Author's Note: As you can see, this story has a new cover. Thanks a lot to the artist, me, who took some time of his (not really) busy schedule and drew something somewhat passable. If somebody who actually knows how to draw wants to do a better cover, I'd appreciate it (though it will have to be from the kindness of your heart since I can't afford to pay an artist, or else I would have hired one sometime ago).
Now, enjoy the chapter:
Chapter 87:
The Akatsuki Invasion, Part V
or
Can You Fight a God?
Naruto, Tsunade, Rin, Kakashi and his students watched in both horror and awe as a small asteroid emerged from the ground, and elevated into the air, as chunks of earth and stone were ripped from the ground and became part of it, becoming larger as it flew higher.
"What... what the hell is THAT!?" Kiba asked in shock.
"I know what is it!" Naruto shouted, alarmed. "The Chibaku Tensei! That's one of Pain's most powerful jutsu! He used it against us when we were trying to secure Utakata."
"If that thing falls into the ground upon gaining enough altitude..." Shino began, as the implications of his words started to slowly sink on everybody else.
"I... I'm sensing Jiraiya inside that asteroid!" Tsunade said, her voice quivering with worry and fear. "He's barely alive!"
"Shit, we have to go, now!" Naruto urged. "Quickly mom, jump into my back!"
Without asking why, Tsunade did what her adopted son asked, while Naruto made several hand seals.
"Wind Release: Riding the Hurricane!"
A powerful tornado formed around Naruto's legs, elevating both him and Tsunade into the air as if they weighed nothing. The tornado then began to quickly move in the direction the asteroid was being former, with mother and son praying that they could reach it in time.
…
That very moment, outside of Konoha, Haku and Kurenai were looking for Deidara, without much success. With each passing second, they worried about how much they could be helping in the village. But capturing an Akatsuki, or at least neutralizing him, was too good of a chance to pass.
"This would be much easier if Naruto or Hinata were with us," Kurenai complained, as she looked behind every bush and large rock that could be used as a reasonable hideout. "They would track that guy in no time."
"Guess that's an area we could use some improvement once this mess is over," Haku replied, searching as well. "One can never be to-"
"Haku!" Kurenai called. Urgency could be heard in her voice.
The ice ninja quickly rushed to her position, thinking that she had finally found the Akatsuki. But all what she found was his clay dragon, laying there on the grass, motionless.
"You were right about the crashing zone," Kurenai confirmed. "Meaning that he has to be close. How strong was your genjutsu?"
"Pretty strong," Haku replied. "But if he isn't here, then he must have dispelled it and ran away."
"What should we do, then? If that's the case, he can be anywhere, and we can't leave the village when there's-"
The genjutsu mistress was interruped by a brief but powerful tremor shaking the earth, which almost made the duo fall on their butts. They were filled with a sense of dread.
"I don't like the sound of that," Kurenai said.
"I bet you wouldn't. We need to return to the village at once. I think I have an idea of what caused this tremor," Haku urged, as he started to run towards the village. "Let's hope it won't be too late."
Kurenai nodded, and ran behind him, leaving the clay dragon where they found it. After a couple minutes, once neither their footsteps nor their chattering clould be heard, the clay dragon burst into a cloud of smoke, revealing a badly hurt Deidara once it dispelled.
"You aren't the only one who knows how to use trickery to their advantage, bitch," Deidara groaned, as he tried to get back on his feet. "Shit... I don't think I'm in shape to keep fighting..."
…
A few minutes later, the asteroid had reached its final intended side, and stopped at more than three hundred meters above Konoha. From a safe distance, Pain watched proudly his display of power, the power of a god. He could still feel Jiraiya inside the asteroid, clinging to life as he consumed the last remnants of nature energy inside his body. Then again, no amount of nature chakra would allow him to survive what was about to come.
"Now it's time for Konoha..." Pain said, as he motioned his hand down. "To disappear."
And with that motion, the asteroid was brought down. The collision would create both a shockwave and a tremor powerful enough to level the entirety of Konoha. After that, seeking the jinchuriki would be child's play.
"Pain!" Konan cried.
The Akatsuki leader was snapped from his thoughts as a blur pierced his asteroid, and came from the other side. Said blur turned out to be Tsunade, carrying a badly wounded and bloodiened Jiraiya in her arms.
"H-hime..." Jiraiya croaked, coughing some blood.
"Shhh, don't talk," she whispered. "Now I'm going to take you somewhere safe and treat your wounds. Don't die on me, understood?"
And she wasn't the only newcomer.
"Wind Release: Double Rasenshuriken!"
Two shuriken made of wind chakra flew towards the pummeling asteroid, and exploded upon contact, forming two spinning blasts of wind, which they soon merged into one. The blast quickly grinded the asteroid into gravel, destroying it completely before it could crash against the ground. Rinnegan eyes scanned who was the one who had countered his jutsu with such relative ease.
The culprit landed about ten meters away from him, making a loud thud, raising a small cloud of dust. Two golden eyes glared at the Akatsuki leader.
"Mom, take dad away," Naruto said, not taking his eyes from Pain. "I can take care of this."
Tsunade nodded, as she carried Jiraiya away, leaving Naruto alone with the Akatsuki. "Alright, but be careful. I'll come back to help you as fast as I can."
For a moment, nobody said anything, as both Naruto and Pain's main body stared intently into each other's eyes, trying to figure out their thoughts and potential course of actions. Pain was the first one to open his mouth and break the reigning silence, which was only interrupted by the noise of the battles still going on around the village.
