"Kids' dad!"
"Genjutsu of this caliber can't do a thing to that guy!"
"Looks like we'll have to use that move!"
Sage Shima stopped her Frog Song, her expression grave, and spoke to Sage Fukasaku beside her.
"Got it!"
"Little Jiraiya, create an opening for us!"
At her words, Sage Fukasaku instantly retracted his long tongue, which moved as nimbly as a piece of elastic.
"Right!"
Jiraiya rose to his feet, his face covered in red marks and full of wariness.
But Souya, standing on his Gold Cloud, didn't charge forward. Instead, after landing in the distance, he pressed both hands against the ground.
A few seconds later.
Sage Fukasaku had been standing ready, but his expression suddenly changed. He shouted urgently, "This is bad!"
"Get out of here!"
Jiraiya, in Sage Mode, also sensed the terrifying aura rising from beneath the ground.
He whipped his head around, separating a lock from his fan-shaped mane of white hair. It wrapped around Fugaku Uchiha beside him, and then Jiraiya stomped down hard, leaping high into the air.
Rumble!
The instant Jiraiya left the ground, the area where he had been standing collapsed. A vast quantity of Gold Sand churned below, like boiling water.
"Senjutsu: Prison Sand Binding Soul Dance!"
The vast quantity of Gold Sand instantly transformed into countless solidified miniature Shukaku claws, surging up densely from underground and hurtling toward Jiraiya in the air.
"Fire Style: Great Fireball!"
Jiraiya formed his Hand Seals in the blink of an eye, then spat a fireball as large as a house down toward the ground!
The fireball's surface gleamed with a glossy sheen. The coating of Toad Oil had clearly boosted its destructive power another level.
But!
Though the terrifying heat melted a large wave of the attacking claws, sending them tumbling down