"Jonin Mutsuki, you just used such a powerful Combination Jutsu, are you okay to go?" asked a Konoha Jonin as they were about to depart for support.
"The enemies over with Jiraiya-sama are strong. It would be dangerous if I'm not in good condition," Mutsuki replied with a smile.
"Thank you for your concern, but I've already seized the opportunity to recover some Chakra. It won't affect the battle," Mutsuki reassured.
With Mutsuki's assurance, the Konoha Jonin nodded silently, and together with Mutsuki and others, they rushed towards the site of the recent explosion.
However, he couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
"Powerful, handsome, humble, and values his comrades. If he weren't so modest, he'd probably be famous throughout Konoha by now."
Although they hadn't interacted with Mutsuki before, now they were very willing to become friends with him, if they could survive the war.
As all of them were Jonin, their movements were extremely fast, and they quickly arrived at the battlefield where Jiraiya and the Jinchuriki were.
When Mutsuki and the others arrived, it seemed like both sides had just engaged in a fierce battle. Everyone looked disheveled, and there were several bodies of Hidden Rock and Konoha Ninja on the ground.
"Jiraiya-sama, we have successfully repelled the attack from the Hidden Rock forces and achieved a great victory. We are here to provide support," reported the Konoha Jonin swiftly to Jiraiya.
"Haha, well done!" Jiraiya burst into laughter.
Although he had anticipated the signal from Hidden Rock earlier, hearing about the great victory made Jiraiya even happier.
Minato saw Mutsuki approaching and was somewhat surprised, but with the current major threat at hand, he refrained from approaching to inquire.
"Did you hear that? You've already lost," Jiraiya provocatively said with a big smile to the two Jinchuriki.
"We're still standing here, so Hidden Rock hasn't been defeated yet," Roshi said coldly.
He didn't regard those Konoha Ninja highly at all; in his eyes, they were merely targets for an additional Tailed Beast Bomb.
"We'll kill all of you, break through your defenses, and then Hidden Rock will win," Han said indifferently. He didn't believe that Jiraiya could stand against him and Roshi together.
The earlier attack was just a test; they hadn't yet unleashed their true strength.
"You're all talk. Let's see the power of the Sannin Jiraiya," Jiraiya said confidently, a smirk on his face.
"Soon you'll see who's all talk," Roshi laughed upon hearing Jiraiya's words, then erupted with the Tailed Beast Chakra within him.
Boom!
A tremendously powerful aura surged forth. Just releasing the Chakra caused the ground to crack under its immense pressure.
Almost tangible red Chakra enveloped Roshi's body, ultimately transforming into the shape of a gigantic ape's head.
Watching Roshi unleash his true power, Han beside him also exerted full force, bursting with Tailed Beast Chakra, forming a gigantic white beast's head.
The moment they released their Chakra, it stirred up a fierce wind that blew Jiraiya's hair backward and lifted dust and sand from the ground, making the atmosphere tense and ominous.
"So this is the power of the Jinchuriki. Such terrifying Chakra," remarked a Konoha Ninja, sweat dripping down their forehead uncontrollably upon witnessing Roshi and Han's terrifying aura.
The strength of their Chakra was so intense that it didn't require any Sensory Ninjutsu to perceive.
Mutsuki calmly assessed both of them.
[Name: Roshi]
[Chakra: 3,250,000 (???)]
[Skills: Lava Release (Mastery: 100/15000)...]
[Name: Han]
[Chakra: 3,650,000 (???)]
[Skills: Boil Release: Unrivalled Strength (Proficient: 2200/2500)...]
Mutsuki couldn't easily determine whether the two were strong or not. If he said they were strong, Jonin with more formidable skills would surpass them by a significant margin. If he said they weren't strong, their Chakra reserves were so exaggerated that the combined Chakra of everyone on Konoha's side wouldn't match half of either of theirs.
"The amount of Tailed Beast Chakra is indeed terrifying," Mutsuki sighed inwardly. His assessment revealed that the Chakra of both individuals was still skyrocketing.
Without the Tailed Beasts, Roshi would be decent, while Han would at best be considered a passable Jonin. Because Roshi's Lava Release was his own ability, Mutsuki could see his Mastery-level skill in Lava Release. However, Han's Boil Release was derived from the Five Tails' power, so Mutsuki could only observe its application and not the skill itself.
When their Chakra reached over five million, it stopped increasing. Mutsuki wasn't sure if this was their limit or the limit imposed by the Four Tails and Five Tails, but either way, it was a terrifying number to him.
This highlights the importance of skills. Despite having massive amounts of Chakra, the Jinchuriki were ultimately captured by Akatsuki. If Mutsuki had that much Chakra along with a plethora of powerful skills at high proficiency levels, he could single-handedly take on the Akatsuki Organization... No even the whole world!
"If you want to oppose us, bring the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki here. Otherwise, you're not worthy!" Roshi shouted with laughter, then began to gather Tailed Beast Bombs.
The gigantic ape's head opened its mouth, terrifying Chakra began to gather, ultimately forming a small black sphere. The black sphere continued to grow as Roshi infused more Chakra into it.
On the other side, the Jinchuriki of the Five Tails, Han, silently formed his own Tailed Beast Bomb. The two black spheres continued to expand.
