a fateful night in Amegakure (part ii)

“I’ll leave you to it then,” she finishes.  

I watch her as her body dematerializes into tiny pieces of paper; most are black and red, the color of her cloak, while others turn purple and yellow, the colors of her hair and eyes respectively. The papers are carried by the wind and after a moment she is gone.

I imagine she will stick close by, to make sure that nothing goes wrong. She worries about me too much, but she doesn’t need to. Especially not tonight. I am going to kill Hanzo of The Salamander and all of his men, and I’m going to do with my own power.  

Without saying a word, I will all Six Paths of Pain forward into the jungle, towards the castle. We move swiftly and quietly through the foliage; some Paths stick to the ground, while other leap from tree to tree. I make sure to keep all Paths close together, to ensure our best chance of survival. The enemy will be tough, but they don’t stand a chance against me when I have all Six Paths working together in unison.

The cohesion of all Six Paths was made easier by my ability to link our sight together by using the Rinnegan; what one of us sees, we all see. I used this ability during the conversation with Konan and my Deva Path, Yahiko. I scouted different areas of the castle using my other Paths – Asura, Human, Animal, Preta, and Naraka. As Preta Path, I discovered a practically unmanned area of the castle in the Northwest corner, and I made the decision that we use it to gain entrance to the castle.

As we close in on the location I decide it’s best to create a distraction to allow us further cover. While I fully intend on killing all of The Salamander’s men, I want to make sure that I go about it intelligently, and don’t over extend myself more than necessary.

I will my Animal Path to break from the group and head towards the Southern border, all the while gathering Chakra within its body. Once we made it to our location, and the Animal Path made it to its, I release the chakra gathered in Animal Path in the form of a Summoning Jutsu.

Animal Path places his hand on the ground, and a massive three-headed wolf explodes from the ground. It immediately launches itself into the wall surrounding the castle, shaking the entire foundation as it began its assault.

Almost immediately dozens of Shinobi from within the Castle begin a counterattack. The Summoned Wolf is amongst my strongest, but I know that it wont last long against that many Shinobi. A slew of fireballs and electric blasts pummel the beast, but it survives the onslaught. If it becomes too overwhelmed it will simply disappear in a plume of smoke back to its own realm. For the time being, however, it would fight for my cause.

I use the commotion to make my way into the castle with the five remaining Paths. I decide to leave the Animal Path outside for the time being. If the Summoned Beast expires too soon, then I will summon another creature in its stead. I have to be careful not to use to much of my chakra, though. I may be an Uzumaki, but Summoning Beasts on top of using all Six Paths will take its toll if I’m not careful.

Two Shinobi’s stand guard. Two Shinobi’s stood guard. A Shuriken in each of their necks leaves them laid out on the floor, their warm blood seeping into the cold ground.

I will Human Path to stay behind for a moment to use his ability on the two individuals. He places his hand on their heads and dives into their memories. I want to see if they know where The Salamander is located. I can save a lot of time by going directly to him and using my special jutsu to wipe the rest of his pests out of existence.

While the Human Path works on the two dyingmen, the rest of us encounter a large group of Shinobi. They outnumber us 6 to 1. Not a problem. Not for me.

I push Asura Path to the front of the group and have him remove his cloak from his body. The enemy watches as he transforms his body into a living mechanical weapon mid-run. Spinning blades and launchers erupt from beneath his skin as he rushes them.

One Shinobi manages to launch a Fire-Ball, but it has little effect on my Asura Path. He takes it in stride and then proceeds to slice the female Shinobi in half. Asura Path is bathed in her blood, which only adds to his terrifying appearance.

In the back of the group I’m able to see one individual charging up his chakra. He’s about to hit Asura with something. He thinks that he is. Without a word, I send Preta Path towards Asura Path.

The Shinobi in the back of the group unleashes his chakra in the form of a massive Tornado. I’m sure that if it hits Asura Path it’ll result in the destruction of his body, but I know that it won’t get the chance. Within a second Preta Path is there, and I use his ability to erect a bubble of pink chakra in front of him. The tornado strikes the bubble hard, sending wind flying in all directions and knocking other Shinobi off their feet. It’s difficult to contain the energy, but somehow I manage. The tornado decreases and size as my Preta Path’s jutsu absorbs the energy into its body.

I feel a sudden boost of energy that reverberates to each of my Six Paths. The timing couldn’t be better, as my Beast has reached its limit. I take the opportunity to put the newfound chakra to good use and Summon another beast with my Animal Path. This time a massive Ox comes bursting from the ground. The Shinobi who would have made their way here are now forced to deal with another beast.

At that same moment, Asura Path jumps over Preta Path and begins to annihilate more of the Shinobi, along with the help of both Naraka and Preta Paths. I let Deva Path sit this battle out, as I know that I will need him for my final attack. I take control of each path and unleash their power on my enemies.

Just as Naraka Path rips the soul from the final Shinobi through use of his ability, I get the knowledge of where The Salamander is from my Human Paths’ reconnaissance. He’s on the Southernmost part of the Castle, near Animal Path and the Summoning Jutsu.

I rush Human Path towards the rest of the Paths, making sure to grab Asura Path’s cloak on the way.

As I approach the location where I know The Salamander is hiding I see that the area outside of his quarters is surrounded by more of his crew. More pests I’ll need to get rid of in order to finally get to him. 

My second Summoned beast falls just as it takes out the last of the Shinobi in that area and I will Animal Path to join the rest of the group. As soon as he arrives we will begin our onslaught.

I take a look at the group of approximately sixty or so men and women who stand before me. They’re all so young; almost as young as I was when I first chose to begin my Shinobi training. I wonder if I could have been one of them, could have been chosen by someone like The Salamander instead of Jiraya-Sensei. How different would my life of been had things turned out that way, instead?

One of the boys in the crew reminds me of a young Yahiko. His spiky hair almost identical to that of my Deva Paths, except not quite as orange. He seems almost excited. He’s ready to prove himself in battle against another Shinobi. Ready to risk it all to prove to his Sensei that he can be a strong ninja.

Before The Salamander killed Yahiko, before his actions destroyed my real body, before everything went wrong.. I might’ve felt sorry for what I was about to do. I might have felt empathy towards the lives I was about to take. I might have let that boy live. But now, I couldn’t care less. They made their choice. They chose to stand with that monster.

But more importantly, they chose to stand in my way.

Now, they will know Pain.

Animal path joins us and we rush towards the group of Shinobi.

I kill the young boy first.

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