Madara transformed into a fiery red shadow and charged down from the sky.
Jiraiya and Tsunade stood ready for battle.
"Fire Release: Dragon Fire Jutsu!"
Madara released a linear stream of dragon fire.
Madara's dragon fire was different from Sasuke's; it was much faster, whistling through the air to reach Tsunade and Jiraiya in an instant.
Its range was smaller, appearing more like a concentrated ray of fire.
Conventional Dragon Fire Jutsu emits fire in a straight line, but fire is fire after all; it shouldn't be able to move faster than the wind.
Madara's Dragon Fire Jutsu condensed into a ray, and while the range was smaller, the speed was faster and the piercing power was much stronger.
With just one strike, Tsunade's shoulder was pierced by the dragon fire.
Madara controlled the dragon fire, intending to slice Tsunade clean in half.
But Tsunade endured the pain and rolled out of the way.
"Senjutsu: Hair Needle Senbon!"
Jiraiya didn't just stand idly by while Madara attacked Tsunade; he performed his own Senjutsu.
Suddenly, his white hair grew rapidly, hanging down to his waist before hardening and launching toward Madara like a barrage of senbon needles.
The hair needles shot forth with great speed, wide coverage, and immense piercing power.
Even Madara was struck by several needles.
The stimulation of the pain only made Madara more excited: "Interesting, interesting."
Madara landed on a rock and looked at Jiraiya with a grin of genuine interest: "You're called Jiraiya, right?"
Madara clearly knew who Jiraiya was.
During the Second Great Ninja War, Jiraiya had taken Nagato, Yahiko, and Konan as his disciples.
Since Madara's Rinnegan was in Nagato, he had surely sent White Zetsu to keep watch, so he naturally knew of the bond between Jiraiya and Nagato.
A Konoha Ninja teaching Ninjutsu to refugees from a small nation? Didn't he know who had turned the people of the Land of Rain into refugees in the first place?
Jiraiya knew, and he knew it well, yet he taught them anyway.
It would be one thing if he had been after the Rinnegan from the start, but he wasn't; Jiraiya had taken them in simply out of a sense of guilt.
"A bleeding heart just like Hashirama, but you don't have Hashirama's strength. One day, you will pay the price for your actions."
Jiraiya had no idea what Madara was talking about.
"What are you blathering about? Take this! Senjutsu: Fire Release: Great Flame Bomb!"
Jiraiya's Fire Release was always combined with Toad Oil; this was no longer an ordinary Fire Release, but one with the properties of a Kekkei Genkai.
With the enhancement of Senjutsu, this was now a technique on the level of a Bloodline Selection.
The Great Flame Bomb could normally cover a house, but with the addition of Senjutsu, its power increased at least tenfold.
Madara couldn't dodge such a wide-range Fire Release in time, so he simply chose not to.
He clapped his hands together and commanded: "Wood Release: Wood Human Jutsu!"
In an instant, a massive wooden figure emerged from the ground beneath Madara's feet, its face resembling a demonic Arhat, with a wooden dragon coiled around its right arm.
Its size was comparable to a Tailed Beast.
As Jiraiya's oil-fire sprayed forward, the Wood Human easily blocked his Great Flame Bomb.
The Wood Golem was a forbidden jutsu-level Wood Release, a direct counterpart to the Perfect Susanoo.
Tsunade's pupils contracted sharply as she stared at the Wood Golem, which stood like a small mountain.
"He can even use Grandfather's Wood Human Jutsu? Dammit, Uchiha Madara, what have you done? You've stolen Grandfather's power."
"Hahaha..."
Madara laughed loudly: "I bet you never expected that the power which should belong to Konoha would be used to attack you instead!"
"Cough, cough..."
Orochimaru stepped out from the ruins. His Eight-Headed Serpent Technique had been worn down by the wooden dragon, but he had managed a one-for-one trade to exhaust the dragon as well.
Orochimaru looked at the massive Wood Human beneath Madara's feet; its sheer size alone exerted a crushing pressure.
To this day, Orochimaru had still underestimated Wood Release.
No wonder Danzo was so obsessed with Wood Release, constantly demanding that he replicate it.
It was just a pity that the power of Hashirama cells was not something an ordinary person could withstand.