"This is different from last time. Looks like they're really going all out this time. Minato, we should retreat," Jiraiya said with a serious expression.
Previously, Roshi had used a Tailed Beast Bomb once before, but it was much quieter compared to this time, especially since Han was joining in this time.
"Everyone, get close to me!" Minato sensed the terrifying power within the Tailed Beast Bomb and his expression drastically changed. He quickly shouted out.
He could feel that the power of the black sphere was enough to instantly destroy the entire Konoha. Despite his strong belief in Jiraiya's abilities, he doubted Jiraiya could withstand such a terrifying Tailed Beast Bomb. Dodging with the Flying Thunder God technique was the best course of action.
Mutsuki immediately moved next to Minato. While he could escape the attack range himself, revealing his true strength would be unwise. It was better to catch a ride with Minato.
Minato's two teammates knew of his abilities, so they swiftly moved towards him. Several Konoha Jonin were the last to arrive, but they managed to reach Minato's side before the Tailed Beast Bomb landed.
"Flying Thunder God Jutsu!"
Minato quickly covered the surrounding area with Chakra, taking them all away together.
Whoosh!
Boom! Boom! Boom!!!
The intense explosion's light shot straight into the sky. The moment the Tailed Beast Bomb hit the ground, the earth began to rapidly crumble, forming an immensely huge crater.
The magnitude of the explosion caused by the two Tailed Beast Bombs was so great that even after Minato and the others used the Flying Thunder God to escape, they could still see the terrifying white light of the explosion and feel the faint tremors in the ground.
"Phew, have we already arrived in the afterlife?" joked a slightly chubby ninja with dark skin.
"Obviously not, but if Minato hadn't learned the Flying Thunder God, we might really have ended up in the afterlife," sighed a black-haired ninja.
Experiencing the Tailed Beast Bomb directly made one understand the importance of a Jinchuriki. They felt that if such an attack were directed at Konoha's ninja camp, no barrier Ninjutsu could possibly withstand it.
Minato exhaled softly. It was his first time experiencing the full power of a Jinchuriki's Tailed Beast Bomb, and its power was truly terrifying.
If his Ninjutsu had failed just now, everyone would have perished beneath the Tailed Beast Bomb.
"The power of the Tailed Beasts is indeed terrifying. To think she harbors such a creature within her..." Because of Roshi's final words, Minato couldn't help but think of Kushina back in Konoha.
Konoha had trained Kushina extensively to harness the power of the Nine-Tails.
"Thank you, Minato," Mutsuki smiled gratefully at Minato.
Mutsuki's words snapped Minato out of his thoughts.
Minato returned the smile gently and replied, "Helping comrades in battle is only natural."
"I know you have a good rapport, but now isn't the time for reminiscing. The rest of you, return to guard the camp. Minato, teleport us back," Jiraiya pondered tactical considerations for a moment before speaking.
Once the Jinchuriki unleashed their full power, ordinary Jonin would no longer be effective in battle. Minato would need to use extra Chakra with the Flying Thunder God technique to protect them. He prepared to take his personally trained squad along with the two Jinchuriki to confront the situation.
"Jiraiya-sama, I believe I can stay behind to assist in any small way," Mutsuki volunteered, speaking up.
He didn't come running over just to take a look at the power of the Tailed Beast Bomb and leave.
"Jonin Mutsuki is much stronger than us. We owe our victory in this battle to Jonin Mutsuki. He dealt a heavy blow to Hidden Rock's Explosion Release user, Gari, and killed many Hidden Rock ninjas."
To ensure Mutsuki's goodwill was understood, a Konoha Jonin who fought alongside Mutsuki briefly recounted his achievements in this battle.
"So you defeated Gari," Jiraiya said with some surprise upon hearing this.
In Jiraiya's impression, Mutsuki was just an ordinary Special Jonin who was good at cooking and had decent Sealing Jutsu talent. However, Gari, with his Explosion Release, was not an easy opponent. Besides Minato, only the Konoha forces on the front lines of the Land of Grass had the ability to handle Gari one-on-one.
"He underestimated me. Actually, I'm only slightly stronger than him," Mutsuki modestly replied.
"I didn't expect you to have this kind of strength," Jiraiya said with a hearty smile, patting Mutsuki on the shoulder.
"Then let's go together and show those two Jinchuriki the power of Konoha ninjas!"
Minato's expression, upon hearing Mutsuki's achievements, was even more surprised than Jiraiya's. During his recent battle with the Jinchuriki, Minato occasionally worried about Mutsuki on another battlefield. He hadn't expected Mutsuki to be so strong, defeating even Gari of the Explosion Release.
"Mutsuki, here's my Flying Thunder God Kunai. Take it for now," Minato handed a Flying Thunder God Kunai to Mutsuki.
Without hesitation, Mutsuki accepted it and thanked Minato.
"Everyone, get ready. We're heading back," Minato reminded, then, ten seconds later, he used the Flying Thunder God technique.
Whoosh!
The scene before them changed rapidly. In the blink of an eye, Mutsuki and the others were back on the battlefield, standing at the edge of the crater, while the two Jinchuriki remained where they had released the Tailed Beast Bomb.
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