Having never personally been there, Naruto could only rely on general direction, slightly extending the teleportation distance based on Iwagakure's location.
Stepping out of Yomotsu Hirasaka, they had already traversed the entire Land of Fire and arrived within the Land of Earth.
How could he tell this was the Land of Earth? It was related to the region's iconic 'rock rain'.
"—But it's not too far from here anyway."
Ending his Observation Haki scan and opening his eyes, Naruto said to Konohamaru beside him.
"Next, we'll fly directly there."
"Did you learn the Ultralight-Weight Rock Technique I taught you before? Konohamaru?"
Hearing Naruto's question, Konohamaru, who had been looking around, immediately puffed out his chest.
"Don't worry, Naruto-Aniki! Watch this!"
Saying so, he formed hand seals, and the next moment, his body began to float unsteadily.
Although it still looked a bit unstable, he was indeed flying.
Seeing this, Naruto nodded.
But at the same time, another thought crossed his mind.
'If that old man Onoki saw this, the next generation of Iwagakure would probably have a hard time...'
After all, according to Onoki, his granddaughter Kurotsuchi hadn't even learned this technique yet, despite his guidance.
And considering Konohamaru was also the Third Hokage's grandson...
'Ah, forget it, don't dwell on that. First things first.'
Although he really wanted to witness Onoki's expression firsthand, Naruto hadn't forgotten why he came.
The next moment, both rose into the air. Guided by Naruto, Konohamaru flew westward at a speed he couldn't quite control on his own.
...
The Land of Demons.
This was a small country with little presence.
At least in the eyes of the Five Great Nations, this country, like the Lands of Vegetables, Bears, and Grass, merely served as a buffer zone between the great powers.
And indeed, that was the case.
Aside from the Priestess's guards, the Land of Demons had no other armed forces… no army, no Ninja Village.
Not even the financial resources to hire Ninjas in large numbers.
If not for a certain kind-hearted Pervy Sage lending a hand, they would probably have been conquered days ago.
Of course, the situation wasn't optimistic now either.
Rumble, rumble!
The heavy, uniform footsteps came from outside the city walls, making the soldiers on guard duty look grim.
But looking at those towering stone statues, they no longer showed the terrified expressions they had at first.
The reason was simple.
Their source of courage was the white-haired man currently standing atop the city wall.
The powerful Ninja who called himself Jiraiya.
"Jiraiya-sama, all the residents in the city have been evacuated. It's time for us to move as well."
The speaker was the Priestess of the Land of Demons, Shion, a young girl with blonde hair.
At this point, she hadn't become as disillusioned as her future self in the original timeline would be. Even though her 'prophecy' ability had shown her the possibility of 'Jiraiya-sama being killed', she still didn't choose to persuade him to give up.
Hearing this, Jiraiya turned to her and said,
"Alright, prepare yourselves. Have the guards take you and leave first. I'll hold the rear."
Although he kept a smile on his face, there was an undeniable trace of fatigue.
It was understandable, as those moving stone statues outside the gates had been attacking continuously for days.
At first, Jiraiya could use Ninjutsu to eliminate large numbers of the statues. But even if they were smashed to powder, they would recover in a very short time.
And his Chakra was limited.
Without proper rest, his Chakra would soon run dry.
However, he wasn't completely helpless.
After speaking with Shion, Jiraiya waved his hand toward the city below again.
It wasn't a greeting, but the scattering of ink.
Countless black ink droplets scattered down, quickly transforming into black humanoid figures upon landing.
If one disregarded the requirements of 'colored ink' and 'detailed drawing', his Inku Inku no Mi could mass-produce black ink soldiers like this.
The silhouettes of those ink soldiers looked remarkably like his disciple, Uzumaki Naruto.
Of course, they didn't possess Naruto's power, only barely replicating Naruto's combat stance based on Jiraiya's memory.
But that was already formidable enough.
Facing the two-meter-tall stone soldiers, those ink Narutos could often strike their vital points with one or two punches, quickly shattering them.
Even though these stone statues would recover after breaking, it greatly delayed their advance.
As for the stone soldiers that got too close, there were [Ink Swamps] and [Ink Traps] waiting for them.
Compared to Ninjutsu requiring sufficient Chakra, Devil Fruit abilities were undoubtedly more suitable for this kind of prolonged defensive battle.
"Aaah~"
Even Jiraiya, after several sleepless days, had bloodshot eyes and couldn't help but yawn.
Seeing this, Shion wanted him to rest, but the vision of death haunted her, preventing her from speaking.
Sensing this, Jiraiya proactively ruffled her hair to comfort her.
"Don't worry, Shion."
"As long as the news spreads, the Five Great Nations will send reinforcements soon."
"They won't just sit idly by against these guys."
Even without meeting them, Jiraiya could guess that someone was manipulating these moving stone soldiers from behind the scenes.
In fact, from the very first day of contact, Jiraiya had deduced that the mastermind behind these statues was likely not part of the same group as the 'culprit' he was tracking.
According to Roshi's recollection, his attacker was a single individual, but extremely powerful with bizarre abilities.
If the controller of these statues possessed the strength to single-handedly take on a Jinchuriki plus a Tsuchikage, they wouldn't need to hide behind the scenes.
Jiraiya also knew that his own power alone was ultimately limited.
So, he sent word to Iwagakure requesting reinforcements while also having his summoned beasts relay his location in the Land of Demons back.
—Unfortunately, the current contractors of Mount Myoboku were few. The only one he could count on was his good disciple...
Just at that moment, Jiraiya's eyebrows twitched.
'Speak of the devil!'
He sensed that the ink clone inside the scroll he had sent to Mount Myoboku had dissipated.
According to the rules he set upon its creation, the clone's dissipation meant it had met the person it was supposed to see.
'You never disappoint, you little rascal!'
"What's wrong, Jiraiya-sama?"
Shion saw Jiraiya, who had been comforting her, suddenly break into a smile and asked in confusion.
"Shion, no need to run. Our reinforcements are on their way."
Saying this, ignoring Shion's concern that he might be delirious from exhaustion, Jiraiya decisively turned back to the city gate and waved his hands again.
Since his precious disciple was coming, he couldn't lose his reputation!
With this move, declare the counterattack begins!
As Jiraiya's arms swung, even more ink than before dripped down below the city walls, rapidly coalescing into humanoid figures.
But this time, the ink splashed wasn't just black, and the figures it formed were all different.
"Summoning an Army Technique!"
Having been a Ninja for most of his life, Jiraiya's naming sense still carried a strong 'Ninja World Flavor'.
But this technique was purely from his Inku Inku no Mi's ability.
One by one, figures who had once fought alongside Jiraiya were shaped from ink.
Not just old acquaintances like Tsunade, Orochimaru, and Hiruzen.
Even Jinchuriki like Roshi, Gaara, Fu, Killer B, and Yugito were replicated one-to-one.
Before the mastermind controlling the stone statues could react, these ink-replicated powerhouses began displaying their abilities.
"Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!"
"Heavenly Foot of Pain!"
"Earth Dragon Bullet Technique!"
Unlike the three who used Ninjutsu in a convincing manner with ink, the manufactured Jinchuriki were even more outrageous.
With a series of roars, six massive beast figures appeared on the field.