Jiraiya's squad had already sensed the Hidden Cloud shinobi approaching.
The four of them picked up the pace. As one of the Legendary Sannin, Jiraiya wasn't afraid of a direct confrontation, but carrying critical intel meant he couldn't afford to go all out.
Fighting under these circumstances would put them at a disadvantage and more importantly, Tsunade's condition was far from ideal. She hadn't said a word about it, but Jiraiya, the second-best intelligence operative in the world, could sense the irregularity with ease.
Still, there was no avoiding the battle anymore.
A trap lay ahead. They had already been caught up to.
"Naruto! Stop!" Jiraiya barked, halting the inexperienced boy who had been charging ahead.
"What is it, Pervy Sage?" Naruto obeyed instantly, shifting into alert mode.
Shizune, already prepared, gently set down her pig, Tonton, and silently reached for the kunai pouch behind her waist.
Tsunade folded her arms, brows furrowed. "You were right. The Hidden Cloud really has gone mad."
Her voice carried a sharp edge not directed at Jiraiya, but at the recklessness of their enemies.
Before them was a crude trap, woven from chakra threads and paper bombs. A single misstep would have triggered a chain of explosions.
"No wonder they call you one of the Legendary Sannin. Your sensory abilities are as sharp as they say."
A dark-skinned man with dead-fish eyes and a giant sword stepped into view, his laid-back aura eerily similar to Kakashi's.
It was Darui, the Raikage's right-hand man and master of the Storm Release.
Scratching the back of his head lazily, Darui muttered, "This is such a drag... but orders are orders."
He raised his massive blade. "So hand over the Nine-Tails' jinchuriki."
At the same moment, dozens of Hidden Cloud shinobi flickered into view, perched in the trees around them. The forest filtered sunlight through the canopy, casting gleaming reflections off the sharp edges of their weapons as they encircled Jiraiya's team.
Tsunade snorted coldly. "Just you lot?"
For the Sannin, sheer numbers didn't matter. Their fame far exceeded that of ordinary Kage-level shinobi. Beyond their personal strength, each had a pact with one of the three great summoning clans.
Their summoned beasts alone could shift the tide of a battlefield.
"Oh, it's not just us," Darui said with a crooked smile. "You are, after all, the Legendary Sannin."
Before his words even faded, a deafening boom of thunder erupted from afar. Trees toppled in the distance, followed by the sound of crashing wood. A massive figure was streaking toward them at an astonishing speed.
"That's... the Raikage?!" Shizune gasped.
Jiraiya's pupils shrank. This wasn't good. With the Raikage here, protecting Naruto would be much harder.
This had to end quickly.
Almost simultaneously, Darui and the Cloud jonin launched their attack.
"Tsunade! Buy me some time! Naruto, take care of yourself!" Jiraiya shouted, hands already forming seals.
"You idiot Jiraiya, I know!"
"Don't worry, Jiraiya-sensei! I'm strong now!"
In unison, the three began to weave hand signs.
Boar, Dog, Rooster, Monkey, Ram repeated three times.
A puff of smoke exploded around them.
Jiraiya and Naruto now stood proudly atop Gamabunta's massive head.
Naruto held the Ruyi Staff in his hands. He spoke into it with confidence. "Old Monkey Grandpa, I'm counting on you!"
A single eye opened on the staff. "It's been a while since I've seen a battlefield ."
Tsunade stood atop Katsuyu's enormous head. After telling Shizune to take care of herself, she leapt down, charging toward the approaching Raikage.
Two reckless powerhouses capable of destroying Susanoo with brute force had finally clashed. When their fists collided, the resulting shockwave toppled trees in a wide arc and tore layers of stone from the earth.
Gamabunta spat volleys of Water Bullets, while Katsuyu launched corrosive acid to block the advance of the Cloud shinobi.
