DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO, FAIRY TAIL, OR ANY ASSOCIATED CHARACTERS

As many of you have probably noticed, I'm getting to some events later than they would have happened in canon, but not to worry. After all, this is a fanfiction, but it's also required for the plot, so bear with me. In this chapter, we wrap up Jiraiya and Gajeel's fight with Pain. I wonder who will come out on top? Anyways, read, review, and as always, enjoy!

Chapter 26

It wasn't fear, Gajeel knew that much. Not that he'd experienced an abundance of fear in his time, but he knew that this wasn't that. Rather, it was a sense of unease that seemed to settle over he and Jiraiya like a cloud, clinging to their skin. It was as if the universe was trying to warn them of an impending doom, but the both of them were too stubborn to listen.

Nevertheless, the sense of unease was at its strongest when all four Pains charged towards them at the same time. Gajeel responded in kind, forming two swords and charging into the fray. Jiraiya shot past him, using his Sage-enhanced speed to his advantage.

It didn't matter which way they sliced it, both of them would have to take on two at a time at best. At worst, one of them would fall and one would be left to face all four. It seemed, though, that neither of them would back down from the challenge. If anything, they were encouraged by the other's presence, enticing them to fight harder.

"Brave, but foolish. You cannot hope to best a god," Pain said from all four mouths at the same time, instantly intimidating Jiraiya and Gajeel.

"Pal, you may call yourself a god, but that doesn't mean I gotta worship you," Gajeel said as he dropped to slide on one knee. The damp concrete bit into his pants, but he ignored the pain until he drew even with the lead Pain. This was the one that summoned animals, and Gajeel had taken it by surprise with his slide.

Before he even stood up, he swept his left arm around to the left, intending to amputate both legs, but he never felt the contact. Shooting to his feet, he saw the Pain had leapt into the air, its head still facing forwards. Gajeel took it as a stroke of luck, and stabbed forwards with his right arm, hoping to catch Pain through the body this time while he was still in midair.

As if to defy all laws of gravity and chance, the Pain had flipped while it was in the air. Its feet had rotated around to land on the flat of Gajeel's Iron Dragon Sword, using it as a springboard. It backflipped off of it and landed next to the second Pain, one of those with unknown powers.

What in the actual hell? Gajeel asked himself. There was no way that guy saw either of those attacks.

It seemed that Jiraiya had hit the same snag, for Gajeel heard Fukasaku speak up from on top of his shoulder. "He dodged it without looking at you, Jiraiya-boy!"

"You, too?" Gajeel asked, a hint of dullness in his voice as he stepped back from the two Pains in front of him.

Shima looked worried. "Without looking, he dodged. How is that possible? Does the Rinnegan possess the same abilities as the Byakugan?"

Jiraiya shook his head. "I doubt it. That one may not have seen me," he said, nodding to the one that absorbs ninjutsu, "but that one did," he finished, nodding to the other one with unknown powers.

"So what? You sayin' they got some kind of telepathy?" Gajeel asked, thinking of Warren back at Fairy Tail.

"Even if they were telepathic, they couldn't communicate at that speed. I think their eyes are all linked," Fukasaku theorized. "You said it yourself, you've only met one person with the Rinnegan, right Jiraiya-boy? So perhaps he's found a way to visually link himself with those other bodies."

"If that's the case, we'll never land a hit if we fight them all at once. We need to get one of them alone," Jiraiya growled.

Shima and Fukasaku nodded to one another. "Fall back for now, Jiraiya-boy, Gajeel-boy."

Jiraiya produced two smoke bombs from withing his robe and detonated them before bolting for the tunnel that he'd previously emerged from. He hoped to lose Pain within the vast tunnels and pipes that seemed to permeate the entire Hidden Rain village. After a good five minutes of running and turning corners, he finally stopped for a breather, pressing his back to the wall. He kept his eyes the way they'd came, watching for any sign of their pursuers until he noticed something.

"Where's Gajeel?"

"Sasuke sure has matured a lot, hasn't he?"

The one speaking was Kabuto Yakushi, the personal aide to Orochimaru. The spectacled medical ninja held something of an idolization of Orochimaru, something the Snake Sannin exploited without any qualms.

Though at times like these, he found it very difficult to treat Kabuto like a mere pawn. Each time that the old body would reject him, Orochimaru needed Kabuto around, both to administer medicine as well as aid in the completion of the body transfer.

