Chapter 158: The Chief Toad's Challenge
A massive plume of smoke erupted, obscuring the sky. The very ground of the training field trembled as if an earthquake had struck.
When the smoke cleared, Gamabunta's colossal form dominated the landscape. He was a mountain of muscle and warty, crimson skin, casting a shadow that plunged the clearing into an artificial twilight.
He held an enormous kiseru pipe, from which lazy smoke rings drifted, carrying the faint, acrid smell of tobacco.
The Chief Toad of Mount Myōboku (妙木山, Myōbokuzan) lowered his head. His massive, golden eyes, slitted with black pupils, swiveled to scan the three ant-like figures far below.
"Hmm?" Gamabunta's deep, rumbling voice vibrated in the air. His gaze locked onto the man with the wild white hair.
"Jiraiya? Is that you?"
The toad's gaze lingered, assessing his long-time summoner.
"Did you summon me, boy? It's been a while." His voice was a gravelly drawl. "What have you been busy with lately? Still spending all your 'research' money peeping into women's bathhouses?"
Jiraiya's face twitched violently, a flush creeping up his neck. "Hey! Show some respect, will ya? I'm a legendary Sannin!"
He quickly composed himself, clearing his throat. "Gamabunta. It has been a long time."
He gestured awkwardly. "However, it wasn't me who brought you here this time."
"Not you?" A human-like expression of doubt crossed Gamabunta's massive, warty face.
His gaze shifted from Jiraiya to the tiny, blond-haired boy vibrating with energy. "You don't mean... it was this brat?"
Gamabunta's tone was thick with open disdain. He leaned in closer, his shadow completely swallowing Naruto.
"What a joke! Are you pulling my leg, Jiraiya?"
"This pipsqueak, who hasn't even hit his growth spurt, thinks he can summon me, Gamabunta the Chief Toad?"
He let out a short, barking laugh that rustled the leaves on nearby trees. "Is his Chakra even enough to get stuck in my teeth?"
Naruto, who had been vibrating with awe, was immediately choked by the sudden, overwhelming contempt.
He looked up, craning his neck so far back he almost fell over, and pointed an indignant finger straight at the toad's giant eye.
"Hey! You big, stupid toad!"
"I'm the one who summoned you! Believe it!"
"My name is Uzumaki Naruto! You better remember it!"
"Huh?" Gamabunta looked as if he'd just heard the single greatest joke of his long life.
"Brat, you can eat whatever you want, but you can't talk nonsense!" he bellowed, his voice causing Naruto's jumpsuit to flap.
"You're a hundred years too early to be my master! Don't think that just because you scribbled your name on that contract, you have the right to order me around."
He didn't believe it for a second. It was impossible.
Summoning a being of his power and size required a massive reserve of chakra, far beyond what any child could possess. This kid was probably just riding on Jiraiya's coattails.
Naruto's face turned a shade of red that clashed with his orange jacket. He was practically hopping with rage.
"Everything I said is true, dattebayo!"
"I'm the one who summoned you! Why won't you believe me, you stinky old toad!"
The air instantly grew cold.
"...Stinky toad?"
Gamabunta's yellow eyes narrowed to dangerous slits.
A powerful, oppressive aura—a mix of raw chakra and killer intent—emanated from him, pressing down on Naruto like a physical weight.
The boy's knees buckled, but he refused to fall.
"Brat," Gamabunta's voice dropped to a deadly rumble. "It seems I need to teach you what it means to respect your elders."
Seeing the situation escalating, Jiraiya immediately jumped between them, waving his arms frantically. "Whoa, whoa! Hold on! Easy, Bunta!"
"Alright, alright, Gamabunta, don't mind a child. He doesn't know any better!"
He turned to Naruto. "Naruto, you also say less! Apologize!"
Jiraiya felt a massive headache coming on. On one side was his volatile student, and on the other was his equally volatile, centuries-old friend.
Although Naruto was shaking under the heavy aura, he gritted his teeth and refused to back down. "I'm not wrong! He looked down on me first!"
Gamabunta let out a disdainful snort, the gust of air kicking up dust. He turned his massive head away, dismissing Naruto completely.
"Jiraiya, quickly get this brat away from me. I don't have time to play house with him."
"Let's talk when he can actually stand on my head with his own strength, not just by clinging to your robes."
After speaking, he began to gather chakra, his form starting to shimmer. He was about to release the summoning and return to Mount Myōboku.
Naruto's eyes widened in panic. He had finally summoned this incredibly powerful boss, and he was just going to leave!
He looked desperately at the only other person in the clearing, his voice pleading.
"Teacher! Do something!"
Jiraiya was also at a loss. He wiped a bead of sweat from his brow and turned, sending a silent plea to Akira.
Only the Fifth Hokage (五代目火影, Godaime Hokage) could possibly handle a troublemaker of this magnitude.
Uchiha Akira had been silent until this point, his expression impassive as he watched the scene unfold.
Now, his gaze fell on the massive toad. His voice was not loud, but it cut through the tension with absolute clarity.
"Gamabunta."
Gamabunta turned his head, his unhappiness clear. He glared down at the black-haired Uchiha.
"And who are you supposed to be? Another one of Jiraiya's brats?"
His voice dripped with annoyance. "I'm talking to Jiraiya. Do you have a right to interrupt?"
The words hung in the air.
Upon hearing this, Jiraiya's soul almost flew straight out of his body. His face went bone-white.
"GAMABUNTA! SHUT UP!" he shrieked, his voice cracking in pure terror.
He scrambled in front of Gamabunta, waving his hands so frantically he looked like he was trying to put out a fire.
"Are you crazy?! Are you trying to get us all killed?! Do you have any idea who you're talking to?!"
