The Rise of a Warrior: Naruto: Shippuden

by The Legendary Dragon Reaper

Three years have come and gone, and while Tatsu and the ninja of the Hidden Leaf have grown stronger, they'll have a whole new group of enemies to face. The era of Team Dragon has arrived, but can they rise to the challenge? Sequel to the Rise of a Warrior: Naruto, second story in my Naruto trilogy. Please read each chapter until the end and check for notes.

16. Invasion of Pain: The Initial Assault

A peaceful day in the Leaf, nothing out of the ordinary.

That is, before Pain and his six paths and Konan appeared and quickly killed the shinobi on border patrol.

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Lee suddenly stopped and landed on a branch, then looked back 'What's this feeling?'

"What is it Lee?" asked Neji "It's not like you to lag behind like this."

"It's just, I have a bad feeling about something."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know, I just have a feeling."

"Well I'm sure it's nothing, let's keep going." Neji pressed on after Tenten and Guy, only to notice that Lee wasn't following him "Lee!"

"I'm really sorry Neji but I have to go, I have this horrible feeling that the village is in serious danger." Lee suddenly took off in the opposite direction.

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Shiho had found herself with two new partners for the decoding.

"Lord Jiraiya sent back three sources of information." Shikamaru pointed out.

Shiho nodded "That's correct. A ninja from the Hidden Rain that he had captured, one of Pain's bodies, and this." she showed him the photo of the message.

"Inoichi is in the Intel Division, they're working on the Hidden Rain ninja as we speak and I'm sure they'll get some information out of him. Shizune has made the autopsy on Pain's body her number one priority, I'm sure she'll learn something too."

"Plus we also have this message that we decoded with help from Naruto, Tatsu and Lord Danzo. The real one's not among them. That's what it says." Dosu pointed out.

"So now we have to take all of this information and somehow figure out the mystery behind this guy called Pain, the mystery of someone strong enough to take down even Lord Jiraiya."

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Inoichi was interrogating the Hidden Rain ninja captured by Jiraiya, only to find numerous genjutsu blocks inside of his mind.

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Shizune was trying to learn more about the black rods imbedded in Pain's body and what purpose they served.

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"The real one's not among them." Shikamaru repeated "Maybe he's telling us the six Pains are all some form of genjutsu, a jutsu cast by the female Akatsuki member who was there along with Pain, and she's the one attacking Lord Jiraiya from the shadows."

"No, that's too much of a long shot." Dosu pointed out "According to Lord Fukasaku when Master Jiraiya was killed he was stabbed by actual weapons from all six Pains. Well he supposedly took down three of them but they came back to life somehow, it does sound like some sort of genjutsu illusion."

"Common sense means absolutely nothing when it comes to the Akatsuki, there have been others who were immortal after all."

"Frankly right now we should just keep trying to come up with logical theories until we get some sort of report from the other sources."

"Yeah you're right, let's try to get at least a little closer to solving this mystery behind Pain before Tatsu or Naruto get back."

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After the border guards were killed, Pain launched the Animal Path into the village first to confuse them by only having a single target infiltrating the barrier surrounding the Leaf Village.

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Tatsu had finally calmed down and was now leisurely chatting with Kazuma "So you really secured the Leaf an alliance with the Land of Snow single handedly?"

Kazuma nodded "Yeah, I even got that autograph of Princess Koyuki for you."

"Wait, you mean you went through all of that just to get me an autograph?"

"I was going to do it anyway, I figured I might as well." he finished munching on his second rice ball "Hey how many do you have in there?"

"Let me check." Tatsu reached into his bag, only to see a scroll "What's this?" he checked the contents "Ask me about Shisui and the Land of Snow. When the hell did I get this?"

"My best guess would when I placed it in your bag at the end of that Loran mission."

"Oh yeah that makes sense- Wait, what? You knew it was me?"

"Not at first, but the more I watched you grow the more I realized how connected you two were."

"I see. So anyway, Shisui and the Land of Snow, spill."

Kazuma let out a long sigh and looked Tatsu dead in the eye "Shisui Uchiha is still alive, he's been in the Land of Snow for the past 8 years."

"...What?"

"He was in a coma for the first four years, and since he woke up he's been in hiding training to take Madara down. At this point he could probably beat even the Raikage."

"...What?!"

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Pain summoned all of his paths, and Konan, into the Hidden Leaf "Scatter." they spread out, and explosions started flying all over the place as well as various Rinnegan summoning animals.

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The Human Path began interrogating random Leaf shinobi, only to find that none of them had any information on Naruto's whereabouts, and promptly extracted their souls.

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Shizune finally deduced that the black rods were all chakra receivers even at that very moment, just as the building was shaken by Pain's attack.

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"What the-?" Dosu and Shikamaru rushed out to find the village in flames "What the hell is going on?"

"We'd better move out." Shikamaru told him "First we've gotta figure out exactly what's going on, then move with Choji and Ino and the rest while I protect my king, and then I'll join up with you."

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Ino noticed one of the Rinnegan summons "This is bad."

"What's the plan?" asked Choji.

"I'll go and notify intel, you get to work evacuating the civilians." and she ran off.

'I've gotta get to Pa.'

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Ino rushed into the Intel Division "Dad we've got problems, the village is under attack!"

They gave her their immediate attention.

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"Water Style: Liquid Manipulation: Panther!" Dosu appeared before a Rinnegan centipede attacking a young girl and her grandmother and formed a large water panther that fought off the centipede, then turned to the others "Are you alright?"

They nodded fearfully "Thank you so very much, thank you."

"Dosu!" then Asuma showed up "You alright?"

Dosu nodded "Just fine, now what's going on? What's the deal with all of this?"

"I'm not sure of the details exactly, but someone is attacking the Leaf Village. I've already contacted Lady Tsunade, the alarm should sound any minute now." he looked to see an explosion in the distance "That's close. Go help in evacuating the wounded to the hospital."

