Chapter 55: Gaara vs Pain

XXXXXX-Gaara's POV

"Gaara of the Desert. Jinchūriki of the Ichibi no Tanuki."

I counted the figures surrounding me—five of them. Not people, not really. The Six Paths of Pain were nothing more than glorified puppets. The jutsu itself was impressive, especially to someone like me, who understood the intricacies of puppeteering—at least, the kind used in Suna. But this? This was different. He could control them from miles away. No chakra strings. No way to reach him unless you had Sage Mode or some other absurd ability.

Dōjutsu were just cheating.

Five bodies. One missing. Which one? I knew the one in the center—Yahiko's body—was the Deva Path. That much I remembered from the anime. The Asura Path was easy to spot—the bald one with mechanical transformations. But what about the others? The Preta Path could absorb chakra, but was he the long-haired one or the short-haired one? And the Animal Path—wasn't she supposed to be a woman?

I turned slightly, noticing the pineapple-haired boy beside me inching behind my form. Smart. I wasn't about to let him die. I'd liked his character in the anime. And his betrayal of Danzō? That had reminded me of myself.

"Surrender yourself. Pain has come for you."

All their voices spoke at once. Creepy.

I tilted my head, amusement creeping into my tone. "Do people normally get scared when you do that?"

This was fine. Perfectly fine. Pain was a threat I had spent years preparing for—long before Madara was even a concern. I had a lot of contingencies in place for this exact moment.

I just needed to find the missing body.

With a flick of my wrist, I summoned Dark Sister to my grip. The silence that followed was satisfying.

"Do you think yourself amusing, ant?" Pain spoke alone this time.

"Not really," I mused. "I just find this whole thing hilarious. There's a bug I'm hunting, but I can spare a moment to deal with you first. So..." I pointed my blade at Yahiko's body. "...which of you dies first?"

I felt confident.

A month ago, I had figured it out—the seal that made this entire fight a mere formality. And even if I was wrong? I had Sage Mode and Bijū Mode to fall back on.

I just needed that sixth one to show up.

Pain didn't respond. He simply attacked.

The first one reached me—a powerful punch aimed for my head. I ducked, rising just in time to strike back. My blade was aimed for his arm, but—clang!—his entire forearm shifted into a blade and blocked my strike.

Asura Path. Confirmed.

I leapt back to avoid a pincer attack as another one lunged with a black rod. Those rods—chakra disruptors. Noted. Good thing I had no plans of getting stabbed.

I reached out with Iron Sand, commanding it to crush both of them mid-air.

The moment it made contact, I felt it—my control over the sand vanishing.

Preta Path. Two confirmed.

I moved. Fast. The Preta Path was a problem, and problems needed to be eliminated.

Before I could reach him, another figure slammed his hands to the ground. Puff!

A rhino with Rinnegan eyes charged at me.

I leapt at the last second, landing on its head. Chakra flooded into Dark Sister, and I plunged the blade downward, wind chakra extending it far enough to pierce the beast's entire brain. It collapsed, vanishing in another puff of smoke.

Another summon appeared—this time, a multi-headed dog. I dove straight between its snapping jaws, using my momentum to redirect toward its summoner.

The Animal Path tried to leap back. I faked a pursuit, then shifted—my lower body dissolving into sand, propelling me past him.

Straight toward my real target.

Preta Path swiped at me with his black rod. Dark Sister intercepted. A single movement—a technique Dragon had drilled into me—and the rod was ripped from his grasp.

Pain had clearly never studied kenjutsu properly.

He barely had time to process it before Dark Sister was in his skull.

The battlefield froze.

"You know more about my technique than you should," the Deva Path said.

There was a new malice in his tone.

He was pissed to see one of his own killed so easily.

The others moved to force me away from the body, but my sand engulfed it as I retreated.

Pain outstretched his hand. "Universal Pull."

The force was overwhelming—pulling both me and the sand coffin toward him.

I braced.

Shukaku's seal flared on my arm as I slammed my hands against the coffin. At the same time, my lower body solidified into hyper-dense sand, anchoring me in place.

Then—a sixth body arrived.

Over its shoulder was a corpse.

Danzō.

I smiled. Guess I wasn't the only one hunting him down.

With that question answered, it was now five against one.