"Your Rasenshuriken is a sight to behold. To think that there's a jutsu able to negate my Chibaku Tensei..." Pain began. "However, in the end, it will be for naught. Do both yourself and your village a favor, and surrender already. Enough lives have been lost."
Pain waited for Naruto's response, expecting some sort of bravado about how he was going to "kick his ass" and protect the ruined village. But Naruto's response wasn't something the Akatsuki leader was expecting in the slightest.
"Your name is Nagato, right?" Naruto asked, his voice sounding calm. "Dad told me about you."
"Who I was in previous life doesn't ma-"
"Nagato Uzumaki," Naruto finished.
This seems to take Pain aback a little, but his astonishment was short lived.
"Oh, I see," Pain said in realization. "That's your plan, right? To appeal to our common ancestry in order to reach an understanding, and from there, an outcome that benefits both you and your village. You're wasting both our times. I couldn't care less about being from the same clan. You could be my very blood brother, and the result would be the same."
"How... how can you say that?" Naruto asked in shock. "What happened to you to have such a bleak worldview?"
Oddly, Pain smiled at such question. It wasn't a smile of mockery. "Now you're asking the right questions. See, two people with different worldviews, like you and me, will never reach an understanding. Because one person has experienced pain, and the other didn't. Or maybe both did, but of different kinds. We might be related, but our experiences growing up were completely different. Konan here is the only one who ever shared my pain, and thus is the only one I call my family. Besides, why are you putting so much importance on blood ties? After all, you aren't the product of your parents' union, are you?"
"So, because you had a crappy childhood, now you go inflicting misery on the innocent!?" Naruto asked, enraged. "Just what's wrong with you!?"
"Such a childish worldview," Pain said, shaking his head. "Yes, you probably see me as some sort of villain from a story book. Somebody evil for the sake of being evil, who only exists so the hero can beat him."
"You ravaged my home, killed my fellow jinchuriki and harm my family! How else should I see you!?" Naruto roared.
"Just like how, during the Great Wars, Konoha and other major villages destroyed my home and killed my friends. Now you understand my pain a bit better," Pain replied, though Naruto didn't react. "This body I'm using as an avatar belonged to the best friend I ever had. He was brave, caring, kind and compassionate. His dream was a world of peace, a world without strife, and fought to achieve it, for both mine and Konan's sake. He and Konan were in love. They deserved to get married, have children, and live a long and happy life. But alas, that wasn't his fate. He died because of Danzo, a Konoha ninja, who saw our efforts for peace as a threat to his plans. But I won't let Yahiko's dream go to waste. To honor his memory, I shall create a new world in his image, a world where no children have to grow up the way we did."
"Danzo is no friend of Konoha either!" Naruto protested. "If you really fight for peace, then cease this carnage immediately! This is no peace, this is nothing but pointless bloodshed!"
"From your perspective, perharps," Pain replied. "But sometimes, sacrifices are need to be made in order to achieve a greater goal. Just like how Yahiko sacrificed his life so Konan and I could live, the jinchuriki and those who protect them must die so this perfect world can be born."
That moment, Fukasaku, still, attached to Naruto's back, saw something that made him gasp, as tears started to form around his yellow eyes. Getting off of Naruto, the old toad hopped towards were it laid the corpse of his wife, Shima.
"Shima..." Fukasaku sobbed, as he held one of her hands. It was cold as ice. "No... not you..."
A saddened Naruto watched the display, before his eyes turned towards Pain, stoic and unflinching as ever. The jinchuriki's scowl deepened. He took his Wind Blade from his ninja tool pouch and activated it. A blade of wind was projected from the modified kunai as Naruto channeled his own chakra into it.
"I'm done trying to reason with you," Naruto coldly stated, before leaping at Pain.
Naruto was expecting the Akatsuki leader to use his signature jutsu to repel him, but instead, he was intercepted by the body with the long hair, parrying Naruto's Wind Blade with a chakra rod. They struggled against each other for a couple seconds, before Naruto sent him flying with a brutal kick to the chest. Pain's main body merely sidestepped as the long haired body flew past him.
"After Toneri, the other Nine Tails, and that meteor, I'm down to just one clone. I better not waste any nature energy. I must save the Rasenshuriken for critical moments," Naruto thought, as he prepared his next jutsu. "Wind Release: Cyclone Vortex!"
Cupping his hands and casting them forward, Naruto released a powerful horizontal tornado, which thanks to the nature energy he had imbued into the jutsu, was wide and strong enough to swallow all of Pain's bodies
Another Pain, the fattest of the lot, landed in front of his brethen, and began to pull the tornado towards his body, absorbing it.
"Thanks for taking the bait, sucker," Naruto said, as he made a hand seal. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Two clones popped into existence at each side of the blond. Without having to issue any order the clones and the original rushed forward, heading for the fat Pain, was still absorbing the cyclone Naruto had summoned earlier.
"Naruto-kun, if you plan to ambush Pain, it won't work," the Katsuyu clone told the blond. "The Rinnegan seem to give them some sort of peripherial vision, like the Byakugan."
"Don't worry, I have a plan," Naruto assured her. "I have an idea of how the Rinnegan works based on what I saw the first time I fought him."
"Clever," Pain praised, watching Naruto closing on his main defensive body. "But not enough."
