Whether it was Jiraiya or Tsunade, both usually appeared carefree, but the moment they turned serious, the air immediately filled with a bone-chilling killing intent. This was a terrifying aura that could only be possessed by those who had slaughtered countless enemies on the battlefield. Of course, this meant very little to Simu. After all, the number of enemies he had killed was not necessarily fewer than these two.
"What exactly is the goal of your Jashin Religion?" Jiraiya questioned from his high vantage point.
Simu pushed up his glasses and replied, "Our goal? If I had to name one, it would be to welcome the descent of Lord Jashin and then destroy this twisted world."
Jiraiya wore an expression that said his suspicions were confirmed. "The Great Toad Sage was right. Your Jashin Religion is indeed the Child of Destruction from the prophecy!"
Hearing this, Tsunade snorted coldly. "Enough talk! I'm going to smash this entire Jashin Religion to pieces with one punch today!"
With that, she slammed her feet into the ground. The sudden explosion of immense power caused the earth beneath her to cave in. Relying on this terrifying momentum, Tsunade launched herself like a cannonball, hurtling toward Simu with violent force.
Simu smiled at the sight. He had already made his move even as Tsunade was preparing to strike. Two black wings sprouted from his back, and the moment Tsunade launched her attack, he flew into the sky at top speed.
Tsunade's punch landed heavily on the spot where Simu had just been standing. Although she blasted a spectacular crater into the ground, she didn't harm Simu in the slightest. However, her attack wasn't entirely useless. At the very least, she forced Simu to move, creating an opening for Jiraiya's follow-up.
As expected, the moment Simu took flight, Gamabunta's swift blade appeared before him. A silver flash of the sword cut through the dark night, but Simu seemed to have anticipated this. He wrapped a massive amount of chakra around his palm and struck the air. A powerful repulsive force suddenly emerged, easily knocking back the incoming blade.
Simu flapped his wings, sending countless feathers shimmering with a metallic sheen toward Gamabunta and Jiraiya, who stood atop the toad's head.
"Watch out, Bunta!" Jiraiya, having seen this move before, quickly issued a warning.
Bunta nodded. "I know."
He retracted his ninja blade and spun it wildly in front of him, creating an airtight shield. Countless iron feathers struck the blade, erupting in brilliant sparks like a fireworks display at a Leaf festival. Unfortunately, the villagers of the Leaf were currently in no mood to appreciate such a performance.
"Tsunade, I've fought him before. If we don't use our full power, we won't have any chance of winning," Jiraiya reminded her in a heavy tone.
"Damn it, I know!" Tsunade nodded solemnly. As a comrade of many years, she understood the weight of Jiraiya's words. Even if he hadn't said it, she had no intention of letting the murderers who dared to kill her teacher escape.
After using the large-scale feather attack to stall Jiraiya for a moment, Simu immediately continued to gain altitude. Through the senses of his eyes and ears scattered across the Leaf, he knew that Danzo, the Fifth Hokage, was leading a large group of ninjas toward this location.
Simu wasn't prepared to confront the entire Leaf Village right now. After months of quiet planning and cultivation, tonight's harvest was already enough to satisfy him. He had no reason to keep fighting a war of attrition with the Leaf. He looked down at Jiraiya, Tsunade, and the distant figures of Danzo and Kakashi.
These guys should be left for the other hidden villages to deal with.
Don't let me down, Hidden Sand.
With a mysterious smile, Simu held Sasuke and waved to the two below. "Until we meet again, you two."
Tsunade grew anxious. She was in the middle of releasing her Yin Seal, preparing to give Simu a devastating blow, and hadn't expected him to try to flee so soon. However, Jiraiya was prepared. He shouted, "Tsunade, get ready!"
Hearing the shout, Tsunade looked toward him. She saw the massive Gamabunta taking a stance like a baseball player. Tsunade immediately understood the plan and nodded. "Coming!"
She kicked off and leaped into the air, landing right in front of Gamabunta. The giant toad was ready; using the back of his blade, he aimed at Tsunade and Simu above, swinging the sword upward with a heavy strike as if hitting a home run.
The swinging blade-back hit the soles of Tsunade's feet perfectly. She used the momentum to crouch and then, as Gamabunta's power exploded, she accelerated like a two-stage rocket, soaring into the sky!
"What impressive teamwork." Simu, hovering above with his wings, commented with a smile. He then pulled out a scroll and whispered, "Release."
"Magnet Style: Black Flowing River!"
In the next second, a massive amount of black iron sand poured down like a surging river, crashing straight toward Tsunade.
"Is this... Magnet Style?!" Gamabunta's expression soured. Tsunade lacked any flight capability and had no leverage in mid-air to change direction. Her attack path was completely linear, leaving her no way to dodge.
Jiraiya, however, narrowed his eyes. "Get ready, Bunta. Tsunade will definitely complete her task."
Seeing Jiraiya's confidence, Bunta nodded seriously. "Understood."
Tsunade, hurtling upward like a rocket, was well aware of the situation. Her face showed no fear in the face of the mountain-crushing iron sand. Instead, her gaze became more determined as she unhesitatingly released her Yin Seal.
Don't let me down, Jiraiya.
Purple markings spread from the diamond seal on her forehead across her entire body. A massive surge of chakra erupted, causing her cellular activity to reach its peak in an instant. Her self-healing and explosive power were pushed to the limit.
The heavy, black iron sand arrived before her. With a look of iron resolve, she gathered all her strength and threw a punch.
Boom!
A terrifying explosion rang out. The sheer force distorted the air, forming an expanding shockwave. The black iron sand was caught in the blast and exploded like a giant firework. The falling waterfall of heavy metal had been shattered by a single punch!
