Seeing Simu sealed away, the Apostle of Fear hovering in the sky immediately flew into a rage.
A multitude of tentacles sprouted from its body, launching a frenzied assault toward Ebizo.
The air was pierced by the tentacles, and the ground was torn to shreds by their impact!
Faced with such a terrifying attack, Ebizo's aged body was no longer quick enough to let him react in time. Consequently, he could only attach his chakra threads to different spots, utilizing the retraction of the threads to boost his speed and evade the onslaught.
However, the primary target of the Apostle of Fear was not entirely Ebizo; its main priority was to break the seal and rescue Simu!
Ebizo was fully aware of this intention.
I will absolutely never let you succeed!
He waved both hands grandly, and his five puppets simultaneously extended their cleavers. Under the guidance of his chakra threads, they flew into the sky to sever the tentacles rushing toward the sand pyramid.
Yet the tentacles unleashed by the Apostle of Fear were simply too numerous, making it completely impossible for Ebizo's five puppets to stop them all alone!
Right at this critical moment, a green figure lunged out from the side. Carrying a fierce torrent of green steam, the figure crashed down like a flash of lightning, landing a heavy kick directly onto the massive eyeball in midair.
"Leaf Strong Whirlwind!"
"Boom!"
A terrifying force erupted from Might Guy's foot. Accompanied by a massive explosion of green steam, the kick actually sent the Apostle of Fear flying backward.
The vast number of tentacles extending from its body were likewise forced away from the pyramid sealing Simu.
Not only Guy, but Kakashi had also arrived at the battlefield. Condensing a Lightning Blade in his hand, he dashed forward to slice through several tentacles, heading straight to kill the Apostle of Fear.
A dazzling lightning glow manifested in front of the Apostle of Fear as Kakashi, holding the brilliant lightning, slashed at the enemy.
Suddenly, that gargantuan pupil contracted violently. Its huge gray flesh wings slammed shut in front of it, blocking Kakashi's strike.
The Lightning Blade smoothly and accurately cut a large gash into the flesh wings. Immediately after, Kakashi shouted toward the rear, "I leave the rest to you, Guy!"
"I've got it!"
Guy's voice, brimming with youth, echoed out. His thick, pitch-black bowl cut flew wildly as the green steam passionately erupting from his pores rapidly transformed into blue.
"Eight Inner Gates: Seventh Gate of Wonder: Open!"
Following Guy's furious roar, an even more powerful aura erupted from his body.
He took a stance, slowly drawing back his fist to store power.
His entire strength, chakra, and even the surrounding air converged onto his fist along with his drawing movement, focusing entirely into a single point.
Under the watchful eyes of the surrounding people whose hairs stood on end, Guy punched straight through the gash that Kakashi had sliced open!
"Daytime Tiger!"
A blinding white light suddenly flared up. The highly compressed air and force transformed into a ferocious, majestic white tiger. Accompanied by a terrifying, authoritative tiger roar, it effortlessly shredded the flesh wings and smashed heavily into the Apostle of Fear!
"Boom!"
The sounds of the ground fracturing rang out continuously as the massive crimson eyeball was violently sent flying by the fierce tiger. Its gargantuan body smashed an unimaginable crater into the earth, while the white tiger dissolved into a terrifying shockwave that rippled outward, rushing straight into the clouds!
Of course, this single strike had completely depleted all of Guy's strength.
After unleashing this attack, his entire body went limp, and he tumbled helplessly toward the ground.
Fortunately, Kakashi was quick-witted and caught him immediately.
"Are you alright, Guy?"
Although Kakashi's face was hidden by his mask, a trace of worry was still visible in his eyes.
"I'm fine! Kakashi, help me up, I can still throw another punch!"
Guy had absolutely no intention of resting, wanting to stand up immediately. However, his overdrawn body clearly would not allow him to do so.
Unless he used the Eight Inner Gates once more, trading his life as a price for even greater power...
Therefore, Kakashi pushed him back down without any hesitation.
"Just rest up properly. The current situation shouldn't require you to keep risking your life."
Kakashi spoke calmly.
With the masked Simu sealed away and the Apostle of Fear knocked down by Guy's single punch, the entire situation had undergone a hundred-and-eighty-degree turnaround in the blink of an eye.
Now, they only needed to gather their strength to help Lord Jiraiya defeat that other fellow...
Unlike Kakashi's optimism, Ebizo's eyes were filled with deep wariness as he looked at Might Guy.
After all, the Hidden Sand Village's prior assessment of Might Guy was merely a jonin skilled in taijutsu.
But looking at it now, the destructive power of this guy's taijutsu was far greater than anything he had imagined.