Pain's main body and Puppet Pain moved to intercept Naruto and his clones. Just as the puppet transformed his arm into a cannon, the Naruto clones tossed a smoke bomb forward, covering the entire area in a mantle of darkness.
"I don't need to see you in order to stop you," Pain boasted, as he raised a hand forward. "Shinra Tensei!"
The smoke was blown away in an instant, and so were Naruto and his clones, the latters being destroyed by the sheer magnitude of the attack. While Naruto was blown away, Konan brought down a storm of paper flechettes upon the blond, while Puppet Pain showered him with chakra bolts. Letting out a scream of anguish, Naruto fell to the ground, motionless...
"That was much easier than expected," Pain commented.
...before disappearing in a cloud of smoke.
"What? That was a clone too?" Konan asked, as she increased her atittude in order to see the original. "Where did he-"
But it was too late. Naruto emerged from underground at the rear end of the group of Pains, where the Pain body capable of reviving the others was. Completely unprotected.
"You're mine!" Naruto said, as his fist started to crackle with electricity. "Lightning Release: Heavenly Hammer!"
Naruto's electricity coated fist pierced the target's body, electrocuting him from the inside out, sending lightning bolts in every direction. Once the jutsu stopped, Naruto couldn't sense anymore chakra from the body, meaning he had killed him.
"Well done, Naruto-kun! Now Pain has no means to replace lost bodies!" Katsuyu cheered. "But how they didn't see you?"
"Easy. It's not peripherial vision, like the Byakugan. It might appear as such, but I realized that when we fought the Pain bodies separatedly, they didn't have such ability. Which made us realize that their field of vision is linked somehow."
"So, that's why you threw the smoke bombs?" Katsuyu asked.
"Not exactly. I used them so he wouldn't see me creating a third clone and going underground," Naruto replied. "I needed Pain to think that I was trying to bring down the chakra-absorbing body, so his attention was away from the other bodies, and thus drop his guard."
"That's a very clever plan," Katsusyu said, before noticing the five remaing Pains and Konan closing in. "But I'm afraid that such thing won't work again."
"I don't need it to. Now I only need to destroy their bodies once," Naruto confidently said. "And I still have plenty of Senjutsu chakra to spare!"
"Outstanding move, Naruto," Pain sounded more genuinely impressed rather than angry due the loss of one of his most important bodies. "Let's see if you can repeat it."
Ponytail Pain took took a step forward, and prepared his only jutsu.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
Slamming his plam into the ground,. Ponytail Pain summoned a giant multi headed dog, all its heads barking furiously.
"That's one hell of a mutt," Naruto said, letting out a whistle. He mimicked the enemy by biting his thumb and making five hand seals. "My turn! Summoning Jutsu!"
Once again, Naruto summoned Gamaken to his side.
"I'm ready to fight again, Naruto," Gamaken said, before looking at the dog. "Is that my enemy?"
"Indeed it is," Naruto said. "But try not to behead or cut it. It will split into multiple bodies if it's slashed."
"Yes, I do remember that insidious ability from the first time you asked me to fight that beast," Gamaken nodded, as he put his shield forward, while rearing his Sasumata back. He knew the drill: he'll keep the dog at bay, while Naruto tried to bring the summoner down, and thus undoing the summon. While the giant toad and the giant canine engaged each other in a fierce battle, Naruto prepared his next move.
"Now, it's my turn! Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Once again, Naruto created other two clones, and the htree of them charged forwards.
"I doubt he will try to use the same tactic twice in a row, but try to be careful!" Konan warned him from above.
Pain silently nodded, as he prepared to take in whatever attack Naruto planned to launch.
"Losing the Naraka Path was careless on my part. I need to let him attack, consume all his nature energy, and then exhaust him until he can't fight anymore," Pain thought, as he watched the blond coming. "As long as the Deva Path survives, I can win this. The other bodies are expendable."
The blond created yet another Rasengan, while the clones imbued it with wind chakra. Since he was using two clones, the Rasenshuriken formed much faster now. The blond grinned confidently at Pain, as he held the destructive spinning chakra shuriken above his head.
"He's expecting me to use the Preta Path in order to absorb the jutsu, and strike it down in the middle of the absorption," Pain deduced. "However, I have more than one method to nullify his attacks!"
"Wind Release: Rasenshuriken!"
Naruto threw the wind shuriken forward, in a straight line towards the main Pain. He was expecting that Pain would use his chakra-absorbing body to counter it, but none of the other bodies made any hints to move. Other than the target, who merely raised a hand forward.
"Shinra Tensei!"
Pain shot yet another kinetic wave forward, which managed to sucessfuly dispeled Naruto's jutsu. But unfortunately for Pain, Naruto had already took that into account.
"He's vulnerable now! Five seconds!" Naruto said, as he pulled out his Wind Blade once again, before his clones launched him at Pain at a blurring speed.
Pain was literally taken aback by such tactic. Naruto was coming really fast at him. He had no time to dodge or wait for his power to recharge. His only option was to use another body as a human shield. Fortunately for him, there was an almost literal angel watching above him.
"Paper Drizzle!"
Konan flapped his paper wings once, creating a storm of razor sharp paper darts towards the incoming blonde. Many of the paper darts stabbed themselves into his flesh, stopping him on his tracks. Unsurprisingly for both Pain and Konan, Naruto disappeared leaving a small burst of smoke behind.
"Wind Release: Rasenshuriken!"
"What?" Konan asked.
