Chapter 1: Attack
On a seemingly normal day, Konoha would know something they've never known before, scarring them for life.
Meanwhile, Tsunade sat at her desk, looking through her stack of paperwork, which she always left until the last day. But she couldn't quite concentrate on her work, because she kept thinking about her old friend.
Jiraiya…why had he attempted such a suicide mission? He himself even knew Pain possessed powers that ordinary ninja couldn't even comprehend.
However, thanks to him, they could now try to figure out the mystery of Pain. But as the thought of Pain, she began to worry about Naruto.
Akatsuki would be after him, but for now, he was safe in Myoubokuzan. Akatsuki wouldn't be able to find him there, but once Naruto came back, he would be fighting Pain.
The only reason Naruto traveled to Myoubokuzan to learn Sage Techniques was so he could one day defeat Pain, to avenge his master's death. But that would still be a long time coming.
Konoha still didn't have the full grasp on the extent of Pain's powers, but with the information Jiraiya left behind, they could figure it out.
However, soon, they would know, because the six figures that stood outside Konoha's walls would teach the world about pain.
And those figures were Pain.
"Now we're going to split up. One group will cause a diversion and the other will do reconnaissance. Let's make sure we've got it sorted."
"Diversionary tactics are up to demon realm, animal realm, and hungry ghost realm. Reconnaissance is up to god realm, human realm, and hell realm."
"Konan, you're on the reconnaissance team as well."
"I know." Konan replied
Pain now used his Rinnegan to analyze Konoha's barriers.
"There's a spherical barrier protecting the village from all sides, including from above…all intruders will be sensed immediately."
"As planned, we're going to launch animal realm above the village. That way they'll miscalculate our numbers and it will throw them off."
"Then we'll wait for animal realm's summons."
"Itachi and Kisame apparently got in without a problem…but Itachi was with Konoha's assassination squad; he knew how to get through the barrier without setting it off."
"I have my own way of doing things."
In an instant, demon realm suddenly sent animal realm flying above the village. While this happened, animal realm made a hand seal, soaring through the air.
But it didn't take long for the man who watched Konoha's barriers to spot this intruder. Immediately, he notified the others by him, who were playing cards, not expecting anything horrible.
"We have an invader! The location is the west gate, sector I-B."
As the barrier guardian of Konoha said this, animal realm suddenly landed in a section of Konoha, and the attack began.
The other five bodies of Pain followed animal realm's signals, and crashed through the front gate, where they then scattered upon different locations of Konoha.
First, demon realm Pain opened a part of his arm, revealing strange tubes that then formed into a gigantic weapon. With this weapon, he began tearing Konoha up.
Now animal realm performed a series of summons that also played their part in contributing to Konoha's overall destruction.
Now confusion had gripped the Konoha ninja as well, not just fear.
"It's coming from every direction! I thought there was only one of them!" One of the ninjas exclaimed
As animal realm's summons began to overpower the two ninja, they knew they needed dire assistance.
"The barrier team won't be enough! Contact the other teams and ask for help!" The ninja continued
"Then let Hokage know! Hurry!" The other ninja shouted
In another part of the village, human realm read a Konoha ninja's mind to see if he could find out Naruto's location, but he got nothing.
"Looks like you don't know anything about the Nine-Tailed Fox…"
With the ninja dead, human realm left with one soul in his right hand to go and try to determine Naruto's location.
As the six bodies of Pain ravaged Konoha, Naruto was practicing with Fukasaku the art of Sage Techniques.
"You're getting better with this, Naruto!"
"I'm not done yet, Naruto!"
He suddenly created a shadow clone that threw him straight to Fukasaku.
Meanwhile, back in Konoha, Iruka rushed over to a severely injured ninja. He tried to ask him if he was okay, but all he got was moans of pain from the other ninja.
But, before he knew it, god realm Pain stood right behind him, and Iruka's heart suddenly skipped a beat.
"Where is the Nine-Tailed Fox's host?"
As god realm asked this question, all he got was silence from Iruka.
"Tell me."
