Chapter 268 Kara VS Akatsuki
Kurama As Naruto finished speaking, a layer of golden flames instantly appeared on his body. Two chakra hands reached out, grabbing Jiraiya and Gaara on either side, before disappearing in a flash.
The next instant, a series of explosions engulfed a hundred-meter radius around Naruto's previous location.
Jiraiya, now in a safe place, looked at the explosion site, first letting out a sigh of relief, then displaying an expression of disbelief.
Jiraiya had fought his way through the ninja world for many years, facing countless ambushes. However, no matter the form of the ambush, it was impossible for it to be completely devoid of chakra fluctuations. Moreover, the scale of this explosion required at least a thousand explosive tags. The chakra fluctuations generated by detonating such a large number of tags would not have given him any time to react.
Naruto, in perfect Kurama Mode, instantly locked onto the source of the malice, and then a look of astonishment appeared on his face.
The reason was simple: the dozen or so enemies he had targeted possessed chakra fluctuations on par with Kakashi's. Among all the ninjas Naruto had ever seen, aside from Kakashi, such chakra levels were at most equivalent to those of an ordinary Chunin. Yet, they had just created such a massive explosion.
"Could they all be geniuses like Kakashi?" Naruto wondered.
As the smoke from the explosion slowly dissipated, Jiraiya looked at the several figures gradually emerging from the smoke and shouted, "Who goes there?"
The newcomers were all wearing white robes underneath, and on their bodies, they wore various mechanical devices. Their high-tech goggles flashed red, and each of them had a seashell-like pattern on their chest.
Faced with Jiraiya's questioning, the leader seemed unwilling to answer. He spread his arms, and with a series of clicking sounds, two dark cannon barrels appeared before Naruto and the others. The next instant, the energy storage devices on the back of the armor hissed, and a ghostly blue energy flowed along the pipes in the armor into the cannon barrels.
"This? What is this?" Jiraiya's eyes widened. This energy was unlike any he was familiar with, but even from a distance, he could sense its terrifying power.
"Grandpa Jiraiya! Stand behind me!" Naruto shouted, his golden aura suddenly expanding, and a giant golden fox rose from the ground. The fox opened its mouth wide, condensing and compressing a torrent of chakra.
As the leader pulled the trigger, dozens of surging energy beams shot towards the giant Nine-Tailed Fox, while the Nine-Tailed Fox unleashed its Tailed Beast Ball.
The two completely different energies collided in mid-air, the terrifying impact destroying the surrounding rainforest and clearing a vast clearing.
However, to Naruto's surprise, in this clash, the Tailed Beast Ball, which had always been invincible, was at a disadvantage. The opponent's special energy began to break down the chakra within the Tailed Beast Ball the moment it came into contact with it.
Fortunately, Naruto had inputted a large enough amount of chakra this time, which barely allowed him to block the opponent's attack.
After the shock of the explosion subsided, the enemy immediately launched a second attack.
Seeing this, Jiraiya broke free from the protection of the Nine-Tails' cloak, intending to launch a surprise attack from the side to relieve some of the pressure on Naruto.
"Grandpa Jiraiya, that energy can break down chakra!" Naruto shouted a warning.
"There are things like that in the ninja world?" Jiraiya gritted his teeth, forming the hand seals for the Summoning Jutsu, summoning the two Toad Sages, Gamabunta and Fukasaku Shima, and said, "Gamabunta, go to the side and relieve some pressure on Naruto. You two sages, assist me in entering Sage Mode."
The summoned Gamabunta sensed the chakra fluctuations emanating from the enemy and glanced at Jiraiya beside him with some surprise.
"Jiraiya, what's going on? The enemy's chakra fluctuations are at most Chunin level. Does this enemy really need our help?" Gamabunta asked.
"There's something strange about their armor," Jiraiya gritted his teeth. "Their strength is definitely more than that of an ordinary Chunin. Their attacks can withstand Tailed Beast Balls. According to Naruto, the energy in that armor can break down chakra."
