"Boom!!!"

A toad the size of a small hill leaped into the air, and its heavy body landed on the ground. In a series of explosions, over ten Cloud Ninjas turned into white smoke—nothing but shadow clones. The red-skinned toad with a short sword spat in disgust, firing a spitball like a cannon. It shot through the air and smashed into an old tree, leaving a deep crater that formed a small pond.

"A bunch of sneaky rats! No guts to face me like a man?"

Faced with this talking, foul-mouthed toad's extreme taunts, the Cloud Ninjas were burning with anger. But when they saw the man standing on top of the toad, they forced themselves to remain calm. The Jonin commanders instructed their subordinates to use shadow clones or water clones—any technique they could muster to delay the toad and the man.

After all, the white-haired man standing on the toad was none other than Jiraiya, one of the Legendary Sannin.

The Sannin were recognized as some of the strongest ninjas of the current era, each a top-tier master that even village leaders—Kage—had to treat with caution. Jiraiya merely summoned a single toad and had already forced the Cloud Ninjas to rely on sheer numbers to hold him off, barely managing to sustain the fight.

They had already sent a request for reinforcements, and reinforcements did arrive! Quite a few, actually.

The problem was, no one who came was capable of facing Jiraiya one-on-one. Six Jonin and over a hundred Chunin were sent. It was a large reinforcement force, but all the Cloud Ninjas on the battlefield could do was grit their teeth and endure. What could Chunin do against someone like Jiraiya? Most of them couldn't even use shadow clones. They were nothing but cannon fodder in this battle, while the Jonin had to work together to at least prevent Jiraiya from running rampant and disrupting their formations.

The commanders understood that the top-tier experts from their village were likely too occupied to come to their aid. Konoha simply had too many powerful ninjas. If they stopped one, they might miss another. Jiraiya had clearly slipped through the cracks.

Fortunately, despite a few battlefronts being at a disadvantage, the Cloud Ninjas were generally holding the upper hand in most of the fighting. Their large numbers were having the desired effect. If two-on-one wasn't enough, they used three-on-one or four-on-one—Chunin against Genin, Jonin against Chunin. The Cloud Village had more Jonin than Konoha and its allies.

So, beating Jiraiya wasn't important. The key was to keep him occupied and prevent him from becoming a one-man rescue squad and tipping the scales in Konoha's favor. That was the current strategy of the Cloud Ninjas.

Meanwhile, Jiraiya, standing atop Gamabunta, had yet to make a move himself.

"Lord Jiraiya, the Cloud Ninjas have too many troops! Rough estimates put their numbers at over ten thousand, and our defenses have already been breached in several places. If this keeps up, we might be in serious trouble!"

The voice spoke directly in Jiraiya's mind. It was a member of the Yamanaka Clan relaying information from the command center.

Both Jiraiya and another top Konoha ninja, Sōgen, were fighting on the front lines. But battles of this scale required coordination from the higher-ups to ensure that the forces worked together effectively. The Nara and Yamanaka Clans had been entrusted with the task of commanding the army. However, the Cloud Ninjas also had skilled tacticians who were maximizing their numerical advantage. Nara Shuzaku and the others were doing their best to hold things together, but they were constantly putting out fires as they were outmatched in numbers.

Jiraiya frowned slightly at this news and took out a radio earpiece, adjusting the frequency.

"Kuma? Is that you?"

"Yes, Lord Jiraiya. What do you need?"

"Ask the command center if they've informed the Hokage's advisor of the current situation. If they haven't, tell them to do so. If they already have, I want to know the advisor's response."

"Yes, Lord Jiraiya."

Yamanaka Kuma responded gravely.

Not far behind Gamabunta, a young woman with long blonde hair stood with her eyes closed, using her clan's secret techniques to communicate with the command center. Two Konoha ninjas stood guard to ensure she wasn't attacked by any Cloud Ninjas.

She was part of Jiraiya's squad. As a Yamanaka, her job wasn't to fight but to act as a communication link between Jiraiya and the command center. Wireless radios had limited range, so she served as a human relay system, accompanied by guards to ensure her safety.

The Yamanaka technique was one-way communication, but in the world of ninjas, it was already an efficient system. The Cloud Ninjas relied on a combination of radios and trained messenger animals, but their system was far less flexible than Konoha's.

Before long, Yamanaka Kuma relayed the response to Jiraiya's mind.

"Lord Jiraiya, the Hokage's advisor has been informed of the situation. He said we should not worry and that we should wait and see—the Cloud Ninjas are destined to lose this battle. But things aren't looking good. The Cloud's numbers are—"

"Enough!" Jiraiya cut him off impatiently. "Kuma, tell the command center to follow the advisor's orders. And remind them who's the highest-ranking commander. If they have something important to say, say it, but stop buzzing in my head with useless chatter!"

