippled out, repelling everything in its path. But just as Pain thought he could easily neutralize the attack, the massive Rasenshuriken collided with the repulsion barrier, resulting in an invisible collision of two opposing forces of nature. Shockwaves erupted, tearing through trees and flattening boulders in their wake.

"Jirayaaaaa!" Pain roared, feeling challenged by the Toad Sage's defiance of his authority as a god. He intensified his attack to destroy the massive Rasenshuriken aimed at him.

However, what Pain didn't anticipate was that just as the first attack dissipated, completely nullifying the repulsion, a second attack pierced through right behind it, following the same trajectory. Pain still had a five-second interval to launch the next repulsion. His eyes widened in surprise and horror as the massive attack threatened to engulf him whole.

Pain desired to evade the attack. If he had initially regarded Jiraiya as a true threat, he might have been able to dodge this assault. However, his arrogance proved costly. Just as the attack reached him, his cooldown for his own attack ended. Without hesitation, he unleashed another devastating technique, aiming to obliterate everything in its path.

"[Doton: Moguragakure no Jutsu]" (Earth Release: Hiding Like a Mole Technique). However, Jiraiya's battle instinct and vast experience were not to be underestimated. With his senses heightened to a terrifying degree by Sage Mode, he simply chose to evade this technique. He realized that his previous attack had struck true, and his next counterattack could potentially end the battle. He dove into the ground as Pain's attack tore the Rasenshuriken technique to shreds, continuing on to decimate the surrounding area for hundreds of meters. Everything in Pain's attack path was torn apart as if it were mere paper. Nothing remained in the wake of the attack. As the dust settled, a new crater, nearly half a mile in radius, marked the spot directly beneath where Pain had been hovering.

However, Pain did not emerge unscathed. His entire right arm had been shredded to pieces right down to the shoulder by the previous Sage art that caught him off guard.

Just as Pain was about to relax his guard, Jiraiya popped out like a mole, covered by his mane of white hair. He somersaulted and stood again inside the crater, looking at Pain mockingly.

"Nagato, do you still think you can handle me with just one puppet?" Jiraiya said with a smirk. However, it was a mere distraction, as he knew Pain's last attack must have had a longer cooldown. Just as Pain was about to retort, he felt a massive presence above him, causing him to instinctively look up.

"[Senpō: Ōdama Rasengan]" (Sage Art: Big Ball Rasengan) A massive blue ball of chakra was hurled by Jiraiya's clone, targeting Pain to pin him under the immense Senjutsu attack. Pain was sent hurtling towards the ground, but he managed to keep the attack at bay from completely crushing him.

However, Jiraiya wasn't going to give Pain a chance now that he was on the ground. He quickly retrieved a scroll containing massive amounts of tailed beast chakra he had collected over the years. He knew that if he wanted to crush Pain completely, he needed a real super move. Kurama's chakra caught Pain's attention immediately, but he had no way to interfere as the clone was still pinning him down with the massive attack.

Jiraiya immediately poured out a massive amount of nature energy and chakra, mixing it with the Kyubi's chakra from the scroll, creating a massive attack that glowed like the burning sun.

"[Senpō: Chō Bijū Rasenshuriken]" (Sage Art: Super Tailed Beast Rasenshuriken) Jiraiya hurled the attack without delay, feeling the scorching heat burning through his skin despite being covered by a layer of Senjutsu. Even he did not expect the attack to be so powerful and devastating.

The attack flew through the air, creating a ravine and turning the ground into crystal due to the overwhelming heat. It quickly approached the now pinned Pain. However, at that moment, two shadows dropped from the sky, one right on top of the clone pinning Pain and the other in front of Pain to intercept the massive attack.

The Preta Path that dropped in front of Pain raised both hands to absorb the attack, while the Asura Path that landed on Jiraiya's clone pierced through it with two massive blades created by shifting its arms.

However, Jiraiya smirked when he saw this. Just as the Preta Path started absorbing the attack, "[Doton: Shinjū Zanshu no Jutsu]" (Earth Release: Double Suicide Decapitation Technique) A voice from the underground caught everyone's attention. Two hands emerged from the ground, firmly grabbing the Preta Path's feet and pulling it underground. The real Jiraiya had hidden himself underground after hurling the last attack, leaving a shadow clone on the opposite end to pose as himself. Jiraiya completely pulled the Preta Path out of the attack trajectory, leaving only Pain and the Asura Path with shocked gazes at the incoming attack.

The attack connected, creating a massive sphere that engulfed both of Nagato's puppets within it. The sphere was so monstrous that it could be seen from miles away. The attack completely devoured both paths, reducing them to shreds.

As the dust settled from the devastating attack, the aftermath was nothing short of catastrophic. The intensity of Jiraiya's Super Tailed Beast Rasenshuriken matched that of a full-powered Bijuudama from Kurama. Everything within the attack's range was turned to ashes, with only bits and pieces of scattered remains from the two paths left behind.

The landscape lay in ruin, with the ground scorched and twisted by the immense heat of the attack. Trees were reduced to charred stumps, and the once lush vegetation was now nothing but smoldering debris. The surrounding area bore the scars of destruction, with the very earth itself scarred by the overwhelming power unleashed by Jiraiya's technique.

In the midst of the devastation, Jiraiya stood panting, his chakra depleted from the exertion of such a colossal attack. Despite the toll it had taken on him, there was a sense of satisfaction in his eyes as he surveyed the aftermath of his decisive strike against Nagato's formidable forces.