Pain hesitated. His gaze flickered toward the sand coffin, too cautious to approach it. Good. He knew. Or at least, he suspected. Zetsu must have been watching me.

It didn't matter.

I made it explode.

When the smoke cleared, the remaining five stood unharmed.

"I will enjoy discovering how you know what you do." Pain's voice was cold.

The Animal Path slammed its palms together again. A panda and a centipede appeared.

I didn't move. Sand surged, rising in a massive wave to swallow the creatures whole.

"Almighty Push."

The wave scattered.

Didn't matter.

His technique had a cooldown.

Mine didn't.

Gold Dust surged from my reserves, encasing both creatures instantly. My fist clenched. "Magnet Release: Golden Shower." The dust compressed—crushing them both.

The other Paths rushed me. I didn't give them a chance.

A simple cross-sign—two shadow clones flickered into existence and leapt away.

"Whoever you summon will share your fate, Gaara of the Desert. You are powerful, but you are still just a shinobi. I am a god."

Pain's arrogance was unbelievable.

I reached for Shukaku.

He had gathered the necessary Natural Energy.

And so—I activated it.

Not Bijū Mode. Not a full Sage Transformation.

Something different. Something better.

The Cursed Seal—the original one, derived from Shukaku himself.

My body shifted. The same black markings that covered Shukaku now adorned my skin, contrasting against my pale complexion and red hair.

My eyes changed.

My right—from teal to glowing gold.

My left—the Sharingan remained, but the tomoe darkened. Another appeared—shaped like a cursed seal.

I smirked.

"Alright then, 'God.' Let's see how divine you really are."

The transformation was complete. I could feel Pain's movements without even looking at him, sensing the plan forming in his mind—the noose tightening around my head.

I reached up and caught the punch aimed at me by the Asura Path. He struggled, trying to break free, but I didn't let him budge. Instead, I yanked him toward me and slammed my forehead into his. Once. Twice. He took the blows with disturbing enthusiasm, his body straining under the force yet holding on.

Then, two more arms sprouted from his sides and lashed out, landing rapid punches against my face. They might as well have hit a stone wall. With Senjutsu-enhanced durability, I didn't even flinch. I countered with a devastating punch of my own, feeling the satisfying crunch of bone beneath my fist.

The hands in front of me morphed into cannons. At the same time, I felt another Path rushing toward me, an outstretched arm cutting off my only viable escape. Good thing I wouldn't need to escape.

I couldn't shift my form into sand while maintaining Sage Mode—it would disrupt my chakra balance—so I abandoned my first instinct and chose a different solution.

I chose overwhelming force.

It wasn't my usual approach in taijutsu—I wasn't physically strong enough against most opponents to risk it. But now? Now, I was.

I headbutted Asura Path again, making him stumble back. Seizing the opening, I tore our hands apart and summoned Dark Sister into my left hand. As his first cannon aimed at me, I split it in half before he could fire. The second, I let him fire—or rather, I pretended to be caught off guard.

No blast came. The shot had been completely blocked by my Iron Sand. The accumulated power built up within the cannon before detonating, tearing through Asura Path's midsection and blowing him apart.

Thanks for the idea, Shino. I chuckled inwardly before pressing forward to capitalize on the opening.

The path tried to retreat, letting the giant panda summon cover him with a massive, hardened punch. I caught the strike with a single hand. Sage strength was no joke. The panda strained against me, but I felt like I could lift it.

So I did.

Grabbing onto its knuckle, I didn't just stop the attack—I heaved and threw the massive summon into the air.

I weaved two hand seals and took a deep breath.

"Wind Release: Sand Buckshot!"

My sand, enhanced by wind release, ripped through the panda. It shredded its hardened hide with ease, forcing it back to the summoning realm.

That's when I felt it.

The moment the barrier went up.

One of my clones popped, sending the confirmation back to me. The effect was instantaneous.

All five surviving Paths of Pain froze. Motionless. Then, one by one, they collapsed.

I wasn't about to waste time waiting to see how Nagato would react to losing all his Paths. I moved swiftly, yanking a black rod from one of their noses. This would be useful for tracking him later.

