Chapter 25: Shameless Combination
"Great Flame Bomb."
Jiraiya's cheeks bulged as he spat out brown oil from his mouth. The moment the oil left his lips, a raging fire ignited.
This technique was extremely vicious. It wasn't just a single burn; if the oil stuck to someone, the flames would continue burning.
Noticing that Jiraiya had given up on using the Rasengan, Su Xiao felt a bit disappointed. He swung the Dragon-Slaying Flash forward.
*Clang.*
The iron-hard white hair was severed, and Su Xiao landed downward as the burning oil sprayed toward him.
Just as Su Xiao was about to be engulfed by the flames, a clay bird with a wingspan of about four meters flew beneath his feet, carrying the falling Su Xiao as it banked to the side.
*Whoosh~*
The oil splashed onto the ground, and the flames spread, continuing to burn.
Standing on the clay bird's back, Su Xiao couldn't help but feel that this was what a teammate should be—supporting at the most critical moment.
"Nice work."
Scorpion looked at the wound still spurting blood from Jiraiya's chest. He understood why Pain had recruited Su Xiao. Su Xiao's close-combat ability was stronger than anyone else in the Akatsuki.
Jiraiya looked up at Su Xiao in the sky. A strand of white hair extended to his chest, quickly stitching the wound shut.
"That should do it."
Jiraiya was worthy of being one of the Three Ninja. Facing the siege of Su Xiao's trio, aside from the slash Su Xiao had landed, none of the others' attacks had hit him.
He smeared blood on his thumb and pressed his hand to the ground.
"Summoning Jutsu."
*Bang.*
A large cloud of white smoke rose, and voices could be heard from within.
"It's Jiraiya."
"Yeah, I'm counting on you, Gamaken."
"It's fine. Even though I'm clumsy, I'll do my best to help you."
The white smoke dissipated, revealing Jiraiya standing on the back of a massive toad. This toad was enormous, about the size of a two-story building. It held a U-shaped steel fork in one hand and a pot-lid-like giant shield in the other.
Gamaken was no weakling. He was an ideal summoning beast—brave in battle, obedient to commands, and more importantly, loyal.
Some summoning beasts would flee in times of danger, returning to their own space. Gamaken was different. As long as the summoner didn't order it, he would fight until near death, even to the point of dying in battle. This was extremely rare among summoning beasts.
"Gamaken, be careful. There are three enemies: one uses bombs, one controls puppets, and one is skilled in close combat."
"Yeah, I'll block the close-combat fighter and the puppet for you."
"Good."
Jiraiya looked up at Deidara in the sky. He planned to take out the one flying first. The various types of bombs were driving him crazy, and they posed a huge threat.
"Scorpion, hold him off. You don't need to hurt him, just block him."
Su Xiao shouted from high above.
"Fine."
Scorpion figured out what tactic the three were about to use. It was a nearly shameless tactic.
"Hold the enemy... use that."
Scorpion took out a scroll, a storage scroll.
*Bang.* White smoke rose as Scorpion summoned a puppet. It was a man in a black robe. The man's skin was slightly dark from preservation treatment, and his joints showed signs of being fixed.
"This person is..."
Jiraiya stopped the ninjutsu he was about to release. He recognized this puppet.
"The Third Kazekage!"
Jiraiya took a deep breath. He had fought the Third Kazekage before. When he was young, the other's Iron Sand had nearly killed him.
Even now, trace amounts of iron sand remained in Jiraiya's arm, impossible to remove.
Scorpion, inside the Hiruko puppet, waved his hand. The Third Kazekage floated into the air, and iron from the nearby soil rose, gradually forming a giant hammer of iron sand.
Under Scorpion's control, the iron sand hammer smashed toward Jiraiya. Sensing the attack coming, Gamaken raised his giant shield to block.
*Clang!*
The sound echoed, and dust surged. Behind Gamaken, Jiraiya took advantage of the dust cloud to form hand seals.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu."
*Bang.* Two shadow clones appeared in the smoke.
When the smoke cleared, Jiraiya was still standing on Gamaken's back, and the two shadow clones had vanished. Jiraiya had devised a tactic. If it succeeded, at least two of the three Akatsuki members present would be taken down.
Jiraiya had no idea that the most frustrating battle of his life was about to begin.
"White Night, Formation C."
Deidara in the sky had a big grin on his face as he formed a gun shape with his hand, aiming at Jiraiya. The so-called Formation C was just to confuse the enemy, making them think the trio had been working together for a long time, putting psychological pressure on them.
"Same thought."
Su Xiao took out the Spider Empress from his storage space. The Optical Infrared Detection Scope 8x (Active) still had 11 minutes remaining.
Deidara manipulated the clay bird beneath Su Xiao, flying it about a kilometer away before stopping.
Su Xiao crouched on the clay bird's back, downing a bottle of alchemical elixir to stabilize his injuries. He aimed the scope at Jiraiya behind the giant toad.
The moment the muzzle aligned with Jiraiya, Jiraiya sensed it immediately.
"This feeling... an ultra-long-range ninjutsu."
Jiraiya's perception was extremely sharp. He sensed it even before Su Xiao fired. Sniping Jiraiya alone was simply impossible.
But Su Xiao wasn't alone. He had two very strong teammates.
"Iron Sand Rain."
A dense barrage of iron sand shot toward Jiraiya. Jiraiya swung his white hair, which coiled around and swept all the iron sand away.
Su Xiao pulled the trigger. The firing pin struck the bullet's base, creating a dent. The bullet shot out, accelerated by the rifling, and left the muzzle.
*Swoosh~*
Due to the long distance, the bullet made a faint whistling sound as it flew, parting layers of air.
The bullet flew toward Jiraiya's head. At that moment, Jiraiya had just deflected the Iron Sand Rain and was catching his breath.
When the bullet was within 100 meters of Jiraiya, a sharp pain shot through the back of his head—a sensation he had felt many times before.
*Crack.*
Blood splattered. The bullet pierced into flesh, blasting a hole as thick as an arm. Gamaken beneath Jiraiya let out a muffled groan.
Jiraiya was tilting his head. On the side of his neck, his white hair had a finger-thick hole, with severed strands falling onto Gamaken's back, stained red by his blood.
"Impressive power."
Jiraiya frowned. He felt that things were going badly today. He had predicted that the enemy's attack would hit Gamaken. Although he had deflected the bullet himself, he still used his hair to block it.
The result proved that a heavy sniper rifle could pierce through Jiraiya's hair.
"Iron Sand Spear."
Scorpion controlled the Third Kazekage to attack. A spear formed of iron sand thrust forward, three meters long. It wasn't aimed at Jiraiya but at Gamaken.
All three of Su Xiao's group had realized that this summoning beast had incredible defensive power. As long as it was there, it would be hard to harm Jiraiya.
As expected, the iron sand spear was blocked by Gamaken's giant shield. Gamaken swung his U-shaped steel fork, shattering the iron sand spear with a clang.
The moment Gamaken blocked Scorpion's attack, Su Xiao fired again.
*Crack.* This bullet drilled into Gamaken's skull, blasting open a bloody hole. Jiraiya's hair, which he had used to slow the bullet, was still pierced through.
Gamaken's body was massive and incredibly tough. He could withstand dozens of shots, and Jiraiya's hair helped reduce the bullet's kinetic energy.
A breeze swept across the battlefield. Jiraiya knew this couldn't go on. He had a rough understanding of the three enemies' attack patterns. It was time to counterattack.
Just as Jiraiya was about to strike back, a whistling sound came from above. A clay bird flew overhead, dropping several white objects as it passed. The team's "bomber," Deidara, had arrived.