"Right." then Dosu grabbed the others and took off.

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Tsunade stared out at the carnage 'What's going on?'

A ninja appeared in the room "Barrier Corps reporting ma'am, there was an intruder that entered through our air space. We sensed just one target, but immediately after detection several attacks were confirmed across the city."

Then an ANBU appeared "Analysis Corps reporting, enemy strength estimated at three battalions in size."

Tsunade frowned 'A foe capable of organizing this much military power unnoticed, it must be them.'

"Lady Tsunade, a witness reported that the intruder wore black with a red cloud pattern."

'The Akatsuki. They've finally come. Sound the emergency alarm, and then recall Naruto and Tatsu."

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Homura and Koharu were startled by the sudden shaking amongst the carnage "What's going on out there?"

"The Akatsuki has begun its assault."

They looked to see Danzo standing in the doorway "Danzo. Are you serious? The Akatsuki are really here?"

"Yes and the one leading this assault is Pain, the head of the Akatsuki and the one who defeated Jiraiya."

"You mean that so soon after killing Jiraiya Pain has actually come here personally to attack the Hidden Leaf Village?"

"Yes, the Akatsuki has been hunting the jinchuuriki hosts in order to accumulate the Tailed Beasts. They have the One-Tail of the Hidden Sand, and it's believed that most of the jinchuuriki have fallen into their hands."

"Then that means that their target here is…"

"That's right. The Fourth Hokage's legacy Naruto Uzumaki, and yet despite the danger involved the Fifth Hokage is trying to summon Naruto back."

"To do such a thing would be exactly like pouring oil onto a fire."

"I know, and I also know that even if Naruto does return there is no guarantee that he will be able to defeat Pain. You two must attempt to dissuade her from summoning him back."

"What about you?"

"I will go down and fight Pain myself."

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Yugao rushed out of her apartment when she heard the carnage "What was that?"

"Stop!" then Kiba suddenly showed up "You've gotta get back inside."

"Kiba, what's going on?"

"It's the Akatsuki, they're here mounting a direct attack." he looked to see a Rinnegan centipede approaching them and motioned for Yugao to get back "Just stay back, I'll handle this." he drew his claws and began channeling chakra into the blades "Lightning Style: Tunneling Fang!" with lightning chakra powering his Tunneling Fang, Kiba promptly tore through the centipede and shredded it, then rushed over to Yugao "You alright?"

"Yeah, what about you?"

"Don't worry about me, just hurry up and take the underground tunnel to the evacuation shelter. I can take you part of the way. No arguments, if anything happened to you or your kid then Tatsu would have my head on a pike."

"Kiba… you're a good friend."

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Ino looked around at the chaos, buildings destroyed and bodies scattered, and quickly formed a certain hand seal "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" she summoned 10 clones "Half of you spread out and care for the wounded, the others are with me." and they scattered.

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Kazuma helped Sasuke, whose eyes were bandaged, to his feet "You need to rest, adjusting to the Mangekyo takes time. Are you in any pain?"

Sasuke shook his head "I can bare it, they fit quite nicely. I can feel my brother's visual prowess flowing through me, I can tell that I've already become so much stronger." then he tensed.

"You notice it too huh?"

"Yeah, I've got a bad feeling."

"You guys noticed it?" Tatsu guessed from the doorway "I've got a bad feeling something big is going down back in the Hidden Leaf."

"You guessed right." Kazuma's eyes hardened "The Shadow Clone I had watching over the village has been destroyed. It's the Akatsuki, they're invading in an all out assault."

"We've gotta move."

"But it'll take us three days on foot, we'll never make it in time, not to mention the fact that there's Kin and the rest."

"I'll take them." Sasuke slowly stood "I'll use the complete body form of the Susanoo, it can fly and get us there in a few hours."

"Sasuke no, that might end up destroying your eyes." Kin protested from the doorway, with Zaku and Izumi right behind her

"Better my eyes than the village." Sasuke ripped off the bandages revealing his new Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, his eyes pouring blood as his new complete Susanoo burst into life, destroying the hideout as he grabbed everyone and placed them inside the chest "Hang on, I'm not used to this." and they flew off.

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Ino rushed to the hospital and observed the wounded "There are already so many, what's going on here?"

One of the medics approached her "Good you're just in time Ino, you're going to have to take command."

"What about Shizune?"

"I'm afraid she's not here."

"Of course, the autopsy."

"There are so many wounded that the medical ninja are simply overwhelmed, we really need someone to take charge and give orders."

"I'm just a Shadow Clone, but I'll do what I can."

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Kosuke, a messenger toad, prepared to head back "Alright then, I'll return and call Naruto back home."

"Good, and hurry." Tsunade told him.

Unfortunately, that's when Koharu and Homura chose to show up "Stop!"

'Oh great, more of a headache.'

"We must leave Naruto at Mount Myoboku."

"You wanna run that by me again?"

"That's right, we understand that it's the leader of the Akatsuki who has attacked our village."

"How did you find that out?"

"Danzo is the one who informed us, he also says that they're after the power that Naruto possesses as a jinchuuriki."

"They are, and what of it?"

"Last time we gave you wide reign but now conditions are different, Naruto is still a child and the assailant we're talking about is the one who brought Jiraiya down. If Naruto is taken down and the Kyuubi falls into their hands-"

Tsunade shut them up by grabbing them by their collars.

"Wh-What are you doing?"

Tsunade reflected on Naruto defending her from Kabuto, Naruto's vow to avenge Jiraiya's death, Jiraiya's words of aiding the next generation.

"You stop this, unhand us now Tsunade! Would you dare to raise your hand against us councilors? What are you thinking?"

