High above the battlefield, Ryugetsu moved through his smoke form with calmness.
His body shifted seamlessly between vapor and solidity as he tracked the massive bird that the Animal Path commanded. When he saw it, the creature's eyes flicked. Then it screeched and swooped toward him with its claws extended.
Ryugetsu responded with quiet focus; he shifted into a cloud of smoke, darting upward as the bird lunged. Its talons swiped through the air, narrowly missing him. But then the Animal Path, standing on top of its dark feathers, commanded it to turn around.
The bird's beak then snapped shut just inches from Ryugetsu's vaporous form. Having dodged, Ryugetsu reformed into his physical shape mid-air.
'Smoke style: smoke fist…'
Ryugetsu punched the air, sending a gust of swirling smoke that shot toward the bird's face.
Swoosh! Direct hit!
The beast shrieked as its wings beat furiously to regain control. Then the Animal Path had the bird dive again, faster this time with its wings churning the air. Ryugetsu shifted into a dense cloud, then reappeared behind the creature, striking with another smoke fist that knocked the bird's flight off balance.
The Animal Path hissed under his breath. So he made his giant bird twist mid-air, flapping desperately to stabilize itself. When it recovered, its drill beak spun wildly and tried to gouge Ryugetsu from above.
Konan watched as the two clashed again. Ryugetsu wove through the air with a quiet demeanour that seemed unnatural.
How could anyone face Pain so calmly, she likely wondered?
The bird suddenly lunged, aiming its beak for Ryugetsu's chest, but Ryugetsu blurred into smoke just before impact. He reformed lower, to the side, and used another technique.
'Smoke style: smokescreen…'
A quick burst of vapor was sent that enveloped the bird's head. The creature flailed, disoriented as its wings flapped erratically.
Konan saw her moment. She held a single sheet of paper. And when the bird swooped low again to reveal Ryugetsu's location, she flicked her wrist, transforming the paper into a sharp spear before hurling it toward her target.
Konan's paper spear seemingly struck the underside of Ryugetsu until it phased right through him. "Hmph," she smirked as if she had won. Then boom! That spear was laced with explosive tags.
From behind her, Ryugetsu reformed and appeared beside her. That explosive spear tactic hadn't worked.
'Smoke style: smoke fist…'
A smoke-infused punch hit Konan right at her side, causing her to roll in the air and lose altitude. The Animal Path finally gained control over his bird and quickly came to her rescue.
"Good time," she thanked him, now standing on top of its feathers.
"We need to prevent him from turning into smoke when we attack," he relayed. "Follow my lead…"
She knew exactly what that meant. So without hesitation, she released a storm of paper shuriken that rained down on Ryugetsu. The paper blades tore through his smokey body, forcing the monk to stay in place.
Then the giant bird shrieked as it flapped its wings and attempted to devour Ryugetsu. Ryugetsu himself was composed and unhurried as the bird's beak consumed nothing but air.
'I see what they're doing,' he thought, solidifying his form in a safe location. 'They're trying to make me drain my chakra.'
A fair tactic indeed, but the issue was that Ryugetsu did not come unprepared; he had chakra pills at the ready.
Konan leapt from the bird and spread her paper wings wide. They stretched out, nearly covering a portion of the sky.
"This is the end for you," she said.
She then moved to close her wings around him, intending to trap him. Ryugetsu waited patiently. He seemed calm, almost indifferent, since he had already seen this technique before.
As her paper wings descended, they collapsed on him. But as the tension thickened, something shifted. Konan's tactic betrayed her. Ryugetsu had slipped through her technique again.
She snickered, despite her having closed off any cracks or openings. This match-up could not have gone worse for her.
Seeing her mistake, Konan watched as Ryugetsu began to fly behind her, trying to intercept her again. But before he could get close, a loud crashing sound interrupted him. The Animal Path's giant drill-beaked bird collided with him.
A cloud of smoke billowed where Ryugetsu had been. While the bird's beak had struck him, it didn't do any damage.
'Smoke style: body oxidation jutsu…'
The Animal Path's Rinnegan eyes scanned the area, but he couldn't find him. Then suddenly, concern flickered across his face. He clutched his chest, as if feeling an ache or a warning.
"What's wrong?!" Konan called out.
Then the Animal Path responded, "Summoning jutsu," and pressed his palm to the feathers of his giant bird. Instantly, the sky darkened as a massive creature crawled into view—an enormous centipede.
The creature launched itself at Konan and closed the distance rapidly. Before she could react, it had wrapped its many legs and coils around her. She was caught, unable to move or escape.
"What are you doing?!" she cried out, struggling against the constriction.
The centipede's grip was tight, and her abilities to fight back were limited in that moment. She could only watch helplessly as the situation unfolded.
Then, suddenly, a new force appeared: the Deva Path swooped in. He aimed directly at the Animal Path, and with a commanding voice, he performed his technique.
"Universal pull…!"
An invisible force yanked the giant bird and the Animal Path together. In that same instant, the Deva Path drew a long, black rod from its hand and drove it into the chest of the Animal Path. The impact quickly sent shockwaves through the Animal Path, causing him to convulse.
Konan watched the scene unfold with increasing concern. Then the centipede and the giant bird dispersed. Now freed, both she and the Deva Path descended to the floor, away from the chaos around, with the Animal Path's body.