But god realm himself knew Konoha wouldn't sell out a comrade like that, but trying wouldn't hurt him.
"I won't tell you anything." Iruka said
"I see…"
As god realm Pain suddenly brought a knife to end Iruka's life, Kakashi intervened.
"So that was just a distraction so you could search without being noticed." Kakashi told the Rinnegan user
"Iruka…take that injured man and get out of here. Leave this to me."
"Right! Good luck, Kakashi."
As Iruka left Kakashi, Pain suddenly raised his right leg to kick Kakashi, but Kakashi dodged this.
Kakashi performed a dog summoning technique to try to trap Pain in it, but he saw through this.
But in reality, this was merely a distraction of his own. He managed to back Pain up against the wall, and now performed his signature move - chidori.
But as he went in to land this attack, a pair of eyes loomed over him in the darkness. Kakashi was caught off guard by these turn of events, allowing Pain to dodge the condensed ball of lightning.
"Kakashi Hatake…the copy ninja…it's an honor to meet you."
"Where is the Nine-Tailed Fox?"
"That's a stupid question." Kakashi replied bluntly
As Kakashi attempted his chidori technique again, this time, he was sent flying by Pain.
In the laboratory and morgue sections of Konoha, three ninja studied the evidence left behind by Jiraiya.
Everyone had their own theories on what the black spears were, but for now, they were just theories.
"I thought it was strange that the chakra meter suddenly started responding and this black stick started heating up. Apparently this is a demodulation device set to receive high frequency chakra waves."
"But what does that mean?" Another ninja asked
"It means that this black stick is a chakra receiver! And it's receiving right now!"
"A…receiver?"
"Yes. I don't have time to explain now, we have to let Tsunade know!"
In the deciphering department, where sat Sakura, Shikamaru, and Shiho, they suddenly heard rumblings, and hoped it wouldn't be an earthquake in the midst of all the destruction.
However, what they heard wasn't an earthquake at all.
It was demon realm Pain, preparing to fire a humongous laser from his head. And when he completed the firing process, he sent several of Konoha's structures flying into the air.
Everyone heard the explosion, but they didn't know what caused it.
"What was that?" Ino asked, looking at the point demon realm annihilated
At that moment, Ino began rushing to her father, warning her. After a minute or two, she reached him.
"Dad! The village…!"
Meanwhile, in the ensuing chaos, Tsunade looked out from her window and saw Konoha being torn apart with each passing minute.
She knew she had to call Naruto back, even if he wasn't finished with his Sage Training. The entirety of Konoha needed his assistance.
Suddenly, she sent a message that all of Konoha would know to the two ninja bowing behind her.
"Put out an emergency warning."
"And…call Naruto back." She told the two
As Tsunade put out this emergency warning, Konohakagure was being engulfed in flames.
Dozens of villagers ran from the summoned creatures of animal realm Pain, but they wouldn't get far until they would be crushed by the gigantic creatures.
Fortunately, Sakura managed to arrive in time to kill the centipede chasing after them. She also healed the injuries the villagers sustained while running from the animal.
When she was done healing, Iruka rushed to her.
"Iruka…what's going on?"
"It's Akatsuki…I've already told Tsunade…there will probably be an announcement soon."
"You get to the hospital and tend to the wounded. The place is already filling up."
Back in Hokage's office, a small frog received the order to go fetch Naruto back from Myoubokuzan.
However, as he was about to leave, Tsunade and the toad were stopped by the two elders. They had apparently overheard Tsunade's conversation, and denied permission for the frog to go get Naruto back.
"Leave Naruto at Myoubokuzan."
"What?!"
"According to Danzo, the leader of Akatsuki is heading the attack…and they're after Naruto."
"So what?"
"I overlooked it last time, but this is different. Naruto is still a child! This is the man who killed Jiraiya!"
"If Naruto is defeated and the Nine-Tailed Fox falls into their hands-"
Tsunade had enough of the elders ranting on about Naruto still being a child. She suddenly picked them up by their collar, and they were both stunned the Hokage would lose her temper in such a way.
"Let go of me…we're your advisors! Who do you think you are?!" Homura shouted
"Who do you think you are?! You can't treat him like a child forever!!"