"Sage Fukasaku, you are very knowledgeable. Do you know what this energy is?" Jiraiya asked.
"I don't know." Fukasaku shook his head, then turned to look at Kurama, who was exchanging Tailed Beast Balls with the opponent not far away. "However, if that energy can break down chakra, then we can only try using Sage Mode chakra. It's a pity that Naruto hasn't fully mastered Sage Mode yet, otherwise he wouldn't be so passive right now."
The opponent's attacks were becoming more and more ferocious, and Naruto and Kurama's time to gather Tailed Beast Balls was becoming increasingly rushed. In just a short while, Kurama was at a disadvantage in this pure energy confrontation.
"You stinky fox, you're not good enough either!" Inside Gaara's body, Shukaku couldn't help but laugh loudly when he saw Kurama getting the short end of the stick.
"Shut up!" Kurama roared angrily.
"Hmph, you stinky fox, how about it? Want me to lend you a hand? Just beg me, and I'll mercifully help you out, okay?" Shukaku said smugly.
"Idiot! Don't you think the aura of the power these guys are using is somewhat familiar?" Kurama roared. "That's the aura of that being before it completely dissipated, when we were first created by the old man!"
"Huh?" Shukaku froze upon hearing Kurama's words. After recalling for a moment, his chubby face, made of sand, was filled with terror. "You mean that thing? But didn't that thing disappear after we were born?"
"How should I know! I only know that these people are definitely after us! If you don't want to lose even the chance to be reborn, then lend a hand!" Kurama roared.
Indeed, the energy flowing within the armor of this mysterious figure was remarkably similar to that of the Ten-Tails, which had been separated by the Sage of Six Paths and transformed into nine tailed beasts. The resurfacing of somewhat hazy memories, stemming from the passage of time, instilled a fear at a life-or-death level, forcing Shukaku to cease its passive observation.
"Kid! Open your mind! Accept my power!" Shukaku shouted urgently at Gaara.
Gaara, who had been standing behind Naruto, watched Naruto struggle in the fight and grew anxious. He knew that without the power of the tailed beasts, his current strength—at best that of an ordinary Jonin—was insufficient to offer any assistance in a battle of this magnitude.
So, the moment Shukaku spoke, Gaara relaxed his mind, and soon, a swirling cloud of yellow sand rose from the ground, condensing into a huge tanuki.
The instant it appeared, Shukaku began forming hand seals with its somewhat chubby hands.
"Wind Release: Sky Bullet!" A surge of violent wind-style chakra gathered before Shukaku.
"Idiot! Didn't you see that even the Tailed Beast Ball could barely block that kind of light? What's the use of this?!" Kurama roared immediately upon seeing this.
"I don't have as much chakra as you! This isn't a desert!" Shukaku retorted, turning back immediately. The perpetual drizzle of the Land of Rain, falling on his sand-based body, already significantly reduced his strength, and with Kurama's constant nagging, Shukaku was naturally incredibly annoyed.
After Shukaku threw out the condensed air bullet, it was immediately disintegrated by the light emitted from the opponent's cannon barrel, leaving not even a ripple. Seeing this, Shukaku gritted his teeth and began to form new hand seals, shouting loudly, "You stinky fox! Buy me five minutes!"
At this moment, Gamabunta was also trying to harass the opponent from the side, but the leader of the opposing force, upon seeing Gamabunta approach, simply took a device from his waist, pressed a button on it, and threw it at his feet.
The next instant, a pale blue force field spread out, forcing Gamabunta back. After being forced back, Gamabunta looked down at his special arm guards infused with Sage Chakra. At this moment, the chakra portion of the Sage Chakra on the top of the arm guards, which were originally incredibly hard under the protection of Sage Chakra, was completely disintegrated by this special energy field. The remaining natural energy, freed from the restraint of the chakra, began to slowly corrode the arm guards.
"Fukasaku, this thing can strip away the chakra portion from Sage Chakra!" the Iron-Armed Toad shouted a warning, but this power seemed unable to suppress pure natural energy!