With that done, I set about sealing the bodies. I'd prepared a special storage seal that rejected all external chakra interference once activated. A failsafe. The scroll had a built-in timer—72 hours. Once it expired, the bodies would be released, but by then, I'd be back in Suna. And Nagato?

Nagato would be very dead.

After finishing the sealing process, I took Danzo's body as well into my [Inventory]. The fact that Pain had managed to kill him without Izanagi activating meant something had gone seriously wrong on Danzo's end. But that worked out for me—I now had a few intact Sharingan, Shisui's Mangekyō Sharingan, and even Hashirama's cells.

I had won. Completely.

Now, I just had to find Nagato and pluck the Rinnegan from his skull before Obito got to it first. Then, I'd track down whoever was the ROOT agent stuck reviving people with Edo Tensei, kill them, and eliminate Orochimaru once and for all. That would bring this entire mess to an end for the day.

I leapt into the air, heading for the outskirts of the village to begin tracking Nagato.

Then—something massive slammed into me.

Invisible.

The sheer force hurled me to the ground, but I lashed out with my sand, seizing the unseen chameleon. I had it—its cloaking meant nothing to my sage senses.

What I hadn't foreseen was its mouth opening—and the red-haired man leaping out, black rod aimed straight at my heart.

I reacted instantly.

Dark Sister met the strike in a clash of sparks. I tried funneling chakra into my blade to enhance its cutting power—nothing.

The rod's strange material resisted all chakra infusion.

Then, our eyes met.

Rinnegan.

Nagato's gaze narrowed in irritation. Not rage, not hatred—just sheer annoyance. Like I was some persistent stain on his boot.

"You killed my Paths."

His voice was calm but edged with disdain.

"A barrier prevented chakra from reaching them. That means you knew how my Six paths technique worked—beyond mere observation. Somehow, you were already prepared to counter it."

His fingers tightened around the rod.

"And just now, you were surprised—not by my presence, but by my condition. You knew of my former state. Your eyes betray you. No lies can survive the gaze of a god."

He tilted his head slightly.

"Tell me, Sabaku no Gaara—was it Madara who prepared you to face me?"

What?

He wasn't joking. He genuinely believed that.

I couldn't help it—I laughed. Loudly.

His expression darkened. Grim. Silent.

Then, he raised a hand.

I barely had time to brace before an invisible force smashed into me, launching me like a ragdoll. I hurtled backward, through buildings, through walls. The entire village shook from the impact.

Damn it.

I barely felt the debris—my Sage Mode durability absorbed the brunt of it—but it was one hell of a ride.

When I finally stopped, I looked up.

Nagato was floating.

Right. I'd forgotten he could fly.

I tensed. He pointed his hand at me again.

Another repulsion force.

This time, it didn't just send me flying—it drove me into the earth. A crater formed around my body, with me at its very center.

Annoying.

The moment the force relented, I launched myself free, leaping out of the pit.

I counted in my head.

5…4…3…

I felt the pull—too early.

The hell?!

I twisted midair, forcing Dark Sister forward as I was yanked toward him. He leaned out of the way, letting me pass right by him—then activated another Almighty Push, sending me crashing back to the ground.

Tch.

At least he was weakening as he spammed it. The technique was strong, but there was a limit to its power.

I sent shuriken flying at him—then multiplied them with a hand seal.

He repelled them. Predictable.

I used the opening.

Kamui.

I aimed for his head.

The moment the distortion began, his gaze immediately snapped to me—and his hand shot forward to grab the void itself.

I felt my chakra vanish as the spatial distortion shimmered away.

Preta Path absorption.

Fuck.

Sand surged forward, tendrils chasing him through the sky. He dodged, summoned a crane, and tried to outrun my reach.

Foolish.

I had more than enough sand.

And worse for him—his Almighty Pushes were getting weaker.

It couldn't be a chakra thing, I knew. So it had to be some sort of hard cap on the power thankfully.

I kept my sand chasing him, and finally struck gold. A tendril that I'd split off from one of the two large masses latched on to his crane's leg, arresting his momentum. The rest of my sand wasted no time converging on his position. He jumped off the crane and began to fly under his own power. He'd turned his legs into jets that allowed him to fly under his own power.

I could see it now.

Nagato was getting frustrated.

And frustration?

That was an opening.

(End of Chapter)