Lying next to Jiraiya was the completely sealed Preta Path. Despite its ability to counter any form of chakra by absorbing it, this particular path had a glaring weakness: fuinjutsu. Its current body was riddled with more than a dozen sealing tags. Jiraiya had already severed the connection between the Preta Path and Nagato, as he didn't want to be caught off guard. He remained vigilant, knowing that there were still three more of Nagato's puppets around. After carefully surveying the area, Jiraiya felt his Sage Mode faltering and fading. Quickly, he pulled out another scroll and ripped it open, allowing a new surge of Senjutsu to flow through him.

This technique wasn't limitless; Jiraiya would have to leave a clone back on Mount Myoboku to slowly collect and create each one of these scrolls. While this mitigated his greatest drawback—the time needed to enter Sage Mode—the fatigue that followed was something Jiraiya had to contend with.

"[Ninpo: Kuchiyose no Jutsu]" (Ninja Art: Summoning Technique) Jiraiya detected new presences in his vicinity, so he quickly weaved a series of hand signs and summoned Gertora. He sealed the now fallen Preta Path and tossed the scroll towards the sealing toad, who understood Jiraiya's intention and quickly swallowed the scroll before vanishing in a puff of smoke.

"[Kuchiyose no Jutsu Raku]" (Summoning Technique Fall) echoed across the devastated battlefield as Jiraiya witnessed close to half a dozen massive beasts being summoned into the air. Three of these summoned beasts had the remaining three paths standing atop them.

"Jiraiya, return the body you took. It does not belong to you, and you do not have the qualifications to take what's mine," the Naraka Path took command of interacting with Jiraiya. Nagato was now certain that Jiraiya knew all of his secrets, and with Jiraiya's resourcefulness, he knew that defeating him without his main body would be a monumental task. Furthermore, Jiraiya's Sage Mode seemed to be running as if it were powered by an infinite battery, leaving Nagato baffled.

However, the real reason for the dialogue was because Nagato needed to retrieve at least the broken fragments of the Deva Path and Asura Path and, if possible, regain control of the Preta Path. He had lost complete control over the Preta Path, which he had thought was impossible. Here was Jiraiya, who had severed the connection from one of his paths. Yet, the backlash from losing three paths was too much for Nagato to handle in his current condition.

"Why, Nagato, is the so-called God humbled now? Or, more appropriately, I think you must be running on fumes. Trying to defend against my last attack must have consumed quite a lot out of you, right?" Jiraiya questioned. Despite conversing with Nagato, he kept his guard up. He knew the purpose behind Nagato's stalling tactics.

Meanwhile, a dozen or so miles away from the battle between the six paths and the Toad Sage, inside a makeshift tree disguised using papers, Nagato coughed out a mouthful of blood. Konan, from the side, looked worried. She had never seen Nagato being pushed so far in a battle with anyone. Even she was shocked at their sensei's prowess.

"Nagato, we should retreat. Sensei is too strong; we might not be able to handle him," Konan tried to persuade.

If both of them had been carefully observing their surroundings, they would have detected an intruder in their vicinity. A little ANBU operative, code-named Weasel, was now carefully rigging the entire area with explosive tags acquired from his friend Kazuki. Normally, he wouldn't have been able to get so close to a formidable ninja like Nagato, but he was using Kazuki's isolation sealing tag, which kept him masked from Nagato's weakened senses. Nagato's complete focus was set on confronting the Toad Sage, leaving him vulnerable to such stealthy infiltration.

The difference in power levels made Itachi instinctively realize that he was currently no match for Nagato. So, he went for the next best option: sabotage. Being Kazuki's best friend, Itachi had access to the best explosion tags available in Konoha. He had so many in stock that he could blow up an entire town to smithereens.

As Itachi worked on placing more explosion tags, Konan attempted to persuade Nagato to retreat, noticing that he was already bleeding from his nose and ears.

"Enough, Konan! Have you forgotten our promise to Yahiko? If I am not even able to take down our former Sensei, do you think I will be capable of fulfilling Yahiko's goal?" With that said, Nagato turned his attention back to reinforcing his connection to the battlefield.

Back on the battlefield, Jiraiya also utilized his summoning technique, summoning half a dozen large toads, with Gamabunta leading from the front.

"Oye, Jiraiya, is this supposed to be some sort of standoff?" Gamabunta commented as he laid his eyes on the opposing forces. He had a creeping feeling because of the opponents, but when he caught sight of their eyes, he stood shell-shocked.

"Jiraiya, you crazy bastard, is that what I think it is?" Gamabunta couldn't help but question his friend, who was now standing on top of his head.

"Yep, that's the Rinnegan. Remember that kid I trained back in Ame? He has grown up to be a menace. The ones you see in front of you are merely puppets with special powers. You don't have to panic as if you're about to face the Sage of Six Paths himself," Jiraiya chuckled, taunting his toad friend.

"So, what about Ma and Pa? Are they ready?" Jiraiya couldn't help but ask, keeping his eyes on the remaining paths, especially the Naraka Path, which was capable of resurrecting the other paths. As for the human path, he needed to ensure he didn't get caught by it, as it would be a one-way ticket to hell.

The moment Jiraiya entered Sage Mode, he had already summoned Ma and Pa alongside. However, he chose to keep them in the shadows as a trump card. With their prowess, hiding from the paths' detection was child's play. Jiraiya was planning to take down Nagato here today, if possible. If left unchecked, Nagato might become a massive disaster in the near future. As the one who introduced Nagato to the path of Shinobi, Jiraiya felt it was his duty to stop him.