Within the territory of the Land of Fire, on the battlefield of Kikyo Mountain...
At Konoha's base camp, Jiraiya—the commander of the Konoha forces—sat inside a large tent, his expression grim.
Beside him stood his adjutant for this mission: Nara Shikaku, a Jōnin of the Nara clan.
Jiraiya tapped impatiently on the table.
"Why haven't Konoha's supplies arrived yet?"
Shikaku answered seriously,
"Lord Jiraiya, Cloud Shinobi's Demon Cat Unit is giving us a lot of trouble."
"Almost six out of every ten of our supply convoys have been ambushed. And the members of the Demon Cat Unit are fast, powerful, and almost impossible to guard against."
Jiraiya rubbed his temples.
"Didn't I ask Lord Hiruzen for help? I told him to send someone to deal with this damn Demon Cat army!"
Shikaku sighed,
"Even with reinforcements, it'll take time. Konoha hasn't located the enemy stronghold yet."
Jiraiya gritted his teeth.
"This Cloud Shinobi AB combo is seriously getting on my nerves! We can't catch them, but they won't stop harassing our supply lines."
The battle at Kikyo Mountain had already dragged on for more than half a month.
The main reason Jiraiya's forces hadn't made any significant progress was because of two people: the Fourth Raikage, A (Ai), and Killer Bee.
The worst of the two was A. His speed in Lightning Release Chakra Mode was absurd, and he kept targeting Konoha's warehouses. Their supply depots had already been destroyed countless times.
On top of that, the Demon Cat Unit kept striking from behind, cutting off reinforcements and stealing resources.
As a result, the frontlines were now facing a crisis—severely lacking weapons and food.
If something wasn't done soon, the front lines would collapse.
Jiraiya asked with a worried tone,
"When is the Third Hokage sending that guy Simu?"
He was so anxious that his teeth itched.
"If not him, even Minato would be good. Both of them are fast enough to keep up with A."
As they were discussing, Kato Dan suddenly stepped into the tent.
"Lord Jiraiya, the latest supply convoy from Konoha has arrived safely."
Jiraiya's eyes lit up.
"They didn't get attacked by that Demon Cat Unit?"
Kato Dan shook his head.
"No. This time the delivery was handled by the new generation of the Ino–Shika–Chō trio. And they have some special intel they want to report to you directly."
Jiraiya frowned.
"Special intel? Let them in."
Shikaku also raised an eyebrow in interest.
Currently, there was only one group referred to as the Ino–Shika–Chō combo—Shikaku's nephew Nara Shikamaru and his teammates.
Soon, Nara Shikamaru led Yamanaka Inoichi and Akimichi Chōza into the tent.
"Lord Jiraiya. Uncle Shikaku."
Shikaku, Shikamaru's uncle, nodded. Jiraiya waved off the formalities.
"Tell me, what did you find?"
Shikamaru got right to the point.
"We ran into Simu on the way to the battlefield."
Because they were already familiar with Simu, Shikamaru didn't refer to him formally like others might.
Jiraiya sat up straight.
"You saw Simu? Where is he now?"
With Simu's presence, Konoha could finally go on the offensive again.
Shikamaru scratched his head.
"He caught a few Cloud Shinobi from the Demon Cat Unit and handed them over to Inoichi to read their memories."
"What?!"
Shikaku's face darkened.
"The minds of enemy infiltrators are often sealed with protective jutsu. If you carelessly read them, it could cause a severe backlash! What if Inoichi had been hurt?!"
Yamanaka Inoichi, standing behind Shikamaru, raised his hand.
"Don't worry, Uncle Shikaku, I'm fine."
Shikaku hurried over and checked him thoroughly. After confirming that Inoichi wasn't hurt, he finally relaxed.
Jiraiya looked a bit embarrassed.
After all, Simu was his own student. If Simu acted recklessly, some of the blame naturally fell on him as the teacher.
He cleared his throat.
"This Simu... He's way too reckless. Don't worry, Inoichi—I'll scold him properly later."
Inoichi smiled,
"Really, I'm fine."
Shikaku was secretly impressed.
He hadn't expected Inoichi to be this talented in intelligence work—he'd actually managed to bypass the mental seals placed by Cloud Shinobi.
