well i expect nothing less from u as blaze said u are the only minato fan that use logic,
ok lets start from the animal if i remember the dog and the crab/shrimp pets is actually quite formidable why ?
the dog cannot be taken down physical attack u have to seal it inside a frog barrier like j-man did
and the crab/shrimp that beast can shoot soap/bubble like to cover the entire ground and it will automatically take minato footing,
that's why i said the 5 path aside from deva will use that bird to go airbone while deva will fly on his own,
and shinra tensei will definitely hit minato but 1 shinra tensei is not enough to kill someone like minato as we see kakashi he got hit from 2 shinra tensei and completely helpless, now u say deva will have to use the ultimate shinra tensei, hmhm deva is airbone so yeah he can kill minato with that but its not a smart choice, snice there is a wild chance that minato will dodge the attack and deva will completely useless after using the power of the six,
hmhm yeah i agree taijutsu is fcking forbidden against minato try touch him and he will put the FTG mark somewhere in ur body, i even think that the reason why tobi need to use zetsu part for his arm its because he have to cut the parts that got hit with FTG since that's the only way to remove it.
oh and also a mere rasengan cannot completely paralyze the path as we seen the naraka path is completely fine when the animal path summon the other path before deva wreck konoha, but that aside since all the path is on the air so minato will never reach them.
thanks for the compliment xd props to you also for using logic and not hype as well, which is also the norm when it comes to dojutsu.
i'm not saying the summons are useless, but minato with his speed can almost ignore them. the dog is probably the strongest summon in the series, after gedo mazo, and pretty much indestructible, but not all that fast. the crab is tricky too, but i doubt he can cover all of what's left of konoha, minato can simply change location. although he could limit the use of minato's kunai markers. as to the bird, yeah the paths can use it to fly, but then they can't attack xd except for the larger scale shinra tensei. and the summons are taken care of if the animal path is defeated.
i'm not sure about the rasengan, naruto did remove the chakra rods from the deva true, but the other paths hit by the rasengan (animal and the reviving) weren't restored... it seems to be enough to incapacitate them for the length of a battle at least. and minato does have other low tech options like decapitation, removing the chakra rods or their eyes too.
to be fair, pain starts at an overwhelming advantage, minato has to figure out each pain's ability, and nagato has a much wider and more powerful range of jutsu. And i'm almost sure that Nagato will survive, it's possible that minato can figure out that there's someone controlling the pains but given that it took an entire village plus jiraiya's inside knowledge ages to figure it out, it's too much to assume. so even if Minato defeats the pains, Nagato can still make more. But, it's been shown that the linked vision can be overcome with speed (jiraiya blinding one pain with a kick), so it's not impossible for minato to win.
The Paths of Pain takes this one. All of Minato's attacks and abilities can be countered, Im going to list the known moves that he has shown so far:
Minato's intelligence- People keep saying that if Jiraiya can figure out the secret of Pain then surely Minato can too. No not necessarily, the only reason Jiraiya figured out Pains secrets was because he knew the original body owners the paths are using. I doubt Minato met/knew about them, Yahiko or even Nagato. Although Im going to be generous and say that Minato will figure out the secrets as the fight wages on.
Minato's speed- Super fast speed in a blink of an eye, well good thing the paths have shared visions because of the Rinnegan. Deva Path to use Banshou tenin to pull or Shinra tensei to push Minato away while the other paths are working as eyes.
FTG- Sure he can throw kunais around the battlefield to teleport in order to avoid getting attacked here and there but would ultimately be useless because of shinra tensei knocking them far away by Deva Path again. And this can only happen for so long as he wouldnt have infinite kunais, or does he? :S Ultimately Deva Path can use Chibaku tensei to attract everything, including the FTG kunais. Where would Minato teleport then? He'll get crushed by the large rocks.
Summoning Toads- Well hello Animal Path to keep the toads busy, especially the multiplying dogs.
