Attacking the Five Kage Summit with only two subordinates might have seemed reckless, but Nagato had come with a clear objective.
Just as with his assault on Konoha, this was the fastest way to locate the Tailed Beasts.
If he captured the Fourth Raikage, extracting his soul would reveal Killer Bee's location with ease.
Although Hayashi had rescued the Raikage before that could happen, White Zetsu had unexpectedly discovered the Eight-Tails Jinchūriki. In that sense, Nagato's objective had already been achieved.
Even so, he had no intention of leaving immediately to pursue Killer Bee.
If the Six Paths of Pain withdrew now, the Five Kage and everyone else on the battlefield would immediately give chase. With the Five Kage supporting him, Killer Bee would have every opportunity to escape.
So Nagato chose to remain.
That did not mean someone else couldn't move.
He had brought subordinates for exactly this purpose.
Aside from Hashirama Senju's Wood Release, the Mangekyō Sharingan was one of the greatest tools for subduing Tailed Beasts, and Uchiha Fugaku possessed exactly that ability.
As for Hiruko, Nagato had never truly trusted the mysterious man who had suddenly appeared after killing Danzō. Naturally, he had no intention of entrusting him with such an important mission.
The Deva Path spoke coldly.
"Tell Fugaku to capture the Eight-Tails Jinchūriki. Hiruko and I will hold the Five Kage here."
White Zetsu nodded before disappearing beneath the ground once more.
Nagato had never felt more confident.
His battle against the Fourth Raikage had convinced him that the Five Kage were far from invincible.
If possible, he intended to eliminate all five of them here in the Land of Iron.
Their deaths would remove countless future obstacles.
Hayashi watched White Zetsu leave but made no attempt to stop him.
Instead, he killed the Human Path, which occupied the Third Mizukage's body, before lifting the unconscious Fourth Raikage onto his shoulder.
Two Kumogakure jōnin hurried over from the distance, hoping to treat their leader.
Neither possessed significant combat strength. Otherwise, they would not have remained spectators throughout the battle.
It wasn't that A hadn't wanted capable escorts.
The Hidden Cloud had already suffered multiple attacks in recent years. Leaving the village unattended risked another disaster.
Its strongest shinobi had all remained behind to defend the village.
Not everyone was as unconcerned as Hayashi, who could casually bring both the Yellow Flash and Konoha's "Sea King" as escorts.
With so many elite shinobi protecting Konoha, Hayashi had no worries about someone raiding his home.
Kumogakure simply didn't have that luxury.
Confident in his own strength, A had departed with only two support shinobi.
One was a medical ninja.
The other was a sensor ninja.
Neither had been allowed to participate in the fight.
By the time they realized the Raikage had fallen, it was already too late.
Against the Asura Path's missile barrages, they would have died before even reaching him.
The two shinobi anxiously approached, but Hayashi stopped them.
The Hidden Cloud's medical ninjutsu was far too slow.
By the time they finished treating A, Killer Bee would probably already be dead.
Hayashi hadn't brought a medical ninja either.
Instead, Nawaki carried Samehada.
During Kisame's battle with Killer Bee, Samehada had restored Kisame's devastating injuries by flooding him with chakra.
Its healing ability was more effective than most medical ninjutsu.
Unfortunately, Samehada had a personality of its own.
It tilted its hilt away, clearly refusing to heal the Fourth Raikage.
Not just anyone was worthy of its chakra.
It had standards.
A rugged man like the Fourth Raikage clearly failed them.
Crackle!
Lightning Release gathered in Hayashi's palm.
Sensing danger, Samehada immediately abandoned its stubbornness.
With astonishing enthusiasm, it slammed its hilt directly into the Fourth Raikage's backside.
Samehada: Thousand Years of Death!
The impact was so powerful that even the unconscious A twitched violently.
"Nawaki frowned.
"Hayashi, don't bully my Samehada."
Hayashi snorted.
"Do you know how much Tailed Beast chakra this thing eats every day? It consumes mountains of chakra, then refuses to work. It just needs discipline. Skip a few meals and it'll behave."
The moment Samehada heard the words "skip a few meals," it panicked.
It immediately began pouring chakra into the Fourth Raikage at full force.
Unable to watch any longer, Nawaki sighed, pulled out a scroll sealed with Tailed Beast chakra, and tossed it into Samehada's mouth.
Samehada happily swallowed it before rubbing affectionately against Nawaki's leg.
After calming the sword down, Nawaki asked,
"What about Killer Bee? Should Minato and I go rescue him?"
Hayashi nodded toward the recovering Raikage.
"Take him with you."
A's injuries were healing rapidly.
Only his right arm remained beyond recovery, completely burned away.
Samehada wasn't Naruto.
It couldn't regenerate missing limbs the way Naruto later restored Kakashi's eye.
Still, losing an arm wouldn't prevent A from living normally.
In the original timeline, he had lost an arm fighting Sasuke anyway.
Back then it had been his left arm.
Now it was his right.
How he adapted afterward was his own problem.
Hayashi wasn't particularly concerned about the Raikage's future inconveniences.
Closing his eyes briefly, he expanded his sensory range before opening them again.
"Killer Bee is roughly two hundred miles away at the nine o'clock direction. He's moving quickly, and Fugaku is already flying toward him."
He looked at Minato.
"Use Flying Thunder God Technique to teleport to Tsukiyo Town in the Land of Rice Fields first. From there, head southeast. You should arrive shortly after Fugaku."
Minato nodded.
The plan had always been to revive the Ten-Tails.
The difference lay in how much chakra the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path managed to absorb.
If it completely absorbed the Eight-Tails, the revived Ten-Tails would be vastly stronger.
If it absorbed only a small portion, its strength would be greatly diminished.
Obito's Ten-Tails had already been weaker than Madara's because it contained only fragments of the Eight-Tails' and Nine-Tails' chakra.
Madara's version had possessed nearly all of the Tailed Beasts' chakra, lacking only half of Kurama.
The difference between the two was enormous.
Likewise, even if Fugaku successfully revived the Ten-Tails, it would be weaker still.
After all, Hayashi had already drained a considerable amount of chakra from all nine Tailed Beasts.
While Samehada continued healing the Fourth Raikage, the Naraka Path, using Yagura's body, summoned the King of Hell.
The shattered remains of the Asura Path, which had been destroyed by the Raikage, were fed into the King of Hell's mouth.
After a brief moment, the King of Hell restored the body completely.
The Asura Path stood once again.
"That settles it."
Hayashi looked at Minato.
"Go find Killer Bee. I'll handle things here."
By now, the Fourth Raikage had recovered enough to stand on his own.
He glared at the Six Paths of Pain with unconcealed hatred before walking over to Minato without protest.
He already knew Killer Bee had left Turtle Island.
No matter how badly he wanted revenge, nothing mattered more than his younger brother.
Minato couldn't help feeling nostalgic.
During the Third Great Ninja War, he had fought both A and Killer Bee with the Flying Thunder God Technique.
That battle had earned him the title of the Yellow Flash.
Now, he was using the very same technique to save Killer Bee alongside the Fourth Raikage.
Time truly changed everything.
"There are no eternal enemies," Minato murmured.
"Let's go."
The next instant, both he and the Fourth Raikage vanished.
Hayashi slowly walked toward the remaining Six Paths of Pain.
He casually raised a hand in greeting, as though meeting an old acquaintance.
=≠=
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