Jiraiya and Minato Namikaze had not yet figured out the abilities of these six individuals. They shared the same eyes, didn't seem like living people, and had identical Chakra.
"Yahiko said Nagato was dead, but now he stands before us. So, Nagato must have been turned into a puppet through special means, and the other five should be the same."
Minato felt like he was being watched by the same person, even though he was being held by the Six Paths of Pain, so he offered his conjecture.
"At this point, we can only fight first. Minato, my Sage Mode is almost ready. I'll be the main attacker; you test this barrier."
The two quickly finished their discussion, and then a pair of giant fangs suddenly shot out from the lake surface beneath their feet, attempting to impale them both.
However, they had already noticed the movement in the lake, so they both instinctively leaped up in unison. Minato Namikaze used Wind Release: Violent Waves, while Jiraiya unleashed a burst of Fire Release.
Wind and fire nurtured each other, forming a fiery tornado. The summoned beast directly exploded into a cloud of smoke, and the mist obscured their figures.
Yahiko watched the mist with a grave expression. His Rinnegan observed Jiraiya's Chakra suddenly soaring, now almost on par with his own.
"Sage Mode? Those toads are really restless. Sooner or later, I'll have to kill my way to Mount Myōboku."
In the mythology recounted by Black Zetsu, Mount Myōboku did not play a positive role; it was they who incited the Six Paths Sage to imprison the Goddess Kaguya.
From within the mist, Jiraiya stepped out, walking on the water. Three glowing eyes marked Jiraiya's complete entry into Sage Mode.
Seeing the numerous missiles coming at them, and the Three-Headed Dog and invisible lizard secretly preparing to flank them, Jiraiya and the two Sages, Fukasaku and Sage Shima, immediately decided to split up.
This was a truly split action. Jiraiya used Sage Art: Great Flame Bullet to cover the area where the missiles were coming from, while Fukasaku used Water Release: Water Blade to kill the approaching Three-Headed Dog.
Shima, on the other hand, extended her tongue, directly binding the invisible lizard. Then, the potent venom from her tongue sprayed out, making the invisible lizard go limp. Her tongue then exerted force, directly crushing the lizard's spine.
Jiraiya's strength, combined with Fukasaku and Sage Shima, was now directly pressuring Yahiko, forcing him to assign more Six Paths of Pain to attack Jiraiya.
At this moment, the slain Three-Headed Dog split into two, rushing back again, catching Jiraiya somewhat off guard. However, Sage Mode greatly enhanced his overall abilities and reaction time, so he instinctively reacted.
"Sage Art! Toad Oil Bullet!" He unleashed a combined Sage Art, covering the split dog entirely with toad oil and flame bullets, continuously spewing fire and oil until the split dog was completely killed.
Meanwhile, Minato, who was heading towards the spatial barrier's edge, also encountered a siege by the Preta Path and Konan. He used Body Flicker Technique and a Rasengan, preparing to take down the Preta Path, but unfortunately, his Chakra was directly absorbed.
Jiraiya faced the assault of the four Six Paths of Pain, excluding the Hell Realm, while Yahiko guarded against their escape. Yahiko was determined to kill Jiraiya and Minato Namikaze; no one could stop him.
Konan did not participate in the encirclement of Jiraiya because she couldn't bring herself to do it, so she chose to deal with Minato Namikaze, and she was also holding back.
Minato naturally noticed this; Konan only used paper Shuriken and paper birds to attack him from a distance, which Minato Namikaze could easily dodge with his Body Flicker Technique.
So Minato focused his main attention on the Preta Path. After multiple probes, he discovered that as long as he was touched, his Chakra would be drained.
Currently, he wasn't imbuing his Flying Thunder God Kunai with Chakra and wasn't using Ninjutsu. As long as he was careful not to get hit, he could avoid having his Chakra absorbed.
Without being able to use the Flying Thunder God Technique, the Preta Path was indeed somewhat of a counter to him. It was difficult to kill the Preta Path, which had decent Taijutsu abilities, with Taijutsu alone.
However, the Preta Path also couldn't defeat Minato Namikaze, mainly because Minato Namikaze's Body Flicker Technique was too fluid. He could understand Konan holding back; as long as she stalled Minato Namikaze, it was fine.
On that side, the Deva Path and Asura Path were the main attackers, the Animal Path was responsible for support, and the Human Path provided vision. In this way, the four Six Paths of Pain truly suppressed Jiraiya.
"Shinra Tensei!"
Jiraiya was once again sent flying. At this moment, suspended in the air and unable to gain leverage, he was about to face several incoming missiles. Jiraiya, with blood at the corner of his mouth, frowned and allowed himself to crash into the lake.
He had already roughly ascertained the information on these four puppets. The puppet resembling Nagato could control gravitational and repulsive forces, usable approximately every five seconds.
A tall, strong puppet could transform into a three-headed, six-armed mechanical being, capable of firing missiles and laser beams, possessing immense strength and astonishing Taijutsu.
Another skinny puppet seemed capable of extracting souls, with average Taijutsu. He had killed it once, but it hadn't died; the puppet that hadn't acted revived it.
Finally, there was a puppet that could summon various strange summoned beasts. Its own strength wasn't great, but the six puppets shared vision, making them extremely troublesome.
He planned to find an opportunity to ambush Yahiko and attack his main body. If that didn't work, he would kill the puppet that could revive the other puppets.
Jiraiya was once again forced out of the water by a crab summoned beast. Fukasaku used Water Blade to kill the crab, while the three puppets, excluding the Deva Path, surrounded him, each holding a Chakra Black Rod.
"Sage Art: Amphibian Symphony!"
Countless frog croaks rang out, and sound waves, like a tangible force, surged forth.
"Sage Art: Goemon!"
Jiraiya spat toad oil, while Fukasaku and Shima Sages each spat fire and wind.
The Amphibian Symphony Genjutsu caused the three puppets to freeze for a moment, and then they directly faced Jiraiya's strongest Sage Art.
The mixture of raging flames, wind, and toad oil was no less powerful than Uchiha Madara's Fire Release, directly rendering the three puppets useless.
The power of this Sage Art was so immense that the three puppets were reduced to ashes. The Deva Path used Almighty Pull to draw Jiraiya closer, and the Hell Realm began to revive the puppets that had turned to ash.
A Chakra Black Rod extended from the Deva Path's hand, directly piercing Jiraiya, who had been pulled in by Almighty Pull. Yahiko also closed his eyes, somewhat unable to bear it.
However, this was merely burying his head in the sand; he could also see through the Deva Path's vision. After all, Jiraiya had been kind to him, and his reason for killing Jiraiya was not revenge.
He knew that Nagato's death could not be blamed on Jiraiya, but for his ideal, some people had to be sacrificed. No one could stop the revival of the Goddess Kaguya.
However, he was also prepared. If the Ninja World achieved peace after Goddess Kaguya's revival, he would use that Forbidden Technique to revive all innocent people.
Sacrificing himself to let those people live in a world of peace—this could be considered his self-atonement. Such a future was what he yearned for.
"Goodbye, Master Jiraiya!" Yahiko bid farewell to the soon-to-die Jiraiya in his heart.
Minato also noticed the situation there and wanted to break free from the Preta Path's entanglement to go and rescue him, but it was already too late.
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