Jiraiya was sweating profusely, his mind flashing back to terrifying images of destruction.
"That is the current Fifth Hokage of Konohagakure! Lord Uchiha Akira!"
Jiraiya had personally witnessed Akira's terrifying power. The Tengai Shinsei—that monstrous meteor. The five-hundred-meter-tall Susanoo that dwarfed even Gamabunta. The horrifying ocular jutsu that seemed to warp time itself.
[Inorin's Note: Tengai Shinsei (Heavenly Obstacle Quaking Star) is a powerful jutsu used to draw massive meteorites from the atmosphere. Its mention here implies Akira has used a similarly devastating technique in the past.]
Was this idiotic toad trying to bring disaster to the entire Mount Myōboku?!
"Hokage?"
Gamabunta was stunned for a moment, his giant eye blinking slowly.
He carefully scrutinized Uchiha Akira. The man was young, impossibly young to hold such a title.
And an Uchiha?
What kind of joke was this?
Would those old elders in Konoha (Konohagakure, Village Hidden in the Leaves), the ones who had always distrusted the Uchiha, really allow one to sit in the Hokage's chair?
"Jiraiya, are you getting senile in your old age?" Gamabunta grumbled.
"Even if you want to fool me, at least find a decent reason. This is just insulting."
He didn't believe a word of it.
It was true that Lord Fukasaku (フカサク, Fukasaku) and Lady Shima (シマ, Shima) had only just returned to Mount Myōboku from a trip. They hadn't yet had a chance to brief the other toads on the recent, drastic political changes in Konohagakure.
Therefore, the shocking news about Uchiha Akira's ascension had not yet reached Gamabunta's ears.
Jiraiya was almost in tears from sheer frustration and fear.
"I'm telling you the absolute truth, you stubborn old toad! The Third Hokage has already retired! He is the Hokage now!"
He clasped his hands together, practically begging. "Quickly, apologize to him! Otherwise, we're all doomed!"
"Doomed?"
Gamabunta scoffed, a deep, disdainful sound.
"Jiraiya, you're really regressing. You're afraid of this?"
He turned his full attention back to Akira, his gaze filled with arrogance. "A mere Uchiha brat. Even if he really is the Hokage, what can he do to me?"
He leaned down again, his voice a mocking growl. "Hey, Uchiha brat."
"Even if you wear the hat, it means nothing to me. If you want my respect, if you want me to bow, you'll have to show some real skill."
"In my eyes, you're still very, very green!"
Gamabunta, in his ignorance, was completely unaware of the line he had just crossed.
"Real skill?"
Uchiha Akira repeated the words softly, his voice dangerously calm.
"Alright."
A faint, almost invisible smile touched his lips. "Since you want to see it so badly."
"Then I will let you witness it."
Akira's eyes, hidden in the shadow of his hair, seemed to flash.
"What is called... despair."
The moment the final word fell, the atmosphere shattered.
An indescribable, terrifying pressure erupted from Uchiha Akira's body, a chakra so dense and malevolent it felt like a physical weight pressing the air out of their lungs.
The sky itself seemed to darken.
"This… this is…" Gamabunta's smug expression vanished, replaced by sudden, shocked disbelief. The sheer volume of this chakra was... impossible.
"GAMABUNTA! SHUT UP! APOLOGIZE NOW, YOU FOOL!" Jiraiya was practically screaming, his voice hoarse with panic.
He knew exactly what was about to happen.
"You're right, Chief Toad," Uchiha Akira's voice rang out, now amplified by the surging energy, echoing as if from a dozen places at once.
"To make others bow, one indeed needs to show real skill."
The moment the words fell.
BOOM!!!
A pillar of violent purple chakra surged skyward from Akira's body, tearing a hole in the clouds. The energy was so potent it kicked up a hurricane of wind and debris.
The immense energy rapidly condensed, solidifying into a physical form.
First, giant purple ribs, one after another, burst from the ground, encircling Akira and forming a ferocious skeletal frame that already towered over Gamabunta.
Gamabunta's pupils contracted to pinpricks. He recognized this power.
"Su... Susanoo!"
[Inorin's Note: The Susanoo (須佐能乎) is the ultimate ability of the Mangekyō Sharingan. It's a gigantic, humanoid avatar made of the user's chakra, acting as both an ultimate offense and defense.]
"The divine power of the Uchiha Clan!"
But it didn't stop.
Flesh and ethereal meridians rapidly grew over the skeletal frame, followed by a layer of deep, dark purple outer armor, intricate and menacing, like that of an ancient samurai general.
A second set of arms appeared, and wings sprouted from its back.
Finally, a helmet formed, adorned with a long, Tengu-like nose mask.
A complete, Perfect Susanoo rose from the ground, standing tall and terrible between heaven and earth.
The chakra construct alone was over a hundred meters tall, casting a shadow that didn't just envelop Gamabunta—it erased him from the sunlight.
"Gulp."
A sound like a distant rockslide echoed as Gamabunta instinctively swallowed his saliva.
His proudly enormous body, the one that had intimidated countless shinobi, suddenly seemed... laughably tiny. He was a pet lizard standing before a dragon.
Jiraiya closed his eyes in utter despair, a low groan escaping him.
It's over. Everything is over.
Naruto, on the other hand, looked straight up, his mouth hanging wide open, his blue eyes gleaming with an unparalleled mixture of shock, terror, and pure admiration.
"So… so… amazing…"
Is this… Teacher's true power?
A new voice, deep and resonant, boomed from the rhomboid crystal on the Susanoo's forehead, where Akira now stood. It carried the condescending gaze of a god looking down on an insect.
"What?"
"Is this level of real skill... enough for you?"
[Inorin Note:
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