blogombal Chapter 45 Rescue
Chapter 45 Rescue
The Iwa ninja, who were in pursuit, saw Jiraiya blocking their way and immediately prepared for battle. The Iwa ninja leading the group at the front stopped, slightly raised his hands, and looked at the disheveled Jiraiya with a triumphant expression. A breeze brushed against the hideous scars on his face, and his gray-brown hair fluttered in the wind, making him look quite terrifying.
The surrounding Iwa ninja also stopped their pursuit at the same time. The Iwa ninja in charge looked around and smiled confidently:
"Jiraiya, one of the Legendary Sannin of Konoha, look around you now. You're surrounded by Iwa ninja. With just one order, even at the cost of some sacrifice, we can tear you to shreds. Don't expect any Konoha ninja in front of you to escape. Let me tell you the truth: just now, when you broke through the encirclement, some of our Iwa ninja were waiting for you to pass so we could surround and annihilate you. Face reality, Jiraiya. On behalf of the Iwa ninja, I am willing to accept your surrender. What do you say?"
"If you are willing to give up resistance and surrender to us, I guarantee that you will be accepted into our Iwagakure village. With your strength, you will soon become a high-ranking member of our Iwagakure village. What do you say?"
The delay was too long; the Konoha ninjas had held back the Iwa ninjas' advance for a full four days, making it difficult for the Iwa ninjas to support the Sand ninjas' operations.
At the same time, fearing that Jiraiya's desperate resistance would lead to even greater casualties, the Iwa ninja in charge didn't bother trying to persuade Jiraiya to surrender. Moreover, even if they accepted Jiraiya, it was impossible for him to become a high-ranking member of the Iwa ninja; at most, he would only become a high-ranking henchman for the village!
It's dragged on for too long, and we don't know how the battle is going on in Sand Village. If Sand Village can't hold out and is defeated and surrenders to Konoha, then Iwagakure will have to fight Konoha alone, and that will be troublesome. The title of the strongest ninja village in the ninja world is still quite intimidating.
The Iwa ninja leading the team was secretly worried.
Surely... nothing unexpected could happen? The moment this thought crossed his mind, the Iwa ninja leading the team shook his head slightly.
In the imagination of the Iwa ninja leading the expedition, Sunagakure, after all, was a ninja village among the Five Great Nations. To defeat such an opponent, Konoha couldn't accomplish it in a short period of time. At most, they would be suppressed by Konoha and suffer more casualties. That would be perfect; after the war against Konoha, Sunagakure would lack the strength to compete with Iwa for the biggest share of Konoha's spoils.
The most important thing now is to persuade Jiraiya to surrender. He is a newly promoted Kage-level ninja in Konoha. If he can persuade him to surrender, his contribution will be enormous. At that time, it is very likely that he will become a high-ranking member of Iwagakure or be asked to learn Iwagakure's secret techniques.
In the eyes of the Iwa ninja leading the team, Jiraiya was already at his last gasp. After hearing their promise, he would at least hesitate and consider it, causing him to waver. At that time, whether he surrendered or resisted, it would make things easier for the Iwa ninja.
But in reality, Jiraiya, standing opposite them covered in blood and dressed in rags, remained motionless, as if he hadn't heard the words of the Iwa ninja leading the group. A mocking expression graced his face as he sneered, his tone filled with contempt:
"Lord Iwagakure, I don't know if you're naive or truly stupid. Do you think I, Jiraiya, am a fool like you?"
Upon hearing this, the Iwa ninja were immediately enraged. Was this an insult to the Iwa ninja?
"Kill him!" The hot-tempered Iwa ninja finally couldn't hold back and shouted angrily.
The Iwa ninja leading the group also froze for a moment, then glared fiercely at Jiraiya with burning anger. How dare this guy insult me in front of our Iwa ninja army!
Jiraiya, completely unconcerned, curled the corners of his lips into a smile as he looked at the densely packed Iwa ninja opposite him and spoke again:
"When have you ever seen a Konoha ninja surrender to the enemy? Have you ever encountered a Konoha ninja surrendering to you in this war? I am a Konoha ninja, a ninja from the strongest ninja village in the ninja world, Konoha. How could a weak ninja village like yours possibly understand the pride of the strongest ninja village!"
