A snow-white blade of light slashed down, carving a deep crack into the earth.
A massive force erupted from the blade into the ground, shaking it violently and sending tremors rolling outward. Instantly, a deafening boom erupted, smoke and dust swirling everywhere.
Taiyi, who had been kicked through the air by Aozora, landed to one side, letting rubble scatter over his body as he stared intently into the smoky haze.
Gamabunta's face darkened. He had already drawn his blade and backed away.
This strike, pouring in both speed and strength, represented his full power—one that could even kill an Elite Jonin.
He had planned to take out one enemy first, then deal with the rest as needed.
But now, despite giving his all, the attack had come back empty.
Who exactly was this opponent?
Hardly had he leaped backward when he heard a sharp shout.
"No visit is complete without a gift in return!"
Before the words fully faded, a seven- or eight-meter-long orange-red sword beam shot out like an arrow from the dust cloud.
Seeing this, Gamabunta quickly raised his tanto to block in front of him, shielding his vital areas.
Clang!
Upon impact between sword beam and blade, a piercing metallic clash rang out, immediately followed by a thunderous explosion.
Boom!
The ear-splitting detonation spread far and wide, scattering droplets of Orange Fire like rain.
As the flames rained down, Gamabunta prepared to spit out a water bullet to extinguish them—but suddenly sensed intense danger approaching.
The smoke began to clear, vaguely revealing a slim silhouette within.
Aozora growled sharply, [Fire Release - Great Fireball Technique!]
The Great Fireball Technique was the advanced fire-ninjutsu Aozora first learned—it was the technique he practiced and used most frequently, as well as currently the most powerful offensive jutsu at his disposal.
Homura chakra surged forth from Aozora like a raging flood, condensing moments later into a vivid golden dragon.
The giant dragon head emerged from the smoke, roaring before surging forward toward Gamabunta.
In an instant, the ground ahead of the dragon turned dry and cracked—then exploded beneath its sheer force.
Faced with a golden dragon over ten meters high and seemingly endless in length charging toward him, Gamabunta's large orange-yellow eyes instantly filled with grim determination.
This time, if things went wrong, he might die.
Gripping the short blade again—the same one that had helped him defeat countless powerful foes—he burned with madness in his gaze.
"Toad Short Blade Slash!"
Same action, same move. Only this time, instead of attacking, it was for survival.
Driven by the will to live, his power exceeded normal limits. In that moment, the surge of strength pressed the ground beneath his feet into a massive crater.
Gamabunta mobilized every bit of energy and chakra inside himself, his body exploding upward, cutting fiercely through the air.
Once again, the huge tanto turned into a brilliant white streak, colliding instantly with the rampaging golden dragon.
Midair, the blade wind generated by the tanto dispersed the fireballs carried by the golden dragon, allowing Gamabunta to see the lifelike dragon hidden under the Orange Fire—and its pair of eyeless pupils.
His mind jolted, briefly producing a thought—if the golden dragon had opened its eyes, how terrifying would such a jutsu be?
With its massive size and incredible speed, the cleaver's wind pressure alone could crack even gold and stone. Yet when the flaming dragon from the [Great Fire Dragon Jutsu] made contact with this blade gust, not a single fracture appeared.
Boom!
The tanto finally struck the dragon's head. It paused briefly, then slowly pierced through the dragon's skull, unleashing a continuous surge of orange flames.
"Break open!"
Gamabunta once again furiously squeezed every last bit of chakra and strength from his body, using the crack in the dragon's head to tear it apart viciously.
Following the fissure, Gamabunta finally ripped through the dragon. Violent blade winds cleared a narrow path for him while torrents of orange fire roared past his sides.
At the same time, the flaming dragon's immense impact rebounded onto Gamabunta himself, sending his gigantic form flying toward the distance. A huge trench more than ten meters wide was carved into the ground as he finally crashed violently against a mountain wall.
The mountains trembled. Countless rocks crumbled instantly as an orange firestorm engulfed the forest, quickly igniting the vegetation and roasting the entire small mountain.
Taiyi stared in horror at the devastating power unleashed by Aozora's [Great Fire Dragon Jutsu]. For a moment he seemed paralyzed, his mouth wide open but no words escaping.
Based on his memory, Aozora hadn't possessed such formidable strength just over a month ago. The only possible advantage he'd had might have been his Sharingan.