While she and Pain had their attention drawn towards the incoming Naruto clone, they had forgotten about the original and his remaining clone, who prepared and launched another Rasenshuriken. Of course, his tactic wasn't going to work.
"I have this one," Pain said, as his chakra-absorbing body placed himself between the incoming jutsu and the rest of the bodies.
However, when the Rasenshuriken was about get close enough to be absorbed, it suddenly shot forward, aiming right for Konan. Both Akatsuki were startled. They were so sure Naruto would be focused on Pain, that neither of them took into account that he could target Konan as well. No time to dodge or outrun it, she could only counter it with brute force.
"Paper Shuriken!"
Konan moved backwards as she unleashed a barrage of shuriken-shaped papers on the incoming Rasenshruiken. She managed to detonate it earlier, the but the size of the blast was much larger than she had anticipated. She continued unleashing paper projectiles on the ever growing blast of razor winds, but she failed to curb it.
"AAAAAAAARGGH!"
Konan screamed as the explosion reached her. And just like Toneri before her, while she would have instantly died had she been engulfed by the initial explosion, the shockwave was powerful enough to hurl her into the sky, away from Konoha.
Naruto could sense how Konan's chakra signature moved further and further until he couldn't sense her anymore. He could also feel the last remnants of nature energy vanishing from his body as well. The moment he sensed that, he made a hand seal, and dispelled the last clone gathering nature energy in order to reactivate Sage Mode.
Given that Pain had said that Konan was the only truly important person to him left, he was expecting him to be consumed by rage. But all five remaining bodies stayed as stoic as ever.
"Don't worry, Konan, I shall finish the job for the two of us," Pain whispered to himself, before his rippled eyes focused on Naruto. "See? This very battle is the proof that I am right. Just like how I harm people important to you, you in return seek to harm me and those who are important to me. It's a cycle that will never end if the world is left as it is."
"Spare me your bullshit," Naruto growled. "The world will be a better place once you and your lot are wiped away from the face of the planet."
"You keep proving me right," Pain insisted. "Akatsuki and I killed the other jinchuriki, and harmed your friends and family in the process. And in return, you seek retribution you see as just. Not that I'd blame you for doing it. It's not your fault, but this rotten world we were forced to live in.
"But answer me this, jinchuriki. If by sacrificing one person you could save a hundred, wouldn't you do it? One thousand? One million? Beacuse by sacrificing nine people, I can save the entire world from itself."
"All you're going to achieve is releasing a beast so powerful you won't be able to control," Naruto retorted. "The Ten Tails isn't like the other Tailed Beasts. Its power is too big to be directed or controlled."
"For normal humans, maybe. But I'm beyond normal humans," Pain replied, his Rinnegan flashing with a purple glint. "You see these eyes, and you only think in a powerful Bloodline Limit. And you would be right, but there's so much more to the Rinnegan."
"Do you think the Rinnegan can control the Ten Tails?" Naruto asked, outraged. "If that was the case, the Sage of the Six Paths would have done it back in the day!"
"But the Sage of the Six Paths did exactly that," Pain replied, taking Naruto a bit aback. "Not in the way Obito controls the Nine Tails, of course. No, he controlled it in a much more pure, focused way: by absorbing it into his body, and becoming its jinchuriki. Only one born with these eyes can do such a feat."
"Just because you have the same eyes as him that doesn't make you the Sage of the Six Paths!" Naruto hollered. "The Sage preached peace and understanding, and valued freedom above everything else!"
"That, he did," Pain agreed. "He didn't want to use his power to impose himself as an emperor or a god. And look what happened. Do you know why I am here, jinchuriki? I am the reincarnation of the Sage of the Six Paths, who returned to this world to right the past wrongs. Humans have proved time after time that they can't achieve peace on their own. Reaching understanding is an utopic ideal. That's it, unless somebody else comes and ends all conflicts by force. I am that person. And to do so, I need to recover the power that was once mine. Once I'm complete, I shall use the power of the Ten Tails to usher a new world order of peace, security and prosperity."
"Kaguya already tried that, and she failed!" Naruto replied.
"Kaguya's regime would have lasted to this very day if it wasn't for her two sons," Pain shot back. "But unlike Kaguya, once I'm complete, there won't be anybody powerful enough to challenge me anymore."
"So that's your grand plan? Imposing your will by force?" Naruto asked.
In a rare display, Pain smirked.
"If you have a better idea on how to achieve world piece, I'm willing to listen," Pain replied. Several moments of silence passed, with only the wind and the sound of distant fights being heard. Naruto's expression became more and more frustrated as he made his brain work, unable to find an answer that would satisfy his opponent. "That's what I thought. Now jinchuriki, if you truly want peace too be a reality and not an utopic dream, surrender now and give me your half of the Tailed Beast."
Naruto's expression changed, from frustration to determination as his gaze met Pain's.
"I may not have the solution that problem now," Naruto replied. "But that doesn't mean it doesn't exist. And if you want the Nine Tails, you'll have to beat me first!"
"Very well then," Pain stated. "I wasn't expecting you to make this any easier."
Naruto could sense something coming from underground below him, and jumped just in time before a gignatic centipede burst from the floor. As Naruto was in the air, Pain raised one hand,
"Bansho Ten'in!"
