The Great Battle Ends

With Gamabunta and Manda pinning down the gold dust waterfall, the figures of Jiraiya and Orochimaru vanished from the tops of their respective summons.

If you play the first day, I will play the fifteenth!

Between ninja and ninja, no one is nobler than the other; there is only power.

Jiraiya formed hand seals with both hands, his target locked onto the cluster of Sunagakure ninja behind the wave of gold dust.

"Fire Release: Great Flame Bomb!"

He suddenly opened his mouth to exhale, the orange fireball erupting in a jet, emitting a piercing, explosive roar as it burned through the air. It lunged straight for the Sunagakure formation, melting the rising gold dust into crystalline slag along its path.

"Ninja Art: Formation of Ten Thousand Snakes!"

Orochimaru likewise opened his mouth to exhale, and an endless stream of living snakes poured out!

In an instant, tens of thousands of snakes of various colors and lethal toxicity surged forward like a bursting dam, a writhing, hair-raising tide. With a hiss that made one's scalp tingle, they rushed toward the cluster of Sunagakure ninja behind the gold dust barrier!

The coverage of this snake tide was vast and its speed immense, intended to bypass the frontal gold dust defense and swallow, constrict, and poison large numbers of Sunagakure ninja from the flanks and even from the air.

Just as the two Konohagakure ninja's offensive was about to take effect, at the critical moment when the pressure was about to be shifted back onto Sunagakure—

A scorching, intense chakra, as if capable of purifying all things, suddenly flared in the sky above the Sunagakure position like a rising sun in the darkest hour before dawn!

"Scorch Release: Extremely Steaming Murder!"

A crisp, clear shout cut through the clamor. Following the voice, over a dozen fireballs—each the size of a human head, glowing with terrifying heat, orange on the outside and pure white within—bombarded the battlefield.

Like intercepting missiles, they collided with the swarm of venomous snakes summoned by Orochimaru, as well as a portion of the Great Flame Bombs heading toward the Sunagakure lines.

"Puff! Puff! Puff!"

Where the white light passed, there was no explosion, only extreme heat.

The venomous snakes had all the moisture in their bodies evaporated in an instant, turning into charred, dried corpses; the scorching flames were even forcibly annihilated and dispersed by this even more terrifying heat!

A dashing figure landed lightly atop a towering wall of gold dust, accompanied by specks of white light that had yet to dissipate.

She wore the standard Sunagakure ninja uniform, her orange-yellow hair dyed at the temples fluttering in the heat waves.

Her cold, beautiful face bore absolute confidence and sternness. Several Scorch Release orbs floated around her, reflecting her like the savior of Sunagakure.

"It's Lady Pakura!"

Some Sunagakure ninja let out cries of relief. Led by their jonin, they reorganized their formation, and the slaughter against the Konohagakure forces became increasingly bloody and cruel!

Pakura swept her gaze across the field, finally fixing it on the slightly tense Jiraiya and Orochimaru, and spoke loudly.

"Konohagakure's 'Sannin', your opponents are not just Rasa alone."

"Pakura..."

Rasa glanced at the beautiful figure who had arrived below, his heart settling slightly as he began to focus entirely on suppressing the two giant summons.

Though these two beasts were strong, they were no match for a tailed beast; in the end, they were just animals!

Below, after Pakura finished speaking, she charged toward the nearest Konohagakure ninja.

Several fireballs emitting terrifying heat floated beside her, controlled by her own chakra to bypass the chaotic battle and shoot toward a squad of Konohagakure ninja attempting to seize the opportunity to expand their gains.

"Scatter! It's Pakura!" a knowledgeable Konohagakure commander shouted a warning.

The warning was a step too slow. One Scorch Release fireball grazed the arm of a Konohagakure chunin, and a terrifying scene unfolded—

He didn't even have time to scream before the moisture in his body was completely evaporated in an instant.

The entire person turned into a shriveled mummy, still wearing an expression of horror, and fell straight to the ground.

This shocking sight immediately made Jiraiya and Orochimaru extremely displeased.

