With that said.
The stern expression on Jiraiya's face vanished in an instant, replaced by his usual carefree demeanor.
"Tsunade's punches are getting more and more terrifying. The last time she hit me, I nearly lost half my life — broke several ribs."
Jiraiya walked over and slung an arm around Orochimaru's shoulder with a grin, speaking in a casual tone.
It was as if the Jiraiya who had just been radiating a dangerous aura had never existed at all.
Though Orochimaru wore a faint look of distaste, he did not shake off Jiraiya's arm from his shoulder.
Had Jiraiya threatened anyone else with that readiness to strike, it might have bred a degree of awkwardness between them.
But not with Orochimaru — or rather, from the very beginning, Orochimaru had not cared in the slightest.
There was a saying that went: the ones who truly understand you are never your friends, but your enemies.
In Orochimaru's eyes, while Jiraiya could not be called his enemy, Orochimaru genuinely understood Jiraiya better than Jiraiya understood himself.
Some things were simply better laid out in the open from the start.
That was likely what Jiraiya had been thinking as well.
Seeing that Orochimaru did not push him away, a flicker of surprise crossed Jiraiya's face, followed by a softening of his gaze.
"Come on. Let me buy you something to eat."
Jiraiya smiled, removed his arm from Orochimaru's shoulder, and strolled toward the edge of the rooftop without waiting for a response.
"How boring."
Orochimaru's expression remained indifferent, though a faint glimmer stirred in the depths of his eyes as he followed after Jiraiya.
Elsewhere.
After Tsunade had finished assembling all of Konoha's Jonin, large numbers of civilians in the village began evacuating from the outer districts and moving toward the central shelters.
While the upper echelons of Konoha harbored an unshakable resolve to win this war, it was necessary to prepare for the worst-case scenario.
Evacuating civilians to shelters was the top priority.
Doing so would inevitably stir a degree of panic, but it would also allow every shinobi to fight with peace of mind.
After all, the combat-ready Jonin were a minority. The vast majority were Chunin and Genin, and most of their families were civilians.
By guaranteeing the safety of every shinobi's family, the village could maximize the fighting spirit of its forces.
Moreover, the Iwagakure and Kirigakure forces had already breached the Land of Fire's borders. Konoha itself was in grave danger.
Within the Land of Fire.
The Iwagakure and Kirigakure forces had already clashed with Konoha's troops.
One thunderous explosion after another shook the battlefield, and towering pillars of flame lit up the surroundings.
Jutsu of every elemental attribute erupted across the battlefield in dazzling displays of light — and beneath those brilliant flashes, shinobi died in droves.
Leveraging their familiarity with the terrain, Konoha's shinobi employed a variety of tactics to attack and hinder the Iwagakure and Kirigakure forces.
On the battlefield northwest of Konoha Village.
The Iwagakure forces were locked in fierce combat with Konoha's troops. Sarutobi Asuma's figure weaved through the chaos at tremendous speed.
After cutting down three Iwagakure Chunin in succession, Asuma briefly paused, his chest heaving with heavy breaths.
The moment he stopped, two Iwa shinobi who had been watching from the shadows launched a coordinated pincer attack.
"Konoha Jonin Sarutobi Asuma — you are not getting away!"
The two Iwa shinobi charged with excitement, their kunai thrusting simultaneously into Asuma's chest and back.
But before they could celebrate, the Asuma they had stabbed dissolved into a wooden log.
"Damn it — Substitution Jutsu!"
The two Iwa shinobi's expressions changed. They realized they had been duped — Asuma had clearly detected their ambush well in advance.
By then, the real Asuma had already reappeared a short distance ahead of them.
"Let me teach you a lesson."
"On the battlefield, no matter the situation, you must be careful, careful, and more careful."
"Too bad you will only be able to verify this in your next life."
A smirk crossed Asuma's face as he raised his specialized Chakra Blades.
Chakra Blades — Shin'ichi Monji!
