"Was there really no better way to do this, Nagato? Your Mind's Eye has a huge range—why couldn't we have just set an ambush on the ground?"
The chuckle that escaped me in response to Yahiko's question was swallowed by the distant roar of the pouring rain striking the ground.
"Do you remember the lesson I taught you guys a while ago? That special teaching moment?"
Konan snorted, leaning back in the air.
Her fluid movements made for a stark contrast to Yahiko's graceless flailing every time he repositioned himself.
"Are you talking about that dumb prank you did the day you taught us about chakra control?"
A hum vibrated in my throat as I peered down at the lone figure sprinting across the barren land.
From our high altitude, the man appeared more like a small matchstick than a dangerous shinobi.
"I told you, it wasn't just a prank—there was a real point to it."
I pointed my hand toward the ground in the direction of our target.
"Take a look at that guy. He's a trained shinobi—veteran of many battles—and yet, he has no clue we're here following him."
My lips curled into a smirk.
"Didn't I tell you? People always forget to look up."
Yahiko groaned as his body moved forward in accordance to my will.
"Yeah, I get that! But that still doesn't answer why we couldn't have just set an ambush…. What's the point of following him from this high up?"
My tongue clicked sharply as I spun the pouting boy in a circle by manipulating the gravity around him.
"Think, Yahiko! I know you aren't actually this dense."
I gestured toward the landscape below.
"There is nowhere to set up an ambush from around here. It's just flat ground in all directions…. Our best bet to catch him off guard is to attack from an angle he doesn't expect."
I motioned my arms at the surrounding sky.
"Who would expect this?"
"Don't mind his pointless questions, Nagato," Konan said. "Yahiko just doesn't like being in the air… It was the same way when you first used the Deva path on him. He wouldn't shut up about it for days after."
Her amber eyes narrowed.
"Instead… can you tell us what we're going to do next? Why are we still waiting? He's right there!"
I glanced at her with a raised brow.
"We'll attack soon, don't worry... I'm waiting for him to gain a bit more distance from his base. If possible, I want there to be a zero chance possibility that he gets any backup during our fight."
Konan hummed in response—and then nodded.
Now comes the hard part…
"Actually… While we're already talking about plans… I'm afraid you will not be coming down with me for this particular fight."
"What!" Yahiko shouted. "What do you mean we're not coming down with you!?"
I winced at the boy's harsh tone.
"I said what I said. You're not coming down with me."
I hesitated for a moment.
"l allowed you to accompany me here solely because of how well your training has been going. You've advanced to the point where you'll at least be able to fight back and flee if things go south…but you lack any real combat experience."
My eyes locked onto theirs.
"Or is there something you forgot to tell me?"
Silence fell between us.
A silence that was broken by a firm, female voice.
"Neither do you."
My head tilted to the side as I met the Konan's frowning face with matching intensity.
"I do. I fought the shinobi who killed my parents—I told you about that."
"You didn't fight them," she snapped. "You used the Rinnegan and caught them off guard… Can you really say that that situation was in any way comparable to this one?"
I groaned, throwing my arms into the air.
"So what? I still have the Rinnegan—that didn't change. I'm also much stronger than I was back then… But that's beside the point! Look, I'm not certain about how strong that shinobi down there is exactly—not before I see him fight in person."
Yahiko crossed his arms and scoffed.
"Didn't you say that he was no match for you just yesterday? Now you don't even know if you can defeat him?"
This little…
"Of course I can defeat him!" I said through gritted teeth. "The problem comes from keeping you safe while doing so."
"We didn't come here so that you could keep us safe, Nagato," Konan said, her expression as cold as ice. "We're here to keep each other safe!"
We don't have time for this.
For the first time since the argument began, the volume of my voice rose.
"You're not coming down with me. And that's final."
"You can't stop us!"
My gaze locked onto Yahiko.
I raised my brow and then demonstratively glanced around at our surroundings.
"And how exactly do you intend to get down from here… all by yourself?"
I met the boy's fierce glare with narrowed purple eyes.
All it took to make any further desire for confrontation vanish from my mind was the shaky voice of the girl next to me.
Her expressionless mask had cracked.
"Nagato," she said quietly, "You promised you would include us from now on… you said we're a team."
Her hands balled into fists.
"You're a liar."
Why can't they understand that I'm doing this for them?
I just don't want to see them hurt.
"I—" My voice broke as I searched for the right words. "—just stay here… alright? It won't be much longer. I will either call you when I need help, or after I'm finished."
I received no answer from either of my companions.
A sigh escaped me as I averted my eyes from the silent duo and instead directed them toward my target below.
With ease born of repetition, I channeled the Deva Path and fell from the sky like crimson rain.
————
Any plans I had for how the assault on the shinobi would unfold were shattered the moment I came within striking distance of the man.
It was impossible for him to be a sensor.
If he was one, he would have noticed me long before that—
and yet, he still avoided the chakra-reinforced fist aimed at his head with utter ease.
