Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Magnolia.
August 12, x790.
Time passed quickly after Mavis was named the sixth guild master of Fairy Tail. And before anyone knew it, it was time for Amar'e's third birthday. And just like every year, the Mansion on the Lake would be hosting a party for the young boy. And this time, he was actually old enough to enjoy it to its fullest.
Unfortunately, this day also coincided with a certain group of rogue shinobi's planned attack on Magnolia, more specifically, Fairy Tail, to capture the two Jinchuriki they had in their possession.
In other words, they might possibly be making the worst decisions of their lives.
Currently, a group of eleven was standing at a point outside of Magnolia, waiting for their twelfth member to return from scouting the town. However, they did not have to wait too long for the man, a young man with black hair and red eyes, to return to give his report.
"I don't think today is a good day to perform this attack." Itachi said after scouting the town of Magnolia. "From what I could gather, Alfonzo Marcus' eldest son's birthday is today. And I don't think interrupting such a day is a good idea. I believe Alfonzo Marcus' retaliation would be much fiercer than it would usually be if we were to do so."
"Hmph! When did you get so soft, Itachi?" Deidara asked disdainfully. "Are you worried about harming the brat? But weren't you the one who killed all your clans kids and babies? Why would you even care?"
Itachi only glared at Deidara for a moment with his Sharingan active, causing Deidara to flinch back for a second. However, when Deidara realized what he had just done, he snarled in anger.
'I'm not concerned with that fool's opinion.' Itachi thought to himself after returning his gaze to Pain. 'But I have an objective. I plan to die so that Sasuke can both gain the Mangekyo Sharingan and eternal light at the same time. But If I die to that monster after we piss him off, all my plans will be for nothing.'
Yet, Itachi did not spare Deidara another glance, instead returning his gaze to the six people, each with orange hair, purple patterned eyes, and black rods piercing parts of their faces. They also, like everyone present, wore black robes with red cloud patterns.
This group of six orange-haired individuals were collectively known as the Six Paths of pain. However, not a single one of them was alive. Instead, they were all refined corpses that were being controlled by the true Pain, or rather, Nagato. Though, the only ones among the Akatsuki who knew that were Konan, Toby/Obito, and Zetsu. And two of those three were currently indisposed.
"It matters not." Pain replied to Itachi's initial statement. "Either way, they will know pain."
"Good." Sasori, in his monstrous form, said in a raspy voice. "Otherwise, we would have to wait. And I hate waiting."
'I agree with Itachi on this one.' Kakuzu thought to himself while looking at Deidara and Sasori as though they were idiots. 'Gildarts was strong enough to deal with Hidan and I by himself with ease. And according to the public, Alfonzo Marcus is even stronger. Plus, there are rumors of a woman that is even stronger than him hidden in that guild of monsters. I think it would be better to attack the Hidden Waterfall and the Hidden Leaf than grab this sleeping lion's tail.'
Unfortunately, Kakuzu knew that whenever pain made a decision, changing his mind was incredibly difficult, if not outright impossible. On top of that, over the last few months, Pain's attitude had returned to that of someone with a god complex, making Kakuzu think that he was off his medicine or something.
If only Kakuzu knew how true that was, he would have run a long time ago. Unfortunately, he thought it was just a disrespectful thought that made him chuckle a little when he thought about it.
"So, what's our plan?" Kisame asked with his hand gripped around the hilt of his sword, Samehada.
"We'll create chaos in the town." one of the Paths of Pain, the Deva Path, said while he and the other five paths stared towards the town. "While that is happening, we'll secure the two Jinchuriki. But before that..."
Reaching that point, the Deva Path spread its arms. Then, it began to float into the air. And from what everyone could tell, it was floating towards the Mansion on the Lake.
"I have a feeling I know what he's about to do." Itachi said while his Sharingan tracked Pain's movements through the air. "But I have a bad feeling about this."
"As do I." Kakuzu added.
"Cowards." Deidara said disdainfully. He then looked towards Itachi. "And to think I actually lost to you in the past. How humiliating."
Itachi only shook his head while Kakuzu shot Deidara a glare filled with the promise of death. As for Konan, Kisame, and Sasori, they only watched Pain move in silence.
Eventually, the Deva Path reached the air above the artificial island at the center of Lake Sciliora. Then, it flared its magic power, which it channeled through its Rinnegan.
Going back to the moment when Itachi infiltrated Magnolia. Alfonzo, along with Grayfia, Maria, Mey-Rin, Ai, and Miyuki were setting up the tables, chairs, and other attractions Alfonzo prepared for Amar'e's birthday party in the mansion's backyard. However, before the job could come to an end, Alfonzo stopped what he was doing and raised his head.
"Hmm... Alfonzo hummed as he felt a higher than average S-Class magic power enter the detection barrier around Magnolia. "That's Itachi, isn't it?"
"Yup." Elicia replied from where she was watching Alfonzo and the maids work. "I guess Irene was right. They really did come today. Not that I doubted her."
"Yeah." Alfonzo replied. "So, it's a good thing we told all the guests to show up the next day. Otherwise, they might have turned around and ran away when they saw all the strongest wizards from all over the Kingdom in the same place."
"Do you really think they would have?" Elicia asked while tilting her head. "I mean, from what Irene told us, Pain thinks he's completely unbeatable at this point."
