Boom!
On this side, the Two-Tails also crashed heavily to the ground.
Matatabi's massive body slowly dissolved, its chakra cloak fading away as Yugito Nii fell out of her Tailed Beast Transformation.
Her clothes were in tatters, blood trickled from the corner of her mouth, and her eyes were tightly shut — completely unconscious.
Jiraiya looked at Orochimaru with a complicated expression.
Of course he was familiar with the power of the Sharingan, but he hadn't expected his old friend to be hiding such a trump card.
At this point, among the Sannin… Orochimaru might already be the strongest.
That thought made him sigh. Once upon a time, Orochimaru had been Konoha's most notorious missing-nin.
Now, after everything that had happened, he had once again become a hero of the village, while Sarutobi Hiruzen — his "respected teacher" — had fallen from grace.
His face had already been removed from the Hokage Rock, and there had even been people who tried to dig up his grave—only to be stopped each time.
"Orochimaru, when did you get the Sharingan?"
Facing Jiraiya's puzzled, searching gaze, Orochimaru smiled faintly and replied in his hoarse voice:
"Jiraiya, if you want these eyes… go ask the leader. He'll satisfy you."
"The Uchiha clan…"
"Don't worry. Fugaku and the others are already aware of it."
While the two were talking, several Rock shinobi hurried over to Yugito's side and carried the unconscious Jinchūriki back toward the Iwagakure ranks.
Neither Jiraiya nor Orochimaru made any move to stop them.
The experienced Roshi immediately sensed that something was wrong.
Logically speaking, he had already lost an arm, and Yugito Nii was unconscious. As long as the two Sannin in front of them were willing to pay a certain price, they should have been able to finish off the Rock shinobi here and now.
But they hadn't tried to interfere with Iwagakure's retreat at all.
That made Roshi smell a hint of conspiracy.
Sure enough, just after Yugito was brought back into the Rock shinobi formation, several "Rock shinobi" around her suddenly turned their weapons on their own companions, cutting them down without warning, and dragging Yugito behind them.
"What do you think you're doing!?"
Roshi's killing intent erupted toward the sky. In any hidden village, attacking your own comrades on the battlefield was an absolute taboo.
"Hahaha, old man, I already got your blood just now."
The "Rock shinobi" tore off their disguises. Standing there were members of the Akatsuki — Hidan, Kakuzu, and Hoshigaki Kisame.
The trio had obviously come for the Jinchūriki.
How could they possibly let Roshi escape?
The surrounding Rock shinobi still didn't understand what was happening. They wanted to act, but Yugito Nii was in the enemy's hands.
"You bastards! Didn't you agree to help us win!?"
"Hahaha, what a naïve fool. You and Ōnoki actually trusted Deidara?"
Hidan swaggered forward, grinning as he stared straight at Roshi.
"There's only one reason we cooperated with you — we want the Tailed Beasts in your bodies."
"You damn brat!"
Lava chakra surged once more across Roshi's entire body.
Clearly, he was prepared to fight.
On the other side, Kisame and Kakuzu walked up toward Orochimaru and Jiraiya.
"Sannin, huh… these two really are terrifying guys. What should we do?"
"Both their heads are worth a fortune on the underground bounty market," Kakuzu muttered. "But if we fight them, it'll be troublesome. If we slip up, we might not be able to walk away."
"Then we just hold off until Hidan finishes up," Kisame said casually.
Orochimaru watched their conversation with amused interest, while Jiraiya, in contrast, was already planning to move.
Even though Iwagakure was the enemy, he couldn't just stand by and watch Akatsuki run wild.
Just as Jiraiya was about to step forward, Orochimaru blocked him with an outstretched arm.
"What do you think you're doing, Orochimaru!?"
Jiraiya glared at him, clearly displeased by his behavior.
"Don't be impulsive, Jiraiya. The leader already knew Akatsuki would show up here. I still have another mission — to watch them take the Jinchūriki from Rock Village."
"…What is that supposed to mean?"
"With that brain of yours, even if I told you, you wouldn't understand. Just sit still and behave."
"You bastard, Orochimaru!"
Though he cursed under his breath, Jiraiya dispelled Sage Mode and sat down on the ground to express his displeasure.
Right now, Konoha's war efforts were being coordinated by Namikaze Kirito. Jiraiya had no choice but to follow overall wartime orders.
Seeing that Jiraiya and Orochimaru weren't moving, Kisame's eyes filled with suspicion.
"Orochimaru, you're not going to make a move?"
"Heh… Kisame, we were companions once. It'd be a bit too heartless of me to attack you, don't you think? You have your own objectives. Go handle them. Don't worry about us."
Kakuzu's eyes narrowed slightly at Orochimaru's laugh, a chill of killing intent flickering within them.
"Orochimaru… you really are an unpleasant man."
"It's an honor to hear that from you," Orochimaru replied, amused.
Roshi was just about to charge straight in when his instincts screamed at him. He didn't know what the circle Hidan had drawn beneath his own feet was for, but everything in his body told him not to rush in carelessly.
"Hahaha! What's wrong? Are you scared, old geezer?"
Hidan laughed arrogantly, then pulled out a black, pointed spear from inside his cloak.
He lifted the black spear high, and Roshi took a defensive stance on instinct.
But what Hidan did next left Roshi frozen in shock.
Hidan stabbed the black spear straight into his own thigh.
Pshk!
Blood sprayed out.
At first, Roshi didn't understand why his opponent would hurt himself… but a heartbeat later, a sharp pain exploded in Roshi's own leg, and blood gushed from his thigh as well.
"W-What!?"
"Let me explain it to you," Hidan said, amused. "I already got your blood. That means… you're my prey now."
He lifted the black spear to his mouth and lightly licked the blood on it, his face twisted into a mocking grin.
"You bastard…"
"Lava Style: Burning River Rock Technique!"
Enduring the pain in his leg, Roshi spat out a barrage of magma spheres from his mouth, sending them hurtling toward Hidan.
But Hidan didn't even try to dodge. He just stood there and let the magma slam into him.
"Hot! Hot! That's hot!"
Hidan screamed exaggeratedly as his body was burned by the magma — and at the same time, Roshi's own body was scalded as well, large patches of his flesh seared.
Hidan's skin had already turned black and white, like a living curse pattern.
"You've already been cursed by me! Come on, old bastard, share in the greatest pain with me!"
Hidan's manic laughter shook Roshi's heart even more.
Right now, Roshi's body was burned by his own Lava Style, and with the injuries to his arm and leg, he couldn't bring out his full strength at all.
On top of that, with this strange ninjutsu, no matter what kind of technique he used… in the end, he would be the one taking the damage.
How was he supposed to fight something like this?
Jiraiya was watching the battle as well. Seeing Roshi's miserable condition, he stared at Hidan with a grave, thoughtful gaze.
He had never seen such a strange jutsu before.
If they ever had to face this kind of technique in the future, they had to figure out its weaknesses.
"You bastard…!"
From excessive blood loss, Roshi's steps were already unsteady, but he still forced himself to dash forward.
"It's useless, it's useless! Don't you get it yet!?"
Ignoring Hidan's taunting shout, Roshi suddenly changed course halfway through his charge — instead of heading straight for Hidan, he veered sharply and rushed toward the backs of Kakuzu and Kisame.
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