How could his strength possibly reach a new peak within such a short time?
After quite some time, Taiyi regained his senses, hoarsely asking, "Is Natural Energy really this powerful?"
"Not just Natural Energy!"
Aozora shook his head. "If I had used the [Great Fireball Technique] back then, you might have actually found an opening and broken free with that tanto. But what I unleashed was my meticulously refined [Great Fire Dragon Jutsu]."
As he spoke, Aozora glanced at Taiyi and rebuked, "Your [Great Fire Raven Jutsu] is still so freshly developed! How could you dare use it against a powerful enemy? I can't believe what goes through your mind sometimes."
Lowering his head, Taiyi muttered, "It wasn't the [Great Fire Raven Jutsu]... It was the Kintora..."
"As if it was Kintora!" Aozora scoffed. "Don't disgrace the Kintora name anymore!"
Finishing his words, Aozora raised his gaze toward the distant Gamabunta, who was still slightly trembling, and asked, "Shall we go finish it off?"
Taiyi snorted while shaking his head. "No need. Next time, I'll handle it myself!"
Aozora shrugged nonchalantly. "Suit yourself!"
While talking, Aozora erupted with chakra from beneath his feet and swiftly approached Gamabunta.
Pointing at his attire, Aozora warned, "Big toad, next time you see people wearing our clothing, you'd better avoid them voluntarily.
You can't match up against our Akatsuki organization.
Don't provoke unnecessary trouble, or else next time we'll obliterate Mount Myoboku entirely!"
Without delay, Aozora immediately dove underground, disappearing completely.
For quite some time afterward, the mountain wall glowed red from intense burning. Gamabunta's originally dark crimson skin began steaming from being roasted, emitting wafts of delicious meat aroma that attracted nearby wolves.
Just as the wolf pack moved forward to bite into the feast, suddenly a tremendous black shadow plummeted from above, crushing them all into meat paste.
"Gamabunta!!!"
"Anxiously shouting, Gamahiro quickly pulled Gamabunta out from the cliffside and carried him on his back as he hopped rapidly back toward Mount Myoboku.
Boom!
Gamahiro and Gamabunta on his back plummeted from the sky, kicking up a huge cloud of dust that startled many practicing toads at Mount Myoboku.
Fukasaku abruptly woke from his nap and leaped onto a nearby tree, shouting loudly, "Who's being so inconsiderate? Disturbing an old man's sleep!"
Shima also jumped beside him, scanning all directions.
Spotting the injured Gamabunta on Gamahiro's back, Shima quickly said, "Dear, it looks like Gamabunta is injured!"
Fukasaku saw it too and comforted Shima, saying, "Don't worry, my love."
As they spoke, the two toad sages swiftly hopped onto Gamahiro's back.
After examining Gamabunta briefly, Fukasaku explained, "No internal injuries. Just let Gamabunta rest inside the Toad Pond for a few months."
Upon hearing this, Gamahiro jumped again and soon reached the depths of Mount Myoboku.
The massive creature plunged into the steaming Oil Pool, causing half the toad oil within to spill over instantly.
As Gamabunta's charred marks touched the toad oil, they began to peel away slowly. Fresh new skin formed beneath, and his wounds healed rapidly.
Two days later, Gamabunta finally opened his lantern-sized eyes within the pond.
Shima asked with concern, "Gamabunta, who did this to you? No one in the Summoning Realm should possess such strong Fire Release techniques!"
Gamabunta still felt groggy. After a pause, he weakly replied, "It was... an organization called Akatsuki... They wore robes adorned with swirling red clouds... The one who injured me wore a swirling face mask... The other had orange hair..."
After speaking, he closed his eyes to rest once more.
Looking at Gamabunta with sympathy, Shima told Fukasaku, "Dear, we can't just let this slide."
Fukasaku nodded solemnly, replying, "We must teach this Akatsuki organization a lesson first. Let's go see the Great Toad Sage and borrow his prophetic crystal ball to check whether our enemies have already left the Summoning Realm."
Shima agreed immediately upon hearing his words, saying, "I'll follow your plan!"
With that, they both hopped toward the Great Toad Sage's dwelling.
Meanwhile, Deva Path Pain led Animal Path Pain into the Summoning Realm to find suitable summoning beasts for contracts."
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