In the sky, blood-red colored clouds rose high.
A blood-colored lightning bolt suddenly struck down from the horizon right into the cave's depths, as if penetrating heaven and earth. The rumbling sound was heard incessantly.
Jiraiya could clearly feel that within this aura was hidden an extremely terrifying slaughter aura. Even he himself felt fear emerging from the depths of his soul. Meanwhile, among the ninja behind him, those with low power directly fainted from the impact of that aura.
"Who exactly is inside?" Jiraiya couldn't hide his horror.
"Kill! Kill! KILL—!"
Suddenly, a sky-shaking roar of anger was heard from the cave's depths, as if a devil sealed for years had suddenly awakened.
"Immediately inform the Hokages, QUICKLY!" Jiraiya realized the situation was very bad. He immediately turned and shouted to the group of ninja behind him.
The ninja working under Jiraiya had very strong execution ability; instantly several people immediately turned and shot away into the distance. However, they hadn't run far when a red light suddenly spread from inside the cave, enveloping everyone without exception.
Jiraiya's face changed drastically. He felt the thick and sticky evil aura pressing him strongly. The red light resembling a thin membrane illuminated his surface, acting like a shell locking all his power.
"How is this possible?!" Jiraiya tried to channel chakra to cast Kuchiyose no Jutsu to summon the Frog Elder from Mount Myoboku so he could enter Sage Mode, but he absolutely couldn't do it now.
Without activating Sage Mode, he was just a ninja with elite Jōnin level power; only with that mode could he match Kage level.
*TAP-TAP-TAP!*
A series of footsteps were heard softly from the cave's depths heading outward. These footsteps were full of strong pressure, as if knocking on everyone's hearts. Everyone's eyes automatically fixed on the cave entrance.
A shadow slowly appeared at the cave's mouth. It was a woman with a graceful body, her entire body wrapped in thin blood-red silk cloth. Her exposed skin was covered with blood-red patterns, making her look both evil and seductive.
"My goodness, it's actually Jiraiya-sama. I've heard your name for a long time." As soon as the woman came out, she immediately realized Jiraiya's presence.
"You know me?" Jiraiya stared at the woman before him and asked, "Who are you really?"
"Just a nobody without a name. Of course Jiraiya-sama doesn't know me." The woman played with her silk cloth, struck a seductive pose, then giggled softly: "But starting today, my name will resound throughout the Three Worlds. You can call me the God of Slaughter!"
After saying that, the woman's body slowly levitated into the air. Around her, blood-red lightning flashed. She spread both her hands, and the blood-red energy around her surged violently before striking down.
All ninja hit by that blood-red energy suddenly had their eyes turn crimson. Their gazes changed to become like wild beasts. They turned toward their own comrades, then raised their respective weapons and began brutally attacking each other.
Even Jiraiya was affected by this uncontrollable power. His eyes slowly began to redden, but he still tried to maintain his remaining consciousness. He groaned lowly, trying hard to calm himself and sense the natural energy around him; he wanted to enter Sage Mode with his own power.
For Jiraiya, entering Sage Mode required very long preparation time, and if the natural energy became uncontrolled, he would turn into a stone toad. That's why he never dared try entering Sage Mode alone without Fukasaku and Shima's help.
"KILL! KILL! KILL!!!"
However, the ninja around him didn't have power and self-control as great as his. They had completely fallen into madness, and the surrounding area turned into a slaughter field.
Seeing his own subordinates slaughtering each other until flesh and blood scattered, Jiraiya felt deep pain in his heart, but he was powerless.
"Truly worthy of bearing the Sannin title, Jiraiya-sama. You can actually withstand my slaughter power." The woman raised her beautiful eyebrows, the corner of her lips curving in a cold smile. As the God of Slaughter, the more slaughter energy she absorbed, the stronger she would become.
"Are the ninja who died before your doing?" Jiraiya looked up at the woman, asking with difficulty. On one side, he tried to buy time to prepare his Sage Mode.
Jiraiya's intention of course didn't escape the woman's eyes, but she didn't care and answered flatly: "Of course that's my doing. There's no harm telling you now. Previously I entered the Sacred Ruins Trial Tower and obtained a Godhead fragment. During this time, I've expended much energy to collect the other fragments. The last fragment was actually hidden in the body of one of the ninja from Konoha Village. If I didn't kill him, I wouldn't be able to unite the perfect God of Slaughter Godhead."
"So this is the First Place on the Golden List's doing again!" Jiraiya's eyes radiated a flash of understanding. Under his skin small bumps began appearing; in this situation, his natural energy was beginning to become slightly uncontrolled.
"Jiraiya-sama, I'm curious how it feels if you're killed by your own comrades?" The woman began to feel impatient. The blood-red power below surged again: "Kill him for me!"
Following her command, the ninja who had been attacking each other suddenly turned and stared at Jiraiya simultaneously. Killing intent overflowed from their eyes that had already lost reason. Without caring about their lives, they charged toward Jiraiya.
"Damn it!" Jiraiya's face changed drastically.
Currently he was in a balancing battle between absorbing natural energy and chakra, so he absolutely couldn't move. He could only watch those ninja charge toward him with gazes full of anger and sadness. If he died at his subordinates' hands, he would truly die in an unsettled state.
However, at that very critical moment, a shadow suddenly appeared beside Jiraiya.
The Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama!
Tobirama had long placed his seal marks on important people so he could provide assistance at any time. After sensing the unusual power in this area, he immediately activated Hiraishin no Jutsu and arrived beside Jiraiya.
"Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu (Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique)!"
Extremely torrential water flow launched in all directions, sweeping away the attacking ninja and making them drift far away.
"Who is she?" Tobirama asked while turning.
Seeing Tobirama's appearance, Jiraiya breathed a sigh of relief. He canceled his Sage Mode process and shouted quickly: "Quickly leave here!"
Although Tobirama felt confused, he chose to trust Jiraiya. He immediately gripped Jiraiya's shoulder, and in one blink, both disappeared from that place.
The woman levitating in the air squinted her eyes. She knew it was too late to stop them. She extended her hand and gripped the air; the ninja on the ground who had drifted earlier were directly enveloped in red light, then exploded into blood mist that flew to the sky and was completely absorbed by the woman.