Naruto: Uchiha Youngjo's Konoha Spring

Chapter 268 Shell VS Akatsuki

As Kurama finished speaking, a layer of golden flames instantly appeared on Naruto's body. Two large chakra hands reached out and grabbed Jiraiya and Gaara on the left and right, respectively, before turning into streaks of light and disappearing from the spot.

The next instant, the area within a hundred meters of where Naruto had been standing was engulfed by a series of explosions.

Once he was taken to safety, Jiraiya looked at the site of the explosion, first letting out a sigh of relief, then revealing an expression of disbelief.

It's important to understand that Jiraiya had been fighting in the ninja world for many years and had faced countless sneak attacks. However, no matter what form the sneak attack took, it was impossible for him to be completely free of any chakra fluctuations. Moreover, the scale of the explosion in front of him required at least a thousand explosive tags to achieve. The chakra fluctuations caused by the detonation of such a large number of explosive tags would not have given him any time to react.

Naruto, having entered perfect Kurama Mode, instantly pinpointed the source of the malice, and then a look of astonishment appeared on his face.

The reason is simple: the dozen or so enemies he targeted had chakra fluctuations at the same level as Kakashi's. Among all the ninjas Naruto had ever seen, apart from Kakashi, their chakra levels were at most at the level of an ordinary Chunin, yet they had just caused such a large-scale explosion.

"Could they all be geniuses like Kakashi?" Naruto wondered.

As the smoke from the explosion slowly dissipated, Jiraiya looked at the several figures gradually emerging from the smoke and shouted, "Who goes there?"

The newcomers were all dressed in white robes, and on their bodies were various mechanical devices. Their high-tech goggles shimmered with red light, and each of them had a seashell-like pattern on their chest.

Faced with Jiraiya's questioning, the other party seemed to have no intention of answering. The leader spread his arms, and after a series of clicking sounds from the mechanical armor on his arms, two dark cannon barrels appeared in Naruto and the others' eyes. The next moment, the energy storage device on the back of the mechanical armor crackled, and the dark blue energy gathered into the cannon barrels along the pipes on the armor.

"What is this? What is it?" Jiraiya's eyes widened. This energy was unlike any he was familiar with. However, even from a distance, he could feel the terrifying power it contained.

"Grandpa Jiraiya! Stand behind me!" Naruto shouted, and the golden aura around him suddenly expanded, and a huge golden fox rose from the ground. The fox opened its mouth wide, and violent chakra condensed and compressed in its mouth.

As the opponent pulled the trigger, dozens of surging energy beams shot towards the giant nine-tailed fox, while the nine-tailed fox also spat out its Tailed Beast Ball.

Two completely different energies collided in mid-air, and the terrifying impact destroyed the surrounding rainforest, clearing out a huge clearing.

However, to Naruto's surprise, in this clash, the Tailed Beast Ball, which had always been invincible, was at a disadvantage. The opponent's special energy began to decompose the chakra the moment it came into contact with the Tailed Beast Ball.

Fortunately, Naruto channeled a large enough amount of chakra this time, which barely managed to block the opponent's attack.

After the shock of the explosion subsided, the enemy immediately launched a second attack.

Seeing this, Jiraiya broke free from the protection of the Nine-Tails' cloak and planned to launch a surprise attack from the side to help relieve some of the pressure on Naruto.

"Grandpa Jiraiya, that kind of energy can break down chakra!" Naruto shouted a warning as soon as he saw this.

"There are such things in the ninja world?" Jiraiya gritted his teeth and formed the hand seals for the Summoning Jutsu. After summoning the two toad sages, Iron-Armed Toad and Fukasaku Shima, he said, "Iron-Armed Toad, go to the side and help Naruto relieve some pressure. You two sages, assist me in entering Sage Mode."

The summoned Iron-Armed Toad sensed the chakra fluctuations emanating from the other party and glanced at Jiraiya beside him with some surprise.

"Jiraiya, what's going on? The opponent's chakra fluctuations are at most at the Chunin level. Is it really necessary for us to come out and help such an enemy?" Iron-Armed Toad asked.

