"In any case..."
"Let's test the opponent's abilities with Taijutsu first!"
In the blink of an eye, Jiraiya set aside his apprehension and went all out, delivering a whip kick.
Before the whip kick even landed, a sharp sound of splitting air cracked.
However, the mirror Jiraiya opposite actually adopted the same posture, countering with a whip kick of its own.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh~
Gusts of fierce wind whistled in.
Then, the two Jiraiyas collided head-on, their fists and feet clashing rapidly.
Bang, bang, bang, bang!
Heavy booming sounds rang out incessantly. Every attack from the two stirred up whistling gusts of wind that ran rampant and spread across the field.
While contesting strength, their speed was also extremely fast.
As they exchanged blows, their figures continuously traced astonishing afterimages in mid-air.
Bang!
The two Jiraiyas' elbows slammed into each other. Violent force exploded, and both were sent flying back by the recoil.
"Hisss..."
After flipping and landing, Jiraiya sucked in a sharp breath from the pain.
He hopped on the spot while frantically rubbing his right elbow with his left palm, looking utterly pained.
"This technique is indeed not simple!"
Jiraiya could clearly feel that the copy from the mirror was identical to him in both strength and speed.
"Then..."
"What about Ninjutsu?"
While surprised and doubtful, Jiraiya's hands also flew through hand seals: "Ninja Art: Wild Lion's Mane Technique!"
The next instant, Jiraiya's white hair grew madly, exploding like a lion's mane as it wildly swept towards the opposite copy.
[Wild Lion's Mane Technique!]
The copy Jiraiya remained silent, yet with a few hand seals, it used the exact same technique.
"Jiraiya!"
"Don't think you can beat me!"
Yagura roared angrily. He had opened with his big move this time precisely to teach the arrogant Jiraiya a lesson!!!
At this moment, two large masses of hair, hard as refined iron, tangled together. Terrifying force continuously strangled each other, emitting a grating sound.
Facing Yagura's Water Mirror Technique, Jiraiya also refused to yield.
Seeing he couldn't find the technique's weakness immediately, he prepared to simply crush the copy with brute force.
The Wild Lion's Mane Technique, with its destructive power bursting to the extreme, was enough to instantly annihilate the Animal Path's summoned creatures.
And the current Jiraiya, even without Sage Mode activated, was definitely using combat power above the average Kage-level.
But even so, he seemed unable to quickly defeat the copy, which truly made Jiraiya feel very perplexed.
'What's going on?'
'Has Yagura's strength improved this much in just over twenty days?'
'Kirigakure's Ninjas are becoming more and more troublesome...'
While wrestling with the copy, Jiraiya's gaze surreptitiously glanced towards the direction behind him.
'Perhaps, as Minato said, the key to deciding this Konoha vs Kirigakure war lay with the reborn Kushina!'
Just then, Taking advantage of Jiraiya being tied up by the copy, Yagura launched a second wave of attacks.
"Water Release: Water Fang Bullet!"
After Yagura completed the hand seals, several rotating water pillars, like drills, materialized out of thin air and crushed towards Jiraiya.
Water splashed, emitting roaring sounds.
Those high-speed rotating Water Fang Bullets seemed to possess terrifying power sufficient to cut through the earth.
"To be able to use Water Release of this scale in such a dry location... this Kirigakure's Yagura is indeed no ordinary individual!"
"Tsk tsk, this is probably what a Kage-level Water Release User is like!"
"Yagura has a bit of the Second Hokage's style from back in the day!"
"Jiraiya-sama is in trouble now!"
Several Konoha's Anbu who had just arrived were all crouching in a corner observing covertly. They exchanged a few words from time to time, each full of praise for Yagura's Water Release.
"What the hell are you looking at?!"
"Go help already!"
An Elite Jonin from the Sarutobi Clan roared madly: "You Anbu, do you only know how to watch Jiraiya-sama fight alone and provide bland commentary from the sidelines!??"
"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!"
Three other Konoha's Jonin were more direct. They flickered to Jiraiya's side and raised several earthen walls from the ground, intercepting the oncoming Water Fang Bullets.
Earth Release counters Water Release!
For a Jonin, skillfully using elemental advantage to weaken an opponent's technique was already an instinct carved into their bones.
