Naruto: Pay-to-Win Ninja System

Although she was far less skilled than other ninja at ninjutsu and taijutsu,

Kurenai Yuhi's genjutsu? That was next-level. Silent, seamless.

Before anyone could notice, she'd conjured up twenty phantom Tō trees behind the Iwagakure guards, binding them tight and plunging them into a dreamlike trance.

"Hurry! Attack now!"

"I can't keep this up for long!"

Kurenai gasped, breath ragged. Keeping so many Iwagakure ninja trapped like this was killing her stamina.

You could even say she was going beyond her limits.

With barely half a Card's worth of chakra left, she could hold them for about ten seconds—max.

And those few Iwagakure Jonin? She wasn't sure if they'd stay out for ten seconds at all.

So there was no time to waste.

They had to kill these Iwagakure ninja before they woke!

"Charge!"

"And try not to use flashy jutsu!"

Jiraiya whispered firmly, dispelling his invisibility and rushing out first.

[WILD LION'S MANE TECHNIQUE!]

In an instant,

his white hair shot forward, growing rapidly into three lion-head shapes that wrapped around three Iwagakure ninja.

With brutal twisting force, their necks snapped silently.

At the same time, the rest of Konoha's elite forces surged forward.

They deliberately used quiet ninjutsu or taijutsu techniques to avoid detection.

Combined with the fact that nearly all enemies were trapped in Kurenai's illusion—completely helpless—

it was over in one move. Over a dozen Iwagakure ninja dropped dead in the blink of an eye.

But right then,

near the entrance to Iwagakure's treasury vault, two figures—one older, one very young—broke free from the illusion and came to their senses!

Seeing this, Jiraiya's eyes widened. This surprised the hell out of him.

The older one was clearly an Iwagakure Jonin with serious spiritual strength—probably good at genjutsu too. Breaking through Kurenai's illusion within seconds made sense.

But how the hell did the boy beside him—Deidara, who looked barely ten and probably wasn't even a Genin yet—

manage to escape the illusion just as fast?

Was Iwagakure really hiding a genjutsu prodigy this young?

"Genjutsu again? Another genjutsu!"

"I broke through it!"

"This time, illusions won't work on me anymore!"

Eyes bloodshot, exhausted but excited, Deidara shouted wildly.

All that insane training this past month paid off!

He finally proved himself at the crucial moment!

"They're Konoha ninja! Their target is the treasury!"

"Damn it! You send the signal—I'll hold them off!"

The Iwagakure Jonin jolted in alarm and roared.

He immediately moved to block two Konoha Jonin lunging at him from both sides.

Luckily for him, Konoha didn't want to be detected either, so they held back on large-scale jutsu.

Otherwise, with just one wave from these twenty Konoha Jonin, this last Iwagakure warrior wouldn't stand a chance.

Facing this scene—and the immense pressure brought by none other than Jiraiya, one of the Sannin, plus twenty elite Konoha Jonin—

Even Deidara, for all his arrogance, found himself forced to back down slightly.

This was war—not some harmless game back in the village!

Back home, the ninja who knew him wouldn't really go all out against him.

But enemies would show no mercy—they'd kill him with one slash!

Therefore, Deidara, who wasn't stupid to begin with, didn't insist on recklessly drawing attention. Instead, he took advantage of the time the Iwagakure jonin had bought for him.

He quickly fashioned clay bombs, hoping to draw more Iwagakure reinforcements with the resulting blasts.

Unfortunately.

Would an experienced Jiraiya ever give the enemy such an opportunity?

The moment he noticed someone breaking free from his genjutsu,

Jiraiya immediately prepared another ninjutsu.

[Ninjutsu: Toad Mouth Bind!]

In an instant,

a large stretch of pinkish, sticky, elongated flesh wall appeared.

Instantly trapping the Iwagakure jonin, two Konoha ninja, and Deidara, who had just released his clay bird bombs.

