Jiraiya Arrives

"This blue giant..."

"Is it Osamu?"

Minato Namikaze gazed at the distant giant, a trace of disbelief flashing in his eyes. He understood Obito and Rin's strength very well; the only possibility was a ninjutsu unleashed by Kato Osamu. In his perception, the continuously falling Cloud Shinobi were seemingly killed instantly by some kind of unfathomable invisible attack.

"Osamu, Obito, Rin... Hold on a little longer..."

Unleashing ninjutsu of this scale would definitely consume a tremendous amount of chakra, but the hidden A was like a bone-deep maggot clinging relentlessly, preventing him from breaking away.

Like a venomous snake hidden in the jungle waiting for the optimal moment, A would undoubtedly choose to immediately join the Eight-Tails in surrounding the three toad brothers the moment he rashly departed, thereby completely unleashing the Eight-Tails' combat power. Once A and the Eight-Tails joined forces, they would probably no longer be able to sustain themselves...

Minato Namikaze took a deep breath, casting a covert glance toward a corner of the jungle, a trace of urgency welling up in his eyes.

"Damn it! Konoha's genius, Konoha's secret technique!"

Hidden in the darkness of the jungle, the wound on A's back shoulder was already beginning to heal slowly.

He restrained his entire aura, staring fixedly at Minato Namikaze, silently observing the changes on the battlefield while searching for any single flaw in Minato Namikaze. He refused to believe that the Flying Thunder God was truly so unsolvable.

Even if Minato Namikaze's speed was faster than his, with him entangling Minato, coupled with large-scale harassment from the Cloud Shinobi, he would definitely be able to kill Minato Namikaze...

Yet the suddenly appearing blue giant seemed to completely crush the final straw balancing this equilibrium.

Looking at the hundred-meter-plus blue giant in the distance, A silently clenched his fists, his eyes filled with fury. With so many Cloud Shinobi casualties, this ambush operation could already be considered a complete failure.

"B, you must be on guard against that blue giant..."

"Gyuki, did you feel it too..."

Within the Eight-Tails' beast space, Killer B was unusually not playing his rap. As a Jinchuriki in complete harmony with the Eight-Tails, he could sense some special auras.

This blue giant posed the highest threat to the Eight-Tails on this entire battlefield.

"It looks like a kind of ninjutsu I've seen before... The Uchiha Clan's Susanoo..."

"But it's also completely different..."

Tailed Beast Eight Twists caused the entire jungle to feature a massive crater, leaving hundreds of meters completely devoid of any cover or trees, resembling a meteor impact site.

Intense smoke and dust dispersed, and the only things clearly visible across the entire battlefield were three massive, monster-like figures.

Smoke and dust continued to billow, yet the air felt as though it were filled with heaviness. A hair-trigger sense of crisis caused everyone to tense their bodies.

"Minato, you've really stirred up a big one..."

The stagnant air was instantly shattered. A deep voice rang out, yet it seemed to pierce through space itself, causing A's gaze to sharpen, while Minato revealed a slightly relaxed expression.

"Jiraiya-sensei... I've caused you trouble..."

"Swish!"

Countless massive tentacles smashed down head-on the moment Jiraiya landed on Gamabunta's head, their peerless momentum seemingly intent on completely shattering this earth.

Gamabunta leaped rapidly to dodge, and a deafening sound arrived. The earth quaked, tens of thousands of shattered rocks fell like falling stars, and the forest cracked into pieces of broken walls and ruins.

"The Eight-Tails, huh? It really is enthusiastic..."

"However... what is that?"

Jiraiya stood atop Gamabunta's head, his short red cloak snapping in the wind. His gaze was also drawn by the blue giant, and he furrowed his brow deeply.

Yet before he could observe closely, the blue giant slowly dissipated, losing its trace.

"Jiraiya... It seems to be a ninjutsu unleashed by Minato's subordinates... Konoha's geniuses really are formidable..."

"It was even able to make me feel a threat to my life."

Gamabunta slowly drew his tantou, his voice while biting on a pipe carrying a hint of solemnity.

"Oh? Seeing that, I'll have to take a good look at Minato's subordinates...

After we head back..."

Confirming that the ninjutsu was unleashed by their own side, Jiraiya set his mind at ease, withdrew his gaze, and slowly placed it on the rampaging Eight-Tails nearby.

"Fighting the Eight-Tails, huh? This is truly exciting!"

"Gamabunta! Prepare to move out..."

"Lord Toad has long since been impatient to raise a ruckus!"

Equipped with a giant tantou, Gamabunta narrowed his eyes slightly; he had been stifled for far too long and urgently needed to vent!

"Fire Release: Toad Oil Flame Bullet!"

Jiraiya's Fire Release coordinated with Gamabunta's toad oil. For a time, a sea of fire flowed across the sky, surging with crazy fiery waves that surrounded the Eight-Tails like a tidal wave.

The scorching tongues of fire swallowed the entire unobstructed battlefield, dyeing the sky crimson as if intending to burn the heavens as well.

