Chapter 158: Are You Going to Teach Me About Pain?
Uchiha Taiga looked at the six figures across the river, his gaze sweeping over each of them one by one.
He noticed that these six faces were different from the Six Paths of Pain he knew.
To his knowledge, the Six Paths of Pain should have been created from the corpses of people Nagato had encountered. There was Yahiko, and other ninja Nagato knew; every face had a history.
But of the six people standing opposite him now, he didn't recognize almost any of them.
The only familiar face among them was the one standing at the very back.
That person was Yahiko.
Orange hair, handsome features—even with those black receivers embedded in his face, they couldn't hide his original good looks. He was tall and stood with a straight posture, wearing a black cloak with red clouds. His hands hung loosely at his sides, making him look very relaxed. But his eyes were the Rinnegan. The purple concentric circles looked exceptionally eerie on that familiar face.
The other five were unfamiliar faces. There were men and women, fat and thin, tall and short. Their only commonalities were the black receivers embedded in their faces and the Rinnegan in their eyes.
The faces were different, but the functions of the Six Paths of Pain remained the same. Only the vessels had changed; the corpses had been swapped.
With these six appearing, a battle was obviously inevitable.
Uchiha Taiga didn't move. He just stood there, the curve of his lips completely unchanged.
By now, the giant three-headed hound had already climbed back up. It rolled over quickly, planting all three heads on the ground. With a fierce push from its thick front legs, its mountain-like body sprang up from the earth.
Dirt and gravel shook off its body, hitting the ground with dull thuds.
It shook its three heads, let out a low growl from its throats, and charged toward Uchiha Taiga once again.
This time, it appeared even more ferocious than before.
All three mouths opened simultaneously, saliva flying from its jaws. Its six eyes were completely bloodshot, looking like a thoroughly enraged beast.
At the same time, the six figures across the river also made their move.
Their actions occurred almost simultaneously. The Animal Path began weaving hand signs, the Deva Path's feet left the ground as he slowly ascended into the air, and the remaining four figures charged toward the riverbank from different directions.
Six people, six directions, six postures.
Uchiha Taiga's gaze shifted only slightly, taking in everyone's movements.
They were incredibly fast and coordinated, as if they had rehearsed this countless times.
His eyelid twitched.
It wasn't out of nervousness, but because watching the Deva Path take flight gave him a sudden, inexplicable feeling that he was about to witness something very familiar.
For example:
*'Feel pain.'*
*'Contemplate pain.'*
*'Accept pain.'*
*'Know pain.'*
*'Those who do not know pain will never understand true peace.'*
*'Fine, he would just let him preach.'*
At this thought, the smile on Uchiha Taiga's lips deepened.
And then, the battle began.
The other five Paths of Pain had already rushed over from the opposite bank, pressing in from all sides alongside the giant three-headed hound.
The hound led the charge, its three heads opening their massive maws simultaneously to bite down on Uchiha Taiga.
Following closely behind the hound was the Animal Path.
The Animal Path wove signs while running, casually crouching to slap the ground. Plumes of white smoke erupted one after another in front of him.
*Poof! Poof! Poof! Poof! Poof!*
A series of explosions rang out as massive clouds of white smoke billowed across the riverbank, obscuring the entire field of vision.
From within the smoke, more creatures emerged.
A giant chameleon stepped out of the white smoke, roughly the same size as the three-headed hound. Its entire body was covered in coarse scales. Its tongue flicked out of its mouth, whipping through the air with a sharp *swish*.
A giant bull charged out of the smoke, snorting white steam from its nose. Its four hooves pawed at the ground, sending dirt flying. A pair of curved horns grew from its head, the tips as sharp as spears, and it lowered its head to ram straight into Uchiha Taiga.
A giant Yatagarasu took flight from the smoke, its wingspan wide enough to blot out half the sky. Its feathers gleamed with a dark luster in the sunlight. Its talons were massive, each toe like a curved blade. It circled once in the air before diving down toward Uchiha Taiga.
Three summoned beasts, plus the previous three-headed hound—four behemoths charged from four different directions simultaneously.
Their sizes were simply too massive, so large that the entire riverbank wasn't enough space for them to maneuver. The ground trembled, the river waters churned, and the air was filled with the foul stench radiating from their bodies.
Behind the four summoned beasts, four figures were also charging forward.
No, not four. Five.
Aside from the Deva Path who had already taken to the sky, the other five Paths of Pain were all moving toward Uchiha Taiga's position.
But one figure vanished mid-movement, as if directly erased from the field of vision, like an invisible eraser wiping it from a canvas.
The Human Path.
One of the Human Path's abilities was invisibility—not truly disappearing, but distorting light in a way that made him invisible to the naked eye. He was still there, still approaching Uchiha Taiga, but he simply couldn't be seen.
Of course, this still couldn't evade Uchiha Taiga's eyes.
Meanwhile, the Asura Path stood behind the summoned beasts, not rushing to the very front.