The blond jinchuriki felt his body mass turn to nothing as a strong invisible force pulled him towards the main Pain. On the other hand, Pain generated a one of those black chakra rods. Naruto, however, was ready.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Pain suddenly saw a tsunami of orange threatening to bury all his bodies. Fortunately, said bodies jumped into action. Puppet Pain removed one of his forearms, revealing a flamethrower inside, which he used to torch the clones, while the giant crustacean summoned by Ponytail Pain released several baldes of water from its mouth. While most of the clones were destroyed, Naruto was able to escape unscathed, and jumped back, putting some distance between him and his enemies.
He didn't forget from the giant centipede from before, which lunged from the back, ready to sink its large and sharp jaws into the blond's flesh. Naruto, however, managed to grab said jaws with each hand before they could eviscerate him. Making use of his Senjutsu-enhanced strength, Naruto lifted the colossal arthropod, and tossed it against the giant lobster. Ponytail Pain was unable to jump in time, and fell to the ground, before the two tumbling animals crashed on top of him. Unable to resist so much weight piled up on him at once, the body gave up, and died. As a result, the two animals disappeared, leaving clouds of smoke behind.
"And another body down!" Naruto said with a trimphant glee. "Four more to go!"
The four remaining bodies placed themselves in a formation, with the fat Pain in the middle, long haired Pain to the left, puppet Pain to the right, and the Main Pain behind all three of them. It was obvious which body Pain considered the most valuable, but even then, Naruto coulnd't get confident. Just like how he misdirected their attention to get rid of Konan, falling into a trap could prove fatal.
Naruto eyed the long haired Pain. So far, he only saw him using physical attacks. But he deduced every body must have some sort of special ability.
"Katsuyu, do you know what the Pain to the left does?" Naruto whispered to the slug on his shoulder.
"I believe he has some way to kill somebody by just touching them," the slug clone replied.
"The hell!?" Naruto asked, louder than he had intended.
"He touched Anko-san's head and then... it appeared as if he was able to rip the soul out of her body," Katsuyu explained, much to Naruto's horror. "However, given that the Akatsuki want you alive, I seriously doubt he'll use that ability on you."
"Still better not taking any chances," Naruto replied, lowering the volume of his voice again. "Though if he's limited to physical attacks, he should be the easiest one to go down."
Naruto quickly dashed towards the long haired Pain, Wind Blade in hand already active. Despite his speed, his target was able to create yet another black rod from under his sleeve and use it to parry the blow. Still, said blow carried so much force, he was pushed backwards. His senses warned him of the other three Pains closing in. Time for another ambush. Taking his hands to his ninja tool pouch, Naruto quickly grabbed and tossed another smoke bomb, engulfing all combatants in a cloud of smoke.
"I won't fall for that trick twice," Pain said, kneeling down and placing a hand on the ground, while the other three bodies jumped away in opposite directions. "Shinra Tensei!"
Pain sent a powerful wave of telekinetic energy underground, ripping the earth apart as it traveled, forming a crater while it expanded. And among all the rocks and peebles that were thrown away, there was also Naruto Uzumaki, hurled into the air, with an expression of incredulity adorning his face.
"Got you," Pain said.
Puppet Pain stepped forward, generated a second right arm, and shot his hand like a cannon. The hand was attached to the rest of the arm by an extensible steel cable, which was reminiscent of Kakuzu's bizarre body modifications. The hand closed its fingers around Naruto's neck, before being violently pulled towards them.
However, even with the pressure on his neck, Naruto was able to make a single hand seal. And said seal was enough for his body to produce an electric current that the steel cable carried to the Puppet Pain, shocking him and forcing him to release him. Naruto coughed as he massaged his sore neck, while getting back on his feet.
"Okay, I can't use the Rasenshuriken just yet. As long as the chakra absorbing asshole is still there, it will be useless," Naruto thought, as he eyed the enemies in front of him. "And even if I'm able to bypass him, there's that gravity attack Pain can use to nullify it... damn, if I only had more than two Rasenshuriken... come on, think!"
"Bansho Ten'in!"
Pain taking the initiative snapped Naruto of his thoughts. Though, unlike the other times, he didn't feel being pulled towards the hated Akatsuki leader. Had his jutsu failed?
"What the- ACK!"
The answer came in the form of a large boulder that flew from behind and smashed against his back, launching him forward, painfully landing facefirst against the ground. Before he could react, Fat Pain and Long Hair Pain dogpiled him, with the former grabbing both the blond's hands, and started to suck his chakra.
"If I try to pull yourself to me, you'll simply create an army of clones to overwhelm me with," Pain replied. "But as you can see, there's more than one way to use my abilities."
"Shit!" Naruto shouted, as he struggled to break free. "My chakra...!"
"Let me help you, Naruto-kun!" the Katsuyu cloner said, as she jumped from his shoulder towards the chakra absorbing Pain. "Acid Spray!"
The small slug sprayed the portly Pain with a small but effective splash of corrosive liquid, burning his face, and instinctively making him to nurse his wounded face with his hands, stopping the chakra absorption. Relieved from such burden, Naruto used his superior strength to push the two bodies away from him, and dash towards Pain.
"Now is my chance!" Naruto thought, as he made a beeline for the main body of the Akatsuki leader.
However, Puppet Pain got in the way. Removing his Akatsuki cloak, the humanoid abomination revealed his whole upper body to Naruto: he had six arms, and on top of the black piercings that other bodies also had, this body also had numerous screws and bolts embbeded on it, giving it an even more mechanical appearance.
Several bladed weapons grew from each of the six arms, and the puppet launched a flurry of attacks that the blond could only dodge or parry, while pushing him away from the main body. Naruto knew, much to his frustration, that he was only stalling for a few seconds so the main Pain's attack could recharge.
