"Jiraiya-senpai, it's been a while."
A figure clad in a black cloak adorned with red clouds stepped forward, raising his head to look at Jiraiya with a calm expression.
At that moment, Naruto suddenly poked his head out from behind Jiraiya, staring at the man who had emerged. With a puzzled expression, he asked: "Huh? Are you also a Konoha ninja? But why is your forehead protector..."
Before Naruto could finish his sentence, Jiraiya interrupted him, fixing his gaze intently on the person before them: "Itachi Uchiha! What are you doing here?!"
The forehead protector bore a horizontal slash across its center, and three tomoe slowly rotated in his pupils. Such distinctive markings left no doubt—any Konoha ninja could identify this person!
Konoha's S-rank rogue ninja—Itachi Uchiha!
"To capture the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki, Naruto Uzumaki. Jiraiya-senpai, could you hand over Naruto to me?" Itachi extended his right hand, pointing toward Naruto behind Jiraiya.
"Itachi Uchiha? Kai's disciple?" Tsunade asked.
"Yes." Itachi nodded in acknowledgment.
"Itachi, why waste time talking to them? Let me just slice them up with Samehada and be done with it." A shark-faced middle-aged ninja carrying a massive blade on his shoulder stepped forward, positioning himself beside Itachi with obvious disdain for the three opponents.
"Hey, don't forget to save one for me. I haven't offered any sacrifices to Lord Jashin in the past few days." A silver-haired ninja with a malevolent expression, wielding a blood-red triple-bladed scythe, suddenly spoke up.
"Hidan, don't be careless. These are Konoha's 'Legendary Sannin,' after all." The masked ninja beside Hidan warned, though his tone quickly shifted: "Then again, I've even assassinated Konoha's First Hokage, Hashirama Senju. A few brats like these? No problem at all, hahaha."
"You're... Kakuzu?! How is it possible you're still alive?" Tsunade's pupils contracted sharply. Only one person in the entire ninja world had attempted to assassinate her grandfather, but Kakuzu was from the same era as Hashirama—he had to be nearly a hundred years old. How could he still be alive?!
Jiraiya's expression turned grave as he spoke: "Tsunade, I'll hold them off. You take Naruto and leave quickly." Jiraiya was well aware that Tsunade suffered from hemophobia—forget about fighting, she'd become powerless at the mere sight of blood.
"Don't worry, my hemophobia is long gone. Besides, I've got a belly full of rage with nowhere to vent it right now." Tsunade waved her hand dismissively, refusing: "And if push comes to shove, I've got a secret weapon that can deal with them directly!"
As soon as Tsunade finished speaking, she stomped the ground hard, causing the entire earth to crack and fracture. Using this tremendous force for propulsion, Tsunade's speed became lightning-fast as she clenched her right fist and roared:
"Monster Strength Punch!"
In the next instant, her fist had already connected with Hidan's body. With Tsunade's keen perception, she could naturally see that among the four opponents, this silver-haired youth was the weakest—of course she'd eliminate him first.
Hidan didn't even have a chance to react before his entire body was sent flying, crashing into a nearby rock wall.
"Ow... ow... tch." Hidan staggered to his feet, swaying unsteadily.
"What?!" Tsunade frowned in confusion. Her Monster Strength Punch just now had definitely shattered this person's internal organs, entire ribcage, and spine. How was he still able to stand?!
Seeing Tsunade's expression, Hidan became completely arrogant, laughing loudly: "Hahaha! As a follower of Lord Jashin, I, Hidan-sama, am an immortal existence!"
"Immortal?! How is that possible!" Tsunade looked incredulous, though wariness still flashed in her eyes—after all, what had just happened was something she'd witnessed with her own eyes.
"Itachi, let's begin the battle. The leader specifically instructed us to seize this opportunity while the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki is away from Konoha to ensure his capture. If he returns to Konoha, with that person's presence, even the leader would have no options," said the shark-faced Kisame Hoshigaki, as his massive blade Samehada slashed toward Tsunade.
"Understood!" Itachi nodded, his hands forming seals rapidly—six seals in one second—as he called out:
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
For shinobi of Kage-level and above, jutsu rank absolutely didn't represent a technique's power. In Itachi's hands, the B-rank Great Fireball Technique was only slightly less formidable than S-rank jutsu.
"Water Release: Water Formation Wall!"
With Tsunade already facing two Kage-level opponents, Jiraiya naturally couldn't let Itachi join the assault on her. He immediately intercepted, using Water Formation Wall—an advanced version of Water Wall—barely managing to block Itachi's Great Fireball Technique.
Kakuzu on the side naturally wasn't idle either, as numerous black threads emerged from his body, forming several grotesque masked creatures made of black threads.
"Fire Release: Searing Migraine!" "Wind Release: Pressure Damage!" "Lightning Release: False Darkness!"
Facing a peak Kage-level opponent like Jiraiya, Kakuzu naturally held nothing back, immediately unleashing three powerful elemental heart attacks.
"Ninja Art: Needle Jizō!"
Jiraiya's hair grew wildly, wrapping around his entire body to block Kakuzu's techniques.
"Ninja Art: Wild Lion's Mane Technique!"
Jiraiya's hair extended dramatically, forming lion-head shapes that coiled around the black thread creatures like serrated edges, then contracted sharply, tearing the creatures apart!
However, Jiraiya didn't realize that against Earth Grudge Fear creatures like these, unless their hearts were destroyed, they couldn't be eliminated at all. The shredded creatures instantly regenerated and continued grappling with Jiraiya.
Facing two opponents of equal caliber simultaneously, after fifteen minutes both Jiraiya and Tsunade appeared somewhat fatigued and had fallen into disadvantageous positions.
"Tsunade! Didn't you say you had a secret weapon? Use it already!" Jiraiya suddenly remembered Tsunade's earlier words and shouted urgently.
"Tch... Fine." Tsunade's expression turned somewhat dejected as she formed a summoning seal.
With a poof, a slug barely an inch in size appeared in Tsunade's palm.
"What?! Tsunade, don't tell me this is your secret weapon?!" Jiraiya roared in disbelief.
Tsunade ignored Jiraiya, took a deep breath, and shouted at the top of her lungs: "Kai Mitarashi, you bastard! If you don't get your ass over here right now, I'm going to die! Deal with it yourself!"
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
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