In front of him, that man with eyes whose wave pattern commanded respect, at last appeared.
"You've changed a lot, but those eyes... So you're Pain, aren't you, Nagato? I guess you didn't grow up like I thought you would. What happened to them?"
Pain's Animal Path replied, "You don't need to know. You're an outsider, remember?" He clasped his hands together and looked at his former sensei. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" Almost instantly, a large black ink seal formed behind Pain's back and from it emerged a colossal crab that spat a wave of bubbles at Konan, which removed the oil from his body.
"Stand back, Konan. Toru, get ready."
Hearing what Pain said, Toru nodded his head as Konan left the place. Likewise, he clasped his hands together and waited as the energy of the world began to enter his body.
Jiraiya didn't have time to see this as he was more focused on Nagato (Pain). He began a quick exchange of blows with the crab until he was able to imprison Pain with his hair.
"Nagato, what happened to Yahiko?" Seeing only two of his students, Jiraiya wanted to know what happened to the most cheerful of the three.
However, the answer Pain gave him was not something he liked to hear. "I remember someone by that name. It's been a long time since he died."
"Nagato, you... you used to be so... What happened to you?"
"Nothing happened. It was just another fight of many more. So many people have died here and their pain has helped me grow."
Jiraiya was confused by these words. "What are you saying?"
"Even the most innocent and ignorant of children eventually grow up when they discover what real pain is" For some reason, Pain looked at Toru as he said this. "It affects what they think, what they say and they become real people."
"Do you really think that abandoning love for friends is the right way to become an adult?"
"You wouldn't understand, sensei. Well you're still a normal person" Pain sighed. "It's over now."
Boom! The place Toru was standing on was destroyed and instantly, as if he had teleported, he appeared in front of Jiraiya charging a powerful punch. His eyes glowed with the crimson color of blood and a strange mark had appeared on his face.
Jiraiya had no time to react due to how fast and sudden the attack was, so he could only receive the blow with his face.
Boom! Bam! He went through all the walls until he reached the outside of the building. With luck he was able to land on the large lake that had been formed by the constant rains of this country.
"That hurt a lot" Jiraiya rubbed his face to soothe the pain of the blow he had received.
"I... who have lived in the center of a universe of infinite pain, have ceased to be an ordinary person and am now something else..." Standing on the crab shell, Pain looked at Jiraiya with an expressionless face. "I have become a god..."
And beside him, with those strange eyes, crimson like sweet blood, Toru slowly walked towards Jiraiya, relaxed, as if nothing mattered.
Jiraiya noticed Toru's appearance and was speechless.
"As the god that I am, my word and thought becomes law. You are only one person. So I don't expect you to understand what I say" He stretched out his arms, showing the greatness of his power. "But in simpler terms, I have evolved."
Toru kept silent as he listened to this. Thanks to this quick conversation, he was able to find out many things about Nagato and Konan. He could now understand the situation better. However, his mind was filled with so many heavy thoughts and internal problems, that it was hard for him to simply pay attention to what was in front of his eyes.
The Sennin Mōdo increases his power, but since it is split in half, right now he doesn't think he can defeat someone like Jiraiya without knowing his limits first.
And after this, the conversation between Jiraiya and Nagato continued. Summing it all up, Nagato told him everything he planned to do with the world and, as his master, Jiraiya simply lectured him that everything he does is wrong.
'Nagato believes that what he does is right. Jiraiya thinks what Nagato is doing is wrong. What is right and what is wrong in this world? I just haven't been able to draw a line between that. That's why things like this happen' He shook his head from just thinking about the trouble this has caused. "In the world there will never be peace, there will always be people who will have war in their blood."
Now Jiraiya diverted his attention to Toru.
"I don't know if you've been brainwashed or if you had no choice, but here and now..." Jiraiya clasped his hands together and then slapped the ground. A giant toad appeared and Jiraiya now stood on the toad's back. "Flooded with anger, I cry tears of blood" He stretched out his hand pointing at Toru while striking a strange pose. "The Hermit of the Legendary Sannin! The toad demon of the mysterious Myōboku Mountain! The great Jiraiya- ahhh!" However, the toad beneath him moved a little and Jiraiya slipped falling on his face.
