The Kumo Ninja saw their commander get blown to smithereens and then the second strongest among the group dying at the hands of the demon standing in front of them.
All of their senses and the instinct they had developed over the years were screaming at them to run away, that facing this foe was nothing other than a death sentence, but they also knew that their chance of running away was also negligible and in that case they would become vulnerable. Jiraiya could just target them one by one, and they would not be able to retaliate at all.
So the only option they had now was to shut their instinct warnings off in their mind and use the opportunity their comrades had provided to somehow take the enemy with them. If they were lucky, some of them might outlive their enemy or at least could take him down with them.
This was not just an act of patriotism but also revenge against both Jiraiya and Konoha who had suddenly crushed all of their life, ambition, dreams, futures in one fell swoop.
All of them looked toward each other, to see if everyone was on the same page and was not thinking of running away. Seeing everyone had the same hatred and a ferocious glint in their eyes, Kumo ninja became ready for round two.
As soon as Jiraiya landed and was about to do something about the recent wound, three of their Jonin lunged at him with their swords in hand, other six ready with shuriken and Kunai to throw at any direction he may try to dodge while others prepared a series of long range jutsu to use at any opportunity they could find.
"This is what I was expecting from Kumogakure," Jiraiya said, patching his wound and then releasing a Fire Release: Fire Stream Jutsu toward the three Jonin coming toward him, while Pa released oil and Ma released a Wind Jutsu to increase the flame as much as possible.
Being burned just now, they instinctively evaded the jutsu like their life depended on it. While the jutsu was not able to eliminate any of the ninja, that was not its purpose as well. Due to the combination of all three attacks, a massive wall of fire was now present in front of Jiraiya, obstructing the view of Kumo Jonin.
Their fear of the fire also provided an opportunity for Jiraiya to use this moment to deal a decisive blow to the now perfect team aiming for his life.
One second he was behind the fire wall, and next he was in between the ninja who were preparing long range Jutsu to attack him. The moment he appeared in between them, he unleashed a fury of precise punches at the necks and hearts of the ninja in immediate vicinity of him.
Killing three more Jonin, before others near him found out what had happened. To their credit they responded the next millisecond after that realization.
Sadly they had only prepared long range attacks, which required a little time to be fired, enough time for Jiraiya to disappear once again. While they unleashed a barrage of lightning in empty space, Jiraiya appeared in the next location, this time in another group which was once again caught unprepared.
With a series of body flickers and pure speed movement, Jiraiya kept on traveling from one point to another, slowly thinning out the number of the enemies.
"Form a circle, watch each other's backs!" one of the Jonin shouted when he saw that their initial number of 15 had now reduced to mere 6. If they previously had any chance of winning before, now it was negligible, but so was running away.
It was better to try and fight and injure Jiraiya enough that their other comrades might get a chance to run away.
As soon as he shouted those orders, his teammates moved toward him, forming a circle with their backs next to each other. Jiraiya was now hiding in the smoke created due to repeated use of the Jutsu targeted at him.
The jutsu which was supposed to kill him ended up helping him. The Kumo ninja were tense beyond measure; neither could they see their enemy nor sense him, but their instincts were screaming at them that they were in mortal danger at the moment.
"If you guys offer me such an easy target, I have to take it," a voice came from the south of the team. Before they could unleash their prepared jutsu, all of their senses tingled as the concentration of earth chakra suddenly increased in the ground below them.
'Not again... not another trap!' One of the Jonin, Renga, clenched his teeth as his body screamed at him to move. But his legs—heavy, sluggish from exhaustion—weren't responding fast enough. 'Move, damn it! If I die here… If I die here, who will take care of Mika?'
The faces of his family flashed before his eyes—the wife he had promised to return to, the son who had just taken his first steps before he left for this mission. He had fought to build a future for them. He had fought because he believed in Kumogakure's strength. But now... now he was just a slow-moving target.
In the next instant, the ground beneath him erupted with jagged earth spikes. A sharp pain tore through his body as he was lifted off the ground, his leg impaled. He gasped, blood filling his mouth, the weight of his broken dreams sinking in.
The ninja beside him, facing the same situation, glanced at his jacket. With their legs impaled, the only thing awaiting them was certain death. The only choice left was to take their enemy down with them.
Renga also prepared to detonate the explosive tag as soon as Jiraiya came near to finish the job. But before they could activate them—before they could take their killer with them—Jiraiya's voice rang out once more, from a different direction.
"I don't repeat the same mistake twice, you know."
And with the voice came a grieving realization of what was about to happen next. Once again both of the ninja felt an increase of earth chakra in the ground; with their legs already impaled, they could neither dodge now nor could they blow their enemy with them.
If they even decided to activate the explosion tags anyway, it would only help increase the smoke and give Jiraiya extra places to hide and attack them.
'Wait a minute... Smoke?' Renga thought. By now the smoke should have cleared, or at least thinned a little, but no, it was as dense as at the start, which simply meant—
"He is holding the smoke in the area. Blow away the smoke!" he shouted and then used any remaining chakra he had to use a Wind Jutsu to blow away the smoke from their surroundings.
Locating the position of Jiraiya became clear to the Jonin, but it was already too late. The earth spears pierced the bodies of the two injured ninja as well. Now with only four of them remaining, Jiraiya didn't even need any strategy; just pure brute strength was enough now.
And that's what happened. Jiraiya directly engaged in four vs one against the Jonin—well, technically four vs three, as Ma and Pa were also helping him—and in just a minute, four more bodies were now lying on the ground.
Though it was still not over, and there was one more 15-Jonin team trying to run away. In the time Jiraiya took to dispatch these Jonin, his shadow clone and 8 Anbu Ninja had successfully halted that team and even eliminated 6 of them. Though some of them were injured as well, the situation was still under control.
With how things were progressing, Jiraiya didn't want to take any more chances and went toward that team as well.
It was now time to end this mission... completely.