Orochimaru's killing intent permeated the air like a physical force, and his figure flickered as he lunged toward Pakura.

Jiraiya's gaze swept across the scorching battlefield like lightning, his brows furrowing.

Sunagakure's morale had soared after the joint effort of Rasa and Pakura. Although his own forces were brave, they were bogged down in a bitter struggle on the enemy's home turf.

His own army's numbers were also inferior to the enemy's. If this continued, the best outcome would likely be forcing Sunagakure to retreat, failing to kill Rasa, who could fly in the air.

Pakura could also rely on the convenience of the gold dust to retreat safely.

By then, led by the two of them, Sunagakure could turn around and pull out a new army. Could Konohagakure, whose reserves were nearly exhausted, handle that?

While deep in thought, Jiraiya did not stop his attacks; a "Great Flame Bomb" erupted from his mouth, turning a squad of Sunagakure ninja into ashes within the inferno.

Suddenly, a surge of chakra erupted from overhead—

"Magnet Release: Gold Dust Great Wave!"

Having gained more time to perform the technique, Rasa unleashed an even more powerful ninjutsu.

He pushed his hands forward violently, and the gold dust previously used for defense and offense gathered like a tsunami, forming a golden giant wave dozens of meters high that swept across the entire river valley battlefield, pressing down toward the Konohagakure position like a blanket covering the sky!

Wherever the giant wave passed, rocks crumbled, trees were swallowed, and even the burning flames were instantly buried and extinguished.

Facing such heaven-defying ninjutsu, individual power seemed so insignificant.

Gamabunta took a deep breath, his massive belly swelling suddenly, and then he opened his mouth to spit out several giant water balls the size of houses—Water Release: Gunshot!

The cannonball-like water spheres exploded into a sky full of golden rain, barely curbing the momentum of the advancing gold dust.

On the other side, Manda was not about to risk his life for mere "food."

As the battle reached a stalemate, he suddenly lunged downward, his blood-red maw gaping wide to swallow several Sunagakure and Konohagakure ninja who were too slow to dodge!

"I'll take the offerings first, Orochimaru!"

He left behind this raspy whisper and, without waiting for a response, vanished into a puff of white smoke, retreating straight back to Ryūchi Cave.

This scene placed immense pressure on Gamabunta, who couldn't help but shout, "Jiraiya! That idiot snake ran off! I can't hold them back!"

"Retreat! Cover each other!"

Seeing the state of the battle, Jiraiya made a swift decision and issued a loud command.

He leaped onto the top of Gamabunta's head, his mind perfectly in sync with his old partner.

"Use that technique, Gamabunta!"

"I've been ready for a while!"

Gamabunta's massive belly swelled violently, and he spewed out a waterfall of viscous black oil. Simultaneously, Jiraiya formed hand seals, and blazing Fire Release chakra surged from his throat—

"Combined Ninjutsu: Toad Oil Flame Bullet!"

The black oil waterfall and the violent flames merged in mid-air, instantly transforming into a sea of sticky fire that blotted out the sky.

With a terrifying roar that seemed to consume everything, it slammed into the surging waves of gold dust!

"BOOM—!!!"

The scorching oil-fire and the cold gold dust intertwined and eroded each other frantically, erupting into towering flames and thick smoke that seemed to erect a wall of fire between life and death in the center of the battlefield.

Orochimaru sneered, cast one last deep look at Rasa and Pakura looming behind the waves of fire, and sank into the ground.

Under the cover of the flames, the Konohagakure ninja units, well-trained and disciplined, split into several groups to cover one another as they quickly vanished into the dense forest behind them, leaving behind only a devastated battlefield and the wall of fire still raging toward the sky.

Rasa stood atop his gold dust, watching the Konohagakure ninja disappear into the jungle, but he did not order a pursuit.

"Clear the battlefield and reinforce the defenses!"

He looked back at the garrison camp below, where cries of agony filled the air under the rising sun. Clenching his fists tightly, he said hatefully, "Konohagakure, this will not end here!"