“There’s something strange about their armor,” Jiraiya said through gritted teeth. “Their strength is definitely more than that of an ordinary Chunin. Their attacks can withstand Tailed Beast Balls. According to Naruto, the energy in that armor can break down chakra.”

"Master Fukasaku, you are knowledgeable and experienced. Do you know what this energy is?" Jiraiya asked.

"I don't know." Fukasaku shook his head, then turned to look at the Nine-Tails who was exchanging blows with the opponent using Tailed Beast Balls not far away. "However, if that kind of energy can break down chakra, then we can only try using Sage Chakra. It's just a pity that Naruto hasn't fully mastered Sage Mode yet, otherwise he wouldn't be in such a passive position right now."

The opponent's attacks grew increasingly fierce, and Naruto and Kurama had less and less time to condense the Tailed Beast Ball. In just a short while, Kurama was at a disadvantage in this pure energy confrontation.

"You stinky fox, you're no good either!" Inside Gaara's body, Shukaku couldn't help but laugh loudly when he saw Kurama get its comeuppance.

"Shut up!" Nine-Tails roared angrily.

"Hmph, you stinky fox, how about it? Do you want me to help you? Just beg me, and I'll mercifully lend a hand. How about it?" Shukaku said smugly.

"Idiot! Don't you find the aura of the power these guys are using somewhat familiar?" Nine-Tails roared. "That's the aura of when that being first created us, before it completely dissipated!"

"Huh?" Shukaku froze in place after hearing Kurama's words. After recalling for a moment, his chubby face made of sand was filled with horror. "You mean that thing? But didn't that thing disappear after we were born?"

"How should I know! All I know is that these people are definitely after us! If you don't want to lose your chance to be reborn, then lend a hand!" Nine-Tailed Fox roared.

Indeed, the energy flowing within the armor of this person of unknown origin was almost identical to that of the Ten-Tails, which had been separated by the Sage of Six Paths and transformed into nine tailed beasts. Because of the passage of time, some of the memories that were not very clear were recalled, and this fear from the level of life itself made Shukaku no longer dare to stand by and watch.

"Kid! Open your mind! Accept my power!" Shukaku shouted urgently at Gaara.

Gaara, who had been standing behind Naruto, was secretly anxious as he watched Naruto struggle in the fight. However, he knew that without the power of the Tailed Beasts, his current strength was at most that of an ordinary Jonin, and he couldn't offer any help in a battle of this level. Therefore, the moment Shukaku spoke, Gaara relaxed his mind, and soon, a swirling cloud of yellow sand rose from the ground, condensing into a huge tanuki.

The moment he appeared, Shukaku began forming hand seals with his somewhat chubby hands.

"Wind Release: Sky Bullet!" A surge of violent wind-style chakra gathered in front of Shukaku.

"Idiot! Didn't you see that even the Tailed Beast Ball can only barely block that kind of light? What use is this to you!" Kurama roared immediately upon seeing this.

"I don't have as much chakra as you! This isn't a desert!" Shukaku immediately turned around and cursed. The constant drizzle in the Land of Rain was falling on his sand-based body, which already greatly reduced his strength. In addition, the Nine-Tails was still nagging beside him, so Shukaku was naturally extremely annoyed.

After Shukaku threw out the condensed air bullet, it was immediately disintegrated by the light emitted from the opponent's cannon barrel, leaving not even a ripple. Seeing this, Shukaku gritted his teeth and began to form a new hand seal, while shouting loudly, "You stinky fox! Buy me five minutes!"

At this moment, Iron-Armed Toad was also trying to harass the opponent from the side. However, the leader of the opponent took a device from his waist after seeing Iron-Armed Toad approaching, pressed the button on it, and threw it at his feet.

In the next instant, a pale blue force field spread out, forcing the Iron-Armed Toad back. After being forced back, the Iron-Armed Toad looked down at its special arm guards that were covered with Sage Chakra. At this moment, the chakra portion of the Sage Chakra on the top of the arm guards, which were originally incredibly hard under the protection of Sage Chakra, was completely decomposed by this special energy field. The remaining natural energy, freed from the restraint of chakra, began to slowly corrode the arm guards.

