On the outskirts of Konoha, the Three Great Toads of Mount Myōboku appeared once again.
"Summoning all three of us at the same time again?" "Jiraiya, are you getting into too much trouble lately?" Gamabunta took a puff from his pipe, sounding a bit annoyed.
Jiraiya leapt onto Gamabunta's head and looked down at Nagato and Konan standing opposite them. "My apologies, Bunta." "I'll make it up to Gamatatsu with a big gift later," he said apologetically.
Gamabunta nodded, satisfied with Jiraiya's tact. "Alright then, who are we dealing with this time?" "The enemies are right beneath your feet."
"What?! The Rinnegan!" Gamabunta froze in shock. "Jiraiya, why are your opponents always so outrageous!" "That explosive brat last time was bad enough, but now it's the Rinnegan!"
Being from one of the three great sacred lands, Gamabunta understood better than most the significance and terror of the Rinnegan.
"Well, at least it's only one Rinnegan, and I have the treasure bestowed by the Great Toad Sage. It should be manageable," Jiraiya said, his expression serious.
"Sigh, such a troublesome life. But since we're here, we might as well give it a try." Gamabunta leapt into the air, his massive form descending like a mountain toward Nagato and Konan. Drawing his short sword, the blade gleamed with a chilling light.
"Almighty Push!"
A powerful repulsive force halted Gamabunta mid-air, pushing him back and slamming him into the ground amidst a cloud of dust.
"What just happened?!" The three toads were all shocked. The enemy's jutsu was formless and intangible, making it incredibly eerie.
At that moment, Nagato made his move. He placed his right hand on the ground. "Summoning Technique!" "I have no intention of wasting time with you three toads."
Boom!
After the smoke cleared, three massive summoned beasts appeared: a giant goat, a giant bat, and a giant rat.
Since the last time his Animal Path's summoned beasts were wiped out by Deidara's Flesh Colossus, Nagato had only managed to create three new ones. For now, though, they would suffice.
"Bahhh!" The goat let out a cry, lowering its head and charging toward the enemy.
"Though I'm clumsy, I'll do my best," Gamaken said, using his shield to block the goat's horns. The two began a fierce contest of strength.
"Toad Twin Blade Slash!" At that moment, Gamahiro launched a surprise attack, targeting the giant bat.
It was well-known that flying enemies were the most troublesome, so taking out the bat first would be a significant advantage.
"Hiss!" The bat was quick and agile. Though caught off guard by the ambush, it only ended up with a horizontal cut on one wing, which wasn't too severe.
"That leaves the rat to me." Gamabunta got back on his feet and slashed at the giant rat, but it burrowed into the ground and disappeared immediately.
"Tch! What a nuisance!"
While the summoned beasts were locked in combat, Jiraiya and Nagato had already begun their duel. After several probing exchanges, both started to get serious.
"The Rinnegan's abilities are truly bizarre. It seems I'll have to use Sage Mode," Jiraiya thought to himself.
In an instant, his face was covered in orange markings, and his fingers and toes took on distinct amphibian traits—quite different from Minato's Sage Mode, which only manifested orange eye shadow.
Since Jiraiya relied on external assistance, the changes to his body were much more pronounced.
"So this is Sage Mode?" Nagato looked at Jiraiya, still calm and composed.
Even with only one Rinnegan, Nagato was immensely powerful. His mastery of Wood Release had also improved significantly, making him even stronger than before.
"Nagato, you'd better be careful now!" Jiraiya's voice had barely faded when his figure vanished.
He reappeared above Nagato and Konan, spitting out a concentrated stream of fire. Though the area of effect was small, the compressed and intensified flames were far hotter than usual.
Even when the flames were still ten meters away, Nagato and Konan could feel as if they were about to catch fire.
"Sage Art: Giant Flame Bullet!"
Nagato extended his right hand. "Almighty Push!"
The searing flames were repelled back. However, Jiraiya showed no sign of disappointment. This jutsu was merely a test, a cover for his next attack.
"Sage Art: Needle Jizō!" Jiraiya's hair rapidly extended, firing out like needles. Infused with Sage Chakra, the attack had incredible speed and piercing power.
The key was its speed—fast enough to hit Nagato before the cooldown of his Almighty Push ended.
Seeing this, Konan spread her paper wings. Countless paper tags, each embedded with explosive seals, flew out to intercept the needle-like hair.
"It's useless, Konan. My Needle Jizō, enhanced with Sage Chakra, is incredibly fast and highly penetrative. The explosive tags won't be enough to stop it," Jiraiya said.
Indeed, the needles passed through the explosions unscathed, continuing their trajectory toward Nagato.
But Konan understood this. Her goal wasn't to stop the needles but to create a diversion.
Under the cover of the fiery explosions, Nagato used Wood Release to block the Needle Jizō and sent a Wood Clone in another direction.
Jiraiya glanced subtly toward the Wood Clone's path. In Sage Mode, his sensory abilities were extraordinary.
"Nagato, it seems Jiraiya-sensei has noticed your clone," Konan remarked.
Nagato nodded. "As expected. But my true secret to conceal isn't the clone—it's the Wood Release."
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
A cannon emerged from Nagato's right shoulder, firing several rockets toward Jiraiya.
Jiraiya quickly dodged, but Konan followed up with a barrage of paper shuriken.
No, this won't work! I need to find a way to get close to Nagato. But with that strange jutsu of his, I can't even approach him.
After several exchanges, Jiraiya began to understand.
Though the necklace given by the Great Toad Sage allowed him to enter Sage Mode quickly and maintain it for a long time, his jutsu lacked the raw impact needed to overwhelm Nagato's Almighty Push.
For example, even though his Sage Art Fire Release had an extremely high temperature, its impact force was weaker than an average Wind Release, placing minimal strain on Nagato's Almighty Push.
With Konan providing support, the battle became even more challenging.
I'll have to call for reinforcements. Using a numbers advantage to force an opening and exploit the cooldown of his Almighty Push is the only way.
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
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