Shinra Tensei ("Almighty Push") was still trapped in its five-second cooldown, leaving Pain's Deva Path with no room to brute-force the situation again. So he pivoted instantly, driving the Preta Path forward and activating Fūjutsu Kyūin ("Chakra Absorption Technique"), intending to swallow Chiba's "Ice Release" whole and erase the threat before it could spread.
But that assumption - calling it "Ice Release" - was exactly where Pain went wrong.
Chiba's freezing wasn't a chakra-based Hyōton at all. It wasn't ninjutsu. It wasn't senjutsu. It carried no chakra for the Rinnegan to consume, no energy signature the shinobi system could recognize. It was Devil Fruit power - something alien to this world's logic.
Which meant the Preta Path had nothing to absorb.
A sharp crack split the air.
The Preta Path was swallowed by Hyōga Jidai ("Ice Age") and sealed into a statue of absolute ice, frozen so completely it couldn't twitch, couldn't struggle, couldn't even shift its balance. In a single heartbeat, it lost all capacity to fight.
And Hyōga Jidai ("Ice Age") didn't stop.
The freezing storm continued to surge forward, racing toward the remaining Paths with relentless momentum.
For the first time, alarm broke across Pain's Deva Path.
It activated Banshō Ten'in ("Universal Pull") at once, yanking the other bodies toward it to avoid the brunt of the oncoming ice. Rising into the air, it gathered the remaining Paths close, forcing the glacial wave to sweep past and bite into empty space.
But the battlefield behind them paid for that evasion.
Kabuto's Edo Tensei soldiers were caught in the spillover again - dozens frozen in place, sealed and silenced as collateral.
Pain's Deva Path's brow furrowed hard, suspicion sharpening into something colder. "That freezing power… isn't Ice Release ninjutsu."
Then, quietly, with a genuine edge of disbelief: "What is it?"
It was the first time he had seen an ability in this shinobi world that didn't draw on chakra or senjutsu chakra - something outside the very framework he had built his certainty on.
Chiba only smiled.
He didn't explain. He didn't indulge curiosity. He simply let the silence hang, because secrets were weapons, and handing them over would be stupidity disguised as pride.
Pain steadied his breathing and forced calm back into his posture. "No wonder you're this strong," he said, voice low. "So you've been hiding secrets no one else knows…"
Then the pressure of his chakra rose again, darker and denser, and the Rinnegan's power pushed toward its limit.
The Animal Path struck immediately.
"Kuchiyose no Jutsu ("Summoning Jutsu")… Jigoku-gani ("Hell Crab")!"
"Kuchiyose no Jutsu ("Summoning Jutsu")… Kamereon ("Chameleon")!"
"Kuchiyose no Jutsu ("Summoning Jutsu")… Yata-garasu ("Eight-Part Bird")!"
Massive summons burst into existence in rapid succession, their weight shaking the ground. The Hell Crab reared back and fired off its technique the instant it arrived.
Suiton: Awa Ranpa ("Water Release: Bubble Wave")!!!
A sweeping flood of bubbles erupted, surging forward in a suffocating tide, wide enough to blanket the battlefield. In the original story, Pain had used this trick to force Jiraiya back and wash away the toad oil binding Konan, freeing her to move again.
It was clever.
It wasn't enough.
Chiba lifted a finger and released arctic cold. The entire wave froze at once - bubbles hardened into solid mass, turning into a frozen sea of foam that sprawled across the ground like pale stone.
Then the sky screamed.
The Yata-garasu ("Eight-Part Bird") dove, its enormous beak descending like a steel guillotine aimed to crush Chiba in a single impact.
Chiba answered with a Devil Fruit technique, shaping ice into predatory force.
Pheasant Beak ("Ice Bird")!
A colossal ice bird surged upward to meet the dive. Its wings spread, its cry sharp, and it slammed into the Yata-garasu with violent force. The impact thundered across the island, and the summon's massive beak buckled - bent, then snapped under the collision.
The Yata-garasu shrieked, its body torn open, blood and torn flesh scattered midair. Yet under the Animal Path's control it didn't vanish immediately. It thrashed, desperate, and dropped a cluster of eggs toward Chiba.
Bombs.
Not ordinary eggs, but explosive payloads meant to erupt into blinding light and violent shockwaves.
Chiba flicked his hand. Frost shot out and froze every one of them mid-fall. Then, as casually as if returning stones, he sent them back toward Pain.
The Yata-garasu didn't survive a second strike. Chiba's ice bird collided again - its own icy body cracking slightly from the force - while the summoned creature was annihilated completely. It dropped from the sky without even managing another cry, crashing into the ground as a ruined corpse.
The frozen bombs flew back in.
By then, Shinra Tensei's cooldown had already ended.
"Shinra Tensei ("Almighty Push")!!!"
A repulsive wave detonated, flinging the frozen bombs away. They exploded in midair in a chain of violent blasts, light flashing bright enough to stab the eyes and shockwaves rolling outward like a storm of invisible fists. Even distant fighters felt the pressure slam into their bodies.
Chiba waved once.
The turbulence scattered. The fragments cleared. The chaos was pushed aside as if it were no more than bad weather.
And when the dust should have settled -
Pain was gone.
Chiba shook his head lightly, already aware of the trick. The Deva Path had hidden inside the chameleon's mouth, using its perfect camouflage to erase itself from sight. Human Path and Naraka Path had vanished as well, withdrawn into concealment.
With the Preta Path sealed and removed from combat, only two bodies remained active on the field: the Animal Path and the Asura Path.
The choice was deliberate.
