Due to the imminent recovery of the Deva Path of Pain, Nagato decisively controlled the Human Path of Pain to rush towards the Sage Art: Rasen Shuriken, using his body to block its advance.
Boom!!!
The dazzling explosion of white light enveloped the Human Path, shredding both him and the surrounding ground.
"Phew, two left," Naruto panted lightly, observing the situation on the field.
Because Gamabunta didn't know about the Split Dog's ability, he carelessly let the Split Dog divide, and the Animal Path was summoning new Summoning Beasts while most of the toads from Mount Myoboku were dealing with the Animal Path's Summoning Beasts.
"Summoning Technique!"
The Animal Path summoned a giant bird to attack Naruto.
At this moment, due to the recent battle, Naruto's supply of Sage Art Chakra was running low, so to be safe, he burst into Chakra and used Instant Body Jutsu to dodge.
Though other observing Konoha ninja might not have noticed anything, Nagato, who was closely monitoring Naruto, noticed his movements had slowed down.
"Is his Sage Art Chakra nearly depleted? Although this is bound to be an inevitable battle, it seems it will become easier," Nagato thought.
The Deva Path of Pain sensed the power within him gradually returning, and slowly advanced toward Naruto, its strength recovering faster under Nagato's life force.
With the Deva Path's strength, Naruto, without Sage Mode, wouldn't be able to stand against him.
"Although there's still a little left, now isn't the time to save it," Naruto said aloud.
Naruto immediately pulled out the Large Scroll from his back, preparing to use the Summoning Technique to summon his Shadow Clone, which was absorbing Natural Energy on Mount Myoboku.
As long as he deactivated Sage Mode and then voluntarily released the Shadow Clone, the Natural Energy within the clone would return to the main body, allowing him to re-enter a full Sage Mode once.
Naruto had two such Shadow Clones, and given the current battle, it should be enough to handle the upcoming fight.
"Heavenly Attraction!"
At the moment when all of his power had fully recovered, the Deva Path of Pain made his move.
However, his target wasn't Naruto, but Fukasaku Sage, who was gathering Sage Art Chakra to perform Toad Confrontation Chant nearby.
Toad Confrontation Chant is an extremely terrifying Sage Art: Genjutsu, so even with Fukasaku and Shima combined, it takes some time to gather strength.
Fukasaku, seeing Naruto's fierce dispatching of four Pains, thought to gather power with Shima to eliminate the remaining two Pains in one blow, never guessing that Pain would target him, an edge-dwelling toad.
Fukasaku's body flew rapidly, on the verge of colliding with the Deva Path of Pain, who held a Black Rod.
"My dear!" Shima Sage was extremely anxious, yet had no means to stop it.
"Boss!" Gamabunta, tangled with the Split Dog, was inflamed with fury and wished to charge at the Deva Path of Pain to cut him in half.
Swish!
In that moment, Naruto abandoned the Summoning Shadow Clone, using all remaining Sage Art Chakra to perform Instant Body Jutsu. He pushed Soru to the limit, exploiting Breath of Yang's power to its fullest.
"Get away from Grandpa Sage!"
Naruto almost instantly appeared before the Deva Path of Pain, swinging his fist.
"Almighty Push!"
The Deva Path of Pain had no choice but to give up on killing Fukasaku Sage and instead used Almighty Push, blasting both Naruto and Fukasaku Sage away.
Thud!!
Naruto and Fukasaku Sage flew backward and crashed to the ground.
Due to the depletion of Sage Art Chakra, Naruto automatically exited Sage Mode, reverting back to an ordinary person.
Fukasaku Sage, ignoring his own injuries, frantically signaled to Shima Sage with his eyes, urging her to use the Summoning Scroll to bring out Naruto's Shadow Clone.
The strongest force on the field now was Naruto, and if he couldn't enter Sage Mode, they couldn't defeat Pain.
Because Naruto's Shadow Clone replenishment method was conceived by Shima Sage during her quest for ingredients, she wasn't aware of it.
Despite this, Shima still grasped some of her old partner's ideas and acted swiftly.
While the Animal Path and Deva Path chased Naruto and Fukasaku, Shima Sage quietly moved toward the Summoning Scroll.
Just as Shima was about to unroll the Summoning Scroll for use, a gigantic lizard suddenly appeared behind her, flicking its massive tail to send her flying.
"Damn, it's that invisible lizard," Shima thought angrily.
Having successfully stopped Shima from using the Summoning Scroll, the lizard grabbed it and placed it near the Deva Path of Pain before rejoining the battle with the toads.
After exiting Sage Mode, Naruto rapidly adjusted his Breath of Yang, utilizing it to guide Natural Energy to fortify his body, which, while not as effective as Sage Mode, was enough to withstand the Deva Path of Pain's Taijutsu attacks.
But critically, Naruto had an injured Fukasaku Sage beside him.
Against the Deva Path of Pain assisted by the Animal Path, Naruto out of Sage Mode and Fukasaku Sage quickly showed a flaw.
"Heavenly Attraction!"
The powerful gravitational force exploded, and Naruto, using his last strength, tossed Fukasaku Sage away, but his own body was helplessly drawn rapidly toward the Deva Path of Pain.
Squelch!
The Animal Path, wielding a Black Rod, attacked with speed, avoiding vital spots to stab the Black Rod into Naruto as he was pulled in.
Chakra in Naruto's body instantly turned into a tangled mess, unable to coherently gather Chakra to enhance his body.
Thud!
The Deva Path of Pain grabbed Naruto's neck and slammed him hard into the ground, pinning him by thrusting a Black Rod through Naruto's palm into the earth, increasing the interference with his Chakra while fixing him to the ground.