"Fire Style! Toad Oil Flame Bullet!"
As Manda once again repelled Gamabunta's attack, Jiraiya, perched atop the great toad's head, shouted his command. Immediately, Gamabunta spat a torrent of oil in perfect coordination, while Jiraiya spewed forth a volley of flame bullets. The oil ignited instantly upon contact with fire, transforming into a colossal fire dragon that swept towards its target. If this attack were to hit, the resulting inferno would not be easy to extinguish.
"Summoning: Triple Rashomon!"
Orochimaru was no pushover. He simply used a summoning jutsu to conjure three massive, demonic gates, blocking the fiery assault. Manda, meanwhile, took advantage of the obscured vision to burrow underground, rapidly approaching Jiraiya's side like a subterranean dragon.
"Underground!"
Hearing Jiraiya's warning, Gamabunta directly thrust his sword downwards, clashing head on with the snake's head that burst from the earth. At the same moment, Manda's tail whipped around from the other side, attempting to ensnare them.
"Ninja Art: Wild Lion's Mane Jutsu!"
Jiraiya's white hair, enhanced by chakra, instantly became as tough as steel, rapidly entwining around Manda's tail. The sharp hair tips even scratched deep lines onto the great snake's scales.
"Now!"
Orochimaru suddenly crawled out of Manda's mouth, his own tongue transforming into a snake that shot directly towards Jiraiya. He had wanted to try his "snake spitting man, man spitting snake, snake spitting sword" technique again, but the Kusanagi Sword had been taken, so he could only resort to the Hidden Shadow Snake Hands.
Left with no choice, Jiraiya had to retract his hair, wrapping it around himself to form a protective armor.
"Ninja Art: Needle Jizo."
Orochimaru's tongue was directly severed, retracting back into his mouth, but he showed no sign of dejection from the failed attack.
"You've been careless, Jiraiya."
"What?"
Jiraiya was startled by the remark, then turned his head as if sensing something.
Sure enough, in that direction, the First and Second Hokage, who had just been shattered by the Food Cart Destroyer Jutsu, had now fully recovered. This was the terrifying power of the Reanimation Jutsu. Although the revived dead could not possess their full strength from when they were alive, as long as the caster was alive and their souls were not sealed, their bodies could not be truly annihilated.
"Wood Style: Deep Forest Emergence!"
Countless vines erupted from the ground and walls, quickly wrapping around their target, attempting to bind Gamabunta and Jiraiya in place. However, this wasn't the First Hokage at his full power. Performing this one ninjutsu consumed a considerable amount of time, giving Jiraiya enough of a window to react. He directly dispelled the summoning of Gamabunta to avoid being restrained, then quickly leaped in the opposite direction.
Damn it, should I use Sage Mode? Jiraiya asked himself mentally. If he used senjutsu within the village, the resulting destruction would likely be even greater. Moreover, he needed time to gather natural energy to enter Sage Mode, and in this situation, it was questionable whether he and the old Hokage could last that long.
Watching Hiruzen Sarutobi, who was constantly retreating and dodging under Danzo's reckless offensive, Jiraiya's heart began to pound with anxiety. If Orochimaru and Danzo weren't defeated soon, the entire village would be in danger.
With firm resolve, Jiraiya prepared to summon the two great sages, Fukasaku and Shima, to assist him.
But at that moment, an extremely powerful, piercing shriek tore through the air from the distance.
Everyone on the battlefield could only see a small dot in the sky growing larger, rapidly closing the distance between them. Around that figure, the air rippled outwards in waves, like a continuous shockwave.
BOOM!
Before anyone else could react, Manda's head was driven into the ground as if it had been impaled by a javelin. The ground in front of the Hokage building was blasted into a deep crater by the impact. The First and Second Hokage, who hadn't been quick enough to dodge, had just reappeared less than five minutes ago and were once again shattered into pieces. Even Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo, locked in their battle, were thrown back by the sheer force of the shockwave. Both had to pause their fight and regain their footing.
Orochimaru's body was also torn into an unrecognizable mess of flesh during this attack. After Manda suffered a fatal injury and was forced to end its summoning, he fell back to the ground. However, such a "mere fatal injury" couldn't faze him. While Orochimaru's direct combat ability might have seemed lacking, his talent for survival was second to none. The puddle of flesh quickly split open again, and like a snake shedding its skin, a new, female form of Orochimaru emerged from it. This was Orochimaru's true appearance in his current body.
"Naruto-kun, you arrived faster than I expected."
Amidst Orochimaru's sinister voice, Naruto slowly stood up from the bottom of the crater, dusting off debris, then lightly jumped to stand beside Jiraiya.
"Don't worry yet, I'll deal with you later."
Naruto pointed his index finger at Orochimaru, then turned to Jiraiya before gesturing towards Hiruzen Sarutobi.
"Jiraiya-sensei, who's that guy fighting the old man?"
With Naruto's arrival and his single blow that defeated Orochimaru's summoned beast, Jiraiya's morale, which had been at rock bottom, surged once more. He had noticed something extraordinary about the kid when Naruto was learning the Rasengan, but he truly hadn't expected him to possess such overwhelming power, making such a dramatic entrance.
"That guy? That's Danzo Shimura, a sinister old fool."
"So all this trouble here was caused by him and Orochimaru?"
"More or less."
Jiraiya hadn't fully understood the whole situation either, but he had a pretty good guess.
"Anyway, he's also an enemy, right?"
After receiving Jiraiya's affirmative answer, Naruto's figure once again disappeared from his spot. An iron fist, imbued with Conqueror's Haki, directly struck Danzo, who hadn't had time to react.
Danzo was tough. He took the punch to the face without a sound, flying straight backwards. Naruto, using Geppo in mid-air, changed direction and arrived behind Danzo even faster, grabbing the back of his head and slamming him downwards.
While it sounds long, the entire sequence of attacks took only two or three seconds.
Looking at Danzo, who was now "planted" in the earth with only his lower legs sticking out, Naruto clapped his hands.
"All done. Old man, you really took a beating..."
"Naruto, watch out!"
The Third Hokage suddenly exclaimed, but his warning came a little too late.
Danzo had already appeared at Naruto's side.
But he didn't immediately attack. The reason was simple: Naruto's body had already begun to show various cursed marks.
The Self-Cursing Seal. A type of curse mark that required physical contact to be implanted into the opponent's body. During his "invincible time" just now, Danzo had successfully placed this curse mark on Naruto's body.
Danzo knew that Naruto's movements were now restricted, and he would have difficulty even using chakra.
"I should have dealt with you first, Naruto Uzumaki."
With one more person knowing his secrets, the now completely crazed Danzo no longer cared about the jinchuriki's life or death.
Just die like this!
It would settle both old and new grievances.
"Fortunately, it's not too late now."
Saying that, he pulled a kunai from his robes and stabbed it towards Naruto's neck.
Clang!
Crack!
The first sound was the kunai striking Naruto's neck.
The second sound was the kunai breaking.
"Huh?"
"Ah?"
[Chapter Complete]
***
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