Gamamo Attacks

"Wow, they really think highly of me... Summoning three giant snakes at once just to take me on!"

Gamamo laughed.

"Could you stop being so cheerful for once?"

Jimo complained.

"Can't help it. I was born cheerful! Nothing's gonna change that!"

Gamamo drew his short sword and, in an instant, sliced one of the giant snakes into several pieces.

"Aw, look at all that fragrant snake meat. We can't let it go to waste!" Gamamo's blade flashed as he skinned the snake, revealing the meat underneath.

"Fresh and juicy! A delicacy fit for the gods!"

Gamamo stuffed the meat into his mouth, then remembered to share a piece with Jimo, who was perched on his head.

"Mmm! It really is fresh and juicy! You sure know how to eat!" Jimo praised him.

"See?"

"Hey, Jiraiya... Did that kid just call that toad Gamamo?" Tsunade asked.

"You heard right. He's Mount Myoboku's resident problem child..." Jiraiya said, covering his face.

"Would a toad like that really listen to the person who summoned him? Unbelievable..." Tsunade marveled.

Back when Jiraiya had tried to summon Gamamo to help, the toad had refused to appear no matter what. He had a very strong personality...

"Two left, kid!" Gamamo called.

"One each!" The Saiyan's fighting spirit within Jimo had been roused!

Jimo leaped down from Gamamo's head.

Seeing them getting more and more fired up as they fought, Kabuto Yakushi summoned another group of ordinary giant snakes.

"Bring it on! I haven't had a proper meal in ages!"

Gamamo's eyes were bloodshot, and he was drenched in blood sprayed by the giant snakes. Their tails had struck him several times like iron whips, but he'd barely been hurt.

Jimo was the same. He'd been sent flying several times, but his fighting spirit hadn't cooled at all.

"Are these guys crazy...?"

Kabuto Yakushi narrowed his eyes, his brows drawn tight.

He'd underestimated the vermilion toad, and he'd underestimated Jimo, too.

Back on the main battlefield, a long sword had pinned Manda's mouth to the ground, leaving him unable to move.

Orochimaru tried to strangle Tsunade with his tongue, but she beat him one-sidedly.

"Strange... Something feels off!"

Tsunade kept punching Orochimaru's body, but the sensation each blow sent back was always somehow wrong.

After a flurry of attacks, Orochimaru stood before Jiraiya and Tsunade, wearing an utterly unfamiliar face...

"Even without your help, I can restore my arms! It'll just take a little longer..."

Orochimaru laughed coldly.

"I will destroy Konoha, no matter what! We'll meet again then, Jiraiya! Tsunade!"

Orochimaru peeled off his face, leaving Jiraiya and Tsunade stunned.

"His face..."

"He must have used some strange jutsu to take over someone else's body... No wonder something felt off when we fought just now!"

"Jiraiya, Tsunade! I'm the one who's truly immortal!" Orochimaru declared.

Before he'd finished speaking, a blaze of fire came hurtling toward him.

"Fire Release: Toad Oil Flame Bullet!"

"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough! Combined Version!"

In the distance, dozens of Jimo's clones used Wind Release: Great Breakthrough at once. Paired with the Toad Oil Flame Bullet launched by Gamamo and Jimo's original body, the attack rushed toward Orochimaru.

Seeing this, Manda hurriedly released the summoning jutsu and vanished beneath the ground.

A sea of flames swept past, leaving only a charred corpse behind.

"You sure don't mind wasting Chakra..." Jiraiya remarked.

Wind Release: Great Breakthrough was a C-rank jutsu, but at that scale, the kid's Chakra reserves probably rivaled Naruto's. He might even have more than Naruto when he used the Nine-Tails Chakra...

"You just couldn't stand losing, could you...?"

Jimo explained.

"The battle's over. We should head back!" Gamabunta said, grabbing Gamamo.

"Jimo! Next time you get into a fight, remember to call me, got it?"

Gamamo said around a mouthful of snake meat.

Slug said goodbye to everyone, then released the Summoning Technique.

In the end, Naruto still couldn't form a hundred-percent Rasengan with one hand, but Tsunade gave him the necklace anyway.

"A person's will and dreams are passed down from one generation to the next..."

The Fifth Hokage said.

From atop the Hokage Building, Tsunade looked at the buildings and walls that had been rebuilt and reflected on the passage of time.

"I can't believe you really managed to bring Princess Tsunade back!"

The Two Advisors said, watching Tsunade.

"Of course! Who could say no to a handsome guy like me?" Jiraiya said proudly.

"Hey, Jimo, wasn't there someone who got drugged and couldn't move at all...?" Naruto called out loudly on purpose.

"Yeah, yeah! The Toad Sage, one of the Three Ninja, summoned a toad the size of his palm during the fight..."

"Thump! Thump!"

Jiraiya could take no more, and gave each of them a big lump on the head.

"By the way, Jiraiya, where are the people who need me to treat them?"

Tsunade asked.

After some simple treatment, Sasuke and Kakashi were no longer in any serious danger.

Rock Lee was still the most difficult case.

"You should... give up on becoming a ninja..."

Tsunade said after examining the state of Rock Lee's body.

"Fragments of bone have reached his nervous system... Even with surgery... the risks are extremely high..."

Tsunade paused.

"The chance of death is... fifty percent... If the surgery fails, the chance of death is one hundred percent..."

On the rooftop, Jimo looked helplessly at Naruto and Sasuke, both of whom he'd left with heads covered in bumps.

"You're old enough to know better, yet you're still acting like children..."

Kakashi nodded beside him.

"Sasuke! Was that really a move to use on a teammate...? Were you trying to kill Naruto?"

Sasuke looked at the damage he and Naruto had done to the water tank, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly.

To help Sasuke get his head straight, Jimo quickly sent Kakashi away...

Sakura helped Naruto, who was still dizzy from being thrown around, to the infirmary.

"You're pretty upset, aren't you? You were saved by someone who used to be weaker than you."

Jimo walked over to Sasuke.

"You're really meddling in things that aren't your business..."

"Do you really think you would've won if you'd kept fighting to the end?"

Jimo grabbed Sasuke and took him around to the back of the Water Tank.

The enormous, jagged hole left Sasuke rooted to the spot.

"Do you know why Naruto works so hard?"

Jimo asked quietly.

"You only see how strong he's become. You don't understand what Naruto's thinking."

Sasuke tilted his head in confusion, his eyes as clear as those of a fool who'd just finished four years of higher education.

"In Naruto's eyes, you've always been the best. He's always wanted to catch up with you... What he wants most right now probably isn't everyone's recognition... It's yours."