In the vast sea, the waves surged. Here stood a pipeline structure by the shore, its bent and folded steel pipes forming a dense cluster of buildings. The waves rolled, crashing against the shore and revealing white foam.
POW!
With a huge roar, a puff of white smoke suddenly appeared on the coast. The white smoke flashed, and from within walked out two figures, one old and one young. The elder had lush white long hair and a hearty smile on his face that was quite infectious. The youth had a handsome appearance, was dressed in red, and had a mysterious black mark on his forehead.
"Jiraiya-sensei, is this the place?" The red-clothed youth, Hatake Kusuo, asked, sizing up the surroundings while speaking to Jiraiya beside him.
From the moment Jiraiya stepped onto the shore, his expression had become grave. The experience of the previous battle still left him with lingering fear. After all, his enemy was the Six Paths of Pain, whose strength was even more terrifying than a Kage's.
"This is the place."
Receiving Jiraiya's affirmative answer, Kusuo further integrated it with the memories of the original story in his mind. There were still many reefs on the coast. The surroundings were filled with a strange cluster of black, pipe-covered buildings, with a circular entrance right in the center.
How unlucky. In the original story, it was here that Jiraiya, due to his intelligence being compromised, was ambushed and ganged up on by all six Pains, and was stabbed to death on the reefs.
"Let's go." After looking at the scenery for a few more moments, Kusuo's expression was as usual. He said faintly, then leaped up, landing on the high platform at the very center, inside that huge entrance.
This scene made Jiraiya's heart tremble. Hiss.That one jump... wasn't it a distance of dozens of meters? A single person can actually leap from the ground to a high platform dozens of meters away? Is this something a human can even do?
Even Might Guy, who specialized in taijutsu, couldn't achieve such a feat. And even the Raikage of the Cloud Village, a country renowned for its Nin-Taijutsu, couldn't do it.
"This brat... his strength has improved again!"
"How long has it been since I last saw him? His physique has already grown to such an exaggerated level."
While Jiraiya was secretly shocked, his assessment of the danger of this trip was inexplicably lowered by quite a bit. In any case, wherever this brat was, miracles always happened. And with the support of the intelligence he had gathered beforehand, even if this operation couldn't successfully achieve its original goal, there probably wouldn't be any danger to their lives.
Thinking of this, Jiraiya's confidence grew considerably. He also jumped onto a few lower platforms in succession, finally walking into the central circular passage. The passage was composed of even smaller circular iron pipes. It was dark inside, without any light. Their footsteps on it made a "tap, tap" sound.
The two of them walked in silence. The crisp sound of their footsteps echoed back and forth in this quiet environment and against the empty iron walls, carrying a profound valley-like charm.
Unfortunately, this operation was destined to be filled with step-by-step killing intent.
There was no sound of breathing. As Kusuo walked, he was carefully sensing for any enemies that might appear ahead at any time. Under his perception, no one could successfully infiltrate within a thousand meters of him. So, as long as a living person approached, he would surely be detected.
But there were exceptions. And that was... if the one who came was a dead person.
"Jiraiya-sensei, I let you escape last time. I didn't expect you to dare to come back," an indifferent voice, without a trace of emotion, suddenly rang out. It seemed to come from the end of the passage ahead, yet it also seemed to be echoing from all directions.
"They're here!" Jiraiya's body instantly tensed up. He immediately took out a kunai, looking around vigilantly, on guard for any direction the enemy might appear from.
A cold smile hung on the corner of Kusuo's mouth. This trick played by the Pain controlled by Nagato was quite interesting. But to play mysterious in front of him... was like showing off one's meager skills before an expert.
"Sun Breathing, Third Form! Raging Sun's Crimson Mirror!"
He slashed with his sword.
SWISH!
A golden-red, circular sword aura cut through the howling wind, brazenly slashing at all the obstructions around them. Whether it was metal pipes or other building materials, as far as the eye could see, all was turned into a field of ruins. It was a complete mess.
BOOM!
A roaring explosive fluctuation immediately swept through the entire space. In that instant, even the steel rails under their feet began to show signs of collapse.
"Let's go!" Jiraiya was startled by this sudden move from Kusuo. A slash of such power was truly astonishing, but it had also completely destroyed the interior space of the entire building. At this moment, Jiraiya was reminded of the time he had taken this boy on his first and only mission. That day, they had accidentally run into Kisame Hoshigaki and Itachi, who were after the Nine-Tails inside Naruto. The Kusuo of back then was also standing in front of him like this, so confident and decisive.
Hatake Kusuo. One slash from his sword crushed everything. The effect was immediate.
They were forced to run out of the building. Even if Pain's body was made of a corpse, it would be hard for it to withstand such a terrifying collapse.
Finally, the two of them ran out of the entrance and arrived at the core part of the Hidden Rain's central tower. Here, the main theme was still a cluster of black metal buildings, surrounding the entire space on all four sides.
And here, Kusuo sensed a strange breathing sound. The position of this breath was—directly above them.
Looking up, a woman with purple eyeshadow and sad, giant white wings, with a lip piercing below her lower lip, her gaze as merciless and indifferent as Pain's, yet she had the fluctuating aura of a living person.
"Konan." Jiraiya also noticed her above. Looking at her figure, his gaze was complex and cold. As one of his earliest disciples, for her to have fallen so far... as her teacher, besides heartache and repentance, Jiraiya was mostly filled with incomprehension.
Unfortunately, Konan did not give them this opportunity. Because below her, there was another small figure, wearing an Akatsuki robe, her face pierced with numerous black rods. Kusuo recognized her. This was the Animal Path of Pain.
The female-looking Animal Path did not probe. After a merciless sweep with her strange, ripple-like eyes, she suddenly clapped her hands together.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
POOF!
A light sound. The white smoke dissipated, and a giant chameleon appeared before everyone. Its round, bulging eyes darted around. Its mouth opened, and the Animal Path Pain jumped in.
The next second, the entire chameleon had vanished without a trace.
"Be careful, Kusuo! That summoned beast can turn invisible! We can't detect its position!"
Jiraiya's hands weren't idle either. He had already made a plan. This time, with Kusuo by his side to cover him, he had ample time to form hand seals. So, this time, Jiraiya was going to enter Sage Mode. He would summon the two great sages, Fukasaku and Shima, to fight alongside him against Pain. After entering Sage Mode, his strength would greatly increase, and he was absolutely confident he could also protect Kusuo by his side.
But just as Jiraiya had reminded Kusuo that the chameleon could turn invisible, the latter had already slashed out with a calm expression.
Schlick!
The clear, cold sound of a blade cutting was heard. A crimson sword aura cut a sharp arc. Where the sword aura passed, fresh blood sprayed.
POW!
The chameleon's corpse, cut in two, suddenly fell to the ground, creating a huge commotion.
"This...?" Jiraiya was dumbfounded. What had just happened? How did this brat know the chameleon's position? Could it be that he possessed a dojutsu with superior insight?!
His face filled with shock, he hurriedly stared at Kusuo. But he found that the latter was acting as if nothing had happened, looking at the female figure in the mid-air with a self-absorbed expression.
There, Konan's face had also turned ashen. Having witnessed that one slash just now, besides the shock on her face, she had also thoroughly understood the identity of the red-clothed boy who had come with Jiraiya-sensei.
The Asura of Konoha! Hatake Kusuo!
-------
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