His body began to transform. The clothes on his chest ripped open, revealing the mechanical structure beneath. His ribs opened outward like doors, exposing rows of densely packed miniature missiles within his chest cavity. Each one was only the length of a finger, but there were too many to count.
The tails of those missiles ignited simultaneously.
*Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh, swoosh...*
Dozens of miniature missiles shot out from the Asura Path's chest, trailing long tails of flame as they traced arcs through the air, flying straight toward Uchiha Taiga's position.
The missiles were incredibly fast, tearing through the air with sharp, whistling shrieks like a swarm of angry hornets.
The Preta Path charged at the very front. His movements were fierce, looking completely reckless.
With his arms spread wide and his ten fingers hooked, he lunged at Uchiha Taiga like a predatory beast.
His Rinnegan swiveled in their sockets, locking onto Uchiha Taiga's position as he charged straight ahead without a shred of hesitation.
The Naraka Path did not charge.
He ran to the edge of the battlefield and stopped beneath a large tree, making no further forward movements. His body was slightly hunched, his hands hanging by his sides. His gaze constantly observed the flow of the battle, ready to react at a moment's notice.
He was very cautious.
In an instant—four summoned beasts, five directions, dozens of missiles, and an invisible net.
All the attacks poured toward Uchiha Taiga at the exact same moment.
Then, a pale gold chakra flame flared up on the riverbank. Immediately after, the half-body skeletal frame of the Susanoo materialized around Uchiha Taiga, enveloping his entire person within it.
The pale gold half-body Susanoo was not in its perfect form, but the sheer aura it exuded at this moment was not to be underestimated.
Among the myriad of attacks, the first to arrive were those miniature missiles.
Dozens of small missiles struck the Susanoo's ribs. The fiery light of the explosions burst across the Susanoo's surface, blooming into clusters of flame against the pale gold half-body.
*Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!*
The explosions linked together into a continuous roar, sounding like someone beating a massive drum with a sledgehammer.
But the Susanoo didn't budge an inch.
The explosive power of those missiles was immense, so great that they blasted crater after crater into the surrounding ground, scattering flames and filling the air with smoke and dust.
Yet, there wasn't a single crack on the half-body Susanoo.
Standing under the protection of the Susanoo, Uchiha Taiga grinned.
"Did you think I was going to fight you in hand-to-hand combat?"
His voice echoed from within the Susanoo.
"Ridiculous."
The next second, the Susanoo's hands moved, clenching into fists and striking out in all directions.
The first punch landed squarely on the face of the giant three-headed hound.
The middle head caved in completely from the force of the blow, its jaw twisting to the side as several teeth went flying. The sheer power of the punch sent its entire body flying sideways, crashing into the riverbank and carving out a massive crater.
The second punch struck the head of the giant bull.
The bull had been charging with its head lowered, horns pointing forward at high speed.
But the Susanoo's fist was faster. Smashing into its forehead, the bull looked as if it had been hit by a speeding train. Its posture shifted from a forward charge to a backward tilt. All four hooves left the ground as its massive body tumbled backward several times, snapping a swath of large trees before finally coming to a halt.
The third punch hit the giant Yatagarasu.
The massive bird was diving down from the sky, its talons reaching for the top of the Susanoo's head. But the Susanoo's hand speed was so fast it seemed to have grown three or four extra arms. A fist shot upward into the sky, landing a direct hit on the bird's abdomen.
The Yatagarasu's feathers exploded outward. Its body stalled in midair for a fraction of a second before plummeting straight down like a falling mountain.
The fourth punch smashed into the empty space beside him. The air vibrated for a moment, and then the giant chameleon materialized, flying backward amidst a deafening boom.
The fifth punch slammed into the ground—or more accurately, it slammed into the Preta Path.
The Preta Path had rushed right up to the Susanoo, spreading his hands in an attempt to grab its ribs. But the Susanoo's fist crashed down from above, crushing him like a falling mountain.
*Boom!*
The Preta Path was smashed directly into the earth by the punch. The ground caved in to form a massive crater, and the Preta Path lay at the bottom, an unknown number of bones shattered.
Four summoned beasts, one Path of Pain—one punch each.
Clean and efficient.
By this time, the Asura Path had fired all of his missiles, and the second volley had not yet finished reloading.
Uchiha Taiga looked up and casually raised a hand.
The Susanoo raised its left hand, shielding the space directly above his head.
The missile explosions had ceased, but there was something else in the sky.
It was the Deva Path. Taiga figured it was about time for him to deliver his grand declaration.
Sure enough, a voice echoed from the sky.
"Feel pain..."
Uchiha Taiga looked up, peering through the Susanoo's ribs to see the figure suspended in midair.
The Deva Path floated above him, arms spread wide, his cloak billowing in the wind. Those Rinnegan gazed downward, looking like a deity overlooking all living beings.
His mouth was still chanting those cryptic words, every syllable carrying a strange, rhythmic cadence.
Uchiha Taiga smiled. "Are you going to teach me about pain now?"