On the ground, Konan noticed something subtle: smoke gently escaping from the Animal Path's seven orifices. It was a sign that something was happening beneath the surface.
"What's happening?" she asked. "Did you seal him?"
Pain, having observed this entire battle through his Rinnegan, explained, "No. Ryugetsu had taken over the Animal Path's body. My Rinnegan saw that he was inside the Path, so I stopped the Path's chakra flow. As long as this rod remains in place, he can't leave."
Konan looked at the black rod embedded in the Animal Path's body. She understood now. It wasn't a sealing technique in the traditional sense; it was a chakra disrupter. The rod disrupted the flow of chakra inside the Path, preventing Ryugetsu from escaping.
The two were linked, and for now, Ryugetsu was effectively held prisoner.
Pain reached out and pushed another rod further into the Animal Path, ensuring the disruption was complete.
"This is only preventing him from leaving," he added. "I need you to watch them closely. If he manages to break free, we'll have a bigger problem."
Konan more than understood the gravity of the situation. Smoke continued to escape the Animal Path's body. That meant Ryugetsu was indeed conscious and aware of what was happening.
The disruption was most certainly working, but she knew it was only temporary if they didn't find a way to fully neutralize Ryugetsu.
"Where do we go from here?" she asked.
Pain considered her question briefly. "Worst case, I lose this Path. But once the others are free from fighting, we'll have captured one of his (Arthur's) most valuable assets."
Despite Konan's own doubts, she understood. So Pain turned and flew back toward the battlefield as his form disappeared into the chaos.
Konan herself remained. Her gaze shifted toward the Animal Path to think.
From what she understood, Arthur had four distinct shinobi that superseded all of his other forces. They were Hoshikaze, John, Kaito, and Ryugetsu. Now one was incapacitated.
Ryugetsu's capture was a setback for their enemies, but this temporary victory wouldn't stop the war. Not even remotely close. But she was determined to hold her ground, to protect what she could, and to see this through to the end.
✟
Elsewhere, another fierce battle was taking place: Jasper versus Kaito.
Jasper attempted to fly away, but each time he tried, Kaito's chains yanked him back to the ground.
Crash!
Hitting the floor hard, Jasper's anger flared. He quickly grabbed the chain wrapped around his ankle.
"Lightning style: purple lightning strike!"
Electricity surged through the metal links and raced toward Kaito. In response, Kaito retracted the chains before narrowly avoiding Jasper's attack.
That gave Jasper a moment to recover. Instead of trying to flee again, he glared at Kaito and shouted, "Why?! Why are you even following Arthur to begin with?!"
"Wouldn't you like to know?" Kaito said, dashing forward.
The two clashed in a furious flurry of taijutsu. Jasper stayed on his feet, but he couldn't outmaneuver Kaito's speed—especially with those chains in play. Three punches were blocked by three sharp forearm parries. Three roundhouse kicks were dodged with effortless sidesteps.
The longer Jasper fought at close range, the more he understood Kaito was using a special Kekkei Genkai. Yet he couldn't remember which one was capable of what.
Unable to hold his ground, Jasper leapt back and created some distance.
"You think I don't know who you are?!" he yelled.
Of course Jasper knew about Kaito. Everyone in the ninja world did.
Before the war, Arthur had built Kaito's reputation through infamy. This clone—this identity—had fooled the world into believing he worked with Orochimaru. After slaughtering Leaf shinobi, he captured the Sound Five, further convincing everyone that it had all been Orochimaru's doing.
"You…" Jasper began. "No. You were never on Orochimaru's side to begin with, were you?"
Jasper was right, but Kaito wasn't about to answer. Instead, chakra chains erupted from beneath Jasper and bound him in place.
Jasper didn't resist. He stayed calm, which piqued Kaito's curiosity. When Jasper shifted even slightly, Kaito tightened the bind.
Jasper narrowed his eyes but made no move to break free. The chains clanked together. Then he felt it: his chakra being disrupted.
These weren't ordinary chains. Alice had told him much about Kaito and his strange fighting style. Kaito moved like a snake in battle, striking with the art of chain-based combat.
But Kaito's notoriety went beyond that. After Alice's crushing defeat at Arthur's hands—disguised as Kaito—he went on to terrorize the Sand Siblings. The entire ninja world was shaken by reports that a "Sound shinobi" had nearly killed the newly elected Kazekage.
What troubled many even more was that Kaito had been reported dead. Since then, he had resurfaced within the Akatsuki, replacing Deidara after Arthur killed him.
Of course, Jasper didn't know all of those details since Arthur always kept his dealings secret.
"I want you to listen carefully," Jasper finally said as the chains tightened. "I don't care how Arthur roped you into his little scheme, or what he said to get someone as strong as you on his side…"
Then Kaito felt a strange pulse emanating from Jasper. How? His chakra should've been completely disrupted. Kaito's eyes flared slightly as he sensed what Jasper was doing: the latter was trying to open one of the Eight Inner Gates.
"But…" Jasper said, closing his eyes. Kaito yanked the chains, but they wouldn't move. Forced to fight the old-fashioned way, he charged in. "There's no way I'll lose to an NPC…!"
The moment Kaito closed the distance, an explosion of energy erupted from Jasper, blowing the chains away and blasting Kaito backward. Jasper then stood tall with a blazing aura. He had done it; he had activated not the Fifth Gate, nor the Sixth, but the Seventh Gate.
"Now the real fight begins."