He turned to Shikamaru.
Shikamaru himself wasn't bad either—though he was still a bit lazy.
Jiraiya steered the conversation back.
"Inoichi, you said you searched their memories. Did you find anything useful?"
Inoichi nodded.
"I located the stronghold of the Demon Cat Unit. I passed the intel to Simu... and he rushed there immediately."
Jiraiya's forehead twitched.
"This guy...!"
Shikaku added solemnly,
"The Demon Cat Unit is powerful, and its leaders are both Jinchūriki. It's reckless to charge in alone."
But Shikamaru calmly disagreed.
"With Simu's strength, you don't need to worry."
"Only by taking them out quickly can we restore the supply routes and bring this war to a swift end."
Even at his young age, Shikamaru already had a sharp sense of strategy.
Just as Jiraiya was about to reply, a piercing alarm sounded from outside the tent.
A ninja rushed in.
"Lord Jiraiya! The Hyuga Clan's reconnaissance unit has spotted enemy movement—it's the Cloud Shinobi's Fourth Raikage, A!"
Normally, a Byakugan user could detect movement up to one kilometer away.
With intense training, that could be extended to three, maybe even five kilometers.
But that wasn't enough when it came to A.
With his insane speed, even five kilometers could be covered in just over ten seconds.
Jiraiya and the others rushed out of the tent.
By then, smoke and flames were already rising from the direction of the supply depot.
Ninjutsu blasts flew through the air, but none could touch A.
"Hahahaha! Konoha shinobi, surrender now!" A roared as he stormed through the camp with a massive blade in hand.
The ground was ripped apart by his sheer force.
Several Konoha ninja were knocked off their feet and thrown into the air.
Not bothering to stay, A destroyed the depot and immediately retreated—vanishing from sight once again.
Jiraiya's face darkened.
He instantly summoned a giant toad using the Summoning Technique.
With red skin and a massive scar over his left eye, the toad held a huge pipe between his lips, puffing smoke.
"Bunta, let's go!"
"Ah, it's that brat covered in lightning again."
Toad Bunta stomped on the ground, launching himself into the air.
He landed directly on the Fourth Raikage's escape route.
"Is that Jiraiya of the Legendary Sannin's summoning beast?"
The Raikage, Ai, dashed like lightning through the forest.
He looked up at Toad Bunta, towering before him like a mountain.
But instead of fear, excitement flashed in Ai's eyes.
Only someone as powerful as Jiraiya was worthy to be his opponent!
Seeing the enemy charging in, Toad Bunta didn't hold back.
He swung a massive fist at Ai.
Yet Ai, a speed-type fighter, didn't dodge.
He struck directly.
"Lightning Style: Lariat!"
Lightning wrapped around his arm, amplifying his already terrifying strength.
He clashed head-on with Bunta's descending punch.
Sparks and lightning exploded at the point of impact.
Powerful forces collided.
"This guy's strength... a little freakish," Bunta muttered.
His fist was slowly being pushed back.
Ai suddenly vanished—reappearing atop Toad Bunta's head.
With a hand blade crackling with thunder, he slashed at Jiraiya!
But Jiraiya, one of the Sannin, wasn't caught off guard.
He quickly formed a hand seal, and his long white hair shot out like snakes.
Instead of using needle attacks, he chose a different approach.
He knew sharp attacks wouldn't work against someone with physical power on par with a Tailed Beast.
Ai's thunder-coated hand blade gleamed with power, cutting through the white hair effortlessly.
Jiraiya leapt back just in time.
A large stream of orange toad oil spewed from his mouth.
"Fire Style: Great Flame Bomb!"
A torrent of flames shot toward Ai, engulfing him.
"Lightning Style: Thunder Blade!"
Unfazed, Ai slashed with his hand blade.
A sword-like beam of lightning burst forth, slicing the fireball clean in two.
With monstrous endurance and reflexes, Ai charged through the flames, wrapped in his lightning chakra.
Jiraiya stepped forward, trying to intercept him.
But Ai's speed was simply too fast.
A hand blade came crashing down—Jiraiya barely raised his hand before it struck.
Lightning burst forth.
