Konoha Crush Plan, Commence

Only after seeing Gamabunta deliver the exhausted Naruto to the hospital and dispel himself did Jiraiya finally heave a sigh of relief.

Leaning against a tree with his arms crossed, he glanced down at the figure below and asked, "How do you think your junior brother performed?"

"Not bad. To think he managed to demand chakra from the Nine-Tails at such a critical moment, and even summon a toad that size—he's way more impressive than me."

Qiuyang, standing beneath the tree, curled his lip as he replied.

How could I think anything? I'm just looking at it with my eyes.

The Prince himself has the Uzumaki clan's constitution, giving him many times more chakra than me, plus he has the Nine-Tails as a portable emergency power bank. How could there be any comparison?

Jiraiya jumped down from the tree with a grin, noticing at a glance that his disciple, whom he hadn't seen for several months, had undergone a significant change in temperament.

Beyond becoming much more composed, the most obvious thing was... he was dressed much better than before, no longer wearing clothes covered in pilling and patches.

He looks much more handsome, though still far inferior to me.

Jiraiya thought smugly, his mind already calculating his own little schemes as he led his disciple toward a bustling civilian street outside Konoha:

"Haha, looks like that gang of bandits was quite wealthy. Come on, Teacher will take you to see the world and watch some exciting programs."

Exciting programs??

Qiuyang didn't even need to guess; he knew exactly where Jiraiya was taking him. When they reached their destination and he looked up, it was indeed the red-light district.

The sounds of seductive laughter and decadent music drifted from within, and Qiuyang felt a sudden headache.

Naturally, he wasn't about to go inside with his teacher. He paid the bill first, pointed out an inn to Jiraiya, and said he would wander around the neighborhood and wait for him there.

Seeing his student was so sensible, Jiraiya paid for two hostesses and didn't force him to join.

Shaking his head and muttering about how kids didn't understand the joys of being a man, he eagerly wrapped his arms around a girl soliciting customers outside and headed into the shop.

Qiuyang was left dumbfounded, desperately wanting to ask Jiraiya if there was truly a "white moonlight" named Tsunade in his heart.

Your white moonlight is still alive, and you're already indulging yourself like this?

By the time Jiraiya returned to the inn humming a tune that night to find his student, he discovered that Qiuyang had already prepared several dishes he had never seen before.

Deeply moved, Jiraiya, who had been drinking sake for most of the day, immediately polished off two or three bowls of rice to express his delight.

"Qiuyang, don't leave here for the next few days. I've received intelligence that Sunagakure might be planning something."

After finishing his meal, Jiraiya's head had cleared from the alcohol, and he spoke to his disciple with a grave expression.

Qiuyang had long known that Orochimaru's Konoha Crush Plan was about to be implemented, so he certainly wouldn't leave Konoha at such a critical juncture. He looked his teacher in the eye and gave a sincere promise.

This made Jiraiya feel once again that he had taken on a talented and responsible disciple.

However, he had never anticipated that Sunagakure would actually dare to launch an attack on their ally.

On the morning of the third day, Jiraiya received intelligence that a large force of Sunagakure and Otogakure ninjas had been spotted crossing the border. Furthermore, according to reliable sources:

The leader of Otogakure was Orochimaru.

Jiraiya grabbed the sleeping Qiuyang and rushed toward Konoha, explaining the situation along the way.

Have you finally arrived, Orochimaru?

The same thought echoed in the minds of both Qiuyang and Jiraiya.

--

Never assume that the Otogakure founded by Orochimaru consisted only of small-time fodder, aside from Kabuto, Kimimaro, and the Sound Four.

Within the forces responsible for the frontal feint, there was no shortage of powerful Jonin-level ninjas.

In particular, at key locations like the main gate and the west gate of Konoha, Orochimaru had pre-deployed several Jonin from Sunagakure and Otogakure.

Otherwise, if they couldn't tie down Konoha's vital forces, wouldn't the exam site quickly find itself surrounded and trapped?

Therefore, after rushing back to the village with Qiuyang, Jiraiya assigned Qiuyang to support the west gate, while he stayed behind to deal with the giant snakes and dozens of Jonin at the main gate.

This arrangement was exactly what Qiuyang wanted.

He had been thinking for days about how to make contact with Orochimaru without his teacher knowing, so he could discuss cultivating Hashirama Cells suited to his own constitution!

Wasn't this opportunity just handed to him on a silver platter?

According to his memory, Orochimaru's hands would be sealed by the Third Hokage during this battle. Once he met him... even if Orochimaru wanted to attack, he would have to weigh the consequences.

This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!

Qiuyang's smile stretched almost to his ears. After agreeing to his teacher's arrangement, he headed toward the other side.

After solving a few small-fry Otogakure ninjas who had infiltrated along the way, he finally arrived at the west gate.

This entrance wasn't really described in the original work, but judging by the terrain and the distribution of buildings, it was clearly another economic hub of Konoha.

Its importance went without saying.

By the time Qiuyang arrived, the walls on both sides of the gate had already cracked open with several large fissures, and broken stones were constantly falling, though fortunately, it hadn't been completely breached yet.

A Jonin stationed at this gate was currently leading the few remaining Chunin, desperately resisting two giant snakes that stood twice as tall as the gate itself.

Lying scattered all around were the corpses of many Konoha ninjas, already devoid of life.

The terror of large-scale summoning beasts is evident from this alone.

It is simply not a presence that anyone below the level of an ordinary Jonin can confront head-on.

"Keep that giant snake outside the gate! Do not let it destroy the entrance under any circumstances!"

The Konoha Jonin, panting heavily, shouted sternly as he unleashed the Earth Style: Earth Flow River technique to patch the breach caused by the giant snake.

He couldn't help but curse the Root led by Danzo in his heart.

How long has it been since the distress signal was sent out? There is still no sign of reinforcements.

Do they really have to wait until the enemy has fully invaded to realize the severity of the situation?

It really is... Lord Hokage shouldn't have given so many personnel to Root.

The Jonin's worried gaze drifted past the giant snake toward the depths of the forest; he knew there were many Sand ninja and Sound ninja there, coordinating with the giant snake's assault.

If the gate were to be destroyed, these people would inevitably flood into Konoha immediately.

"Hiss—!"

Yet, in the split second the Jonin was distracted, one of the giant snakes suddenly whipped its head around and launched a headbutt attack directly at him.

"Captain, look out! Dodge!"

Shimada, I was careless.

Realizing the critical situation, the Jonin quickly formed hand seals, intending to use Earth Style Wall to block the attack, but he realized halfway through that it was already too late.

The giant snake's head was now only four or five meters away. His heart turned to ash as he closed his eyes, bracing for the impending impact.

He thought that perhaps he would die from this strike, but calculating the time he had bought, the other squad responsible for evacuating civilians should be back by now.

At the very least... he had managed to hold them off for a while.

Jingjing, I leave our child's future... to you.

"Captain!"

Seeing that their captain could not dodge the giant snake's attack, several Chunin couldn't help but roar, their voices thick with despair.

However, before the Jonin could fully trigger his life-flashing-before-his-eyes sequence, he heard a sound like music from heaven:

"Summoning: Food Cart Destroyer Technique."