Namikaze Minato and Orochimaru Arrive! Kumogakure Surrounds!

Seeing Jiraiya's attack, the Two-Tails let out an angry roar. It opened its mouth and spat out a massive Blue Flame Pillar, which collided with Jiraiya's Gojō-ō.

The blue and crimson flames intertwined, blazing with dazzling light as the extreme heat scorched the surrounding ground dry!

At that moment, a deadlock had formed.

That was exactly what Jiraiya wanted!

But he had prepared for this in advance!

"Bunta!"

"Yeah!!"

Gamabunta answered with a roar and opened his enormous maw.

"Water Release: Iron Cannonball!"

Boom!

The Two-Tails was immediately interrupted and caught in a pincer attack from both sides!

"Roar!"

The Two-Tails' body began to swell even further at that moment!

It grew over ten meters tall! At the same time, it became increasingly frenzied. Its power surged, and its blue flames seemed capable of incinerating everything as it continuously swung its claws and tail, attacking everything around it!

Jiraiya leaped back onto Gamabunta's body.

Proficient in numerous ninjutsu such as Fire Release and Earth Release, Jiraiya activated Sage Mode, making his techniques even more powerful.

He directly began clashing head-on with the Two-Tails!

Meanwhile, the seventeen-meter-tall Gamabunta wielded a short blade as he clashed head-on with the over-ten-meter-tall Two-Tails!

The battlefield was locked in a fierce stalemate for a time.

"Hyuga Shin! Have you recovered yet?" Jiraiya still wanted to see Hyuga Shin make a move.

"I've recovered a little..." Hyuga Shin's expression remained calm.

He realized that his current state was strange.

He was neither in his Goody-two-shoes state nor his evil, crazed state, but rather in a saintly state where all things were calm...

His mind was clear, yet hazy.

Clear in the sense that he could calmly analyze everything around him.

Hazy in the sense that he was unable to think deeply.

"Haa..."

Lightning Release: Liger Bomb!

Hyuga Shin directly activated Lightning Release Chakra Mode.

His speed abruptly soared, and he turned into an afterimage as he charged straight at the Two-Tails!

The Two-Tails sensed the danger and tried to evade, but it was already too late because Hyuga Shin was too fast!

It only had time to raise a claw to block.

Liger Bomb struck the Two-Tails' claw, and lightning instantly spread through it, making the Two-Tails roar in pain.

"Roar!" The Two-Tails angrily swung its tail, directly sending Hyuga Shin flying.

Hyuga Shin was blasted away by the impact, but he adjusted his posture in midair and landed steadily on the ground. Though he had suffered some minor injuries, they were nothing serious.

At that moment.

Hyuga Shin turned to look into the distance and saw a golden figure and a white figure.

They were none other than Namikaze Minato and Orochimaru.

And behind them followed a huge group of...

Cloud Village Ninja!

Hyuga Shin: "..."

A moment later.

Namikaze Minato, wearing a bright smile, arrived before Hyuga Shin. "It's great that you're all right."

"What is that? Jiraiya, did you kill it?" Orochimaru did not bother checking on Hyuga Shin. He immediately spotted the cold Headless Corpse on the ground, was utterly shocked, and shouted toward Jiraiya.

The Raikage, who possessed the strongest spear and strongest shield, the strongest Raikage to date, had died just like that?

Since when had Jiraiya become so powerful?!

"Not me! Hyuga Shin killed him! Hurry up and help me subdue the Two-Tails!!" Jiraiya shouted while fighting the Two-Tails.

Hyuga Shin??

Orochimaru's snake-like eyes widened.

He looked at the calm-faced Byakugan ninja beside him.

Th-This... is this right?

Since when were Hyuga Ninja this formidable?

Weren't Hyuga Ninja known for producing Chunin and Jonin year after year, while Kage-level fighters were rare, let alone anything above Kage level?!

"He was seriously injured. It was just luck that I killed him..." Hyuga Shin said flatly. Whether anyone believed him or not, that was what he said.

As for revealing the Evil God within him...

Hyuga Shin realized that he could not do it.

The thought would not even arise in his mind.

Even if it did, the moment he opened his mouth, he would be unable to say anything.

"You have nowhere left to run! Die obediently!"

"Th-That's Lord Raikage?!"

"The Two-Tails has gone berserk too..."

"Over a thousand Cloud Village Ninja are trying to calm Killer B down over by the Eight-Tails."

"Damn it! We have to avenge Lord Raikage!"

"And we absolutely cannot let these people take the Two-Tails away!!"

The Cloud Village Ninja surrounded Hyuga Shin and the others on all sides.

At their head stood a Cloud Village Special Jonin, his eyes gleaming with hatred.

Whoosh!

Namikaze Minato threw out a Kunai, then placed one hand on Hyuga Shin's shoulder.

In an instant, Hyuga Shin arrived atop the toad's head. Not long afterward, Orochimaru joined them as well.

"Namikaze Minato has expended a great deal. I'm still in good condition... what about you? How much Chakra do you have left?" Orochimaru asked.

"I'm fine... Looks like I was overthinking it. Of course the Cloud Village Ninja wouldn't just watch us take the Two-Tails away." Jiraiya let out a breath.

He had been suppressing the Two-Tails all by himself.

Jiraiya in Sage Mode was incredibly powerful—definitely Kage-level, perhaps even Super Kage-level.

"If I use the Flying Thunder God Technique to appear instantly behind the Two-Tails, perhaps I can seal it as well..." Namikaze Minato said.

As Jiraiya's disciple, he knew Fuinjutsu too.

At that moment, all three of them happened to be proficient in Fuinjutsu!

Hyuga Shin did not know Fuinjutsu. Moreover, as the target of this rescue operation, he simply sat cross-legged atop the toad's head, calmly watching the three of them discuss their plans.

Inside Hyuga Shin's body.

Su Nuo watched Jiraiya perform ninjutsu with a focused gaze.

"Sage Mode... interesting."

"Orochimaru is interesting too. In an era where everyone talks about ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu... he believes in science."

"Namikaze Minato's Flying Thunder God Technique is also very fast. I wonder, compared with my Flying Thunder God Technique, whose is faster?"

Although Su Nuo had learned the Flying Thunder God Technique, he had barely used it.

For now, Su Nuo remained hidden only so he could gradually regain his strength, avoiding an encounter with power too great for him at this stage that might lead to his demise... and, of course, to gather all kinds of information.

Even after regaining his strength, Su Nuo would still do whatever he pleased and live freely...

As for changing the way he acted... that would only happen if Su Nuo were defeated.

No matter the method, if he lost, Su Nuo would acknowledge it.

Defeat was defeat. No matter what method his enemy used to defeat him, a loss was a loss.

For the first time in a thousand years, Sukuna had been defeated. And only after "being defeated" did he truly begin to consider what Itadori had said. In the cycle of rebirth, he chose to go "north," toward a new life.

Yet there was a premise behind all of it... being defeated.

Su Nuo's thoughts at the moment were the same as Sukuna's, equally pure: As long as I have not been defeated, I will live however I please.

He truly wanted to kill things like Hiruzen Sarutobi—old bastards who refused to die—but that did not mean he wanted to destroy Konoha. If anything, he rather appreciated some of the people in Konoha.

Of course...

If someone came looking to die, Su Nuo would simply grant them their wish.