"No, what are you two thinking? How long do you intend to treat him like a child? The Will of Fire has passed to him and now it's growing, Naruto is striving to surpass Jiraiya this very minute! That's right, he's not some hidden weapon for us to use as a deterrent to war! He's a true shinobi and a defender of the Hidden Leaf, he's Naruto Uzumaki!" she threw the both of them onto the ground "Jiraiya, Lady Chiyo of the Sand and Sarutobi-sensei all have what you two clearly lack, and even Danzo has it to some extent, and that is the power to believe. Just as my grandfather the First Hokage believed in you and entrusted the Hidden Leaf Village to you, it is time for you to believe in an entrust the Leaf to the next generation."

They both slowly got back to their feet "...Do as you please." and they walked away, hanging their heads.

'Finally, that's one unnecessary headache down.'

"Well said."

Tsunade looked to see Danzo standing in the doorway "Great, another headache."

"I'm here to discuss the plan of action."

"Well firstly-"

"Lady Tsunade!" then Shizune rushed in.

"Did you find something?"

"Yes." Shizune held out the chakra receiver "Look at this."

"What is it?"

"They're receiver-like objects, they respond to chakra signals. They're embedded in the body of Pain that Jiraiya brought back."

"Receivers?"

"According to what Lord Fukasaku said, every one of the six Pains had these stuck in them, studded all over their bodies and faces."

"Does that mean that the six Pains receive some kind of chakra signal across their whole bodies? Is that how they synchronize their actions?"

"That part isn't entirely clear yet."

"A receiver, they could use it to transmit chakra to each other or perhaps a wireless radio of some sort."

"And this thing is still reacting even now, I think that this must be connected to the secret of Pain's strength. With data from the Interrogation Corps, we'll figure this out."

"According to the intel division the enemy has come here in search of Naruto ." Danzo pointed out "This enemy who infiltrated the village is Pain without any doubts."

"Pain is here?"

"We must relay all of this to Lord Fukasaku as well."

"Agreed." Tsunade turned to Kosuke "You, messenger frog, when you recall Naruto I want you to relay this intel."

Kosuke gave a thumbs up "Understood." then an arrow suddenly shot through the window and pierced him against the wall, dead.

"What the-?!" Tsunade checked out the arrow and saw a note tied to it "The mission is completed, Mukade has been terminated. We sensed a disturbance and we're currently on our way back. PS, Zaku was the one who shot this arrow and I apologize if it hit anything. Tatsu. Great, now we can't even summon Naruto back."

"That's not necessarily true." Danzo pointed out "When a summoning animal dies, their name disappears from the contract. Surely the toads will notice that and realize that something is wrong."

"But still we can't sit around and wait. Shizune take the data from the autopsy to the Interrogation Corps, find out who and what Pain is."

"Yes ma'am." Shizune promptly rushed off.

"ANBU Black Ops Cell B, escort Shizune and then guard the Interrogation Corps. Don't let Pain get near them."

"Yes ma'am." the ANBU disappeared.

"Meanwhile I'll await reports on the roof and I'll start healing all of the injured through Katsuyu. And Danzo-"

"My Foundation agents will aid in evacuating the civilians." Danzo told her "Meanwhile, I myself will go down and fight Pain personally to buy them time."

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Konan and various paths of Pain were interrogating the Leaf shinobi on Naruto's whereabouts, then kill them when they didn't comply.

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On the roof of the Hokage Mansion, Tsunade summoned Katsuyu and use her Fission jutsu to divide herself into hundreds of smaller versions of herself to aid in healing the injured.

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"Iruka!" Mizuki found Iruka lying in the middle of the road and quickly pulled him out of the way of a series of explosions, then checked his pulse and froze 'He's dead…'

That was when the Deva Path dropped in front of him "Tell me where the Kyuubi jinchuuriki is, or else I will kill you."

'That cloak… he's an Akatsuki.'

"Tell me now."

'Naruto…' Mizuki looked down at Iruka's body 'If Naruto finds out that these guys killed Iruka of all people… You're wasting your time, I have no intention of telling you Akatsuki scum anything!"

"I see, well then I have no use for you." Pain thrusted forward a black rod.

Then a certain Kakashi appeared and stopped it with his bare hand "You created a loud diversion so you could hunt from the shadows did you?"

"Kakashi…" Mizuki breathed.

"Mizuki, take Iruka's body and get out of here. Leave this to me."

"Right, and Kakashi? Be careful." then he took Iruka's body and took off.

"Now it's just the two of us."

"Then I shall ask you instead." Deva decided "Where is the Kyuubi?"

"What you're doing is totally pointless you know. The people here are different from the ones in other villages, even if it means dying there's not a single one of us who would ever sell out a comrade to people like you." he promptly snapped the rod in half with his bare hand.

Deva aimed a kick at Kakashi's head.

Kakashi ducked underneath the kick and formed some hand seals "Earth Style: Mud Wall!" he formed a mud wall.

Deva drew another black rod from his sleeve and stabbed Kakashi in the shoulder.

"Lightning Blade!" Kakashi thrusted forward a Lightning Blade.

Deva then used his chakra in the black rod to disrupt Kakashi and make him lose focus, allowing him to easily dodge the Lightning Blade.

'What was that?'

"The Copy Ninja Kakashi Hatake, I am honored to meet you."

Kakashi removed the rod from his shoulder and broke away.

"Where is the Kyuubi?"

"That's a stupid question." Kakashi thrusted forward another Lightning Blade.

"Almighty Push." Deva sent Kakashi flying back with an invisible force, shattering the Mud Wall behind him.

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Asuma made his way through the village only to notice a large ruckus "What's going on over there?"

"Kakashi is fighting one of the enemies alone."

Asuma looked to see Danzo land behind him "And you're out here because?"

"Because like your father, I will gladly lay down my life for this village. For now, our main objective is to back Kakashi up while the others evacuate the civilians."

"Right."

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Kakashi emerged from the rubble 'What was that jutsu? It felt different from a blast wave, but there's definitely a blast area with him at the center. Alright then, how will you counter this? Lightning Beast Running Jutsu!" he formed a lightning dog made of chakra and sent it charging forward.

