"I told you, it can read minds," Gamabunta said. "Whatever attack you're thinking of using, it knows before you even make your move."
Hatake Sakumo's short blade carved dense arcs through the air, every strike aimed precisely at Satori's vital points.
Yet Satori merely shifted its body slightly or tilted aside, causing every lethal slash to miss.
"Fire Style: Toad Oil Flame Bullet!"
Standing atop Gamabunta's head, Jiraiya formed hand seals as scorching flames blasted toward Satori like artillery shells.
At the same time, Gamabunta opened his enormous mouth and sprayed toad oil. The oil and flames merged in midair, creating a sea of fire that seemed to cover the entire sky.
Satori gave its wings a powerful flap and shot dozens of metres upward, allowing the flames to sweep beneath its feet.
Its enormous mouth opened, firing another purple energy sphere toward Gamabunta.
"Watch out!" Jiraiya shouted.
Gamabunta leaped violently to the side. The energy sphere skimmed past his back and exploded against the ground, blasting out a massive crater.
"Damn it! You can't hit this thing at all!" Gamabunta cursed.
The moment Satori landed, Sakumo charged again, his short blade leaving trails of afterimages.
"Too slow. Too slow." Satori's voice was filled with mockery. "I already know everything you're thinking."
It suddenly extended a skeletal hand and grabbed Sakumo.
"What?!"
A tremendous force struck Sakumo, hurling him through the air and slamming him heavily into the ground.
"Lord Sakumo!"
The nearby Konoha ninja cried out in alarm.
Jiraiya's expression turned grave as his hands rapidly formed seals.
"Earth Style: Earth Flow River!"
The ground suddenly liquefied into mud and surged toward Satori.
"Another little trick like this?"
Satori lightly jumped and flew into the air.
"All Konoha ninja, retreat to Outpost Three immediately!" Jiraiya shouted while providing cover. "And you Iwa bastards, get out of here too! This thing isn't something you can handle!"
The Iwagakure squad captain had gone pale.
If even Konoha's White Fang and Jiraiya of the Sannin could not defeat it, staying behind would only mean death.
"Retreat!"
The Iwa ninja turned and fled without hesitation.
In an instant, both sides disappeared from the battlefield, leaving only Jiraiya, Gamabunta, and Hatake Sakumo to keep Satori occupied.
When Kakashi's team arrived, the sight before them made everyone suck in a breath.
The pitch-black, headless monster was leisurely flapping its enormous wings, avoiding attacks coming from every direction.
Every one of Sakumo's slashes moved at extraordinary speed, yet not even the edge of Satori's wing could be touched.
Jiraiya stood atop Gamabunta's head, continuously forming seals and unleashing ninjutsu. Fire Style and Earth Style techniques came one after another, but Satori evaded all of them with ease.
Obito charged forward without even thinking.
"Come back!"
Kakashi reached out to grab him, but he was a step too late.
Guy immediately followed.
"Youth cannot stand by and watch our comrades get hurt!"
Satori's enormous mouth opened slightly.
A purple energy sphere shot toward the two charging genin.
"Danger!"
Jiraiya leaped down from Gamabunta's head and formed hand seals.
"Earth Style: Earth-Style Wall!"
A thick earthen wall erupted from the ground in front of Obito and Guy.
The energy sphere pierced straight through the wall and exploded behind them.
"Are you two insane?!" Jiraiya turned around, anger appearing on his face for the first time. "Is this a battle you have any business getting involved in?!"
"But..." Obito tried to argue.
"No buts." Jiraiya cut him off. "Retreat to Outpost Three, then send word to Konoha as fast as possible. Tell them Kusagakure released Satori from the Box of Ultimate Bliss. Request every reinforcement they can mobilize."
"What about you and Lord Sakumo?" Rin asked.
"We'll hold it back as long as we can." Jiraiya looked toward the enormous figure in the sky. "This thing can read minds. Ordinary attacks are basically useless against it."
Kakashi nodded.
"Understood."
He grabbed Obito, who still wanted to argue.
"Move. That's an order."
