Boom—!
In a lodging house on a commercial street in the Land of Rice Fields, a sudden explosion occurred, and a gust of wind swept through the surrounding buildings.
Amidst the dust, Kakashi appeared, retreating in a disheveled state to the ground. Gasping for breath, his crimson Sharingan in his left eye stared at the figure not far away.
Standing on the collapsed building, Orochimaru licked his lips with his tongue and said, "Heh heh heh, Kakashi, that Sharingan you can't turn off seems to be a great burden to you."
Cold sweat trickled down Kakashi's face, but he did not respond to Orochimaru. Instead, he took a stance, his right hand half-clenched towards the ground.
"I advise you not to." Orochimaru said in a soft tone, looking at Kakashi's posture.
"Come with me obediently, otherwise, you will die here today."
As he spoke, Orochimaru's vertical pupils stared coldly at Kakashi, and his entire aura erupted.
"Even if you are one of the legendary Sannin, with my current ability, I can still achieve a mutual kill with you."
Kakashi did not attempt to probe Orochimaru's reasons for wanting him to come along.
In an instant, the sound of thunder crackled, like a thousand birds chirping, and a blue electric light burst forth from Kakashi's half-clenched right hand.
"Heh heh hahahaha!"
Hearing this, Orochimaru seemed to recall something, and he burst into maniacal laughter.
"What's so funny?!"
The Sharingan in Kakashi's left eye spun wildly as he demanded of Orochimaru.
"Has the current Konoha really forgotten what the so-called Sannin truly are? Are you all so boastful?"
Before he finished speaking, Orochimaru's figure appeared directly in front of Kakashi, gripping Kakashi's right hand and whispering softly, "You just said you wanted to kill me? Try it? If you can."
Kakashi's single open Sharingan suddenly constricted.
So fast!
"Now now, Orochimaru, what kind of skill is it to bully a junior?"
A voice sounded from afar, drawing closer, and the next second, Kakashi felt a huge force from behind him, sending him flying backward.
A giant toad fell from the sky, its immense force shaking the entire ground.
Kakashi felt someone grab his shoulder, and his body stopped. Looking back, he saw a long tongue slowly retracting from behind him. The owner of the tongue was a small toad perched on Jiraiya's shoulder.
"Phew..., thank you, Jiraiya-sama." It was only then that Kakashi let out a sigh of relief and spoke.
Just now, with Orochimaru's aura, he felt like he was on the verge of death.
Jiraiya patted Kakashi's shoulder vigorously and said, "Haha, Kakashi, I came too late, don't mind it."
Kakashi shook his head and looked in the direction of the dust caused by the giant toad's descent. "It's fine, Jiraiya-sama, Orochimaru, he…?"
The giant toad had vanished the instant after its attack.
"Ah, he's still alive. If he could die so easily…"
Jiraiya's expression became serious as he looked in the direction of the swirling dust and said, "Then he wouldn't be Orochimaru."
"Heh heh, it seems you broke free of the genjutsu, Jiraiya." From within the dust, Orochimaru's eerie voice sounded.
The next instant, a massive purple snake burst out of the smoke, heading towards Jiraiya and Kakashi.
Summoning Technique!
Jiraiya instantly slammed his hands on the ground, and the smoke from the massive Summoning Technique obscured Manda's head.
Clang—!
As the smoke cleared, Gamabunta, holding a large pipe, blocked Manda's horn with a short sword.
He roared, "Jiraiya! Don't summon me when I'm eating!"
"And, it's you again! Manda!"
Jiraiya scratched the back of his head, a look of embarrassment on his face, and said, "Heh heh, isn't this a last resort?"
Manda quickly retracted his body. Seeing Orochimaru jump onto his head, his vertical pupils tilted slightly upwards as he glanced at Orochimaru and spoke, "Gamabunta! Hmph! Orochimaru! Add fifty more sacrifices!"
"Ah." Hearing this, Orochimaru responded blandly.
Gamabunta glanced at the fleeing civilians nearby, frowning slightly. "Hmph, it's been a long time since I've seen these faces, Jiraiya. Do you want to have a class reunion here?"
Jiraiya naturally noticed as well. Clasping his hands together, he said with a serious expression, "Gamabunta, stop joking."
"Take Manda away from here. Otherwise, the old man will be very troubled!"
Gamabunta removed his pipe, exhaled a puff of smoke, and then began to move. "Tch! You give me such a difficult task as soon as I arrive."
Jiraiya, meanwhile, pushed Kakashi away, shouting, "Kakashi, I'll leave the aftermath here to you!"
Kakashi rolled to the ground, watching the massive Gamabunta charge forward, grab Manda's tail, and swing him towards the distant dense forest. Then he leaped away from his original spot.
All movements were ordinary, but the massive bodies of the two summoned beasts moving swept through the already almost ruined commercial street once again.
This scene made Kakashi stare blankly for a while before he slowly pulled down his eye mask and spoke, "So this is the Sannin? I was truly foolish."
"However, I must inform the Third Hokage as soon as possible, otherwise, it could easily become a diplomatic incident."
Kakashi frowned, looking at the commercial street that was almost leveled, somewhat suspecting that Jiraiya had deliberately left him there.
Summoning Technique!
Kakashi slammed his hands on the ground, summoning Pakkun.
"Yo, Kakashi, why are you looking for me at this time? Hmm? Wait, no?!"
Pakkun had barely spoken two sentences after appearing when his nose began to twitch incessantly.
"This damp and slimy smell?"
Pakkun turned, about to say something, when Kakashi slapped him on the head.
"Alright, Pakkun, take this scroll and immediately go to the Land of Fire border outpost. Have them use the radio to inform the village."
After speaking, Kakashi stood up and disappeared instantly. He had to go appease the officials of the Land of Rice Fields. Only then could he rush to Jiraiya's side as soon as possible.
—
Inside the Hokage Building, an intelligence officer, who was idly bored, suddenly heard the radio behind him ring.
After a moment of stunned silence, he suddenly stood up. The radio ringing usually meant there was a battle at the border. Otherwise, information was generally transmitted via ninja eagles.
As the intelligence officer deciphered the message, the intelligence squad leader, who had just walked in, picked it up and read it. His face immediately changed dramatically, and he rushed out of the intelligence squad with the paper containing the intel.
...
Inside the Hokage Office, Hiruzen, who was processing documents, heard the door open and frowned.
"Hokage-sama! This is bad!"
"A message came from the border outpost, saying that Jiraiya-sama is currently fighting the S-rank rogue ninja Orochimaru!"