Surrounding Tobi were four frog-like shikigami, each extending a hand to hold him firmly in place. He felt his entire body stiffen, unable to move. It was the Paralysis Jutsu.
Tobi remained unfazed. In his intangible state, Jiraiya posed no threat.
Seeing the genjutsu take effect, the two Great Toad Sages ceased their frog song.
Jiraiya deftly formed the hand seals.
Fire Style: Fireball!
A massive stream of fire erupted from Jiraiya's mouth, only to pass harmlessly through Tobi's rigid form.
"It can even activate automatically?" Jiraiya found the situation troublesome.
"Cough, cough..."
"Cough, cough..."
The two Great Toad Sages began to cough violently.
"Are you two alright?" Jiraiya asked with concern.
Fukasaku gasped for air. "This genjutsu song puts a great strain on our throats. This area is too open, and we had to maintain it for too long."
Shima added from the side, "It was exhausting keeping up with his rhythm. My throat is killing me."
Fukasaku grumbled, "This spatial ninjutsu is so troublesome. Even when he's caught in a genjutsu, we can't land an attack on him."
Helpless, Jiraiya turned his attention to Konan.
Konan flapped her wings, flying onto the Gedo Statue. She spread her arms, and her body dissolved into countless slips of paper that scattered into the air. The paper wings on her back also disintegrated completely.
Only as the slips of paper floated through the air did Jiraiya see what they were.
They were all prepared paper tags.
The tags swarmed over the Gedo Statue, completely covering its two-hundred-meter-tall body. The paper tags that had been camouflaging the sea's surface also flew up, filling the entire sky.
Then, they all began to glow.
Chain Paper Bomb!
To prepare for this day, Konan had trained in this jutsu day and night. The tags would act as a fuse, continuously setting off explosions on the Gedo Statue. They would also summon all the other tags hidden in the nearby sea to join the chain reaction. All it needed was a chakra trigger, and a clone left behind could sustain the continuous explosions.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The sound of unending explosions reached everyone's ears.
After a few ninjutsu failed to connect, Tobi broke free from the genjutsu's restraints. When he came to his senses, he saw that the Gedo Statue was covered in exploding paper bombs.
"Hahaha, hahahaha!" Tobi roared with laughter. "Konan, you're such a fool. How could mere paper bombs like these possibly harm the Gedo Statue?"
The sky was filled with flying paper bombs and slips of paper. Tobi failed to notice a paper clone of Konan mixed among them, hidden within the disguised sea.
A portion of the paper slips reassembled into Konan's body. Standing beside Jiraiya, she appeared weakened, slumping to the ground to catch her breath.
Jiraiya remained wary of Tobi as he asked, "Konan, are you alright?"
Konan panted, "I'm fine."
She glanced at the explosions on the Gedo Statue, then turned her calm gaze to Tobi.
"I hope you can keep laughing."
Just as Tobi had said, Konan's paper bombs had no effect on the Gedo Statue. But soon, he noticed something was wrong. The sound of explosions never ceased.
The tags stuck to the statue were continuously summoning new ones to detonate. And these trillions of tags were the very ones Konan had prepared for him. Every second, thousands, even tens of thousands of paper bombs exploded against the Gedo Statue. A hundred thousand, a million, ten million...
The smoke from the explosions blackened the sky, and the Gedo Statue flickered with incessant light. The constant detonations relentlessly heated the statue's outer shell. The seawater at its feet began to boil like a kettle, sending up clouds of steam.
Just then, Minato stood up.
"We can go now. Nagato's injuries need immediate attention."
Jiraiya immediately returned to Minato's side.
"Konan, hold Nagato's hand," Minato instructed, placing one hand over theirs. He rested his other hand on Jiraiya's back.
Jiraiya spoke to the toads.
"Thank you for your help, you two. I'll send you back first."
The two sages, their throats still sore from the genjutsu, simply nodded in agreement.
Jiraiya released the summoning, and the two Great Toad Sages vanished. The sage markings on his face faded.
Shun!
With a shift in space, Minato instantly transported Konan, Nagato, and Jiraiya back to Orochimaru's laboratory.
Tobi noticed that Jiraiya and the others had vanished, his mind racing with questions.
Was it the Reverse Summoning Technique, or the Flying Raijin Technique?!
But he had no time to dwell on that now. He saw that the paper bombs on the Gedo Statue were still summoning new ones. They hadn't stopped, even with Konan gone.
This must be the Chain Paper Bomb jutsu!
Konan actually learned a technique like this? Can the Chain Paper Bomb jutsu summon infinitely without the user present?
Tobi was stunned. He failed to notice that far away, hidden among the dense swarm of paper bombs, a single slip of paper had transformed into a small version of Konan, watching the Gedo Statue intently.
Tobi tried to control the Gedo Statue, but it remained completely unresponsive. His only choice was to phase through it and investigate the situation up close.
The deafening roar of the explosions nearly made him go deaf. While the blasts hadn't damaged the statue's shell, the constantly summoned paper bombs were causing the temperature to rise relentlessly. The sea at its base was already boiling.
A sense of foreboding washed over Tobi.
If these explosions continued, the Gedo Statue might not be able to withstand it.
It was highly likely!
While the current explosions weren't causing significant damage, the ever-increasing temperature could eventually destroy it.
Sweat beaded on Tobi's forehead as he scrambled for a solution.
The Gedo Statue had been summoned using Nagato's Rinnegan. But unlike a regular summoned beast, it wouldn't return on its own when the time was up.
And now, the Rinnegan was in Zetsu's possession.
Did he really have to go all the way back?
Mulling it over, he decided to try his Kamui. He would see if he could pull the Gedo Statue into his dimension. Once transported, the Chain Paper Bomb jutsu should deactivate.
Tobi's eye spun violently, and a massive vortex appeared.
But it quickly vanished.
It was no good. The Gedo Statue was too large; Kamui could only accommodate half of its body.
Tobi passed through the statue's body, finding a spot untouched by the explosions. The moment he placed his hand on it to test it, he felt the intense heat and quickly pulled back. A part of his White Zetsu skin had been badly burned.
Gritting his teeth, Tobi pressed his hand against it again. He pushed his visual prowess to its limit, but he was completely unable to pull the colossal statue into his Kamui dimension. In the few seconds he remained tangible, the surrounding chain explosions gave him a splitting, unbearable headache.
Just then, a White Zetsu emerged from the ground.
"You have Hashirama's cells, but the Gedo Statue currently has no chakra. You can't control it."
"Only the Rinnegan can take it away. Zetsu has already brought the Rinnegan back."
"You'll have to transplant the Rinnegan to control and summon the Gedo Statue."
Dizzy and disoriented, Tobi grabbed the White Zetsu in a rage and began absorbing its chakra.
That detestable Black Zetsu had only told him this now.
After absorbing enough chakra to restore his right arm, he immediately warped into his Kamui dimension, intending to find Black Zetsu and demand an explanation.
In truth, Black Zetsu had never expected him to summon the Gedo Statue directly.