Chapter 248 - Cap 232: Takoyaki

"It's been a while, Jiraiya sensei..." - said Pain while looking at the white-haired Sannin - "It's been a while..."

"Not so much, Uzumaki Nagato" - replied Jiraiya as he watched his former student.

"Oh~? How did you find out it was me?" - asked Pain, or rather Nagato with curiosity.

"The Rinnegan... only you possessed such power..." - replied Jiraiya as he sighed with regret at how much his student had changed.

"!" - Kushina opened her eyes when she heard this because she never taught her enemy was a member of her family - "Impossible! We have never needed to kill just for the sake of it!"

"There are always exceptions, Uzumaki Kushina" - answered Pain while he watched the redhead for a few seconds after hearing her scream - "Besides... I'm sure you would do the same as me after seeing with your own eyes how everything you loved was destroyed... my best friend was killed in front of my eyes, all my companions abandoned me, my dreams were destroyed... And it was there that I discovered the true path! The world does not need love, it does not need compassion or companionship! What the world needs is pain! Only in this way will humanity be united and there will be peace!"

". . ." - Kushina was silent for a few seconds before sighing with regret because there was no way she could answer the man in front of the Raikage and Sannin, after all, she could not put herself in the man's place no matter how hard she tried.

"But well... it's better that we continue where we left off..." - said Pain as he squinted - "It's time for the world to know what PAIN is!"

"Focus on me, Uzumaki Kushina!" - said Menma as the Reibi threw itself at the redhead.

"That thing is disgusting" - grunted Kushina as she backed up fast and in the process, made hand seals at high speed then threw a talisman at the creepy slug-like thing coming at her - "Fuinjutsu Uzumaki: 3-Ten Seigen (Uzumaki Sealing Art: 3 Point Restriction)!"

Kushina quickly made a second-hand seal and the talisman he had thrown was now divided into 3 parts - "Fuin!"

"ROAR!" - The Reibi roared in pain as he felt his body seem to be being burned by the three small scroll fragments.

* * * * *

"I keep saying the same thing... you are annoying, Uchiha..." - said Zetsu coldly as he continued to dodge the black flames of Amaterasu.

"You stole the words from my mouth," replied Sasuke as he grunted in irritation at how elusive his opponent was - "But I feel that you do not want to fight me..."

"Because I don't want to" - answered Zetsu with disdain - "I just need to keep you busy for a few minutes while we accomplish our goal..."

"!" - Sasuke opened his eyes in surprise as the sounds of the fight between Killer B and Gedo Mazo became more frantic.

"Exactly" - smiled Zetsu as his expression changed to one of annoyance when he saw how Sasuke's attacks were much more frequent.

* * * * *

"Ugh..." - Obito just g.r.o.a.n.e.d in pain as he put his hand over his right eye and felt the blood keep running.

"You better let me go..." - said Kurama coldly - "Unless you want to see your eye explode like a balloon full of ketchup"

Obito grunted irritably as he watched the ginger man within his dimension, only to smile as he heard his leader's message.

"Everything is ready... the Gedo Mazo is absorbing the Hachibi right now... we just need a few seconds before we have the Bijuu and can escape"

"Perfect..." - Obito murmured - "If the Hachibi is already being captured, then it is no longer necessary to keep the Kyubi in my Kamui, after all, the extraction process cannot be stopped, much less when it is Gedo Mazo itself who does it"

Obito quickly deactivated his Kamui and disappeared from the site before Kurama could do anything.

". . ." - Kurama frowned when he saw this, more so when he felt how Obito's presence had disappeared from Kumo but his expression changed to a cold one when he felt how Gyuki's aura was less and less - "Shit!"

With a quick hand movement, he threw a Hiraishin kunai in the direction of his brother, only to feel his chakra about to disappear - "It may not be too late..."

That said, he disappeared in a red flash

* * * * *

"You are much more annoying than I thought at first, Uzumaki Kushina" - said Menma coldly as he observed the Reibi being caught by the Kongo Fusa (Adamantine Sealing Chains) of the redhead.

"And you haven't seen anything, you little brat" - snorted Kushina as she started making hand seals.

