Explosions continuously echoed across the battlefield, the result of the Second Mizukage's Explosive Tag Bursts. Jiraiya dodged the bombs, but the resulting steam still scalded him.
However, through his sensory barrier, Jiraiya discovered the Second Mizukage's weakness: each clone that exploded weakened the本体. To seal the Second Mizukage, he had to act during this window.
While Jiraiya contemplated, a clone of the Second Mizukage lunged at his face. Jiraiya slammed his palm onto the ground, creating a circular earth wall that enveloped the clone.
Using the earth wall to obscure vision, Jiraiya left a shadow clone to distract the enemy while his main body burrowed underground, heading directly towards the Second Mizukage's本体.
While the shadow clone engaged the Second Mizukage's clone, Jiraiya's main body had already reached the Second Mizukage from behind. The moment the clone exploded, Jiraiya leaped out.
"Now! Taiji Seal!" (Since Naruto features Bagua and Four Symbols, it logically extends to Taiji and Two Forms.)
In the blink of an eye, a Taiji symbol appeared beneath the Second Mizukage's feet. Weakened, the Second Mizukage couldn't react. His Edo Tensei body then merged into the Taiji symbol below. Thus, the Second Mizukage was sealed.
...
Meanwhile, Nagato had effortlessly handled the Third Raikage. A taijutsu user like him couldn't get close to Nagato, and since both were Edo Tensei, any damage could be repaired, with ample time for recovery. Nagato's Shinra Tensei only had a five-second cooldown.
"Wind Style: Great Sickle Weasel!"
"Wind Style: Breakthrough!"
Nagato and Temari used Wind Style together, successfully repelling the Third Raikage. While it wasn't enough to destroy his body, it effectively maintained a stalemate, preventing the Third Raikage from harming the Allied Shinobi Forces.
"Asura Path!"
"Universal Pull!"
A third arm sprouted from Nagato's shoulder, his arm transforming into a large-caliber laser cannon. Simultaneously, he used Universal Pull to draw the Third Raikage closer, ensuring the laser cannon would hit its target.
This attack was meant to shatter the Third Raikage's Lightning Armor, and seal him while his Edo Tensei body was still recovering.
The next second, the Third Raikage was struck by a blue laser cannon, a massive hole ripped through his body. His Edo Tensei body was rapidly regenerating.
"Sealing Team! Hurry!" Temari shouted, urging the sealing team to move forward quickly.
However, they had been fighting at a distance, and the sealing team couldn't reach him in time. Seeing this, Nagato instantly appeared behind the sealing team and pushed with his palm.
"Shinra Tensei!"
"Seal him now!"
The sealing team members were instantly propelled towards the Third Raikage. Fortunately, a few reacted swiftly, throwing a white cloth to wrap around the Third Raikage in mid-air. A sealing tag then appeared on the cloth, and the Third Raikage was sealed.
...
Just as everyone breathed a sigh of relief, three figures flew from afar. The next moment, a red-haired woman descended from the sky, kicking up a storm of dust.
"Where is Xingjun?"
Then, Yugito followed Karin down. Fu, upon seeing so many people on the ground, was overjoyed. However, Fu also understood it was a war and did not descend to join the fray.
The entire place fell silent, not a single person answering Karin's question. Angrily, Karin punched the ground, creating a massive crater. The sand above slowly flowed, forming a vortex.
"I'll ask again, where is Xingjun?"
Temari sighed and pointed at the Chibaku Tensei in the sky: "There, sealed by us."
Nagato also shook his head helplessly. "Karin, Yugito, you know Akatsuki's true objective, right? This objective is flawed. Lixing doesn't care about right or wrong, but I hope you can see reality and stop being deluded!"
Karin glared up at Nagato. "Who are you? Those eyes... so you're the one controlling Pain. But what does that have to do with me? Xingjun's everything is my everything. Sealing Xingjun? Ridiculous, no one in this world can seal Xingjun!"
Seeing that words were useless, Nagato prepared to attack. It seemed Karin and Yugito had also been blinded by Lixing.
Seeing Nagato about to fight with his wife, Lixing knew he couldn't wait any longer.
Suddenly, dark clouds gathered in the sky, accompanied by lightning and thunder. Everyone was bewildered.
"What's happening? Is the... sky angry?" Jiraiya looked at the sky with a grave expression, sensing something bad was about to happen.
The next second, a thick bolt of lightning struck the Chibaku Tensei, instantly shattering Gaara's seal.
"Heavenly Path! If you think you can escape Chibaku Tensei, I have more than one trick up my sleeve. Reincarnating in front of everyone would be too embarrassing," Lixing muttered to himself in his mind.
The next moment, the entire Chibaku Tensei began to shake, and soon it dissolved into flowing sand that streamed down from the sky. Lixing's figure appeared before everyone.
"Karin, Yugito, come back. Don't mess with them." Lixing spread his arms, and Karin and Yugito flew directly into his embrace.
"I told you, kid, you'd be fine. Karin insisted on coming."
"Don't you know who was more anxious than me!"
Lixing looked embarrassed. Before they could even catch up, the two women started bickering again.
Then, Fu flew to the three of them, excitedly spinning around. "Great! Lixing, it's good to see you again!"
Lixing grabbed Fu's head with one hand. "Why haven't you gone back yet? Do you want to participate in the war?"
"Hehe... going back is too boring. Just let me stay here!" Fu pouted, looking adorable, pleading with Lixing not to send her away.
"Fine, then stay with Karin and Yugito, and don't get involved in the fighting." Lixing couldn't stand it and finally agreed. It wouldn't be dangerous anyway, so it didn't matter.
After instructing Karin and Yugito to take Fu to the side to watch, Lixing lowered his head and looked at the assembled ninja forces below.
Nagato also looked at Lixing with a grave expression. "Even Chibaku Tensei couldn't seal him, and twice at that. This is definitely not a matter of luck. The lightning just now was probably also summoned by Lixing."
"Nagato, this brat has likely become the strongest in the ninja world..." Jiraiya stated a terrifying truth, but he kept trying to convince himself it was just imagination.
"From the very beginning, no one has ever seen Lixing's full power. He always appeared to be effortlessly in control. Three years ago, any wound he sustained healed instantly. Now, he's probably become immortal, perhaps he was always immortal."
Jiraiya recalled first meeting Lixing. Back then, Lixing was already very mischievous, often interrupting his research, just like he was now. Lixing was simply playing; his mindset hadn't grown at all.
"Notify the Allied Forces Headquarters to send Tsunade. In this situation, only Tsunade might be able to persuade Lixing." Jiraiya instructed the liaison to report the situation immediately, clearly explaining Lixing's abilities and Jiraiya's suspicions, specifically requesting Tsunade's presence.