All Toru, Pain and Konan could think was... 'What a clown...'
Taking advantage of this, Pain used the summoning again, this time, changing the crab for a giant chameleon.
With all this done, Toru entered combat a third time. Appearing and disappearing, leaving residual images of his body. This made Jiraiya frown.
'Senjutsu... it seems that, like Naruto or Sasuke, he too was training' Jiraiya, hands clasped together smiled defiantly. "But what do you think, I know some tricks too!"
The toad brandished his strange weapon at Toru while buying time for Jiraiya to charge the Sennin Mōdo, at the same time, they also summoned a chakra barrier as they saw that Pain stepped into the chameleon's mouth to then turn invisible.
Boom! Bam! The loud thuds of Toru's fists slamming into the giant toad's weapon and body echoed throughout Amegakure.
Pain felt that he couldn't do anything if he got close, so he took advantage and used another summoning.
Now a moderately large Cerberus appeared, which violently threw itself into the fray.
Opening its three mouths, while Toru was fighting against the toad, Gamaken, the pig tried to bite Jiraiya's head off. In response, Gamaken jumped as high as he could to get away.
Now the cerberus couldn't get close, but this only made Toru's gaze sharpen. Now using Fūton, he created dozens of air platforms with which he quickly reached and positioned himself above Jiraiya.
"You surprise me, boy. I don't know how you managed to have so much chakra considering the family you come from, but that won't let you beat me" Jiraiya smiled on the outside, but inside he was quite nervous. For now, in just a second, Gamaken pulled out a shield he was carrying on his back. All this to protect himself from Toru.
Boom! But the shield failed as Toru lifted his leg to throw a hammer kick, sending Jiraiya and Gamaken flying into the lake.
Splash! The water rose and, as if this was planned, a large cloud of steam rose. Gamaken disappeared and a large mass of chakra appeared.
Toru could feel it with Senjutsu perception. It was abominable, like a beast that was unleashed and he was not alone, for within the vapor, six eyes glowed dangerously. It slowly walked towards Toru until it was 10 meters away and then....
'Sennin Mōdo...' Toru thought as he saw Jiraiya with two small elderly toads on his shoulders. His appearance had completely changed. Now his feet were webbed and his face showed a strange toad-like mutation.
This, of course, had been planned by Jiraiya. He wanted a smokescreen that would allow him to summon the two elder toads and thus be able to complete the Sennin Mōdo. And that worked out perfectly.
"The moment of truth has arrived, boy" With a brave smile, Jiraiya appeared in front of Toru as if he had teleported.
The only thing Toru knew afterwards, was that he received a punch to the face so powerful, it sent him through about 15 buildings.
From the shock of the blow, Toru was unable to move for a few seconds. He was supposed to be able to defeat the old man with all his power, but that is not possible.
"The... the clone... I must undo the summoning..." With difficulty and a little blood in his mouth, Toru clasped his hands together and closed his eyes, but they immediately opened as he noticed something. "It doesn't undo... the summoning doesn't undo... What's going on with the clone I made... Why do you refuse to disappear" He walked out of the building he was buried in and a little weakly walked into the water.
***
While Toru was recovering from the shock of the blow, the Animal Path was detected by one of the toads on Jiraiya's shoulder. He stretched out his tongue and tore apart the chameleon he was hiding in. Likewise, Jiraiya spat out a large amount of oil that destroyed the Cerberus that was previously attacking them.
"Kuchiyose no Jutsu" the Animal Path joined hands and two human figures appeared at his sides wrapped in a small cloud of smoke.
Jiraiya and the toads were surprised by this, since....
"Three people with the Rinnegan?!"
An internal argument between the two Toads began, but Jiraiya thought it wasn't a good time for that. So, together, they launched themselves at one of the Pain. Kicking him hard in the face and smashing his eyes.
"Don't argue now you two, we have to end this!"
-Near the Uchiha Lair-
"Ahhhhhh! You almost hit me with that strange sphere that spins and spins and spins and spins and spins..."
Making a strange gesture with his fingers, Tobi tried to see how many enemies there were.
At the same time, Naruto, who had thrown a Rasengan at him earlier, stared at him with a frown. Since this seemed to be planned by someone to avoid finding Sasuke. Without waiting any longer he grabbed a kunai and lunged at Tobi again.