"Shinra Tensei!"
Naruto was proved right when Pain once again threw him back with a powerful kinetic blast. Was this battle going to be like that all the time? With Pain tossing Naruto from one side to another like a ragdoll?
"Give up, jinchuriki," Pain insisted. "Your fate is the same as your childish delusion of a future where everybody can understand each other: to disappear so an actual utopia might become a reality!"
Puppet Pain opened multiple compartments inside his body, revealing several clusters of small missiles that fired at Naruto. The blond, still getting back to his feet, was unable to dodge, and he was quickly engulfed inside several fiery explosions.
"Wind Release: Vacuum Vortex!"
Suddenly, all the flames were sucked into a single point, concentrating them into a small area, revealing Naruto, none the worse. Thanks to his Sage Mode, the flames didn't hurt him much, leaving his body with a couple minor burns. He then motioned his hands forward, releasing a stream of flames towards Pain.
Pain's jutsu hadn't activated yet, needing still a couple more seconds. Fortunately, Fat Pain landed in front of him, and began to absorb the flames into his body. Or at least, that's what he was trying. For some reason, he was unable to, and the body was quickly burned to death, leaving nothing but a blackened, charred corpse.
"What the... how did Preta Path fail?" Pain asked, sounding shocked for the first time.
"Because what you tried to absorb wasn't a fire jutsu, but actual fire," Naruto said, a confident grin adorning his face. "There was no chakra to absorb!"
"Well done, !" the Katsuyu clone praised. "Now you can use ninjutsu without trouble!"
"Not exactly," Naruto replied. "The main body still can nullify my jutsu through his abilities. Though given the five second window between attacks, I might be able to sneak a decisive hit if I time it right. Okay, let's do it! Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Several clones popped into existence besides Naruto. Two of them threw a smoke bomb each, engulfing their battlefield inside a black cloud. Pain's three remaining bodies raised their guard.
"He's probably trying to ambush me. The first attack will be a diversion, but I can't be sure. Still, I better watch every side," Pain thought, as the three bodies placed themselves looking in a different direction so he could have a 360º field of vision and thus avoid any attacks from behind.
Naruto's attack made itself know when an horribly loud whirring noise pierced his ears, and a large chakra shuriken flew at Pain. He raised a hand at the incoming projectile.
"Shinra Tensei!"
The moment he did that, the Rasenshuriken turned into a Naruto, which quickly poofed after being blown away.
"The hell? He disguised a clone as the jutsu?" Pain asked in shock.
Another whirring sound, and another Rasenshuriken flew at him.
"Damn that jinchuriki and his trickery! I have no way to repel that blast! If it hits me, then these bodies are dead!" Pain thought, pushing away the panic, as he did the only thing he could think of.
The Puppet Pain moved forward, and using his arm canon, shot a chakra blast at the deadly wind shuriken, prematurely detonating it. Pain's three bodies were about to move in order to avoid the expanding blast, the wind dispelling all the smoke around them. His eyes caught too late a Naruto clone waeving seals before slamming his hands into the ground.
"Earth Release: Mobile Core!"
Suddenly, a circle was cut in the ground around the Pain bodies, which quickly sank several meters below surface level.
"There's no escape from this one!" Naruto said, another Rasenshuriken in hand, before he tossed it at the trapped orange haired men. "This is for Utakata! Wind Release. Rasenshuriken!"
Pain watched impotently as the Rasenshuriken dived at his three remainign bodies, as that infernal noise filled his ears.
"Three seconds." Pain thought.
The Rasenshuriken drew near.
"Two seconds."
It was close enough for him to see it in close detail.
"One second...!"
The Rasenshuriken hit, and the three Pain bodies were engulfed inside an explosion of brutal razor winds. There were splashes of black and red spinning around the white and blue explosion, as the Akatsuki's cloak and flesh were torn to shreds.
"YES! Naruto said, pumping a fist in the air, just as his Sage Mode vanished. "Yes! Take that, Akatsuki! Your leader is down! Wohoo!"
…
From a safe distance, Jiraiya's broken and battered body was lying down on the hard floor, as his wife did her best to heal him as best as she could. Tsunade had removed all the black rods Pain had impaled into his body, and worked to fix all the wounds. He could feel all the wounds slowly closing, broken bones rebuilding themselves, and some of his energy returned. The process was slow and painful, but he endured.
"Tsunade..." Jiraiya began.
"Shh! Don't talk! You need to conserve your strength," Tsunade chided, as she continued the healing process.
"I may hurt but... I think I'm... out of danger..." Jiraiya weakly protested.
"Who's the doctor here?" Tsunade snapped.
"Don't give me the- OUCH!" Jiraiya yelped after Tsunade after more pressure than necessary to a wound. The Slug Princess smirked at him. "Don't do that!"
"Guess that, if you're that talkative, you're indeed out of danger," Tsunade conceded in defeat. "What's so important that it can't wait until later?"
"Nagato..." Jiraiya said. "Pain, I mean... the real one, is none of those bodies. Those are puppets reanimated by his power."
"Yeah, I know, Katsuyu told me about that," Tsunade told him. "Nice finding, by the way."
"What I want to say is..." Jiraiya continued, before coughing a couple times. Tsunade saw the lack of blood in those coughs as a good sign. "Nagato is somewhere around the village. We need to find him before he leaves."
