[Ninja Art – Wild Lion's Mane Technique!]
With a thunderous roar,
From the hole above both of them, an enormous amount of extremely long white hair rapidly extended downward, wrapping around Tsunade.
"Crack—"
Mui's attack struck the tough white hair and was blocked by Jiraiya's ninjutsu.
The very next moment,
Jiraiya dropped from above. With a swing of his hair, he pulled the injured Tsunade toward him.
Luckily, he had just sensed the sudden danger within the meeting room below and worried that Tsunade might be hurt.
That's why he quickly jumped down to check.
Otherwise, Tsunade wouldn't have stood a chance after all those ambushes from Mui!
Thankfully, he arrived just in time to rescue Tsunade.
"Tsunade, are you okay?" Jiraiya urgently asked, more nervous than ever before.
"It hurts! I can't gather chakra! It's... some kind of super strong sealing jutsu!" Tsunade replied weakly with great effort.
Her chakra being sealed by the [Heavenly Prison Art] prevented her from healing herself.
Indeed, her situation looked grim.
Of course, chakra-sealing techniques are deadly to ninjas.
Yet precisely because of their deadliness,
Mui alone could suppress countless ninja criminals inside this prison city.
And this [Heavenly Prison Art] hadn't been broken by anyone for decades...
As the unbreakable core of Hozuki Castle's prison system, it was feared by every criminal ninja inside.
"Cursed! So it's actually a sealing technique?"
Looking at the glowing red sealing marks running across Tsunade's abdomen, neck, and arms, Jiraiya couldn't help but change expression.
Instantly, he wanted to attack Mui,
Quickly subdue him, and force him to release this seal.
However, the very next second—
"Boom—"
From above, the ferocious beast Satori dove down again,
Plunging violently into the building,
Continuing its pursuit and assault on Jiraiya.
Obviously, it wasn't stupid.
Or perhaps purely by instinct, it aimed to kill whichever creature posed the greatest threat toward it!
Alternatively, it targeted whoever possessed the most chakra?
And Jiraiya and Tsunade were definitely the strongest nearby ninja—with the richest chakra reserves!
Instinctively sharp, Jiraiya held onto Tsunade tightly,
Wrapping them both with his tough long hair, blocking this devastating strike.
Then immediately, he leaped out from the wreckage, narrowly evading Satori's attack.
"There's no time anymore!"
"At this rate, I won't manage to summon Elder Fukasaku and Elder Shima..."
"We'll have to retreat for now!"
After escaping, Jiraiya made the call quickly.
In such chaotic battle conditions,
Trying to protect Tsunade *and* take down this monster—
It was nearly impossible!
Especially since he himself already suffered significant exhaustion.
If they kept fighting, whether he could defeat this monster remained uncertain,
But Tsunade would certainly be in grave danger!
After all, how could those criminals imprisoned inside Hozuki Castle compare with Tsunade's importance?
She is the last hope of the Senju Clan.
If anything happened to Tsunade, Hashirama and Tobirama would completely lose it!
And as for himself—he'd suffer endless guilt and remorse for a lifetime?
I will not allow this to happen!
With no choice, Jiraiya could only decide to retreat.
"Boss Toad, let's go!"
Jiraiya shouted as he carried Tsunade and landed on Gamabunta's head.
"Not fighting anymore?"
"We'll withdraw for now. We can deal with this guy later."
"You got it!"
The Boss Toad didn't waste any time.
He leaped powerfully upwards, soaring over a hundred meters high, jumping straight out of Hozuki Castle.
They landed on the grass outside the city walls.
"Damn it!"
"Keep going! That thing is chasing us again!"
Jiraiya glanced backward.
But to his surprise,
The creature Satori had also flown out from the city, continuing to pursue them relentlessly.
He could only shout once again, urging Boss Toad onward.
"What? That ghostly thing is still following us?"
"Hmph!"
"I'd like to see how far you can chase!"
Gamabunta scoffed in disdain.
He bent his knees and leapt powerfully, making another consecutive jump, quickly escaping beyond the entire island.
Obviously,
When it came to fleeing for their lives,
the toad clan was pretty good at escaping with their lives.
