The smoke from the fallen Paths of Pain had barely cleared. Black rods lay scattered across the muddy cliffs, their faint chakra signatures flickering like dying embers. Rain fell harder now, as if the sky itself was trying to wash the battle away.
Hajime stood tall at the center of the battlefield, unmoved. His grey-silver armor gleamed under the storm, untouched, pristine. His golden halo spun slowly behind his head, casting a soft shimmer across his back, humming with residual psychic charge.
He hadn't broken a sweat. He hadn't needed to.
Around him, the Paths of Pain lay scattered, some crumpled in shallow craters, others thrown across the slick rock and mud. Steam rose from crushed receivers. The Deva Path, once the face of divine authority in Amegakure, lay silent at Hajime's feet, its body smoking from the halberd strike.
But Hajime didn't deliver a final blow.
Instead, he stepped back, calmly watching as something stirred beneath the bodies.
The Naraka Path raised its head.
Its mouth widened, and with a guttural surge of chakra, it summoned the King of Hell, a monstrous head with jagged teeth and blank eyes that burst forth from the earth behind it.
One by one, the fallen bodies of the other Paths were pulled closer, like lifeless dolls.
Hajime didn't interfere.
He watched with arms folded, curious, and perhaps a little amused.
"Let's see how deep this trick goes," he muttered as he knew about this ability in his past life.
The King of Hell opened its mouth, and black flames coiled inward, dragging the broken Paths into its jaws. A strange chewing filled the air, as if time paused for a moment. Then, it open it's mouth high and wide.
One by one, the bodies of the Paths were walking out from the summoning mouth, restored.
Fresh. Reformed. Whole.
Their eyes reopened. Rinnegan gleamed anew. No pain. No scars.
But Hajime only smiled faintly behind his mask.
"So that's how you do it," he murmured. "A ability to restore or heal. Impressive."
The Six Paths rose once more, now cautious. They didn't immediately attack. They circled him slowly, re-establishing position, taking more distance than before.
This time, they knew.
This was not someone they could overwhelm.
But Hajime didn't wait.
A deep hum pulsed from his halo as his psychic field expanded again, fast, sharp, and deliberate. He moved.
The Asura Path fired first, arms splitting open to launch a barrage of chakra missiles. Hajime side-stepped once. His armor blurred briefly. Every missile curved, then exploded in the air behind him. A pulse of force shattered the ground beneath his boots as he surged forward.
He targeted the Animal Path next.
She had barely begun her summoning hand seals when Hajime blinked forward, his halberd flashing out. A straight, clean strike severed the summoning rod embedded in her chest. The summon vanished mid-formation. The Path staggered, her chakra faltering.
He kicked her backward, into the Preta Path, knocking both into the cliffside wall.
The Human Path lunged at him with blinding speed, attempting to grab his head and rip out his soul.
Hajime caught its arm mid-strike.
Then he crushed it.
The bones in the puppet arm snapped like twigs beneath his gauntlet. Before the Human Path could retreat, Hajime twisted, pulling it off balance, then slammed his palm into its chest. Psychic force blasted outward, silent but devastating. The Human Path's body folded in on itself like paper, collapsing into the mud.
The Deva Path finally moved.
"Shinra Tensei!" it roared, arm outstretched.
The world buckled. The air collapsed inward, then exploded outward.
But Hajime was already in motion. He didn't resist the blast. He leaned with it, riding the edge of its force, and warped sideways in a blur. He reappeared above, halberd raised high.
He brought it down.
Deva barely raised its arm before the halberd carved through it again. This time, Hajime didn't strike deep. He used the shaft of the weapon, spinning to slam it like a hammer across the Deva Path's head. The force sent the puppet flying down the cliff, skipping across rocks like a stone over water.
Two Paths rushed him, Preta and Asura, together this time, aiming for a pincer move.
But Hajime's halo lit up again.
He vanished between their strikes, and reappeared behind them.
No sound. No flash.
He simply was.
Both Paths froze. They turned slowly, but it was too late.
Twin psychic lashes burst from his halo like golden chains, wrapping around their necks.
A pulse. A shiver.
Both bodies collapsed as if strings had been cut.
Only Naraka remained, still standing at the back, behind the others, arms raised, feeding chakra to the King of Hell.
Hajime stared across the field.
"You used your one trick," he said. "I let you. Now it's over."
The Naraka Path took a step back.
But Hajime didn't give it the chance, he appeared behind the Naraka Path, then pierce a hole in it's body with the halberd.
Then Hajime slammed his halberd into the ground. A circle of glowing energy flared around him, spinning lines of psychic code. The rain halted mid-air for a brief second.
Then he vanished.
Not through smoke. Not with a flash. No hand seal.
Just gone.
The battlefield was still.
All six Paths lay scattered again, completely overwhelmed.
From the observation chamber deep within the tower, Konan gasped. This time, the loss was real. The receivers destroyed. Yahiko body as well.
Nagato's eyes twitched. He coughed once, blood running from his mouth. His fingers gripped the metal of his throne.
"He's coming," Konan said.
Nagato turned toward the sealed door behind them, his body still locked into the life-support machine, legs unmoving, black rods embedded deep into his spine. The silence stretched, until a pressure filled the chamber.
And then, he was there.
Hajime.
He appeared without warning, without light or sound.
He now stood before Nagato's true body, face to face, silent, his armor gleaming softly in the dim light of the control chamber.
The golden halo behind him spun slowly. No weapon drawn. No killing intent, just presence.
Nagato raised his gaze, forcing his spine to straighten against the machine.
Their eyes met, Rinnegan against calm, cold clarity.
End of Chapter 119 – "Wrath of Heaven"