Six pairs of eyes sharing a single field of vision—when put into words, it might not sound like a particularly extraordinary technique. Could it really play a critical role in combat?
Indeed, it could.
Being comprehensively observed by the enemy is a highly lethal state for a ninja. Under such a flawless visual system, every single movement made by any enemy fighting Pain would be fully exposed to Nagato's eyes.
Therefore, he could respond with absolute ease.
Just as many ninjas preferred to hide their hand signs, ninja combat in many situations revolved around landing a sudden, fatal strike. Pain's Rinnegan vision completely erased this element of "suddenness."
Against Hagoromo, this shared vision was still playing an actively effective role.
The reason Hagoromo's first strike succeeded wasn't because he evaded their line of sight, nor was it due to "suddenness." It was simply because he was moving too fast—so incredibly fast that even though Pain saw it, he couldn't formulate an effective reaction.
Just as Hagoromo himself had thought, this state was indeed the fastest he had ever been in his life.
This state, which utilized sealing formulas to push Lightning Style to its absolute limit, was something Hagoromo had spent a considerable amount of time painstakingly experimenting with, step by step, entirely on his own. As Minato had said, a Lightning Style as intense as Chidori Current: Phase Three was absolutely an unbearable burden for an ordinary ninja. But for Hagoromo, who possessed an incredibly high affinity for Lightning Style, this burden wasn't severe.
Hagoromo didn't know what opening the Eighth Gate of the Eight Inner Gates felt like—after all, that was power seized at the cost of one's life. But if forced to make a comparison, equating Chidori Current: Phase Three to the Sixth or Seventh Gate wouldn't be an exaggeration.
Originally, Hagoromo had intended to use this high-speed Nintaijutsu to counter Space-Time Ninjutsu. He simply hadn't anticipated that his enemy would be the even more powerful opponent like the Six Paths of Pain. The upside, however, was that any sufficiently powerful taijutsu generally possessed universal adaptability across various combat situations. Therefore, using it against Pain wasn't an issue.
Hagoromo wasn't privy to the plot of Naruto. When Pain invaded Konoha, Might Guy conveniently happened to be outside the village. Otherwise, Naruto probably wouldn't have even gotten a chance to take the stage.
Many things, Guy could have simply handled himself.
If his opponents were living humans, Hagoromo would have already completed two instant kills in this fraction of a second. However, his opponents were merely corpses; they weren't living creatures to begin with. As long as the black receivers on their bodies remained, there was a possibility they could continue moving.
But that didn't matter.
The Six Paths of Pain—if separated one by one, while still extremely formidable combatants, could only truly unleash the power of the Rinnegan when coordinating together. The concept of the Six Paths itself was a compromise made because a single corpse couldn't withstand the full power of the Rinnegan. Dispersing this power naturally had its pros and cons.
But ultimately, the Six Paths of Pain were merely puppets.
Yet, precisely because they were puppets, they possessed strengths that humans did not.
Hagoromo had a general understanding of Pain's abilities, but he couldn't map them perfectly to each individual body. At this point in time—let alone Hagoromo—even a hardcore Naruto fan wouldn't be able to tell them apart, because aside from Yahiko, the corpses bearing the powers of the other five paths were completely different from the ones used over a decade later.
However, because he recognized Yahiko, Hagoromo knew exactly where the core of Pain's power lay.
First was the Deva Path, Yahiko. This was Hagoromo's only point of certainty.
Second, he absolutely had to figure out which one was the Naraka Path. Otherwise, any puppets he destroyed would just be "resurrected."
But his first order of business was to test the power of the Deva Path, the core of Pain. He needed to gauge its limits and determine if there was a possibility of destroying it outright.
Only then could he make further tactical judgments.
For Hagoromo, who was a master of destructive sealing jutsu, even though the barrier here was incredibly strong, he could likely break it in less than ten seconds if he tried.
But during those brief ten seconds, he had absolutely zero margin for error.
If he wanted to leave this place, he had to defeat Pain. That was the only possibility.
Following his initial two-hit combo, Hagoromo didn't even bother checking the results. The moment his right leg, which he had used for the spinning kick, touched the ground, he instantly bent his knee and then straightened it with explosive force, unleashing the absolute limit of his leg strength.
Using this immense power to propel himself, Hagoromo in this state didn't even need to take a second step to reach his maximum speed. His body practically skimmed parallel to the ground as he hurtled toward the Deva Path.
On Pain's side, aside from the two who had initially charged out, the remaining four had shifted their formation.
