Danzō quickly retreated until he reached a safer distance. He waited until he was certain that the Eight-Tails was fully focused on Baku and the Ino–Shika–Chō formation.
Once he was sure Killer B was no longer paying attention to him, Danzō formed several hand seals.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Twelve clouds of smoke appeared around him.
When the smoke cleared, twelve identical copies of Danzō stood across the battlefield.
Creating so many clones consumed an enormous amount of chakra. What remained of his reserves was divided almost evenly between all of them.
Danzō felt the exhaustion immediately, but he could not stop now.
The twelve clones began moving in different directions.
Each one ran toward a specific position around the Eight-Tails, Baku, and the members of the Ino–Shika–Chō formation.
Little by little, they formed a massive circle around the entire combat zone.
Once they reached their assigned positions, every clone pulled out a scroll, a brush, and a small container of ink.
They spread the scrolls across the ground and immediately began drawing different sealing symbols and formulas.
Their hands moved with impressive precision.
Every line had to be perfect.
A single mistake could cause the technique to fail or, even worse, make the accumulated chakra become unstable and explode inside the formation.
The symbols slowly began to connect.
Although the scrolls were separated by dozens of meters, every sealing formula was part of the same technique.
Gradually, an enormous pattern began taking shape around the Eight-Tails.
The original Danzō sat down on the ground and crossed his legs into a lotus position.
He closed one eye and focused what little chakra he still had left.
Then he extended one hand toward the Eight-Tails.
His breathing became slow and heavy.
Each of his clones continued writing the seals while feeding chakra into the formation.
The massive circle began to emit a faint glow.
Danzō knew he still needed time.
If even one of his clones was destroyed before the preparations were complete, the technique could lose stability.
And if Chōza, Shikaku, Inoichi, or Baku failed to keep the Eight-Tails occupied, Killer B would immediately realize what was happening and attack the scrolls.
Everything depended on them holding out for just a few more minutes.
Meanwhile, the battle between Jiraiya and the Fourth Raikage continued to grow more intense.
The sound of heavy blows and crackling lightning echoed throughout the area. Every time A moved, he left behind a brief blue flash and deep scars across the ground. His speed was so great that most shinobi would have found it nearly impossible to follow him with the naked eye.
Jiraiya, however, remained completely focused.
He knew perfectly well that trying to defeat the Raikage in a contest of speed would be pointless. Even with all his experience, he could not directly match a man whose greatest strength was moving faster than almost any other shinobi.
So instead of trying to keep up with him, Jiraiya would force A to fight under his conditions.
"Raikage, you may be faster than me, but you can't match me in ninjutsu" Jiraiya declared as he brought his hands together.
His fingers moved rapidly through a sequence of hand seals.
A watched carefully, but made no attempt to stop him. The intense Lightning Release Chakra Mode surrounding his body continued releasing small electrical arcs into the air around him.
Jiraiya completed the seals and slammed both hands against the ground.
"Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld!"
A massive surge of chakra immediately spread beneath the surface.
The battlefield began to tremble.
The solid ground around Jiraiya darkened and softened, rapidly transforming into an enormous swamp. Thick mud spread for dozens of meters in every direction, swallowing rocks, broken weapons, and even parts of nearby trees.
Within seconds, Jiraiya stood in the middle of a wide field of deep mud.
Any enemy attempting to attack him from the ground would first have to cross the swamp.
Jiraiya never expected the technique to completely immobilize the Fourth Raikage. A's physical strength, combined with his Lightning Release Chakra Mode, was far too great for simple mud to hold him for long.
But that had never been Jiraiya's true objective.
"He'll probably get through it, but even if it slows him down for just a moment…"
Jiraiya narrowed his eyes.
"That will be enough. If I can follow his movement, I can react before he reaches me and prepare a counterattack."
On the opposite side of the swamp, the Fourth Raikage studied the transformed terrain.
Instead of becoming cautious, a broad grin spread across his face.
A loved battle.
The stronger his opponent was, the more excited he became.
The chance to fight one of Konoha's Legendary Sannin only made his blood boil even more.
"Good! Very good!" he shouted as the Lightning chakra surrounding his body intensified. "Let me see if one of the Legendary Sannin can really stop me, the Fourth Raikage!"
His armor grew even stronger.
His muscles tightened, and the electrical arcs around him began striking the nearby ground, sending small bursts of dust into the air.
Jiraiya could feel the pressure radiating from him increase dramatically.
A was raising his speed to its limit.
A moment later, he vanished.
The ground behind him exploded from the force of his acceleration.
The Raikage charged straight toward the Swamp of the Underworld without even attempting to go around it.
He had no intention of letting an Earth Release technique dictate his path.
His feet struck the mud.
For the first time since the battle began, his speed dropped.
Each step sank partially into the swamp, and the thick mud clung to his legs, trying to drag him downward.
Even so, the Raikage kept moving.
Lightning chakra burst around his legs with every step, allowing him to rip his feet free from the mud and continue charging toward Jiraiya.
