Spheres of Darkness spun into existence around my form, hovering in a loose circle.
My barrier was not, truly, the spell Reflect. There were both advantages and disadvantages to this, chief among the latter being the fact that my spell could not hold out forever, nor was it infinitely durable.
Still, it was enough. It would buy time, and like I said, there were advantages.
Besides, if I wanted an inviolable barrier, I could just stop time and let the frozen air act as an invincible wall...
...
Time.
Shit.
Didn't think about doing that.
It's been way, way too long since I've fought alongside someone.
The spheres of Darkness surrounding me collapsed into a single point, right at the end of my Keyblade.
"Think fast, Hiruzen."
I tapped his shoulder with my Keyblade, unleashing the spell.
Haste.
The barrier broke- outwards, shifting from a wall of translucent energy to a sudden, powerful gust of wind which forced away all the smoke that had been built up thanks to Nagato's missiles.
Hiruzen was gone.
The screech-bang of hammered, shattering metal told me where he'd gone; directly towards Nagato.
I caught sight of a brief, split second image; Hiruzen, with the Adamantine Staff pushed directly through Nagato's chest, before it shifted and Nagato was simply torn apart by a slam from that very same staff.
Bits and pieces of metal and cybernetics rained over the area, small black rods echoing with Nagato's Chakra also present- not blood and flesh and viscera, which I had expected.
Asura Path...
My eyes narrowed.
His Chakra was still present, still flowing between the shattered components, jumping from Black Receiver to Black Receiver. It wasn't dispersing as Chakra normally would upon death...
Heart and Soul's still here, too... As is the Gedō Mazō.
Not dead, then.
At least; not dead enough.
Unacceptable.
Purple fire blossomed in my hands, waves of heat distorting the surrounding air briefly.
I launched them at the remains of Nagato's body immediately, fully intending to melt every last piece of metal and cybernetics into nothing more than liquid pools.
Unbidden, Chakra surged from the remains of Nagato's body, racing outwards from the Black Receivers, away from all of his Paths.
Space twisted-
The remains of Nagato's body vanished with a burst of smoke just before my flames could reach them, could consume them.
Summoned away.
What?
How?
I destroyed the Animal Path-
No.
I thought I destroyed the Animal Path. I didn't get the opportunity to check on the body.
He...
He must not have been sending Chakra to it.
A back-up, one that would allow him to escape-
No escape.
- which would do him absolutely no good since I could still track him.
The barrier around the clearing vanished, and I stepped into a Corridor of Darkness.
He -and Konan, I noted- was... considerably far out, actually. Too far for the explosion that I had intercepted the Animal Path with to have launched it that far.
Something else at play, then?
The Animal Path shouldn't have had a significant amount of time to get out this far. It hadn't taken me that long to break out of my seal, after all...
Hmm.
Irrelevant.
I exited the Corridor of Darkness swiftly, briefly taking note of my surroundings -rocky, little grass, little trees, a lot of free space-, my Keyblade raised in preparation for an attack-
Which came immediately, but not in a form I could block so easily.
The Deva Path -because why fucking wouldn't it be here- slammed me with a pulse of gravity, knocking me backwards, away from the pile of Nagato pieces-
Which, I only now noticed, were rapidly being fed to a giant head by the Naraka Path and Animal Path.
That thing can repair stuff it eats, couldn't it?
God damn it.
Should probably stop that.
I spun in the air, my own control over gravity coming into play as I landed on the ground, swiftly arresting my momentum.
My arm rose, Darkness beginning to gather at the tip of my Armoured index finger-
Right before a large, paper hammer slammed into my face and knocked me off my feet.
My back hit the stone ground, and I didn't have time to move out of the way before it slammed into my front, slamming me downwards and burying me slightly into the ground.
One of these days, people will stop interrupting me when I try to kill someone.
My Armour burst into flames as I wrenched myself out of the ground, violently burning the paper hammer to a crisp.
I looked back over to the King of Hell, but it was too late now.
The mouth opened, and Nagato, completely healed, stepped out.
Even his fucking Akatsuki cloak was back in perfect condition.
Very irritating.
He wasted no time with chatter, and just slammed his hand down on the ground.
A massive array of seals spread out over the ground, which exploded upwards a few moments later.
Oh good, what would this one be?
The giant drill bird? The giant crab? How about the fucking hydra-dog thing?
I sent a burst of wind at it, clearing the smoke, and to my surprise, what Nagato had summoned was none of those things.
What the fuck is that?
It appeared oddly mechanical, most of its body being made of a dull, dark metal, with circuitry, gears, and cybernetics implanted throughout the frame. Eight legs held it in the air, each one ending a clawed contraption; and six Rinnegan eyes stared forwards, unblinking.
It looked like someone had decided to take a giant spider and give it the Asura Path treatment, really.
For a moment, I just had to stop and stare at it; because really, what the fuck.
It gave a slight chittering noise, before its forehead opened up, plates of metal folding outwards and revealing a cannon-
Which was beginning to glow with Chakra, surging and swirling towards the center.
It fired, shooting a thin beam of Chakra towards me.
I teleported out of the way, moving just to the side and letting the beam glide past me, where it detonated on contact with the ground, tearing up the earth and sending it flying, more concussive force than heat and light.
A laser-spider.
I want one.
"That's it." I teleported away again, moving to the skies.
"I have had more than enough of your shit, Nagato." Just one. Thing. After. Another!
Why was it so fucking hard for him to just lie down and die?!
No, he had to use the Asura Path, and then summon himself away, and then the King of Hell, and now...
Laser-spider.
I held my left hand out, the Proof of Courage appearing in a flash of Light.
I pointed them both upwards, holding them directly parallel to each other.
"You just can't give up, can you?"
Electricity began to arc between my Keyblades as I gathered Darkness.
The laser-spider fired another beam of Chakra at me, and I bent space to twist it away, directing it to the side.
"This time, lay down and die."
For a brief moment, the electricity ceased to arc, a single instant of quiet.
Then:
"Thundagun."