Sakura Haruno was stunned that the Fourth Hokage knew her name, as there was no reason for her or her family to have any connection to him.
But in this critical moment of Naruto's battle against the six Pains, the Fourth Hokage, who had just smiled at her, had already turned away. She felt awkward asking him anything further.
After Naruto took down Pain's Human Path with his Wind Release: Rasenshuriken, the enormous summoned beasts from Pain's Animal Path proved troublesome. Jiraiya had suffered greatly when he fought these beasts earlier.
The hideous dog that could keep splitting into more copies, and the strange bird that could lay explosive tag eggs, were especially dangerous!
After all, it normally took a team of elite jōnin to deal with a single Pain. Now, with Naruto Uzumaki facing the six of them alone, it was a huge challenge to take them down one by one.
"Those six sharing a single field of vision is troublesome," said Tobirama Senju.
Hashirama nodded in agreement, then turned to ask his father, the Edo Tensei Minato Namikaze: "Doesn't he know Tobirama's Bringer-of-Darkness Technique?" Though he knew the technique himself, he'd been scolded countless times by his younger brother for similar incidents, so he'd grown accustomed to respecting ninjutsu copyrights.
Since the Edo Tensei Minato had only spent a few days with Naruto, he could only turn to the nearby Obito for help.
Obito: "The only ninjutsu Naruto knows are Shadow Clone Technique, Transformation Technique, and Rasengan."
"....." Tobirama sighed, "Couldn't he at least learn the Three Basic Jutsu?"
Obito, who had been sparring with Naruto and Sasuke since their meeting in the Land of Waves, explained: "Naruto genuinely can't use the Clone Technique or Substitution Technique. It's probably due to his chakra volume. He's always used the Shadow Clone Technique as a substitute for the Clone Technique. Even for Body Replacement Technique, he's accustomed to using Shadow Clones as his substitutes."
Sai: "It seems he was so lonely that he learned this ninjutsu to create many copies of himself for company. The book refers to this behavior as..."
"Shut up!!" Sakura Haruno punched Sai in the head, stopping him from continuing.
But...
Edo Tensei Minato Namikaze: "This blade has already pierced me. Thank you."
None of them realized that Minato Namikaze was Naruto's father. So, Sai, Sakura, Shikamaru, and the others continued talking freely, without considering the feelings of the older man standing among them.
"But Naruto really went through a lot. It wasn't easy for him to grow into the person he is today," Shikamaru Nara said.
On the battlefield, Naruto used the Toad Mouth Bind to conceal himself and Animal Path Pain within Gamabunta's mouth, completely blocking the vision of Pain and his allies.
"Rasengan Barrage!!"
Boom—!!
Animal Path Pain was struck by multiple Rasengans!!
Naruto Uzumaki emerged from the frog's mouth, carrying the half-broken body of Animal Path Pain. He then tangled with the summoned beasts: the Giant Multi-Headed Dog, which had already split into seven or eight pieces, and the bizarre bird that kept laying eggs. With a boom, they all vanished!
"Naruto-kun, that was amazing!!" Hinata exclaimed, using her Byakugan to see the distant battlefield clearly.
Of the Six Paths of Pain tormenting Konoha, two had already been taken down by him so quickly!
Standing beside her, Ino gasped, "Who would've thought that he would be the one to face Pain alone in the end? Back in the Ninja Academy, he was clearly the weakest one."
Hinata countered, "Naruto-kun is strong. He's always worked hard."
Because she had always quietly watched him from behind...
At this moment, Hinata's expression softened. The faint curve of her lips was a reflection of the childhood memories that flashed through her mind.
—Though he wasn't strong back then, he was always willing to help her, the weaker one. In the end, it was Naruto Uzumaki who ended up getting badly beaten.
—At the Ninja Academy, no matter how much he was isolated by his classmates and teachers, Naruto Uzumaki never gave up on his dream of becoming Hokage.
During the Chūnin Exams, his words gave unwavering confidence to every candidate, helping them pass the first stage.
He repelled the Sound Ninjas, defeated Kiba, and overcame Neji Hyūga...
When did Hinata realize she'd fallen so far behind? So far that others now blocked her view, and yet, Naruto-kun's figure was nowhere to be seen...
Watching Naruto swiftly take down both Pain's Human Path and Animal Path on the battlefield, Hinata's concern for him returned.
"That special state seems to have disappeared, and he looks completely exhausted."
"Huh? Why?" Ino, whose eyesight wasn't as sharp as Hinata's Byakugan, asked, "What happened? Did he get hurt just now?"
Hinata shook her head. "It seems that special state has a limited duration."
On their shoulders, Katsuyu summoned by Tsunade explained: "The Senjutsu state has faded. What comes next is incredibly dangerous. Senjutsu draws upon the vitality of all things in nature and transforms it into one's own power. That's why you were able to use the Rasenshuriken earlier without injury. In his normal state, Naruto can only use regular ninjutsu and taijutsu against Pain..."
The difficulty and risk were clear.
But Naruto Uzumaki wasn't without options!
On the battlefield, Naruto took off the massive scroll that had been strapped to his back.
The scroll unrolled...
It was the Human Scroll! The same scroll that appeared during the second stage of the Chūnin Exams, in the Forest of Death, alongside the Heaven and Earth Scrolls!
"It's the summoning scroll that brings people through reverse summoning!"
Who was Naruto going to summon?
Just as everyone was wondering, a 'Boom--' echoed as something emerged from the scroll...
"Naruto's Shadow Clone?!"
The clone that appeared was sitting with its eyes closed in meditation, and orange Senjutsu marks were visible beneath its eyelids. Seeing this, Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage, who had also learned Senjutsu at Mount Myōboku, immediately understood Naruto's unique method!