I reversed the gravity around me, coming to an abrupt halt—hovering a few feet above the ground.
Meanwhile, the shinobi had jumped forward and rotated himself in the air so that he landed facing me.
A polished kunai gripped tightly in his hand.
"Who are you supo–" I did not let him finish.
With a jerk of my hands, the gravity in our immediate surrounding space ceased to be.
The rain formed heavy clusters in the air while the many stones littering the ground rose up.
My stomach dropped, because for the first time, the Rinnegan had failed me.
The tall man's feet remained firmly planted on the ground.
His face was hidden from my sight by a featureless white mask, but his tone suggested that he was smiling.
"What a pretty trick," he drawled. "Was that supposed to do something?"
He tilted his head.
"Now that I'm looking at you—"
His armored upper body leaned forward.
"That striking red hair… you're an Uzumaki, aren't you? Honestly. Is this my lucky day? You wi-"
I had no interest in listening to the man's slimy voice any longer.
It was pointless.
Once I had won this fight, I would get the opportunity to know everything he had to say to me, and more.
So much more.
My arm snapped forward as I imposed my will on the floating stones surrounding us, making them shoot at the shinobi like sustained cannon fire.
The sound of air being split apart echoed across the land.
"Fuck! Are you trying to kill me?" he called. "You stupid brat!"
The sharp projectiles left bloody lines on the shinobi's body as he weaved around them like a dancer.
Only a precious few of my shots actually landed.
A choked gasp burst out of me as the elaborate technique caused my chakra levels to plummet abruptly.
I immediately halted the attack.
While my friends were still up there in the sky—held in place by nothing but my own will—my chakra not running out was more important than anything else.
I threw a quick glance upward, studying the tightly pinched expressions on their faces.
My eyes narrowed in focus as I increased the gravity around me and landed hard on the ground.
As soon as my feet touched the earth, I lowered the gravity again and lunged toward the shinobi.
My hands transformed into mechanized swords under the influence of the Asura Path.
The rain—that had continued falling after I reigned in the Deva Path—exploded away as the shinobi's sharp kunai met my metallic limb.
The numerous exchanges that followed, I only survived because of the enhanced perception the Rinnegan granted me and the great amounts of chakra my body could naturally channel.
Unlike me, the shinobi moved like a trained and consummate killer.
When he slashed at me with eerie precision, I positioned my metal limb between us before my conscious mind had even begun to catch up.
When he kicked at me with his steel boots, I swerved to the side by changing the direction of the gravity holding me in place.
The attacks mounted.
Five. Six. A dozen.
I either blocked or avoided them all.
Despite the large number of strikes, my opponent did not manage to land a single hit—but neither did I.
The precarious standstill was broken when the sheer difference in skill between us finally overwhelmed my superior instincts.
I retreated backward—as a few strands of red hair fell to the ground before me.
A thin line of split skin opened on my cheek.
"You're pretty good, brat. All natural talent, but no skill at all. And those eyes! An Uzumaki with a Dojutsu? You will fetch me a very good price. I'm sure of it."
My brows furrowed as I ignored the man's ramblings.
Instead, I used the brief pause in our fight to scan the battlefield for anything that could grant me an advantage.
Four extra arms grew out of my sides.
I picked up a handful of stones with each of my six hands.
Rather than using my chakra to stick them to my skin, I did the opposite.
One after the other, they blasted away from my hands and shot toward the shinobi at blinding speeds—in a repeat performance of my earlier gravity-fueled salvo.
"Not this crap again," he muttered, dodging the projectiles. "Did you not learn your lesson last time?"
I crouched low and prepared for a counterattack the moment my stones ran out.
None came.
"How about this, as a punishment for annoying me… I take your toys away!"
The man's hands blurred as he performed a set of hand seals at lightning speed.
"Earth Style: Stone Rebirth!"
He placed his palms flat against the ground and inclined his head as the earth rippled in response to the jutsu that spread through it.
The devastating effects of the earth-style technique expanded in a circle around him.
The very land reshaped itself.
The sodden earth hardened, and the scattered stones above fused with the ground like a grey mosaic.
"What will you do now, brat?"
I gritted my teeth. Mind racing.
He's better at close-range battle, I ne-
A chuckle filled the space between us.
"No matter the country, you clan kids are the always the same. So arrogant. So quick to panic once your little tricks stop working."
My shoulders loosened as the man performed another set of hand seals.
"Fire style: Flaming Torch!"
Before he was finished invoking the name of the technique, my arms had already snapped forward in preparation for the incoming flaming lance.
The moment the fire jutsu met my skin, the Preta path roared to life—and my chakra levels rose again.
"What's that? Another trick? Don't thi-"
I couldn't help it.
I laughed.
My eyes widened as a smile rose to match.
"The fuck are you laughing at, you stupid brat? What, you think you're hot shit just because you survived a single attack?"
