"You dare to bully us and try to escape?"
As the angry voice rang out, the area where Sakumo and Chiyo fought, which was already dim, darkened even more, as if shrouded by a massive shadow. Both of them looked up to see a giant toad looming overhead—Gamabunta!
"My time is up; it's your turn now," Gamabunta said. Being far from Minato, the summoner, and having already been on the field for some time, his summoning time was nearly over.
"This time, you've worked hard," Jiraiya's voice called out.
"Bang!"
A puff of smoke exploded, and the huge toad and the giant sword protecting Hatake Sakumo suddenly vanished. As Jiraiya and Orochimaru fell from the sky, Chiyo's expression turned extremely grim. However, being a seasoned and powerful ninja, she immediately manipulated her Chikamatsu Ten Puppets to launch an attack upwards. For her puppets, there were no blind spots in any direction.
Swish!
At the same time, Sakumo moved, gripping his short sword and rushing toward Chiyo. His goal was to support Jiraiya and Orochimaru, who were still in midair.
Chiyo, cautious of Sakumo, left half of her puppets to guard against him. The other five were busy twirling steel cables or launching poisonous arrows and kunai.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Continuous Bomb!"
In the air, Jiraiya and Orochimaru had prepared for battle. Jiraiya unleashed a barrage of enormous fireballs, filling Chiyo's vision with blazing flames and cutting off her line of sight.
Boom!
Simultaneously, Chiyo's attacks clashed with the fire, intercepted by the searing heat.
"Water Release: Water Wave Jutsu!"
Sizzle!
Part of the flames above Sakumo and Chiyo's heads were extinguished by the Water Release ninjutsu, creating rising steam that made it difficult to see anything inside.
All of this happened within mere moments.
"Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
A fast-moving shadow flashed out from the steam, skimming through the air with a sound that quickly multiplied, turning into dozens or even hundreds of similar sounds in just a few breaths.
Chiyo frowned and swiftly retracted the five puppets that had been attacking Jiraiya and Orochimaru. She also recalled the puppets keeping Sakumo at bay. Her ten puppets formed an impenetrable defense, shielding her from the rain of shuriken that descended from above.
Countless shurikens clattered to the ground with a sharp, metallic sound.
Swish!
At the same time, two figures burst from the steam and landed in front of Hatake Sakumo. Seeing the two people, even Sakumo couldn't help but smile a little.
This battle with Chiyo had been the most challenging one he'd faced since becoming a ninja. His opponent was far stronger than he was. If he hadn't possessed the skills to counter a puppeteer, he would have fallen to Chiyo's hands long ago.
Currently, in Konoha, only the Third Hokage could deal with Chiyo alone.
"Water Release: Water Wall!"
Orochimaru formed hand seals, spitting out a stream of water that swept up and over the heads and bodies of the three. The fireballs raining down from Jiraiya were neutralized by the water wall.
Meanwhile, Chiyo remained within the defensive formation of her puppets. The double-sword-wielding puppets slashed through the air, cutting apart the scattered flames. Though the other puppets continued to defend, there was a slight hesitation in their movements.
This was why Jiraiya had used large-scale Fire Release ninjutsu—not just to land safely, but also to disrupt Chiyo's defense.
As the scattered flames flickered downwards, Chiyo's eyes darkened with frustration.
She had never imagined that the battle, which seemed to be hers to win, would turn out like this. Faulty intelligence had contributed to her setback, but the true turning point had been the giant summoned beast that brought Jiraiya and Orochimaru so swiftly into the fray. At the root of it all was that yellow-haired Konoha kid who had summoned Gamabunta.
This child had not only destroyed two of her puppets but had also nearly foiled her plan to kill Hatake Sakumo.
Just as Chiyo's anger surged, Jiraiya and Orochimaru launched their counterattack. Both had fury burning in their eyes. Jiraiya made seals and slammed the ground with force.
"Earth Release: Earth Flow Rock City!"
The earth rumbled, and walls of rock shot up from the ground like city fortifications, surrounding Chiyo and her puppets.
Chiyo was stunned. Although she hadn't underestimated these two, she hadn't expected them to perform such a powerful Earth Release ninjutsu in an instant!
She immediately manipulated her physically powerful puppets to attack the walls, causing cracks to form, but their destructive power wasn't enough to instantly break down the barriers.
At that moment, two figures climbed up the earth walls, both preparing Fire Release jutsu.
"Fire Release: Big Flame Bomb!"
"Fire Release: Fire Dragon Bomb!"
Two powerful Fire Release techniques rained down from the top of the wall, the blazing flames filling Chiyo's vision.
Blazing!
The searing flames erupted into the sky, igniting everything in their path.
"Let's burn your broken puppets to ashes!" Jiraiya roared angrily.
But just before they could land on the ground, a loud whistling sound cut through the sweltering flames.
"Three Jewels Suction Crush!"
Whoosh!
A violent storm stirred the blazing fire, and then, with terrifying force, the wind extinguished the towering flames and sent them shooting towards the nearby mountains and battlefield.
Both sides' ninjas, momentarily stunned by the ferocity of the battle, were forced to dodge the flames.
"She actually used wind to blow away the fire," Suzuka remarked in awe. In the interaction of chakra natures, Fire Release generally overpowers Wind Release, but that isn't always true.
If the power difference is large enough, wind can extinguish fire.
Jiraiya and Orochimaru's Fire Release was strong, but Chiyo's Wind Release was stronger.
Under the fierce wind, the rock walls collapsed, and the rubble was carried by the gusts with tremendous force.
When the storm subsided, Chiyo reappeared, her eyelids heavy as she gazed at the two before her with intensity.
But what greeted her were the even angrier faces of Jiraiya and Orochimaru.
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