Chapter 479

Despite this, Orochimaru still firmly controlled the giant snake with his snake control jutsu.

The reason was very simple: because if he didn't do this, the first thing the giant snake would do before dying would be to retaliate against Orochimaru, its master.

Seeing that the offensive of the Rain Tiger Shuriken Jutsu had ceased, Orochimaru finally breathed a sigh of relief and released the summoning jutsu.

"Poof!"

With a puff of mist, the dying giant snake disappeared from the spot.

Compared to Orochimaru and Tsunade, Jiraiya on the other side was clearly having a much harder time.

But fortunately, to some extent, Jiraiya could be considered the most skilled at defense among the three.

Facing the sky full of Rain Tiger shuriken pouring down, Gamaken guarded Jiraiya's front firmly with his massive body.

"Boom, boom, boom!!!!"

Gamaken used his fork in one hand to constantly attack as a form of defense, knocking down the falling shuriken. In his other hand, he held his shield, intercepting the incoming Rain Tiger shuriken.

But even the Rashomon, which symbolized the Gate of Hell, could not withstand these tsunami-like shuriken, let alone the ordinary material of the shield in Gamaken's hand.

"Crack!!!"

Sure enough, as expected, Gamaken's giant shield soon shattered into pieces.

And so, Gamaken's massive body was exposed to the sky full of shuriken.

Jiraiya was not like Orochimaru; he could not bring himself to forcibly use a summoning beast as a scapegoat.

Since Gamaken had done his best, then Gamaken could just retreat; he would not blame Gamaken.

At this moment, Jiraiya was prepared to face the sky full of Rain Tiger shuriken alone.

But who would have thought that something Jiraiya didn't expect would happen next.

Despite being able to release the summoning jutsu on his own and return to Mount Myoboku, Gamaken simply turned his back and firmly stood in front of Jiraiya.

"Ken!!!!"

Jiraiya looked at Gamaken's purple-red face in disbelief. At this moment, there was a hint of human-like guilt on Gamaken's face.

"Sorry, Jiraiya."

"I am just too clumsy."

Gamaken said guiltily, and the next second, his body trembled violently.

A massive amount of Rain Tiger shuriken pierced through Gamaken's back, and a large amount of blood gushed out from his massive body.

For a moment, Jiraiya's eyes couldn't help but moisten.

His strong ninja training allowed Jiraiya to react quickly; he did not let Gamaken's sacrifice go to waste.

In fact, Jiraiya had known long ago that Gamaken alone could not block the sky full of Rain Tiger shuriken, so he had prepared a countermeasure early on.

Since he couldn't defend, why bother defending?

Since things had come to this, why not go all out! As the saying goes, the best defense is a good offense.

Jiraiya, a hero of his generation, ultimately chose to confront the demigod's terrifying and powerful offensive head-on!

At this moment, Jiraiya had a Shadow Clone he had summoned in advance by his side.

Jiraiya and his Shadow Clone performed hand seals together. Just as Gamaken was blocking the Rain Tiger shuriken for Jiraiya, the ninjutsu Jiraiya had prepared was finally completed.

Thus, Jiraiya directly forcibly released the summoning jutsu, sending Gamaken back to Mount Myoboku.

At this moment, Jiraiya's small body was exposed to the sky full of Rain Tiger shuriken, appearing so thin and fragile.

Fire Style: Flame Bullet Jutsu!

Ninja Art: Toad Oil Jutsu!

Jiraiya and his Shadow Clone opened their mouths together; one spat out a scorching heatwave, while the other spat out sticky oil.

Fire and oil merged in the air, instantly erupting into an even more terrifying fire!

Fire Style: Great Flame Bullet Jutsu!!

Jiraiya, on his own, unleashed a composite Fire Style jutsu with extremely terrifying power!

"Sizzle!!!!!"

The scorching oil-fire came into contact with the sky full of Rain Tiger shuriken. A harsh sound rang out beneath the curtain of rain, and in an instant, a massive amount of steam diffused in all directions, obscuring Jiraiya's figure.

As everyone knows, Water Style counters Fire Style. Even if Water Style and Fire Style of the same level collide, Water Style basically wins.

Not to mention, in the current rainstorm, this Rain Tiger Shuriken Jutsu was already an over-spec Water Style.