"So don't spout those ridiculous surrender rhetoric to make me laugh. Konoha has only ever had ninjas who died in battle, never ninjas who surrendered! Come on! Let's continue our battle!"
As he spoke, he quickly formed hand seals, preparing to strike first.
Finally, all the Iwagakure ninjas could no longer contain themselves. They were all enraged and roared, filling the blood-soaked battlefield with a violent aura once again.
The leader of the Iwa ninja's ferocious face was now as black as ink. His teeth were clenched, his whole body trembled involuntarily, and his eyes blazed with intense killing intent, like scorching flames.
He then waved his hand fiercely, staring menacingly at Jiraiya who was smiling before him. His chilling words seemed to come from hell, filled with darkness and murderous intent.
"Kill him!"
The Iwa ninja behind him, who had been unable to contain their anger any longer, unleashed their fury and charged towards Jiraiya with a roar.
Jiraiya, not to be outdone, directly squeezed out the remaining chakra in his body and slammed it hard onto the ground.
"Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld Technique!"
The ground instantly turned into a swamp, causing the Iwa ninja's charge to stop abruptly. The Iwa ninja who were charging too fast fell into it and were quickly submerged.
Having achieved his goal in one strike, Jiraiya didn't pause for a moment. Instantly, he stomped his feet hard on the ground and charged towards the Iwa ninja squad that had already detoured. He didn't want any Iwa ninja squad to slip past and pursue the Konoha team.
Hyuga Kanan led the Konoha team, bypassing most of the Iwa ninja blocking their way, and quickly escaped the Iwa ninja's encirclement. Now that there were no more Iwa ninja ahead, they could simply advance and return to the Konoha team's last stronghold.
Hyuga Kanan sensed that Jiraiya was still locked in combat with the Iwa ninja, and then addressed the Konoha team:
"You all hurry back to the base and report the situation. There are no more Iwa ninja ahead, so just go back as quickly as possible. I'm going back to meet up with Lord Jiraiya!"
"Are you going alone? No, I'll go with you, that way I'll have someone to help me!"
A Konoha ninja spoke quickly with a worried expression, and the surrounding Konoha ninjas quickly gathered around, indicating that they could also go and meet Jiraiya-sama.
"I don't need you guys anymore. You're all exhausted and don't have much stamina or chakra left. Besides, I can hide much more easily by myself, and I also have the Byakugan to avoid Iwa ninja. Having more people would only alert the Iwa ninja and make us more likely to be exposed!"
Faced with the firm refusal of the Konoha team's request, Hyuga Kanan waved and quickly left.
My purpose in going to the battlefield now is not just to rescue Jiraiya. I have been running away and have not had time to absorb the soul energy clusters floating in the air. Now that I am going there, I can absorb some soul energy clusters that have not drifted far away. I will just take a look and see if I can rescue Jiraiya. After all, he saved me before. If I have the chance, I will help him. If I don't have the chance, I will have to give up.
Rescuing someone under the watchful eyes of the Iwa ninja force is virtually impossible. The only way to escape is for Jiraiya to find a way to break free from their pursuit. Using his soul power for wide-range detection, he can easily evade the Iwa ninja's pursuit and obstruction. Then he can escape with Jiraiya.
But this is contingent on Jiraiya being able to escape from the Iwa ninja force. Otherwise, Hyuga Kanan wouldn't go to his rescue. Going to rescue him would be tantamount to suicide. Although Kanan felt guilty that Jiraiya had saved him, he wouldn't want to live or die with him.
Hyuga Kanan carefully moved towards the battlefield where Jiraiya was, while avoiding the Iwa ninja's blocking force. They had not yet realized that the Konoha team had escaped from the battlefield and were still searching the entire area.
Upon arriving near the area where the Iwa ninja forces were engaged in battle with Jiraiya, they immediately lay in ambush, waiting for an opportunity to rescue Jiraiya. At the same time, they began to mobilize their soul power to absorb the surrounding soul energy clusters that had not yet drifted away.