"Gyuki, dodge quickly! This isn't ordinary fire!"

Killer B's thought stirred, and the Eight-Tails rapidly spewed tons of ink-black liquid, its entire body continuously retreating amidst the successive jets of ink.

The spewed ink transformed into clones within the fierce fire, rushing one after another into the sea of flames where they shattered in succession.

"Millions of Angry Rage Numbers Annoying Flow Slave!"

The pitch-black ink was as thick as concentrated paste, covering the crimson flames like black pigment. Flowing, it enveloped clusters of flames within, yet the mountain-burning and sea-boiling fire gradually extinguished within the black solution.

"This is... a kind of sealing jutsu?"

"Using a sealing jutsu to seal away the flames... Truly a spirited counterattack..."

Several ink clones that broke through the fire assaulted Jiraiya. Gamabunta leaped lightly, his tantou flashing as he smashed all the ink clones to pieces.

Jiraiya's tentative move had not achieved any results, but it also made him understand the exquisite coordination between the Eight-Tails and its Jinchuriki.

This Jinchuriki was not as simple as he had imagined.

"I'd long since heard that Kumogakure possessed the technology for a perfect Jinchuriki, but I didn't expect to witness it with my own eyes..."

"Lightning Release: Lightning Oppression Horizontal Chop!"

The moment Gamabunta landed, A, who had lurked in the distant forest for a long time, suddenly sprang out.

Radiating violent lightning all over, A raised one arm high, his limb resembling a lightning blade as he slashed fiercely toward Jiraiya atop Gamabunta's head.

"I've been watching you for a long time..."

Minato's figure flashed. The Golden Flash was swifter than lightning, appearing abruptly beside A as if consuming no time at all, and a deep blue Rasengan was about to strike A's left flank.

"Damn it! Minato Namikaze!"

A's premeditated thunderous strike had to be abandoned.

The previous exchange had made A understand that his Lightning Release Chakra Mode could not withstand the impact of the Rasengan, and the wound on his rear shoulder was still throbbing with dull pain.

Abandoning his attack, A barely dodged Minato's Rasengan and landed beside the Eight-Tails.

His crimson, violent gaze stared fixedly at Minato Namikaze.

Ever since he achieved mastery in his training, when had he ever felt so aggrieved? His entire body's strength felt unable to be used, and his pride in his speed was also suppressed a notch by someone else.

"Minato Namikaze! You're very strong..."

Although aggrieved, A had to admit that this golden-haired man before him was the strongest enemy he had ever encountered.

Yet he was the disciple of the target he had always wanted to challenge, an indescribable feeling making the nameless fury in A's heart burn even hotter.

"What a terrifying Lightning Release... You must be the Third Raikage's son—A, right..."

Jiraiya looked at A, this commander who had stalemated with him on the Cloud Shinobi battlefield for a long time.

He possessed a face nine parts similar to the Third Raikage, and eight parts of his strength. If the Third Raikage himself had come today, Minato and the others probably would have struggled to hold out until he arrived...

"Jiraiya... I didn't expect to run into you here..."

A looked at Jiraiya and Minato, a deep and complex look in his eyes. The plan was completely impossible to succeed now, and a bitter resentment of failure lingered in his heart.

He yearred for battle, yearring for a hearty, flesh-to-flesh combat. A battle where they were evenly matched yet he emerged slightly superior was what he anticipated most.

Only this time, the one who emerged slightly superior seemed to be the enemy before him...

"I didn't expect you people to dispatch the Eight-Tails to intercept Minato either..."

"It seems Minato has made you sit on pins and needles recently..."

Jiraiya closely observed the battlefield. The thick stench of blood and the chunks of flesh scattered all over the ground in the distance let him know just how fierce the Cloud Shinobi's battle to ambush Minato had been.

"Stop the nonsense, let's see the real deal with our fists..."

No longer considering other matters, things had reached this stage; A only craved one final, hearty battle, even though his chakra was already running low.

Lightning once again coated his body, and with a flash of his form, a lightning-swift hand-blade chopped straight toward Minato Namikaze.

Minato's body suddenly leaned back, transforming into a golden flash that vanished, dodging the hand-blade while flashing out once more to kick a flying blow toward A's face.

A swung his arm to block, and the instant his arm collided with the shoe, several arcs of lightning suddenly erupted.

Both of their chakras were running low, and they chose the most primal hand-to-hand brawl.

"It's our turn to enter, Gyuki!"

The Eight-Tails' thick tentacles acted like a catapult, launching its body high into the air to transform into a tiny black dot in the sky before its massive form plummeted at extreme speed, pressing down toward Gamabunta.

With a heaven-shaking, earth-shattering roar, the ground seemed to sink downward by another fraction.

Eight tentacles whipped the entire earth like churning angry waves, stirring up layers of ripples until the ground resembled mud.

"Earth Wave Surge!"

The churning earth was like a quagmire, and the Eight-Tails' continuous, violent tentacle attacks made it somewhat difficult for Gamabunta to cope.