"I see?" Fukasaku, standing on Jiraiya's shoulder, nodded.
Just then, Jiraiya suddenly opened his eyes. His pupils had become horizontal toad eyes, red eyeshadow appeared at the corners of his eyes, and a layer of bumps appeared on his enormous nose.
"Little Jiraiya, did you hear that? Use that move!" Shima, standing on Jiraiya's shoulder, said.
"I understand!" Jiraiya nodded, stomped the ground hard, and instantly rushed towards the enemy's location.
Seeing this, the leader who was exchanging fire with the two tailed beasts took out another force field bullet, intending to use the same tactic again.
But this time, the moment the force field spread to Jiraiya's front, the charging Jiraiya suddenly threw a punch out of thin air.
The secret technique of Mount Myōboku—the Frog Kumite—manipulating natural energy!
A whooshing sound cut through the air, and a huge rift was torn open in the pale blue force field as Jiraiya charged into the enemy formation, who were relentlessly firing beams at the two tailed beasts.
Jiraiya's intrusion instantly caused chaos within the enemy ranks.
At that moment, the enemy leader drew a strangely shaped short stick from his waist, pressed a button, and a pale blue laser beam instantly shot from one end of the stick, transforming into a lightsaber. As he slashed at Jiraiya, he ordered his team members,
"You continue the capture battle. I'll handle this one!"
"Capture? You're after the tailed beasts?" Jiraiya frowned deeply, but the next moment, the lightsaber in the enemy's hand slashed down at him.
Looking at the strange energy within the lightsaber, which seemed even more solid than the force field and beams from before, Jiraiya's expression turned extremely serious. He used his Frog Kumite to manipulate natural energy and block the attack.
After several rounds of close combat, Jiraiya realized the problem: his opponent's taijutsu was utterly terrible, and even with the power of his weapon, Jiraiya had no good way to deal with him. The only way Jiraiya could currently block his opponent's attacks was by manipulating natural energy with the Frog Kumite technique. However, the amount of natural energy manipulated by this secret technique was actually limited; he had to rely on extremely precise control to block the opponent's chaotic attacks with his limited natural energy.
Although his opponent couldn't do anything to Jiraiya for the time being, the Frog Kumite technique from Mount Myōboku was constantly draining Jiraiya's already limited Sage Chakra. Moreover, the two toad sages on Jiraiya's shoulders couldn't gather Sage Chakra as quickly as the energy required to control natural energy!
"Little Jiraiya! Retreat!" Seeing the situation was dire, Shima quickly shouted a warning.
"Hmph, trying to escape! Too late!" Seeing this, his opponent sneered and increased the speed of his Eight Slashes of Natsume.
Just two minutes later, Jiraiya's toad-like features and the red eyeshadow around his eyes faded, and he was on the verge of defeat. At that moment, a gaping maw suddenly emerged from beneath the ground where the two were fighting, swallowing Jiraiya whole and vanishing from the spot.
The opponent's attack also missed its mark in that instant.
"Dare to run wild in the Land of Rain? It seems you're prepared to face the wrath of the gods?" In the sky, a figure dressed in a black robe with red clouds slowly descended, his Rinnegan eyes fixed on the attackers before him. He slowly opened his mouth, his voice filled with suppressed rage.
Nagato, who had set out to meet Jiraiya and his clan leader whom he had never met, immediately summoned the Six Paths of Pain's puppets and rushed over upon hearing the commotion.
Soon, behind the two tailed beasts, the King of Hell from the Hell Path burst from the ground, spitting out Jiraiya and the two toad sages.
"Nagato?" Jiraiya, having escaped death, looked up at the figure hovering in mid-air. He first breathed a sigh of relief, then shouted a warning, "Be careful! These people have the ability to suppress chakra!"
Hearing Jiraiya's words, Pain turned and nodded slightly to him, then raised his hand towards the mechanical troops below who had already aimed their cannons at him.
"Offending the majesty of a god, then experience the most extreme pain in the world! Shinra Tensei!"
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(End of Chapter)