His speed had been reduced, but he was still terrifyingly fast.
A's violent movement sent mud and dark water flying in every direction. The spray rose into the air and partially blocked his vision.
Jiraiya watched him move along exactly the path he had predicted.
"Perfect."
Using the curtain of mud to hide his movements, Jiraiya discreetly formed a hand seal.
A small cloud of smoke appeared beside him.
A shadow clone emerged silently.
Before the Raikage could clearly distinguish what had happened, the real Jiraiya used an Earth Release technique and slipped beneath the swamp, leaving the clone behind in his place.
The real Jiraiya moved several meters underground until he positioned himself directly beneath the spot where he expected the Raikage to attack.
Then he stopped.
And waited.
Above the surface, Jiraiya's clone began forming another sequence of hand seals.
This time, he deliberately moved slower.
His gestures looked hurried and clumsy, as if his plan to use the swamp to gain enough time had failed completely.
A forced his way through the deepest section of mud and regained part of his speed.
When he looked up, he saw Jiraiya still forming hand seals.
A fierce smile appeared on his face.
From his perspective, the Sannin had miscalculated.
The Swamp of the Underworld had slowed him down, but not enough to give Jiraiya time to finish another technique.
"Your trick failed, Jiraiya!" A roared.
The Lightning chakra around his body intensified.
The Raikage accelerated once again, overpowering the resistance of the swamp with a burst of raw strength.
Mud exploded behind him as he launched himself into the air.
A raised one leg high above his head.
The full strength of his body and his Lightning Release Chakra Mode concentrated into his heel.
"Guillotine Drop!"
The Raikage came crashing down like a bolt of lightning, aiming the descending kick directly at Jiraiya's head.
The clone looked up.
The attack was far too fast to avoid normally.
But that was also part of the plan.
"Ninja Art: Wild Lion's Mane Jutsu!"
Jiraiya's white hair suddenly exploded outward.
In an instant, it grew around his entire body and hardened, forming a massive protective barrier of dense hair.
The thick strands rose toward the Raikage, trying to catch his leg and wrap around him before the attack could fully land.
A did not slow down.
His lightning-covered heel crashed directly into the hardened mane.
The collision caused a powerful explosion.
The ground shook, and mud blasted outward in every direction.
Jiraiya's hardened hair resisted for a few moments, partially slowing the Raikage's descent.
But A's strength was monstrous.
The strands began snapping one after another.
The Raikage tore through the defense, and his heel struck Jiraiya's figure directly.
The Sannin's body was smashed into the ground, opening a large crater in the middle of the swamp.
A landed beside him as small electrical arcs continued dancing across his body.
Seeing Jiraiya lying motionless beneath his foot, the Raikage could not stop himself from laughing loudly.
"Ha! Ha! Ha! Is that all? One of the Legendary Sannin is nothing compared to me, the Fourth Raikage!"
For a brief moment, only his laughter could be heard.
Then the supposed body of Jiraiya moved.
The clone slowly lifted his head and gave him a mocking smile.
"Are you sure about that?"
The Raikage's eyes widened slightly.
Before he could react, the body beneath his foot vanished in a cloud of smoke.
It had been a shadow clone.
A immediately understood that he had fallen into a trap.
The Wild Lion's Mane and the clone itself had absorbed part of the force from the Guillotine Drop, reducing the momentum of the attack just enough to keep him in place for a fraction of a second.
That tiny opening was all Jiraiya needed.
The swamp beneath the Raikage suddenly erupted.
The real Jiraiya burst from the ground directly below him.
A massive sphere of blue chakra spun violently in one of his hands, releasing a steadily rising hum.
"Ōdama Rasengan!"
The Raikage tried to move, but one of his legs was still partially trapped in the swamp.
On top of that, the force of his own descending attack had destroyed the ground beneath him, making it difficult to regain his balance immediately.
Jiraiya drove the massive Rasengan upward with all his strength.
The technique slammed directly into the Fourth Raikage's torso.
His Lightning Release Chakra Mode reacted instantly.
Blue electrical arcs clashed against the spinning sphere, resisting and redirecting part of its power.
For a brief moment, the two forces pushed directly against each other.
The Ōdama Rasengan continued spinning with devastating force.
The impact sent a huge column of mud, water, and shattered earth into the air.
The Raikage's body was forced backward as his feet were ripped free from the swamp.
Jiraiya clenched his teeth and increased the pressure of the technique, trying to break through A's powerful lightning defense before he could regain his balance.
The Fourth Raikage, in turn, tightened every muscle in his body and poured even more chakra into his armor.
For the first time since the battle began, his smile disappeared.
He had underestimated the Sannin.
Jiraiya had never truly intended to stop him with the Swamp of the Underworld.
From the very beginning, his goal had been to guide A toward a specific location, deceive him with a shadow clone, and exploit his confidence to launch an attack from a blind spot.
The clash between the Ōdama Rasengan and the Lightning Release Chakra Mode continued sending violent waves of chakra across the battlefield.