Defeated By The Blade!

The night wind blew, wild grass swayed, and air currents whistled through the jumbled rocks.

Gamabunta, a giant toad with tattoos on its chest and a scarred eye, held a short sword behind its waist, a long pipe in its mouth, puffing clouds of smoke with an arrogant and overbearing expression.

Above the clouds, Jiraiya and Naruto stood back-to-back, fists clenched and legs spread, their stances as exaggerated as actors in a play – the old man dissolute, the young boy unruly.

The eerie, tense atmosphere abruptly ended.

Orochimaru's woman, her round face still smiling eerily, exuded a pressure that couldn't cross the chasm between a toad and two men, not reaching Tsunade or Shizune at all.

Naruto sneered at Orochimaru, "Old man, good news! This beast has turned into a woman. Like it?"

Jiraiya appraised her, "Ugly. Flat."

Naruto: "Wanna do it?"

"With a knife, haha!"

Orochimaru was a cultured individual, so it wasn't unusual for him to speak refinedly. His stiff face twitched, "Crude, boring."

Jiraiya scoffed, formed a hand seal, and said, "You won't find it boring when I'm doing you! Gamabunta! Oil Bomb!"

Gamabunta croaked and puffed out its belly.

At that moment, Tsunade stomped, cracking nearly ten meters of earth, and yelled, "Jiraiya! This has nothing to do with you!"

"It has everything to do with me! How could it not!" Jiraiya completed his seals, tilted his head back, and opened his mouth, "Fire Style: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!"

Simultaneously, Gamabunta opened its massive mouth and spewed a torrent of sulfur-yellow toad oil.

Jiraiya spat out raging flames, which expanded into three ferocious fire dragons. With skillful chakra control, they coiled and twisted from the left, center, and right, converging on Orochimaru.

The fire dragons pierced through the oil bomb, igniting a colossal blaze that illuminated the night sky and painted layers of red clouds.

Facing an onslaught from all sides, Orochimaru slammed his hands on the ground, "Summoning Jutsu: Manda!"

White smoke exploded, and a giant, dark purple serpent appeared, blocking the fire dragons.

The oil and fire rained down on the wild grass, scorching dense pits even in the soil.

When the fire dragons stopped burning and the thick smoke dissipated, all that remained in the original spot was a snake's shed skin, over fifty meters long.

Then, a giant, purple-scaled serpent head, about five meters wide with two backward-growing horns, emerged from the soil beneath Gamabunta's feet, its fangs bared in a ferocious bite.

Clang!

A flash of steel, flames reflecting and flowing on the blade. Gamabunta drew its sword and swung it horizontally at the serpent's mouth.

But Manda was no pushover. Its head twisted nimbly, clamping down and locking onto the short sword.

The two giant summoned beasts were locked in a stalemate.

Orochimaru and the white-haired young boy stood on the serpent's head, gazing across at Jiraiya and Naruto on the toad.

Manda: "To face such a troublesome enemy right away? One hundred living sacrifices aren't enough! Add fifty more!"

Orochimaru: "Two hundred. Devour this toad."

Manda's vertical pupils narrowed to slits. Its thick, striped body pressed down on the earth, unleashing even greater strength.

Gamabunta was equally unwilling to back down, the smoke from its pipe growing faster and thicker.

Naruto's battlefield wasn't here. He leaped onto Gamabunta's back, then landed, charging towards Yakushi Kabuto, whose glasses reflected white light at the edge of the fire circle.

Orochimaru saw Naruto's movement, "Kimimaro, it's your turn."

"As you command, Lord Orochimaru." The white-haired young boy, with a look of world-weariness, responded and leaped off the serpent's body in pursuit.

"I only want to take Tsunade. You chose this fight," Orochimaru said to Jiraiya, his face grim, "That Nine-Tails brat will die by the hands of Kimimaro, the last descendant of the Kaguya Clan."

Jiraiya laughed heartily, "Naruto's life is a constant battle!"

The two legendary ninjas, with their summoned beasts, were locked in a peak confrontation.

Inside the fire circle, grass burned to ash, and the temperature soared.

Shizune hurried forward, leading Tsunade outward.

Tsunade's fate was being decided for her. Whether it was Shizune, Jiraiya, or Naruto, no one was listening to her at this moment.