An attack like that would likely leave even a Kage-level powerhouse severely wounded if they took a direct hit. The threat was simply too immense.
On the other side of the battlefield, Simu was standing atop the Apostle of Desire, manipulating a vast ocean of iron sand to engage in a fierce battle against Jiraiya, who had entered Sage Mode at the very first moment.
The apostle beneath his feet was responsible for dealing with the three giant toads from Mount Myoboku.
"Brat, the Jashin Religion's grand momentum is gone. Why don't you surrender right now?"
Seeing the change in the situation, Jiraiya quickly launched a verbal assault, attempting to shake Simu's resolve.
In response, Simu merely smiled faintly and gently adjusted his glasses.
"Instead of wasting your breath, Mr. Jiraiya, you should think about how you are going to kill me. Your body cannot hold out much longer, can it?"
Hearing these words, Jiraiya could not help but glance at the wound on his right arm, which had been caused by Simu's iron sand counterattack during his earlier charge.
Although he had immediately used Sage chakra to stimulate recovery, the effect was still not very obvious.
Furthermore, Jiraiya could clearly feel that there should be some kind of toxin at the wound site, causing his strength to fade rapidly. Therefore, he had to resolve the enemy with the absolute fastest speed.
"If that is the case, then I will stop talking nonsense."
Jiraiya's expression turned solemn as chakra surged wildly within his body, ultimately condensing into his mouth.
"Sage Art: Goemon!"
With the assistance of the two Mount Myoboku Sages on his shoulders, a rolling sea of fire manifested on the battlefield once again!
The surging toad oil carried a scorching high temperature, causing even the air to become distorted.
Seeing this, Simu did not dare to be careless. The iron sand surrounding him likewise churned, raising a tidal wave that crashed against the sea of fire.
Two massive waves, one black and one red, collided boldly on the land, forming a towering wall that shot into the sky!
A piercing brilliance lit up, and the unimaginable high temperature melted the surging iron sand, ultimately forming a massive iron wall that stood in the middle, dividing the battlefield!
Many ninjas and monsters caught in this collision instantly dissolved into green smoke.
This black iron wall stood in the center of the battlefield like a grand wonder, drawing everyone's attention.
However, Jiraiya was incredibly fast. Before anyone could react to the shock brought by this immense iron wall, he had already used Earth Style to arrive beneath the feet of the Apostle of Desire.
"Taste this move!"
"Sage Art: Giant Rasengan!"
A vast amount of Sage chakra spun frantically in Jiraiya's hand, forming a massive sphere that slammed heavily into the abdomen of the Apostle of Desire!
The high-speed spinning chakra drove the flesh on the Apostle of Desire's body to twist along with it, before completely blasting its mountain-like body away!
At the same time, the three toad brothers relied on their outstanding jumping ability to leap over the iron wall, descending from the sky to form a pincer movement around Simu along with Jiraiya.
"What an exhilarating and flawless cooperation."
Simu fell from the top of the Apostle of Desire, slowly pushing his glasses up as he descended.
In midair, Bunta's assault arrived.
A rental blade dozens of meters long sliced the air in two, attempting to cut Simu in half at the waist.
Unfortunately, Simu twisted his waist in the air, and one of his eyes actually became as pure white as a Byakugan. Immediately after, chakra vanished and released around his body, forming a massive sphere that spun at high speed.
It looked just like an enlarged version of a Rasengan enveloping his body.
Naturally, the name of this move was not Rasengan, but rather the Gentle Fist secret technique that only the Main House of the Hyuga Clan could master—Rotation!
The high-speed spinning chakra instantly deflected Bunta's blade away. Simu took the opportunity to tap the air, landing a palm strike on Bunta's chest.
"Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!"
An unceasing torrent of palm strikes was unleashed in an instant, forcing the massive Bunta to retreat repeatedly as a large amount of chakra poured into his body through his various pressure points.
"Is this the ultimate technique of the Hyuga Clan?"
Jiraiya's eyes widened, and his expression turned exceptionally ugly.
Whether it was Rotation or the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms, these were ultimate techniques that the Hyuga Clan absolutely did not pass down outside of the Main House. Yet this guy was using them with such ease?
"Big brother!"
Gamahiro and Gamaken hurriedly rushed forward, blocking the space between Simu and Gamabunta.
Gamaken in particular directly raised the dish-like shield in its hand to block a palm strike from Simu.
Gamahiro bypassed to the rear, its twin blades slashing out in a cross formation, unleashing a power sufficient to split mountains and shatter rocks.
However, these attacks were completely transparent under Simu's Byakugan. Therefore, the moment Gamahiro swung its blades, a large amount of iron sand formed a shield to block them.