Asuma channeled his Wind-natured Chakra into the blades, generating two high-powered blades of deep blue Chakra energy.
He then swept both blades forward in a slashing motion, sending two crescent-shaped Chakra slashes flying toward the two Iwa shinobi.
The two Iwa shinobi had no time to dodge. Both were struck square in the chest by the Chakra slashes, blood spraying in every direction as they died on the spot.
After dealing with the two Iwa shinobi, Asuma was about to exhale in relief when a cold glint flashed from behind him, slashing toward his back.
Without thinking, Asuma spun around and raised his Chakra Blades to block.
CLANG!
A violent metallic clash rang out as their weapons collided.
Asuma felt his arm go heavy from the impact, but he managed to hold his ground.
When he looked up at his attacker, his expression shifted.
"You escaped from me last time. You will not get away so easily this time!"
"You are my offering to Lord Jashin!"
Hidan's face was twisted with excitement and madness as he bellowed.
Hidan had previously clashed with Asuma's forces on the battlefield between the Land of Waterfalls and the Land of Grass.
But Hidan talked far too much — especially in the heat of battle — and Asuma could not be bothered to deal with a lunatic like him.
In the end, Hidan could only watch helplessly as Asuma and the others departed.
That incident had infuriated Hidan beyond measure. As the saying went, a fall into the pit makes you wiser.
So this time, Hidan had no intention of wasting words. He attacked Asuma directly, intent on obtaining Asuma's blood.
Unfortunately.
From the look of things, Hidan's assault had not succeeded — Asuma had successfully parried his attack.
"I do not believe in any evil god."
Asuma deflected the swing of Hidan's giant scythe, his eyes heavy with both wariness and hostility.
Hidan had become notorious on Konoha's front.
The man was essentially a walking bug — no matter how severe the injuries he sustained on the battlefield, he simply would not die.
His existence reminded many Konoha shinobi of a certain someone from Kirigakure.
Of course, while both possessed a form of immortality, there were differences between them — though both were equally troublesome.
"It seems the shinobi assigned to restrain you are already dead."
Asuma's voice carried a cold edge, thick with killing intent.
Once it became known that Hidan possessed immortality, everyone understood exactly how dangerous he could be on the battlefield.
Whenever Hidan appeared, Konoha would dispatch several shinobi skilled in defensive techniques to keep him contained.
Now that Hidan was standing right here, those restraining shinobi had clearly been killed by him.
That much was apparent from the tattered state of Hidan's clothing.
"You heretic!"
Enraged by Asuma's blasphemy against Lord Jashin, Hidan let out a furious roar and began swinging his giant scythe at Asuma in rapid succession.
CLANG! CLANG!
A string of metallic collisions rang out endlessly between them.
Asuma continuously swung his Chakra Blades, parrying Hidan's attacks while frantically formulating a countermeasure in his mind.
Once this lunatic latched onto him, it would be extremely troublesome.
At that thought, a flash of fierce determination crossed Asuma's eyes.
But surely Hidan's immortality had to have some kind of limit. Asuma refused to believe that decapitating Hidan would not at least neutralize him — even if it did not kill him outright, a headless Hidan could hardly keep bouncing around the battlefield.
With that in mind.
After another clash with Hidan, Asuma seized the brief opening and leaped backward while rapidly weaving hand seals.
Fire Release: Ash Pile Burning!
Asuma opened his mouth and expelled a cloud of superheated ash.
Given the close range between them, and with Hidan showing no intention of dodging, the cloud of ash engulfed Hidan completely.
Seeing this, Asuma's eyes lit up. He swung both Chakra Blades together in the air, striking them against each other.
With a sharp metallic ring, the collision of the blades produced sparks that ignited the ash cloud, triggering a chain of massive explosions.
BOOM!
Scorching heat and a shockwave roared outward in every direction.
"That hurts like hell!!"
An ear-piercing scream erupted from within the smoke and dust. A moment later, a blurry figure came barreling out of the cloud.
