When Naruto arrived at Obito's location, he found that except for the blood on the ground, there was trace of Obito.
Since his chakra still recovering from the earlier disruption, Naruto had no choice but to sprint over while chugging healing potions along the way. That delay had given Obito just enough time to escape.
"Damn it!"
"Don't run away if you have the guts!"
"Damn Space-Time Ninjutsu!!"
For the first time, Naruto truly understood how Sasuke must have felt back then.
To be honest, Obito wasn't that strong in a straight fight, but when it comes to survival and escape abilities, there are really not many people who can match him.
The activation time of Kamui is even faster than Naruto's portal.
So even when the intangibility was disabled, it is still difficult to catch him.
…
"OROCHIMARU!!!"
"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT THING?!"
Whoosh…
Not far from Naruto, Manda was fleeing at full speed.
Originally, he thought he was dealing with some minor character again today, and planned to enjoy a feast.
But when he saw the black-grey, maggot-like abomination at the center of the battlefield, Manda was stunned.
Not only did this monster have many pustules on its body, it also had a white human face. Its appearance alone brought a powerful impact to the arrogant Manda.
And that wasn't even the worst part. Whe The moment Manda locked eyes with the creature, thousands of whispering voices flooded his mind.
"I QUIT!! I QUIT!!"
"No amount of sacrifices is worth this, Orochimaru!"
Manda was going crazy, twisting his body as he retreated desperately.
Orochimaru had no choice but to let Manda go, then he jumped to Jiraiya's side.
At this time, on Jiraiya's shoulders, there are Fukasaku and Shima, and they are already performing the Demonic Illusion: Toad Confrontation Chant.
Croak...…
The monsters in the center of the battlefield were surrounded by the sound of toads' croaks. At this moment, Jiraiya became the only effective crowd-control against the monstrosity.
The monster that Hidan had transformed into stood there helplessly, holding its head with its two ugly claws and letting out a high-pitched, infant-like wail.
"Waaah…"
"Dad... where are you..."
"I'm scared… so scared!!"
After crying for a few seconds, it looked at the people around it again. Its scarlet eyes snapped open, and it suddenly exuded a pure, unfiltered bloodlust.
"Eat them…"
"EAT THEM ALL!!"
The monster murmured, and its body continued to struggle wildly on the ground.
"Not good..."
"Jiraiya-chan! We can't hold on anymore!!"
The hands of Fukasaku and Shima who had formed the hand seal had begun to tremble, and they tried their best to make the monster fall into the Genjutsu.
"Tasty… so tasty…"
When the monster noticed the big toad next to it, it put its paws on the ground, and suddenly jumped up and rushed towards Jiraiya's position.
"Pfft…"
Overwhelmed, Jiraiya opened his mouth and spit out large amounts of blood.
"WHAT THE HELL DID NARUTO DO?!"
"HOW DID HE CREATE SOMETHING LIKE THIS?!"
Jiraiya was so furious he could barely speak.
The monster in front of him was so powerful that even his strongest moves could only control it for less than 3 seconds.
'If this kept up…'
'Everyone here would die.'
'I shouldn't have returned to Konoha back then!!!'
"I'll handle it."
Orochimaru said calmly, looked back at Jiraiya, and then jumped off Gamabunta.
The next second, a white Yamata no Orochi appeared, then it rushed towards the monster, and started to struggle with it.
Behind them, Gamabunta couldn't stand the maddening whispers in his mind, so he canceled the Summoning Technique on the spot and returned to Mount Myoboku.
Jiraiya landed and looked at Orochimaru wrestled with the monstrosity in front of him. He immediately sat on the ground and began to gather Natural Energy.
However…
This left Orochimaru, who is fighting at the front, at a severe disadvantage.
His Yamata no Orochi form was completely overpowered, and all the Ninjutsu he unleashed was absorbed by the creature.
"Tasty!"
The monster tore off the Yamata no Orochi's head with one claw, bit it into its mouth, chewed it and swallowed it. After experiencing the delicious taste, it continued to dismember the 'food' in front of it.
Not long after, only one head of Yamata no Orochi was left.
When Black Zetsu, who was peeping at the battlefield from the sidelines, saw this scene, he hugged his shoulders and shivered.
The rain in Amegakure wasn't heavy, but he had never felt so cold.
Although he didn't know how this monster had appeared, he could feel that the other party's Chakra definitely came from the Otsutsuki Clan his mother had mentioned...
'But Mother never said the Otsutsuki Clan were this terrifying!!!'
Black Zetsu's heart filled with despair, because if even Kaguya feared such an enemy, what hope did Obito have?
'Damn it!!'
'What do we do now?!'
As he watched the monster devour Orochimaru like a snack, the image of his mother being eaten by this monster already appeared in his mind.
'Hiss…'
'So terrifying!'
After taking a few breaths of cold air, Black Zetsu fled from the scene in despair.
…
"Orochimaru! Are you okay?"
Jiraiya, who had activated Sage Mode, held his seriously injured friend with a worried look on his face.
"We need to retreat. We're no match for it."
After several exchanges, Orochimaru had a clear understanding of the monster's strength...
They stood no chance against this monster.
"Take the others and get out of here."
"I'll buy time!"
Jiraiya patted Orochimaru on the shoulder, smiled, then turned and rushed forward.
He had to ensure Naruto escaped safely and pass on the information here.
"Shinra Tensei!!"
Suddenly, Pain's voice echoed across the battlefield, followed by violent tremors and a deafening explosion.
The monstrous force slammed the creature into the ground, pinning it momentarily.
It's just that Nagato's situation isn't good either.
He had drained every last drop of his strength, and his body is even worse than before.
He is now like a shriveled corpse barely clinging to life.
As Pain landed, he glanced at Jiraiya, hesitating for a moment before finally speaking, "Long time no see..."
"Jiraiya-sensei."
Thud…
Jiraiya was about to ask what was going on, but before he could speak, he found 'Yahiko' had collapsed on the ground.
Looking at the monster lying on the ground again, Jiraiya gritted his teeth and ignored Yahiko, who fell to the ground, for the time being.
He formed hand seals and used Combined Ninjutsu with Fukasaku and Shima.
"Sage Art: Goemon!"
A sea of flames instantly engulfed the battlefield. Since the characteristics of Senjutsu of not being able to be absorbed, Jiraiya's attack directly burned the monster alive, forcing it to call out 'Dad!' in agony.
It didn't take long for the noise in the center of the battlefield to subside.
"Is it finally dealt with..."
Whoosh--
There was a sound of breaking through the air, and the monster suddenly appeared behind Jiraiya, with its claws raised at him.
Jiraiya felt a crisis in his heart, and when he wanted to take a step to escape, he found that he seemed to be too late.
'So... Am I going to die?'
'Was the Tale of Jiraiya the Gallant reaching its final chapter...'
At this life-or-death moment, time seems to stop.
Then, Jiraiya's entire life flashed before his eyes…
And he realized, with bitter regret, that his whole existence had been defined by 'almosts'.
Almost saved his teacher, almost brought Orochimaru back, and almost succeeded in confessing his love...
Even every time Naruto got into trouble, he was almost able to stop it.
In short, his life was a story of almosts.
Closing his eyes, Jiraiya stopped resisting and waited for death to come.
Ding…
A heavy metallic sound rang out., and when Jiraiya opened his eyes again, he saw Naruto and Sasuke standing protectively in front of him on the left and right.
Naruto held the Black Coffin horizontally to block the monster's claws, while Sasuke next to him held the Heavy Xuan Ruler in front of him to resist the enemy's advance.
"Yo, old man."
"It's not a good thing to be distracted from fighting, you know."