War Claims Lives

"Boom! Boom! Boom..."

A relentless series of explosions echoed through the valley...

More accurately, it was the valley itself that was exploding!

That violent force continuously battered the ground, destroying everything around it!!

In the end, the explosions continued for over a minute before gradually dying down.

As the smoke slowly dispersed, all that remained on the land was a massive, bottomless fissure—

It looked like a terrifying scar branded into the earth!

The one responsible for this horrific disaster slowly descended from the sky.

"The power of this move really is terrifying."

Jingū Kiraku looked at the man-made "canyon" before him, his voice filled with amazement.

No wonder Konan in the original story had used this move as her trump card against Obito Uchiha.

Across the entire shinobi world, there were probably only a handful of people who could withstand it.

If Izanagi had not been so absurdly overpowered, Obito would likely have died at Konan's hands...

However, the trace of admiration on Jingū Kiraku's face quickly turned into heartache—

Were these Exploding Tags burning?

This was all his hard-earned money!!

Although the number of Exploding Tags used in this blast was nowhere near as outrageous as six hundred billion, it had still been enough to drain all of Jingū Kiraku's savings.

After all, he was only one person. There was no way he could have made so many Exploding Tags in less than a month.

If he had not ruthlessly squeezed the nobles in the country before the war, he really would not have been able to gather this many Exploding Tags...

Fortunately, the gains from this battle were substantial.

Sixteen jonin, one hundred and forty-three Chunin, and three hundred and seventy genin.

A total of five hundred and thirty-one shinobi.

Even Konoha, wealthy and known as the hegemon of the shinobi world, could not easily bear such losses.

It would not be enough to make it collapse outright, but it was still a severe blow.

Not to mention the presence of Tsunade and Jiraiya, two of the Three Legendary Ninja.

Jingū Kiraku stared into the abyss. Only after confirming there was no danger did he slowly descend.

Suddenly, his brows rose.

Besides the vast swathes of gray-white markers denoting death, there was another label on the map before him—

Tsunade.

Jingū Kiraku was somewhat surprised and looked in the direction indicated on the map.

That famous, valiant member of the Three Legendary Ninja was currently lying on the ground in a miserable state.

Her body was charred black, her beautiful golden hair scorched and blackened, and she looked as though she were barely clinging to life.

Her condition did not seem good.

Seeing this, Jingū Kiraku's face filled with surprise.

"She actually survived an explosion like that..."

"Should I say she truly lives up to the Senju Clan's physique—the granddaughter of the God of Shinobi?"

Jingū Kiraku smacked his lips. Hashirama Senju's bloodline truly was remarkable.

Seeing that Tsunade no longer had any ability to resist, he slowly shifted his gaze away.

He began carefully searching the battlefield for something...

"Jiraiya is gone."

Jingū Kiraku slowly narrowed his eyes.

Whether on the battlefield or on the map, he could not find any trace of Jiraiya.

Not even a corpse!

The only thing left here was Gamabunta's charcoal-black body, as large as a small mountain.

The heat and flames from the explosion had carbonized the surface of his skin, while the blast's impact had reduced the inside of his body to mush.

He could not have been any deader!

Yet even so, before dying, he had still tightly covered his mouth, as if protecting something.

"I see. To protect Jiraiya, he swallowed him into his stomach before he died?"

"I didn't expect you to be so loyal."

Jingū Kiraku let out a quiet sigh.

Gamabunta was surprisingly loyal.

He would rather give up his own life than undo the summoning and flee.

But...

Even if he swallowed Jiraiya, there was no way he could simply vanish from this battlefield into thin air.

Jingū Kiraku frowned slightly, a trace of confusion appearing in his eyes.

But soon, he thought of a possibility.

Unless someone at Mount Myōboku had foreseen this and activated the Reverse Summoning Technique the moment Gamabunta swallowed Jiraiya.

Otherwise, there was no way he could have slipped away right under his nose!

At that thought, a figure surfaced in Jingū Kiraku's mind—

Gamamaru.

That old toad, who seemed to spend all day dozing off and muttering vague prophecies, was a Summoning Beast that had existed in the shinobi world since the era of the Sage of Six Paths.

He had been close friends—sworn brothers, even—with the Sage of Six Paths.

He had once used his Sage Talisman to save Hagoromo Otsutsuki, making him the greatest support in helping the Sage of Six Paths and his brother seal Kaguya.

Moreover, he possessed some sort of ability to foresee the future.

If he had intervened, then it was indeed possible that he had saved Jiraiya at the very last moment.

"Mount Myōboku really is troublesome."

Jingū Kiraku shook his head in disappointment.

To be honest, compared to Tsunade, he would have preferred Jiraiya to remain here.

As a transmigrator, he knew full well just how troublesome Jiraiya was after mastering Sage Techniques.

The title of Intelligence Jiraiya was no empty boast.

Not to mention the entire group of Mount Myōboku's toads providing support. He was far more threatening than Tsunade.

"Forget it. We'll meet again someday, anyway."

"I should deal with the current trouble first."

A cold glint flashed through Jingū Kiraku's eyes.

He walked up to Tsunade and stretched out his hand. Sheet after sheet of paper gathered in his palm, forming a massive sword.

Its sharp tip pointed directly at the young member of the Three Legendary Ninja.

"Stop!!"

Suddenly, a voice rang out.

Under Jingū Kiraku's gaze, more than a dozen ninjas clad in black robes and animal masks appeared at the edge of the battlefield.

At their head stood a cold-faced middle-aged man.

His gaze was icy, the crossed scar on his chin looked particularly vicious, and an ominous aura radiated from his entire body.

Another ninja with icy blue hair stood beside him, his eyes filled with pain.

Because the love of his life lay beside Jingū Kiraku at that very moment, barely clinging to life.

"Oh? So it's Lord Danzo, known as the Ninja of Darkness."

"I've long admired your reputation."

Facing the Root led by Danzo, Jingū Kiraku's expression remained as placid as still water, without the slightest hint of tension.

Seeing him like this, Danzo could not help narrowing his cold eyes.

"Release Tsunade, and Konoha can negotiate peace with your Hidden Rain Village."

Danzo Shimura laid out his terms in a hoarse voice.

Though he was not particularly fond of Hiruzen Sarutobi's disciples, Tsunade's status was special. If she could be saved, she had to be saved.

At worst, they could break the agreement after rescuing her.

His reputation as the Shinobi of Darkness was already known to everyone. A little more infamy made no difference.

Kato Dan beside him also spoke through gritted teeth:

"Jingū Kiraku, if you want to end this war, then release Tsunade!"

"If you don't believe me, I can take Tsunade's place as your hostage!"

Hearing that, Jingū Kiraku tilted his head and glanced at him.

"You?"

"You're not qualified."

Jingū Kiraku smiled as the enormous Paper Sword lightly danced in his hand.

"If someone else came to negotiate peace with me, I might believe a few parts of it."

"But you, Shinobi of Darkness? Forget it."

"Besides..."

Jingū Kiraku narrowed his eyes as well, curling his lips into a demonic smile.

"I have no interest in a ceasefire right now."

"I only want you Konoha people to understand—"

"People die in war. Hidden Rain Village will lose people, and so will Konoha!"

With that, under Danzo and Kato Dan's incredulous gazes...

Jingū Kiraku let go.