Tendō Pain extended his palm.
"Almighty Push!"
Once again, Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura were repelled by an invisible repulsive force, sending them sliding backwards across the grass. Blood trickled from Sasuke's eye as he focused his gaze on Gakidō Pain, but Chikushōdō Pain flickered before him, and she slammed her palms against the ground.
"Summoning Jutsu:Giant Multi-Headed Dog!"
With a loud bang, white smoke exploded outwards from her palms, blanketing Senju Park. Sakura braced herself as the smell of wet dog assaulted her nostrils, and within instants, the veil of smoke had cleared, revealing the silhouette of a two-headed, winged dog that would have towered over the Hokage Residence, had it not just been levelled.
As one, Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura bit their thumbs, breaking skin and drawing blood. They smeared the crimson liquid across their palms, before flashing through a sequence of hand signs and finally pressing their hands against the ground.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
Three enormous plumes of white smoke burst forth, swirling away on the rush of displaced air to reveal three towering silhouettes. Gamabunta, the Boss Toad of Mt Myōboku; Aoda, the great blue serpent of Ryūchi Cave; and Lady Katsuyu of Shikkotsu Forest; upon each of their heads stood their summoners.
Sakura peered down from Katsuyu's head.
The Gakidō Pain that Naruto had mangled with his Rasengan was now being devoured by the spectral King of Hell, summoned by Jigokudō Pain. As expected, this one would be their next target after Gakidō— the healer was troublesome enough, but the one who could absorb and nullify chakra still took precedence, in her opinion. There was no point taking down the healer if they couldn't even eliminate a single Pain for him to mend.
Even so, Tendō Pain remained the greatest threat amongst all six puppets. In the original timeline, Naruto had been lucky enough to face the Pains while Tendō's powers were on cooldown, but in this timeline they had no such luck, with Deidara taking charge of demolishing the village. There would be no easy chance to knock down a few Pains before reaching the main one.
"Sakura?" said Katsuyu hesitantly. "Lady Tsunade, I no longer sense our contract… our connection…"
"Later, Lady Katsuyu," Sakura said flatly. "The village is in danger."
The bead‑like eyes at the ends of Katsuyu's eyestalks contracted as she gazed at the Giant Multi-Headed Dog the Animal Path had summoned.
"Are those the eyes of the Sage of Six Paths?" she said, her large body shuddering. "My goodness…"
The Giant Multi-Headed Dog snarled as it pounced in Naruto's direction, foaming at the mouths, but the Boss Toad sprang into the air, unsheathing his massive blade.
"Lady Katsuyu!" Sakura called. "Get some caustic spit ready!"
This was bad: slashing damage was useless against this summoned beast. Like a hydra, it would simply grow more heads if one was severed, unless the wound was cauterised. In the worst case, it could even split into more bodies if the cut was too big, like a starfish or a flatworm.
The Boss Toad angled his sword downwards as he fell back down, but to his surprise the two‑headed dog simply looked up at him, making no move to dodge. The great blade struck true, biting deep into the dog's flesh; metal met bone, and with a sickening crunch the creature was cleaved where its necks joined—only for a third head to burst from the gaping wound with a wet, revolting squelch. The great beast's jaws opened wide as it lunged forwards in a triple‑bite combo, sending Bunta sprawling onto his back.
"Now!" Sakura shouted.
Katsuyu drew back her head and pursed her mouth, a guttural gargle rumbling in her throat as she spewed a pressurised stream of acid at the newly sprouted head. The middle head yipped in agony as its flesh hissed and melted and its fur burned, while the remaining heads growled and snarled, fangs snapping at the Boss Toad.
"Oi, watch where you're spitting!" Gamabunta yelled. "A little help, here!?"
The three-headed dog mounted Bunta, strings of drool mixed with acid dripping onto his wart-ridden face. Grunting, the Boss Toad braced himself, powerful legs straining to hold the snapping maws at bay as he fought to wrench his sword free from the middle neck.
"Already on it!" Naruto called, clambering onto the giant toad's forehead.