"Almighty Push." Pain easily destroyed the attack with his Almighty Push.

'So he can repel both physical attacks and ninjutsu. Impressive. Okay, how should I-'

Then the Asura Path appeared behind him.

'Another one?'

Asura fired a volley of missles at him, engulfing him in an explosion, then retracted his arm.

"You're mine!" Kakashi swiped at him with a Lightning Blade.

Asura ducked and dodged the attack with ease.

'He wasn't even fazing me!' then he looked at Deva 'I see, Lord Fukasaku did mention they shared a connected field of vision.'

Asura retreated to join up with Deva.

'I can't believe Master Jiraiya took on six of them at once, that's just insane.'

Asura grew two more faces on each side of his head and removed his robe to reveal six arms and a blade-like tail sticking out the back.

'What?!'

"Universal Pull." Deva used his gravity manipulation to pull Kakashi forward.

'That's it, that's his ability!' Kakashi drew a chain from his bag and wrapped it around himself and a nearby boulder, stopping him before he hit the blade 'Pain… I've got no chance if I fight them alone. I need backup, and I need to let the others know what this one's ability is! I have to hold them off as long as I can!'

Deva increased his pull, causing Kakashi to surge forward unwillingly.

'Dammit!'

Asura stabbed Kakashi through the chest with his blade.

Then Kakashi disappeared in a surge of lightning, electrocuting Asura.

'A Lightning Style Shadow Clone.'

"Wind Style: Duel Jade Wind!"

"Wind Style: Vacuum Blade Shuriken!"

Deva then dodged two slashes of wind and two wind-enhanced shuriken just in time, though Asura was shredded.

Then Asuma appeared, with Danzo right behind him "That's one down and one to go, isn't that right Kakashi?"

Then Kakashi emerged from the rubble, his Lightning Blade dissipating "Well I did have something in mind, but this will help me preserve some chakra. Thank you."

"Are you okay?"

"For the most part yeah."

Danzo studied Kakashi 'A trap Shadow Clone in an attempt to subdue one of the enemies, and only using substitution and Shadow Clones in order to determine the abilities of his enemy. He hasn't changed, skilled as always. Kakashi, do you still have enough chakra?"

Kakashi sighed "Well I've already had to use my Lightning Style Shadow Clone and that exhausted over half of my chakra. Honestly, a prolonged battle against such an adept opponent will be tight. However, I figured out a little about his abilities."

"Enough talk." Deva charged forward, easily repelling multiple attacks as he advanced with his Almighty Push.

"Okay." Kakashi threw a kunai with a mini smoke bomb.

Deva repelled it, leaving the area engulfed in smoke.

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Asuma hid with Danzo and Kakashi behind some rubble "What just happened back there?"

"He repelled all of our attacks." explained Kakashi "Using himself as the epicenter his jutsu allows him to pull in or push objects away, similar to the magnetic laws of attraction and repulsion. But it seems he can't use that jutsu continuously, I know for certain that there's an interval of time before he can activate the next jutsu."

Asuma looked out at the bodies of those foolish enough to attack Deva head on "Everybody else was taken out, if he can repel our attacks then how can we defeat him? The interval between jutsu is pretty short, too short for us to get close."

"Perhaps, but it's our only chance. I have an idea, but I'll need you two to help me for it to work."

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Deva slowly wandered through the smoke 'Now what will their next move be?'

'Here goes!' Kakashi rose and aimed a kunai straight at Deva's face.

Deva pushed him back with another invisible force, sending Kakashi tumbling back "Nice movements and a wide range of jutsu, I need to kill you so you won't become a nuisance to me later." he summoned another black rod.

'Now!'

"Wind Style: Vacuum Blast Barrage!"

"Lightning Style: Duel Jade Thunder!"

Two attacks, one being made up of two blasts of green lightning and the other being a barrage of sharp blasts of wind, slammed into Deva simultaneously 'There!'

"Too slow." Deva repelled the attacks with an Almighty Push, sending Danzo and Asuma flying back by extension, only to find himself bound by chains 'Kakashi Hatake… he hid this chain underground before his attack.'

"Lightning Blade!" Kakashi thrusted a Lightning Blade forward, only for Asura to appear in front of him and take the blow, being shredded even further in the process.

'The other Pain, he could still move?!'

The Asura promptly exploded in a bright flash of light.

When it was over, Kakashi was trapped amongst lots of rubble 'Dammit!'

Deva walked towards him "It appears you're not pretending, you really can't move."

'I was too late…' he looked over to where Asuma and Danzo were emerging from the rubble, both sporting clear wounds.

"I know you're not a Shadow Clone, this time I'll make certain you die. It's over, but just to be absolutely safe I'll keep my distance." he pulled a nail up from the ground using his gravity manipulation "You'll know Pain." he shot it forward.

Kakashi's head flew back, then slumped forward.

Deva stared at the remains of Asura, then took off.

Asuma got to his feet and spat out some blood, then spotted Kakashi's supposedly dead body amongst the rubble "Kakashi!" he slammed his hand against the ground "Dammit!"

"Asuma… worry about that later…"

Asuma looked up "You're still…" then he looked around "Where's Danzo?"

"Forget that… if you can still move… you must report Pain's abilities to Lady Tsunade… and have her set up countermeasures…"

"But Kakashi-"

"Mourn later… you must hurry…"

"...Right…"

Then Asura suddenly struggled towards them "You sure are stubborn." and it locked and loaded another missile.

'Dammit, it can still move! Asuma, run!" Kakashi urged.

"...I'm coming back for you, just hang in there." Asuma promptly rushed off, just

'With the chakra that I have left it's impossible to destroy his entire body, if I use that jutsu one more time then I'll exhaust all of my stamina and chakra. Without a doubt, I will…'

'Come on, come on, come on!' Asuma kept running, but the missile kept tracking him.