"He has, though Sasuke is no longer my final form, but a simple piece of the puzzle. His eyes are all that interests me now," Orochimaru said, his voice now raspy from his frequent coughing fits. "My final body shall be that intriguing man. The one with the lightning scar."

Kabuto nodded in recognition. "I had no idea that he'd captured your interest so much, Lord Orochimaru."

"His power was unlike anything I've ever felt," the Sannin grinned despite his pain. "With Sasuke's eyes and that man's power, I shall be invincible."

Kabuto turned away and grabbed the tray of empty medicine containers. "I'll be back soon with your next dosages, Lord Orochimaru," the Sound ninja said before opening the door an allowing himself out.

Several minutes later, the sound of footsteps from outside the door alerted the Sannin to someone's approach. Expecting Kabuto's return, Orochimaru was surprised when the door opened just enough to to allow a young man through. He had black hair, and wore purple with a red and white fan on the back. A sword was secured to his waist by a thick purple rope.

"Ah, Sasuke. I was just discussing your recent improvement with Kabuto," Orochimaru greeted.

"Hn," Sasuke responded. "You mean your plan to take my body just so you can use it to get another?"

Orochimaru's eyes widened. "You heard that, did you?"

"Hn," was Sasuke's only response as his hand reached backwards to grasp the handle of his sword.

Orochimaru's eyes lit up with satisfaction and eagerness. He grinned, beginning to sit upright and prepare to forcefully take Sasuke's body. Suddenly, a long, solid blade of blue lightning chakra pierced his shoulder and pinned him to the wall behind him.

"I knew you'd come for me in this weakened state," Orochimaru said, narrowing his eyes.

"There's nothing more you have to teach me, Orochimaru," Sasuke said coldly. "Now you'll see I can be heartless, even to you."

Orochimaru couldn't help but shiver as the black markings began to creep across Sasuke's skin, indicating his activation of the curse power. On top of that, his eyes morphed into the sharingan as he stared at the pinned Sannin.

"I'm stronger than you now, so I don't see any point in handing over my body just so you can use it to find another. I'll take revenge on Itachi myself," Sasuke taunted.

Orochimaru, even in his present condition, couldn't help but cackle. "A bold statement from a nursling Uchiha!"

The Sannin's mouth opened impossibly widely, and a white, scaly form began to emerge. It darted past Sasuke before expanding to its full size. A giant, white-scaled serpent with the same yellow eyes as Orochimaru now sat before Sasuke, reared up and ready for an attack. Long black hair even covered the top of its head. As much as Orochimaru had tried, he hadn't been able to purge his humanity completely, that much was evident.

"The giant white-scaled snake. Never would have recognized you," Sasuke said, somewhat bored. "So that's your true form."

Orochimaru's enormous fanged maw opened as he spoke, darting towards the young Uchiha. "Now Sasuke, you are mine! Give me your body!"

"Useless scouting parties!" Tsunade roared, throwing an empty bottle of sake against the far wall. The glass nearly hit Shizune in the head, the kunoichi having just walked through the door.

"M'lady, what is it?"

Tsunade sat back in her chair, the anger and worry foremost among her emotions that were displayed on her face. "The scouting reports make no mention of Jiraiya or Gajeel. All we can do is wait."

"Has he contacted you through a toad messenger?" Shizune asked with concern. Tsunade shook her head.

"Then I'm sure he's fine, M'lady!" Shizune reassured. "Gajeel as well!"

"I hope so," Tsunade said, swiveling her chair to look out the window at the setting sun. "Or else I won't just be answering to Naruto."

Shizune dropped her head in understanding. Naruto would indeed be crushed if Jiraiya never came back, but the same could be said for the three wizards. If Gajeel never came back, their anger towards Tsunade for allowing it to happen would be astronomical. Though it wasn't directly Tsunade's fault, she had no doubt that the wizards wouldn't see it that way.

Between Gray and Natsu, neither of them seemed to have great control over their tempers, and the same could be said for their lightning-wielding guild mate. Shizune had yet to see Laxus angry. She'd only seen his softer sides that she had the feeling no one else did, but never anger. And she wasn't sure that she ever wanted to.

As much as Gajeel wasn't a fan of how Rogue's shadow tasted, he sure did appreciate its added effects and powers. Having molded himself into a shadow, he sat in a dark corner where the wall met the ceiling of the tunnel and watched as the four Pains below him ran past.

The only feature about him shown being his purple eyes, Gajeel swiftly followed, looking like one of the Nara clan's shadow jutsus. He had to give it to this Pain guy and his wannabe look-alike friends, they were tough. Somehow, after Gajeel had reconstructed one of their faces, it had healed on the spot and returned to the fight to annoy them some more.

