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Midorima watched the scene unfold, letting out a quiet sigh of relief.
In the original story, Jiraiya died in Amegakure because, facing Pain and the Rinnegan, he wanted to uncover the mystery. When he had the chance to escape, he chose to stay, ultimately gathering intel on Pain—at the cost of his life.
Now, the Deva Path was tied up by Orochimaru and Danzo.
Even if Orochimaru wasn't quite on Jiraiya's level in raw combat power, he was still one of the Sannin—the gap wasn't that wide. With Danzo's help to boot, killing the Deva Path might be out of reach, but self-preservation was no issue.
This was Amegakure; Pain couldn't just raze everything like he did with Konoha.
And when Itachi spotted Manda, he realized Orochimaru had fully broken with "Akatsuki."
After this, investigating Orochimaru through "Akatsuki" would be impossible—which meant the main reason he'd joined them was gone.
The best outcome would be capturing Orochimaru and prying Sasuke's location from him. A slightly worse one: helping Orochimaru escape Amegakure.
If Orochimaru died, all leads would vanish.
Weighing all these factors, Itachi was desperate. Even if it meant splitting with "Akatsuki," he had to seize this chance—otherwise, he might never see Sasuke again in his lifetime.
A red humanoid chakra cloaked him, its massive form towering even over the multi-headed hellhound.
Midorima slipped over to the pair, shouting, "What the hell are you two doing there?"
"This doesn't concern you!" Itachi glared at Midorima in fury.
The Animal Path stayed silent, but the hellhound before him let out a low growl—clearly not taking Midorima seriously either.
"His goal is just to get Sasuke's whereabouts out of him, and yours is to kill Orochimaru. If you capture Orochimaru and make him spill Sasuke's location before offing him, problem solved. Why make it so complicated?" Midorima said.
The two exchanged glances, realizing the conflict hinged entirely on "Orochimaru."
Itachi eyed the restless Manda, knowing Orochimaru and Danzo were locked in fierce battle. "As long as I get Sasuke's location, I don't give a damn if Orochimaru lives or dies. So I won't let you kill him right away—but I won't let him escape either. Get out of my way."
The Animal Path glanced at Jiraiya, who was holding steady against Sasori and Kisame's onslaught for the moment. With Itachi gone, that left one fewer attacker on Jiraiya—resolving things quickly would be impossible now.
As for "Yoshida Shin"...
That guy was more garnish than main course; he couldn't turn the tide. Just look at how he'd ditched a mission midway for a meal.
Not unreliable, exactly—just slippery.
"Damn it!" The Animal Path seethed inwardly but couldn't stop Itachi.
The clash with Jiraiya had already turned this area to rubble, and Orochimaru and Danzo's mess was just as destructive. If he fought Itachi too, Amegakure might end up a total loss.
"Akatsuki" hadn't busted their asses on missions and raking in cash just to rebuild Amegakure.
"You can go—but remember, you can't let Orochimaru slip away." After a moment's thought, the Animal Path relented.
With Orochimaru and Danzo draining most of Nagato's focus, there was no time for deep analysis—just gut instinct.
"You don't need to tell me—I get it." Itachi dispelled "Susanoo" and brushed past the Animal Path.
"What are you looking at? Hurry up and finish off Jiraiya." The Animal Path snapped at Midorima.
Midorima shrugged and turned, dashing toward Jiraiya.
Kisame swung Samehada wildly, repeatedly trying to land a hit with the ninja blade while its maw gaped open, aiming to chomp Jiraiya.
Given half a chance, it wanted to suck every last drop of chakra from him.
But every strike either missed as Jiraiya dodged or got disrupted by the two toads on his shoulders.
"At this rate, we're not getting anywhere... Once they deal with Orochimaru, they'll turn everything on us. Even if we wanted to bail then, it wouldn't be easy." Fukasaku warned Jiraiya from his right shoulder.
"Exactly. Your chakra's gotta be running low by now, right?" Shima added from his left.
"But we've got next to nothing on 'Akatsuki' and Pain." Jiraiya's brow furrowed.
"There'll be other chances. Pain's totally tied up with Orochimaru right now—even if we drop dead from exhaustion, he probably won't lift a finger against you... Heads up—that masked kid's coming."
As he spoke, Midorima formed seals. The ground bulged, and an earth dragon erupted, lunging at Jiraiya.
An earth wall rose from the dirt, clashing briefly with the dragon before toppling backward.
"I keep telling you, now's not the time to clash head-on with the masked kid. His chakra's still plenty—he's hitting hard with his jutsu." Fukasaku cautioned.
Jiraiya vaulted high, evading Midorima's "Earth Stone Dragon," but Kisame was right behind, hoisting Samehada for a downward chop.
Jiraiya hunched forward, his hair stiffening.
"Sage Art: Needle Thousand!"
Countless strands of hair shot toward Kisame at blinding speed.
Kisame couldn't dodge in time—over a hundred bloody holes punctured his body, forcing him to pull back from Jiraiya.
At that moment, a triangular iron sand cone appeared in the sky, spinning at high speed as it hurtled toward Jiraiya.
His hairs collided with it, some deflected by the whirling top.
"Jiraiya, if you don't go now, your chakra really will bottom out." Fukasaku yelled.
"Get ready... 'Sage Art: Goemon'!" Jiraiya knew his situation all too well and planned to use this senjutsu to shake off the Kazekage puppet, sow chaos, and slip away.
Oil, wind release, and fire release combined in a burst of overwhelming power.
In an instant, the high-speed spinning iron sand "top" was engulfed in flames.
Sasori sensed trouble and yanked back the Kazekage puppet in a hurry.
It was his ace, his strongest puppet. Without a new Kage-level one ready, he couldn't risk its destruction.
Even if it meant letting Jiraiya go.
With Kisame and Sasori both repelled in succession, Jiraiya didn't hesitate—he bolted toward the nearby lake.
The area was a wasteland of ruins now, with scant cover. He was maybe thirty or forty meters from the water.
But Jiraiya stayed vigilant, one hand kneading a Rasengan in case of a sneak attack.
"Watch your left..." Shima shouted. Jiraiya glanced over, only to see the masked man materialize from the side.
"Go—'Sage Art: Ultra-Big Ball Rasengan'!" Jiraiya gave the masked man no time to react, shoving the "Sage Art: Ultra-Big Ball Rasengan" straight at Midorima.