At that moment, the dispelling of the genjutsu seemed to catch the attention of a certain entity.
Standing on Jiraiya's shoulder, Sage Fukasaku's expression suddenly shifted. He warned alertly, "Jiraiya, be careful!"
In the next second, a terrifying killing intent locked firmly onto Jiraiya.
"Above us!"
Sage Shima looked up. She saw a winged figure appear in the sky at some unknown point. As those wings flapped violently, the surrounding air converged into sharp blades of wind guided by the feathers, crashing down toward the enemies below!
"Wind Style: Wind Blade Summoning!"
Relying on his years of combat experience, Jiraiya instinctively made the most correct response.
He quickly formed hand signs in front of his chest. His long white hair instantly extended according to his will, forming a hedgehog-like protective shell around his body.
With the infusion of chakra, the soft hair suddenly became as hard as steel.
The whistling wind blades only left shallow marks on the surface, cutting a few strands of white hair but failing to break through Jiraiya's defense. Conversely, the ground around him was carved with deep, jagged furrows.
"I didn't expect the famous Legendary Sannin, Lord Jiraiya, to visit in person. Please excuse our lack of a proper welcome."
A cold female voice drifted down from above.
Jiraiya unraveled the white hair surrounding him and looked up at the sky with the two Sages.
Only then did Jiraiya see the visitor's appearance clearly.
It was a woman with a pair of green wings on her back. Her feet were eerily shaped like bird claws, and her emerald-green pupils emitted an icy aura.
"I am indeed Jiraiya. And you are?"
Since he had already been exposed, Jiraiya simply stopped pretending. He deactivated his disguise and returned to his usual attire.
The winged woman smiled coldly and answered his question. "I am a Divine Priest of the Jashin Temple, Shana."
A Divine Priest, huh...
A look of contemplation flashed in Jiraiya's eyes.
According to the intelligence he had just gathered, there were a total of three Divine Priests in the Jashin Religion's so-called Holy City: "Plague," "War," and "Death."
Furthermore, he didn't know which of the three priests the woman before him was.
If he could learn her title, he might be able to deduce her abilities from it.
During Jiraiya's brief moment of thought, Sage Fukasaku, who had been observing the surroundings, warned again. "Jiraiya, two equally powerful auras are approaching. This is the heart of enemy territory; it's best not to take risks."
As high-ranking members of Mount Myoboku who maintained a very good relationship with Jiraiya, Fukasaku and Shima knew about the Jashin Religion's attack on the Hidden Leaf.
They could only conclude that the Jashin Religion's strength was even more terrifying than they had imagined.
If a conflict broke out here with Jiraiya alone, it was very likely that an accident no one wanted to see would occur.
Given that the opponent could kill the Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, while facing two opponents, who could guarantee that Jiraiya wouldn't be decapitated before the battle truly began?
In a sense, Jiraiya's current actions were indeed contrary to the basic qualities of a commander.
Jiraiya also understood this logic. Once something happened to him here, the alliance plan between the Hidden Leaf and the Hidden Sand might fall through immediately.
Sensing the change in Jiraiya's emotions, Shana, positioned in the sky, let out a cold laugh. "It seems the legendary Lord Jiraiya is preparing to flee like a gray rat?"
Jiraiya naturally wouldn't lose his composure over such a level of provocation. Instead, he grinned and laughed. "Little girl, your Lord Jiraiya will come back to teach you a lesson next time!"
With that, he formed hand signs again. He spat a large amount of toad oil from his mouth toward the sky.
Sage Fukasaku, standing on his shoulder, acted with perfect chemistry. He spat bright flames from his mouth, igniting the oil Jiraiya had spat out and forming a massive fireball that surged into the sky.
"Fire Style: Toad Flame Bomb!"
The massive fireball was like a rising miniature sun, lighting up the night sky and drawing countless gazes.
The firelight flickered across Shana's face, but she did not panic at all, as if she wasn't the one about to be attacked.
Just as the fireball rose further and the scorching heat became palpable to her, a beam of pale blue light shot through the night sky. It hit the fireball directly in front of Shana, blasting it into countless dissipating flames.
On a distant roof, Jugo was holding his arm level. Strands of chakra still remained in the hollow of his palm.