Therefore, the one bearing the brunt of the charge wasn't the Deva Path. Although Hagoromo didn't know it, the one rushing to meet him head-on was the Human Path.
Hagoromo's priority target was the Deva Path, so right as he was about to clash with the Human Path, he changed direction in a ten-thousandth of a second. He completely bypassed the Human Path without making contact.
This was a correct choice made entirely subconsciously. The Human Path's attack method wasn't direct physical strikes, but rather something more elusive, targeting the soul or spirit. The former wasn't a threat to Hagoromo, but the latter was impossible to defend against.
"Your speed is indeed incredible—perhaps the fastest I've ever witnessed in a ninja. But... no matter how fast you are, or even the very concept of speed itself, it is ultimately just a human technique. Before the power of a god, it is completely useless."
Just as Hagoromo's fist was about to make contact with the Deva Path's body, Pain clearly articulated four words:
"Shinra Tensei!"
A simple, linear attack naturally wouldn't work against the Deva Path; Hagoromo understood this perfectly. Thus, before the immense repulsive force could hit him, precise anticipation allowed him to preemptively execute a second change in direction.
Slamming his other foot into the ground, he applied a vertical counter-force to himself.
As a result, he wasn't blasted horizontally. Instead, using the force of the Shinra Tensei, he launched himself straight up into the sky.
Although he used the altitude and gravity to disperse the force, the tearing sensation in his body and limbs allowed Hagoromo to accurately gauge the Deva Path's power.
This was a force he would be hard-pressed to counter with his standard electromagnetic abilities.
The Deva Path couldn't be easily eliminated after all... Following a brief moment of suspension and weightlessness at the apex of his jump, Hagoromo began to fall.
While in mid-air, he launched a new attack.
Boar—Dog—Bird—Monkey—Ram!
In this state, even Hagoromo's hand sign speed was enhanced. However, during the weaving process, he completely lacked his usual fluidity. It was excessively brutal; he could even clearly hear the sound of his finger bones crashing against each other as he formed the signs.
This wasn't a flaw of the state, but an emotional factor. Right now, Hagoromo was experiencing an emotion he had never felt before in his life.
The jutsu Hagoromo used was the Summoning Jutsu: Rashomon.
The massive Rashomon gate, positioned horizontally, slammed down from the sky like a steel meteorite, bringing with it a massive shockwave of displaced air.
If it landed squarely, the sheer impact force would absolutely crush the three puppets below into meat paste instantly.
However, Pain couldn't be taken out by such a simple move. The cooldown for Shinra Tensei was only five seconds.
Five seconds—a cooldown just slightly faster than Hagoromo's Railgun.
The very instant the Rashomon gate was about to touch the ground, it was blasted upward by a colossal force!
Against such a massive and incredibly heavy object, it was completely useless. The Rashomon gate was sent spinning wildly into the air, like a manhole cover blown off by an exploding high-pressure water main!
It crashed to the ground, tumbled several times, and then vanished with a poof.
But fortunately, Shinra Tensei had a five-second cooldown, and it had just been used to deal with the Rashomon.
After the Shinra Tensei blasted the Rashomon away, Hagoromo's figure appeared right before the Deva Path's eyes.
Hagoromo had already used that brief window to land on the ground. Simultaneously, the markings of Chidori Current: Phase Three had vanished from his body.
Because he couldn't use both powers simultaneously, he had no choice but to constantly switch back and forth between the two states.
Hagoromo extended both arms straight out, one in front and one behind.
Twenty meters in front of him was the Deva Path, Yahiko. Five meters behind him was the Human Path.
Blue and white arcs of electricity spread across his arms, and in an instant, beams of orange-yellow light pierced the night sky!
Behind Hagoromo, the Human Path instantly exploded into a mist of blood... while in front of him, a rain of blood poured down over his head, dyeing him a stark, crimson red.
There was success, and there was failure. The Railgun fired backward successfully obliterated the Human Path, but the strike aimed forward failed to hit the Deva Path.
It wasn't because the Deva Path deflected the trajectory with Shinra Tensei—the jutsu hadn't finished its cooldown yet. The timing Hagoromo chose was absolutely perfect. But the opponent was, after all, fighting with a coordinated team of six.
Some unknown summoning beast called forth by the Animal Path had used its flesh and blood to block the strike.
Hagoromo showed no joy, nor did he show any disappointment.
From beginning to end, his face remained completely devoid of expression.