The iron dragon slayer decided that he'd had enough of testing out their powers, so he was going to hunt the hunters. When the four Pains came to a three-way fork, they split off. The two unknowns moved together, but the other two went alone. Gajeel grinned, his shadow obscuring the action as he followed the middle path.

He could vaguely sense Jiraiya's scent, but it grew weaker the more that he followed Pain, so he knew that the old Toad Sage would have to deal with at least one of the others. Deciding not to focus on the old man since he could handle himself, Gajeel gradually gained ground on Pain.

This one's long ponytail was flowing behind it as it ran, so Gajeel identified it as the one that summoned animals. It was perfect. In shadow form, he circled around to the right side of the tunnel, drawing nearly even with Pain.

Before the purple spiral Rinnega even registered what happened, a shadowy figure had launched itself off of the wall and pounded into Pain. The Akatsuki leader slid onto his face, having lost his balance. Gajeel reverted to his solid form, the menacing iron scales swathed in shadows as he glared down at the prone Pain.

He leaned down, hands on his hips as he sniffed Pain. Scrunching his nose at the smell, he realized something: that all the Pains smelled different, yet they spoke with the same voice and possessed the same eyes. What was more, they each smelled like preserved corpses that had been prepared for this very role, much like Sasori's puppets.

"This ain't your real body, is it? None of them are. From the smell, this skinny freak has been dead for a while," Gajeel ascertained.

Pain rose to a crouch and shot forward before spinning to face Gajeel. "Most impressive. You are the first one to ever figure that out. No doubt Jiraiya-sensei will as well."

"So what, you some sort of puppet guy like the last Akatsuki member I gave a beatdown?" Gajeel asked.

Pain stood, unmoving save for his eyes, which scanned Gajeel up and down. "Again, I possess no chakra from you. Yet your power has soared even higher than it was before. You are most interesting, I must say. But your ability to annoy outweighs any intrigue I may have for you."

"Hey! Don't ignore my question!" the iron dragon slayer reprimanded.

Pain cocked his head to the side, as if he were studying a strange animal. "Even with this form, you won't be able to land a single hit on me. Your attacks are slow and predictable."

Gajeel's eye twitched at that. "What did you just say?! That's it! Iron Shadow Dragon Roar!"

Pain's eyes barely had time to widen before a shockwave blasted him in the chest. It filled the entire tunnel, leaving no room to dodge, and as such, Pain was carried off by it. It was different than the one that he'd used previously. This one was darker, and had tendrils of shadows swirling around it, as well as a golden light from within. It shredded Pain's Akatsuki cloak and slammed him through four walls in quick succession.

Gajeel strode forward, seething in anger, and grabbed the fallen Akatsuki leader by the scruff of his neck. Slamming him against yet another wall, he brought his face within inches of the Pain's face. "How's that for predictable?"

"Uh…"

Gajeel's head whipped to the side at the new vocalization. There, in the hallway that they now stood in, was Jiraiya. Still in his Sage Mode, he and the two elder toads on his shoulder all suffered from cases of mouths hanging open in shock.

Gajeel grinned. "Oh hey, what's up?"

With his free hand, he reached back and snapped Pain's neck, effectively silencing him for good. He dragged the fallen body towards the Toad Sage, who managed to clamp his mouth shut before speaking. "Well that was...something. Are those shadows? And what the hell happened to your eyes?"

Gajeel shrugged one shoulder, dropping Pain onto the cold stone floor. "Just another form of mine. Don't worry, I ain't evil or anything."

Jiraiya nodded slowly, as if he didn't believe the dragon slayer. Weaving a few hand signs, he pressed it to the ground, summoning another toad, this time the size of a human. Jiraiya directed it to the Pain on the ground, prompting a nod from the toad. It expanded to fill the entire room and opened its mouth. Jiraiya hauled the body of Pain up with one hand and tossed it into the slimy mouth.

The toad clamped shut, then shrunk down to its original size and dissipated. Gajeel shrugged, figuring that the old man had his reasons. "Listen, I figured somethin' out."

Jiraiya looked at him curiously. "Oh?"

"None of these guys are the real one. They all smell different, but one thing's for sure...they're all dead."

Fukasaku and Shima gasped. "Is he using dead bodies as puppets?" the female toad asked.

"I don't think so," Jiraiya shook his head. "If that was the case, then they wouldn't all have the Rinnegan, nor would they all speak."