"What's a kid like you going to do to me?" said Tobi as he kicked Naruto's face.
'Naruto, you're a fool. how are you going to throw yourself at an enemy without knowing anything' Ino clenched her fists tightly and tried to calm down. Even if Naruto had been reckless, she now had a bit of information about how this guy in the mask fights.
And Hinata was no slouch. Since, with her Byakugan, she could see things better, but there was something that puzzled her. 'There's someone else... he's hiding' Hinata raised her hand without taking her eyes off the masked guy and made a special ANBU sign.
Only Kakashi, Yamato, Miroku and Sai could understand it. The sign read, "Hidden" which, in ANBU, serves to warn everyone that there are obviously enemies hiding nearby. She also made sure to raise her index finger to indicate that there was only one enemy hiding.
"What fun, what are we playing now, children of Konoha?" Tobi nodded his head. 'Senpai, what the hell are you doing, will he come if I call him? Nah, just a chance to have some fun'
"We have no time to waste on you" (Naruto).
"Step aside" (Sakura)
"We have to follow Sasuke" (Shino).
"We have to protect those ties" (Sai).
"Get ready, let's get this over with" (Kakashi).
"I'll go set the plots" (Miroku).
"Formation B and attack!" (Yamato).
Meanwhile, hiding in the trees, listening to the battle, Toru closed his eyes, but then felt a presence near him.
'A spider...?'
'Fufufu... I found you' A woman's voice was heard.
-Uchiha Lair-
"You see me dead, you say?" Itachi fearlessly folded his arms as if it didn't matter that an aggressive fight was coming. "So..." He rose from the stone throne and appeared at Sasuke's side. "Let's see if your eyesight is that good."
Clang! A kunai and the katana collided causing sparks to fall to the ground. Both brothers looked into each other's eyes with the dojutsu of suffering in their pupils.
-Amegakure-
"Look... these are... Pain's Six Paths."
In mere seconds, trying to stop the blood in his now non-existent arm, Jiraiya gritted his teeth hard. It wasn't just three Pain, now it was six. He even lost his arm through carelessness and it all happened in so few seconds.
Immediately, after having recovered, Toru stood in front of the Six Paths and the Sennin Mōdo was once again activated in his body.
"I couldn't move before because I heard a strange noise..." Toru reached down and touched the water with his feet. "Like the croaking of a toad. That deactivated some functions of my brain and my muscles tensed up, making it impossible for me to move" I walk slowly in Jiraiya's direction. He had his typical poker face, with his crimson Senjutsu eyes.
Again a conversation that Toru didn't care about formed between Pain and Jiraiya. More of his past was revealed and, though it was of no importance to him, he stored that information in his brain.
"We are Pain..." Hearing that, Toru ran over to where Jiraiya. "We are God!" And then... 7 against 1, an impossible battle continued.
-Near the Uchiha Lair-
"I found you, sweetie. Why are you hiding? Are you afraid?" Miroku, after the battle against the masked one started, felt one of her spiders saw something.
So, quickly, leaving the battlefield and taking into account that the target was near, she smiled and appeared in front of him.
That person was hiding his identity very well, as the only thing that differentiated him from the other members of Akatsuki, is the long worn scarf that stretched to his waist.
"Aren't you going to answer?"
Toru just looked at her as he heard her say that. He was so distracted that he couldn't notice that someone was in front of him, standing on the tree. When he saw her, a sudden memory of his past as a Konoha shinobi came back to his mind. The first dangerous mission he had with his team....
'That scarf...' Miroku watched as a small spider moved across the scarf. She closed her eyes for a second and felt a familiar scent. "What a surprise. I didn't think I'd find you before Yamato-chan. You've grown up a lot, Toru-kun."
Toru's eyes widened in shock as he heard his name come out of this woman's mouth. Although he didn't understand anything that was going on, his eyes glowed with the crimson light of the Senjutsu and he looked up with murderous intent.
***
"You almost got me! Hahaha!"
Again and again, everyone tried to kill Tobi with everything they had, but it was impossible. Like a chicken, he would hide and run away again and again, giving no chance to the others. In fact, he found it curious to use his jutsus now. He hid in the ground and turned into a mole, popping out of different holes as Naruto and Kiba tried to hit him.
