Outside Konoha, the shinobi on guard stared at the enormous pythons nearby, their faces filled with terror, and shouted to those on the other side:
"Quick, notify Lord Hokage! Several giant pythons have appeared here! We can't hold them off!"
Just then, several enormous toads suddenly appeared above the giant pythons and came crashing down on them.
"Ha! Leave these little problems to me, the Toad Sage! Taking care of them couldn't be easier."
The guards naturally recognized Jiraiya, one of the Konoha Sannin, so they all breathed a sigh of relief when he came to their rescue.
Yet Jiraiya's expression remained grim. As the toads dealt with the giant pythons, he turned his gaze toward the very center of Konoha.
As Orochimaru's former teammate, Jiraiya knew him well. He naturally also knew that these giant pythons came from Ryūchi Cave, with which Orochimaru had a summoning contract.
So what worried Jiraiya most was whether Orochimaru truly was behind the turmoil in Konoha.
Meanwhile, over on Sasuke and Naruto's side, perhaps because Shin Uchiha had already reinforced the seal inside Gaara,
even after Sasuke injured him, Gaara did not go berserk. Instead, he relied on his own strength and fought Naruto and Sasuke alongside his older brother and sister, Kankuro and Temari.
Their battle ultimately ended with Gaara and his siblings being overwhelmed and defeated.
Tsunade and Shin Uchiha had prepared for the Konoha Crush well in advance, and Orochimaru had already fled after killing the Third Hokage.
The remaining attackers had no way to withstand Konoha's elite shinobi. They were either killed on the spot or arrested and imprisoned.
As for the shinobi from Sunagakure, since they all belonged to the Fourth Kazekage's faction,
apart from Gaara and his siblings, who were taken into custody, all the others were