Never underestimate this [Toad Mouth Bind] technique. It can summon the stomach walls of a rock-host toad from Mount Myoboku. With versatile applications, it can both defend and trap opponents inside to be slowly digested.

Unless one possessed strength surpassing that of a Mount Myoboku's rock-host toad, or had specific techniques to counter it, practically no one could escape.

Of course, Jiraiya's true intention in using this [Toad Mouth Bind] was specifically to capture both the Iwagakure jonin and Deidara,

preventing them from performing any jutsu that might alert the entire Iwagakure Village.

Just as they were trapped,

several dull explosive sounds echoed within the elongated stomach wall.

"Boom, boom—"

Clearly, those were Deidara's clay bombs detonating.

Unfortunately, even such powerful explosions

failed to tear open the toad's stomach wall, which compressed both the sound and range of the blast perfectly, avoiding exposure entirely.

Soon after, the muffled sounds of combat and explosions continued from within the stomach wall.

Then, less than ten seconds later,

the fighting suddenly stopped.

Clearly, Jiraiya had won.

After all, he was one of the Legendary Sannin. If he activated Sage Mode, even facing Onoki would result in an uncertain outcome.

Dealing with a regular Iwagakure jonin and a yet-to-mature Deidara now was naturally effortless.

"Huaaa—"

Jiraiya returned the long toad stomach wall via summoning, then appeared before everyone, holding the unconscious Deidara in his left hand.

As for the other Iwa ninja, meanwhile, was already dead.

"Jiraiya-sama! Are we not killing this kid?"

Jiraiya lifted up Deidara slightly in his hand and replied:

"This brat is named Deidara. If I'm not mistaken, he should be the disciple of The Third, Onoki."

"Keep him alive; later we can ask Iwagakure Village for a hefty ransom. Much more beneficial than killing him."

Of course, on a deeper level, Jiraiya—who despised unnecessary killing—had never truly wanted to end the life of such a young boy...

"I see! Truly far-sighted, milord!"

"You there, hurry up and clean up the battlefield, set up a concealment barrier, and buy us as much time as possible!" Jiraiya quickly issued orders.

"At once!"

"Everyone else, follow me inside to move the vault!"

Jiraiya handed the unconscious Deidara over to Kurenai Yuhi, then hurriedly led the group rushing into the Iwagakure Treasury Vault.

After all, sweeping through the Iwagakure treasury to make a huge profit and offset the losses from this major battle—

that was the fundamental mission of their 'Vanguard Squad'!

Yet in the next moment,

as Jiraiya excitedly pushed open the vault door and looked inside,

he froze in disbelief.

Huh?

Where's the money?

Isn't this treasury supposed to be piled high with silver?

Where have those bastards from Iwagakure hidden it?

They didn't keep the money here but still stationed so many ninjas outside?

Have all the people from Iwagakure gone mad?!

...

It wasn't just Jiraiya alone. All the other Konoha ninja who had followed him inside were also stunned.

They never expected that Iwagakure had already emptied this treasury long ago, leaving behind nothing but an empty shell!

They'd risked their lives all the way here with careful planning and brutal fights—only for this?!

And what do we get? Not even a single scrap!

Those damn Iwagakure cowards—are they seriously that low?!

But before Jiraiya and others could even react,

at this very moment, Shou—the Iwagakure ninja knocked unconscious earlier by Shimoku—also slowly regained consciousness, sitting right in the middle of the treasury.

Upon awakening, Shou couldn't recall at all about Shimoku's earlier attack.

He merely thought he had fallen asleep due to exhaustion.

But now, as he opened his eyes, he saw that the entire treasury was gone.

Instead, there stood a bunch of Konoha ninja at the entrance.

Looking around at the empty treasury, then at Jiraiya and the others, Shou's expression gradually shifted—from confusion to realization, finally erupting into fury!

Given the current situation, who the thieves must be—it was obvious without words...

"Konoha!"

"Iwagakure!"

With these two furious roars, explosions erupted, blasting the entire treasury's attic into the sky...

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