'This information must get to those who still live. Right now, this is the only way to save the Hidden Leaf Village.' Kakashi activated his Mangekyo Sharingan, and with the last of his chakra he used Kamui to warp away the missile.

'Of course.' Asura realized how Kakashi saved himself before 'He must have used that ocular jutsu to divert that attack too…' then it fell apart.

'Well… it seems that… this is it for me too…' Kakashi felt his vision blurring and eventually going dark 'Obito… Rin…' then it went black.

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Kakashi found himself in a void, staring at a reflection of himself 'This is as far as it goes, me being your eyes…' he saw images of Naruto, Tatsu and the rest of their generation 'I couldn't even protect Rin… I broke my promise to you… please, forgive me…' then his surroundings turned dark, two figures holding his hands, along with a third, all fading from his sight one by one 'Obito… Rin… sensei… I guess I'll be joining you now…' he started wandering until he saw something.

A lone figure sat in front of him by a fire "Is that you Kakashi?"

"So this is where you were." Kakashi sat down beside him.

"Now that we're both here, will you tell me your tale?"

"Yeah, but it's a long story so I wanna take my time."

"Yeah, that's fine."

"Where to begin, father…"

"As much as I hate to interrupt your reunion, I need some answers."

Kakashi looked to see Tatsu beside them, munching on a fish "What are you doing here? And where did you get fish?"

"This is Limbo, think of something and it appears. But never mind that right now, why the hell are you here?"

"You'd better sit down, this is going to take a while."

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Tsunade bolted up from her healing circle and walked to the ledge of the roof "Lady Katsuyu has made contact with everyone in the village." then she punched one of the pillars, completely shattering it "My apologies, let us continue."

"Lady Tsunade!" then Asuma suddenly bolted onto the rooftop "We've figured out the profiles of one of the enemies."

"Yes, go on Asuma."

"He's male, appears to be between 25 and 30 years of age, distinguishing features are six nose piercings and 7 studs in each ear. His ability is a jutsu that simulates magnetism, he can attract targeted objects to himself but he can also repel all ninjutsu attacks. However, after he uses either of those jutsu there's a 5 second interval for which he can't utilise any other jutsu."

'5 seconds, that's all? Nice work reporting this, we'll suffer fewer casualties now. Now Lady Katsuyu will pass the intel on to everyone."

"Lord Danzo and myself assisted Kakashi against two of the enemy, Danzo went MIA after one of our plans failed to harm the enemy."

"Danzo is engaging another one of the enemy right now, assisting others against one of the enemy."

"...I see. And Kakashi?"

"...Just hurry and help the wounded, then return to the front lines." and she walked away without another word.

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Tatsu suddenly opened his eyes "Sasuke, put as much speed into this Susanoo as you possibly can."

"What's going on?" asked Kazuma.

"You were right, the Akatsuki are attacking. It's Pain, the one who killed Jiraiya."

"How are things looking?"

"Not good, Tsunade is being forced to use Katsuyu to heal everybody and Kakashi has already been KIA."

"What?!" Sasuke's head snapped towards him "Kakashi's dead?"

"And from what I gather, Iruka was killed too in the chaos. We definitely can't let Naruto find out about that one- Sasuke, tree! TREE!"

"What?!" Sasuke shifted his Susanoo so they barely avoided a tree.

"Eyes ahead stupid, eyes ahead!"

"Look out!" they slammed into a mountain.

"Your directional skills suck worse than Zoro!"

"Who?"

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Ino's Shadow Clone was waiting for Inoichi and the Interrogation Division to finish interrogating the Hidden Rain ninja 'Dad, the village is depending on this.'

"Sorry for interrupting."

Ino looked to see Shizune enter "Lady Shizune."

"I was ordered to report here by Lady Hokage."

"Did you discover something?"

"Yes, I'll share my findings. By combining my information with the intelligence you're extracting, we'll figure out who Pain is."

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The Human and Animal Paths made their way, only for Human to stop while Animal continued on and formed a hand seal "Summoning Jutsu." she prepared a summon.

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"So what did you find?" asked Ino.

"This." Shizune held up a black rod "Each of the Pains had black rods like this one embedded in their bodies, we believe that this is the key to explaining their power."

"So what then, does that mean that they're transmitting chakra to each other? That would make it something like the secret jutsu used by the Yamanaka clan."

"Ninja with the same eyes as the Sage of the Six Paths." Ibiki noted "The legendary Rinnegan bearing forefather of all ninja, if they truly exist then it's no surprise that they could use all kinds of jutsu-" he was cut off by shaking "What was that?"

One of the ANBU checked his radio "It seems they've shown up here as well."

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Three ANBU attempted to defeat the gigantic multi-headed Rinnegan dog with an earth, wind and lightning combination, only for it to survive and continue.

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"What should we do now Lady Shizune?" asked Ino.

"We'll have to leave it to them." Shizune told her, followed by the wall being shattered, courtesy of a large Rinnegan rhino.

From within the rhino's mouth, Animal saw Shizune holding the black rod "As I thought, this is it." the rhino charged forward.

Katsuyu appeared at the last second to protect everyone "It seems I made it in time."

"Lady Katsuyu, thank you so much." Shizune told her.

The rhino was joined by the multi-headed dog.

Then the three ANBU appeared "They are powerful summonings, everyone please be careful."

Inoichi stared hard at Animal "There's no mistake, I saw her inside the memories of that Hidden Rain ninja. But how can this be?"

"What's wrong?" asked Ino.

"When I saw her she was a corpse."

'And now that corpse is using a Summoning Jutsu, but each of the Six Pains is only supposed to be able to use a single jutsu. Something's wrong, according to Lord Fukasaku the only Pain who should be able to use summonings is the one Lady Shizune did the autopsy on. What could this mean? Master Jiraiya already defeated the only Pain with this ability. Dad, I need more details and I might be able to figure this out."