Somehow, Naruto had managed to cling to the back of Gamabunta's head after he'd been knocked down. He summoned two Shadow Clones, their arms turning into blurs as they kneaded chakra into the main body's palm, compressing it, spinning it, infusing it with wind nature…
…
Seeing that her big dog was now outnumbered, Chikushōdō Pain summoned three new creatures to help.
"Summoning Jutsu:Giant Drill-Beaked Bird!"
"Summoning Jutsu:Giant Rhino!"
"Summoning Jutsu:Giant Centipede!"
Seeing the giant centipede writhe eerily as it scuttled towards him, even Sasuke could not suppress a shudder. No matter what, he told himself, he had to stop it before Sakura had a fit!
"Aoda!" he shouted. "The centipede!"
Aoda shot forwards, his iridescent blue scales gleaming prettily, but the centipede had more feet than he could ever dream of having. The giant blue snake lunged, snapping at empty air as the giant centipede scuttled rapidly away towards Sakura, but before he could give chase, the Giant Drill-Beaked Bird crashed beak first to the ground in front of him, blocking his path as the rhinoceros thundered into the fray.
Quick as a flash, Aoda slid up the rhino's foreleg, tripping it up, and the beast ploughed a deep groove into the earth as it crashed and skidded to a halt. In one fluid motion, Aoda coiled around its body, just as Sasuke, balancing precariously atop his head, completed weaving his seals…
…
Naruto drew back his arm and hurled the humming ball of compressed wind chakra straight at the three‑headed dog. At the same time, Sasuke filled his lungs to the brim, raised a hand to his lips, and unleashed a flurry of dragon‑shaped fireballs at the bird summon, which was still struggling to pry its beak free from the ground.
"Wind Style: Rasenshuriken!"
"Fire Style: Dragon Flame Caterwaul Jutsu!"
In a flash, the Gakidō and Tendō Pain puppets flickered before the giant dog and bird respectively and thrust out their arms, palms facing outwards.
"Jutsu Absorption!"
The Rasenshuriken twisted and deformed as it flew, flattening into a disk as it neared its target, and like an object entering a black hole's event horizon, it finally turned to strings of chakra and swirled into Gakidō Pain's hands, who absorbed its chakra into himself.
"Almighty Push!"
The fireballs flying towards the three‑headed dog suddenly veered around in mid‑air, streaking back towards Sasuke and Aoda. Seeing his master's jutsu reflected at them, Aoda reluctantly released his prey, and the fireballs slammed instead into the giant rhinoceros, igniting its hide. Unfortunately, the few scattered fires hardly bothered the beast; they flickered out moments later without leaving a mark. Fire Style techniques simply lacked the impact or penetration force to damage think-skinned foes that size.
"Sakura!" Sasuke shouted, spotting her frozen in place. The giant centipede from earlier had reared up on its hind legs, stretching its long body to reach her atop Katsuyu's head, its mandibles gnashing and clacking in fury. "Hang on, I'm coming!"
"SHANNAROOOO!"
Sasuke stared in shock as Sakura's fist suddenly flew out, shattering the centipede's armoured head in a single punch. A spray of haemolymph and pulped tissue burst outwards, splattering everywhere. Now headless, the creature staggered in wild circles before curling in on itself like a woodlouse, its countless legs twitching and jittering spasmodically.
At last, with a final shudder, it vanished in a puff of smoke.
"Ewwww!" Sakura shrieked. "Disgusting!"
"Leave the summons to fight each other!" shouted Sasuke, as Aoda once again slithered forth and coiled around the rhino, constricting it with his long, muscular body. "This won't end until we bring down the Pains!"
"Are you crazy!?" Naruto called back in disbelief. "We'll get trampled to death with these guys running around, ya know!"
"Sasuke's right, there's no other option!" Sakura shouted, just as Shuradō Pain's forearms split open to reveal rows of hidden missiles. She hopped down from Katsuyu's head as they fired, explosions gouging craters into the giant slug's body and sending showers of tiny slugs raining down across the battlefield. "We won't win by staying on the defensive!"