Fukasaku observed something unusual. No matter which of the three Jiraiya tried to attack from behind, another would always react in time.
In other words, while a single person might have blind spots, the three of them working together eliminated those gaps entirely, covering every angle of Jiraiya's movements.
"I noticed it too. Even so, they're not exchanging signals—no words, no eye contact," Jiraiya said, his expression darkening.
"Then those Rinnegan… if the three of them are sharing what each pair of eyes sees…"
Fukasaku's voice dropped as a bold hypothesis formed.
"So all three of them are sharing the vision of six eyes… is that it?"
Jiraiya felt a chill run through him as the realization took hold.
"This is bad. If ninjutsu doesn't work, dealing with all three of them at once is going to be extremely difficult. If this keeps up, even Sage Mode won't be enough—I could still be killed. I didn't expect them to be this strong."
Faced with such a terrifying opponent, Jiraiya had no choice but to consider retreat.
Everyone watching instinctively began committing every detail to memory.
"So the Rinnegan… different bodies have different abilities?" Uchiha Itachi murmured.
This was the first time he had learned that there were other members of the Six Paths of Pain.
In truth, he had never even met the true leader of the Akatsuki. The one he had always dealt with was the Deva Path—the outward face of Pain.
He hadn't even known there were such distinctions.
For a shinobi, the importance of intelligence needed no explanation.
He recalled something Kaede Kitahara had written in his diary—"Intel Jiraiya"—and finally understood what it referred to.
"The first Pain that appeared likely specializes in summoning. It can call forth summoned beasts and, when necessary, bring in other bodies to assist. That's why Nagato sent it out first."
Itachi quickly grasped Nagato's strategy.
If possible, the Animal Path and Konan would eliminate Jiraiya together. If not, it would summon the other Paths to reinforce the fight.
"The second one can absorb all ninjutsu. Whether that ability is unique to the Rinnegan isn't confirmed yet, but it's the most likely explanation. There's no known jutsu in the shinobi world capable of something like that."
Itachi leaned toward the conclusion that the Preta Path's Blocking Technique Absorption Seal came from the Rinnegan itself. No known school of ninjutsu could replicate such a power.
As for the third one, its abilities still hadn't been revealed.
"There's also shared vision between the Rinnegan… but it's not like the Byakugan's x-ray sight."
He silently cataloged everything he had observed, already considering how he would counter it if he ever faced them himself.
Did any of his hidden trump cards stand a chance against the Six Paths of Pain?
"Ninjutsu is useless…"
Hatake Kakashi frowned deeply. Against an opponent like this, his former self would have been completely at a loss.
After all, he was the man known for copying a thousand jutsu—the Copy Ninja Kakashi.
His entire combat style revolved around ninjutsu.
And now he was facing someone who could absorb it all.
It was a perfect counter.
Just like Orochimaru against Uchiha Itachi.
No—more accurately, there were probably very few people in the entire shinobi world who could deal with someone like this.
Maybe his old friend Guy could.
Guy relied entirely on taijutsu. Ninjutsu absorption meant nothing to him. In the end, it came down to whether you could withstand his blows.
As for Kakashi now, he felt far more at ease.
He had entered Kage Level through the sword.
Let them try absorbing that.
That was his confidence.
Meanwhile, Tsunade's eyes had already reddened.
"So this… this is the information you gave your life to bring back…"
She thought of Jiraiya's fate—of him sinking into the depths like a frog lost in the vast ocean—and how he had sacrificed everything to send back this crucial intelligence about Pain.
And yet, she couldn't call it meaningless.
Every piece of information was invaluable.
If the Six Paths of Pain had reached Konoha before they understood these abilities, then every discovery would have come at the cost of multiple lives.
The Animal Path's bizarre summoned creatures.
The Preta Path's ability to nullify all ninjutsu.
These were powers the shinobi world had never seen before.
How many elite shinobi had fallen simply because they lacked information?
Right now, only Jiraiya could have accomplished this.
If it had been any other elite jonin, they probably wouldn't have made it past Konan.
