Chapter 28: The Second Pair of Rinnegan
"Is that so?" Minato Namikaze scratched his head in distress. "Then we have no choice but to fight!"
He hadn't wanted to appear in this form, but there was no help for it—without appearing, his son would die.
Under Kushina Uzumaki's violent threats, he'd finally decided to emerge and save his son's life.
But whether he fought or not, he'd return to the Pure Land after some time anyway. Since he'd already come out, he might as well do more for the village.
He was also a decisive person. Seeing verbal persuasion useless, he resolved to eliminate this future threat to the village here and now.
With a flick of both hands, he rapidly threw over a dozen kunai toward Pain in quick succession.
These kunai collided with each other mid-flight with clanging sounds, immediately altering their trajectories and forming a crossfire net that precisely sealed off Pain's evasion routes.
But Pain didn't even need jutsu for this level of attack. He simply drifted slightly in midair, letting all the kunai miss.
Yet the moment the kunai passed by, yellow light flashed. Minato's figure appeared behind him, simultaneously slashing backward with lightning speed toward his head.
However, the reputation of the "Yellow Flash" had long spread throughout the shinobi world. His signature Flying Thunder God Technique was known to all.
Pain already knew his intelligence and naturally guarded against surprise attacks. Seeing him vanish from his original position, Pain immediately widened his eyes without looking back.
"Shinra Tensei!"
As the indifferent voice rang out, powerful repulsive force burst outward from around him. The invisible force field was like a wave crashing on shore—Minato's figure immediately flew backward like a kite with its string cut.
But the next moment, Minato immediately appeared at another kunai's position, flicking his hand to throw several more kunai, likewise slashing down.
Though Shinra Tensei's power was strong and its defensive range comprehensive, its only weakness was skill cooldown—it couldn't be activated at will.
This time was at least five seconds.
Shinra Tensei had just been used. The next activation time hadn't arrived yet, so Pain had to engage in close combat.
He waved his hand. A black rod slid from his sleeve, meeting the blade upward.
With a crisp clang, both blades collided, sparking dazzling fire in the air.
Before he could counterattack, Minato's figure dispersed like a phantom again, appearing at another kunai's position.
The Flying Thunder God Technique was broken, especially with Minato now controlling half a tailed beast—his chakra wasn't lacking in the slightest.
Using his full power, it was just like flash-stepping. In midair, he flew about wildly, appearing sometimes in front, sometimes behind—unpredictable and elusive, simply a yellow flash streaking everywhere across the sky.
His blade technique was exquisitely refined. Each slash precisely aimed at vital points. A continuous barrage of rapid strikes—he was completely dominating Pain.
But he didn't realize Pain was actually a puppet who didn't rely solely on his own eyes to see. The other Six Paths hidden in the shadows were also his eyes. Six pairs of Rinnegan sharing vision made every one of Minato's flash-steps transparent.
So even when Minato flash-stepped behind Pain, it had no effect on Pain whatsoever.
Minato's attack speed already exceeded ordinary human eyes' limits, but the Rinnegan wasn't an ordinary eye and Pain wasn't an ordinary person. Though Minato's blade clashed continuously, he still couldn't breach Pain's defense.
The moment the cooldown ended, Pain widened his eyes again.
"Shinra Tensei!"
Repulsive force generated again with Pain as the center, flinging Minato away.
However, the instant he was repelled, Minato skillfully adjusted his posture mid-air, flicking his hand to shoot several more kunai.
When Minato first engaged Pain, he hadn't discovered Shinra Tensei's cooldown time. But after being hit twice consecutively, he sensitively realized where this powerful jutsu's flaw lay.
Five seconds was brief for others, but for Minato, he could accomplish far too much.
Now he felt more confident about eliminating this great threat to the village.
At the same time, Pain also discovered Minato's weakness—his flash-stepping severely depended on kunai!
The only reason Minato could fight him evenly in the sky was purely relying on the Flying Thunder God Technique to rapidly shift position in the air. Once he lacked the Flying Thunder God marks on kunai for positioning, Minato couldn't fly and fundamentally couldn't approach him.
So Pain rapidly swung his black rod, the rod's tip precisely striking the flying kunai, batting them all away.
But the Flying Thunder God Technique's speed was also fast. The moment he struck the kunai, Minato's figure had already appeared beside them.
However, this time Minato didn't throw new kunai. Instead, his left hand reached out, grabbing toward the black rod.
He only needed to imprint the Flying Thunder God mark on the black rod, and he could approach Pain without limit, no longer requiring kunai for positioning.
But the moment his hand touched the black rod, he suddenly felt the chakra in his body become chaotic.
Meanwhile, Pain simultaneously released his right hand, letting go of the black rod. His left sleeve slid out a new black rod, thrusting forward swift as a gale.
'Trouble!'
Minato cursed internally, hurriedly releasing the black rod and swinging his blade right-handed to block.
After a light clang, the short blade in Minato's hand immediately shattered. The black rod drove straight in.
But with this brief moment's buffer, the chakra in Minato's body calmed. His form flashed, vanishing from his position again.
But because the kunai had all been batted away, when he reappeared, his body was already far from Pain, falling from midair.
He quickly shot several more kunai, attempting the same trick.
But this time it didn't work.
Several missiles suddenly shot up from diagonally below, trailing long exhaust plumes. One pursued those kunai mid-flight while several others flew toward Minato.
The missiles collided head-on with the kunai, exploding thunderously. These kunai were blown away before even approaching Pain.
The other missiles directly exploded after nearing Minato, like setting off several enormous fireworks in the sky.
Yellow light flashed. Minato appeared unharmed on the ground, his gaze gravely turning to the side.
On the ground, another person had appeared at some point, likewise wearing the black cloak with red clouds—Akatsuki attire—currently reattaching his right wrist to his body.
However, what most attracted Minato's attention were his eyes—the same Rinnegan as Pain above.
"What's going on?"
"How can there be another pair of Rinnegan?"
"Were those missiles this Rinnegan's unique jutsu?"
Minato was full of doubts, secretly alarmed.
But he understood clearly in his heart—regardless of this Rinnegan's ocular techniques, he probably couldn't accomplish his objective.
He'd observed that group of Akatsuki people. Their abilities were likely all considerable, but he and Pain were fighting in the sky, so they wouldn't greatly affect him.
But this newly arrived Rinnegan was different—truly capable of interfering in his battle with Pain.
But if he placed the battle on the ground, with so many Akatsuki members swarming together, even he couldn't easily leave.
Thinking this, he developed the intention to retreat.
But before leaving, he still needed to kill someone first!
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