"Right now? But-"

"Leave this to the ANBU and me." Ibiki assured "Get out of here."

"Dad, we have to go." Ino urged "We have to uncover Pain's true identity."

"She's right." Shizune told him "Let's go, we have to hurry and get to the Cypher Division."

"I'm going too, I can support your jutsu even if I am only a Shadow Clone."

"...Alright." Inoichi finally agreed.

Ino shared a nod with Ibiki and an ANBU "Let's go!" and she took off with Inoichi and Shizune.

Ibiki blocked the path once they were gone "You'll have to get through us first!"

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Lee sped on towards the Leaf 'I don't know what's going on there but I definitely have a bad feeling, just please let me make it there in time.'

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Despite capturing the rhino and the Animal Path, Ibiki was unable to get any information.

The Animal Path promptly escaped, wounding Ibiki by summoning a gigantic Rinnegan bird on his stomach.

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Ino looked around at the carnage engulfing the village 'This is bad, at this rate we may not be able to hold out much longer. Maybe I can deal some sort of major damage to at least one of them if I can use some of my new jutsu.'

"Ino!" a voice called.

Ino looked down to see Dosu, Choji and Shikamaru and rushed down to join them "This is a disaster."

"Yes, but there isn't much we can do." Dosu pointed out "None of us are strong enough to land even a scratch on these guys, even Kakashi wasn't able to hurt them and he was probably the strongest aside from Tsunade."

"I know, but-"

"Right now we have to focus on evacuating the wounded." Shikamaru told her "From here we split up to locate and rescue any civilians who haven't made it out yet. I'll check out things in Block A, Dosu go to Block C, Choji to Block D."

"I'll go to Block F."

"Right. Scatter!" and they spread out.

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Ino rushed towards Block F as explosions sounded across the village "Hello? Is there anyone still here? Anyone at all?"

"Help me…" a weak voice moaned out.

Ino stopped running "Where are you? Can you hear me?" she rushed over and found an old man trapped underneath some rubble, and she quickly freed him 'How could someone do something so horrible, even for the Akatsuki?'

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Tatsu tensed 'What's this feeling? Something else big must be going down in the Hidden Leaf Village, but for once I can't tell if it's good or bad.'

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Having sent a Shadow Clone to help with the wounded, Ino rushed off to aid other shinobi in combat.

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The Naraka Path was currently kicking the crap out of two chunin, and once they were down he began interrogating them "Is Naruto Uzumaki in this village or not? Tell me now."

"You want Naruto? You can forget it, Naruto is one of us and we would never sell out a comrade to guys like you!" they spat out.

Naraka promptly grabbed them by the necks "The Will of Fire then?"

Ino peaked from around a corner 'So that's one of the Akatsuki, even at a glance I can tell that this guy alone is a lot stronger than either Hidan or Kakuzu.'

"If you do not answer my question then you will have no future, so I will ask you again." he then used his ability to summon the King of Hell.

Only the chunin could see it "What the hell is that?"

"Will I find Naruto Uzumaki somewhere in this village or won't I? Tell me now."

"I don't know anything, now get lost!"

"I see, then I shall pass judgement on you." Naraka then proceeded to rip their souls out through their tongues, allowing the King of Hell to devour them whole, killing one of them "It seems that you truly did not know."

Ino stared in horror 'What's going on? I couldn't even see that Akatsuki do anything, but that guy on the left just fell limp. What did that enemy do to him? Was that chunin killed without being able to fight back at all? Whatever it is I've gotta get out of here, I don't stand a chance without knowing what I'm up against.' she started to move, but her sandal creaked loudly 'Damn, did he hear me?'

Naraka heard this and dropped the chunin, then slowly walked towards where Ino was hidden.

"Wind Style: Vacuum Bullets!"

Naraka was forced to dodge the multiple small bullets of wind 'So he's come too.'

Danzo leapt down in front of him "You Akatsuki have caused enough damage to the Leaf and its people, I will personally put a stop to your destruction myself." he held a hand behind his back and gestured towards Ino, using ANBU hand signs to tell her to get away from there and rescue any nearby civilians, then turned back to Naraka "Wind Style: Vacuum Shuriken!" he breathed some wind chakra into two shuriken and fired them off.

Naraka stopped them with his black receivers and reversed their fire.

Danzo leapt over them and met a kick from Naraka with his own kick, then formed a quick hand seal and inhaled "Wind Style: Vacuum Blast Barrage!" he fired several sharp blasts of wind, slashing through the rubble and a few nearby buildings.

Naraka dodged by ducking at the last second, losing a few strands of hair, and then took the opportunity to catch Danzo in his blind spot and kick him into a wall.

'I let my guard down. I haven't seen battle in quite some time, I should have gotten my muscles limbered up again. No, that's no excuse.'

Naraka looked in the direction where Ino was hiding.

"Your opponent is right in front of you." Danzo emerged and wiped the blood away from his bruised lip "An average attack like that won't be able to kill me."

"Hidden Leaf elder Danzo Shimura, your death will bring the shinobi world that much closer to peace."

"We shall see. Wind Style: Vacuum Blast!" he fired a sharp blast of wind.

Naraka sliced through it with a black receiver.

Danzo looked back to where Ino once was 'Good, she got away.'

Naraka then kneed Danzo in the face, sending him to the ground.

'Damn, I let my guard down. Breaking Lord Second's most important rule, never let your guard down. But hopefully others will survive even if I fall.'

Naraka then grabbed Danzo by the throat "Now then, is Naruto Uzumaki in this village or isn't he? I know you know Danzo, so tell me."

"So, you're after the Kyuu- Naruto Uzumaki then are you?"

"It appears that you do know Naruto Uzumaki, so tell me where he is now."