Within moments,
After several jumps, Boss Toad had already fled a kilometer away, leaving Hozuki Castle behind.
And they had successfully left that monster far behind.
"Now what? Is that ghost still chasing us?"
Gamabunta stopped atop the distant sea surface and asked Jiraiya on his head.
Jiraiya looked back, gazing into the distance.
Through the pitch-black night, he could barely make out
a single black dot in the sky rapidly flying toward them...
"Damn it! That thing is still chasing us?"
"It actually followed us all this way from that box?"
"Did it lock onto us?"
Jiraiya cursed under his breath, preparing to flee further,
when suddenly—
From far off, just behind his right side,
a brilliant crimson light abruptly erupted!
Flashing past in an instant, like a meteor streaking across the night sky, tearing through the darkness, incredibly dazzling.
The scarlet meteor struck directly at that black mass.
Piercing through the airborne ferocious demon Satori mid-flight!
...and drove the monster right into the city wall behind, pinning it there with brutal force.
Then, several seconds later,
Finally, the thunderous sonic boom rumbled in.
Ear-splitting, heart-stopping.
Because of the distance, Jiraiya couldn't see clearly.
But he could roughly guess what happened.
He felt stunned.
Never did he expect that the monster he struggled against painfully for so long had been instantly defeated by someone?
Even if it wasn't instantly killed, it must have suffered severe injuries!
What kind of attack was that?
What the hell was that attack? Unbelievably fast!
Oh right! As long as the attack speed is faster than the beast can dodge!
Would one be able to counter its ability to predict attacks?
Suddenly realizing this, Jiraiya could only give a bitter laugh.
Sounds easy, but pull that off—now that's hard!
That monster was already extremely agile.
Ordinary attacks—how could they ever reach such blinding speed?
Those capable of launching such fierce attacks in the world
could probably be counted on one hand!
Besides Lord Hashirama, it must've been those two Uchiha maniacs!
But why would they appear here?
No time to think about that...
Whether it was Madara Uchiha or Shimoku Uchiha,
Neither of them was an opponent he could handle!
He could only hope they'd be kind enough to take down that monster as well!
Jiraiya shook his head, silently sighing.
Feeling the terrifying chakra rapidly approaching from behind, he dared not stay any longer.
If caught by the Uchiha clan, he and Tsunade would be in serious trouble!
So he spurred the Chief Toad onward,
With one more leap, quickly fleeing this place.
Then he'd find somewhere to heal Tsunade and break the seal on her...
As for missions and such,
They could worry about those after surviving, right?
Meanwhile,
Shimoku soared toward Hozuki Castle riding atop his Susanoo.
Earlier, he had sensed the intense battle aura coming from inside Hozuki Castle,
So he immediately accelerated his pace, rushing toward it.
Yet before reaching the castle, he caught sight of the monstrous figure soaring through the sky.
And immediately identified it as Satori, the ancient ferocious beast!
He didn't hesitate for a moment when it came to such a beast.
Merely lifting his hand, he hurled the K'unwu Divine Sword, which had undergone Spiritualization.
It tore through the night sky and struck the beast with perfect accuracy!
Soon after, Shimoku arrived before Hozuki Castle.
Compared to the colossal Susanoo Demigod, towering hundreds of meters tall, the twenty-meter-high Satori seemed no larger than a helpless little lamb.
Especially now, pinned against the city wall while furiously thrashing around,
Like a helpless little lamb awaiting slaughter.
"Tsk tsk, sure enough, it's this beast."
"Has The Box of Paradise been opened already?"
"This tiny little thing actually works?"
"Now that I think about it, how does a beast like this even reproduce?"
"Can't even spot any reproductive organs on it?"
"Hmm... I'll just take it back later for Lady Serpent to study properly."
"Maybe we can kick off a beast breeding business or something..."
As he examined Satori, Shimoku commented enthusiastically.
Ancient ferocious beast? Who even cares?
To a professional capitalist, everything under heaven can be made to work! Everything can be exploited!
Yet the way Shimoku treated him like livestock, along with the pain coursing through his body,
Made Satori feel deeply humiliated and enraged.
It nearly went mad, thrashing violently.
...
pS: Third update today. Happy Labor Day everyone! o(≧▽≦)o
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