"Come on, come on, this so much fun!"
"This guy... I've had enough of you!" with her patience already exhausted, Ino gathered chakra in her fist and aimed at the ground. Everyone realized what she wanted to do, so they jumped into the tree branches.
"Hm? Why are you running away, weren't we having fun?"
"Yeah, I'm going to have fun kicking you in the face," Ino said.
"Ouch, what a spoiled woman."
With a vein in her forehead, Ino raised her fist and then....
Boom! The roar that was generated was not due to Ino's punch against the ground. It was something else that happened in front of her eyes. It was Miroku, who flew out beside her as if someone had thrown her, crashing into the ground and leaving a gigantic crater.
"Miroku-san!" Yamato quickly rushed to where Miroku was and held her in his arms. He quickly saw that she had blood in her mouth and was unconscious.
In response to this, Tobi smiled under his mask and looked up at one of the trees.
Everyone quickly jumped out of the tree branches and returned to the ground realizing that that presence from before had finally made its first move.
"Hey, senpai, why don't you come out and help me a little? You've been hiding all this time. It's boring if you don't do anything, you know?"
Tobi folded his arms and everyone else stood expectantly.
Hinata and Kiba tried to decipher the enemy's next move and then....
"Kakashi-sensei, watch out!"
Clang! A dagger and a kunai collided, causing bright sparks and a sound that echoed through the forest.
Kakashi looked at the attacker with the Sharingan activated and realized it was someone from Akatsuki who, conveniently, his hat covered his entire face. But as they struggled he could see Toru's Kodō Shigan behind one of the cloth strips of the hat.
Wosh... the enemy jumped backwards and climbed the same tree as the masked man, standing next to him.
"Now there's two of them..." Naruto gritted his teeth hard as his hair began to bristle and his eyes changed color.
"You... Do you know true pain?"
-Amegakure-
Splash. Jiraiya's blood was on his hands and on the dagger that drained that crimson liquid. He watched as the Six Paths of Pain impaled the old man with the metal stakes.
At the same time, Jiraiya's eyes slowly lost their luster and he fell on his face as blood poured out of his body. Even his throat had been torn apart by Toru's dagger seconds before.
'I already know Pain's identity. I have to tell the sage before it's too late' He tried to get up and speak, but to no avail. His body stopped responding. "This is no good... my throat is torn..." He lifted his dying gaze and looked at Toru in the distance.
He was looking at him with those glowing eyes that meant only death. Suddenly, the image of a cheerful girl was superimposed with Toru's face.
They were identical, mother and son.
'Damn... I can't... I'm fainting... no... I'm dying?' His eyes closed. 'I... have I failed everyone...?'
He was rejected by Tsunade many times, he couldn't pull his friend out of the darkness, he couldn't protect either his teacher or his students and now, the last thing his eyes will see will be that murderous and mysterious look from the main family of the Asahi clan?
However, he remembered the past, saw the present and, for some reason, imagined the future.
His eyes opened again and Minato's son appeared in his mind.
"The death lines on his body had stopped moving... How did he do that?" Toru asked himself and slowly approached the Six Paths as Jiraiya extended his hand.
On his finger, a small flame showed itself....
'Shimikomaseru?!'
Jiraiya smiled as he saw the surprise in Toru's slightly furrowed brows and then wrote a strange code on the elderly toad's back.
The Six Paths quickly caught on and tried to attack him.
Then, in a split second, with that smile on his face, with his throat torn apart and with all the wounds on his body, Jiraiya, the Legendary Sannin, the master of the fourth Hokage and his son, drew his last breath to say his last words.
"You look a lot like your mother... Toru..."
Boom! One of the Six Paths launched his arm like a rocket, which exploded next to Jiraiya and destroyed the small structure in which he was floating, to finally bury him in the cold waters of Amegakure....
Toru looked at this with an expressionless face, with eyes that showed no emotion whatsoever. "I don't look like anyone..." He put his hat back on. "Because my mother, just like you, is dead."
To be continued...
__________
What was promised is due. Here is another chapter. If you are in the mood for another one, then you will have to reach 300 stones of power