[NTU] [ARC-26] Chapter : 364 - Fear!

“Seriously!”

Jiraiya grumbled at Naruto, dissatisfaction written all over his face.

“Just when I was about to use Sage mode and was about to show off my skills, you jump in and steal the spotlight?”

His eyes shifted toward Asuma, sealed neatly by Naruto. He sighed in exaggerated frustration.

“Is the grand entrance of the mighty Toad Sage destined to end in disappointment again? What a waste!”

He had finally gathered enough chakra for Sage Mode and had been itching to trade blows with Dan—maybe even dazzle Tsunade a little while he was at it.

But of course, Naruto had to swoop in and display his brilliance first.

“Enough, Jiraiya,” Tsunade cut him off sharply, clearly fed up with his antics. “Save your sulking for later. We need to seal the old man and Second Grandfather first.”

“The old man will be simple,” she added, her tone grave. “But Nidaime… he’ll be troublesome. We’ll need to be careful.”

Her bluntness left Jiraiya momentarily pouting, but he quickly regained his composure. With someone like Tobirama, who could use the Flying Thunder God, the danger was undeniable. Still, with Sage Mode in full swing, it wasn’t anything he couldn’t handle.

That thought barely settled when Shikaku’s urgent voice cut into his ear.

The easy grin vanished from Jiraiya’s face. His posture stiffened.

“What happened?”

Tsunade, standing close, noticed his sudden shift instantly. Her brows furrowed.

“What’s wrong?”

Jiraiya’s expression hardened as his gaze swept over the battlefield—Hiruzen, Tobirama, and Dan standing ahead.

“…From this point on, I’m getting serious.”

His voice was low, uncharacteristically solemn.

“It may come off rude, but this is an emergency. Forgive me.”

Even as the words left his mouth, his body changed. His mane of white hair writhed and spread like a wild beast, and the tear-like markings at the corners of his eyes deepened, crawling further across his face.

“I’m coming.”

With a muted boom, the ground cracked beneath his sudden leap, leaving a crater two meters wide.

In the blink of an eye, he was gone.

Another muffled explosion rang out—not from the ground this time, but from Dan’s chest. A clean, transparent hole gaped from front to back.

Behind him, Jiraiya reappeared, one hand still holding a fading Rasengan, the other flashing through hand seals.

“Seal!”

In a single decisive move, he had neutralized Dan, the man who once mastered the terrifying spirit transformation technique. With Sage Mode augmenting his already formidable strength, his power was overwhelming.

“Dan!”

Tsunade’s heart clenched as she processed what just happened. Her gaze darkened, resentment flickering in her eyes as she turned to Jiraiya.

“What… did you just do?”

Her knuckles cracked audibly as her fist clenched tight, the sound alone promising violence.

Her cold stare fixed on Jiraiya, daring him to explain himself. If he failed to give her a reason that satisfied her, she wouldn’t hesitate to teach him a painful lesson.

And as if to make matters worse, the Sage’s transformation was becoming more pronounced—his features twisting, his face looking less human and more toad-like by the moment.

That, more than anything, stirred Tsunade’s fury.

“Ugh…”

Jiraiya, having just dispatched his old rival with a single strike, turned to meet Tsunade’s frosty glare. His earlier excitement withered instantly, replaced by a mix of guilt and simmering frustration.

“I’m the victim here, alright?!” he barked, half-defensive, half-desperate.

With that angry roar, he attempted to answer her unspoken question, though his tone carried more sulk than strength.

“Well… Nagato might’ve summoned both the Shodai and Uchiha Madara!”

It wasn’t like he had much choice. This was his wife, after all—Tsunade, famed for her blunt honesty. Even if it bruised his pride, he couldn’t muster the courage to defy her head-on.

Sure enough, marriage crushes every illusion…

His mind wandered bitterly to years of taking missions just to pay off her gambling debts, scraping together money for their kids’ milk powder… compared to his once carefree life as a wandering writer.

The past was too painful to revisit!

“What did you just say?!”

Three voices snapped at once—Tsunade, Hiruzen, and Tobirama—each reacting with alarm to his casual bombshell.

Jiraiya shook off the domestic sulking in an instant, face hardening as he addressed his sensei.

“Shikaku’s message: the Shodai Hokage and Uchiha Madara have been summoned. The Godaime’s already moving to intercept. We need to wrap things up here, fast.”

“Big Brother… and Madara?!”

The Nidaime, who had been dueling Tsunade, paused to sense the chakra for himself. His expression chilled until it was sharper than ice.

“Tsunade, enough chatter. Move now! If Big Brother and Madara reach this battlefield unchecked, it’ll be a catastrophe!”

Both men were unparalleled in large-scale warfare. On a field packed with tens of thousands of shinobi, the destruction they could unleash was beyond imagination.

And it wasn’t just Jiraiya who received the news. The Raikage brothers, the Third Tsuchikage, Mei, Gaara, and the allied commanders all got the same urgent report.

Shockwaves tore through the coalition ranks. Those too inexperienced to grasp the gravity of the names “Hashirama” and “Madara” remained calm. But the veterans—the top brass who knew those legends firsthand—turned pale.

Ōnoki, already struggling under his sensei’s relentless assault, nearly collapsed on the spot. His hesitation had almost cost him everything—a Dust Release had grazed him, a hair’s breadth from erasing him entirely.

“Kitsuchi! Kurotsuchi! Akatsuchi! Don’t just stand there gawking—help your old man already!” he barked, desperation cracking his voice.

Pride meant nothing now. He needed the fight over quickly.

“Really, Grandpa,” came the crisp, clear voice of his granddaughter. “Weren’t you the one who insisted on facing Nidaime-sama alone?”

Ōnoki nearly spat blood.

Meanwhile, the Raikage was in the same boat, hollering for his village’s elite to gang up on his resurrected father. He too wanted this battle ended swiftly, so he could reinforce the Hokage’s side.

The Kazekage and Mizukage weren’t spared either—their own struggles mirrored the others’. Across the battlefield, the past clashed violently with the present, and the stakes grew higher with every passing second.