My smile disappeared without a trace as I lowered all but two of my arms.
My hands were left open, ready to grasp.
"I figured it out."
The shinobi's kunai snapped out of his grip and into my waiting hand.
A moment later, so did his porcelain mask.
The scarred man glowered at me, his eyes narrowing.
"You should not have done that," he said quietly. "Now I will have to kill you."
My mechanized limbs snapped back up just in time to block the barrage of punches the older shinobi unleashed upon me.
Despite all reason, the edges of my asura arms—turned swords—did not cut him as they met his bare hands.
His skin was as hard as steel.
"Surprised, are you?… You fucking clan brats always think you're the only ones with tricks up your sleeves!"
The man's punches landed on my guard with more force than a raging river.
He hounded me ceaselessly, until not even my multiple limbs could keep up with his movements.
The small amounts of chakra I stole from him whenever skin met skin barely managed to slow him down.
A wheezing breath escaped me as I was forced down to my knees.
Without a shred of mercy, the shinobi took the opportunity to press down on me with his hardened arms.
His flushed face was so close to mine that I could feel his breath on my face.
"I could have made some good money with you, boy!… If only you hadn't seen my face."
My eyes gleamed as I met his piercing azure gaze.
What an idiot.
I stopped pushing back, merely holding my position.
My jaw unhinged to the limit, revealing what I had been quietly preparing while the shinobi was busy running his mouth.
Instead of a pink tongue, a metallic chakra cannon pointed straight out toward my opponent's face.
A face that was barely a few inches away.
The corners of my lips rose up even further as the Asura Path proved its worth once again.
Concentrated chakra flowed from my pathway system straight into the cannon—and then shot out in a bright blue flash that illuminated the surrounding space.
Half of the man's head vanished in an instant.
Somehow, he had reacted fast enough to jerk his head to the side—
but he wasn't fast enough to avoid the blast entirely.
I breathed out deeply and straightened myself back upward.
The shinobi crumpled like a puppet with its strings cut.
That… could've gone better.
A gurgling sound dragged my attention down to my feet.
I gave the twitching man a kick to his sides.
"You still alive? That's good… I almost messed this up."
A grin split my face as the Rinnegan met a single bulging blue eye.
I crouched down, inching my hand toward the man's savaged face.
————-
"After this… we need to have a talk with him."
"I know."
Yahiko's hands clenched tightly as he did his best to follow the fight going on below.
It was impossible.
At their altitude, Nagato and his opponent were barely visible.
The only thing that he was sure of was that the fight was heating up.
"He can't treat us like this, Yahiko! I know he's strong, and we still need to catch up a bit… but we're all working hard! Day and night! How dare he act like–"
"Konan."
Yahiko cut off his friend's rambling with a single word.
The girl had been beside herself ever since Nagato left them minutes earlier.
"I know," he repeated, staring into her amber eyes with the intent to convey his feelings on the situation over to her.
Unfortunately, they were floating too far apart to connect through Ninshu.
"He's really done it this time," Yahiko continued. "We will have that talk, don't worry, but for no–"
His voice broke off as he involuntarily bit down on his tongue.
His body moved by itself, lowering itself toward the ground.
I really hate flying.
Yahiko's brows furrowed as he beheld the violent scene that became ever clearer the closer they came to the battlefield.
Blood pooled together with rain and sank into the strangely smooth ground.
There was no dent in the earth, nor any stones.
"He didn't need us after all," Konan whispered, staring unblinkingly at the motionless figure at their friend's feet.
Yahiko followed her gaze, recognizing it to be the corpse of the shinobi they had chased.
Half of his head was missing.
The ground beneath was slick with blood and brain matter.
Nagato had not been bluffing.
He killed their enemy.
"Just in case you were wondering," Nagato said. He's not dead. Not yet."
Yahiko's eyes snapped up to the source of the voice.
One side of Nagato's shoulder-length crimson hair had been cut off during his fight and now only reached to his chin.
Blood trickled down from a cut on his cheek.
He looked more battered than Yahiko had ever seen him before.
"Naturally, I didn't keep him alive because he deserves it, or because I couldn't go through with it," Nagato continued, meeting Yahiko's gaze.
"I did it for you… I know you've both been wondering for a while now about the last Path I've kept shrouded in secrecy for so long."
Yahiko straightened as Nagato turned his attention back to the dying shinobi.
Is he finally going to show us?
"It is called the Human Path… and as for what it can do… well. You'll see very soon."
The Rinnegan glinted as he cast them a sidelong glance.
"This is a first for me as well, so if something goes wrong… do make sure to watch over me for a while."
Nagato locked his eyes on the defeated man below him.
His pale hand reached out and gripped onto the remaining piece of the man's face.
As soon as their skin touched, Nagato jerked his arm backward.
Yahiko's breath caught.
Attached to hus friends hand was a translucent purple specter.
Its gaping mouth opened in a soundless scream.