Chapter 54: True Pain
The skies over Konoha grew dark and foreboding as a chilling silence settled over the outskirts of the village. The Barrier Team, stationed along the perimeter, reported only one intruder. The figure they saw was the Animal Path, its Rinnegan eyes glowing faintly in the dim light. Believing it to be a lone attacker, the team mobilized their forces toward its position.
Unbeknownst to them, this was merely a decoy. They were playing into Pain's machinations.
The Animal Path infiltrated Konoha with precision, bypassing the village's defenses. Once inside, it began its work, summoning a variety of grotesque and powerful creatures. A massive multi-headed dog, an enormous bird with razor-sharp talons, and a giant crustacean wreaked havoc, drawing the attention of the village's shinobi. As the Barrier Team scrambled to understand the situation, the Animal Path summoned Pain's other five bodies and Konan to its location.
The Six Paths of Pain dispersed, their mission clear.
The Animal Path, Asura Path, and Preta Path were to act as deadly distractions, wreaking havoc and discord throughout the village with indiscriminate efficiency. The Animal Path's summons ran rampant, causing mass chaos in the streets. The Asura Path unleashed its mechanical arsenal, firing missiles and lasers that obliterated buildings and reduced entire streets to rubble. The Preta Path engaged shinobi head-on, using its ability to absorb chakra to nullify their prized ninjutsu. With Lee and Gai out of the village, there were precious few who could match One of Pain's Six in a Taijutsu battle.
Meanwhile, the Deva Path, Human Path, Naraka Path, and Konan dedicated themselves to locating Naruto Uzumaki, Konoha's greatest weapon and their primary target. The Human Path read the minds of anyone it encountered, searching for Naruto's whereabouts. The Naraka Path interrogated villagers, using its ability to discern lies to eliminate misinformation. Konan, wielding her paper techniques, cornered groups of civilians and shinobi alike, forcing them to reveal what they knew. For the most part, they revealed nothing. The village appeared to defend Naruto with a begrudging respect. The Deva Path, commanding a chilling presence, moved with calculated precision, offering no mercy to those who dared resist.
At the heart of Konoha, Tsunade stood on the roof of the Hokage Residence, her face set in grim determination. She had summoned Katsuyu, her trusted slug summon, and instructed it to divide and adhere to every villager it could find. Through Katsuyu, she began healing the injured remotely, directing the village's forces where they were needed most.
"Kōsuke," she commanded a messenger-nin. "Send word to Mount Myōboku. Bring Naruto back immediately."
Kōsuke nodded and disappeared in a flash. Yet his mission would never be fulfilled. Hidden in the shadows, rogue agents of Danzō Shimura intercepted him, their masked figures devoid of empathy. With a swift and coordinated strike, they ended Kōsuke's life, attempting to ensure that Naruto would remain uninvolved. His plans for Konoha did not include the reckless Uzumaki.
On the streets of Konoha, Sakura Haruno worked tirelessly at the hospital. As explosions shook the building, she moved between patients, healing wounds and calming the terrified citizens. Her Wakizashi was strapped to her side, ready to be drawn at a moment's notice. Next to it, The White Fang glittered in its ornate sheathe. She barked orders to the medics under her command, her voice steady despite the chaos. Curiously, she instructed them to disseminate strange paper seals wherever they traveled. Those seals which she had hastily constructed only the night before.
"Keep moving!" she shouted, channeling chakra into a villager's leg. "We need to get these people stabilized. The hospital is the last safe zone."
Elsewhere, Kakashi Hatake engaged the Deva Path in battle. He moved swiftly, testing the Path's abilities while keeping his sharingan trained on every subtle movement. The Deva Path's command of gravity-based techniques was unlike anything Kakashi had encountered. Every elemental technique in Kakashi's infamous arsenal of jutsu was repelled with demoralizing ease. Five seconds, huh? When the Asura Path arrived to back up the Deva Path, the battle became even more perilous.
Kakashi fought valiantly, using his wit and skill to gain the upper hand. He managed to destroy the Asura Path with a well-timed Lightning Blade, but the cost was high. He was nearly out of chakra, his reserves depleted from the relentless onslaught.
"Ino!" he shouted, his voice hoarse. "Take what we've learned to Tsunade! Now!"
Ino Yamanaka, who had fought beside Shikamaru, Choji, and Kakashi during the assault, hesitated. "Kakashi-sensei—"
"Go!" he ordered, his tone leaving no room for argument. Team 10 eyed him with a moment's hesitation. He almost thought they'd disobey his order. Ino and her team fled, possessing the vital information about the Deva Path's abilities. She cast one last glance over her shoulder as Kakashi faced the Deva Path alone.
The Deva Path's calm voice cut through the air. "You cannot win."
Kakashi gritted his teeth, raising his hand for one final Lightning Blade. But before he could strike, the Deva Path unleashed a missile from the seemingly destroyed Asura Path. Kakashi, with his last ounce of strength, used his Mangekyōu sharingan to redirect the missile away from Ino. The strain proved too much.
