Endless Terror Engulfs Konoha, Jiraiya Is Shocked

Rumble...

The ground continued to quake and split apart.

The cracks spread and widened like the tentacles of an octopus.

Everything near the pit, whether buildings, rocks, or trees, was drawn in and devoured by it.

All the Konoha villagers who had thought the Nine-Tails had been driven away and had survived the disaster now felt boundless terror. Especially those near the pit—before they could even panic, they were sucked inside by its pull.

Rumble... A mountain of hell slowly rose from the pit, while endless souls roared and climbed ceaselessly upward along it.

Bang!

Gamaken landed in a leap at Konoha's gates.

"What is with these unending earthquakes?"

"Was this mountain that emerged summoned from the world of the dead?"

Jiraiya watched the hellish still water rising from the Uchiha Compound with a grave expression.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Gamaken leaped repeatedly and soon finally approached the Uchiha Compound.

"Jiraiya, I've reached my limit. I'll leave the rest to you." After saying that, Gamaken's enormous body turned into a puff of smoke and vanished.

Jiraiya slowly approached the crack. Suddenly, he felt dizzy and disoriented, as if his soul were about to leave his body.

He bit his finger and forced himself to focus.

"The closer I get, the stronger the pull feels."

Chakra appeared beneath his feet, anchoring him firmly to the ground. He struggled step by step to the edge of the pit, leaned over, and looked down. His expression changed drastically, and horror filled his heart.

"The dead... How can there be so many?" Jiraiya's face turned deathly pale. He clenched his teeth around his arm, using pain to resist the dazed sensation of having his soul hooked away.

Beneath the pit, the dead swarmed like a plague of locusts, densely packed and blotting out the sky. The sight alone was enough to make one's heart tremble and soul scatter.

"Are they trying to bring the dead into the real world and destroy everything?" Jiraiya's face was bloodless, cold sweat streaming down it.

"The pit is still expanding. If it isn't stopped, all of Konoha will be swallowed."

"Oh? You got here pretty quickly, Jiraiya."

Uchiha Shadian stood atop the mountain of hell, looking down at Jiraiya on the edge of the pit.

"Shadian, stop this now! If this continues, all of Konoha will be swallowed by this pit connected to the world of the dead!" Jiraiya shouted.

A hint of mockery appeared on Uchiha Shadian's lips. "When Konoha slaughtered the entire Uchiha Clan, why didn't one of the Legendary Sannin like you come out and tell them to stop?"

Jiraiya's expression was resolute. "If I had been in the village then, I would have stopped such a tragedy from happening."

Uchiha Shadian said indifferently, "Unfortunately, you weren't there, Jiraiya. Everything has already happened and can never be undone. Just like this opened Gate of the Underworld, it will never close until it devours everything."

"Jiraiya, you and I have some history. I advise you not to get involved in Konoha's muddy mess. Leave obediently, find yourself a nice little town, and write your action romance novels."

"Konoha is my home. I will never allow Konoha to be destroyed." Jiraiya's expression hardened. "Even if I have to kill you, I will never allow anyone to destroy Konoha."

"Then there's nothing left to discuss. I even remembered our old friendship and tried to persuade you. Since that's the case, I'll have to send you down there ahead of time."

"Although I sympathize with what happened to your Uchiha Clan, I have my own position. I will never allow anyone to destroy Konoha. I'm sorry, Shadian." Jiraiya's expression remained firm.

"I have to defeat you before those dead climb up."

If the countless dead packed beneath the pit were allowed to emerge, it would no longer be as simple as Konoha being swallowed. The entire Shinobi World would fall into a catastrophic disaster of destruction.

Therefore, not only for Konoha, but for the entire Shinobi World, he had to stop Uchiha Shadian.

"Hmph! Defeat me?" Uchiha Shadian's lips curled slightly. Before obtaining the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, he had never revealed his true strength before outsiders, nor had he used the Mangekyo Sharingan, lest excessive use blind him.

Although Jiraiya was quite strong and could trade blows with the Rinnegan, he was ultimately defeated, forever sinking into the depths of the sea without even leaving a corpse behind.

"For Konoha, I must defeat you and stop you," Jiraiya said sternly.

"You still want to protect a dark village? How laughable." A mocking expression appeared on Uchiha Shadian's face. "And you say you want to defeat me? Do you really think you can stop me?"

"The pit will continue expanding until it swallows all of Konoha before it stops."

"In roughly ten minutes, all of Konoha will be swallowed by the pit."

"If you want to stop it, you must defeat me within five minutes to save Konoha. Otherwise, even if you defeat me after five minutes but before ten, Konoha will already be nothing but ruins."

"Of course, that is merely a fantasy I've granted you. As for defeating me, you're a hundred years too early!"

Uchiha Shadian's Three-Tomoe Sharingan shifted, suddenly transforming into the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan. A powerful aura erupted from him as his scarlet eyes gazed coldly down at Jiraiya.

Jiraiya gritted his teeth as the pressure upon him multiplied. Here, he had to resist not only the temptation of the dead from hell against his soul and the pull of the pit, but also the oppressive aura Uchiha Shadian had unleashed.

Jiraiya groaned inwardly.

Uchiha Shadian raised the Cloud-Cluster Fang in his hand. The phantom of an evil dragon appeared and roared. "Feel once more the violent tornado that rivals a Tailed Beast Bomb, Jiraiya."

As soon as Uchiha Shadian finished speaking, a violent tornado swept toward him.

Seeing Uchiha Shadian casually unleash another Hell Dragon Break comparable to a Tailed Beast Bomb, Jiraiya's face changed drastically.

Although he and Gamaken had joined forces to block the previous Hell Dragon Break, it had still taken tremendous effort to deal with it.

Now that Gamaken had returned to Mount Myoboku, and without the shield in its hand, trying to block such a terrifying attack with his own body was simply a fantasy.

Jiraiya did not dare hesitate. He immediately used the Body Flicker Technique, moving rapidly to evade the attack.

Jiraiya avoided it, but the remaining intact houses were not so fortunate.

The powerful Hell Dragon Break was like a primordial flood, tearing through the entirety of eastern Konoha. The ravine it left behind was dozens of meters wide, carrying the terrifying might of splitting heaven and earth, moving mountains and filling seas.

"I need to use Sage Mode and end this quickly." Seeing Uchiha Shadian casually unleash such a horrifying strike, Jiraiya immediately understood that he could not afford to stall. The longer this dragged on, the more disadvantageous it would become for him.

"Summoning Technique."

Bang!

A gigantic toad was summoned by Jiraiya.

"Damn it, Jiraiya, you bastard! What kind of place is this? The evil energy is so heavy that my skin is crawling. How the hell did you dare summon me to such a dangerous place?" The moment Gamabunta appeared and saw the dead endlessly climbing out of the shaking pit, he could not help but curse loudly.

"Bunta, buy me time. I need to summon the two sages and activate Sage Mode." Jiraiya ignored Gamabunta's complaints and curses, speaking with utmost seriousness.