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"Will your injury affect your movement?" Tsunade asked, glancing back at Jiraiya.
"It's nothing. I know my own body best," Jiraiya replied with a wide grin.
Tsunade regarded his answer with open skepticism.
She was a medical ninja. She likely understood the state of Jiraiya's body even better than he did himself.
To put it in a single phrase, Jiraiya's wound had "healed, but not completely."
The external injury had closed and knitted together, but newly healed muscle tissue was exceedingly prone to tearing open again.
By her estimation, Jiraiya ideally needed at least another full week of rest before he could be considered truly recovered.
However, time was a luxury they simply did not possess.
"How much further to the Hidden Mist Village?" Jiraiya, catching the pointed look Tsunade was directing his way and feeling a cold sweat prickling down his back, hastily changed the subject.
Mangetsu, who was leading the way at the front, involuntarily quickened his pace.
"Another kilometer. We'll reach it once we crest this hill. But relying on just the few of us, there's no way we can actually stop the Akatsuki, is there?"
"The Allied Shinobi Forces are right behind us," Tsunade stated.
"Can they really catch up to us?" Mangetsu asked, his voice thick with doubt.
Forget about whether they could catch up or not—the elite forces from each shinobi village alone numbered in the hundreds, at minimum.
How many ships would it take to transport a force of that staggering size?
"You don't need to worry about that. There is a way," Tsunade said.
Mangetsu's brow furrowed. The more Tsunade spoke in such cryptic assurances, the more uneasy he became.
"Don't keep it a secret... cough... The other shinobi will be making their landing via the island turtle," Jiraiya explained.
"The island turtle?" Mangetsu was momentarily dumbfounded.
"As the name suggests, a turtle the size of an island. Have you never heard of it?" Jiraiya asked.
"No..." Mangetsu replied, his voice distant and distracted.
He hadn't heard of it, but he felt as though he might have seen it once before.
"The island turtle's speed is not slow. So once we disembark onto the island, they should catch up relatively quickly. But exactly how 'quickly' remains uncertain," Tsunade elaborated.
Since she genuinely did not know the precise timeframe, Tsunade could not provide a more detailed explanation.
"In other words, for the time being, we can only rely on ourselves," Mangetsu immediately grasped the implication of Tsunade's words.
"That's correct." Tsunade drew a deep breath. "As things stand now, that is our only option."
Mangetsu said nothing further.
Facing the Akatsuki with only four people... no matter how one looked at it, their manpower was woefully insufficient.
Upon reaching the summit of the hill, Mangetsu gazed out towards the direction of the Hidden Mist Village. Through the haze, he could already faintly discern that the village had been plunged into utter chaos. An icy chill shot down his spine. He turned his head to look back at Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Kurotsuchi. "The Akatsuki has already launched their attack."
"Hurry!"
Tsunade and Jiraiya didn't waste a single word. They immediately broke into a full sprint down the mountainside. Mangetsu and Kurotsuchi exchanged a single, deeply troubled glance, the same gnawing unease reflected in each other's eyes, and immediately followed.
As the distance closed, the situation on the battlefield became increasingly and horrifyingly clear.
Mangetsu spotted Kisame locked in a ferocious exchange of blows with Zabuza at a single glance and exclaimed in shock, "Wasn't Kisame supposed to be dead?!"
"It's not just Kisame. Look at the others... That one there should be the Second Mizukage, shouldn't he?" Jiraiya asked.
"The Second Mizukage?" Mangetsu froze in stunned disbelief. His eyes immediately darted to the figure of Hozuki Gengetsu, and a chill of primal dread raced down his spine.
Hozuki Gengetsu was his grandfather. He had been dead for years. How could he be here? And what was more, he had just personally butchered a Mist shinobi...
What in the world was happening?!
"It's not just the Second Mizukage... The Fourth Mizukage should be here as well. Someone within the Akatsuki has performed the Impure World Reanimation, stripping them of their free will and turning them into nothing more than mindless tools of combat... It was Kabuto Yakushi who did this, wasn't it?" Tsunade's brow furrowed deeply.