"Damn it!"
"More Konoha's Jonin getting in the way!"
Yagura couldn't help but curse.
Because Konoha's available forces far exceeded Kirigakure's, the number of Jonin appearing on the battlefield was usually significantly higher than Kirigakure's.
After Jonin from both sides roughly canceled each other out one-on-one, Yagura had to find a way to deal with the extra Konoha's Jonin himself.
This is one of the reasons Yagura lost so badly in the previous Mount Fukyu campaign. He had to deal with harassment from Konoha's Jonin while fighting Jiraiya.
The combined threat from both sides put immense pressure on Yagura.
At this moment, the clash between Yagura and Jiraiya also meant that not only Jonin, but Kage-level fighters from both sides had begun to enter the fray.
The intensity of the battle rapidly increased, showing signs of developing into a major decisive battle.
Simultaneously, more and more Ninjas, hearing the news, came to reinforce, and not in small squads, but in groups of hundreds.
Before long, the scale of the battle exceeded a thousand participants, and reinforcements from both sides were still continuously arriving.
'Konoha's Ninjas are getting more and more numerous. Sora...'
'Hasn't he arrived yet?'
Mei bit her lip tightly, feeling great pressure.
Her opponent was originally Konoha's Shinsuke, a quite powerful Elite Jonin.
Moreover, while fighting Shinsuke, she also had to deal with attacks from other Konoha's Ninjas, putting Mei in a very dangerous position. She had several close calls, almost falling to sneak attacks by Konoha's Ninjas.
Around Mei, more Kirigakure's Ninjas were locked in bitter combat.
Many were already hard-pressed to protect themselves, completely unable to spare any effort to reinforce Mei.
The sounds of slaughter continued, explosions rang out constantly.
Unknowingly, the total number of Ninjas participating from both sides had exceeded two thousand five hundred.
This dark mass of a battlefield had already reached the scale of a decisive battle.
On the hilly battlefield, Yagura and Mei were both locked in bitter combat.
The pressure on the other Kirigakure's Ninjas was naturally also very immense.
Because Konoha's Ninjas were not only more numerous but also had stronger individual combat abilities, making it very difficult for Kirigakure's Ninjas to cope.
And just as Kirigakure's situation was becoming somewhat dangerous, an even more terrifying event occurred.
The Uchiha...
Had also joined the battle!
Not only the head of the clan, Uchiha Fugaku, but over three hundred Uchiha Ninjas appeared on the battlefield.
Among them, over forty Jonin-level Uchiha, wielding swords and with crimson Three-Tomoe Sharingan active, charged at the very front of the line.
The battle situation had taken a shocking turn!!!
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
After the Uchiha Clan's Ninjas entered the fray, Great Fireballs continuously exploded on the hills.
Dozens of massive Great Fireballs leading the charge directly blasted the opposing Kirigakure's Ninjas into disarray.
Due to the heat waves from the explosions, a small section of the surrounding battlefield was completely split apart, falling into numerous one-on-one duels.
This was also the combat the Uchiha excelled at!
Suddenly, countless crimson flashes of light swept past. Bizarre Genjutsu constantly emerged on the battlefield, causing many Kirigakure's Ninjas, caught off guard, to be immobilized by the Sharingan's Genjutsu and then finished off with a single strike by the charging Uchiha Ninjas.
"Be careful!"
"It's the Uchiha's Sharingan!"
"Don't make eye contact with the enemy! You'll fall under Genjutsu!"
"Don't make eye contact? Then how are we supposed to fight, damn it!"
The Kirigakure's ranks suddenly became panicked. Let alone Genin and Chunin, even some Jonin couldn't withstand this cheat instant-kill type ability of the Sharingan!!!
Just a glance in the crowd, and you're stunned, then cut down. How are you supposed to fight that!!!
The Uchiha's killing efficiency was simply too high!
Unless one had strong Genjutsu Resistance, they could easily be instantly killed upon meeting, without even a chance to fight back.
The Kirigakure's Ninjas were directly stunned dumb by the Uchiha's ferocious assault!
The already somewhat precarious battle situation took a sharp turn for the worse, instantly beginning to develop in the most unfavorable direction for Kirigakure.