"But—"
"No buts." Kakashi's voice was unusually firm. "If we stay, we'll only become a burden. Getting this information out is the most important thing right now."
At that moment, Satori violently flapped its wings, sending a black gale sweeping across the battlefield.
"Trying to leave?"
Its enormous mouth opened again.
A terrifying suction force erupted.
"Fire Style: Massive Flame Bullet!"
Jiraiya formed hand seals.
A gigantic fireball shot toward Satori, temporarily interrupting the suction.
Gamabunta drew the short blade from his back.
"Hurry up and go! This thing is seriously bad news!"
Kakashi no longer hesitated.
He turned and led his team toward Outpost Three.
Obito kept looking back as he ran, his fists clenched tightly.
"Are we really just leaving?"
"What else do you want to do?" Kakashi did not look back. "Stay behind and die?"
"But..."
"No buts." Kakashi's voice turned cold. "A ninja's mission comes before everything else. Right now, delivering the intelligence matters more than anything."
Rin tugged lightly on Obito's sleeve.
"Obito, Kakashi is right. All we can do now is trust Lord Jiraiya and Lord Sakumo."
Guy nodded as well.
"We'll go back, bring more people, and then return to defeat that monster!"
The four figures quickly disappeared beyond the hills.
Once everyone had withdrawn, Jiraiya and Sakumo both breathed a little easier.
"Let's retreat too. This thing is too difficult to deal with."
Sakumo nodded and began withdrawing.
Satori hovered in the air, watching the direction in which the two men and one toad retreated. The enormous mouth on its abdomen twisted into a sinister grin.
It did not pursue them.
Those few were too powerful. Even if Satori won in a direct fight, it would have to pay a considerable price.
"Boring."
It spread its enormous black wings and turned toward another direction.
There, it sensed an even larger and denser concentration of chakra, filled with violent rage and killing intent.
At Kumogakure's frontline position,
the Third Raikage raised his head just as Satori flew toward them.
"What the hell is that thing?!" a Kumo ninja shouted.
"A monster?" The Third Raikage clenched his fist. "Perfect. This old man could use some exercise today."
Lightning flashed beneath his feet.
His body shot forward like a cannonball, his fist carrying overwhelming destructive power as it smashed toward Satori's abdomen.
Satori shifted slightly and avoided the punch.
"Oh?" The Third Raikage's fighting spirit burned even brighter. "You can dodge my fist? Interesting."
He charged again.
Satori continued dodging, but inside, it was growing confused.
"You... is fighting literally the only thing inside your head?"
The Third Raikage's fist struck empty air.
"Something else? Like what?"
"Like... aren't you afraid of dying?"
"Dying?"
The Third Raikage burst into loud laughter.
"This old man's body is the strongest shield, and my fist is the strongest spear! The person who can kill me hasn't even been born yet!"
With that, he charged again.
The battle continued for an entire hour.
Kumogakure's position had been reduced to ruins, yet the Third Raikage's eyes remained fierce, as though he did not know the meaning of exhaustion.
Even Satori began to lose patience.
This man's mind contained nothing but fighting.
He wasn't delicious at all.
"Forget it. I'm done playing with you."
Satori beat its wings and flew upward.
Then the enormous mouth on its abdomen opened, firing a massive purple energy sphere toward Kumogakure's position.
BOOM!
The entire Kumo position was instantly transformed into a sea of flames.
Satori then gave its wings another powerful flap.
Countless black feathers shot out like blades.
The Third Raikage's entire body was wrapped in Lightning Style chakra as he punched directly into the oncoming storm of feathers.
"Retreat! Everyone retreat!"
Satori watched the Kumogakure ninja flee in disarray but did not pursue them.
As expected, those with enormous amounts of chakra were troublesome opponents.
There was no reason to waste time fighting them.
Satori spread its wings and flew toward the nearest concentration of chakra.
Across the entire Land of Grass, chakra signatures were everywhere.
"So much delicious food…"
~~~
Patreon(.)com/Bleam
— Currently You can Read 70 Chapters Ahead of Others!