Clearly, the chakra cannonball that had just shattered the fireball had been released from his palm.
Shana finally narrowed her eyes, a hint of killing intent leaking out.
"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!"
Surging air currents gathered between the countless feathers of her wings. As her wings danced, these currents swirled with the large amount of dissipating fire, forming a sea of flames that pressed back down toward Jiraiya.
"Let's go, little Jiraiya," Shima reminded him.
Jiraiya nodded heavily. "My thoughts exactly."
Sensing the arrival of enemy reinforcements, Jiraiya quickly abandoned the idea of taking down one of the priests and turned to run.
Meanwhile, Shima sprayed streams of water from her mouth to block any flames that might fall on Jiraiya. The smoke produced by the collision of water and fire served as the perfect cover for Jiraiya's escape.
"Watch out, Jiraiya!" Fukasaku suddenly warned.
In the next second, a dark purple spike protruded from the ground, thrusting straight at Jiraiya's head.
Fukasaku leapt from Jiraiya's shoulder. Without even seeing him touch the opponent, the spike before them shattered as if it had suffered a massive blow from the side.
A mixture of purple and green juices splattered out, and an indescribable stench immediately filled the air.
Only then did the attacker surface from the ground; it was actually a purple scorpion as tall as a two-story building.
The shattered tail hadn't killed the scorpion completely. Instead, it brandished two huge, sharp pincers at Jiraiya in a show of force.
Furthermore, several massive dark shadows emerged within the spreading mist.
Jiraiya glanced sideways to see a giant human-faced centipede, a three-headed ghost snake covered in exoskeletal armor, and a giant spider dripping with poisonous pus.
These monsters, which he had never seen before, had quietly surrounded him.
"This looks a bit bad."
The expressions of the two Sages turned solemn. They felt immense pressure from these monsters.
"Lord Jiraiya, it's not a good habit to try and leave without saying goodbye."
Shana's cold voice rang out again. She descended from the sky, standing solitary atop the head of the ghost snake.
At this moment, Jiraiya wasn't in the mood to play word games with her. He simply said coldly, "There's no need to be polite with a stubborn cult like the Jashin Religion."
Shana sneered. "Truly worthy of 'The Gallant' Jiraiya. Your way of doing things is certainly 'unconventional.'"
Jiraiya didn't want to waste words. Since the opponent intended to use summoning beasts to wear him down, he would pay them back in kind.
If it came down to a contest of summoning beasts, Jiraiya was considered among the top in the shinobi world.
As three pillars of smoke erupted, the three brothers—Gamabunta, Gamaken, and Gamahiro—were immediately summoned.
"That disgusting smell again. It looks like you've run into trouble again, Jiraiya."
Gamabunta appeared with a pipe in his mouth, looking at the poisonous creatures around them with a cold gaze.
Jiraiya quickly landed on top of Bunta's head, and Bunta finally noticed the two Sages standing on Jiraiya's shoulders.
Since even the two Sages had been called out, it seemed this trouble was truly significant.
Jiraiya didn't have the heart to tell him much. He simply gave a brief command: "Break through quickly!"
"Understood."
Gamabunta exhaled a cloud of smoke, then looked at the enemies and ordered his two brothers, "Gamahiro, take the right. Gamaken, take the left. Break through!"
"Yes!"
The three brothers were experienced in battle and coordinated perfectly, immediately understanding each other's intent.
Gamahiro, holding dual blades, immediately drew them to slash at the human-faced centipede beside him. Gamaken swung the spiked iron fork in his hand, smashing it heavily toward the three-headed ghost snake!
Gamabunta carried Jiraiya and charged straight outward. The shinobi sword in his hand sliced through the dark night, its bright blade light flashing like a shooting star.
Although the tailless scorpion in front of them caught the blade with its two pincers, it was still carried away by the terrifying force Gamabunta applied, smashing heavily into a nearby house.
After temporarily dealing with the enemy, Gamabunta didn't delay for a single second. His powerful feet kicked off the ground, erupting with terrifying jumping power as he charged straight toward the edge of town.
Just then, a massive white web covered in thick mucus fell from the sky, trapping Gamabunta firmly within.
He immediately swung his shinobi blade again, wanting to slice the giant web apart.