"I may look like a weak and frail old man, but I was the teammate of the Third Hokage, and a student of the Second Hokage of the Village Hidden in the Leaves, and Naruto Uzumaki has inherited my master's Will of Fire. Long ago, everyone considered him to be nothing but a nuisance or a weapon for the village because of what he carries inside of him. I was absolutely certain of it, and so were so many others. However, the boy did not allow his cursed fate to discourage him. With unending optimism and determination, and a Will of Fire rivalling even that of Lord First Hokage, he faced one challenge after another and overcame them. He's not just a weapon or a nuisance, he is Naruto Uzumaki, a proud and respectable jonin of the Village Hidden in the Leaves, and he is key to the protection of the Leaf and for future generations to come!"

Unfazed, Naraka tightened his grip on Danzo's throat "Enough, you've rambled on for far too long already. Now then, I'll give you one more chance. Do you know where Naruto Uzumaki is or don't you? Answer me right now or I will kill you in a heartbeat."

'Naruto Uzumaki, I have faith that you shall overcome the death of your master and carry on his legacy. The iron will you carry within your heart will teach everyone in the Leaf, past generations to future generations, to follow your will. As I said before, Naruto Uzumaki is a key to the protection and prosperity of the Leaf. Ask all you want, I will not breath another single word to you Akatsuki."

"I see. In that case…" Naraka summoned the King of Hell.

'It seems this is it for me. Hiruzen, it's my turn now. Just as you sacrificed your life to protect the Leaf, I shall do the same.'

"Die."

"Water Style: Raging Waves!"

Naraka threw Danzo back and leapt away to dodge a stream of water "Another one."

Ino leapt down between Danzo and Naraka "Your fight is with me now. I was taught by someone I deeply love that in the ninja world, running and taking shortcuts won't let you amount to anything in life. I made a vow with that person that one day I would become a water style master surpassing even Lord Second. I refuse to choose an escape route, because Tatsu won't be at the end of that shorter path. He's got a hole grinded into his chest, if I can hit that then maybe I can deal some serious damage.'

Naraka drew a rod and blitzed forward.

'He's so fast!' Ino found herself forced on the defensive and evasive, trying to avoid being hit by the enemy's attacks, only to soon find herself lying on the ground.

Naraka leapt at Ino, sending her tumbling back.

Ino quickly recovered and continued dodging 'One thing's for sure, if he even catches me then he'll just kill me with whatever strange jutsu he used on the others. I have to find a way to hit him with a sneak attack.' she suddenly found herself against a wall.

Naraka grabbed her by the neck, easily kicked Danzo away after a sneak attack, and summoned the King of Hell "Is Naruto Uzumaki in this village or not? Tell me now."

'I get it, so this is what you see if you get caught.'

"Speak. Answer me."

'I think I'm starting to figure out this guy's ability. I'm not gonna tell you Akatsuki anything about him!" her soul began getting ripped out, and once the King of Hell grabbed it she fell limp in his grip.

"I see. Then I shall pass-"

Ino disappeared in a sudden puff of smoke.

"A Shadow Clone?"

"Water Style: Tsunami Shuriken!" the real Ino appeared and pinned Naraka to the wall with two water-enhanced shuriken with actual shuriken at the center, one for each arm, then formed another hand seal "Water Style: Ripping Torrent!" she hit him in the gut with a spiralling column of water, grinding a hole even deeper into his gut and sending him through the wall. I am a chunin honored with the name of the strongest trio to ever exist in the Leaf. My surname is Yamanaka, my given name is Ino, you will remember me!"

The Naraka freed himself after a moment "It seems you are more skilled than I anticipated, and your mastery over water style is quite impressive. Perhaps for now my best option would be to retreat." and he fled.

Ino then knelt down beside Danzo "Don't move, this will only take a minute." and she began healing his wounds with her medical ninjutsu.

"Where did you learn that water shuriken jutsu?" asked Danzo.

"I saw you breath wind chakra into those shuriken and fire them off, so I tried to do the same with my water chakra."

"...You realize you just created a new water style jutsu in a matter of moments."

"Yeah well I've been working on a defensive water jutsu for about 2 weeks and an improved version of the Water Gun Jutsu used by the Second Mizukage. I haven't told anyone about it though, I was hoping to keep it under wraps until I've got both of them completely perfected."

'...She's unbelievable, she claims she'll surpass Lord Second's water style, and now I think she might.'

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Kiba and his clan quickly launched an attack on the Preta Path, knowing that he could absorb ninjutsu and his weakness was physical attacks.

However, the Preta Path saved himself by using the dead first Animal Path as a meat shield to defend himself.

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An ANBU in an eagle mask noticed something "Behind you!"

Tsunade turned around cautiously 'Six nose piercings and seven studs in each ear, it's definitely him.'

Deva landed on the roof in front of her "It's been a long time Lady Tsunade, the last remaining member of the Legendary Sannin. You and I, we have something to discuss."

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Shino and his fellow clansmen quickly confronted Konan, only for her to use paper clones rigged with paper bombs in an attempt to kill them.

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Tsunade was quick to recognize Deva as Yahiko "Wait, you're that child aren't you? That boy from long ago."

"So you do remember me then." Deva noted.

"You know him?" asked one of the ANBU.

Tsunade nodded "Yes I do."

"Who or what is he?"

"A god who restores order." Deva stated flatly.

"It seems like he's not in his right mind."

"Naruto Uzumaki. Where is he?"

"No one knows." Tsunade lied.

"We now have almost all the jinchuuriki so the balance of power between shinobi villages is no longer maintained by Tailed Beasts. It's meaningless to continue harboring the Kyuubi now."

"So your target truly is Naruto after all."

"The rise of conflicts are eminent, the kindling coals of war are smoldering everywhere and we shall control those wars, if you cooperate with us then we would not be adversed to helping you. From the state of this village, you ought to have a sense of our strength by now."

"Don't underestimate the Five Kage, you are only terrorists seeking to destroy the peace that our predecessors strived so desperately to achieve and maintain. We will not heed you."