"He has inherited the spirit of Konoha! He's growing up, and he's going to surpass Jiraiya!!"
"He's not a hidden weapon to keep out of war! Naruto Uzumaki is one of the ninjas who will protect this village!"
"Do you know what Sarutobi, Jiraiya, and Chiyo of the Sand had that you don't…?!"
"Faith!!"
"Just like my grandfather, the First Hokage, had faith in you and entrusted you with the village!"
"Now it's your turn to have faith in these children and entrust it to them!"
When Tsunade was done with her speech, the elders left her, leaving her only these words.
"Do as you like…Tsunade!"
And at the same moment, Shizune walked in.
"Shizune! Did you find anything out?"
Back at Kakashi's battle with god realm Pain, he was having trouble deciphering his powers.
"What…was that move?"
"It didn't feel like a shockwave…what was it?! Everything around him was blown away."
"What about this?" Kakashi thought, as he prepared a new attack
He would see if god realm would be able to deflect physical attacks as well, and as Kakashi went to land the attack, he found himself repelled by Pain.
"So it repels both physical attacks…and ninja techniques…impressive. Now what should I do?" Kakashi thought to himself
However, Kakashi was soon faced with another problem - demon realm Pain, who came jumping down onto the battlefield.
"Another one, eh…?"
Meanwhile, Shizune explained to Tsunade the effects of black sticks.
"Look at this! It's a sort of receiver that picks up chakra signals. They were stuck throughout Pain's body."
"According to Fukasaku, all six bodies of Pain had these piercings on their face and bodies as well."
"A receiver, eh…? Or maybe it's a way for them to transmit chakra between them…"
"And this is responding right now…" Shizune said
"According to Fukasaku, all six bodies of Pain had these piercings on their face and bodies as well."
"In other words, they all move according to these chakra signals they receive?" Tsunade questioned
"I'm sure this has something to do with the secret of Pain's strength. Once we have the information from the interrogators, we can solve this!"
"According to the information bureau, they're looking for Naruto…Pain's the one who invaded the village, no doubt about it."
"We'd better let Fukasaku know about this too. Be sure to tell him when you get to Naruto!" Tsunade said
"Got it!" The frog replied
"Shizune, you tell what the interrogators what you've learned. Find out who Pain really is!"
"Right!"
"I want an ANBU squad guarding Shizune! And send one to guard the interrogators as well! Don't let him near them!'
"I'll be waiting upstairs for information and helping Katsuyu with the wounded! Protect the village at all costs!"
As everyone in the room rushed out, only the messenger frog was left.
"Okay! I'd better hurry back to Fukasaku!"
But just as he was about to go back to Myoubokuzan, a figure drove a knife right through the frog.
That man was Danzo, who held no remorse for the deed he just carried out.
"Now the Nine-Tailed Fox is out of the way."
And no one except Danzo would know that the messenger never reached Myoubokuzan.
Meanwhile, the death toll kept climbing in the battlefield that was now Konoha. Konan herself began interrogating ninja to find out Naruto's location, but all she got was an insult.
Immediately, she crushed the man, and moved on elsewhere.
Several other ninja were now fighting hungry ghost realm Pain, and they had just realized that form of Pain absorbs all attacks.
"We'll just have to fight him hand-to-hand."
Hell realm Pain also gave a frightening interrogation to another Konohakagure ninja.
"Is Naruto Uzumaki here in the village or not…? Which is it?"
"You think I know?"
Hell realm Pain would waste no time dealing with these ninja. He immediately killed the man and continued his reign of hell.
On the roof of Hokage's office, Tsunade summoned her slug, Katsuyu.
"I want you to attach yourself to all the ninjas and everyone else in the village! Take my chakra and heal their wounds!"
"Looks like the village is in a pinch…" Katsuyu said
"Just hurry up and do it!"
"All right."
Katsuyu soon split up into multiple slugs, as they went to attach themselves to everyone in Konoha.
