"Stop! Don't take another step forward!"
"Ah!"
Pain easily captured the Konoha ninja, his face expressionless as he asked,
"Do you know where Konan is?"
"Konan? Who's that?"
"A woman with blue-purple hair."
"I don't know, I've never seen her!"
"What about the Nine-Tails?"
"I really don't know! I'm just an ordinary ninja, how could I possibly know where the Nine-Tails is?"
"And what about your Hokage?"
"He...he ran away."
"Where did he go?"
The captured Konoha ninja hesitated, his face showing signs of struggle, but in the end, he resolutely said,
"I don't know!"
Upon hearing this, Pain's hand tightened, and he snapped the ninja's neck.
"A useless fool, clinging to some misguided sense of honor... Dead is dead."
"Continue capturing more people and ask!"
...
While Danzō's actions were not approved by many Konoha ninjas, when it came to standing against Pain, nearly every ninja was united.
No matter who Pain captured, no matter which ninja he interrogated, they all gave the same response:
"I don't know!"
However, this solidarity came at a steep cost—Konoha ninjas were falling rapidly.
Outside the village of Konoha, Danzō and his bodyguards had just left the village, attempting to flee as far as possible.
"Danzō-sama, are we really going to run away? Everyone in Konoha is fighting with their lives on the line, and if we just leave like this, what about our comrades? What about the villagers?"
"Hmph, silence! You've seen those intruders too. Who could possibly fight them? Who could stop them? If we don't run, we'll die right there!"
"But…"
"Enough! So long as I live, Konoha can be rebuilt. I am, after all, the Fifth Hokage!"
Hearing this, the others fell silent. Though Danzō was satisfied that his subordinates wouldn't rebel, he offered them further reassurance:
"Don't worry. Those intruders will be dealt with. Once they are taken care of, we'll return."
"Hokage-sama, do you mean Kazuki-sama?"
Danzō remained expressionless, offering no reply as he looked out toward the horizon.
"Let's go."
At this moment, the villagers and ninjas of Konoha were unaware that their esteemed Fifth Hokage had fled. They continued to fight for Konoha, giving their lives in the desperate battle. As the villagers tried to escape, many were caught in the blasts and perished.
Konoha was in chaos, worse than during the Chūnin Exams.
Just as hope seemed lost, Kazuki returned!
He first visited his clan, gathering Karin. With Karin's abilities, he set out to locate the remaining members of the Akatsuki.
At this point, only Sasori, Zetsu, and Pain were left unscathed.
Kazuki had no clue where Zetsu was, but Sasori and Pain were causing havoc in Konoha. With Konan in his grasp, Kazuki wasn't too worried about Pain unleashing a devastating Shinra Tensei, so he decided to deal with Sasori first.
At that moment, Sasori was struggling under the assault of nearly a hundred ninjas. Of course, it wasn't the sheer numbers that troubled him but a handful of powerful Jōnin who were proving to be a nuisance.
"What a bunch of pests!"
Sasori, with his fiery red hair, controlled hundreds of puppets, fighting both Chūnin and Special Jōnin. His prized puppet, the Third Kazekage, was locked in combat with the elite Jōnin.
"Deidara hasn't sent word. Could it be that he lost?"
If reinforcements arrived, Sasori would be forced to retreat. He wasn't confident enough to take on all of Konoha's ninjas alone, especially since he didn't have his full array of puppets.
Just as Sasori weighed his options, a black flame ignited on his body.
"Amaterasu?"
His pupils shrank in shock, and he instinctively tried to remove his heart core. As long as his heart remained intact, he could revive indefinitely. But the Amaterasu burned too fast. Before he could act, his body was reduced to ashes.
At the moment of Sasori's demise, all his puppets ceased movement and were swiftly destroyed.
"Did...did we win?" The ninjas could hardly believe it. One moment they were locked in a desperate battle, and the next, it was over.
"I think I saw Kazuki!"
"I saw black flames!"
"Black flames? Can Kazuki use that kind of technique?"
Up until now, Kazuki had not revealed his Sharingan's full power, so many of the ninjas weren't sure what they had witnessed. Even Kakashi, who considered himself well-acquainted with Kazuki, was uncertain.
After all, Kazuki wasn't an Uchiha—how could he possibly possess a Mangekyō Sharingan?
Regardless, the enemy had been defeated, and Konoha was safe... for now.
On the other side of the battlefield, after swiftly dealing with Sasori, Kazuki and Karin located Pain. There they stood, facing the Six Paths of Pain: Hell Path, Preta Path, Animal Path, Asura Path, Human Path, and Deva Path.
Kazuki knew the key to victory—he had to destroy Hell Path first to prevent Pain's ability to resurrect his other bodies.
From a distance, Kazuki carefully observed their formation: Hell Path, Preta Path, and Deva Path were together. Human Path was positioned about a hundred meters to the south, Asura Path three hundred meters to the north, and Animal Path one hundred fifty meters to the east, surrounded by several Summoning Beasts.
Deva Path was the leader, Hell Path handled resurrection, and Preta Path acted as the protector. Asura Path was their main attacker, while Human Path gathered information. Animal Path, with its numerous Summoning Beasts, specialized in overwhelming numbers.
Though their coordination was impressive, Kazuki wasn't concerned. After assessing their positions, he hurled six Flying Thunder God kunai.
The Pains didn't react, having grown accustomed to countless kunai flying toward them throughout the battle. But this time, they would regret their complacency.
The first kunai landed near Asura Path. As he unleashed a barrage of attacks, he ignored the kunai, thinking nothing of it.
Suddenly, Kazuki appeared, unleashing a massive Rasengan of flames, obliterating Asura Path in an instant.
The destruction of Asura Path caught the attention of the other Paths, but before they could react, Kazuki vanished again, reappearing beside Hell Path.
Nagato, controlling the Six Paths, hurriedly commanded Deva Path to use Shinra Tensei, but it was too late—Hell Path was already destroyed.
By the time Deva Path activated his jutsu, Kazuki was already behind Human Path.
Chidori!
Human Path was shattered, leaving only three bodies remaining.
In mere seconds, Kazuki had dismantled half of the Six Paths of Pain, but the battle was far from over!
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The fanfic is finished on p@treon/tambeerg