Though Hidan's scream was agonizing, his voice remained robust and full of vigor.
Asuma was not surprised. An ordinary shinobi would have been reduced to ash and bone by such an explosion, but Hidan's immortality was a different matter entirely.
Asuma kept his eyes locked on the figure emerging from the smoke.
Just as Hidan was about to burst free of the dust cloud, Asuma's foot pushed off the ground and he vanished from his position.
Exploiting Hidan's inability to see clearly through the smoke, Asuma brought his Chakra Blade down in a vicious slash aimed directly at Hidan's neck.
But Hidan, about to emerge from the cloud, heard the rushing sound beside his ear and instantly stomped his feet to a halt.
As a member of the Akatsuki, Hidan was more than just his immortality — he had genuine combat instincts of his own.
Even so, Asuma's Chakra Blade still carved a massive gash across Hidan's neck.
A torrent of blood sprayed from the wound without any sign of stopping.
At the same moment, a pitch-black spear lanced out from the smoke. Asuma threw himself to the side, but he was a fraction too slow — the black spear pierced his shoulder.
Grimacing at the wound, Asuma executed several leaping retreats to put distance between himself and Hidan.
"What a shame."
Asuma stared at Hidan as he walked out of the smoke, genuine regret on his face.
A wound of that magnitude on the neck would have killed anyone else instantly. For Hidan, it was merely extremely painful.
Even now, the massive gash on Hidan's neck had already stopped bleeding. Upon closer inspection, the wound could be seen rapidly knitting itself back together.
"Now I can finally complete the ritual. This will be the finest offering for Lord Jashin!"
Hidan stared at the blood smeared on his black spear, his face alight with excitement.
Given that they were on a battlefield — and considering how he had been outwitted last time — Hidan had no intention of wasting time.
He swiftly used his own shed blood to draw a bizarre pattern on the ground: a triangle inscribed within a circle.
Hidan stood atop the symbol and licked the blood of Asuma's that coated his black spear.
Curse Technique: Death Possession Blood!
Under Asuma's watchful gaze, Hidan's skin began to turn an eerie black streaked with bone-white.
"It has begun! Let me show you what true pain feels like!"
Hidan raised his head and laughed at Asuma.
The next moment, Hidan drove his black spear straight down into his own thigh.
Asuma stared in bewilderment at Hidan stabbing himself.
But just as Asuma was about to dismiss Hidan as having lost his mind, an indescribable agony erupted from his own thigh.
Asuma's eyes went wide. He collapsed to one knee, blood pouring from his thigh as waves of excruciating pain wracked his body.
He looked up at Hidan, his eyes filled with disbelief.
Asuma watched as Hidan slowly pulled the black spear from his own thigh — and felt the identical sensation of extraction in his own leg.
"How... how is something like this possible?"
Asuma murmured, his face a mask of sheer disbelief.
"This is the power of Lord Jashin! All who blaspheme against Lord Jashin must die!"
Hidan's eyes burned with fanatic fervor as he drank in the expression on Asuma's face.
Without another word —
Hidan raised his black spear and drove it down toward his own chest, aimed directly at his heart.
Asuma's pupils contracted sharply. The searing pain in his thigh made it impossible for him to move normally.
Let alone stopping Hidan from driving the blade into his own heart.
Just as the tip of the black spear was less than an inch from Hidan's chest —
Hidan's excited, feverish gaze suddenly went blank. His arm stopped, the black spear hovering mere centimeters from piercing his heart.
Seeing Hidan freeze mid-strike, Asuma realized his clothes were drenched in sweat.
He did not know why Hidan had suddenly stopped, but he knew that for the moment, he would not have to die.
"You look quite the mess right now, Asuma."
A cool, melodic voice sounded beside his ear.
Yuhi Kurenai — her signature black semi-curled hair, crimson eyes, and graceful figure — appeared at Asuma's side.
[
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