"I will protect the village, no matter what…I swear by the name of Hokage!" Tsunade thought to herself
In a different section of Konoha, a group consisting of Choza, Choji, and a few other ninja jumped onto building after building to see if anyone needed reinforcements.
Suddenly, they heard an explosion, and knew that was their next destination.
"Over there…"
"Let's go!" Choza exclaimed
In his battle with Pain, Kakashi managed to catch demon realm off guard. This time, he aimed his chidori behind demon realm. However, just as the attack was about to make contact with Pain, demon realm suddenly ducked, as if knowing on instinct the attack was coming.
"He was still facing forward…"
But then he remembered Fukasaku's words.
"Their eyes are linked! They have a shared field of vision. The trick to fighting Pain is to always take him one-on-one. Each body can only use one power…finding out which he's using is key."
"Did Jiraiya really take on all six of them…? There's definitely something fishy about him…"
However, things were only going to get worse for Kakashi. Suddenly, demon realm pulled off his Akatsuki cloak…revealing a many-faced, many-handed figure with weapons coming out of his body.
As demon realm did this, Kakashi could feel himself being drawn towards Pain. But as this was being done, it finally dawned on Kakashi. He had figured out Pain's powers.
"Pain…if I try to fight him alone, there's no way I'll win. I've got to call for reinforcements…I've got to let them know his power! I'll do as much as I can myself…"
But then he found that he was unable to dodge demon realm's sword. The blade came closer to him, until it eventually drove through his stomach.
Kakashi's eyes widened as blood spilled out of his body. However, what demon realm had stabbed was merely a clone.
And suddenly, two giant hands crushed demon realm Pain like a person would crush a bug.
God realm Pain managed to elude the attack, but this was not so for demon realm.
"…That's one down, Kakashi." Choza said as he jumped down onto the battlefield
"I was prepared for this…but I am glad I can store my chakra."
The signal for a counterattack went up, and Kakashi was relieved. Now, with seven ninja against one body of Pain, Kakashi felt they could defeat him.
As all seven ninja launched an attack at god realm, they all found that he deflected them with ease. Then, god realm sent those very attacks back at the ninja.
Choza, Choji, and Kakashi hid behind a wall.
"What did he do?" Choza asked
"He deflects all attacks." Kakashi replied
"He has the ability to pull and push things from his center…it seems he controls gravity and repulsion forces."
"He doesn't seem to be able to use it in quick succession though…there seems to be an interval before he can use it again."
"Everyone was floored by the last attack…if he can deflect everything, how can we beat him?" Choji asked
"The interval is short, so we can't get close to him." Choza said
"But we have to aim for that." Kakashi said
But suddenly, Kakashi formulated a plan, and he hoped it would work.
"I have an idea. Can I count on you guys?"
God realm still stood at the place he was, waiting for anyone to attack him again. This time, it was Kakashi…but he was attacking from under the ground.
He had a kunai in his hand ready to stab Pain, but Kakashi was merely blown away again.
"You have an array of jutsu. Failing to kill someone like you would mean trouble for me in the long run." god realm said
"Now!" Kakashi thought
Suddenly, Choza and Choji charged at god realm Pain in the form of two spiked, rolling forms.
"Too slow."
God realm Pain simply deflected the two again, but that was what they wanted him to do.
Suddenly, god realm Pain was tied up by a long chain, preventing him from moving.
"Kakashi Hatake, so you laid these chains in the ground before you attacked me, eh?"
Kakashi then reappeared again with another chidori, and this time, Pain couldn't move or deflect the attack.
"Do it, Kakashi!" Choza thought
Finally, when they thought they had finally defeated god realm Pain, demon realm, out of nowhere, came to block the attack, his crushed form still easily visible.
"It's the other Pain! How can he still move?" Choza thought, bewildered
And up to this point, god realm Pain was still unscathed. And in the midst of the chaos, Choza and Choji were knocked out, leaving only Kakashi, who was now trapped under a pile of rubble.
"Seems like you really can't move." god realm said
"We were too late…" Kakashi thought
Now he knew this was the end. They had failed in defeating Pain.
"Seems like you're not a clone. Now you die…this is the end. Just in case, I'll keep my distance."
