**Hidden Rain Village - Pain's Sanctuary**
**Pain's POV**
'A Human without any Chakra. And a body so strong? How fascinating.'
On the rooftops of the hidden rain, the Four paths of pain wove through Amegakure with inhuman synchronization. Their footsteps creating ripples against the rain soaked rooftops.
'The wonders of the Ninja world never cease to amaze. However, now is not the time to process such matters.' The Deva Path led the formation, his orange hair plastered against his skull by the endless downpour, while the Animal, Preta, and Naraka Paths followed in perfect formation behind him.
They had left the battle against Jiraiya after his brief disappearance, converging on this location ever since the unexpected energy fluctuations had been detected emanating from the underground chamber. The same chamber where their two most valuable prisoners were being held in preparation for extraction.
The Deva Path's ringed eyes remained fixed ahead, but through the shared vision of the Six Paths, Nagato was simultaneously experiencing the confrontation with his former teacher and the unknown interloper. The ease with which the stranger had destroyed the Asura Path was... concerning. No jutsu, no chakra signature, just raw physical capability that defied conventional understanding.
But the prisoners took priority.
The Paths leaped from the final rooftop onto a narrow platform that jutted out from the side of Amegakure's central tower. What appeared to be solid rock face was, in reality, a carefully concealed entrance. The Deva Path pressed his palm against a specific section of the wall, and with the grinding of ancient mechanisms, a passage revealed itself.
The four Paths descended into darkness, their movements creating soft echoes in the narrow stone corridors. Emergency lighting flickered on as they passed, casting dancing shadows on the walls carved with various sealing formulas and barrier techniques.
They moved deeper, past multiple security checkpoints and reinforced doors, until they reached the main corridor that led to the extraction chamber. Here, the Animal Path stopped and formed a series of hand seals.
"Summoning Jutsu."
Smoke billowed around them, and when it cleared, the Human Path materialized among their ranks.
They continued through the winding passages until they reached the final checkpoint—a massive reinforced door inscribed with dozens of overlapping barrier seals. The Deva Path approached and began the complex unlocking sequence, his fingers dancing across specific symbols in a pattern known only to him and Konan.
The seals glowed briefly before the door split down the middle, revealing the extraction chamber beyond.
The space was vast, designed to accommodate the Gedo Statue when summoned. But it was the smaller adjoining area that drew their attention—two holding cells built into the chamber walls, each surrounded by its own network of containment seals.
Konan stood between the cells, her blue hair damp from the humidity that constantly pervaded the underground complex. Her Akatsuki robes seemed to glow in the artificial lighting as she turned toward the approaching Paths.
"What happened?" the Deva Path asked, his voice carrying no emotion despite the gravity of the situation.
Konan's amber eyes met his ringed gaze. "They're gone."
The words hung in the air like a physical weight. The five Paths approached the cells, and the Deva Path walked directly into the first one—the cell that had held the Two-Tails Jinchuriki.
He knelt and examined the disturbed earth where the prisoner had been secured. The dirt was scattered roughly, and the metal restraints lay broken and empty. But there were no signs of struggle, no blast marks from jutsu, no indication of outside interference.
"How did it happen?" he asked, rising to his feet.
"I don't know," Konan replied, her usual composure showing the slightest crack. "I came immediately after sensing the energy fluctuations from the barrier network. By the time I arrived, both cells were empty. No signs of forced entry, no evidence of rescue attempts."
The Deva Path moved to the second cell. The scene was identical: broken restraints, disturbed earth, and absolutely no trace of how the escape had been accomplished.
"Space-Time Ninjutsu," he concluded after a moment of examination. "It seems preventing the extraction process wasn't the seal's only purpose."
Konan's eyes widened slightly. "You mean there was a contingency built into the barriers that kept us from extracting their Tailed Beasts?"
"Precisely. The same sealing techniques that made extraction impossible also served as a failsafe of sorts. When certain conditions were met—perhaps our attempts to begin extraction, or simply the passage of time—the seals activated a secondary function."
The implications were staggering. Someone had anticipated the possible capture of the Jinchuriki and prepared placed countermeasures in advance against it.
"By the way," the Deva Path said, tilting his head toward a section of the chamber wall, "you can come out now."