"There's also the Four-Tails and Five-Tails jinchuriki!" Kurotsuchi spotted Roshi and Han, and her mood instantly plummeted into fury.
Even though Roshi had his disagreements with the Hidden Stone Village, he was, in the end, still a shinobi of the Stone. This applied even more so to Han.
Now, these two men were being exploited by villains to slaughter the shinobi of the Hidden Mist Village. This was absolutely unforgivable!
Kurotsuchi's expression darkened into one of grim resolve.
"Quickly, each of you identify a target and join the battle directly!" Jiraiya commanded. "I'll tie down the Second Mizukage first—"
"No. Leave the Second Mizukage to me," Mangetsu Hozuki cut Jiraiya off mid-sentence.
"You?" Jiraiya was taken aback.
Hozuki Gengetsu was an opponent even he would find exceedingly difficult to handle. Hozuki would likely be slaughtered.
"Yes. It's been a long time since I last spoke with him. Fighting him will be hard... but it seems I'm the one who understands him best, after all. Besides... I have Samehada with me. It will be fine." Mangetsu patted the wrapped blade secured on his back.
Among the seven legendary blades, Samehada possessed the greatest raw power. Its fearsome ability lay in absorbing an opponent's chakra to augment the wielder's own strength.
As time dragged on, Mangetsu might very well gain the upper hand.
Furthermore, Mangetsu was the person most intimately familiar with Gengetsu. He could potentially leverage that knowledge to stall and maneuver against his grandfather.
"In that case... I'll leave him to you." Jiraiya nodded his assent. "Once I've dealt with my own opponent, I'll come to assist you immediately. My opponent will be—Roshi!"
"My opponent is Han! No one is to take him from me!" Kurotsuchi shouted fiercely.
"My opponent... can only be the Two-Tails' jinchuriki, then," Tsunade said, inhaling deeply.
...
Gengetsu had just finished slaughtering another Mist shinobi. Before he could even turn around, he felt a surge of intense, murderous intent rushing at his back. He whirled around abruptly, only to see a hideously jagged and monstrous blade filling his vision.
"Samehada?!" Gengetsu was caught off guard for a fraction of a second. He propelled his body backward while simultaneously releasing a jet of water, using the resulting recoil to dodge the incoming strike. His gaze then settled on the person wielding the blade. "You are..."
"Hozuki Mangetsu. You should be my grandfather, correct?" Mangetsu stated.
"Haha, is that so? Though, addressing me like that makes me sound positively ancient. I was still quite young when I died, you know," Gengetsu said, spreading his hands in an exaggerated gesture of helplessness.
"Do you even know how you died?" Mangetsu shot back.
"That old bastard Mu... Just mentioning him brings bad luck," Gengetsu spat in disgust.
He and the Second Tsuchikage had killed each other in mutual destruction.
"So you do remember," Mangetsu said, his voice laced with biting sarcasm. "You gave your life for the Hidden Mist Village. And yet, here you are now, butchering its people with your own hands... Is this truly what you wish to do upon waking?"
"Speaking of all that is utterly pointless. Even though I can still converse with you normally right now... I have absolutely no control over my own body. By the way, are you interested in having a proper fight with me?" Gengetsu countered.
"Of course. That's precisely why I came," Mangetsu said through gritted teeth.
"That's for the best, then." Gengetsu glanced around to either side before pointing towards a wooded area to the left. "There's no room to stretch our legs properly here. Shall we take this over there?"
"Fine."
One after the other, the two figures swiftly departed the central battlefield.
Just as Mangetsu had done, Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Kurotsuchi each intercepted their pre-assigned opponents. The chaotic battlefield was temporarily thrown into a state of "deadlock." The Hidden Mist Village had, through a method they had never once conceived of before, managed to halt the Akatsuki's first wave of assault.
But this was only a temporary reprieve. Until the outcomes of these individual duels were decided, the pressure bearing down on every single person in the Hidden Mist Village would not lessen in the slightest.