Human Path was for intelligence work - its soul extraction was meaningless against Chiba in open combat. Naraka Path was crucial for judgment, interrogation, and revival, but it wasn't built to trade blows. Pain had hidden the core and the support, leaving the two most aggressive attackers to maintain pressure while Deva Path waited for a killing opening.
Then the Animal Path unleashed its signature.
Hijutsu: Kuchiyose Zōfuku ("Secret Technique: Summoning Amplification")!!!
A technique that turned one summon into many - multiplying endlessly until the battlefield drowned under mass.
In an instant, amplified summons flooded the area: not just the splitting Hellhound, but amplified bulls, rhinoceroses, Hell Crabs, centipedes - an entire stampede crashing toward Chiba.
At the same time, the Asura Path erupted into full offensive output.
Hijutsu: Kaiwan Roketto ("Secret Technique: Strange Arm Rocket")!!!
Hijutsu: Shigatsu no Misairu ("Secret Technique: Finger Missiles")!!!
Hijutsu: Zubu Reizāhō ("Secret Technique: Head Laser Cannon")!!!
Its arm tore free and launched like a guided fist, controlled by chakra threads, a punch that could pulverize stone and tear steel apart. Missiles fanned out in every direction, meant to trap Chiba in overlapping blasts. The head laser fired with terrifying speed - precise, penetrating, and lethal.
A two-pronged onslaught - summons and bombardment - hit him at the same time.
Chiba didn't move.
He only raised his hand.
A savage burst of extreme frost erupted outward, spanning half the sky. The amplified summons froze mid-charge, locked into instant ice sculptures - unable to move, unable to multiply, unable to attack. The Asura Path's Strange Arm Rocket and Finger Missiles froze as well, sealed so completely they couldn't even explode.
Only the head laser remained.
Chiba pointed.
A crystal-clear structure formed instantly - an ice mirror, reminiscent of Haku's Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals, but denser, harder, and flawlessly reflective. The laser struck -
- and rebounded.
The beam shot back toward the Animal and Asura Paths like a sharpened line of light.
The Asura Path jerked aside, barely avoiding it. The reflected beam tore into the ground and blew a crater open with a deafening boom.
Chiba lifted his gaze toward the empty sky.
To everyone else, there was nothing there - only smoke and wind.
But Chiba spoke anyway, calm and certain. "You don't need to hide in something's mouth. I can sense you - clearly."
It wasn't arrogance. It was a statement of fact.
Ryūchidō's senjutsu heightened perception to a terrifying level, and with multiple Mangekyō Sharingan, sensing chakra presence was effortless. Camouflage meant nothing.
A beat of silence.
Then the chameleon opened its mouth, and Pain revealed himself.
The Deva Path appeared behind Chiba - exactly where a sudden strike would be fatal if it landed.
"Your power… is beyond what I imagined," Pain said, his voice controlled, but edged with genuine caution.
He had planned an ambush.
Even exposed, he didn't hesitate. From behind, the Rinnegan's pressure surged, dense enough to make the air feel heavy.
"Shinra Tensei ("Almighty Push")!!!"
The world lurched. The ground erupted, stone and debris blasting outward in a violent ring, as if Turtle Island itself had been slapped aside. Everything - matter, dust, pressure - was hurled away by the crushing repulsive force.
And yet Chiba stood inside it, unmoved.
He didn't brace. He didn't retreat. He didn't slide back even a step.
He raised a hand and released his own power.
Freeze Space.
In front of him, the air turned solid - transparent, absolute, like ancient ice. Space itself was sealed, cutting off the medium through which force traveled. Ripples died. Waves vanished. The repulsive power of Shinra Tensei had nowhere to propagate.
The battlefield witnessed something surreal.
Behind Chiba, the world exploded.
In front of him, it was calm - untouched, silent - like a boundary drawn by nature itself. Chiba remained perfectly unharmed.
Pain's Deva Path stared, disbelief flashing into his voice. "What…?! You… stopped Shinra Tensei?! That's impossible!"
Chiba's smile was faint, almost amused. "Looks like that guy called 'Tobi' didn't tell you what I can do."
Pain's eyes narrowed, realization cutting deep. When "Tobi" had tried to capture the Nanabi jinchūriki, he had clashed with Chiba and been badly wounded - yet he had never shared the details, never provided any real intelligence.
He didn't trust Pain.
Not truly.
Pain's gaze hardened as he re-evaluated the monster in front of him. "Freezing space…" he muttered. "So your power has evolved to this level…"
Understanding it didn't mean he could counter it.
Chiba's tone sharpened, calm but dismissive. "That's right. Compared to that… your development of the Rinnegan is honestly unimpressive."
He spoke like he was stripping a legend down to its parts.
"The Six Paths of Pain are just the Rinnegan's built-in functions separated into compartments. Summoning. Chakra weaponry. Reading memories and tearing souls. Absorbing chakra. Judgment and resurrection. Attraction and repulsion."
His gaze never left Pain. "None of it is something you truly created. It's just what the Rinnegan already comes with."
Pain's Deva Path stiffened, real shock flashing again. "How… how do you know the Rinnegan's abilities this well?!"
His voice tightened. "Who are you?"
Chiba smiled, soft as silk, sharp as steel. "When I reach you… you might find out."
The words were simple.
But they carried two brutal truths.
First: these Six Paths were puppets.
Second: the real controller - the true body - was not here.
Far from Turtle Island's surface, somewhere hidden beyond the chaos, Nagato's real body stiffened.
His eyes widened.
And shock flooded through him like ice.
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