After Sailing with the Pirate King, I Returned to Konoha - 229

Chapter 229: Tribute to the Legendary Tank Jiraiya

"What?"

Hiruko watched the golden giant bird whose size rivaled the Chimera, effortlessly dispelling his previous feather attack.

The giant bird landed lightly and transformed into human form. Karin and Hiruko exchanged glances, neither showing any fear.

"Ninjutsu? Like the Inuzuka clan's? Or...?"

Hiruko’s curiosity stirred again as he observed the giant bird’s human transformation.

Unlike Orochimaru, who sought underlying principles, Hiruko was thinking about how to fuse this power with himself.

"Forget it, once I merge, I’ll understand!"

Hiruko’s voice mingled with the Chimera’s roar, creating waves of sound that crashed over Takigakure’s villagers, making their ears ring.

The giant Chimera charged forward. Its sharp teeth and claws alone could easily destroy the village.

Yet Karin didn’t even blink, facing this giant creature.

Whoosh—the sound of something slicing the air.

"Hmm?"

Hiruko instinctively looked up, seeing four increasingly large black shadows.

"Bastard, idiot, ugly freak!"

Killer Bee’s blade crackled with lightning chakra, greatly enhancing its cutting power.

Chimera’s bone armor was sliced with this strike, though compared to its massive size, the wound was insignificant.

"You—"

Looking at the Hidden Cloud’s forehead protector, Hiruko felt vaguely familiar.

Ah, yes, the Hidden Cloud’s Eight-Tails Jinchūriki.

During the Third Great Ninja War, Hiruko hadn’t yet grown in strength and only watched those geniuses freely display their power on the battlefield.

He’d even seen battle reports about the man.

Suddenly, Sasuke appeared atop the giant beast, crashing down like a meteor. His Beast Mode enhanced kick, empowered by chakra and Haki, pierced through Chimera’s skull.

"Hey, don’t just stand there watching~"

"I know!"

Two voices sounded. Blue flames mixed with molten lava instantly engulfed Chimera’s head and Hiruko himself.

Several figures landed and stood shoulder to shoulder.

Tailed beast-transformed Fu stared blankly at them.

"You are—"

Inside her body, Seven-Tails Chomei opened her eyes, sensing the familiar chakra.

"Gyūki, Matatabi—and Son Goku?"

"That guy’s from Akatsuki, right?"

Yugito and Rōshi hadn’t seen Akatsuki, but Killer Bee, Karin, and Sasuke immediately recognized that trademark black robe with red clouds.

"Ah, yes, that guy is also an Akatsuki member."

Killer Bee answered the newcomers’ questions.

"But Konan’s list didn’t seem to have this person."

Karin had an excellent memory, having obtained Akatsuki’s previous roster before leaving the Hidden Rain Village.

Hiruko wasn’t among them.

"Doesn’t matter, one down, the rest—"

Sasuke had just cancelled his transformation and returned to human form, but suddenly sensed a strong gust behind him.

Clang!

Claws clashed.

The size difference between Chimera and Hiruko’s form made the contest even more dramatic.

"Such tenacious vitality."

The standoff lasted less than a second before Sasuke used a martial arts technique to deflect the strike, plowing deep furrows into the earth with the giant claw.

Fortunately, no one else was injured.

Seeing this, the Tailed Beast squad reentered battle mode. One by one, they extended their tails. Fu was slightly stunned, having just mastered full Beast Mode today.

How could she have learned this ability so recently, and it already seems so common?

"Hahahaha! You think you can kill me?"

Hiruko’s arrogant voice echoed from the flame-covered giant beast’s head.

The bone armor cracked loudly.

Bang! Bang!

The shell fractured and fell to the ground, carrying the attached attack.

Hiruko remained unharmed.

"Ah—move aside, move aside!"

At that moment, a voice came late from above.

It was Jiraiya, who couldn’t fly or withstand falls like the tailed beast Jinchūriki. Earlier, as their group approached Takigakure Village, Naruto sensed battle and signaled the Avengers Squad to strike immediately.

Karin charged ahead, others—tailed beast jinchūriki and Phantom Beast types—barely able to ignore fall damage.

But Teacher Jiraiya didn’t have this ability.

He tried to create a flying bird out of ink, but strong winds blew it wildly, several feathers exploding nearby.

His hurriedly made ink constructs were forced back to their original form.

Fortunately, Jiraiya had reduced his falling height enough to avoid fatal injury.

Bang!

Jiraiya landed, kicking up dust.

Karin and others stepped back simultaneously, no one attempting to catch him.

They then looked at each other as if to ask, "Why aren’t you helping?"

"Hey, hey! You guys are so disloyal."

Rubbing his bruised head, Jiraiya scolded while dusting off.

"Especially you, Karin, so reckless. Couldn’t you put me aside before going down?"

Karin lowered her gaze, mumbling softly.

"But Naruto said it was urgent—"

Others watched like onlookers. Even Sasuke’s lips curled in a faint smile.

Dare to ignore me!?

Hiruko watched the soap opera unfolding beside him, his arrogance born of growing power dissolving into anger.

Especially after shifting his gaze to the figure he never forgot.

"JIRAIYA!!!!"

Hiruko and Chimera roared simultaneously, instantly redirecting everyone’s attention.

"Jiraiya-sensei, he seems to know you."

Yugito also began to call Jiraiya “sensei” like the others.

"Oh? That is—"

Jiraiya shaded his forehead with one hand, studying the white-haired masked man fused with the monster carefully.

"Is he someone you know?"

Karin tilted her head, curious.

"Ah—I can’t remember."

After a long study, Jiraiya still couldn’t recall who the man was.

His voice cut harshly across the battlefield, reaching Hiruko’s ears unhindered.

The legendary tank Jiraiya had activated the skill “Taunt,” with outstanding effect!

Hiruko flew instantly into a berserk state. If a system interface appeared, it would clearly show that his hatred for Jiraiya was at 100%.

One could say the combined attacks from before were less effective than Jiraiya’s casual taunt.

The giant lion’s jaws opened wide, red chakra rapidly converging inside, targeting the culprit Jiraiya directly.