Facing Pain's thrust, Vincent stayed ice cold.
The instant he was pulled into range, he moved. Armament Haki flooded both arms until they felt like iron. His left hand clamped down on the black receiver jutting from the Deva Path's palm. At the same time his right fist drove forward.
Boom.
He had not held back at all. If he could drop the Deva Path here, the hardest part of his mission would be over.
It was not going to be that simple.
A figure sliced in from the flank, black rod stabbing for Vincent's waist. The spot was not coated in Armament Haki. He twisted away on instinct. His punch skimmed the Deva Path's head and howled past, the leftover wind giving Yahiko a fresh, windswept salon cut.
"Playing dirty?"
Vincent did not argue. He shifted targets and burst straight for the Human Path.
"Serious Punch."
He drew the fist to his hip, gathering power.
Another shadow lunged.
"I was waiting for you."
Vincent pivoted. The Deva Path was already there. Seeing Vincent's coil and the blow about to land, Yahiko crossed two receivers in front of his face to block.
Crash.
Knuckles the size of a stewpot slammed into metal. Even braced, the shock tore through the Deva Path's body. The force bled past the guard, rattled organs, and punched a shallow crater into the load-bearing wall behind him.
The Deva Path coughed blood and fell out of the air. His insides felt pounded to pulp, the rings of the Rinnegan dimming as life hung by a thread.
"Summoning."
The Animal Path saw their main body falter and reacted at once, slamming his hands to the floor. Two more Paths flashed into being beside him.
The Asura Path. The Naraka Path.
The Naraka Path pressed a palm to the ground. A giant head with ringed eyes erupted behind him.
The King of Hell.
Vincent's mind flipped through the canon. The Naraka Path's summon was more than a grotesque face. It was the source and conduit of his power.
The massive mouth opened. A split purple tongue forked toward two directions at once, octopus-like. One coil wrapped the Deva Path and reeled him in. The other scooped up the Human Path's shattered remains and stuffed them down its throat.
"What am I looking at? Cannibalizing your own?" Jiraiya stared, a dozen theories flaring. "Devouring the dead to power up the living?"
"Not necessarily." Fukasaku shook his head. "Clumsy if so."
"Right," Shima said. "If the ally does not die, he is dead weight. Too situational."
"Whatever it is, we break it first."
Vincent stooped, snapped up a fist-sized stone, and rifled it at that leering face.
Crack.
The Animal Path batted it aside and stared Vincent down without pressing, content to wait while the King of Hell finished its work. Jiraiya hurled another jutsu only to watch the Preta Path drink every drop of chakra.
Moments later the King of Hell's jaws yawned wide and spat out two bodies.
The Human Path stood whole, the half-destroyed torso now pristine. The Deva Path rose as well, pale but upright.
All six lined up again, eyes cold.
"They revived?" Jiraiya could hardly believe what he was seeing.
"Looks that way," Vincent said, voice flat.
The Asura Path moved first. He lifted off the ground, body unfolding. Fire jetted from his feet, blades slid from his frame, and he turned into a human projectile screaming for Jiraiya.
"I am still here."
Vincent went all in on speed. He flashed above the incoming Asura and stomped.
Metal screamed. Components blew out of the Asura Path's torso like shrapnel.
"Gah…"
Face buried in stone, the Asura Path scraped a hand forward. With a click his forearm split and a warhead snapped into place, rocketing straight at Vincent.
"Pointless."
Armament covered Vincent from head to toe. He slapped the missile on the side and sent it back the way it came.
Kaboom.
The blast erased what was left of the Asura Path.
The others did not wait. They surged for Vincent together.
"Old woman, cut their shared sight or the kid is done for!" Fukasaku shouted, loosing a water blade that the Preta Path swallowed whole.
"On it."
Shima sprang high and exhaled a thick, choking cloud that rolled over the street and swallowed everyone.
"Sage Art. Wind Release: Dust Cloud."
In an instant the Six Paths lost visual contact with one another, each body isolated in the grit.
"Thanks, Granny Shima."
Vincent whooped inside the haze. He kicked off, senses flaring, the drifting dust spiraling up in his wake.
"Found you."
He spotted an orange-haired silhouette ahead and pounced.
Boom.
The first punch took an arm. With no one to intercept, Vincent was free to go to work. He hammered again and again.
Boom.
Boom.
Boom.
Explosions thudded through the sandstorm without pause.
"That kid… is he on a rampage?" Jiraiya watched the roiling cloud and hesitated on the edge. If the boy did not recognize him in there and mistook him for an enemy…
Tsk. Tsk. Tsk.
The fallout would be ugly.
----------------------------------------------------
The deeper he goes, the more the truth unravels. Don't wait read ahead and witness Vincent's rise before the world catches up!
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