Although the massive amount of steam from the liquid evaporation obscured the surrounding vision, it could be expected that the Fire Style Jiraiya had painstakingly unleashed would be ruthlessly extinguished.

Just as Tsunade said, even if Hanzo of the Salamander relied on the rain, his chakra was not infinite.

Hanzo could not sustain such a large-scale ninjutsu for long.

Soon, Hanzo's chakra was faintly bottoming out, so he had to withdraw this massive Rain Tiger Shuriken Jutsu.

He looked to his left and right; on one side was a giant snake that had been sliced to pieces, and on the other was thick water vapor.

Seeing this, Hanzo of the Salamander slowly shook his head and made a move to leave.

He felt that under his full-power strike, these three young ninjas should have already lost their lives.

But just at this moment.

"Poof!"

The giant snake disappeared on the spot, revealing Tsunade and Orochimaru inside.

Tsunade looked incredibly disheveled, covered in blood, while Orochimaru, apart from looking a bit pale, seemed completely fine.

Hanzo of the Salamander immediately stopped in his tracks, a hint of sternness flashing in his eyes.

That was not all; the torrential rain in the sky was still falling, and the water vapor on the other side of Hanzo of the Salamander was soon washed away by the rain.

"Hoo, hoo, hoo."

Jiraiya, who had turned into a bloody mess, was half-kneeling on the ground, panting heavily.

Even though he was incredibly disheveled, a fact that surprised Hanzo of the Salamander lay before him.

—Jiraiya was actually not dead!

"How is this possible!!!"

At this moment, even someone as strong as Hanzo of the Salamander had an extremely ugly expression on his face.

Hanzo of the Salamander could just consider Orochimaru and Tsunade not dying as a stroke of luck.

But that Jiraiya was not dead was something Hanzo of the Salamander truly had not expected at all.

Beneath such dense Rain Tiger shuriken, even Hanzo of the Salamander himself would lose a layer of skin if he didn't die. How could Jiraiya, who used Fire Style to clash with this sky full of Rain Tiger shuriken and whose attribute was countered, survive?

How exactly did he do it?

Hanzo of the Salamander felt suspicious and uncertain in his heart.

At the same time, seeing that Jiraiya was unharmed, Tsunade and Orochimaru also set their minds at ease and breathed a sigh of relief.

After withstanding this blow, Tsunade was not idle.

"Sizzle, sizzle."

A white mist rose from Tsunade's body, and the wounds cut by the Rain Tiger shuriken all over her body healed instantly.

At the same time, the slug that had been coiled on Jiraiya also crawled out from his sleeve once again, healing Jiraiya, who had turned into a bloody mess.

Seeing this, Hanzo of the Salamander's eyes tightened slightly.

These three young ninjas from the Leaf seemed far more troublesome than he had imagined.

"Sigh."

Hanzo of the Salamander sighed lightly, a look of helplessness flashing in his eyes.

But soon, he shook this distracting thought out of his head. Even a lion uses its full strength to hunt a rabbit; being distracted during battle is a path to death.

Regardless, everything would have to wait until the battle was over.

Hanzo of the Salamander's expression turned cold.

With Hanzo's behavior of unleashing his ultimate move without a word, the battle had directly entered a white-hot stage.

And in the sky, a spectator was also watching this battle with great interest.

It must be said that even though the ninja world is vast, battles between Kage-level powerhouses are not something one can see just anywhere.

After all, ninja battles are not children's games. When it comes to killing each other, except for freaks like Orochimaru, even ninjas like Hidan and Kakuzu, who claim to have "immortal bodies," die thoroughly when they should.

And with the status and position of Kage-level powerhouses, they are at least regional hegemons, and they generally won't personally enter the fray unless absolutely necessary.

Of course, "legendary ninjas" like Kakuzu are the exception.

Therefore, the battle between three quasi-Kage and one Beyond-Kage powerhouse was enough to be praised.

Because of this, Mizunuki Ryosuke was watching with extra focus in mid-air.

Although he felt a bit heartbroken when he saw Tsunade injured, he understood that this was Tsunade's own destiny. He feared that rashly interfering would not be a good thing for her.

"Ryosuke, I don't quite understand."