"So what is it then, Jiraiya-boy?" Fukasaku asked.

Jiraiya stroked his new beard with thought. "Well, I'm not sure yet. We'll have to face them a little while longer to figure that part out. The good news is that we've just acquired a body of one of them, so an autopsy can be performed on it when we get back to the village."

"That's great, old man," Gajeel said sarcastically, leaning against the wall of the tunnel. The shadows that seemed to emanate from every major muscle wafted upwards along the wall, giving him a boost to his already menacing appearance. "That really helps us out right now. Just from fighting this guy, I can tell a lot about him. He may be high on himself, but he ain't gonna make the same mistake twice. He won't come at us by himself again."

"You're right," Jiraiya nodded.

"How do we beat them?" Shima asked. "Their Rinnegans seem visually linked, as if they all share the same field of vision. What one sees, the other sees, so how can we even land a hit on them?"

Fukasaku also put some thought into this. Pain seemed to have no weakness. Each of his bodies was powerful in its own right, but together, they were nigh unstoppable. "If taijutsu is useless because of their shared vision, and ninjutsu is useless because of the one that absorbs chakra, then our only option left is genjutsu."

"But Gajeel doesn't use chakra, and I can't cast a genjutsu to save my life," Jiraiya protested.

Fukasaku smirked in amusement, leaning forward to peer at his wife on Jiraiya's other shoulder. "Ma?"

"No!" Shima shook her head and crossed her arms defiantly. "I won't do it!"

"For the love of...what are you two arguing about now?" Jiraiya asked.

Ma continued to pout as she answered. "I'm not singing a duet with you, Pa! At this ripe old age it's embarrassing!"

"Sing a duet? How the fuck is singin' gonna help us out of this mess?" Gajeel asked with a skeptical expression.

"Our genjutsu isn't visually based like most others," Fukasaku explained. "Ours attacks the hearing, and then affects all the other senses. But it takes a while to prepare. Come on, Ma. You can't avoid singing forever!"

"Shut your trap, Pa!" Shima yelled, causing Jiraiya to wince from the volume in his ear. The thought had crossed the Sage's mind that they were being a bit too loud for comfort, and that it was a miracle that Pain hadn't found them by now.

"The downside to this jutsu, is that once we begin, they will know exactly where we are," Fukasaku said, drawing a sharp breath as if anticipating that very thing. "Normally, if they find us before we finish, we'd be done for, but with Gajeel-boy here, he can give us some extra time and cover our backs while we prepare. Once we have them in our spell, victory is assured."

"So with Gajeel having taken down one already, that leaves only three remaining,"Jiraiya deduced. "Assuming that he doesn't have more of them hidden away from us."

"That's correct," Fukasaku nodded. "If we can manage to catch all of the Pains in our genjutsu, we'll defeat him."

"I'm still not doing it, Pa. We are too old to be singing duets together!" Shima said, crossing her arms with a pouting face.

Gajeel growled low in his throat as he pushed off the wall. He marched straight up to Jiraiya's left shoulder and leaned forward so that his face was even with Shima. "Listen, toad lady! I don't care about your feelings, just get us the hell out of this mess so I can sleep somewhere other than the afterlife tonight!"

Shima grumbled obscenities under her breath as she sighed. "Alright, fine. Let's do it, Pa!"

"Before we begin," Jiraiya said, "if any of your lives are endangered, I want you to free yourselves from my shoulders."

"What? No way! The fate of the ninja world could very well hang on this battle, Jiraiya-boy!" Fukasaku protested, not wanting to give up on his student so easily.

Jiraiya nodded. "I know that. But there's also a chance that he's not the child of prophecy, and in that case, this battle means nothing in the long run. Just don't sacrifice your lives for mine, especially you," Jiraiya said, that last part meant for Gajeel.

"Me? Why?"

"Because you were dragged into this world against your will while trying to save your own. You should be able to return to yours, and leave the fate of this one to us shinobi."

Gajeel fought the urge to laugh. "Buddy, you think I give a crap about the fate of the world or whatever? None of that stuff is real. I'm just here to kick some ass. And right now, there are a few creepy guys that are at the top of my list."

Jiraiya couldn't help but chuckle at Gajeel's simple outlook on life. It was one that he strangely admired. The wizard lived life the way he wanted, with no strings of destiny playing with him like some puppet. The Sannin smiled in response, nodding to each of his companions.

"Thank you, all of you," he said, smiling sadly. "Boss, Ma'am, do it."