Many clusters of soul energy still lingered around the battlefield, unabsorbed by the Sage of Six Paths. Hyuga Kanan continuously enveloped these clusters of soul energy with his soul power, drawing them into the Qiankun Inheritance Jade, absorbing over a hundred of them. However, Hyuga Kanan was still not satisfied. Although his soul power was currently undergoing a transformation and not needed for the time being, his body still required a massive amount of soul energy to absorb and refine natural energy, and the Byakugan also required it.
After the transformation is complete, the demand may be even greater. It's rare to have a continuous supply of soul energy clusters now that we're in the midst of war. Although most of them belong to the Sage of Six Paths, I can still steal some portions that the Sage of Six Paths doesn't value, which is still quite considerable.
The sky had darkened, but Jiraiya was still entangled with the Iwa ninja. Now Jiraiya was covered in wounds and was no longer as agile as before; he had reached his limit.
Jiraiya calculated the time and realized that his mission was complete. The Konoha team was now retreating under his rearguard action. Although he didn't know if they had succeeded, he had done everything he could, and it was time to retreat.
Several Iwa ninja Jonin attacked, and Jiraiya endured the bombardment of their earth-style attacks. He simply put his hands in front of him to block, but was blasted away by a rock pillar. Taking advantage of the opportunity, Jiraiya moved away from the main force of Iwa ninjas, endured the pain, and quickly fled in one direction. In just an instant, his figure disappeared in front of the main force of Iwa ninjas.
The Iwa ninja were momentarily stunned as they watched the figure disappear. Jiraiya, who had been fighting to the death, was now running away, which surprised them. However, they quickly realized that it was because they had bought enough time for the Konoha forces to withdraw from the battlefield that he was now fleeing.
Several Iwa ninja also broke away from the main force and quickly chased after Jiraiya in the direction he had fled. In their eyes, Jiraiya was already seriously injured and would not be able to escape too quickly. Moreover, they could quickly deal with Jiraiya, and their small group was enough. They did not need the Iwa ninja to slow down their pursuit.
Hyuga Kanan saw this and silently moved to a different position, heading towards Jiraiya's direction.
Soon, the Iwa ninja split up to search for Jiraiya's whereabouts. Judging from their speed of pursuit, Jiraiya should be hiding nearby. Now they need to quickly find traces and pinpoint his location.
Behind a rock, Jiraiya leaned against it. His arm was broken, two ribs were broken, and there was a huge wound on his chest that was bleeding. The pain was draining his strength very quickly, and his consciousness was becoming somewhat blurred.
Hyuga Kanan quickly arrived near Jiraiya. As he prepared to go to his aid, he discovered that an Iwa ninja had also caught up with him and had spotted Jiraiya, rapidly approaching.
Jiraiya also saw the Iwa ninja approaching and knew he was in grave danger, but soon he saw Hyuga Kanan secretly following not far behind the Iwa ninja.
When the Jonin of Iwa saw that Jiraiya did not react, he was overjoyed. It seemed that his great achievement was about to be his. He walked straight up to Jiraiya, a smug smile on his face, and was about to check on Jiraiya's condition.
After realizing that Jiraiya was indeed powerless to resist, they prepared to bend down and capture him directly. Hyuga Kanan then used a Body Flicker Technique to appear next to the Iwa ninja, and Jiraiya immediately grabbed the other's arm.
Hyuga Kanan plunged a kunai directly into his opponent's back, piercing his heart. The Iwa ninja died instantly before he could even react.
Hyuga Kanan was waiting for the perfect moment when the Iwa ninja would relax their guard and lower their vigilance after seeing that Jiraiya was powerless to resist, so he could launch a surprise attack.
After pushing aside the corpses of the Iwa ninja, he looked at the disheveled Jiraiya and said with a smile, "Lord Jiraiya, I saved your life this time, so we're even now, since you saved me last time!"
Jiraiya only opened his eyes briefly to look at Hyuga Kanan before passing out.
Hinata Kanan's lips twitched, then he bent down to bandage Jiraiya's wounds before quickly carrying him away.