Sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed, Rinjin suddenly realized he'd stumbled into a massive problem.
If he learned to extract toad oil...
Then the toad oil he produced would only speed up his absorption of natural energy.
Then his cells would endlessly churn out chakra, desperately trying to blend with that natural energy.
Then more senjutsu chakra would turn into even more toad oil!
Then even more toad oil would spawn even more senjutsu chakra!
On and on, a never-ending loop~
Wait a second...
Rinjin was dumbstruck.
Did Ultraman ever have a move where he spit oil out of his mouth?
Hang on, did Ultraman even have a mouth?
Was he supposed to spit oil from his mouth and breathe fire from his nose?
Soloing a Toad Oil Flame Bomb?
Or maybe team up with Jiraiya—an infinite-range battlefield flamethrower?
While Rinjin was frantically roasting himself in his mind, outside, Jiraiya suddenly noticed something odd: the slime on Rinjin's skin had stopped, replaced by a steady stream of earth-yellow toad oil oozing from the corners of his mouth.
"He... he's figured it out?"
Hearing this, Gama-Chū secretly gulped, then nodded solemnly.
"Extracting toad oil isn't all that tough. Looks like he's got the hang of it."
As the two whispered, Rinjin's stomach ballooned outward. He shot to his feet, clutching his mouth, and said with difficulty,
"Jiraiya, fire—now!"
On instinct, Jiraiya flashed through hand signs, aiming at the distant lake.
The next instant, both men unleashed their jutsu—Rinjin spewing toad oil, Jiraiya breathing fire.
Whoosh!
A colossal blaze erupted, wild winds whipping their clothes as the inferno roared.
Far off, an endless lake was blanketed in thick, surging flames, the sky itself burning crimson.
The water vapor barely had time to rise before it was obliterated by the searing heat.
Yahiko and his two companions, just finishing their training, stared at the wall of fire stretching from the base all the way to the horizon, their scalps tingling with fear.
Beside Jiraiya, Gama-Chū watched the insane volume of oil pouring from Rinjin, cold sweat trickling down his back.
Did this guy's senjutsu chakra have no limits?!
Little did he know, Rinjin'ssenjutsu chakra was overflowing to the point of madness.
There was nothing for it—his chakra supply was literally infinite.
And so, three humans and one toad just stood there, dumbstruck...
Sweat beaded on Jiraiya's brow...
Ten minutes ticked by...
At last, Rinjin let out a massive burp, his swollen belly shrinking back to normal as he finally stopped spitting toad oil.
Finally... finally got all that toad oil out of his stomach. What a nightmare!
It was practically a vicious cycle!
If he hadn't converted the senjutsu chakra into slug mucus in time, he might never have finished spewing toad oil—ever...
On the other side, Jiraiya let out a long sigh of relief, habitually glancing into the distance.
At the edge of the vast lake, the water level had visibly dropped, and the rocks along the shore had already been scorched into glowing magma, flowing freely.
The sheer power—unbelievable!
As for Yahiko and his friends, they were completely shell-shocked, staring blankly at the horizon.
Wind Release? Water Release?
Compared to this disaster-level ninjutsu, they were nothing but child's play.
Meanwhile, Rinjin wiped the earth-yellow toad oil from his lips, then walked calmly over to Jiraiya, giving him a friendly pat on the shoulder.
"Bro, next time you're in a fight, call me."
Hearing that, Jiraiya swallowed hard, then nodded vigorously, eyes shining with excitement.
With Rinjin around, who needed Gamabunta?
That wimpy little guy—when it came to spitting toad oil, nobody could top Brother Rinjin!
...
Time passed.
It had been over two months since Rinjin mastered toad oil extraction.
In the heart of the ninja world, Konoha bid farewell to the cool autumn and entered a winter of swirling snow.
With the sharp drop in temperature, the intensity of the war eased again.
But assassinations targeting Konoha's field squads never stopped.
On the southwestern front, Hatake Sakumo had become a living legend—a one-man treasure against Sunagakure.
Whenever he went up against Sand ninja, he could unleash double his strength, shattering their morale every single time.
But aside from him, Konoha's other squads struggled against Sand's puppet masters.
Large numbers of Sand ninja used Amegakure as their supply line, pouring across the Chikuchi Bridge and flooding the borders of the Land of Fire.
Aside from Sakumo, Konoha's ninja had no good counter, forced to rely on sheer numbers.
For a while, the setbacks on the southwestern front only made Sakumo's strength stand out all the more.
Throughout Konoha, Hatake Sakumo's name was on everyone's lips.
As the war dragged on, Sunagakure finally hit its limit.
Even with the Chikuchi Bridge and Torō Ushii routes open, they had no fight left in them.
Since the start, they'd been bullied by Rain, then by Stone, and finally by Sakumo—getting the short end of the stick at every turn.
The only silver lining: the Land of Wind held zero interest for either Konoha or Iwagakure.
What had once been a liability now became Sunagakure's ticket to a clean withdrawal.
Up north, Kumogakure was also preparing to pull out.
Both Konoha's Hiruzen Sarutobi and Stone's Ōnoki were ready to end the war with the Third Raikage through compensation.
Just when everyone thought peace was at hand, an unprecedented show of might began.
Iwagakure rallied its remaining strength and marched southeast—launching a brazen invasion of the Land of Rain.
At 66 Mingcha Street in Konoha, Rinjin leaned against a corridor pillar, reading a scroll intently.
As expected, Ōnoki had made his move against Amegakure.
After their string of defeats, they needed some way to ease the economic pressure.
If they could seize control of Amegakure, the endless flow of merchant caravans would bring in unimaginable wealth.
The Land of Rain's location was simply too critical—any trade between Wind, Earth, and Fire had to pass through this safe, well-connected country.
Most importantly, Ōnoki had heard that Amegakure had its share of redheads.
If he could bring the Uzumaki Clan under Iwagakure's banner, their power would skyrocket.
Amegakure was the softest target on the board—and Ōnoki was ready to squeeze it dry.
Unfortunately for him, their marching route had already been mapped out by Rie's network of White Zetsu clones.
Even their troop composition was an open book.
The final battle of the Second Great Ninja War was about to begin.
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
The story isn't over...
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