Chapter 28 — All for Naught
"Hahaha! Orochimaru—this great hero, Jiraiya, has arrived!"
A bold, booming laugh rang out from atop the gigantic toad's head, his voice brimming with pride at his perfectly timed entrance.
The newcomer was none other than one of the Three Sannin—the "Gallant" Jiraiya. He wore the same standard jōnin uniform and flak jacket as Orochimaru, his wild mane of white hair standing upright strand by strand, impossible to miss.
Beneath him stood an even more eye-catching sight: a colossal toad clad in a kimono, a pipe clenched in its mouth. The instant it appeared, it wrapped its thick, powerful arms around the Five-Tails, locking the massive beast in place.
Momentarily restrained, the Five-Tails quickly regained its senses and began thrashing violently, struggling to break free.
"Damned snake! Don't just stand there—get moving!"
The gruff, rumbling shout came from the toad beneath Jiraiya—Gamabunta.
Seeing this, Orochimaru's lips curled into a rare smile before his expression hardened.
"Manda—we're going in."
Manda moved with agility utterly at odds with its enormous body, slithering swiftly toward the Five-Tails. Its seemingly boneless form coiled upward, wrapping around the beast layer by layer, binding it tightly.
The coordination between the two was flawless. If this continued, they might truly bring the situation under control.
But Ōnoki would never allow that to happen.
Having already suffered setbacks on the battlefield, he had resorted to a risky move. If the Five-Tails were subdued here, it would mean losing everything—an absolute disaster.
Abandoning all restraint, Ōnoki advanced decisively.
Orochimaru noticed his movement at once. With no choice, he ordered Manda to continue assisting Jiraiya in suppressing the Five-Tails, while he himself broke away to intercept Ōnoki.
"Orochimaru, you don't seriously think this fragile balance can last, do you?"
As he spoke, Ōnoki began forming the hand seals for Dust Release midair, clearly aiming at the battlefield where the Five-Tails was restrained.
Seeing this, Orochimaru's hands blurred with speed as he formed seals of his own.
"Wind Release: Vacuum Bullet!"
A massive amount of wind chakra instantly gathered in his mouth. In the next instant, he unleashed it like a machine gun, firing a relentless barrage toward Ōnoki in the air—forcefully interrupting his attempt to activate Dust Release.
But this was only a stopgap. No matter what, it couldn't last. At best, it bought time—time for Konoha's remaining forces to withdraw intact.
At the same moment, Namikaze Yami's squad found itself in a desperate bind.
Using Flying Thunder God, they had barely managed to escape back to the outskirts of the valley, temporarily out of danger. Yet now they were trapped between two nightmares: the advancing Iwagakure forces on one side, and the battlefield where the Five-Tails raged on the other.
Charging either head-on would be suicide—an egg striking a stone.
Worse still, the Flying Thunder God marker he had placed earlier within the camp was gone. Judging by the aftermath, it had likely been destroyed by the collateral damage from the titanic clash.
For the first time, Yami cursed himself for not secretly placing more markers in advance.
There was only one path left.
According to the readings from his Kagura Mind's Eye, the Iwa forces had formed a three-sided encirclement. The sole gap—their only lifeline—lay in the narrow seam between the Iwa perimeter and the Five-Tails' battlefield.
Yami turned to the visibly tense Nawaki and Shibi.
"Do you trust me?"
They nodded without hesitation. Without Yami, both of them would already have been annihilated by the earlier Tailed Beast Bomb.
"Good," Yami said firmly. "The front, the rear—none of those are options. We break through from the side, where their line is thinnest. Stay close to me. No matter what."
With that, he surged forward, his pace never slowing—if anything, accelerating.
Guided by Kagura Mind's Eye at full output, the three narrowly avoided danger again and again. When evasion wasn't possible, Yami forced a breakthrough with sheer decisiveness.
For a moment, it seemed everything was finally going their way. Perhaps escape was within reach—
ROAR!!!
The Five-Tails suddenly erupted anew, as if fully awakened. Its struggle grew violent; steam billowed once more from its body, and the massive horn upon its head began to glow.
The searing heat nearly roasted Manda alive. With a furious hiss of pain, the great serpent was forced to release its coils.
Seeing the shift, Jiraiya shouted to the toad beneath him, "Bunta—oil, now!"
The two moved as one. Gamabunta spewed torrents of toad oil, while Jiraiya slammed his palms together, chakra igniting.
"Fire Release: Toad Oil Flame Bullet!"
The combined technique struck the Five-Tails squarely, engulfing it in roaring flames. The beast howled in rage, its steam unable to fully charge under the assault—then it lunged straight at its attackers.
Manda lashed out with his tail, slamming the Five-Tails' head aside and diverting its charge—but the counterattack severed Manda's tail cleanly.
Even for Manda, that was the limit.
"Don't forget my payment," he growled.
With a final curse, the serpent vanished in a burst of smoke.
Thanks to that sacrificial strike, Jiraiya and Gamabunta narrowly avoided being cleaved apart. Even so, Bunta was now covered in wounds.
"Bunta… that's enough. Go back," Jiraiya said quietly, dispelling the summoning rather than forcing his old comrade to continue.
The situation shifted once more—but at least most of Konoha's forces had successfully retreated to safety.
Orochimaru and Jiraiya exchanged a glance. In Jiraiya's eyes, Orochimaru still saw that familiar look—clear, earnest, and profoundly foolish.
"We're pulling out," Orochimaru said. "Let the Tsuchikage clean up this mess himself."
Even someone as powerful as the Tsuchikage would struggle to deal alone with a wounded, berserk Five-Tails.
The moment Orochimaru and Jiraiya disengaged, the Five-Tails' attention snapped to the figure hovering in the sky.
The one who had sealed it.
With no patience left, the beast opened its jaws. A pitch-black Tailed Beast Bomb formed in an instant and screamed toward Ōnoki with apocalyptic force.
Ōnoki had expected it. He shifted effortlessly in midair, evading the blast without counterattacking—clearly wary of leaving an opening for Jiraiya and Orochimaru.
But though he dodged, the blast's trajectory remained unchanged.
And directly in its path—
Yami's team.
The overwhelming disturbance had already registered in Yami's senses. Thankfully, he had left Flying Thunder God markers along their route. Grabbing the other two, he teleported again at the last possible instant.
They escaped annihilation—but reappeared inside the encirclement once more.
Worse, using Flying Thunder God while carrying others drained chakra at an exponential rate. Even Yami was nearing his limit.
"This won't work," he said through clenched teeth. "Shibi—have your insects carry this kunai. As far away as possible. The farther, the better."
Shibi sensed his kikaichū regaining vitality within his body and nodded solemnly. A moment later, a black cloud of insects wrapped around the kunai and streaked off into the distance.
At the same time, Yami requested a single kikaichū from Shibi.
As the insect landed in his palm, Shibi frowned—just briefly.
For a split second, it felt as though that kikaichū had vanished from his awareness entirely.