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The battle raged on. Konoha's morale wavered, but Orochimaru and Jiraiya fought with desperation, rage sharpening their strikes. On the fourth day, Onoki moved again, aiming to erase Orochimaru himself, who had been constant hinderance. A massive jinton beam carved through the battlefield, aimed directly for the Snake Sannin and his summon. Orochimaru was caught and lost an arm. and his summon was dispelled.
Jiraiya saw it first. He didn't think. He exhaled hard. The oil of Mount Myōboku shimmered faintly across his skin, his hair spiking more wildly than usual. He hadn't mastered it yet... his Sage Mode was flawed, his balance slipping, nature chakra fighting against his body. Red pigmentation spread unevenly around his eyes, twitching at the edges. But he couldn't wait for perfection.
"Guess I'll have to wing it," he muttered, half-worried, half-grimacing.
He slammed his hands together. Nature chakra swirled, his body trembling under the strain. Frogs' croaks echoed faintly in the air, then warped into silence. His muscles hardened, his senses stretched, but not enough... it was not perfect. Still, Jiraiya stepped forward.
Onoki narrowed his eyes as he was floating in air. "You really think half-baked Senjutsu can reach me?" His voice was calm, but the cube in his hand pulsed brighter, humming with annihilation.
Jiraiya didn't answer. He flung a massive swamp of oil across the battlefield, the earth liquefying under Iwa shinobi, dragging them down. At the same time, his lungs burned as he expelled a roaring Fire Release: Toad Flame Bullet, turning the battlefield into an inferno.
Onoki responded by lightening his troops and lifting them clear of the swamp, his Dust Release cube expanding. The clash of techniques sent tremors through the ridge, the firestorm scattering as chakra pressure threatened to erase everything.
For a moment, Jiraiya's knees buckled. His Sage Mode flickered. He was bleeding energy too fast, and Onoki knew it. But Jiraiya only smirked. "Doesn't matter if it's perfect or not. All I need is a few minutes… and you're not going anywhere, old man."
Then he lunged... imperfect, unsteady, but utterly unyielding.
Sage-enhanced strikes hammered into Onoki's stone clones, shattering them like pebbles. His giant toad summons crashed into the Iwa lines, buying space. Onoki kept firing Dust Release cubes, but each time Jiraiya forced him to redirect... slamming him with wild but powerful Senjutsu strikes, forcing the Tsuchikage to defend and come to ground rather than advance.
Behind them, Konoha's battered troops finally slipped away into the forested ridges, alive because this man refused to stand down.
By the time Jiraiya collapsed to one knee, his Sage Mode unraveling completely, Onoki finally steadied himself in the air, panting harder than he'd admit. The young man was battered, chakra nearly empty, but still smiling.
"Looks like… I was enough of a nuisance," Jiraiya said, voice raspy but proud.
Onoki glared but sweat dripping from constant jinton release, then he released Dust Release cube and let it envelop jiraiya. "You're reckless, boy. But I'll admit it...you've got grit."
Jiraiya only chuckled through the pain, staring up at the sky. Konoha had escaped. That was enough. Just as he was waiting for his death. He opened his eyes in Mount Myōboku, he was reverse summoned.
--
Onoki floated above the field, surveying the carnage. He did not smile. Victory in war was ash on the tongue. But victory it was. "The Hokage is dead," he murmured to himself. "Dan kato and Jiraiya dead. Orochimaru lost an arm."
Behind him, Iwa's shinobi roared in triumph. But losses were just as high.
--
A month after forcing Konoha into retreat, Onoki sat in his war chamber surrounded by maps that stretched across the hidden nations. His beard quivered with excitement as he jabbed one gnarled finger at the Land of Sound.
"Konoha has been pushed back. Their Hokage is dead. Iwa has the numbers. Why would Kumo share such an information... is it to divert us to continue attacking konoha... so kumo can attack iwa. Now, it is Kumo's turn to taste defeat."
The Iwa council shifted nervously. Some elders whispered of caution, but Onoki silenced them. For two years his men had bled. His coffers drained. But with victories piling, his confidence swelled. He saw weakness in Raikage's scattered deployments. They are better for war of attrition but for sudden full blown out war, with scattered forces, he can demolish kumos force.
He summoned his greatest weapons: Han, the steam-armored tank of the Five-Tails, and Roshi, the lava-hearted host of the Four-Tails.
"You two will march with ten thousand shinobi. The unclaimed region near land of frost is held by no more than five hundred Kumo shinobi, scattered after their little skirmishes. Sweep them aside. Burn their bases to the ground. Let all the world see that Iwa does not share power... it takes it."
Han stood silent, massive and brooding, his breath always steaming behind the mask. Roshi spat, unimpressed.
"You're using us like hammers, old man. But fine. We'll smash."
They didn't like each other... two jinchuriki bound to Iwa's cause but bound by nothing else. Still, with ten thousand shinobi at their back, they marched eastward.
--
The column snaked like a gray serpent across valleys and mountains. Ten thousand meant supremacy in numbers, but also a burden.
Food: Even with strict rationing, carts couldn't keep pace. Every meal drained the stores faster than expected. Hunting slowed the march.
Chakra supplies: Hundreds of medics burned through pills and herbs just keeping stamina up.
Morale: Soldiers joked that Onoki thought shinobi grew on trees. The reality was far uglier... hunger gnawed, arguments broke, deserters whispered of slipping away at night.
Still, fear of Han and Roshi kept the army moving.
A week later they passed through Takigakure, the Hidden Waterfall Village. The forests concealed Kumo's eyes. Spies noted their every stride. And sent the report, which would take at least a week for the Raikage to know as it is difficult to not get caught by Iwa.
--
A/N: Jiraiya sage mode is far weaker than what what he used against pain (this is almost 17 years old). The sage mode boost gave him a chance to keep him in air by lunging.
Now.... Iwa march towards Kumo.
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