Jiraiya started running down the tunnel as Shima and Fukasaku began to croak loudly. It was agonizing to hear, especially for Gajeel's enhanced hearing. If he was being honest, the dragon slayer had no clue what this was supposed to do, but he didn't dare voice it for fear that Shima would suddenly refuse again.

After nearly a full minute of the loud croaking, Jiraiya made a hand sign, and a shadow clone formed next to him. The real Toad Sage ducked into a dark side hallway, the shadow-imbued iron form of Gajeel directed to follow him. The shadow clone proceeded to the end of the hallway, where there was a three-way intersection. There, it stopped and turned to face the way they'd came.

Seconds later, the three remaining Pains rounded the corner and advanced on the shadow clone, passing by their hidden location. Instantly, Jiraiya jumped out of hiding and spewed a massive fireball from his lips. Gajeel decided to use it as cover and dashed through the inferno.

As the flames disappeared, Gajeel caught a glimpse of the broad Pain ahead, the one that absorbs ninjutsu. The fist of the iron dragon slayer connected with its jaw once again, interrupting the process of absorbing Jiraiya's fire jutsu. His metal knuckles split skin due to the sheer force of the blow, but no blood leaked out. Even once the limp body was thrown backwards, nothing leaked from the wound.

The remaining two Pains turned around in complete outrage at the fact that another body had been destroyed, but were quickly enveloped by the remaining flames of Jiraiya. The fire disintegrated their cloaks, and left sizeable burns on the skin underneath. Jiraiya stepped forward to come even with Gajeel, the two toads still engaged in their song.

As the pair watched, both Pains froze, and Jiraiya let out a small breath of satisfaction. "They're caught in the genjutsu, now's our chance."

Just before Gajeel charged forward, slips of paper suddenly appeared in the air. They attached themselves to the iron surface of his skin, and he saw black markings on them. "Paper bombs!" Jiraiya realized.

Reacting as quickly as he could, Gajeel grabbed the Sannin by the shoulder and tossed him backwards before the paper bombs finally detonated. The blast destroyed half of the hallway. With the floor destroyed, Gajeel was catapulted outwards, and ended up landing on a small ledge that overlooked the lake that bordered the Rain village.

He coughed up the smoke that had filled his lungs, taking stock of his situation. Looking down at his body, he was shocked to see that cracks had appeared in his iron scales from the force of the explosion. The shadow-enhanced iron scales were much tougher than his regular iron scales, and were considered his ultimate defense, yet here it was, threatening to cave on him.

Seconds later, Jiraiya was thrown through the wall next to him by an unseen force. The Sannin splashed into the water around them, no longer in Sage Mode as the two toads had detached from his shoulders. The three of them managed to haul themselves up onto a rock that stuck above the surface of the waves. Jiraiya expelled the water that had found its way into his stomach before raising his head to look at Gajeel, alarm spreading across his features.

Gajeel managed to turn his head back around to see two Pains standing over him. Only these two were different. These two were new, and wore pristine Akatsuki cloaks as well. One was completely bald, and had a permanent grin plastered on his face. The other looked like that of a young man, with seven studs in each ear, and three nose piercings, as well as a pair of mouth piercings. It was this Pain that made Jiraiya gasp with recognition.

"Yahiko!"

The one that Jiraiya called Yahiko merely cocked his head to one side, the same emotionless expression glued to his face just like all the others. "Sensei," he acknowledged before leaping back several feet from Gajeel.

Before the dragon slayer had the chance to wonder what he was doing, his eyes widened at what was pointed at him. The bald Pain had unscrewed a portion of its arm and extended it, revealing several metal rods that pointed at angles from one another. He aimed the arm directly towards Gajeel, and the rods ignited on one end.

Four of them sped towards the immobile Gajeel, crashing into his form at the same time. They detonated and threw the iron dragon slayer to the water below, where he sunk for a few seconds before kicking his legs and rising to the surface. A strong hand grabbed the back of his tunic and hauled him up onto the rock in the center.

Jiraiya looked down with worry at Gajeel. The dragon slayer's once strong iron scales were flaking off, and cracks covered almost every inch of his body. The shadowy tendrils were long since gone, and Gajeel winced with every small movement. Fighting through the pain, Gajeel hauled himself up onto one knee and glared venomously up at the Pains.

"You bastards cracked my iron scales. Ain't no one done that since Salamander."