Even if they had, they likely wouldn't have survived the Animal Path's assault.
In other words, this had been the best possible outcome.
And that outcome had required Jiraiya to give his life.
For the first time, Tsunade felt a deep dissatisfaction with her own strength.
Why hadn't she trained harder?
Why wasn't she stronger?
That suffocating sense of helplessness was the same as when she had watched Dan and Nawaki die before her eyes.
It was unbearable.
"Tch."
Uchiha Sasuke clicked his tongue, his expression unusually serious.
The Sharingan was already incredibly complex—from perception, to copying, to genjutsu.
It covered nearly everything a shinobi needed in battle.
And beyond it lay even greater evolutions—the Mangekyō Sharingan, and the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan.
He had always believed the Sharingan was the ultimate kekkei genkai, especially among dōjutsu.
He had never acknowledged anyone above it.
But the Rinnegan's abilities were undeniable.
Controlling multiple bodies with different powers.
Absorbing all ninjutsu.
And most of all—
that single move from the Deva Path that obliterated all of Konoha.
He was almost certain now that it was a unique ability of the Rinnegan. No ordinary jutsu could possibly reach that scale.
"So this is the eye of the Sage of Six Paths…"
Sasuke clenched his jaw, frustration flickering in his eyes.
The Six Paths of Pain, each bearing the Rinnegan, placed immense pressure on him. He couldn't even imagine how his future self would stand against something like that.
Then suddenly, he recalled something.
In that vision of the future, one of his eyes had looked… different.
It resembled the Rinnegan, but with tomoe embedded within it.
A tomoe Rinnegan?
He didn't know what to call it, but he had a feeling it would be crucial to his future.
At the same time, Namikaze Minato was carefully recording everything about the Rinnegan.
The faint killing intent in his heart toward Nagato had already pushed him to consider future scenarios where he might have to face him.
Originally, that wasn't his burden.
It should have been his son's—the one destined to become the savior.
But now his memories could no longer be sealed away.
That meant the future would inevitably change.
And if the future had already shifted, there was no point worrying about altering it further.
Who would choose death when survival was an option?
Ten, twenty years from now, he would only just be entering his prime.
At that point, he would be the one facing Nagato at the height of his power.
And since Nagato's goal was to capture the Tailed Beasts, they were already destined to be mortal enemies.
Whether the jinchūriki was Kushina or Naruto, they were both the people he cherished most.
And once a Tailed Beast was extracted, death was the only outcome for the jinchūriki.
It was only a matter of when.
That was the root of Minato's killing intent.
Nagato intended to harm the two most important people in his life.
At that point, what meaning did bonds of senior and junior even hold?
Nagato had already strayed onto a dark path. If he could even turn against his own teacher, what was Minato to him?
If there was still a chance to save him, Minato wouldn't hesitate to try.
But if Yahiko was already dead—if Nagato was fated to walk the path of darkness—then Minato wouldn't hesitate to eliminate him now.
At the very least, in this timeline, the Akatsuki would never come into existence.
An organization that gathered missing-nin from all over the world could never be anything good.
Now that he knew so much about the future, many of those events would never come to pass.
Everything would change.
But one thing was certain.
Nagato's strength went far beyond what they were seeing now.
At the beginning of that earlier vision—when Uchiha Itachi and Uchiha Sasuke fought—Jiraiya's death had been shown.
And there hadn't been just three Paths of Pain.
There had been six.
Right now, only three had appeared.
If three were already enough to push Jiraiya in Sage Mode to the brink, then what about all six together?
Each one possessed at least Kage Level strength.
Only then did Minato truly understand why, even after reaching Strong Kage Level through Sage Mode, Jiraiya had still been unable to escape.
If each Path was Kage Level, then together they could overwhelm him completely.
The thought was unpleasant, but even Minato had to admit—
if he faced them himself, his only option would be to run.
Fortunately, he had absolute confidence in his ability to escape.
Unless they could seal space itself, no one could stop him from leaving.