Ransengan- Easily countered by Preta Path. Even if one Path gets hit, it will be revived.
Dead Demon Consuming Seal- Useless against the paths, who are already dead, as this requires a soul to be taken. In this case there isnt one as Nagato is somewhere hiding as the OP says.
Minato's SM? - Unless you have pure facts from the manga, we dont know for sure as its all speculation. From this point, Minato cant use SM to track down Nagato via chakra rods. I read someone saying "Minato to touch the ground with this finger to find out where Nagato is" lol dont make me laugh.
So there you go, all known attacks and abilities can be countered one way or another. But does Minato have counters for these:
Chakra Rods- if Minato gets pierced by these, he could be controlled by Nagato.
Human Path- instant death if soul is removed.
Chibaku Tensei
Large scale Shinra Tensei
Trump card, Gedo Mazo- Instant death if the dragons coming out from the mouth touches Minato. Minato could use space/time barrier to teleport it away but the dragons are quite fast as well.
Note: All of this Minato has to deal with against 6 bodies, who arent just going to stand there and watch as all of this is happening. Naruto won cause of plot no jutsu xd
i disagree, although you make a good set of points.
Minato's intelligence- i'm almost sure that minato CAN'T realise the true secret about nagato. but that is irrelevant since the fight is Minato vs the paths only, so he just needs to figure out their abilities, which he definitely can, Jiraiya and Kakashi managed to do so pretty quickly and Minato is smarter than both.
Minato's speed- it's already been shown that the rinnegan link can be overcome with speed. Jiraiya managed to blind one pain with a kick. plus, teleportation is much harder to keep track of, anticipate and react to. Furthermore, the rinnegan link can be broken, which Naruto and the frogs managed to do twice. Ignore that point though, as it hasn't been shown that minato has the jutsu to do so, i'm just putting it out there.
FTG- true, bansho tenin, the water crab, and chibaku tensei are good counters for FTG kunai. although the deva path has to move much closer to nagato than konoha to do so, meaning that the kunai will be left behind and presenting a wonderful opportunity for minato to escape. Also, Minato can also make seals on the pain's bodies, just by sparring. Preta,Animal,Asura and Deva path all sparred with naruto, despite him having sm and being able to destroy a pain with a single hit. that's more than half the pains.
Rasengan- only the Preta Path can deal with it, and the Naraka paths can only revive once or twice before he's noticed or targeted. And if the revived path is marked, he's going to die pretty soon.
DeadDemon Seal- irrelevant to the battle
Minato's Sm (if any)- also irrelevant as that is just speculation
Tobirama's sensing jutsu- only useful if the pains have retreated near nagato.
as to nagato's jutsu
Chakra Rods- if Minato gets pierced by these, he could be controlled by Nagato.
true, if he can hit minato with them. which is no easy feat given that minato can teleport away. not to mention that whether minato can teleport or not after being stabbed is a question mark
Human Path- instant death if soul is removed.
as above, the human path has to capture minato. easier said than done
Chibaku Tensei
valid elsewhere, but seeing as deva path has to flee close to nagato to do this, and minato has to chase hiim, and leave kunai behind, it's easy to escape
Large scale Shinra Tensei
true, i can't imagine minato escaping this.maybe s/t barrier? but unlikely. On the other hand, this would target the other paths too, plus if minato survives, the deva path has to fight hard to survive without his powers
Trump card, Gedo Mazo- Instant death if the dragons coming out from the mouth touches Minato. Minato could use space/time barrier to teleport it away but the dragons are quite fast as well.
we don't know if the pain can summon it. i don't think so, and i don't think minato will realise that there's nagato to beat also. on the other hand, if it does come to that, i don't see how minato will deal with it either. best summon in the series by far.
sorry for the poor quoting job xD
i agree that naruto only beat pain with knowledge and plot though, but i still don't think naruto has surpassed minato, even now, despite him being my favourite character. in power, definitely, but overall, no.