She truly wanted to see Dan Katō and her younger brother, Nawaki, even just once, to say a few words.

Orochimaru wasn't someone who spoke without reason. If he said he could revive them, he must have confidence, and Naruto had personally seen the First and Second.

"Shizune, I want to agree to Orochimaru. It's okay even if I die."

"Lady Tsunade! Don't think such things! Lord Jiraiya is here to save us, we just need to leave!"

Shizune had spent countless hours with Tsunade and knew she lived in constant pain, numbing herself with gambling, but she had always stayed by her side, wanting to save her, and would never allow her to take her own life.

However, the loyal Yakushi Kabuto would not let them leave.

Barrel after barrel of fresh human blood was splashed onto the ground. Mangled corpses, their insides spilled out, were thrown from behind the large rocks.

The scarlet organs emitted a thick, fishy odor. The jelly-like viscera, whipped by the fiery wind, added a rusty, smeared smell.

An ordinary person would hesitate to look for more than a few seconds, let alone Tsunade, who had a severe hemophobia?

Tsunade trembled all over. Almost at a glance, her knees buckled inward, and she collapsed softly onto the grass, her head bowed, clutching her hair.

Her immense strength and top-tier taijutsu ninjutsu had no room to be used.

Shizune yelled, "Despicable!"

Her poison needles shot out, aiming for Yakushi Kabuto's throat. Simultaneously, she reversed her grip on a poisoned kunai, lunging forward to attack.

Yakushi Kabuto unhurriedly ate a soldier pill. Twisting his shoulders left and right, he easily dodged Shizune's assault.

Shizune swung her kunai wildly, but not a single blow landed. His gaze remained calm and precise.

In one fleeting moment as they crossed paths, his palm grazed her left arm, rendering it numb and useless. Her kunai dropped.

She leaped back, her right hand reaching for another weapon in her ninja pouch, but Yakushi Kabuto clung to her like a shadow, right by her side.

Invisible chakra scalpels sliced through the air. This time, her left leg was immobilized.

Shizune flipped to the side to dodge. She tried to stand on one leg, only to see Yakushi Kabuto raise his foot and kick towards her chest.

Is this the end? Who will protect Lady Tsunade?

But Yakushi Kabuto's kick never landed. Instead, he suddenly pushed off the ground and retreated.

Because a sword, the Kubikiribōchō, sharp and strong, had been plunged into the ground between him and Shizune, slicing through it as if it were soft tofu.

If he hadn't stopped, his leg would have been severed.

Bang!

As soon as the great sword hit the ground, it was swung again, diagonally slashing towards the chest of Kimimaro, whose bone spurs jutted out like ribs.

But Naruto was a moment too late to save her.

Kimimaro's bone sword, harder than steel, pierced through his trench coat and into his skin, emitting a grating, metallic screech.

This grating sound surprised Kimimaro.

He thought he had succeeded, never expecting Naruto to possess protective ninja gear that his bone sword couldn't even pierce.

Facing the descending great sword, his skin and bones, covered in the Earth's Curse Mark, erupted like a thicket of trees to resist.

Bones cracked, severed one by one, but were ultimately held back.

Kimimaro used the force to deflect, sliding next to Yakushi Kabuto. "Teacher Kabuto, I need to activate State Two."

His pupils blazing like fire, Naruto stood before Shizune, his sword held diagonally. "Sister Shizune, take Grandma Tsunade and go. Leave this to me."

Looking at the swaying trench coat of the boy who wasn't even as tall as her yet, Shizune's emotions surged. At this moment, she felt a sense of peace.

"Thank you, Naruto."

With one arm and one leg useless, she still managed to stand. Dragging Tsunade, who was still in a daze, she hopped on one leg towards the edge of the fiery circle.

Yakushi Kabuto took a step to pursue but stopped abruptly. A cerulean Rasengan slammed into his path.

"It seems I have to deal with you first."

If he could quickly subdue Naruto and then pursue, Tsunade, one injured and one incapacitated, wouldn't get far.

Naruto acted as if he'd heard a joke, and burst into wild laughter. "Come! Fight! What the hell is this Kaguya Clan descendant? Elite Jonin who's no less than Kakashi? All of you will fall before my blade!"