"Sage Fukasaku, this thing can strip away the chakra portion from Sage Chakra!" the Iron-Armed Toad shouted a warning, but this power seemed unable to suppress pure natural energy!
"Is that so?" Fukasaku, standing on Jiraiya's shoulder, nodded.

Just then, Jiraiya suddenly opened his eyes. At that moment, his pupils turned into horizontal toad eyes, red eyeshadow appeared at the corners of his eyes, and a layer of bumps appeared on his enormous nose.

"Little Jiraiya, did you hear that? Use that move!" said Shima, who was standing on Jiraiya's shoulder.

"I understand!" Jiraiya nodded, stomped his foot on the ground, and instantly rushed towards the enemy's location.

Upon witnessing this scene, the leader who was leading the team to exchange fire with the two tailed beasts took out another force field bullet, intending to repeat the same tactic.

But this time, the moment the force field spread to Jiraiya, the sprinting Jiraiya suddenly threw a punch out of thin air.

The secret technique of Mount Myōboku for manipulating natural energy—the Frog Formation!

With a whooshing sound, a huge rift was torn open in the pale blue force field, and Jiraiya's figure charged into the formation of the squad that was constantly firing beams at the two tailed beasts.

Jiraiya's intrusion instantly caused a commotion in the enemy ranks.

At this moment, the leader of the opposing team took out a uniquely shaped short stick from his waist, pressed a button on it, and a pale blue laser instantly shot out from one end of the stick, transforming into the shape of a lightsaber. As he slashed at Jiraiya, he gave orders to his teammates behind him.

"You guys continue the capture and fighting, I'll handle this guy!"

"Capture? You're after the Tailed Beasts?" Jiraiya frowned upon hearing this, but the next moment, the lightsaber in the other party's hand slashed down at him.

Jiraiya looked at the strange energy within the lightsaber, which appeared even more solid than the force field and rays from before, and his expression became extremely solemn. He used his Frog Gauntlets to manipulate the natural energy to block it.

After several rounds of close combat, Jiraiya realized the problem: his opponent's physical skills were terrible, but he couldn't find a good way to deal with him using his weapon. The only way Jiraiya could block his opponent's slashes was by manipulating natural energy with the Frog Kumite. However, the amount of natural energy manipulated by this secret technique was actually not much. He had to rely on extremely precise control to block his opponent's chaotic slashes with the limited natural energy.

Although the opponent couldn't do anything to Jiraiya for the time being, the Frog Kumite technique of Mount Myōboku was constantly consuming the already limited amount of Sage Chakra in Jiraiya's body. Moreover, the two toad sages on Jiraiya's shoulders could not gather Sage Chakra at a speed far slower than the consumption required to control natural energy!
"Jiraiya! Retreat first!" Seeing that the situation was not good, Shima quickly shouted a reminder.

"Hmph, trying to escape! Too late!" Upon seeing this, the opponent sneered and increased the speed of Xia Ji's Eight Slashes once again.

Just two minutes later, the toad-like features on Jiraiya's face and the red eyeshadow around his eyes faded, and he was about to be defeated. Just then, a gaping maw suddenly emerged from beneath the ground where the two were fighting, swallowed Jiraiya, and disappeared from the spot.

The opponent's strike missed its mark in that instant.

"Dare to run wild in the Land of Rain? It seems you are prepared to bear the wrath of the gods?" In the sky, a figure dressed in a black robe with red clouds slowly descended. His Rinnegan eyes stared at the attackers in front of him. He slowly opened his mouth, his voice filled with suppressed anger.

Nagato, who had set off to meet Jiraiya and the clan leader he had never met before, immediately summoned the puppets of the Six Paths of Pain and rushed over after hearing the commotion.

Soon, behind the two tailed beasts, the King of Hell of the Hell Path burst out of the ground and spat out Jiraiya and the two toad sages.

"Nagato?" Jiraiya, who had escaped death, looked up at the figure hovering in mid-air. He first breathed a sigh of relief, then shouted a warning, "Be careful! These people have the ability to suppress chakra!"

Upon hearing Jiraiya's words, Pain turned around and nodded slightly to him, then raised his hand towards the mechanical troops below who had already aimed their cannons at him.

"Having offended the majesty of the gods, then experience the most extreme pain in the world! Shinra Tensei!"

(End of this chapter)