As Ino vanished into the distance, Kakashi collapsed. His body lay still on the battlefield, his chakra reserves completely depleted.
High above the village, the Deva Path gazed down at the destruction with cold detachment. "This is only the beginning," it declared, its Rinnegan eyes glowing ominously.
The battlefield was quiet for only a moment before the sound of fluttering paper filled the air like the wings of a thousand birds. Konan stood before Sakura, her amber eyes steady and emotionless as they bore into her opponent.
"Where is Naruto Uzumaki?" Konan's voice was calm but cold, each word cutting through the tension like a blade.
Sakura didn't answer immediately. Instead, she unsheathed her wakizashi, its polished edge gleaming in the dim light of the village aflame. "You're not getting anything from me." Her voice was firm, her grip on the hilt steady. She raised her sword, gesturing for Konan to make her move.
Konan didn't hesitate. Her body dissolved into thousands of sheets of paper that spiraled into a storm around Sakura. The whirlwind of disorienting paper closed in, slicing at her skin like a swarm of tiny blades. Blood welled from the shallow cuts on Sakura's arms and face as she closed her eyes, focusing on the seal embedded in her left palm.
"Fire Release: Flame Torrent Seal!" she shouted, unleashing a torrent of flame from the seal, depleting most of her reserve of stored Fire Chakra. The searing heat consumed the paper, turning portions of it into ash and smoke. The haze filled the air, stinging her lungs as she coughed and staggered back.
The storm of paper briefly dispersed, revealing Konan reforming in midair. Her paper wings unfurled, and her eyes narrowed as she conjured a wave of bladed sheets aimed directly at Sakura.
Before they could reach her, two figures appeared beside Sakura in a blur of motion. Ino pulled Sakura back into an embrace, her hands glowing green with healing chakra as she mended the shallow wounds. Hinata stepped forward, her Byakugan active, and spun into a defensive stance.
"Eight Trigrams: Rotation!" Hinata's chakra erupted into a perfect domet that encompassed all three women, deflecting the incoming paper with a whirling force. The storm dissolved as the three kunoichi regrouped within the protective sphere.
Konan watched from above, her expression unreadable. "It matters not how many of you there are. You will all be squashed under the will of God."
Sakura wiped the blood from her cheek and stood tall. "We don't bow to false gods," she retorted, flames flickering in her left palm while her right glowed faintly with a storage seal, toad oil held inside. "Let's finish this together."
The three kunoichi moved in perfect harmony. Hinata took the lead, her Gentle Fist technique rendering inert any paper constructs she struck. Konan's attacks were relentless, but Hinata's precise strikes dismantled her offensive before it could reach full form. Ino provided support, using her Mind Transfer Technique to briefly interrupt Konan's movements, allowing Sakura and Hinata to close in.
Sakura switched between offense and defense seamlessly. She combined her Hair Needle Jizo, firing sharpened strands of hair imbued with chakra, and her Toad Oil Bomb, a technique she had recreated from Jiraiya's teachings. The combination of flames and oil created an inferno that burned through Konan's paper constructs.
"You studied under Jiraiya?" Konan asked, her voice tinged with something that might have been surprise.
Sakura gritted her teeth. "I'm one of many who has!" She launched herself forward, engaging Konan in close combat. The two clashed in a flurry of strikes, Konan's ethereal paper blades meeting Sakura's wakizashi. Hinata and Ino jumped in from time to time, preventing Konan from fully dematerializing into her paper form.
Sakura feinted a slash with her blade but purposefully stumbled. As Konan moved to counter, Sakura pivoted and struck with her palm, barely grazing Konan's leg.
Konan paused, her amber eyes narrowing. "What are you planning?"
Sakura smiled, her expression confident. "I've marked you." She turned to Hinata and Ino, her voice steady but commanding. "Get back. Now."
Without hesitation, the two retreated to a nearby rooftop, watching as Sakura reached into her pouch and pulled out a three-pronged kunai marked with a world renowned seal.
Konan's expression shifted. "Impossible," she muttered as realization dawned.
Sakura vanished in a blur of motion, reappearing behind Konan in the blink of an eye. Konan barely had time to react before Sakura's blade—she had switched to using her White Light tanto, as it paired nicely with the three pronged kunai—sliced through her wings, forcing her to the ground. Sakura reappeared beside her, holding the kunai with a deadly precision.
"You've been marked by the Flying Thunder God Technique, villain," Sakura declared. Her voice was unwavering as she pressed the blade to Konan's throat. "It's over. Wherever you run, I can follow. You thought yourself impermeant, but that seal is indelible. You are mine."
For the first time, Konan's composure cracked. "The Fourth Hokage's technique…" she murmured. "So, Jiraiya passed that legacy on to you."
Sakura didn't respond, her focus entirely on the enemy before her. But then, a shift in the air made her glance upward.