"That's the clone he left behind at Mount Myōboku to absorb natural energy!"
Minato's explanation cleared things up for the Second Hokage.
"I see. So that's how it works," he said, explaining to the others who were still confused. "That kid left a shadow clone at Mount Myōboku to absorb the natural energy there. When his main body's Senjutsu power is used up here, he summons the clone over. Then, he releases the clone, allowing all its memories and power to return to his main body."
"Simply put, it's like the relationship between a device and its battery," Shikamaru Nara added.
Someone gasped in surprise, "I never thought you could use Shadow Clones like this?!"
"Not even the creator of the Shadow Clone Technique could've pulled off what that kid did!" someone else remarked, before awkwardly stepping aside as they remembered that the creator, Tobirama-sama, was right there.
But it was true. The Edo Tensei Hokage never expected Naruto Uzumaki to come up with this tactic!
"He's using Tobirama's Shadow Clones as recharge tools! Why didn't I think of that? That kid's a genius!"
Tobirama couldn't help but comment, "Brother, have you ever run out of chakra?"
"Hmm, not really." Hashirama thought for a moment. His chakra reserves were indeed considerable.
Seeing his brother's expression, Tobirama didn't push the matter further.
If Big Brother had that much chakra, creating several shadow clones to store chakra would probably exceed what any normal person should be capable of.
On the battlefield...
As the Senjutsu Shadow Clone disappeared with a 'Boom—,' Naruto Uzumaki's true body, fully recharged like a battery, immediately returned to Sage Mode!
Taking advantage of the element of surprise, Naruto struck Deva Path with a powerful attack and quickly unleashed his Wind Release: Rasenshuriken!
Whoosh—
Hummm—
Just as the Rasenshuriken was about to hit Deva Path directly, the Preta Path, who had been knocked down earlier, suddenly appeared and absorbed the chakra from the Wind Release: Rasenshuriken!
"I clearly just defeated him!"
Naruto Uzumaki glanced to the side. The enormous King of Hell had its mouth wide open, its entire form radiating an unusually unique chakra.
Katsuyu: "Earlier, a man who identified himself as Obito Uchiha provided information. This person should be the Naraka Path he mentioned, whose ability is resurrection."
"He actually revived Pain after he was already defeated?!!"
But there was no time to overthink things on the battlefield! Now was the time to focus on tactics! Katsuyu quickly relayed all of Pain's abilities to Naruto.
On Pain's side, the three forms stood in sequence: Naraka Path Pain, Deva Path Pain, and Preta Path Pain. On Naruto's side, it was Naruto himself and two shadow clones.
The central Naruto Uzumaki spread his palms, with each shadow clone on either side forming a Rasengan in his hands.
"Use smoke bombs!"
At his command, the two shadow clones immediately complied. Pain, along with the Konoha ninjas on the battlefield's perimeter, stared at the thick cloud of smoke.
Whoosh—
Hum—
"That sound is—"
"Wind Release: Rasenshuriken!"
Just as everyone expected, flying out from the dense smoke was Naruto Uzumaki's Wind Release: Rasenshuriken!
"Straight at Pain?!"
Will it be absorbed by that Preta Path Pain?!!
As everyone thought, Preta Path Pain moved forward, arms outstretched. As Naruto's Wind Release: Rasenshuriken neared, he created a transparent absorbing medium that blocked the powerful attack, absorbing all the chakra.
Boom!
But the next moment, that Wind Release: Rasenshuriken…
…was still Naruto Uzumaki's shadow clone!
"Well now..." the Second Hokage chuckled. "Nine out of ten moves are shadow clones, and the fight ends with a Rasengan."
Minato gave an awkward laugh, likely worried the Second Hokage might ask his son for royalties?
Of course, it was all just a joke. As Hokage, they were genuinely proud to have such an outstanding successor for Konoha's future. Though they joked, they watched the battlefield's every move with great tension.
After the fake Wind Release: Rasenshuriken, the real Wind Release: Rasenshuriken attacked Deva Path Pain from behind!!
Naruto, clad in a dark crimson divine robe, exuded dashing heroism at the age of sixteen!
At that moment, Deva Path Pain restored his chakra and used the Rinnegan's Shinra Tensei to deflect the Wind Release: Rasenshuriken. But this didn't discourage Naruto Uzumaki. His true goal was never to defeat Deva Path Pain so easily!
"And this! Rasengan Barrage!!"
Suddenly leaping from above, Naruto took advantage of the five-second cooldown on Pain's Shinra Tensei to eliminate the Naraka Path standing beside him!!
"With the Naraka Path gone, the other Pain bodies can't be revived!!" Even Shikamaru Nara, the calm military strategist, couldn't help but cheer excitedly.
Chōji watched Naruto's active performance on the battlefield, fully aware of the suppressed anger burning within him.
That five-second cooldown was critical intelligence Kakashi-sensei had risked his life to obtain, relayed to Naruto through Katsuyu. Hearing Chōji's tearful words, the others couldn't help but glance once more at the ice coffin.
Hashirama Senju: "As ninjas, our mission is to help the next generation surpass us. Moreover, being a ninja is no easy task. Death signifies the final release from all burdens. Grieve not too deeply..."
Standing beside him, Tobirama Senju remained silent. He glanced at Minato Namikaze, who was also quiet, and his heart already guessed what Minato was thinking.
Right now, they had only reached the Fifth Hokage.
If Kakashi were the Sixth Hokage, how could he possibly die at this moment?
And when considering Naraka Path Pain's ability to resurrect the other Pain bodies, all the impossibilities suddenly seemed to have become possible.