I founded the "Bragging Cult" in Naruto.

Chapter 717 It is said that the moment before death is long enough to reflect on one's entire life.

"I never imagined that I would be saved by you now."

Outside Konoha Village, a one-armed, white-haired giant struggled to open his eyes, looked at the two figures not far away, and said, "And... you two actually cooperated."

"Shut up, you loser."

A hoarse, disdainful voice rang out. Orochimaru maintained his peasant-like posture, seemingly rummaging through his sleeves for something. His gaze didn't fall on the heavily injured Jiraiya; instead, he looked into the distance.

Watching the figure slowly rise into the air from within the village, his expression became extremely solemn. Finally, he adjusted his gaze and looked at the young man beside him with similarly smooth hair, saying:

"Just how strong is that Payne guy?"

"You've been there before. If you don't know, there's no reason I should know. Or are you so insecure about your intelligence capabilities?"

Itachi's tone towards Orochimaru wasn't very friendly either. After all, he was an undercover agent, and Orochimaru had truly betrayed him. Although they had unexpectedly achieved cooperation this time, Itachi's disgust for Orochimaru hadn't lessened.

However, because Orochimaru had been pardoned by the Fourth Hokage, Sakamoto Tatsuma, even though he was extremely dissatisfied with Orochimaru, he would not take the initiative to attack him.

"To be honest, we might be in trouble this time."

As Orochimaru spoke, he gave Jiraiya, who was nearly on the verge of death, a look and said, "It's all this loser's fault. He risked his life and still couldn't gather any real information."

"Ha~ha~"

Jiraiya felt embarrassed and instinctively wanted to cover it up with a hearty laugh, but his weak body and serious injuries made his laughter sound weak and painful.

"My eyes can only be used here once, for the last time. I have a more important mission to perform."

As Itachi spoke, the black pupils in his clear black and white eyes instantly turned crimson, and the magatama appeared, transforming into a three-bladed windmill shuriken that slowly rotated within his pupils.

He is already quite satisfied with his current situation. After all, he has used his Mangekyou Sharingan quite a bit in recent years in order to "atone for his sins".

Even a body that has been healed cannot withstand such a frenzied consumption of pupil power, but all that is about it.

Almost all members of Akatsuki were wiped out, and the illegal ninja organizations that remained in various parts of the Land of Fire, especially Root, were also destroyed by him. He didn't know if he had atoned for his sins enough, but this was probably his limit.

He closed his eyes, which had already begun to ache and sting from being open, and weighed when it would be most appropriate to use his pupil power this time.

Orochimaru had finally found what he needed: a pair of snake fangs so dry they were cracked on the surface, with dark red marks still visible inside. He murmured to himself:

"What terrifying vitality! Several years have passed, and it hasn't completely died yet. I just don't know if it's enough to activate the spell."

As he spoke, he held a snake fang in one hand and stretched the other hand forward. From his sleeve, it seemed as if a snake's mouth opened, and a Rain Ninja, unconscious and covered in slime, slowly slid out from his sleeve.

"Impure World Reincarnation? If only that person could come."

Hearing Orochimaru's murmurs, Itachi opened his eyes, a glimmer of hope appearing in them. If it were the Fourth Hokage, perhaps everything would have changed.

However, Orochimaru actually used a forbidden technique again. I really want to kill him. Killing such a rogue ninja should atone for a lot of my sins, right?

Ignoring Itachi's murderous gaze, Orochimaru crouched down, formed hand seals, and looked up at Pain, who had risen high above Konoha, his arms outstretched, the venomous fangs in his hands piercing the bodies of Amegakure ninja.

"Impure World Reincarnation!"

Orochimaru slammed his hand on the ground, and a complex jutsu unfolded beneath his hand, instantly covering the Rain Ninja who was being sacrificed. Talismans also appeared, covering the sacrificed body.

The unconscious Rain Ninja seemed to regain consciousness and struggled continuously, but it was to no avail under the dual control of the jutsu and the talisman. In the end, the talisman covered the Rain Ninja's body.

The Rain Ninja, wrapped up like a mummy, suddenly developed cracks on her body, from which wisps of light emanated.

"Is he about to appear? The Fourth Hokage, Sakamoto Tatsuma?"

Itachi looked at the offering with expectation. Although the process was cruel, it was a necessary darkness.

Just as they were anticipating what would happen, the light suddenly went out. Orochimaru frowned, and Itachi's face stiffened. He asked, "What's wrong?"

"It failed."

Orochimaru's tone was somewhat incredulous, after all, he had used this technique before, and he was confident that there would be no mistakes in the process.

If it's not a problem with the spell, then what could it be? Is there still not enough blood? Not enough to complete this psychic summoning?

Or did Sakamoto Tatsuma refuse?

Orochimaru glanced at the offerings, still unwilling to give up, then looked up at the Konoha sky where the chakra fluctuations were becoming increasingly intense. He stretched out his hands from his sleeves, revealing two test tubes labeled "First Hokage" and "Second Hokage" respectively.

"We've run out of offerings; if we look for more, it might be too late."

Orochimaru's expression darkened, and his words made Itachi's mood somber.

"Use me as a sacrifice."