"I can't dodge from this range…" Kakashi swallowed the lump in his throat
At best, Kakashi had hoped at least someone would be able to report to Tsunade about Pain's powers…but now, that chance was gone.
"Know pain!"
As he saw the nail in its deadly flight, his head kept replaying one scene, the final scene…
Katsuyu, meanwhile, was still tending to injured ninja of Konoha. And Tsunade was still supplying her chakra to her summoning, but at this rate, she would run out of chakra to supply.
"I had no idea there were so many casualties…" she thought grimly
But while Pain was ravaging Konoha, Danzo had managed to escape the chaos, and now was greeted by dozens of other ninja bowing forth to him.
"Luckily, thanks to this commotion, I've been able to escape Tsunade's surveillance. Akatsuki are good for something after all…"
"Now Tsunade's rule is at an end." Danzo said
"But we can't let Akatsuki have the Nine-Tailed Fox. So I've removed that possibility."
"We'll wait down here until things calm down up above."
"Shouldn't we help out, too? It'll be me meaningless if you're in charge if the village and the people in it are gone." A ninja asked Danzo
"The princess did become Hokage after all. With Katsuyu's techniques, she'll be able to prevent total annihilation…but there will still be some casualties."
"But those are a necessary sacrifice for us…in order for me to become Hokage."
Meanwhile, at the interrogation quarters of Konoha, Inoichi and two other ninja worked on deciphering the secret of Pain through an Amegakure ninja's brain.
But for now, they found no clues concerning Pain, just trivial things concering the ninja, until they stumbled upon…
"Today's corpse is pretty light."
"It's a girl…after all these years, I can just tell."
"This tower we're always taking dead bodies to, do you know what it is?"
"I thought this tower was supposed to be a place to enshrine the bones of the dead. It was built as a memorial to the dead."
"So how come even relatives of the dead aren't allowed inside?"
"I don't know…do you?"
"There's a rumor…that Pain's really in there."
"Wow, that'd be really something…but no way it's really true."
"It's just a rumor…that's all. Anyway, let's get this checked."
And then Inoichi saw something truly shocking.
"You were right…it's a girl."
"Thanks." Konan came walking toward the two
"Oh…angel…"
"Hurry and bring in the next one."
At Kakashi's battle with Pain, Choji finally woke up from his unconsciousness. Immediately he looked to see if Kakashi and his father were okay.
But now, their battle was over. Immediately after he woke up, god realm Pain went soaring away…as if he were heading somewhere, to someone he hadn't seen in years.
Now, the only ones who were left were Kakashi, Choza, and Choji, and a deformed demon realm Pain.
As Inoichi and the two other ninja continued working on the brain of the Amegakure ninja, they were approached by Ino, Shizune, and ANBU.
"Excuse me!"
"It's me, Shizune! I'm here on the Hokage's orders!"
"Did you find anything out?" Ibiki asked
"Yes! I'll explain in a minute! With my information and whatever you discover here, we can figure out the truth about Pain!
Suddenly, animal realm and human realm both rushed to the scene. They couldn't let Konoha know their secret.
Back at Kakashi, Choza, and Choji's once battlefield with Pain, Choji fell on his knees in front of his father. Choji could feel the life slipping away from him, and unfortunately for him, there were no medical ninja around to tend to his wounds.
And once he saw the last glimpse of life fade from his eyes, Choji started crying, letting the tears pour freely.
"You can…cry…later…Choji…"
Suddenly, Choji's head turned up to find Kakashi's face held no trace of sadness. But inside, he was burning up. The most important thing now was that Konoha knew of Pain's powers.
"If…you can still move…then tell Tsunade…about Pain's powers. You have to figure out a way to fight him!"
"Master…Kakashi?"
"Save your surprise for later! You have to tell her about Pain…run!"
"I…I…"
"Don't let Choza's sacrifice have been for nothing!"
But suddenly, when Kakashi lighted the spark in Choji to run, demon realm also sprang to life.
"You sure are persistent…"
When Choji heard those words, he didn't take another moment to think over what he was going to do.
