Hayashi stood before what remained of the Six Paths of Pain.
Despite the name, there were no longer six of them.
The Human Path had attempted to extract the Fourth Raikage's soul, but Hayashi had intercepted it using Sage Art: Inorganic Reincarnation. The body itself had been completely destroyed afterward, making it impossible for the Naraka Path to restore it through the King of Hell.
Meanwhile, the Animal Path, Hanzō, was occupied fighting the Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki.
The Naraka Path, using the corpse of the Fourth Mizukage, had already revived Roshi before taking Fugaku's place in battle against the Fifth Mizukage.
That left only three opponents before Hayashi.
The Deva Path, Yahiko.
The Preta Path, the Two-Tails' jinchūriki.
And the Asura Path, Roshi.
One against three.
Hayashi had wanted to say he would take on all Six Paths of Pain himself, but in reality, only three remained.
"Fourth Hokage... it's been a long time."
Nagato spoke through Yahiko's body, his expression cold and detached.
He enjoyed watching people react with shock when they recognized him.
Instead, Hayashi simply tilted his head.
"It certainly has been a long time. But..."
"But what?"
Nagato's voice remained icy.
"For the sake of our past acquaintance, I can answer a few questions. Consider it the mercy that God grants the people of the great nations."
He had already prepared countless speeches about war, hatred, the tailed beasts, and the endless cycle of pain.
Those beliefs had become the foundation supporting his resolve.
If the Fourth Hokage could be persuaded to surrender the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki willingly, Nagato might even spare his life out of respect for the past.
"Will you really answer anything I ask?" Hayashi asked with complete seriousness.
"Of course. You, Nawaki, Uchiha Mikoto, and Jiraiya Sensei are exceptions. This is God's generosity."
Hayashi smiled.
"Then, O God, could you tell me where you get your nails done? Does the Akatsuki receive a group discount?"
Nagato fell silent.
The rings.
The black cloaks.
The painted fingernails.
Hayashi genuinely couldn't understand why a terrorist organization insisted on looking so fashionable.
Then again, as the most recognizable organization in the shinobi world, perhaps that was simply part of the Akatsuki's image.
Seeing the Deva Path remain speechless, Hayashi decided not to press the joke any further.
"Since we're old acquaintances, should I call you the Six Paths of Pain, God... or Nagato?"
"...Nagato? Why would you use that name?"
"Because Yahiko is dead."
Hayashi looked directly into Yahiko's lifeless eyes.
"You're only controlling his corpse. No matter whose body you're wearing, Yahiko is gone. There's no reason for me to mistake you for him."
Nagato's brow furrowed.
"So... Konoha's intelligence network is more capable than I imagined."
His greatest secret had been exposed so casually.
Only Konan and the masked man knew the truth behind the Six Paths of Pain.
Konan would never betray him.
Could Madara have revealed it?
Impossible.
Then another possibility crossed his mind.
"I've always wondered which of the Five Great Nations joined forces with Hanzō to destroy the original Akatsuki."
His voice grew colder.
"So it was Konoha all along. Otherwise, how would you know Yahiko died?"
Hayashi chuckled softly.
"You still haven't figured out who worked with Hanzō?"
He shook his head.
"Nagato, I don't mean to insult you, but after all these years, you really haven't grown."
The attack on the Akatsuki had indeed been orchestrated by Danzō alongside Hanzō.
But Danzō had acted independently.
Whether that reflected Konoha or not was another matter entirely.
As the Fourth Hokage, Hayashi certainly wasn't going to admit otherwise.
"Danzō's actions have nothing to do with me."
He continued calmly.
"Think about it, Nagato. Why would Konoha want to eliminate you? You and Yahiko were Jiraiya Sensei's students. As long as you were alive, your existence benefited Konoha. Why would we deliberately attack you?"
Someone as politically experienced as Ōnoki would immediately notice the flaws in that argument.
What benefited Konoha as a village did not necessarily benefit every individual within it.
But Nagato had never been skilled in political maneuvering.
Deep down, he had already accepted Hayashi's explanation.
Seeing that Hayashi had no intention of revealing the real culprit, the Deva Path spoke indifferently.
"It doesn't matter."
"Once you're dead, I'll learn the truth myself."
His confidence was absolute.
As soon as the words fell, the Asura Path stepped forward.
Its body had transformed almost entirely into machinery.
Rows of missile launchers emerged from its frame.
A barrage erupted toward Hayashi.
At the same moment, the Deva Path raised one hand.
"Shinra Tensei!"
The overwhelming repulsive force slammed into Hayashi, launching him directly toward the incoming missiles.
Unlike the Fourth Raikage, Hayashi had no intention of enduring the explosions with his body alone.
Blue chakra surged around him.
The skeletal form of Susanoo instantly enveloped him.
Within its hand, a spiraling chakra sword materialized.
With a single swing, the enormous blade crashed into the approaching missiles.
Boom!
A deafening explosion shook the battlefield.
"Susanoo..."
Nagato frowned.
Even with the Rinnegan, such overwhelming offense and defense made Hayashi a troublesome opponent.
Hayashi burst through the smoke.
The skeletal Susanoo disappeared as quickly as it had appeared.
Rather than allowing himself to crash into the wall, he twisted midair, planted both feet against the vertical surface, and bent his knees to absorb the remaining force.
Cracks spread beneath his feet like a spiderweb.
Without hesitation, Hayashi formed hand seals.
The earth itself came alive.
"Sage Art: Inorganic Reincarnation!"
The ground erupted.
A massive earth dragon burst forth with a thunderous roar, charging directly toward the remaining Paths of Pain.
In reality, Hayashi had completed two separate sets of hand seals almost simultaneously.
His speed had been so incredible that Nagato had only noticed the second sequence.
The earth dragon itself was merely a disguise.
Hidden beneath its rocky exterior coiled a gigantic Wood Dragon covered in thick thorns, its long hooked snout concealed beneath layers of living stone.
Using Wood Release openly would attract too much attention.
As the Fourth Hokage, suddenly displaying the First Hokage's kekkei genkai would immediately raise questions about Hashirama's cells.
His chakra nature fusion was not yet complete, making such an ability difficult to explain.
So Hayashi had cleverly cloaked the Wood Dragon with Sage Art: Inorganic Reincarnation.
The living stone armor greatly enhanced the dragon's durability while also allowing the rocky shell itself to bind and constrict opponents.
The Asura Path unleashed another barrage of missiles in an attempt to stop it.
The explosions barely slowed the dragon's advance.
Without hesitation, the Preta Path rushed to the front.
He intended to absorb the incoming ninjutsu.
After all, no matter how powerful a technique was, without chakra, it became meaningless.
Unfortunately, this technique had been created specifically to counter him.
The Wood Dragon Technique absorbed chakra just as efficiently as the Rinnegan itself.
The moment the Preta Path made contact, he realized something was wrong.
Not only could he not absorb the dragon's chakra, but his own chakra was being drained away.
The dragon's crushing force ground away the flesh on both of his hands until only white bone remained.
"Shinra Tensei!"
The Deva Path immediately unleashed another wave of repulsive force.
The enormous dragon roared as it charged forward without slowing.
The two overwhelming forces collided head-on.
A violent shockwave exploded outward, visible to the naked eye.
The entire fortress trembled violently.
Walls cracked.
Rooms collapsed one after another.
Moments later, the giant dragon shattered apart with an earth-shaking crash.
At the same instant, the Preta Path exploded into countless fragments.
Another of the Six Paths of Pain had fallen.