"Lord Jiraiya truly is a man of great skill and courage, having the energy to expend chakra sending a partner away right before a major battle."
Simu looked down at Jiraiya from above. The chakra required to send Kakashi away using the Summoning Jutsu was certainly not a small amount.
Jiraiya grinned, noncommittally replying, "Don't you worry. I have plenty of chakra left—more than enough to take you down."
As if to prove his words true, he clapped his hands together, activating the Summoning Jutsu once more. Two massive pillars of smoke erupted to his left and right. Jiraiya had summoned two more combat toads.
The one on the left had purplish-red skin and wore samurai attire. It held a spiked iron fork in one hand and a white shield shaped like a bamboo hat in the other. To the right stood a teal-colored toad with two katanas strapped to its back. With its arms crossed and a haughty expression, it looked every bit the part of a dual-wielding swordsman.
"Jiraiya? Why are you calling us out in the middle of the night?" the purplish-red giant toad, named Gamaken, asked first. "Hmm? Big brother Bunta is here too. It seems the enemy is no simple matter."
Gamaken narrowed its pale yellow eyes, fixing its gaze on the monster in the sky. The teal giant toad, Gamahiro, also noticed the enemy's presence. It gripped its sword hilts, its expression turning serious and cold.
"Gamaken, Gamahiro, I'm counting on you," Jiraiya said with a wide smile.
"Even though you're saying 'I'm counting on you,' I don't see a hint of apology on your face, Jiraiya."
Faced with Jiraiya's request, Gamaken didn't hesitate to toss out a blunt retort. Gamabunta bit down on the giant smoking pipe in its mouth and said solemnly, "Stay sharp, everyone. This opponent is not to be trifled with."
Upon hearing this, the two giant toads immediately focused. Generally, Jiraiya would only summon one toad to assist in battle. Summoning all three brothers at once meant he was facing an exceptionally powerful foe. The moment they saw the bizarre, massive eyeball in the sky, Gamahiro and Gamaken knew their intuition was correct.
"Toads from Mount Myoboku, is it..."
Simu lightly raised his palm, stroking his mask. While at the Akatsuki base, he had obtained a wealth of intelligence regarding the Shinobi World from White Zetsu, including information on the man before him. Jiraiya was one of the three individuals dubbed the "Legendary Sannin" during the Second Shinobi World War by the "Demi-God" Hanzo of the Salamander.
One of his signature specialties was summoning various toad familiars to assist in combat. White Zetsu's intelligence detailed this thoroughly, noting that these summons originated from a sacred land called Mount Myoboku.
"In that case, let's see which is superior: your toads, or my Apostles," Simu said calmly.
He appeared entirely devoid of the tension typical of a grand battle. On the contrary, his face carried a heavy sense of curiosity. He was eager to see the true strength of this man who shared the title of Legendary Sannin with Orochimaru.
Responding to Simu's will, countless tentacles lashed out once more, swatting toward the enemies.
"I'll handle it!"
Gamaken took the lead, quickly blocking the incoming tentacles with its shield. Gamahiro instantly leaped over Gamaken's head, drawing its twin blades in a cross-slash that severed the tentacles upon impact. Meanwhile, Gamabunta gathered chakra again, spitting out a massive mouthful of thick toad oil.
"One more time! Fire Style: Toad Flame Bomb!"
Jiraiya blasted out flames, and a scorching sea of fire once again swept toward Simu. The terrifying temperature caused the air to warp violently as tongues of fire raced up the tentacles. Jiraiya's eyes burned with intensity; to deal with such a large opponent, one had to utilize summons of an equal scale!
Clearly, his tactic was quite effective. Faced with the brothers' combined assault, Simu was forced to discard those tentacles again.
"As expected of one of the Legendary Sannin..."
Rather than becoming angry at being pushed back, Simu's face actually showed a satisfied smile. This was an experiment, after all; if the opponent were too weak, it wouldn't be interesting. He calmly held up two fingers in a hand sign.
"Summoning Jutsu: Apostle of Desire."
As the Summoning Jutsu formula expanded, a gargantuan dark shadow crashed down like a meteorite.
"What is that thing?"
Jiraiya's eyes widened, watching in disbelief as the dark shadow rapidly grew larger. Fortunately, the three toads reacted quickly. The moment the shadow appeared, they used their powerful jumping ability to put distance between them.
Boom!
A mountain of flesh slammed into the ground like a fallen star. The terrifying shockwave destroyed everything in its path. Most of the once-prosperous Hidden Steam Village was reduced to ruins by this single impact.
"Are this guy's summons all so... grotesque?"
Looking at the massive humanoid mountain of flesh covered in distorted human faces, Jiraiya couldn't help but complain.
Although the previous Apostle of Desire had self-destructed, Simu had later refined and created a new one. As for the energy consumed—one would have to ask the Great Jashin. Simu had discarded the original "meatball" shape in favor of a massive mountain of flesh resembling the demon Bo-Gang. The difference was that the Corrupted Body was encrusted with dense, twisted human faces and radiated a crimson aura. In terms of scale, it was larger than all three toads combined.
"Leave the big guy to you two. Jiraiya and I will handle the one above," Gamabunta, as the eldest, quickly issued commands.
"Understood," Gamaken agreed concisely. It and Gamahiro moved to either side, attacking the massive flesh mountain.
However, before they could launch their formal assault, every face on the mountain of flesh opened its mouth simultaneously.
"Praise my Lord!"
Vrrrroooom!!!
A terrifying sonic wave blasted the two toads away. The spiritual power contained within the sound caused their heads to throb with splitting pain.
"It's a sound-based genjutsu!"
Jiraiya decisively used a secret technique to seal his own hearing. He followed up by weaving hand signs. His white hair shot out like ropes, firmly catching the two tumbling giant toads. By channeling chakra through his hair into their bodies, he disrupted their internal chakra flow and broke the genjutsu.
"I didn't expect it to be this troublesome."
Jiraiya's face was grim. He looked up at the enemy and saw that "Tobi" was leisurely admiring his struggle. This feeling of being looked down upon made Jiraiya incredibly frustrated.
Gamahiro quickly stood up and shook its head. It drew a blade, cut off a section of Jiraiya's hair, and stuffed it into its ears.
"This should do it. Jiraiya, go ahead without worry."
It and Gamaken shared a determined look. Even toads have their pride.