Under normal circumstances, Jiraiya's hair technique was already tough enough that ordinary chakra weapons couldn't cut it. Now, infused and hardened by Senjutsu chakra, its durability was off the charts. Even with Menma wielding the Sword of the Thunder God, he only managed to nick the incoming wave of hair.
The rest of the white mane surged forward unstoppably, wrapping tightly around the blade.
It continued to spiral outward, threatening to bind Menma's arms next.
Realizing how incredibly difficult it would be to break free from the rapidly coiling hair, Menma's expression darkened. He had no choice but to release his grip. Kicking off the ground violently, he abandoned the Sword of the Thunder God and blasted backward to create distance.
This wasn't a standard Leaf jutsu, nor was it a secret technique of Mount Myōboku.
It was a jutsu Jiraiya had invented himself.
Leaving aside its incredible versatility, the sheer structural integrity of the jutsu was far beyond normal ninjutsu. If even Menma found it difficult to break free, an ordinary ninja wouldn't stand a chance.
*Still falling a little short, huh!* Menma exhaled a slow breath. Watching the Sword of the Thunder God get dragged back into the mass of white hair, a cold, sharp light glinted in his eyes.
Ultimately, his mastery of the Flying Thunder God was still only at the beginner stage.
He couldn't yet achieve true, instantaneous, omni-directional teleportation on a whim. While he didn't suffer the multi-second cooldowns of Pain's Almighty Push or Obito's single-eye Kamui, there was still a microscopic fraction of a second of delay.
The primary issue was that Menma needed that split second to mentally lock onto his pre-placed spatial markers before jumping.
It was exactly like the "Teleport" skill in the video games he played in his past life: before you could cast the spell, you had to manually select a target destination.
That was the stage Menma was currently at.
Being able to learn and utilize the Flying Thunder God in such a short amount of time already proved his monstrous talent. However, practical, flawless combat application couldn't be achieved overnight. It required time, practice, and a massive accumulation of combat experience to use it seamlessly.
*It seems Menma hasn't fully mastered the Flying Thunder God yet...*
After their initial probing exchange, Jiraiya, with his vast experience, instantly picked up on this flaw. As Minato's sensei, Jiraiya had watched his student use the jutsu countless times. When Minato used it, there was zero hesitation, zero delay.
In the blink of an eye, Minato could flawlessly bounce between dozens of spatial coordinates in any environment.
This was exactly why Minato had earned the moniker "The Yellow Flash" across the ninja world. Throughout Minato's life, the only enemies who ever managed to fight him head-on and actually escape alive were the Fourth Raikage and Killer B. Everyone else simply became another ghost beneath Minato's custom kunai.
Minato's speed was unparalleled.
His Flying Thunder God had absolutely no gaps.
No one could track him.
But looking at Menma now, it was clear he lacked that level of absolute refinement.
Confirming this, Jiraiya felt a massive weight lift from his chest. If Menma's mastery of the Flying Thunder God had truly matched Minato's, the difficulty of this battle would have skyrocketed.
It would have become nearly impossible to track his movements, and any window for a counterattack would have been reduced to less than a tenth of a second—a nearly impossible feat to pull off consistently.
Jiraiya wasn't a speed-type fighter.
And he certainly couldn't afford to get dragged into a war of attrition against Menma. Menma was the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki; trying to outlast him in a battle of stamina would be the height of stupidity.
"Fukasaku-sama, Shima-sama. I'm going to need your help in a moment. We absolutely must lock him down!" Jiraiya said, taking a deep breath, his expression entirely serious.
"Right! Don't worry, little Jiraiya."
"We've got this, little Jiraiya!"
The two elderly Myōboku toads responded in perfect synchronization.
*BOOM!*
In an instant, Jiraiya's chakra flared violently. Pushing his speed to the limit, he dodged another sweeping strike from the Adamantine Sealing Chains and charged directly at Menma.
As Jiraiya closed in, the sheer kinetic pressure of his advance felt like a physical weight.
Facing the immediate threat, Menma's eyes hardened.
*Swish!*
With a flick of his wrist, he produced a custom three-pronged kunai.
*CLANG!*
Meeting the charge head-on, Menma once again parried a ferocious strike from Jiraiya's hardened white hair.
Following that, the two engaged in a brutal, high-speed melee clash.
*BANG!*
*BANG!*
Their figures blurred as they traded blows, the deafening sounds of their high-impact collisions echoing across the battlefield like thunder.
While Menma and Jiraiya were locked in their white-hot duel, their massive summoning beasts were engaged in their own savage brawl.
*CLANG!*
*BANG!*
The colossal bodies of the toad and the lizard slammed into each other repeatedly. The sheer kinetic force of their impacts sent violent tremors ripping through the earth.
Neither the Waterfall shinobi nor the Leaf shinobi dared to get anywhere near them. A single stray strike from either of the giant beasts would instantly crush a normal human. This was the terrifying reality of fighting alongside massive summons.
It was glaringly obvious that Shikkudo was struggling under Gamabunta's relentless assault. In terms of pure strength, Gamabunta undeniably outclassed the lizard!
However, the gap wasn't so massive that it was an instant defeat.
Shikkudo was fighting desperately, constantly on the defensive. But Gamabunta wasn't going to secure a quick victory either. Shikkudo could easily stall the giant toad for a significant amount of time.
While their battle settled into a violent stalemate, on the other side of the battlefield, Muku—in his Satori form—had essentially activated a cheat code. He was an unstoppable force of nature, slaughtering everything in his path.
In just a few short minutes...
*BANG!*
*SQUELCH!*
"Aaaagh!"
The Leaf shinobi, unable to adjust their formations fast enough to deal with the monstrosity, were being physically torn apart. Satori had already butchered over a hundred men.
The fatality rate among those he struck was over fifty percent.
The psychological blow was devastating.
And this was happening despite Kakashi having already joined the fray to try and stop him!
"Lightning Release: False Darkness!"
*Bzzzzzzzt!*
However, no matter what jutsu Kakashi threw at him, it was completely useless. Satori simply tanked Kakashi's elemental attacks without flinching, continuing to massacre the Leaf shinobi around him.
"Damn it!"
Watching his comrades die one after another, Kakashi's face twisted in pure frustration and horror.
Having his Mangekyō Sharingan ripped out by Menma had certainly solved Kakashi's chronic chakra drain issues. But as a direct consequence, the famous "Copy Ninja" had lost his ultimate trump card: Kamui. Without it, his current combat ceiling was stuck somewhere between elite Jonin and quasi-Kage.
Could he threaten a monster like Satori?
Absolutely not. It was practically impossible.
If Muku was allowed to continue this unchecked rampage through the Leaf army... Menma wouldn't even need to defeat Jiraiya. The overall battle would be decided purely by Satori's slaughter.
But the Hidden Leaf absolutely could not accept a scenario like that.
From his command post in the rear, Shikaku had been constantly monitoring the battlefield. When he saw that even Kakashi was completely unable to stall the black monster—and was, in fact, getting thoroughly outmatched—Shikaku initially felt a jolt of panic. However, he quickly recovered and immediately instructed Inoichi Yamanaka to redirect high-value combat assets from other sectors to reinforce Kakashi's position.