A missile suddenly came forth from demon realm's back, as he prepared to fire it at Choji.
"Damn it…! Not again…! Is he after Choji…?!" Kakashi thought
Choji took one last look at his father's lifeless form, and could only say two words.
"Dad…thank you."
"Watch me!"
"Run, Choji!" Kakashi shouted
Even talking took strength away from him in some form. But if it meant Konoha knowing Pain's powers, he didn't care.
But now, Kakashi was left with one final decision.
"With my current chakra level, his whole body is out of the question. And…if I use it again, that'll be the last of my stamina and my chakra."
"…And, without a doubt…"
"I'll die!"
Kakashi's left eye suddenly transformed into the Mangekyou Sharingan.
"But right now I have to entrust the living with this information!"
"That's…the best thing I can do right now to save the village!"
With his last bit of strength, Kakashi managed to send the missile to a different dimension, where it exploded there, doing no harm to Choji.
And there he saw Choji, running to the Hokage. At least one had made it out alive. But he wouldn't be able to see Konoha one day defeat Pain…but at least, he had hoped, he would be able to see three other people…
As his eyes closed for the very last time, he didn't think about Konoha for what it was now…he knew Naruto had the ability to do anything he put his mind to.
Instead, he put himself in a different time, thinking poignantly only of the past. And this was as far as he would be able to be Obito Uchiha's eyes.
"Well…it looks like this is it for me…Obito…Rin…"
And then, the great Kakashi Hatake's head fell downward, his body still trapped in the pile of rubble from his battle with Pain.
Back at the interrogation quarters of Konoha, animal realm overheard Shizune's conversation with Inoichi, Ibiki, and the rest. Suddenly, she made the hand sign for a summoning, while human realm Pain ran to the same place.
"The master of the six paths, one of the first ninjas, used the Rinnegan. If he really exists, he could use any technique…"
Then, animal realm decided to make her move.
"What was that?!"
"Looks like he's shown up here, too."
The summon that animal realm conjured forth wasn't an animal; it was some sort of beast. ANBU had to contain this beast; otherwise, it would crush them all.
They used several elemental techniques to contain the first creature; however, what they didn't realize was that there would be another one very soon.
"Summon!"
This time, animal realm conjured forth a dog summon with a high growth rate and multiple heads.
"What?! It's got even more heads…"
"It must be a special summoning…don't waste time on it, let's search for the ninja!"
Meanwhile, human realm watched from a short distance away.
"Summon!" animal realm said again
This time, the creature that animal realm summoned charged right into the building Inoichi and the others were in.
While they were busy dealing with the summon, animal realm recovered a black stick, one that Jiraiya had left behind as evidence for Konoha.
As animal realm's summon teared the bulding apart, Katsuyu suddenly arrived to protect the ninja from harm.
"Looks like I'm just in time!"
"Thanks, Katsuyu!" Shizune said
"What is that?! The enemy?!" Ino exclaimed
"Calm down. That's the Hokage's summoning." Ibiki said
Finally, when the building was completely destroyed, outside, the ninja were met by animal realm and two powerful summons.
"It's a strong summoning! Everyone be careful!" An ANBU ninja said
"No doubt about it…I saw this one…when I was in that guy's mind. But…how did this happen?"
"What do you mean?!" Shizune asked
Inoichi was onto something. Shizune was sure of it.
"She was a corpse!"
Shizune's eyes widened in shock…but how?
"That corpse…is now using a summoning spell!"
"Pain's six forms can only use one technique each! Fukasaku said it himself, so there's no doubt it!"
"But this is weird! Fukasaku said the one brought in for an autopsy was the one who could summon!"
"Jiraiya already defeated the Pain who could summon!" Shizune thought
"Inoichi! Tell me more! Maybe we can figure it out!"
"But…"
"Leave this to me and the assassins. You guys go somewhere else!"
"Ibiki…"
"Let's go, Inoichi! We'll figure out the truth about Pain!"
As they left Ibiki alone to fight animal realm, in a different part of the village, Konohamaru was witnessing the mass destruction around him.