Darui dodged a glob of acid and countered Gamabunta's Water Bullets with Black Panther, his signature Lightning Release. As he clashed with the monstrous toad and slug, he couldn't help but mutter, "So this is the power of the Sannin... their summons alone can dominate a battlefield."
To most shinobi, the trio of Snake, Toad, and Slug dubbed the "Three Dreads" weren't much different from the tailed beasts.
Perched atop Gamabunta's head, Naruto itched to join the fight. But Jiraiya, still gathering chakra and forming seals, stopped him.
"Don't act on impulse, Naruto. Their target is you. Just protect yourself. This battlefield is still beyond you."
Even the Monkey King's voice emerged from the staff. "Listen to Jiraiya. If anything goes wrong, use the Adamantine Prison Wall."
Jiraiya grinned, his tone growing more proud by the second. "Naruto, now you'll get to witness the greatest technique of the Toad Sage. This is why the old man called me the strongest of the Sannin."
"The legendary Sage Mode!" Naruto's eyes widened in awe.
As soon as the words left his mouth, two elderly toads appeared on Jiraiya's shoulders.
"Chief! Sis! It's been a while," Jiraiya greeted them.
Now fully transformed, Sage Jiraiya bore the markings of the toads. His nose had changed. His face was painted with the lines of natural energy.
Naruto watched, stunned, as Jiraiya's chakra surged visibly before his eyes.
"I'm going to help Tsunade. Watch over Shizune."
That was Jiraiya's final order. In his eyes, Naruto had clearly surpassed Shizune in power.
Sage Jiraiya leapt into the fray. He had to end this quickly. Tsunade's condition hadn't escaped his notice.
"Is this all the Sannin are made of? You're nothing compared to Minato Namikaze!"
The Raikage laughed wildly, taunting her. His body sparked with lightning, the sound of his Lightning Armor shrieking as it activated. In a flash, he broke the sound barrier, white shockwaves exploding around him.
"If you've got guts, stop dodging, you Raikage bastard!"
Tsunade's blonde hair whipped behind her as her superhuman strength gathered into her right fist. The ground cratered beneath her feet. One punch could leave a massive pit like a meteor strike. There was no one in the current shinobi world who could survive a direct hit from that.
But the Raikage's speed was unmatched. He zipped aside like a bolt of blue lightning, circling behind her for a strike to the back of her head only to meet another Painful Sky Leg.
He blinked to the side, launching a knife-hand strike toward her neck. Tsunade, almost as if predicting him, ducked low and slammed her elbow into his ribs.
The Raikage was faster, but Tsunade wasn't slow by any means.
With Minato dead, the Raikage now held the title of fastest shinobi alive. As a close-quarters brawler, Tsunade was a poor matchup for him. To counter someone like the Raikage, you either had to be faster like Minato or dominate with wide-area attacks.
Simply put, Tsunade's attacks were too focused and easy to dodge. She lacked the ability to cover the field.
At the same time, Tsunade was also a bad matchup for the Raikage. His Lightning Armor, for all its defense, was practically paper against her monstrous strength. If he got hit, he would be injured. He had to rely entirely on speed to evade. Worse, his attacks barely made a dent in her health her regeneration meant she could heal faster than he could deal damage.
To beat someone like Tsunade, you needed burst damage powerful enough to exceed her regeneration, or field control to wear her down with stacked debuffs.
Neither of these two brutes could do either.
In truth, Tsunade was grateful she hadn't managed to seriously injure the Raikage. If he started bleeding, her trauma might resurface. Getting hurt herself was fine she healed quickly anyway.
What a troublesome opponent, both of them thought at the same time.
I just hope reinforcements arrive soon. Is Jiraiya done yet?
Where are Killer Bee and the others?
"Mini Eight-Tails Bomb!"
"Sage Art: Giant Rasengan!"
Two cataclysmic forces collided, blasting the earth apart. A shockwave rippled outward, uprooting every tree within fifty meters. Shards of stone flew like cannonballs.
"Tsunade! Switch out!"
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