Failure at the Last Moment

"Hahaha! Orochimaru, the gallant Jiraiya has arrived!"

A bold voice rang out from atop the giant toad's head, its tone brimming with pride at having arrived just in time to save the day.

The newcomer was indeed the last of the Legendary Sannin, the "Gallant" Jiraiya. He wore the same ninja uniform and flak jacket as Orochimaru, while his long white hair standing straight up in every direction was especially eye-catching.

Even more conspicuous was the toad beneath him, clad in a kimono and smoking a pipe. The moment it appeared, it locked the Five-Tails Kokuō in a firm hold with its powerful arms.

The restrained Five-Tails quickly came to its senses and began struggling fiercely to break free.

"Stupid snake! Stop standing around and get moving!" Gamabunta's muffled voice came from beneath Jiraiya.

At the sight, a rare smile curled across Orochimaru's lips before his expression turned solemn. "Manda, let's go!"

Despite its enormous body, Manda moved with astonishing agility. It swiftly slithered to the Five-Tails, its boneless-seeming body rapidly winding around Kokuō and binding it tightly.

The two worked together seamlessly. If this continued, they might truly be able to bring the situation under control.

But Ōnoki would never allow that to happen. Having already suffered setbacks on the battlefield, he had resorted to this risky move. If the two of them captured the Five-Tails now, wouldn't he lose both the bait and the fish?

Ōnoki no longer bothered to hold back and immediately pressed forward.

Orochimaru instantly noticed Ōnoki's movements. He could only have Manda continue working with Jiraiya while he himself broke away to stop Ōnoki.

"Orochimaru, do you really think such a fragile balance can last for long?"

With that, he formed the hand seals for Dust Release in midair, preparing to target the battle around the Five-Tails.

Seeing Ōnoki's movements, Orochimaru rapidly formed hand seals.

"Wind Style: Vacuum Sphere!"

A massive amount of Wind Style Chakra instantly gathered in his mouth. Like a human machine gun, he continuously fired at Ōnoki in the air, forcibly interrupting his chance to use Dust Release.

But this was only a temporary measure and could never last. More than anything, he was buying time to ensure Konoha's remaining forces could withdraw.

Meanwhile, Namikaze Yoru's team had fallen into a dilemma.

Although they had used the Flying Thunder God Technique to successfully return to the outskirts of the valley they had been in earlier, temporarily escaping danger, they were now trapped between the Stone Ninja forces and the Five-Tails battlefield.

No matter which side they confronted head-on, a team of their size would be like eggs thrown against a rock.

The Flying Thunder God Jutsu formula that had originally been at the camp could no longer be sensed. It seemed to have been coincidentally destroyed by the aftermath of the giant beasts' battle.

At that moment, Namikaze Yoru only regretted not secretly setting up more Flying Thunder God Jutsu formulas back then.

There was only one option now: take a desperate gamble. According to Mind's Eye of the Kagura, the Stone Ninja had formed an encirclement on three sides. Their only path to survival was to break through the gap between the Stone Ninja encirclement and the Five-Tails battlefield.

He looked at Nawaki and Shibi, who were somewhat uneasy, and asked, "Do you trust me?"

The two naturally nodded. Without Namikaze Yoru, they would have already died beneath that terrifying Tailed Beast Ball in the previous clash.

Seeing them nod, Namikaze Yoru instructed, "We can't break through the front or rear battlefields. We can only find another route and break through the weak point along the side. Stay close to me."

With that, he charged out in the lead, never slowing down as he ran faster and faster.

With Namikaze Yoru's Mind's Eye of the Kagura probing at full power, the three repeatedly avoided trouble along the way. Whenever they truly could not avoid it, Namikaze Yoru forcibly broke through.

Everything was developing in a favorable direction. Perhaps before long, the three of them would successfully escape danger.

"ROAR!!!"

Just then, the Five-Tails Kokuō seemed to have fully awakened, its struggles growing increasingly violent. Steam rose around its body again, and the massive horn on its head began to gleam.

The scorching steam nearly roasted Manda, who was wrapped around it. Crying out in pain, Manda had no choice but to release its binding of the Five-Tails.

Realizing the situation was bad, Jiraiya called to Gamabunta beneath him, "Prepare the Toad Oil."

The two cooperated flawlessly. Gamabunta immediately sprayed a massive amount of Toad Oil at the Five-Tails, while Jiraiya clapped his hands together, Fire Style ready to be unleashed.

"Fire Style: Toad Oil Flame Bullet!"

The Five-Tails was struck squarely by the combined ninjutsu, roaring violently amid the flames. Before the steam around its body could finish building up, it charged ferociously toward the culprits.

Manda lashed its tail, striking the Five-Tails solidly on the head and knocking its charge off course. However, its own tail was severed in the process. Manda had done all it could with such an injury, ending the summoning.

Before returning, it left behind one sentence: "Remember my Sacrifice." Then, with a puff, it transformed into a cloud of smoke and vanished.

Thanks to Manda's sacrificial tail strike, Jiraiya and Gamabunta were not directly struck by the horn slash, though Gamabunta was now covered in wounds as well.

"Gamabunta, you should head back too. You've worked hard." Jiraiya dismissed the summoning, unwilling to let his old comrade continue fighting.

Though the situation had suddenly taken a sharp turn, fortunately, most of the Konoha ninja had already retreated to safety.

As comrades who had fought alongside each other for years, Orochimaru and Jiraiya exchanged a glance. In the latter's eyes remained that familiar

"clear stupidity."

"We should retreat. Leave this mess for the Tsuchikage to clean up himself."

Orochimaru explained it to Jiraiya. After all, even someone as strong as the Tsuchikage would find it far from easy to face the injured and enraged Five-Tails alone.

Once Orochimaru and Jiraiya stopped confronting the Five-Tails head-on, it immediately noticed Ōnoki in the air. Having regained its freedom, the Five-Tails had even less patience for the one who had sealed it away.

It opened its mouth, and a pitch-black Tailed Beast Ball rapidly formed, carrying world-destroying power as it shot toward Ōnoki.

Ōnoki seemed to have anticipated it. His figure flashed through the air, easily evading the attack without retaliating, perhaps afraid that Jiraiya and Orochimaru would seize the opening.

But while Ōnoki avoided it, Namikaze Yoru and the other two, who were fleeing in the same direction, suffered instead. The Tailed Beast Ball tore through the sky and flew straight toward them, almost as if Ōnoki and the Five-Tails had tacitly coordinated an attack that struck wherever they pointed.

The earth-shaking commotion had been noticed early on by Namikaze Yoru, who had been keeping an eye on the battlefield. Fortunately, he had left behind quite a few Flying Thunder God Jutsu formulas along the way. He immediately teleported the two of them again to evade it, only to fall back into the encirclement as a result.

However, using the Flying Thunder God while carrying others consumed several times more chakra than using it alone. Even Namikaze Yoru was struggling to sustain such expenditure.

"We can't go on like this. Shibi, have your Kikaichū carry this kunai far away—as far as possible."

Sensing the insect swarm within him gradually regaining its vitality, Shibi nodded solemnly. In an instant, a dense black swarm enveloped the kunai and flew rapidly into the distance.

At the same time, Namikaze Yoru asked Shibi for another Kikaichū. Shibi did not know whether it was an illusion, but he felt as though he had suddenly lost contact with that Kikaichū for an instant.