At this moment, Jiraiya had already entered Sage Mode.
Although his appearance suffered a drastic reduction in handsomeness, the surge in his power was absolutely undeniable.
When Orochimaru had performed his Summoning Jutsu earlier, Jiraiya had used a summoning as well—but the massive cloud of smoke from Manda's appearance had completely masked the chakra fluctuations from Jiraiya's own summon.
While Orochimaru was busy stalling Ōnoki, Jiraiya seized the opportunity to enter Sage Mode together with Fukasaku and Shima, the two Great Sage Toads.
It had to be said—Hoshiyomi's influence back then really had an effect. After being provoked and humbled by him, Jiraiya hadn't just stopped after initially mastering Sage Mode. Instead, he kept training hard, pushing his control further and further.
While his appearance didn't change much beyond the usual frog-like features, his entry speed into Sage Mode was now much faster than in the original story.
Feeling the terrifying aura radiating from Jiraiya now, even Ōnoki couldn't help but feel a chill run down his spine.
Was this really the same white-haired brat he had once utterly crushed and nearly killed years ago?
Jiraiya looked up at the stunned Ōnoki in the sky and grinned.
"Get down here!"
With Sage Mode enhancing her power, Shima's tongue was nothing like Orochimaru's serpents—hers had incredible force.
Before Ōnoki could react, that tongue—strong enough to pierce through steel—snapped around him and yanked him down from the sky.
"Such immense strength!" Ōnoki thought in shock.
But before he could recover, an even more fearsome burst of chakra flared up behind him—this time, it was Sakumo Hatake.
Sakumo didn't wear a lightning armor cloak as exaggerated as the Third Raikage's, but arcs of lightning crackled constantly over his body. It was the ultimate result of years spent pushing his body and chakra to the limit, using Lightning Release to activate every cell for speed and strength.
He had never slacked in his training. Through relentless effort, Sakumo had carved his own path—perfecting the Lightning Release Kenjutsu.
His speed and defense might be a bit below the Third Raikage's, but in terms of sheer destructive power, his strikes were easily equal to the "Strongest Spear."
Now, wreathed in lightning, Sakumo soared into the sky.
The short blade in his hand—White Light Chakra Saber—flared with dazzling light, overflowing with so much Lightning Release chakra that it stirred the clouds above. The once-clear sky now rumbled with thunder.
Hatake Style Secret Technique: Void Severance
In that instant, Sakumo seemed like the God of Thunder himself, wielding divine retribution.
He brought his "Thunder Wedge" crashing down—
and the one fated to receive that judgment was none other than the falling Ōnoki, dragged down by Jiraiya.
Even Ōnoki, seasoned and hardened by decades of battle, couldn't help but be shocked by the overwhelming power descending upon him.
He had underestimated them.
These weren't ordinary Kage-level opponents—facing the combined might of these three, even a single mistake could mean death.
As the trio's coordinated assault closed in, Ōnoki's pupils shrank sharply.
In that critical moment, he managed to move his still-functional left hand toward his right,
forming a hand seal in an awkward, twisted position and shouting—
"Earth Release: Ultra-Added-Weight Rock Technique!"
Ōnoki truly was a seasoned veteran who had held the Tsuchikage position for decades.
In that split second, he found a way to survive—by changing gravity itself.
He instantly increased his body's weight more than tenfold, sending himself plummeting straight down.
That sudden acceleration made Sakumo's "Void Severance" strike miss by a hair's breadth, letting Ōnoki narrowly escape certain death.
After narrowly dodging Sakumo's "Void Severance," Ōnoki didn't dare relax for a second—his danger was far from over.
Though he had escaped Sakumo's lightning slash, Orochimaru's swarming serpents and Jiraiya's Needle Jizō were already closing in fast from behind.
Using his Ultra-Added-Weight Rock Technique, the added gravity slowed Shima's pull on him just enough for Ōnoki to weave another set of seals.
"Earth Release: Rock Golem Jutsu!"
Before the deadly rain of hair-needles and the serpent swarm could hit him, the ground beneath Ōnoki shuddered violently. A massive rock giant erupted from the earth, and Ōnoki leapt to its head—barely dodging both attacks.
As the serpents and hair-needles smashed uselessly into the rock, Ōnoki calmly formed one last set of seals—"Fist Rock Technique!"
The golem's huge arm suddenly grew even larger, and with a single massive punch, it blasted apart Shima's tongue, finally freeing him from immediate danger.
Ōnoki's crisis was over—for now.
But the same couldn't be said for the rest of the Iwagakure shinobi.
The forces of Iwagakure and Konoha had fully clashed, and logically, the sheer number of Iwa shinobi should have given them a huge advantage.
Unfortunately for them, the Konoha ranks contained several monsters who completely broke that logic.
"Everyone, do me a favor." said Minato, his tone calm but confident. "From now on, you just need to throw these special kunai for me. I'll take care of the rest."
As he spoke, Minato unstrapped a sealing scroll from his waist.
With a soft poof, a cloud of smoke burst forth—
and when it cleared, countless specially-marked kunai gleamed in the sunlight.
One young Konoha genin blinked in confusion, unsure what was happening,
but the squad leader beside him grinned and patted his shoulder excitedly.
"Watch closely, kid. You're about to find out why Lord Minato is called the Yellow Flash."
Before the genin could reply, Minato vanished with a sharp whoosh.
Only a golden flash was left behind—then, from the distant Iwagakure ranks, came a strangled scream.
A moment later, an elite Iwa jōnin fell to the ground, clutching his slit throat, blood gushing between his fingers.
It had taken less than a second—one of Iwa's veteran elite shinobi was dead before he even knew what happened.
Elsewhere on the battlefield, Nawaki watched the streaking golden flashes and muttered under his breath,
"Tch. No way I'm letting that bastard Minato steal all the glory."
Then he raised his voice and shouted,
"Konoha troops at the front, fall back fifty meters! Leave this Earth-Style Wall to me!"
He looked toward the enemy and grinned fiercely.
"Hey, you Iwa trash—let me show you the power of Wood Release!"
"Wood Release: Great Forest Technique!"
As he spoke, the Earth-Style Wall formed by the Iwa ninjutsu unit ahead began to tremble. Under the astonished gazes of the Iwa shinobi, they saw a somewhat dry-looking wooden branch suddenly sprout from the very base of their earth wall.
Although dry, the branch grew at a speed visible to the naked eye, and then... Boom! The gradually growing branch burst through the original Earth-Style Wall.
The Earth-Style Wall, which could have withstood dozens of ninjutsu attacks without collapsing, disintegrated in an instant.
"It's not over yet! Wood Release: Strangling Thorns!"
As Nawaki placed both hands on the ground, the earth under the feet of the distant Iwa shinobi began to crack the next second. Thorny vines emerged from the fissures.
The countless emerging thorny vines enveloped the surrounding hundred or so shinobi.
With a loud shout from Nawaki, those vines began to rapidly constrict and entangle. The fate of the unfortunate souls caught within them was all too clear.
With just one move, over a hundred Iwa shinobi lost their lives.
An Iwa shinobi in the distance saw this and formed a hand seal, unwilling to concede:
"Damn you Konoha's New Sprout! Earth Release: Earth Dragon Bullet!"
But before he could even finish his jutsu, a calm voice whispered beside him—so close it made his blood run cold.
"Now, now… don't go ignoring an old man like me."
"Genjutsu: Blue Lantern Demon!"