The cold drizzle fell steadily across the Land of Rain. Clouds hung low, hiding the sun. A windless silence stretched over the muddy valleys and broken cliffs that marked the edge of Agakure. In the distance, the tall iron towers of the hidden village pierced the sky, steam and mist rising from their vents like ghosts.
Suddenly, a figure appeared.
There was no flash of light. No sound. Just the sharp pressure of space folding, and then Haji stood there, alone.
He stood still for a mont on the wet stone outcrop overlooking the valley. His armored form towered against the grey sky. The golden tal of his warplate glead with rain. His crimson cape clung to his back, soaked and heavy. The faint hum of psychic power echoed around him like a low song only the mind could hear. On his back, the golden halo shone dimly, still gathering strength.
Haji raised his face to the sky and closed his eyes.
The rain touched his armor softly at first, then spread across his fra. But this was no normal rain. It carried sothing sharp, like tiny threads of chakra winding through every drop. It sought out signatures, foreign chakra, intruders, threats.
Haji did not resist it.
In fact, he helped it.
He channeled just a bit of his own chakra outward, letting the rain touch him fully, letting it send a signal loud and clear.
"Co then," Haji whispered. "Let them find ."
Far within the tallest tower of Agakure, Pain opened his eyes.
Nagato sat silently on his chanical throne, hidden deep within a dark chamber of machines and iron roots. Thick black rods stuck out of his spine, connecting him to dozens of pipes. His face was thin, skin pale, lips slightly parted. But his Rinnegan eyes glead with sudden alertness.
Beside him, Konan looked up from the scrolls she had been checking.
"What is it?" she asked.
"There's soone," Nagato said. His voice was calm, but sothing tightened in it.
Konan walked closer, concern on her face.
"Who?"
Nagato narrowed his eyes. "I don't know. His chakra just appeared inside the Land of Rain. Strong, far beyond what I expected. I don't recognize the signature."
Konan frowned. "Jinchūriki?"
"No," Nagato replied coldly. "It's not a tailed beast. But the amount… it's like standing under a waterfall of raw force. Heavy. Focused."
His fingers twitched. Chakra threads pulsed through the machines.
"I'll send the Six Paths," he said. "I want answers."
"You don't even know if he's an enemy," Konan warned.
"He entered without permission," Nagato said. "He's either arrogant, or dangerous. Maybe both. If he's bold enough to let my rain touch him, then he knows I'm watching. That makes this deliberate. And if he's hiding sothing…"
Nagato's voice darkened.
"Then I will show him the will of Pain."
Without hesitation, he sent his chakra flowing through the receivers that linked to the other bodies.
Across the tower, six forms stirred.
One by one, the Six Paths of Pain opened their eyes. The Rinnegan glead in all of them. They moved as one, smooth and silent, stepping out of their resting places. Each was ard. Each was ready. Without delay, they leaped out into the rain, heading toward the chakra that challenged their sky.
On the cliff's edge, Haji stood motionless, hands behind his back. His red lenses scanned the distant city. His mind stretched farther.
He felt them.
Six separate signals. All cold. Empty. Puppets without true minds. Only one soul behind them all, one puppeteer hiding sowhere in the rain.
"They're coming," Haji murmured.
He didn't flinch. Didn't prepare to run. There was no need.
Instead, he looked at the city, its iron spires, its lifeless skies, and rembered that the Akatsuki's base. Pain's territory. Should be here, too. He doubted the snake was still welco.
The wind picked up for a mont. It brought the stench of rust and old blood from the valley below.
And then he saw them.
Six figures leaping across the cliffs, moving fast. They split apart slightly as they approached, trying to surround him. But he didn't move. Not yet.
The first to land was the Deva Path, its orange hair soaked by rain, its Rinnegan eyes fixed on Haji's tall, armored form.
Behind it, the other five landed, each with a different weapon, different stance, different role.
Together, they made a circle around him, twenty ters apart. The rain kept falling.
For a mont, no one moved.
Haji's blue lenses glowed softly behind the red-tinted faceplate. His golden halo brightened slightly, pulsing with psychic energy. It didn't shine to blind, but it gave off a strange light, sothing deeper than color, sothing that pressed into the soul.
The Deva Path stepped forward.
"You are trespassing in the Land of Rain," it said. "State your purpose."
Haji tilted his head slightly.
"I ca for the Akatsuki," he said. "And to clean out the trash hiding behind false justice."
A pause. The wind howled briefly between the cliffs.
"Your Haji, Tsunade Apprentice who defeated the kumo and tail beast," the Preta Path said.
"Yes, Indeed, I am haji." Haji answered.
The Animal Path raised its hands slowly. The ground behind it cracked as a giant centipede burst forth.
Still, Haji didn't move.
Then the Deva Path spoke again.
"You speak boldly. But you stand alone. You challenge a god with no army, no na. You are nothing."
Haji's eyes narrowed behind his helt.
"I know what gods look like," he said. "You're not one of them. You're just another man hiding behind puppets."
The mont cracked.
The centipede rushed forward. So did the Human Path. The others spread out, ready to trap him.
Haji finally raised one hand.
A hum echoed from his halo. The Psychic etching on his armor pulsed. The ground beneath his boots shook.
In one smooth motion, he pulled his psychic halberd from his back.
The blade shimred with a Blue glow, like lightning trapped in glass.
The centipede struck first, but before its jaws could snap shut, Haji moved. Not fast. Not sudden. Just precise.
One step forward. One arc.
The halberd carved through the centipede's head. It split clean down the middle. A second later, its body exploded in a burst of black chakra smoke.
The Human Path leaped at him, but Haji's left hand snapped forward. A short burst of psychic energy left his palm. The Path hit an invisible wall mid-air and slamd into the ground, rolling across the mud like a ragdoll.
The Preta Path rushed next, trying to absorb chakra. Haji let it grab him, just for a second. The mont it made contact, his halo flared bright.
Psychic, blasted into the Preta Path's mind. Its body shook violently and crumpled to its knees, spasming as its link with Nagato shook.
The Deva Path raised its hand, ready to unleash its signature power.
"Shinra"
But Haji didn't give it ti.
He vanished.
Not in smoke.
Not in flash.
He simply wasn't there anymore.
He appeared behind the Deva Path mid-sentence.
"Tensei!"
Before the jutsu finished, Haji drove his halberd into the Deva's back. It speared through armor, chakra, and into the black receiver inside its body. The Path's eyes widened. Its body pulsed once with stolen power, and then collapsed.
Four left.
Konan, far from the battlefield, stared in shock at the rapidly weakening signals.
Nagato gritted his teeth.
"This… bastard."
Konan placed a hand on his shoulder.
"He's not like the others we've faced. What do we do?"
Nagato stared ahead.
"We fight. Until he falls. No one challenges the will of Pain and walks away."
Back on the cliffs, Haji stood tall, breathing slowly.
The rain still fell.
But this ti, it fell on broken ground.
And he hadn't even drawn in a full breath yet.
he whispered. His lenses glowed. The halo spun slightly faster.
"I didn't co to ask questions."
"I ca to end this."
End of Chapter 118 – "A Rain Without rcy"
Reviews
All reviews (0)