"Those bodies of his seem to be covered in smaller versions of those black rods," Tsunade pointed out, her gaze shifting towards the bloodiened pieces of metal she had pulled out of her husband. "Do you think he might be using them as mean to control them? You know, as receptors used to catch the original's chakra."
"It might be, yes," Jiraiya conceded.
"Then..." Tsunade began, as she stopped healing Jiraiya, grabbed one of the black rods, and cleaned it with her blouse, as she grimaced. "Boy, this is so unhygienic..."
"Hime? What are you going to do?" Jiraiya asked, having recovered enough of his strength to sit up. And much to his shock, Tsunade jabbed the rob into her shoulder. "WHAT THE HELL!?"
"Katsuyu..." Tsunade said, as she struggled with the pain. She could feel Pain's chakra coursing through her body, which was a good sign. "Sage Mode, please."
"Right now, Tsunade-sama!" The slug clone obediently said, realizing what her summoner was trying to do.
In less than a minute, Tsunade's eyes turned gold as red markings appeared around them. And most importantly, she could sense everybody around her. Using the sensing ability she now possessed, she was able to track Pain's original body. He was in a large tree made of paper, to the north, not that far away. She could sense Pain's anger at being located.
"Got him!" Tsunade said. Before tossing the rod away, and began healing the wound on her shoulder, while deactivating the Sage Mode. "I know where he is!"
"Good," Jiraiya said, trying to get back to his feet. "Let's get him before he escapes!"
"Not yet," Tsunade replied. "First we need to help Naruto dealing with that asshole. He had his Sage Mode, so I hope everything went fine. But there's no harm in going."
"Right."
"By the way, even among all the chaos and destruction going around us, I have a piece of good news," Tsunade smiled. "Hagane just woke up. Our son finally woke up, Jiraiya."
The white haired man sighed in relief. "You have no idea how happy I am to hear that. I want to hug him and tell him how much I love him after this."
"Yes. But first, we need to make sure Akatsuki doesn't take our other son away from us," Tsunade reminded him.
Jiraiya nodded with determination. "Right. Lead the way, hime."
…
Naruto panted, his muscles relaxing as he saw how the Rasenshuriken explosion slowly shrank, until it dissipated into nothing. Once it was finally over, he made a single hand seal, and cancelled the previous earth jutsu, putting back the piece of ground he had sunk where it originally was.
"Man, I'm so glad I decided to master all five elements," Naruto chuckled. "Okay, now let's check this guys are truly death."
Naruto walked towards the blast zone. The Rasenshuriken had made quite a number on the Pain bodies. First, there was the Puppet Pain. As expected, the innards of his body weren't blood and guts, but metal bolts, joints and plates. A machine that looked like a man. Then, there was Long Hair Pain. This one was organic, as the ungodly amount of blood splattered everywhere could attest. In fact, it was the remains of his long, orange mane the only thing that could be used to be identified.
And lastly, there was the body of the main Pain.
"Uh? Where is it? There should be three bodies here!" Naruto asked.
And that was the problem, that it was nowhere to be found. Looking around, Naruto then saw a hole that was partially hidden by Puppet Pain's body. The ground beeneath his feet started to rumble, but it was too late. Pain emerged from under him, slammed his elbow into Naruto's back, making him fall onto the ground facefirst, and quick as lightning, stabbed two black rods into each hand, making sure he wouldn't be able to use them, ir move it.
"Your strategy was a good one, jinchuriki," Pain praised. Even if he had avoided the Rasenshuriken, he didn't doge it completely, as his cloak was partially shredded, and had cuts and bruises everywhere. "Unfortunately for you, you aren't the only one with mastery over all five elements."
"Shit!" Naruto cursed, as he tried to pull his hands from the rods, to no avail. "So, you can also use all elements? Is there anything those eyes of yours can't do?"
"That's a good question," Pain enigmatically replied. "One you won't live to hear the answer, may I say. Though if it's any consolation, think that your death will make possible the existence of a much better world."
"You're wrong," Naruto growled. "Even if you suceed, even if you become the jinchuriki of the Ten Tails, there won't be peace," Naruto said, defiantly looking at Pain. "People won't give up their freedom, and will continue to fight you until your reign is over."
"Then they shall perish," Pain firmly stated. "Just like a shepherd kills a wolf who gets too close to his flock not because he hates wolves, but because he wants to protect the sheep from their predators, I shall too protect the people who wishes for peace from those who want to disrupt it."
"That's how you see people, right? Not as humans, but as sheep," Naruto said.
"People are indeed sheep, ninjas more than anybody. For what are humans but cattle waited to be sacrificed for the benefit of others?" Pain asked. "The people who start wars are never affected by them. They spend their time in the safety of their palaces, protected by the best bodyguards money can buy, while ninjas cut each other down in the name of lords they never met, while civilians are caught in the middle. Yes, people are sheep, and this world is nothing but a slaughterhouse. But thanks to Akatsuki, it will change soon."
"There are other ways," Naruto insisted. "Peace can't be imposed by force. All those who tried failed!"
"Those who tried before lacked the power I will have," Pain rebutted. "Because even the Kages are powerless to change anything. Jiraiya-sensei also shared my dreams of peace, yet with the power of a village at his beck and call, what did he achieved? He wasn't even able to keep his own ninjas in check, if the tales of Root are to be believed!"
"My dad has accomplished plenty of things!" Naruto shouted. "He made alliances with Kiri and Suna! And is working to build bridges with other villages as well! Not to mention helping Kirigakure achieve a new era devoid of blood! At era that happened because one of your lackeys brainwashed their Kage!"