Pain still looked as impassive as ever. "As I said before, your powers are intriguing, but are nothing when compared to that of a god," the one that Jiraiya had called Yahiko said, stepping forward.

The bald Pain stood on his right, and the two others that had been caught in the genjutsu stood to his left. What shot spikes of fear through Gajeel and Jiraiya, though, was the broad Pain that absorbs ninjutsu, who had reappeared to stand next to the bald one. As if placing icing on top of the cake, Konan materialized in a swarm of paper off to the side. It had been her who had initiated that entire exchange.

"The Six Paths of Pain, in attendance," the Yahiko Pain announced.

"Six of them?!" Fukasaku exclaimed in disbelief. "We have to face six of them now?!"

Shima gasped in horror. "And take a close look, the one that Gajeel just took down is back among them again! They must be able to resurrect the fallen ones with some kind of jutsu!"

Gajeel chuckled weakly, wincing as more of his scales flaked off and clinked against the rock he stood upon. "Don't you mean five? I got one of you earlier, remember? Some god you are, you can't even count correctly."

"It matters not," Pain said simply.

This time, it was Jiraiya who spoke up, stepping past Gajeel. "Yahiko! What happened to Nagato? You took his eyes?"

"You see Yahiko's image when you look at me? You really are his former teacher. But Yahiko's been dead for quite some time. All that remains is Pain."

"Quit the wordplay! Tell me why you possess the Rinnegan!"

"What are you talking about old man?" Gajeel asked, walking forward to stand even with Jiraiya as more of his iron scales flaked off.

"One of my former students is now among the six. I thought at first that it was Nagato because he possessed the Rinnegan, but now with him there, I don't have a clue anymore. He looks like Yahiko, but he possesses the Rinnegan of Nagato," Jiraiya said. "Just what exactly are you?!" he yelled.

"We are Pain," the five bodies said at once, leaping off of the ledge in unison.

"Iron Dragon Roar!"

The shockwave sent by Gajeel blew away the bodies temporarily, allowing Gajeel enough time to say his piece. "Get the hell out of here old man!"

"What?!" Jiraiya asked with worry, placing a hand on Gajeel's shoulder.

The iron dragon slayer shook him off and roughly shoved him towards the water. "I said get the hell out of here! Get back to the village and tell them about all of this. You understand it better than I do. Now go!"

"I'm not leaving you here, kid," Jiraiya said with determination.

Fukasaku nodded. "That's right, Gajeel-boy. We'll face them together!"

"Don't you get it?!" Gajeel asked with a look of impending doom plastered on his face. "They'll kill all of us, then everyone else won't know any of this shit! Now get out of here! Summon one of those toads and get out of here!"

Jiraiya was rooted in place. He was indecisive. Gajeel did indeed make some good points, but his conscience would forever be tainted with guilt if he left the dragon slayer here to die for him. Before he could decide, however, one of the Pains, the one that absorbs ninjutsu, burst out of the water, a hand outstretched towards the Sannin's throat.

Jiraiya stared in awe at the iron sword that cleaved the head clean off of the Pain. The limp body sank into the water as the head rolled to a stop next to Jiraiya's bare foot. Looking back to the dragon slayer, he saw that Gajeel had managed to completely repair and cover himself in his iron scales. Though he was unable to enter his Iron Shadow Dragon form, this would be better than nothing.

The remaining four Pains all appeared in an orderly line in front of them, their feet disturbing the surface of the water. Gajeel looked back to Jiraiya with almost pleading eyes. "I ain't gonna tell you again. Get out of here! And tell the others...tell them that I'm sorry. Tell them that they were the only family I ever knew."

Jiraiya couldn't help but allow his eyes to water at the emotional state of the dragon slayer in front of them. Fukasaku tugged on a strand of Jiraiya's hair to gain the Sannin's attention. When Jiraiya turned his head, he saw the old toad was just as emotional as he was. They shared a look of sad understanding, and Jiraiya began to back away slowly. Shima sobbed with each step that they took.

Pain noticed that Jiraiya was prepared to flee, so he sent the bald one forward to stop him. The mechanical body was halted by yet another vortex of iron shards, forcing him into the water just as Jiraiya summoned a toad. He stepped into the toad's mouth with Fukasaku and Shima before stealing one last glance back at Gajeel.

The iron dragon slayer winked at Jiraiya before charging forward. As the toad's mouth closed around Jiraiya, the last words he heard from Gajeel were ones of emotion, a battle cry that would be etched into Jiraiya's memories for the rest of his life.

"For Fairy Tail!"