After that disastrous experiment with heavy losses, Orochimaru hadn't dared to research Wood Release again, and Danzo stopped asking.
Orochimaru suddenly felt that immortality wasn't so attractive anymore.
Because immortality without power was meaningless; only the truly powerful were worthy of enjoying eternal life.
Besides, Orochimaru only sought immortality to have enough time to learn every Ninjutsu in the Ninja World; like Ryou, he was ultimately pursuing power.
With a flicker of movement, Orochimaru used Body Flicker to appear beside Jiraiya and Tsunade.
Madara's power was too great; in his battle against the Sannin, it was clear he was just playing around.
Sage Fukusaku said solemnly: "Little Jiraiya, it seems we can only use sealing jutsu to deal with him now."
Orochimaru snorted coldly: "Then we need to get close to him and restrain him first, don't we?"
Sage Shima said: "Use that move from before, Frog Song!"
Sage Fukusaku nodded: "Yes, use that move! I don't believe Uchiha Madara can break the strongest genjutsu of Mount Myōboku."
"Little Orochimaru, Little Tsunade, you two distract Madara's Wood Human while we and Little Jiraiya get close to Madara."
Orochimaru looked at the oppressive Wood Golem; just the wooden dragon on its neck had given him a lot of trouble.
How much worse would the Wood Human itself be?
But for now, it was the only way!
To be honest, if Jiraiya and Tsunade hadn't refused to run, Orochimaru would have slipped away long ago.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
Orochimaru summoned a dozen giant snakes from Ryūchi Cave, while Tsunade recalled the Katsuyu clones she had split earlier.
The Summoned Beasts charged forward, entangling themselves in a struggle with Madara's Wood Human.
The Wood Human was like a demon-subduing lord descending from the heavens, a true god of calamity on earth.
With a single punch, it sent one of the Ryūchi Cave snakes up in smoke.
The wooden dragon on its right arm let out a roar, then extended from the Wood Human's body to engage in a battle of dragons and snakes.
The snakes of Ryūchi Cave had their Chakra drained by the wooden dragon in just a few moves, leaving them as shriveled husks.
"Katsuyu: Tongue Tooth Sticky Acid!"
Standing atop Katsuyu's head, Tsunade had it spit out sticky acid. Katsuyu's acid was extremely powerful, managing to corrode one of the Wood Human's arms.
But in the blink of an eye, the Wood Human used the Chakra absorbed by the wooden dragon to regenerate.
"Dammit!"
Tsunade watched through gritted teeth; they were currently fighting against the power of the founder of Konoha—the First Hokage.
Jiraiya found an opening and rushed onto the Wood Human's head, aiming straight for Madara.
Sage Fukusaku and Sage Shima began forming hand signs.
"Senjutsu: Demonic Illusion—"
Before the two Toad Sages could finish their signs, Madara struck first.
"This move again? Do you think I'll fall for it a second time?"
A black rod appeared in Madara's hand and he threw it, piercing Sage Fukusaku.
Sage Fukusaku was instantly immobilized by the Six Paths Black Rod; it was as if his pressure points had been struck by the Gentle Fist of the Byakugan, leaving him unable to mobilize any Chakra.
Not just his Chakra, even his movements were restrained.
"This... what is this?"
"Father!"
Sage Shima looked at Sage Fukusaku in concern.
With a whistle, Sage Shima was also immobilized by one of Madara's Six Paths Black Rods.
The black rods were generated by Madara using the Six Paths Power within him, belonging to the category of Yin-Yang Release.
These black rods possessed the functions of puppet control, Chakra suppression, and location tracking.
Their restraining ability was such that even a Reanimated Sage Hashirama could not break free; once pierced, one would be hard-controlled for life.
After taking out the two Great Sages of Mount Myōboku in quick succession, Madara kicked Jiraiya in the chest.
Jiraiya once had six ribs broken and was nearly killed by Tsunade for peeking at her while she bathed. Now, in Sage Mode, his body's resistance was dozens of times higher than before.
But even so, being kicked by Madara felt the same as being hit by Tsunade back then.
Spitting out a heavy mouthful of blood, Jiraiya was sent flying dozens of meters away.