"Boom—"
A thunderous explosion rang out.
The earth collapsed, and rocks shattered into pieces.
Two terrifying forces collided, sending shockwaves rippling in all directions.
"Fool! Who said you could die here?!"
An angry, familiar voice roared.
It instantly snapped the nearly hopeless Jiraiya wide awake.
Looking up,
Sure enough, that familiar, shapely figure stood right in front of him.
She blocked and punched back the incredibly powerful Asura Path.
"K-Ka-Tsunade!"
"H-how? How did you—?"
Jiraiya was stunned at first, then overjoyed.
His heart melted like a jar of sweet honey.
"Don't get all sentimental on me! I hate it when you act so self-righteous!"
"Get healed now!"
"If you're still able to fight, then get your ass up immediately!"
Tsunade shouted.
At the same time, a slug leaped from Tsunade's shoulder and landed on Jiraiya.
Immediately, it began channeling chakra into him, treating his injuries.
With some healing, Jiraiya bounced back pretty fast.
This healing boost is insane! Best feeling ever!
On the battlefield, having a healer or not really makes all the difference in the world!
In no time, Jiraiya had regained his fighting spirit.
After all, he wasn't alone anymore!
But just at this moment,
Something suddenly crossed Jiraiya's mind.
Didn't Tsunade still suffer from hemophobia?
He was covered in blood right now. How come she dared to enter the battlefield?
Looking closer,
He finally noticed that Tsunade had actually tied a cloth bag over her eyes, blocking her vision entirely.
Relying solely on sensing and guidance from the slug,
She continued fighting.
It was a rough and dumb move—but somehow, it actually worked.
At least this way, she wouldn't see any blood, which kept her extreme fear under control.
...
"Is that... Tsunade?"
"Reinforcements have arrived?"
"Orochimaru, looks like your old buddy isn't dying so easily after all!"
"What do you think? Disappointed?"
From afar, watching Tsunade step onto the battlefield and save Jiraiya,
Shimoku couldn't help but sigh softly.
He wasn't sure whether it was mere coincidence,
Or if fate itself was trying its best to prevent certain key figures from falling too soon.
But honestly? None of that mattered anymore.
Even if fate tried to push back, Shimoku feared nothing.
As long as his System remained, gradually surpassing Six Paths wouldn't be an issue.
And by then, even the sky above the Ninja World would be pierced through!
Was he afraid of just a little correction power?
"Disappointed about what?"
"Just another idiot showing up."
"Even together, they still probably can't take down Leader Pain, right?"
"If I recall, those Pains seem capable of resurrection?"
Orochimaru snorted slightly.
He saw right through it all; his analysis of both sides' combat strength was spot-on.
"That's true enough."
"But this is Konoha territory."
"After fighting for so long, other reinforcements from Konoha should start arriving soon, no?"
Shimoku sighed, as if he had already foreseen how the battle would unfold.
After all, judging from reports delivered by his clones,
the intense clash with Might Guy had already ended.
Unfortunately,
those three clones had failed to wear out Might Guy to death.
Under Zazzie's command, a now-smarter Might Guy
hadn't fought for long before decisively retreating alongside Zazzie.
Given the Kaiser-level speed of Eight Gates Guy, those three clones indeed couldn't keep up...
"Other reinforcements?"
"You mean to say Lord Shimoku doesn't wish for Konoha's defeat?"
Orochimaru narrowed his eyes sharply, countering with a question.
"Defeat?"
"Means nothing to me."
"[Konoha] or [Akatsuki]—it's only that I hope several powerful shinobi can die..."
"Isn't this exactly what you hoped for too?"
Lord Shimoku spoke freely.
From the beginning, he never expected to destroy Konoha in one fell swoop.
After all, should Konoha fall now,
occupying such an enormous territory
would be beyond our Homura Hidden Village's current capacity to absorb—
Only benefiting the other great hidden villages.
That'd be a colossal waste...
Annexing Konoha is our ultimate goal!
Eliminating Konoha's elite combat power—that's the immediate objective.
Orochimaru had long understood this clearly.
Otherwise, since entering the village,
he wouldn't have played it safe all this time.
Clearly, like Shimoku, he also wished for Akatsuki and Konoha to mutually annihilate each other...
Thus, exchanging glances, both subtly smiled.
They perfectly understood each other without further words.
...
Though limiting her vision impaired part of Tsunade's strength,
nonetheless, she was once among Konoha's Sannin. Her monstrous strength and recovery abilities alike could not be underestimated.
With her joining the fray,
the battle situation quickly shifted somewhat.
Jiraiya, receiving treatment and a brief respite,
also rapidly activated 'Sage Mode' with the help of Fukasaku and his wife.
Although his fractured left arm significantly weakened him,
under Sage Mode's enhancement,
his combat strength still far surpassed his original state.
Moreover, due to their natural synergy as partners,
together they barely managed to resist the fierce onslaught from the Six Paths of Pain.
Of course, it was merely barely enough.
Considering the bizarre abilities of the Six Paths of Pain, along with the resurrection ability granted by the Naraka Path,
they were practically invincible—like cockroaches that just wouldn't die.
Fortunately though,
as the battle intensified, with Tsunade's abundant healing support,
Jiraiya gradually adopted a more aggressive fighting style.
Before long, he identified the abilities of several Peins
and discovered that the Naraka Path actually possessed resurrection powers!
Immediately afterward, he adjusted the strategy accordingly.
Together with Tsunade, they relentlessly attacked the Naraka Path,
forcing the Six Paths of Pain to considerably slow down their offensive.
Certainly though, with the Deva Path anchoring them, possessing near-undefeatable techniques like Shinra Tensei and Universal Pull,
defeating the Six Paths of Pain remained extremely difficult.
If this continued any longer...
If Jiraiya's Sage Chakra runs out, the two of them are still bound to lose...
"What's going on? Where did these guys come from?"
"How can they be this powerful?"
"They even have that [Rinnegan] too?"
Tsunade shouted angrily as she fought.
Jiraiya quickly explained the situation.
I could tell that Jiraiya recognized the Deva Path Pain, whose appearance was nearly identical to his late student Yahiko...
Upon hearing that these enemies might be the three children he once raised and taught,
Tsunade became even more furious.
She scolded Jiraiya mercilessly while he simply nodded apologetically.
What could he do?
He had no way to talk back!
Who could possibly stay tough under those circumstances—being attacked by one's own former students and beaten into such a miserable state?
"Where's that old man Third Hokage?"
"Not sure. Probably held up by enemies too?"
"Then what should we do?"
"Hold on! I just took down the Summoning Pain. Looks like most of the big Summoning Beasts running wild through the village have vanished!"
"As long as we hold our ground, people from the village should come to help soon enough!"
Jiraiya wasn't stupid. He quickly analyzed the key turning point in the battle.
As long as they could hold out, there was still hope for a comeback!
"Guess we don't have a choice."
"Jiraiya, you idiot! When this is over, I'm ripping your head off!"
Tsunade agreed, throwing a punch that sent the Asura Path reeling again,
still screaming at the top of her lungs as she fought.
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