Not only that, but the ground beneath its feet suddenly sank, and countless streams of flowing iron sand within it began to grind and crush like a millstone!
Having sustained severe injuries, Gamahiro had no choice but to undo the summoning in time and return to Mount Myoboku.
Simu's maneuvers were not yet over. He condensed a vast amount of chakra, thrusting a palm strike straight toward the remaining Gamaken.
"Eight Trigrams Vacuum Attack!"
A gust of air was compressed into a sphere, landing through the air onto the shield Gamaken used for defense.
"Crack!"
At the moment of contact, Gamaken's shield instantly cracked under the heavy burden, displaying a large number of fractures. Following that, the entire toad flew backward just like his big brother, crashing heavily together.
Having completed all of this, Simu quietly touched down. Steam was still swirling above his flatly extended palm, and his calm, unbothered expression gave him quite the air of an ultimate master.
However, what welcomed him was a noisy chorus of toad croaks that suddenly erupted from the woods.
The dense sound waves collided with each other like turbulent water ripples, even causing Simu's control over this clone to halt for a single brief instant.
"Sage Art: Demonic Illusion: Toad Confrontation Chant!"
The Sage chakra contained within the turbulent toad croaks rapidly invaded Simu's mental world, briefly severing his connection signal with the main body. Consequently, Simu looked as if he were frozen in place at this moment.
Jiraiya naturally would not let slip this carefully created opportunity. Appearing before Simu in a flash, he formed a Rasengan with one hand, striking a soul-shattering blow!
Simu's entire body was sent flying away, snapping several trees before he lay on the ground on the verge of death.
"It is over."
Jiraiya looked down from above, uttering these words like a final verdict.
"Both of your leaders have been defeated, and the apostles have been wiped out. Although there are still many believers left, without your restraint, they are nothing more than lambs waiting for the slaughter..."
Jiraiya walked step by step toward Simu along with the two Sages, his slightly toad-like expression filled with resolve and calm.
"If you can confess the whereabouts of the two Divine Sons, perhaps I can spare your life."
He offered his final condition.
Compared to the other members of the Jashin Religion, what Jiraiya valued most were still Sasuke and Gaara, the two individuals who had the potential to become vessels for Jashin.
In his view, only these two people, especially Sasuke, best fit the description of the Child of Destruction.
At this moment, after suffering a heavy blow, Simu's signal finally recovered.
Hearing Jiraiya's words, he cracked his mouth open and smiled. "Jiraiya, have you really won?"
Although victory was within his grasp, Simu's words still made Jiraiya instantly alert. Could it be that the Jashin Religion still held some hidden trump card?
Seeing his tense appearance, Simu smiled again. "Rest assured, I have left no hidden consequences, and the Jashin Religion has indeed lost."
He raised his head, staring into Jiraiya's eyes. "But the Jashin Religion losing does not mean the Hidden Leaf wins."
"Greed is the true color of humanity."
"What do you mean?!"
Jiraiya furrowed his brows, seemingly understanding a bit of Simu's underlying meaning.
Suddenly, Simu threw his head back, his body trembling as he let out a wild laugh. Using a voice that was clearly audible across the entire battlefield, he shouted, "Go on, go search for it! I have left everything there! Anyone who obtains everything inside the Jashin Temple can become the master of the Shinobi World!"
With that, countless formulas spread out from Simu's body.
Right after, a massive amount of iron sand sprouted out, and a dense sealing power pervaded the air.
"Leave quickly, Jiraiya! This fellow wants to seal you away along with him!"
Under Master Fukasaku's reminder, Jiraiya did not dare to be careless and hurriedly retreated.
Sure enough, the large amount of iron sand ultimately condensed into a black sphere, which then vanished under the restraint of numerous formulas, completely sealed away.
Looking at the massive crater before him, there was no expression of joy on Jiraiya's face; instead, it was filled with deep worry.
The reality also proved that his worry was not without reason. Now that the Jashin Religion had been defeated, would the Hidden Leaf and the Hidden Sand continue to cooperate?
The correct answer was: No.
At the exact instant Simu vanished, a vast amount of gold dust erupted in the center of the battlefield, transforming into a dense shower of buckshot that indiscriminately slaughtered the Jashin Religion monsters and... the Hidden Leaf ninjas on the battlefield!
"What are you doing? Are you preparing to tear up our alliance treaty?"
A Hidden Leaf ninja let out an unwilling, furious roar.
There were also Hidden Leaf ninjas who recognized the man who had suddenly appeared in the center of the battlefield.
"That is... the Fourth Kazekage of the Hidden Sand Village—Rasa!"