The rushing airflow ruffled Simu's hair. Clearly, even he hadn't expected this Sannin to possess such a澎湃 (surging) level of physical strength.
But that was as far as it went. Due to the resistance of the iron sand, Tsunade's momentum died out after her punch. She could no longer move upward to reach Simu's height.
Just as Simu was about to break into a victorious smile, the figure of Gamabunta suddenly appeared beneath the iron sand clouds. Jiraiya stood on the toad's head, roaring at Simu, "Brat, don't you dare underestimate your Grandpa Jiraiya!"
How was this possible? With Gamabunta's jumping ability, he shouldn't have been able to reach this height. With confusion in his eyes, Simu looked past the toad and Jiraiya toward the ground.
As expected, directly below Gamabunta, the two brothers Gamaken and Gamahiro had been summoned at some point and were currently falling through the air. If Simu guessed correctly, the two brothers had served as stepping stones for Gamabunta and Jiraiya to reach this altitude.
"I see. The Slug Princess was just a diversion; the real finisher is you, Lord Jiraiya..." Simu murmured with interest.
Before he could finish the thought, Gamabunta completed his final mission. Acting as a springboard, he gave Jiraiya the final leap. Jiraiya jumped high from the toad's head. The red markings on his face had become vivid and complex, taking on toad-like characteristics.
In his hand, he condensed a massive, man-sized sphere of spiraling chakra. A huge amount of Sage chakra spun violently within it, brewing a terrifying threat.
Jiraiya closed in, screaming at the top of his lungs, "Sage Art: Big Ball Rasengan!"
"That is an incredible jutsu."
Simu's face was completely illuminated by the light of the chakra. In a flash, his arm swelled into a mass of crimson tentacles, slamming down toward Jiraiya. The moment the tentacles touched the high-speed spinning Sage chakra, they were ground into mincemeat and scattered.
The power of this move was even greater than Simu had imagined! Holding the Rasengan, Jiraiya was unstoppable as he destroyed all the tentacles and finally slammed the attack into Simu's body! Under the glow of the chakra, Simu's body was shredded into pieces and vanished without a trace!
"We did it!" Tsunade, who was still falling, pumped her fist in excitement. She then used the Summoning Jutsu, bringing forth the massive Katsuyu, who caught her and prevented any fall damage.
Jiraiya, having successfully defeated the enemy, also breathed a sigh of relief. But he immediately saw that the body he had just shattered had turned into grayish-white ash.
"This is..." He sensed something was wrong and immediately cast a jutsu. His long white hair became like a hedgehog's needles, firmly covering his body.
Sure enough, the iron sand lingering nearby suddenly moved, forming several spikes that slammed into the surface of his hair. A metallic clanging sound rang out. If Jiraiya had been a second slower, he would have been impaled.
In the next second, Simu's figure quietly appeared from the empty air.
"What a pity, Lord Jiraiya. You almost had me." Simu was still floating in mid-air holding Sasuke, looking as if he hadn't moved at all. Jiraiya's previous attack felt like a dream.
"Impossible..." Jiraiya's hair retracted as he stared at Simu in disbelief. He was certain he hadn't been under a Genjutsu, and the sensation of the hit was definitely not that of a clone. Why?
Simu had no intention of answering his questions. He glanced to the side; Danzo, Kakashi, and the others were about to reach the battlefield.
"Farewell, two Sannin." Simu gave a polite goodbye. Then, with a flap of his wings, he rose to a height Jiraiya could never reach and flew toward the outskirts of the Leaf.
"Stop right there!" Jiraiya roared in frustration, but without the ability to fly, no amount of effort would help.
By the time Danzo and the others arrived, Simu was merely a small black dot in the sky.
"Even the two of you couldn't stop him?" Danzo's brow furrowed. He didn't think Jiraiya and Tsunade were slacking; after all, their teacher had just died at the hands of the Jashin Religion. They should have been the ones trying the hardest. Since they hadn't held back, the only explanation was that the enemy was simply too strong.
This was not good news for the Leaf or for him as the new Hokage.
"Yes," Tsunade nodded coldly. Clearly, she had no fondness for Danzo.
Gamahiro and Gamaken caught the falling Jiraiya just in time. The others who had rushed over watched Simu's receding back in silence. This was arguably the greatest attack the Hidden Leaf had faced since its founding. The level of destruction, the casualties, and the losses incurred even surpassed the Nine-Tails incident years ago.
During the Nine-Tails incident, they had only lost a Hokage, a Jinchuriki, and some ninjas. This time, not only had the Third Hokage sacrificed himself, but the entire Uchiha Clan was gone. In terms of sheer loss, it truly exceeded the destruction caused by the Nine-Tails.
"Rescue the wounded with all your might! The Anbu and Root will patrol the village together. We must wipe out the remaining members of the Jashin Religion!" Danzo ordered without hesitation.
He then turned to Tsunade and Jiraiya. "Tsunade, go help the wounded. Jiraiya, stay in the village to guard against any further attacks."
Although both were desperate to see their teacher's body, the situation in the Leaf was dire. They couldn't argue with Danzo's arrangements and simply complied.
Danzo continued, "Also, Kakashi, lead a team specialized in pursuit. Follow the enemy's trail immediately. Do not engage; just track them."
Kakashi paused for a moment before responding, "Understood."
Meanwhile, Simu had successfully breached the Leaf's barrier thanks to his prior arrangements. He flew toward a stronghold within the Land of Fire at high speed. Although he had used the Sharingan hidden on his body to trigger Izanagi and avoid Jiraiya's fatal blow, his chakra was running low. He needed to get Sasuke to the stronghold as quickly as possible.