"Truly formidable... As expected of the Eight-Tails as a perfect Jinchuriki..."

"Hey! Jiraiya, think of a way quickly! This old man can barely hold on!"

"Eh? This is the Eight-Tails, what good way could I have?"

Jiraiya watched the rampaging Eight-Tails, concentrating as he pondered a countermeasure. Gamabunta failed to pay attention for a split second, and an arm grazed by a tentacle burned with searing pain.

"Jiraiya! The next time I see you at Mount Myoboku, I'll make sure you taste the old hag's bug feast!"

Hearing Jiraiya's words, Gamabunta puffed a thick cloud of smoke from his pipe, enveloping Jiraiya within it.

"Gamabunta, why is your heart even more ruthless than your blade!"

Jiraiya used his hair to protect his entire body, blocking the flying attacks of shattered rocks, and rapidly formed hand seals to summon several small toads carrying scrolls.

"Toad Taro, take your brothers and get ready to trap this big guy in the barrier!"

"Hey, Jiraiya, making the four of us brothers do something this dangerous the moment we meet..."

"Hurry up and go!"

Gamabunta's voice boomed out suddenly, making the four toad brothers jump.

"Yes! Boss Gamabunta!"

"Hey, Gamabunta, since when did you become their boss?"

Dodging a tentacle from the Eight-Tails, Gamabunta landed in the distance and gently blew out a smoke ring.

"I am now the strongest of the young generation of the Mount Myoboku toad family, so naturally plenty of toads admire my reputation and have become my underlings..."

The close-quarters combat between the two monsters had thoroughly turned the jungle into ruins, shattering the earth and mountains, yet neither seemed able to do anything to the other.

"As expected of Jiraiya of the Three Legendary Sannin!"

"Little Eight! Use that move!"

"Got it!"

Gamabunta and Jiraiya, evading the onslaught of the Eight-Tails, suddenly watched as it pulled back its tentacles and curled its body into a ball.

A violent black-and-blue chakra element slowly gathered in the mouth of the Eight-Tails, and the intense chakra fluctuations spread across the entire battlefield, an oppressive aura making even the sky turn gloomy.

"It's a Tailed Beast Ball... Gamabunta, you must dodge it, or we'll die!"

Jiraiya stood atop Gamabunta's head, chakra surging through his entire body, pushing his sensory abilities to the absolute limit as he tracked every movement of the Eight-Tails.

"Fire Release: Ash Pile Burning!"

A massive volume of smoke instantly spewed from his mouth, blocking out the sun and turning the entire battlefield into a hazy gray, attempting to obstruct the vision of the Eight-Tails.

The hour grew later and the sky grew dimmer, the heavens, the earth, and the mortal world seeming to merge into one within this gray expanse.

Kato Osamu and the other two hid in a hidden tree hollow, far away from the monster battlefield, with his senses fully open to evade the pursuit of the Cloud Shinobi jonin while also monitoring the changes on the battlefield.

The few remaining Cloud Shinobi jonin pursued relentlessly, trailing behind them like rabid dogs.

Time was tight, and the three of them did not have much time to deal with the traces they left behind, forced to run and hide all the way.

Fortunately, the heavy casualties among the Cloud Shinobi made the remaining ninja cautious, keeping their distance far behind and only probing with occasional volleys of thrown kunai.

The tree hollow was pitch-black and somewhat damp, the meager green light faintly illuminating Kato Osamu's pale face in the dark.

"Rin! You won't die, you definitely won't..."

Obito Uchiha looked at the bleeding wound on Rin Nohara's back, his mind slipping slightly out of control.

Looking up, he saw Kato Osamu, whose face was as pale as paper, yet whose hands never stopped administering treatment.

Obito Uchiha did not even dare to breathe loudly, as if even the tiniest sound of breath could blow out Rin Nohara's flame of life.

Kato Osamu squeezed out the last of his own chakra to temporarily staunch Rin Nohara's bleeding, while the constant roaring in the distance stirred a sense of worry in his heart.

"Obi... Obito, don't... worry, Kato-kun... is very strong..."

Rin Nohara's face was pale without a shred of color, having lost too much blood, and she lay weakly on the ground, yet her tilted face still wore a smile to comfort Obito Uchiha.

Obito Uchiha could not bear to look at Rin Nohara any longer; he took a deep breath, his eyes devoid of any other emotion save for fury and hatred.

Silently taking out the few remaining Soldier Pill from Rin Nohara's ninja tool pouch, he swallowed them all at once, and enduring the pain in his body, Obito Uchiha stepped out toward the mouth of the tree hollow.

"Osamu, you must... save Rin... you must..."

"Obito! If you go to fight the Cloud Shinobi to the death now, then even if I save Rin right now, we will ultimately fail to escape the encirclement of the Cloud Shinobi, so it's better not to save her.

Let the three of us go together and perish with the Cloud Shinobi, so we can look out for each other on the road to the underworld..."

Kato Osamu's voice was heavy, yet it stood like an uncrossable chasm before Obito Uchiha, making the foot he had raised unable to fall.