The stone surface rippled like water, and the distinctive form of Zetsu emerged. The plant-like creature's half-white, half-black form stood in stark contrast to the chamber's muted colors.
"This is an unexpected development," the black half stated with its usual analytical tone.
"Indeed. The Jinchuriki have vanished," the Deva Path confirmed.
"You had trouble with the old sage," the white half said, its voice carrying a note of curiosity. "Could he perhaps have had a hand in this?"
"No." Pain's response was immediate and certain. "That would be giving my teacher too much credit. Although he is the strongest of the Sannin, he's also a dunderhead. There's no way he is capable of developing such a Jutsu, nor could he have anticipated the goals of the Akatsuki ahead of time to place them."
"Even if he could, such interactions with the Jinchuriki of other villages would trigger a diplomatic incident and lead to the rise of another Ninja war. Jiraiya is not that stupid, and Space-Time Ninjutsu is beyond his area of expertise. This is the work of the sealing jutsu barriers—the same ones that prevented the extraction of their Tailed Beasts to begin with. Their disappearance must be a... preprogrammed response, perhaps. One set to teleport them away upon the fulfillment of a certain requirement. Plus, we have kept their status hidden. No one else should know they are even still alive."
"The same seal appearing on two different Jinchuriki from Two different villages with no connection. It's unlikely to be a shared secret between villages, and it's nature doesn't resemble anything belonging to the destroyed Uzumaki clan to be a similar technique. So who could have done this?"
The question made Nagato quiet for a second.
Images flashing through his mind,
Information, if you will. Of every known individual capable of pulling this off with a possible logical connection between the two targets.
None matched.
"I ... don't know."
"Meaning the captured Jinchuriki have escaped our grasp and could currently be anywhere in the ninja world," Black Zetsu observed.
"Indeed. This is a contingency I hadn't anticipated."
Pain stood to his feet after finishing his examination, having gained nothing useful from the physical evidence. Two of his most valuable targets had slipped through his fingers, vanishing as completely as if they had never existed.
The Akatsuki's timeline for collecting the Tailed Beasts had already been disrupted by their inability to extract these two. Now, with the Jinchuriki free and potentially warned about the organization's goals, recapturing them would be exponentially more difficult.
"Where is Madara?" he asked Zetsu.
"Dealing with another matter of importance. Do you need him?"
Pain was silent for a long moment, his ringed eyes reflecting the chamber's dim lighting. The shared consciousness of Nagato weighed the options, calculated probabilities, and assessed the changed circumstances.
"No. There is no need," he finally replied. "Madara ordered me to hunt the Nine-Tails, and it's time I returned to that task. Due to the unexpected trouble in extracting the Tailed Beasts from the captive Jinchuriki, I had put it on hold until we could succeed. But with this development, I'll simply have to add the recapture of the Two-Tails and Seven-Tails to the list."
"Well then, I'd love to see you hunt down all Jinchuriki!" the white half said, its eyes gleaming with anticipation.
"So let's go together!"
"No," Black Zetsu interjected firmly.
"Huh?" White Zetsu turned to its other half in confusion.
"There's another battle I want to see," Black Zetsu explained.
"Awww!"
"Shut up!"
White Zetsu's complaints ceased immediately.
Pain watched this exchange with his usual impassive expression. "Which battle is that?"
"Hehehe, you'll see," Black Zetsu replied cryptically before focusing back on Pain.
"And what about Jiraiya?"
"The Jinchuriki are more important. My former sensei can wait until our paths cross again."
His dear teacher could wait. The Jinchuriki could not. Takigakure, where the Seven-Tails had originated, would be simple enough to investigate. But if the Two-Tails Jinchuriki were to escape back to the Hidden Cloud, the difficulty of acquiring her again would increase exponentially.
It was in their best interests that both Jinchuriki were captured before they could venture too far from their current locations—wherever those might be.
"Zetsu, use your intelligence network to locate the Jinchuriki as soon as possible."
"Sure thing," Black Zetsu replied before beginning to sink back into the ground.
The plant-like creature disappeared completely, leaving only Pain and Konan in the empty chamber. The silence stretched between them, broken only by the distant sound of water dripping somewhere in the complex's depths.