A shadow loomed over the village. The Deva Path hovered above them, its expression unreadable but its presence foreboding. The air seemed to tremble under its gaze.
Konan's lips curled into a faint smile. "You think you've won? This is far from over. God has descended upon your village."
Sakura's grip on her kunai tightened as the weight of Pain's presence bore down on her. Konan took the opportunity to dematerialize into thousands of origami birds, one of which isolated Sakura's seal. The birds dispersed in all directions.
Pain stood above the smoldering form of Konoha, damaged but not done, his six Paths surrounded him like silent sentinels. From his perch, he gazed coldly at the destruction below. Smoke spiraled into the air in thick plumes, mingling with the faint cries of survivors and the distant sounds of troops scrambling to aid the injured. The bustling Leaf Village, once a symbol of power and hope, now lay in tatters..
His Rinnegan eyes, emotionless and all-seeing, swept across the devastation. This was the will of God. This was peace through pain.
Pain outstretched his arms as though addressing a higher power, a god to whom he owed no allegiance. In truth, he believed himself to be that god. His lips moved in a whisper, carrying a cold finality.
"All Mighty Push."
The air grew heavy, the earth trembled, and then it came—a wave of unrelenting force rippling outward in a perfect sphere. It expanded in every direction, tearing through buildings, streets, and homes without mercy. The academy crumbled into rubble; shops, restaurants, and markets disintegrated into dust. Civilians and shinobi alike were thrown into the air, their screams drowned by the cacophony of destruction.
When the force subsided, only silence remained. Pain gazed at the crater that now sat at the heart of Konoha, a testament to his doctrine.
"Feel pain," he whispered. "Understand pain. Accept it, and grow stronger."
From within the relative safety of Katsuyu's protective embrace, Sakura, Ino, and Hinata emerged, coughing as dust and debris filled the air. Sakura's emerald eyes widened in horror as she surveyed the sight before her.
"What happened?" she murmured, stumbling forward. "No… this can't be…"
The once-thriving village was gone, replaced by a vast canyon of rubble and ruin. Fires burned uncontrollably in pockets across the devastation, and the cries of the injured and dying reached her ears.
Ino dropped to her knees, her hands clutching at her chest as though the weight of the moment was too much to bear. "Where… where are you, Naruto?" Her voice trembled, and tears streaked her face. She screamed his name, a desperate plea that echoed in the emptiness. "NARUTO!"
Hinata placed a comforting hand on Ino's shoulder, though her own Byakugan-glowing eyes betrayed her despair. "We have to… we have to help the survivors," she whispered, her voice barely audible.
Sakura nodded stiffly, trying to steel herself. "Tsunade-sama… we need to find her. She'll know what to do."
But even as they prepared to move, a new presence filled the air, and with it, a sense of hope amidst the chaos.
Far away, at Mount Myōboku, the great toads stirred. The scent of battle reached their nostrils, and they knew the time had come.
"Pain has attacked Konoha," Fukasaku said gravely, addressing the gathering of toads. "We must act now."
From behind him, Shima, who had only just returned from her reconnaissance mission to Konoha, prepared a reverse summoning. "Let's send him back," she said. Her voice carried an urgency that none dared to question.
Naruto stepped forward, his face calm but resolute. Gone was the boy who had left the village to train. Standing before them was a man, a shinobi ready to defend his home. He was clad in his black jōnin vest and the red and black sage robe gifted to him by Fukasaku. On his back, a large sealing scroll hung loosely.
"I'm ready," Naruto said, his voice steady. "Let's go."
The smoke and dust settled over the ruins of Konoha, a heavy blanket over the broken remnants of the once-great village. Survivors wandered aimlessly, their faces pale and their eyes hollow. The silence was oppressive, the destruction absolute.
And then, from the sky, a flash of light and an echoing boom shattered the stillness. A massive puff of smoke appeared in the center of the rubble, clearing to reveal a figure standing atop the largest of three massive toads.
Naruto Uzumaki stood tall, his red and black robe billowing in the wind. His once blue eyes were now golden with horizontal, toad-like pupils. His eyes now edged with orange pigmentation from Sage Mode, scanned the devastation below him. His heart ached at the sight of his home in ruins, but his resolve only strengthened.
The survivors turned their eyes to him, their expressions shifting from despair to hope. A shinobi of Konoha, the one they had come to see as their future Hokage, had returned.
The massive figure of Gamabunta bellowed, his voice rumbling like thunder. "Oi, Naruto, looks like we've got some pests to deal with."
Naruto's gaze locked on the figure hovering above the village—the Deva Path of Pain, his expression unreadable, his power palpable.
"Pain…" Naruto whispered, his fists clenching. His voice rose, firm and unyielding. "You've gone too far."
Standing atop his summoned toad, surrounded by the smoke of destruction, Naruto was no longer a child. He was a warrior, a sage, and the last hope of Konoha.