"*Sigh* I guess that's true." Alfonzo said. "He probably would have tried to kill all of us at the same time. But I don't want anyone getting in the way of the ass whoopin' these mother fuckers are about to catch. If we didn't know about it in advance, they would have messed up Amar'e's birthday party. And I'll be damned if that's okay."
"Right." Elicia replied with a nod and a solemn expression. "That's a good enough reason to really fuck them up, isn't it?"
Surprised to hear Elicia swear like that, Alfonzo widened his eyes. A moment later, however, he walked over to her and pulled her into a hug.
"Yes, yes, it is." Alfonzo said.
Not long afterwards, the rest of Alfonzo's wives and girlfriends, along with his extended family, arrived in the backyard.
"So, they really came." Gildarts said. "Do you think that Kakuzu guy came, too? I wanna finish what I started."
"Well, that depends on how many hearts he was able to find." Alfonzo thought aloud. "Otherwise, I doubt he'll engage. He cares more about money and surviving to make more money than anything else from what I've been able to gather."
"That's too bad." Gildarts said with a shrug. "Oh well, I guess I'll just leave it to you all. I don't wanna end up destroying part of the town and having to pay for it later."
"That's probably a good idea." Ur added. "I'm sure mavis won't wanna have to start remodeling the town so soon after she took over as guild master again."
"Alfonzo, I want to fight the one called Kisame." x 3
Turning his head to see the three who spoke simultaneously, Alfonzo saw Erza, Sun, and Saeko, each with their swords on their left hip. Unfortunately, unlike the others, Saeko's sword was not a [Soul Armament]. Though, it was an extremely well made sword that Alfonzo put all his skill into forging.
Meanwhile, Erza, Sun, and Saeko all exchanged competitive glances when they realized they were not the only ones who wanted to fight Kisame.
"*Cough* I think it would be best if you two let me handle this Kisame." Erza said in a serious toen. "From what the reports say, He has an incredible amount of magic power. And as the one among us who has the most magic power, I think it would be best if I were the one to handle him."
"I don't' know about that, Erza." Sun said in a serious tone of her own. "From what we know, he uses [Water-Style Ninjutsu]. And as it turns out, I use [Water Magic], too. So, I should have the easiest time countering his large scale [Ninjutsu]. Plus, if he hides in the water, my [Voice Magic] would be even more dangerous."
"Not necessarily." Erza replied. "With the [Sea Empress Armor] Alfonzo made for me, I have a fifty percent resistance against [Water Magic]. So, I won't be at a disadvantage against him, either."
"Both of you have had the opportunity to face challenges of this level." Saeko said, finally adding herself to the conversation. "Yet, I've yet to have the chance to face an S-Class threat. And I think this Kisame would be a perfect opportunity to see where I stand since I've reached a similar level."
"Though you may be ready for the S-Class Promotion Exam, so calling you an S-Class threat would be accurate..." Erza said, a hint of concern in her toen.
"This might still be too much for you, ya see, Saeko." Sun continued. "There are large differences between S-Class wizards, after all."
"I understand what you're saying." Saeko replied with a nod. "But without pushing myself, how can I be expected to improve?"
The three swordswomen continued to make their arguments. However, no matter how logical their points were, the other two would have a similarly logical argument in their own favor.
The argument between Erza, Sun and Saeko was the first, however, it was not the last, as the other members of Alfonzo's harem started to name the members of Akatsuki they wanted to fight, as well. Unfortunately, there were others who wanted to fight the same people. So, more arguments broke out.
The only one who did not really argue about it were Sun's family, Ren and Gozaburo. Though, Gozaburo was arguing for Masa to handle one of them, as well.
"That actually brings up a pretty good point." Elicia said. "Who should we have fight each member of the Akatsuki? I mean, we all know what they look like. So, it should be easy enough to assign roles, shouldn't it?"
"I actually asked Master Mavis about this already." Alfonzo replied. "She said..."
Before Alfonzo could tell Elicia about the plan Mavis came up with, he snapped his head in a particular direction. Currently, there was a strong magic power source floating over the town and heading straight for the Mansion on the Lake.
"I know this bitch isn't..." Alfonzo muttered as he watched a man with orange hair, purple ripple-patterned eyes, and metal rods piercing his face float over the center of the artificial island.
"For standing in the way of our plans for world peace, you shall be judged." The Deva Path of Pain said while floating high in the air. "So, you shall know pain. [Almighty Push]."
"He really is." Alfonzo said, anger clouding his features. "Yeah, fuck Mavis' plan, this mother fucker is mine. I don't' give a shit how fucked up his brain is. All the kids are in the house. If he didn't have something I wanted, I'd kill him immediately. Instead, I'm gonna show him real pain."
In the next instant, several things happened in short succession. First, a gravitational force was sent outwards from the Deva Path's body in all directions. On top of that, this force was much stronger than anything Kagura had been able to show during the Grand Magic Games a little more than a month ago. Second, Alfonzo tapped his foot on the lawn, injecting his magic power into the metal underneath it. Third, a magical barrier, the [Reflection Barrier] became visible. However, instead of only surrounding the artificial island, it covered the entirety of Lake Sciliora.
"Your reaction is impressive." The Deva Path said with no emotion in its toen. "But in the end, it's useless. How could a mortal creation be expected to handle the might of a god?"
A moment later, the gravitation force met the top of the [Reflection Barrier]. And when the two forces met, time seemed to stop for a moment. Then, before anyone could comment on the supposed stalemate...
*Boom~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!*