Jiraiya exploded into smoke.
A Shadow Clone!
Ai stomped down on Bunta's head and leapt into the air.
Jiraiya reappeared from another direction.
"Ninja Art: Wild Lion's Mane Technique!"
Countless white hairs surged forward like waves, binding Ai's right leg tightly.
But in a flash, Ai's lightning blade slashed through the bindings.
Just then, a horde of Cloud Shinobi arrived.
"Lightning Style: Shuriken!"
Thousands of them threw shuriken at once.
Each blade was charged with lightning—ready to paralyze on contact.
But Konoha wasn't defenseless.
Earth Style users formed walls of stone to block the onslaught.
"Y'all better step off! Mynah, buckle Noah!"
"Get lost, Konoha scum!"
A strange rap echoed from the distance.
A thick octopus leg suddenly extended across the battlefield—crushing the newly formed stone defenses with raw force.
"As expected of Lord Killer Bee!"
Cloud Shinobi surged forward, using the opportunity to clash with Konoha forces.
Killer Bee also charged in.
Unlike ordinary swordsmen, he wielded seven blades—gripped with elbows, knees, shoulders, and wrists.
The Seven Swords Style!
He stood on one leg, spinning wildly.
"What the hell kind of sword style is this?!"
The Konoha shinobi stared in disbelief.
Then Bee stepped down with one foot.
In the blink of an eye, he rushed through the crowd—his seven blades slicing through throats and arteries with frightening speed.
"What speed…!" gasped a Uchiha ninja, trembling.
Even with his Sharingan fully activated, he couldn't keep up.
"Mynah Lu, buckle Noah!"
"Time to send y'all packin'!"
Killer Bee's killing spree continued—unstoppable.
Elsewhere, Jiraiya finally found an opening.
He summoned the Toad Gourd Prison from Mount Myōboku.
"Toad Mouth Bind!"
The Fourth Raikage was swallowed into the toad's stomach—a fleshy, deadly maze.
"Jiraiya, with that guy's power, your toad won't last long," Bunta warned.
"I know," Jiraiya said grimly. "Time to use that."
"Understood."
Toad Bunta inhaled deeply, then exhaled a wave of toad oil at the Cloud Shinobi forces.
Jiraiya formed hand signs—his Fire Style igniting the oil in midair.
"Fire Style: Toad Flame Oil Bomb!"
A wall of flames surged forward, engulfing the Cloud Shinobi forces below.
They screamed as fire fell from the sky.
But Ai, the future Raikage, wasn't so easily trapped.
Inside the toad's belly, lightning flashed.
In less than a minute, he broke free with raw power!
A streak of lightning cut across the air—
Ai's punch landed squarely on Jiraiya.
Though Jiraiya had reinforced his body with hardened hair, he was still sent flying.
Of course, one of the Legendary Sannin wouldn't fall so easily.
But Ai's goal wasn't Jiraiya.
He shot toward Konoha's main camp like a bolt of thunder.
He was leading Cloud Shinobi tonight to crush the Leaf's army.
As for Jiraiya?
What could a single man do without an army?
"Damn it…"
Jiraiya gritted his teeth, looking at the chaotic battlefield.
Ai and Killer Bee tore through everything in their path—unstoppable forces of destruction.
Though Kato Dan and other Jōnin fought bravely, they couldn't match that level of devastation.
Jiraiya's eyes turned cold.
If I can't catch up to them—then I'll trade my life for theirs.
He was about to charge the Cloud Shinobi troops when—
A terrifying presence descended onto the battlefield.
"Bee, I feel something… familiar," Killer Bee murmured.
He decapitated a Uchiha ninja, then landed atop a tree branch.
His eyes widened.
A blue figure walked across the battlefield—then leapt into the air.
A giant feline creature followed.
It was Matatabi—the Two-Tails!
"It's the Two-Tails' Jinchūriki!"
The Cloud Shinobi erupted with excitement.
But the next moment, they froze in shock.
Matatabi let out a growl—and incinerated dozens of Cloud Shinobi around her with a swipe of her flaming tails!
Only then did they see the figure standing atop her head.
A silhouette bathed in justice.
Hanyu Simu had arrived on the battlefield.
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