"!" - Menma felt a bad feeling so he quickly tried to undo the Reibi's invocation, only to feel like it was completely trapped - "Shit! Don't think I'm going to let you do what you want to do!"

"Too late!" - exclaimed Kushina as he made the last seal - "Fuinjutsu Uzumaki: San-Biki no Kashikoi Saru no Batsu (Uzumaki Sealing Art: Punishment of the Three Wise Monkeys)!"

"One, see no evil!" - exclaimed Kushina as Menma felt his body being dismembered.

"Two, hear no evil!" - exclaimed Kushina again as the Reibi squirmed in pain - "Three, speak no evil!

"No!" - exclaimed Menma as he fell to his knees and felt his chakra slowly begin to disappear - "NOOOOOOOO!"

The blond boy could only watch as the Reibi slowly began to shrink as it took the form of a small black gem - "Uzumaki Kushina!"

Menma couldn't hide the anger he felt at this moment but seeing that things were about to get worse he decided that the best plan was to escape for the time being, after all, as long as he was alive, he could not only recover the Reibi but also consummate his revenge that was now getting darker and darker.

"Ugh..." - Kushina could only groan in exhaustion as she fell to the ground with irregular breathing - "That damn seal is a pain in the a.s.s with all that chakra consumption..."

"Are you okay, Kushina-san?!" - exclaimed Hinata as she appeared beside the redhead.

"I could be better..." - replied Kushina as she looked at the pearl-eyed girl. She slowly got up and walked to where the stone was once the Reibi was and took it carefully.

"What is that?" - asked Hinata as she felt her eyes begin to hurt just by looking at the stone for a few seconds.

"A mistake..." - replied Kushina as she made hand seals and made the stone disappear - "How is everyone?"

"Tired but fine" - answered Hinata seriously - "Although Neji Nii-san and Tenten-san are slightly injured... the worst of all was Kiba... he received most of the attacks"

"Somehow it was bound to happen," sighed Kushina as she heard how unfortunate her friend's son was.

"You still don't tell me what that stone was, Kushina-san" - said Hinata curiously because it was the first time she had felt this pain when looking at a lifeless object.

"It was the Reibi... that species of slug that Menma had used" - answered Kushina while she frowned - "I don't know very well its origin but what I do know is that this thing was created thanks to a great number of sacrifices and negative emotions"

Hinata felt disgusted when she heard that as she finally nodded to understand why she felt so repulsed by Menma when they were fighting.

"Better save this conversation for later, now we have to get together... I feel that things are not as good as we think," Kushina said seriously.

"Ok" - nodded Hinata as the two of them walked in the direction where the others were waiting.

* * * * *

"Shit... f.u.c.k.i.n.g monster..." - said A as he watched his lightning armor disappear as if nothing had happened.

". . ." - Jiraiya only sighed in exhaustion as he watched his body ache completely despite using Senjutsu.

"It was fun playing with you... but the party is over" - said Pain while giving a clap - "Chibaku Tensei (Planetary Devastation)"

Pain created a small black sphere that slowly rose to the heavens, only to have the earth begin to tremble after a few seconds.

"What did you do?!" - exclaimed A in terror as he noticed the area starting to crack and rise in the direction of the black sphere.

"Just a little farewell gift," replied Pain as he flew away.

"We have to find a way to stop that thing! - exclaimed A as he felt the surrounding earth begin to rise - "Shit!"

"Wait! The roars of the Hachibi no longer resonate!" - exclaimed Jiraiya as he looked at the Raikage.

"Shit, B!" - exclaimed A as he trembled at the thought that his brother had been captured.

"Go see him! I'll find a way to stop that thing!" - exclaimed Jiraiya.

"Thank you," murmured A before jumping out of the way and running in the direction where his younger brother had been.

"Now... how do I solve this?" - asked Jiraiya with a grimace on his face as he saw how things were starting to get worse and worse.

"Don't worry, it's easy to solve" - said a voice he recognized quite well.

"What are you doing here, Kurama?! - exclaimed Jiraiya in surprise.

"Pa warned me about the situation so the Boss sent me to make sure everything was fine..." - replied the clone.