The sudden sound from behind made both of them turn around. Jiraiya, who was leaning against the tree root, grinned and said, "They say that when a whale falls, all things are born."

"I'm just a frog in a well; I can't bring everything to life, but I can still try to create a glimmer of hope for Konoha."

"No! Lord Jiraiya."

"it is good."

Just as Itachi was about to stop him, Orochimaru walked directly to Jiraiya's side, pulled open the test tube, and ripped the tube labeled "Second Hokage" open, spilling blood directly onto Jiraiya.

Orochimaru knew very well what was the wisest course of action: using the "quality" of the body summoned through the Impure World Reincarnation technique, even if a more powerful First Hokage were summoned, it would ultimately be of no use.

It would be better to summon the more intelligent Second Hokage and work together to find a solution with minimal losses.

Jiraiya smiled nonchalantly and said to Itachi, "Tsunade doesn't know I survived yet, but... please don't tell her, okay?"

"Lord Jiraiya"

Itachi wanted to say something, but Orochimaru had already completed the hand seals and the technique was unfolding, climbing towards Jiraiya. Jiraiya closed his eyes and gritted his teeth.

Even if a hero dies, he probably won't wail and beg for mercy, right?

It's such a pity, he almost lost to Tsunade.

Perhaps one should be happy, after all, one's life has been so terrible, and those who have been deeply involved with one will all be affected by one's bad luck.

Minato, Yahiko, and Nagato don't need another Tsunade.

Lost in thought, Jiraiya suddenly felt that this moment was really long. Indeed, the moment before death is long enough to reflect on one's entire life.

If it were a normal time, the technique that was so close would have already covered his body, right?

Suddenly I don't feel so cold anymore. Is it the warm light of heaven? Or the scorching fires of hell? It must be the latter, right? How could someone like me possibly go to heaven?

The movie that brings me closest to heaven is probably "Icha Icha Paradise," right? Haha~

It's a pity for those readers; they won't be able to see my masterpiece anymore. I hope at least they'll feel some regret, so that I can at least be remembered.

"Are you planning to summon my spirit to attend your funeral, Jiraiya-sensei?"

Suddenly, a clear sound broke the buzzing noise that Jiraiya had been hearing. He opened his eyes in a daze, and his blurry vision gradually became clear.

"Didn't they say the psychic communication failed?"

Jiraiya asked, shifting his head slightly to look at Orochimaru. Orochimaru was also surprised, wondering if someone had stolen his technique.

After all, it was just Edo Tensei, which wouldn't be enough to summon Sakamoto Tatsuma. Tatsuma, noticing the dead offering on the ground not far away, pursed his lips and said:

"The reason the summoning failed is probably because I've already arrived. The dimension that Lord Orochimaru anchored to no longer has me."

After giving a brief explanation, Tatsuma withdrew his hand from Jiraiya's shoulder. Jiraiya's severed arm had not healed, nor had a new arm grown; the wound remained exposed. He said:

"Please bear with it a little longer, Jiraiya-sama. After all, surgery takes time, and it's obviously too late now."

As he spoke, he stood up and looked up at the sky above Konoha, where the chakra seemed ready to explode at any moment. Itachi quickly spoke up, "Lord Tatsuma, you've come this way."

Before he could finish speaking, Tatsuma vanished in a flash of silver light. Itachi then realized what had happened and said with a touch of self-reproach, "I actually forgot about the Flying Thunder God Technique."

"What kind of technique is he trying to unleash?"

On the rooftop of the Hokage Building, Tsunade glared angrily at Pain in the air. The chakra emanating from him made her feel extremely uneasy, but there was nothing she could do at that moment.

All the chakra in his body was poured into the live slug, which then split into countless clones to protect the villagers.

Moreover, even if that chakra wasn't used up but was completely stored within her body, Tsunade didn't know if she could stop Pain, since Pain was not only powerful in the traditional sense, but also possessed strange abilities.

Even though Jiraiya and Kakashi risked their lives to gather some information, it wasn't enough. This information wasn't sufficient for them, who were much weaker, to defeat Pain.

Therefore, at this moment, Tsunade felt a sense of despair. As the Hokage, she was powerless to resist the powerful enemies of Konoha. She clenched her fists, trying to exhaust her chakra, just like Kakashi.

But that's not enough.

"Super Shinra Tensei!"

High in the sky, Pain completely released his pent-up chakra. At that moment, the people of Konoha suddenly felt as if they were witnessing a natural disaster like an avalanche or a tsunami, feeling insignificant and powerless to resist.

"Is Konoha destined to be destroyed today?"

This thought popped into the minds of countless people. The invisible chakra poured down like a celestial river, and even though they couldn't see it, they could feel death calling out to them.

Just then, a towering tree in the center of Konoha rose up and transformed into a Buddha statue. The Buddha slowly flew up, one hand forming a mudra, and the other holding a makara, which symbolizes the expanse of the three realms and the ten directions.

The Great Buddha threw the cross-shaped makara, which disintegrated in mid-air, splitting into four parts that flew out of the village in all four directions, encompassing the entire Leaf Village. At that moment, the Great Buddha sat in the air.

"Heretical! Unshakeable Formation!"

"boom!"

At this moment, Pain's massive chakra also fell, washing over the barrier that emitted a faint light.

(End of this chapter)