Too Scary for a Toad

"Teacher, what are you doing here? I remember fighting those white monsters before..."

"Then Konan, you fainted. We almost never saw you again, but thankfully Lord Jiraiya appeared in time to save us."

Kyusuke up the conversation, making his presence known and trying his best to impress the goddess.

"It was just a coincidence..."

Jiraiya smiled and shook his head.

"Or perhaps you're just very lucky, Konan."

"Good luck... I hope Yahiko and the others are safe and sound too." Konan prayed softly, still worried about Yahiko and Nagato.

"Konan, do you remember those white monsters that attacked you before?"

Seeing that Konan had regained her composure, Jiraiya brought up the question again.

"White monsters..." Konan shook her head, then nodded hesitantly, "This is also the first time I've seen those white monsters, but..."

"But what?" Jiraiya looked at his female disciple with curiosity. He had only asked casually, but he hadn't expected that she actually knew something.

Kyusuke, Great Buddha, and their companions lying in the corner all opened their eyes wide and looked at Konan sitting on the tatami.

"Um... I'm not entirely sure either, and... it's best if too many people don't know this..." Konan glanced apologetically at Kyusuke and the others, then turned to look at Jiraiya.

The meaning in his eyes was very clear.

"... So serious... Alright!" Jiraiya formed several hand seals, setting up a soundproof barrier.

The Sannin are all roughly equal in strength, but their styles are all different.

Jiraiya followed orthodox Ninjutsu, mastering the four Chakra Nature Transformation of fire, wind, earth, and water. He also possessed a great deal of unorthodox tricks, strange Secret Technique, Barrier Ninjutsu, Fuinjutsu, making Jiraiya no less formidable than the Third Hokage, who was known as the Ninja Scholar.

"Alright, Konan, the soundproof barrier is set up. You can talk now. What exactly happened? Why are you taking this so seriously?" Jiraiya quietly looked at Konan, waiting for her answer.

"Teacher, do you... do you believe that Madara Uchiha is still alive?"

Jiraiya was startled by his very first sentence.

The three-legged chair was already quite unstable, and with a crash, it fell to the ground along with the person sitting on it.

"What did you say? Konan, am I hallucinating? That Uchiha..."

Ignoring the need to maintain his image as a master in front of his disciples, Jiraiya, with a plank on his forehead, got up and stared intently at Konan.

"About eight years ago, Yahiko, and I went to the Land of Hot Springs Nagato..."

As Konan explained the cause and effect of the incident to Jiraiya's Shadow Clone and Gamakichi arrived at the valley... or rather, a plain; the mountains... had already been leveled.

The collapsed mountain peaks left only their bases, and the earth was torn open with huge cracks, with pits of all sizes scattered across every inch of the land.

"... Little Jiraiya, this is no joke!"

Gamakichi swallowed hard. The scene before him was Toad; even a Toad would be frightened by this catastrophe-like scene.

"······"

Jiraiya's Shadow Clone remained silent.

His wandering gaze suddenly stopped, fixed on a forest, and an incredulous look appeared in his eyes.

The Land of Rain has little vegetation, but fortunately, it has many coal mines; Land of Rain, the residents would have a major problem just getting firewood for cooking.

Right now, the sight of this dense forest appearing on the devastated battlefield caused Jiraiya's Shadow Clone to frown. Having been traveling and never returning to the village, he was unaware that the Senju Clan had retrieved their Wood Release Kekkei Genkai, but that didn't stop him from making a bold guess.

"Gamakichi, let's go take a look over there."

Jiraiya pointed towards the forest.

"Alright, Jiraiya, this place gives me a bad feeling, it's really uncomfortable." Gamakichi looked around and followed his Shadow Clone toward the forest.

As Jiraiya's Shadow Clone ventured deeper into the battlefield, his expression grew increasingly grave. It wasn't just the forest; massive wooden pillars lay askew in the ground, and thick vines, lifeless and limp, lay fallen into the mud. More and more signs pointed to one answer...

"Wood Release ninja? How could there possibly be Wood Release ninjas in the Shinobi World?"

"Little Jiraiya, what did you say? Wood Release?"

Gamakichi stared wide-eyed at Jiraiya's Shadow Clone.

"Gamakichi, did you hear anything?" Jiraiya's Shadow Clone asked.

"The sound... it's just the sound of wind and rain... wait, this is... it sounds like someone is fighting, and it's coming from the north." Gamakichi's ears were very sharp.

"North? Let's go take a look," the Shadow Clone clapped his hands.

"Jiraiya, you'd better be careful. An enemy capable of causing such a scene is definitely not easy to deal with..."

"Haha, Gamakichi, I'm just a Shadow Clone."

Gamakichi was speechless for a moment, then tilted his head and thought about it. It made sense; wasn't the Shadow Clone Technique developed specifically to infiltrate dangerous enemy territory and gather intelligence?

The man and the Toad tiptoed through the forest, the sounds of fighting growing clearer until they finally saw a battle taking place on the plains.

"Hanzō--!?"

The Shadow Clone immediately recognized the legendary ninja, the man who had bestowed upon them the title of the Sannin.

"Hanzō, just surrender obediently. Your struggle is pointless. You have no chance of leaving here alive today."

Zen shouted loudly, forming a hand Hand Seals, and another large grove of trees grew out, directly destroying the Explosive Tag buried in the ground.

"Your men have all fallen, why bother struggling anymore? It's just a waste of your energy."

"Enough with the nonsense, kid. If you want my life, come and take it. If you have the ability, then do it." Uchiha Genso's attack from behind in Body Flicker Technique Hanzō. His scythe and iron chain danced like dragons and snakes, turning the tables and forcing Uchiha Genso to retreat in a sorry state.

If it weren't for the Sharingan's exceptional perception, Uchiha Genso would probably have been killed by Hanzō long ago. Even so, his clothes were already tattered, revealing two completely different skin tones: a normal pale white and an eerie pallor. Fine, dense wounds covered his entire body, and upon closer inspection, one could see that the wounds glowed with a purple light.

It's poison!

"Zen, hurry up and do it! This old guy is too troublesome; I've been poisoned."

Uchiha Genso was in a terrible predicament, having long since suppressed his contempt for Hanzō.

Although it lacks the terrifying power to move mountains and split the earth, it possesses an almost instinctive Body Flicker Technique, honed Taijutsu skills to the extreme, Ninjutsu that can be used at will, and terrifying poison techniques.

An extremely dangerous individual; in humanoid combat, Hanzō is undoubtedly at the pinnacle.

"Genso, hang in there, I'll deal with this damned Ibuse and be right there."