Seeing this scene, Mei's face also became extremely anxious. Looking at the thousands of Ninjas locked in combat on the battlefield, she knew that no matter what, they could only hold on desperately now.
If they issued a retreat order or something, Kirigakure's morale would instantly collapse.
Then it wouldn't just be a hard fight… they would probably be slaughtered alive by the Konoha's forces!!!
"Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique!"
"Earth Release: Earth Core!"
After another exchange, Mei's Water Release attack was once again beautifully neutralized by Shinsuke.
The flood-like Water Release was all diverted into the sunken pit in the earth.
"You!!!"
Mei gnashed her teeth in frustration. Shinsuke opposite was not only proficient in Fire Release but also quite skilled in Earth Release, countering her, a Water Release specialist, very effectively.
"Lightning Release: Lightning Ball!"
"Wind Release: Vacuum Great Sphere!"
Wanting to break the deadlock, Mei again used Lightning Release, which counters Earth Release, to attack her opponent.
But the Shinsuke opposite responded with exquisite Wind Release Ninjutsu.
Boom!
The Vacuum Great Sphere collided with over a dozen shining Lightning Balls, the explosion producing a low, rumbling roar.
Clearly, both Mei and Shinsuke were long-range attack specialists focused on Ninjutsu.
But the still young Mei was somewhat immature compared to the middle-generation Shinsuke.
Mei's several strong attacks didn't cause much damage. However, the fearsome scale of her Ninjutsu blew up those Konoha's Jonin who wanted to sneak attack, making them dare not act lightly, afraid of being caught in the area-of-effect damage and taken out directly.
At this moment, single-handedly stalling Shinsuke and several other Konoha's Jonin, Mei's performance on the battlefield could already be considered quite impressive.
But that alone was far from enough to win this war.
'Just what kind of terrifying enemies was Sora facing before!!!'
During a lull in the Ninjutsu barrage, a look of horror couldn't help but appear on Mei's pretty face.
If she was already struggling under the pressure facing just Shinsuke, then what kind of terrifying desperate situation did Sora experience when he single-handedly suppressed Konoha's Yellow Flash, the Nine-Tails' Jinchuriki, and over a thousand Konoha's Ninjas!??
Unimaginable!!!
While Mei was fighting fiercely with the Konoha's Jonin, the other Kirigakure's Ninjas, under the Uchiha's Sharingan assault, were gradually showing signs of rout.
Over twenty Jonin were killed one after another, while the Uchiha's cost was only the lives of five or six with Two-Tomoe.
Trading Chunin for Jonin… such a casualty ratio was simply unsustainable.
"Evil Uchiha, you all deserve to die!!!!"
On the battlefield, Yagura was also extremely annoyed by the suddenly appearing Uchiha Ninjas.
Originally, relying on his Water Mirror Technique, he had vaguely managed to suppress Jiraiya. But once the Uchiha charge started, all previous efforts were wasted.
"Yagura-sama, what should we do now?"
A Kirigakure's Jonin, after barely dodging an Uchiha's slash, couldn't help but loudly ask Yagura.
"You ask me? Who should I ask?"
Yagura inwardly wished he could kill all the Uchiha's mothers, but his face remained cold and calm as he said: "Don't worry. As long as we can hold on, hold on until Sora arrives, everything will get better!!!"
"Damn Uchiha..."
"Why did the village's strongest Kekkei Genkai, the Shikotsumyaku, have to go to the Kumogakure front?"
Yagura silently cursed the Third Mizukage again in his heart. Without the Shikotsumyaku's combat power, the Uchiha's Sharingan was almost an invincible existence on the battlefield.
"Sora-sama?"
"Sora-sama?"
"Yes, if it's Sora-sama, he will definitely win!!!"
"If Sora-sama were here, the Konoha's Ninjas definitely wouldn't dare be so arrogant!!!"
Upon hearing Sora's name, many Kirigakure's Ninjas locked in bitter combat showed expressions of excitement or fervor on their faces.
Some even instantly became fanatical.
"Yes."
"As long as we hold on until Sora arrives, we will definitely win!"
After muttering to himself a few times, Yagura's originally somewhat flagging fighting spirit once again soared.
If he couldn't even accomplish this small task, what qualification did he have to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Sora to change Kirigakure's future!?