His tone was sharp and unforgiving. Although Jiraiya had often been teased by Orochimaru growing up, he wasn't stupid. Beneath his carefree exterior lay a sharp mind. He could sense that the command center seemed to be avoiding taking orders from Uchiha Sōgen, the Hokage's advisor, and instead sought him out directly.

It irritated Jiraiya deeply.

"Sensei Sarutobi has already passed away, and they still can't accept the Uchiha? How ridiculous..." Jiraiya muttered under his breath, his face darkening.

He stomped his foot and shouted, "Gama Bunta, use the oil! Since these rats like to hide, let's make sure they have nowhere left to hide!" As long as Konoha was still Konoha, he didn't care about these troublesome affairs in the village. Whether the Fifth Hokage disliked the Uchiha, or people like Nara Suzaku were trying to suppress them, he had no intention of getting involved.

Political struggles were never going to disappear anyway. In his travels across the ninja world, searching for the Child of Destiny, he had seen many landscapes and met countless people. His horizons had broadened immensely, and as a result, he had grown increasingly tired of the petty squabbles within the village.

He had no plans to meddle in the village's trivial matters, nor did he intend to lash out at Nara Suzaku and others. But he still needed a way to release the frustrations building up inside.

And right in front of him, the perfect target was the Cloud Ninja.

There was no better punching bag than the Cloud Ninja!

Plus, while he had told them to follow Uchiha Zongxian's lead, and he trusted that young advisor to the Hokage wasn't just full of hot air, it was clear the commander had some level of confidence. Since he had ordered them to observe the situation, Jiraiya was sure there was a plan.

But to be honest, Jiraiya was still a bit worried about the outcome of the battle. He figured he should do his best, defeat the enemy in front of him, and then quickly move to support other areas.

Toad Bunta, who had already been irritated by the Cloud Ninja's clone techniques and long-range attacks, wasted no time upon hearing Jiraiya's command. Without a word, he spewed out a flood of toad oil. At the same time, standing atop Bunta's head, Jiraiya finished forming his hand seals.

"Fire Style: Flame Bullet!"

A scorching fireball burst from his mouth, landing in the sea of toad oil. Instantly, the oil ignited, and a blazing inferno swept across the area!

This was a combination jutsu—

Fire Style: Toad Oil Flame Bullet.

Not only was its destructive power far beyond typical Fire Style techniques, but due to the toad oil, ordinary Water Style jutsu couldn't extinguish the flames. And with the sheer amount of oil that Bunta had spewed, the fire spread over a massive area.

Screams echoed from the sea of fire.

But many Cloud Ninja didn't even have time to scream before the scorching flames engulfed them, turning them into charred remains that quickly crumbled into ash. The toad oil consumed everything, leaving no trace of their bodies behind.

The few Cloud Ninja who managed to cry out were the more skilled ones. Their bodies had been honed to withstand the heat, or they had instantly activated defensive jutsu. But the firestorm was too vast! Even with Body Flicker techniques, they couldn't escape the range of the flames.

Some Cloud Ninja, who were adept at Earth Style techniques, tried to burrow underground to escape. However, the heat of the fire was so intense that even underground felt like an oven. Though there was no open flame, the temperature alone was enough to kill them!

In just one attack, dozens of Cloud Ninja were swallowed by the flames. Most importantly, their chain of command had been obliterated. The Jonin leading the front lines, along with their shadow clones, had been wiped out. Although a significant number of Chunin had survived, having been positioned outside the fire's reach, it was clear that without their Jonin commanders, the remaining Cloud Ninja stood no chance of holding Jiraiya back.

These small fry weren't worth Jiraiya's time. The others could handle cleanup!

"Pesky rats, let's see where you run now!"

Gama Bunta puffed on his pipe, clearly pleased with the blazing inferno in front of him.

For Gama Bunta, killing was enjoyable. It was like hunting insects in Mount Myoboku, a thrill that brought him immense satisfaction. Of course, humans didn't taste as good as the bugs on Mount Myoboku, but those disgusting snakes from Ryuchi Cave probably enjoyed eating them!

"Bunta, the battle isn't over yet! It's not time to rest. Let's head over there next!" Jiraiya, stomping his foot on Bunta's head in exasperation, urged him to get back to work. Glancing at the still-burning sea of fire, Jiraiya turned his attention elsewhere, feeling nothing for the Cloud Ninja who had perished in the flames.

This war had been started by the Cloud Ninja. They were the ones who had provoked the conflict with Konoha. No matter how many Cloud Ninja died, Jiraiya wouldn't care. Even though, to be honest, he didn't like war and even despised it.

But that wouldn't stop him from punishing anyone who dared to threaten Konoha.

"Just one puff!"

True to his word, Gama Bunta took a single puff before stowing away his pipe and drawing his short sword. Following Jiraiya's direction, he gathered strength and leaped. With just three or four jumps, they arrived at another battlefield, where the Konoha forces, lacking high-level support, were being surrounded by Cloud Ninja several times their number. It was clear they wouldn't hold out much longer.

And at that moment,

Jiraiya arrived!