Cutting Off the Lackeys, Preparing for the Second Great Ninja War

Sage Art: Five Elements Great Barrage!

His eyes revealed a grim resolve. He used the most powerful ninjutsu he had learned recently, prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice.

His body looked even more like a toad, and he gathered more natural energy chakra. The balance within him was completely broken.

Bang, bang, bang...

A series of explosive bursts of smoke rang out. Four of Jiraiya's clones appeared beside him.

All five Jiraiyas released ninjutsu of five different natures at once.

The techniques worked in tandem, with the five natures complementing and amplifying one another's power.

Where they intertwined, the chakra natures blended together, showing the beginnings of a Kekkei Genkai.

Storm Release, Explosion Release, Scorch Release... These Kekkei Genkai were formed from two chakra natures.

Rumble...

The earth began to shake. The immense force tore open a gap in Deep Forest Emergence and Deep Forest Cage, reducing everything to nothing.

Jiraiya's white hair wrapped around him, forming a shield that kept him from being caught in the devastation.

A massive crater appeared. The ninjutsu of Senju Nawaki and Senju Tojian had been forcibly broken through.

Within a radius of dozens of meters around Jiraiya, trees and rocks were reduced to nothing.

Boom...

The powerful shockwave swept toward Senju Nawaki and Senju Tojian, carrying an especially domineering force of Senjutsu Chakra.

The shockwave struck Senju Nawaki and destroyed the wooden prosthetics formed by his Wood Release.

The Senjutsu Chakra formed from five chakra natures and natural energy chakra surpassed Senju Nawaki's current Wood Release chakra in both quality and power.

Enormous pressure bore down on Senju Nawaki like a ten-thousand-jin hammer pounding his body. He spat blood, and the Wood Release legs and right arm he had formed were pulverized by the shockwave and vanished.

He was in a sorry state.

As the dust settled, Senju Nawaki saw Jiraiya standing where he was.

He gasped for breath as pus-filled blisters sprouted across his body, making his skin look more and more like a toad's.

Nawaki couldn't help but admire him.

Five Release Great Combo Technique!

Sarutobi Hiruzen's pride and joy of a technique—Nawaki hadn't expected him to teach it to Jiraiya, who had combined it with Senjutsu Chakra to make it even more powerful.

This technique carried Sarutobi Hiruzen's ambition: to fuse all five chakra natures and create a Kekkei Genkai that surpassed Dust Release.

Unfortunately, they were in the Ninja World. The Sarutobi Clan's bodies couldn't withstand something almost like a Kekkei Mōra.

Senju Nawaki suspected that Sarutobi Hiruzen had been behind Hiruko's experiments in the original story. Otherwise, how could a civilian—even a genius—have learned such forbidden knowledge?

It seemed he had underestimated Sarutobi Hiruzen's ambition.

His attention returned to Jiraiya. He had combined natural energy chakra and used Mount Myoboku's Sage Mode to catalyze it.

It was no surprise that Sage Art: Five Elements Great Barrage had such power.

But Jiraiya couldn't use it perfectly. The chakra inside him was going wild, and he had turned seventy percent into a toad, retaining only a trace of his human form. He was already at the end of his strength.

"Wood Release: Cutting Sprigs!"

Using the one hand he had left, Senju Nawaki formed hand seals and performed one of Wood Release's most basic offensive techniques.

Splurt...

Splurt...

Two wooden spears burst through the ground and pierced Jiraiya's legs, impaling his body.

Jiraiya might have dodged them in his normal state, but now his body had turned toad-like and was close to collapse.

Ribbit, ribbit, ribbit, ribbit...

Senju Nawaki was about to attack again when a chorus of frog song rang in his ears.

It left him agitated. Images filled his mind, disrupting the flow of chakra in his body and bringing his thoughts to a standstill.

"When the smoke cleared just now, Jiraiya summoned those two old toads!"

Two old toads, each no bigger than an adult's arm, appeared in Senju Nawaki's field of vision: Sage Fukasaku and Sage Shima of Mount Myoboku. They were making a piercing croaking sound.

The two old toads perched on Jiraiya's shoulders, one on each side, helping him heal and control the natural energy chakra invading his body.

They had already formed hand seals with their claws, trying to use the Reverse Summoning Technique.

They were trying to return to Mount Myoboku. A vortex of space opened, and half of Jiraiya's body had already entered it.

"Wood Release: Man-Eating Flower!"

Senju Tojian shook off the frog song and formed hand seals.

You hurt someone I'm sworn to protect right in front of me, and you think you can leave unscathed?

As if I'd let you!

Crack...

A man-eating flower with a huge, gaping maw clamped down on half of Jiraiya's body and severed it.

Jiraiya went to Mount Myoboku in this absurd manner, leaving half his body behind.

The man-eating flower spat out what was in its mouth: two legs that had completely turned toad-like, stained with black fluid.

"He still got away, but at least we taught him a lesson."

Senju Nawaki shook off the lingering discomfort in his mind, glanced at Senju Tojian, then looked toward the spot where Jiraiya had just vanished.

Could Jiraiya recover from such severe animalization?

Given how this world worked, not only would Jiraiya recover, he'd probably become even stronger.

Nawaki had to improve his own strength before that nuisance returned.

Next time, Jiraiya wouldn't be so careless.

His gaze settled on the two toad legs, which were nearly dissolved. An idea occurred to him. This degree of injury had actually resolved Jiraiya's transformation.

One question nagged at him: the Reverse Summoning Technique was a kind of Space-Time Ninjutsu, so could it really be used like that?

And yet, in the future, when he faced Uzumaki Nagato's Six Paths Clones, he had been willing to die?

What a twisted world!

"We only caught them off guard. Jiraiya and those two old toads are strong—at least stronger than Tsunade."

Senju Tojian looked solemn as he recalled their brief clash and reassessed the strength of both sides.

With those two old toads helping him, Jiraiya's strength would increase even further. He wouldn't be limited to a single attack.

He would pose a threat to them, too.

The outcome wouldn't have been what it was this time.

Senju Nawaki might have been in danger, or even lost his life.

"There's no need to bother with Jiraiya any further. I've had enough of being incomplete. I need to restore myself as soon as possible so I can become stronger."

Senju Nawaki's wounds healed, and he used Wood Release to form new prosthetic limbs.

If he hadn't had access to secret intelligence, dealing with Jiraiya wouldn't have been so easy, and they wouldn't have achieved such a result.

The most important thing for him now was to grow stronger, restore his body, and evolve his bloodline.

The ongoing battle between Konoha and Sunagakure was his best opportunity.