However, the web possessed immense stickiness. Even a slash as swift as Gamabunta's failed to cut through; instead, the blade became stuck to the web.
Seeing this, Jiraiya hesitated no longer and shouted, "Bunta!"
Gamabunta understood. "Got it!"
He spat out a massive amount of toad oil like a river, and Jiraiya used Fire Style to ignite it.
The burning toad oil instantly turned into a scorching sea of flames, surging toward the web in front of them and the giant spider that had fired it!
As expected, the web that Gamabunta couldn't cut no matter how hard he tried instantly turned to ash and vanished the moment it touched the raging fire.
The spider was swallowed by the surging flames. After letting out a scream, its entire body swelled and exploded!
Seeing this, Shana didn't show anger; instead, she revealed a strange smile.
Sensing something was wrong, Jiraiya immediately grew tense.
After the spider exploded, it actually turned into a massive cloud of poisonous mist that spread out.
Moreover, because the sea of flames Jiraiya had just released created high temperatures, the air currents in this area became turbulent, accelerating the diffusion of the poison.
Not only that, but Shana also timely used Wind Style to guide the poisonous mist toward the location where Jiraiya and the others were.
"Don't inhale this toxic gas!"
Sage Fukasaku immediately warned, then opened his mouth to use a powerful Sage Art.
"Sage Art: Wind Stream Coil!"
A large amount of air was spat from his mouth, actually swirling the surrounding poisonous mist up into the sky, forming a layer of dark green clouds.
"Go!"
After completing this, Fukasaku felt a deep sense of fatigue and spoke somewhat weakly.
Seeing this, Gamabunta dared not delay, hurriedly erupting with his fastest speed to escape the battlefield.
"Old man, what's wrong with you?" Shima asked with concern.
The couple had practiced Sage Arts together for eight hundred years and knew each other perfectly. With Fukasaku's strength, how could he become this weak just from using one Sage Art?
Fukasaku's expression was grim. "I've been poisoned."
"Poisoned?"
Jiraiya was stunned.
"When did that happen? Why am I okay?"
Fukasaku narrowed his eyes and guessed, "It might have been when I crushed that scorpion..."
He recalled the scene from moments ago.
"Although I used Frog Kumite to crush that scorpion, I was forced to inhale a bit of the gas released when its body shattered because I was too close..."
Hearing Fukasaku's guess, Jiraiya couldn't help but curse, "Despicable bastards!"
"Jiraiya, stay calm. The priority is to leave this place quickly."
In contrast, Fukasaku's wife, Sage Shima, remained calm.
However, a strong sense of crisis suddenly emerged.
As a blue light bloomed in the distance, a cannonball gathered from chakra arrived with a roar.
Fortunately, Gamabunta reacted in time, quickly drawing his blade to block it. Nevertheless, he was blown away, crashing through several large trees, and his escape was forced to a halt.
In addition to Shana, two other figures finally appeared.
One was a burly, monstrous creature with a gray-white body—The "War Priest," Jugo.
One was a girl with a charming face, bright red hair, and tentacles—The "Death Priest," Rie Uzumaki.
And circling high in the sky, controlling monsters and viruses, was the cold woman—The "Plague Priest," Shana.
"It seems the three priests have finally assembled."
Jiraiya pulled himself together, the aura on his body slowly shifting.
"Senior Fukasaku, Senior Shima, I'm counting on you."
"I understand."
The two Sages knew what Jiraiya wanted to do. They silently pressed their palms together and began to absorb the surrounding natural energy, transferring it into Jiraiya's body to help him enter Sage Mode!
The red tear marks on his face became even more vivid, and two new lines appeared. His eyes turned into horizontal pupils like those of a frog, and his facial features showed a clear trend toward toad-like characteristics.
"While it's not a perfect Sage Mode, it should be more than enough to deal with you lot."
Jiraiya's expression was serious. It looked like he intended to use his full power to see if he could weaken the enemy's forces in advance.
However, under Simu's year of training and instruction, the strength of the three priests had undergone a world-shaking transformation. For Jiraiya to take them down would likely be no easy task.
"If that's the case, then Lord Jiraiya should give it a try. I happen to be very interested in taking the head of a Sannin to offer to Lord Simu as a collection!"
Rie Uzumaki looked at Jiraiya with considerable anticipation.