"Yes, impressive accomplishments, indeed. But answer me this, Naruto," Pain replied. "Jiraiya is nothing but one man. And one day, he will die. What if the next Hokage doesn't agree with what he did, and burns all the bridges that Jiraiya built? Somebody like Danzo Shimura, whose supremacist views are well known. Or a new Kazekage or Mizukage. Just like Mei Terumi ended the Blood Mist, another Mizukage can bring it back. No, Naruto, we live in a world where change, no matter how good, it's irrelevant, because somebody will come and undo it. Only somebody wielding absolute power can enforce peace.
"The discussion is over. Take a good look at Konoha, for it is the last time you'll see it."
"I see," Naruto said, almost conceding defeat. "In that case, then I have no choice but end you right here, and right now."
For the first time since he met the Akatsuki leader, Pain smirked.
"And how do you plan to do it? Because you aren't in a good position to fight back," Pain pointed out. "Not even your Sage Mode was enough to beat me."
Naruto smirked back. "Yes, your power is amazing. But it also makes you underestimate your opponents."
And "Naruto" disappeared, leaving a small cloud of smoke behind. Pain's eyes widened, as he looked around.
"A Shadow Clone! Where did he-"
A shadow appeared over him. Looking up, he saw Naruto, presumably the real one, diving at him with a gigantic sphere of chakra in his hand. His face was a mask of pure anger. Panicking, Pain raised a hand.
"Shinra Ten-"
"BIG BALL RASENGAN!"
Pain was too late, and Naruto's attack connected, resulting in a spiraling blast of blue and white chakra, that carved a large crater into the ground, as it grinded Pain's body against the unforgiving floor, killing him almost instantly.
"Didn't you think I noticed that your main body dug a hole just before the Rasenshuriken hit?" Naruto asked Pain's corpse, even if he knew he couldn't answer, or even hear him. "I still had some nature energy in my body when you pulled that stunt. That's what you get for underestimating Sage Mode!"
"Good job, Naruto-kun," the Katsuyu clone in his shoulder praised. "I have more good news! Tsunade-sama not only healed Jiraiya, but he also located the position of Pain's real self!"
"That's great!"
"Indeed," the slug nodded. "Tsunade-sama is heading this way. She and Jiraiya should be here in a couple minutes."
"It's a pity they couldn't have come earlier," Naruto said. "I could have used their help against Pain."
"Fortunately, it all ended now," Katsuyu said. "According to the other clones, the remaining Akatsuki have been defeated, or are retreating from the village. Konoha has won."
Naruto looked around, and for the first time, took a moment to contemplate the destruction Akatsuki had brought to his home. Konoha was in ruins, even worse than then the Nine Tails attacked the first time. How many people have died because of them? However, Naruto now had the chance to put an end to this.
…
After Naruto met with his parents, the three of them decided to go after Nagato immediately before he had any chance to flee. Tsunade at first protested that Jiraiya shouldn't go just in case his former pupil decided to set one last trap before going down, but the Toad Sage had insisted, arguing that he needed to see his former student again. In the end, Tsunade relented, and allowed him to come, though he wouldn't take an eye from him.
Just like Tsunade said, they found a fake tree made of paper on a nearby hill to the north of the village. They easily broke into the hideout, when they were met by a badly hurt and wounded, but still battle ready Konan.
"Stand back!" Konan shouted. "I won't let you touch Nagato! You'll have to kill me first!"
"Konan, stand back!" a voice said from the shadows. "It's over. Let them come."
Reluctantly, the blue haired girl returned to the side of her master, allowing the two Sannin and their son to get close. As their eyes got used to the darkness, they could discern a figure in the shadows. An emanciated, frail looking man with red hair, sitting on what appeared to be some kind of mechanical walker. There were multiple black rods sprouting from his back.
"So, you won, and decided to come here in order to claim your just retribution," the redheaded said. He moved his head, his eyes becoming visible, revealing them to be Rinnegan, which rested on Jiraiya. "Hello, Jiraiya-sensei. It's been quite some time, hasn't it?"
"Nagato," Jiraiya replied, upon seeing his former student for the first time in years.
Author's Note: And with Pain and Konan defeated, the Akatsuki Invasion of Konoha comes to a close. There will be one more chapter that will deal with the Sannin and Naruto confronting Nagato and Konan, and what's going to be of the two of them after their defeat. It will also explain some parts of the altered backstory in relation to canon, so be sure not to miss it.
I know there were some reviewers who wanted Tsunade and Jiraiya to fight together, but I couldn't do that because if Tsunade helped either Jiraiya or later Naruto, the battle would have ended much, much earlier than I wanted (and in a much more anticlimatic way). But worry not, because I have a battle involving Jiraiya and Tsunade fighting together against a more fitting enemy planned down the road, which I know you're going to love.
My beta asked how does Pain know about Kaguya. The answer is that Obito told him? And how did Obito know? Madara told him. And remember that yes, Madara knows about Kaguya, since he mentioned her for the first time in the series. Though, I do plan to reveal in a future chapter how Madara and Obito know so many things about the Sages and other ancient history that was never elaborated in canon.
Thanks to Ookami88 for betareading this chapter.
The battle is won, but there's still one loose end to wrap up before this arc ends for real. What do you think will happen? What are your thoughts about the arc in general? Leave your thoughts in a review! reviews make me really, really, really happy!