"Such arrogance!" Deva flared his chakra to the point where it nearly blew the ANBU off their feet "What you like to call peace has only brought violence down upon us all."

"I cannot say that everything the Leaf did in the past was just or correct, but your actions here are unforgivable."

"Be careful what you say, this is your final warning from a god. Where is Naruto?"

Nothing.

"Speak."

"We will pour every ounce of power that we possess into bringing you down, I have nothing more to say except that you're wrong about one thing. You've made a huge error, what you desire most you shall never have."

"...If you think that the shinobi of the Hidden Leaf can successfully protect Naruto from me-"

"No!" then she smirked "Naruto is much stronger than you know."

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Inoichi's group huddled up to discuss the situation.

"There are six Pains, and each one can only use one jutsu type." Shizune noted "That woman used a Summoning Jutsu, and that means the Pain that Lord Jiraiya defeated was brought back in a different body."

"There's no mistake." Inoichi insisted "When she was brought to that tower, that woman was undeniably a corpse."

"When you saw her, did she have one of these embedded in her?" Shizune held up one of the black rods.

"No, I'm positive that she didn't."

"So Lord Fukasaku was right, incredibly Pain somehow has the ability to bring the dead back to life. Plus he can substitute himself in other bodies at will and makes them move by implanting in them these black chakra receivers."

"So what are you saying?" asked Ino's Shadow Clone "Are all six of those Pains actually-"

"Yes, it's possible that all of them are dead bodies and if these rods are receivers then they must also be a transmitter."

"Someone is in the shadows broadcasting all of these chakra signals and using it in order to manipulate those bodies." Inoichi finished for her.

"Yes. The coded message that Lord Jiraiya left behind said that the real one's not among them. Perhaps it means that none of the six Pains is the real Pain."

"Hold on, are you saying that there are others still out there?" asked Ino.

"Exactly. I had anticipated that possibility, but only as the worst case scenario. I didn't want it to be true.'

"Whoever is out there possesses considerable chakra." Inoichi noted "To control so many, it's similar to our Yamanaka clan's Mind Transfer jutsu but we can only manipulate one person at a time, so if there are six of these Pains then does that mean that there are six others in the shadows?"

"There's no way to know that yet."

"If this is a Mind Transfer jutsu then they would have to be as close as they could to the receivers to receive their chakra, or they couldn't possibly do such a complex jutsu." Ino pointed out.

"They must be hiding somewhere near the Leaf Village then. Alright, we'll tell Lady Tsunade and organize a search party immediately."

"Right."

Then the Human Path suddenly appeared and unleashed a smoke bomb, using it as cover so he could take Shizune hostage "Do not move, or she dies." he then proceeded to use his abilities to read her mind and discover Naruto's current location "Mount Myoboku."

'What? That's my dad's jutsu, but he just searched her mind in seconds without using any kind of device! Is this one of the powers of the Rinnegan?'

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Deva received this information as well "Well it would appear that Naruto is not here after all. Mount Myoboku."

Tsunade froze 'What?'

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All of the Rinnegan summons disappeared simultaneously, and the Animal Path quickly retreated, much to the surprise of Ibiki and the rest.

They had no idea what was about to happen.

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"Mount Myoboku, the toads' Hidden Village yes?" Deva noted "Then I will linger here no longer."

"How did you know?" one of the ANBU demanded.

"You…" Tsunade growled.

"Lady Tsunade, perhaps we should let them withdraw so we can fortify our defences while they're gone."

"Just one last thing." Deva spoke without turning around "The chakra you are emitting through your feet, is it to counteract my jutsu? So my ability has become known to you has it? However, all is meaningless before overwhelming power. You Great Nations have proven that over the years. You all think of yourselves as the main forces of this world and push death out of your thoughts, lulled by peace you become shallow. If you kill then you shall be killed, hatred is what connects this cause and effect."

"Quit babbling such nonsense." Tsunade growled.

"In battle, both sides suffer death, injury and pain."

"We Great Nations have suffered our share of pain! Enough excuses, you can't justify your actions!"

"...How absurd. Feel pain. Contemplate pain. Accept pain. Know pain." and he flew away.

"Wait Pain, come back! He's still planning something.'

"Those who do not know pain will never understand true peace!" he flew higher until he was above the center of the village.

'What's his plan?'

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The Human Path then proceeded to rip Shizune's soul out of her body, killing her "There."

"Lady Shizune!" Ino caught Shizune's body as it fell to the ground, only to look up and notice the Human path disappear

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Animal made her way to the forest outside of the village and summoned four of the other paths along with Konan, explaining that the plan was for Deva to use that jutsu.

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Realizing that Pain was planning to do something big, Tsunade had Katsuyu protect everyone from the oncoming onslaught.

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Shima noticed the carnage coming from the Hidden Leaf Village and received a message to summon Naruto and the toads, just as a bright white light engulfed the entire village and everyone in it.

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Now Deva was high above the village, charging his chakra and shutting down all of the other paths for this "I will never forget the pain that Yahiko suffered, and now this world shall know pain. Almighty Push." and he unleashed a massively powerful Almighty Push, decimating the entire village and leaving a massive crater in its place.

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The carnage soon subsided.

Ino opened her eyes and froze 'No… how could… this can't… it's not possible…' she fell to her knees, tears streaming down her face 'Tatsu… Naruto… please… hurry…'

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Lee arrived on the border of the village just as the carnage subsided and froze 'The village… there's nothing left but a crater…' he looked and saw Deva high above the village 'That must be him… Pain, the leader of the Akatsuki who killed Master Jiraiya… Naruto still isn't here so I'd better hurry in, and I'll probably have to use that new move that Tatsu helped me create…' and he rushed towards the village, gathering chakra and containing it in his body.

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Then there was a sudden cloud of smoke in the crater in the village, and they appeared…