"Boom!"
When Gamabunta finished speaking, he exerted his strength and stomped hard on the ground in the mountains. Instantly, several giant mountains around him shook violently. The strong wind from his jump overturned the bodies of dozens of Sand Ninjas who hadn't yet had time to attack. Even the Jonin could hardly move.
Gamabunta jumped up directly!
With his huge body and the power of his leap, he traveled hundreds of meters in just a few breaths before his jumping force was exhausted, and he fell heavily to the ground.
"Boom!"
The ground shook violently again, much more than before, even causing a landslide. The battlefield where Konoha's reinforcements had been ambushed by the Sand Ninjas was within the range of the tremors. Hundreds of people were stunned, including Hatake Sakumo and Chiyo, the leaders of both sides.
At this moment, Sakumo looked very battered, but he was still struggling to hold his ground, despite the gap in strength between him and Chiyo.
Fortunately, Chiyo, being a puppeteer, was best at manipulating puppets to launch physical attacks with ninja tools and mechanisms. For a ninja like Sakumo, who excelled in speed and semi-physical combat, he was somewhat of a nemesis to puppeteers.
Chiyo hadn't used the "Three Jewel Suction Crush" move that she had employed earlier. It was clear that such a move wasn't easy to use, and more importantly, Sakumo's earlier desperate attacks had already caused some damage to Chiyo's puppets.
Her puppets were her greatest asset, and she couldn't afford to let them suffer more damage. As a result, even Chiyo was wary of Sakumo.
Everyone looked over and saw another tremor shaking the mountains. Though it was weaker by the time it reached them, they finally noticed the massive monster that had jumped into the sky.
"Is that... the toad from Mount Myoboku?!" Sakumo exclaimed, and a look of extreme relief appeared on his face.
He could vaguely make out two figures standing on the head of the giant toad.
It was Minato and Nawaki.
"That kid Minato can actually summon a beast of this level!" Sakumo wasn't the only one on Konoha's side who saw the two figures above Gamabunta's head, and he couldn't help but exclaim in shock.
The Summoning Jutsu is typically used by Jonin-level ninjas, but very few have ever seen such a colossal summoning beast.
The Sand Ninja were equally shocked. The ninjas that Chiyo had stationed in the mountains and forests to catch any who escaped the battle, including Chiyo herself, all stared wide-eyed.
"Is this kid Jiraiya's apprentice, the one Hanzo dubbed one of the Three Sannin?" Chiyo thought to herself. Minato had already surprised her earlier by destroying two of her puppets, and now this was even more unexpected.
Could a child, only ten years old, summon and control such a large beast?
At this moment, Minato was unaware of the waves his actions had caused on the battlefield, as he was fully focused on expanding his sensory abilities.
"My sensor range has expanded several times!" Minato was shocked. He hadn't expected that after the Nine-Tails' chakra restored his physical strength, some of his abilities would suddenly improve.
"Senior Nawaki, we're saved!" he said, looking at the unconscious Nawaki beside him with a sigh of relief.
Even if he couldn't sense Jiraiya yet, it didn't matter. With a creature as massive as Gamabunta, it would be hard for anyone to miss them.
"Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!"
Gamabunta jumped repeatedly, each leap causing the ground to rumble, but the results were undeniable. This method of travel was far faster than anything Minato could have done before.
Not long after, dozens of miles away from Minato, hundreds of Konoha ninjas were running through the rain, and at the front of the group were the "Three Sannin"—Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru!
Everyone was pushing forward with all their strength when, after about ten seconds, one of the Hyuga ninjas in the group suddenly squatted down. A small black dot appeared in his vision, which was far better than that of ordinary people.
At first, he thought he was seeing things, but after a few seconds, he felt the faint, rhythmic tremors of footsteps coming from the black dot as it moved up and down.
He stopped and stared in disbelief, muttering, "That's..."
His strange behavior caught the attention of many around him, including Tsunade, Orochimaru, and Jiraiya.
Before they could ask him what was happening, the ground began to tremble slightly, and the tremors were growing stronger.
The three of them turned suddenly, and saw a shadow, barely visible in the distance, that was leaping toward them.
Although its form didn't look too exaggerated from so far away, the fact that it was visible from such a distance indicated how enormous it was.
"Is that some enemy jutsu?" Tsunade asked cautiously.
Hearing this, the Konoha ninjas braced themselves, fearing it might be an enemy attack.
Jiraiya, one of the two standing beside her, studied the outline of the figure in the distance, still uncertain. After a few seconds, when Gamabunta's appearance became clearer, his eyes widened in surprise.
"How did he show up here?" Jiraiya said, astonished. Even he couldn't fully control Gamabunta.
He waved his hand and said, "Not an enemy."
As the ground shook more violently, the giant toad came closer and closer. At first, they could only make out its shape, but soon they could see the outline of a human figure atop its head.
"It's Minato!" the Hyuga ninja was the first to recognize him, and soon the entire group of Konoha ninjas was in shock.
Among them, the one with the most exaggerated reaction was, of course, Minato's teacher, Jiraiya.
"Boom!"
With rocks flying and strong gusts of air mixed with rain, Gamabunta's massive body landed in front of the Konoha group.
When they saw Gamabunta up close, everyone displayed expressions of sheer disbelief.
Swish!
In the next moment, two figures jumped down from Gamabunta's head. Minato, carrying Nawaki on his back, rushed straight to Tsunade.
"Lady Tsunade, Nawaki-senpai has been poisoned by Chiyo. Please, save him!" Minato blurted out, paying no attention to the shocked eyes on him. He had no time for explanations.
"What?!"
Tsunade's face turned pale upon hearing the news. She hurried forward and took Nawaki from Minato's back.
She didn't need to ask for further details. Tsunade could already see that Nawaki was gravely poisoned, and there was no time to waste.
"How could this happen?" Jiraiya, standing nearby, couldn't help but ask.
Minato didn't answer him, turning instead to Jiraiya with an urgent expression.
"Sensei, you need to go and reinforce Sakumo-senpai and the others. Our reinforcements were ambushed by the Sand Ninjas, led by Chiyo!"
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