Encirclement

"Hiroshi, Ken, and Zhi, Mount Myoboku may soon face destruction. Each of you take part of it. You three, take all of Mount Myoboku’s treasures and run for your lives. Go outside and find Fukasaku and Shima."

The reason he had summoned these three Toads was that, in the future the Great Toad Sage had just dreamed of, they were the three who escaped Mount Myoboku. But after that, the Great Toad Sage could no longer see the future.

"Great Elder, Lord Fukasaku has already passed away," Gamashi reminded him. Because the Great Elder dreamed prophetic dreams of the future whenever he slept—and more than one at a time—he sometimes could not distinguish reality from dreams of the future.

"Oh, Fukasaku is already dead? Then go find Shima."

The Great Toad Sage spoke slowly. Its enormous, aged body no longer allowed it to move swiftly like Gamaken or Gamahiro, and if enemies came, it would certainly be among their targets.

Although Gamahiro, Gamaken, and Gamashi were reluctant to flee before Mount Myoboku was destroyed, this was the Great Elder’s order. They could not defy it. They could only return and each take a portion of Mount Myoboku’s treasured scrolls, then leave through Mount Myoboku’s barrier and head toward the Ninja World.

They were going to find Sage Shima, who was in the Ninja World.

Mount Myoboku’s treasures were no small amount. Even stored in Sealing Scrolls, three Toads could not carry it all. Of the Three Great Sage Locations, only Mount Myoboku had close ties with humans. Their collected scrolls could fill the secret chambers inside two caves.

"Damn it, the Great Elder must have foreseen an enemy we can’t resist this time, which is why he told us to leave." Gamashi spoke as he leaped along. If possible, it truly did not want to leave Mount Myoboku. Unless they found another place with an environment like Mount Myoboku’s, they simply could not grow as quickly outside as they did here.

Rapid growth, strength, longevity, and the ability to break through racial limits on growth—these were why Summoning beasts outside could not compare to those of the Sage Locations.

"Since the Great Elder told us to leave, then it must be—"

Zzzzt!

Before Gamahiro could finish, a beam of intense light suddenly descended from the sky. It was incredibly fast, piercing straight through Gamahiro’s head and killing it instantly.

"Hiroshi!" ×2

Gamaken and Gamashi froze in shock at the sight. Then Gamashi shouted, "Ken, run! The enemy has already set their sights on us!"

Gamashi did not know where that attack had come from, but the fact that it had killed Gamahiro in one strike was simply terrifying.

Gamaken reacted a moment too slowly. As Gamashi used Earth Style to burrow underground, he had just started to jump away when another beam attack came down from the sky.

Zzzzt!

This attack killed Gamaken before he could even make a sound.

Sensing that Gamaken had died as well, Gamashi did not dare delay. It used every bit of its ability to drill deeper underground. It was nearly the most skilled toad in Mount Myoboku at Earth Style; moving beneath the ground was no different from swimming through water.

After the orbital weapon base in space completed its third charge, it lost track of Gamashi.

Android 18 immediately relayed the news to Hyuga Mirai, but there was nothing he could do about it.

"There are still too few orbital weapons. There’s no good way to deal with something burrowing underground unless they can synchronize with ground-based tracking and surveillance."

Hyuga Mirai decided that after unifying this planet, he could build more space weapon platforms to protect his backyard.

Then Hyuga Mirai controlled the Anti-Gravity Airship and flew to the area near where Gamahiro and Gamaken had died.

"Wow, those are huge Toads!"

Uzumaki Naruto and the others could not help but be shocked when they saw Gamahiro and Gamaken’s corpses. Their enemies were Toads more than ten meters tall, like small hills?

Seeing what Uzumaki Naruto was thinking, Hyuga Mirai said, "The Toads of Mount Myoboku come in all sizes. When the time comes, find Toads around five or six meters tall. Killing one will count as a B-rank Mission for you. If it’s only three or four meters tall, deal with it alone. That will count as a C-rank Mission."

After saying that to Uzumaki Naruto, Hyuga Mirai turned to Ichikishimahime and asked, "Do you want to eat these Toads?"

"No!"

Ichikishimahime decisively shook her head. Both toad corpses gave off a scorched smell. Even though they still contained immense Sage Chakra, Ichikishimahime had no desire to eat them.

Having followed Hyuga Mirai around and smelled his pleasant scent all this time, who would still want to eat toad corpses that smelled burnt?

"Then I’ll leave them to Xiao Zi. Summoning Technique!"

Boom!

A huge cloud of smoke suddenly appeared. After a gust of wind swept through, the smoke produced by the Summoning Technique quickly dispersed. When they saw the creature behind it, even Uzumaki Naruto, who had always been carefree, fell to the ground with a thud in fright.

Second Pillar, Gaara, and the others did not fare much better. Cold sweat covered their faces as they swallowed hard and stared at Xiao Zi’s nearly sky-piercing body.

Its foreclaws were as large as small hills, reflecting a metallic gleam under the sunlight. Its scales were like purple jade, and Uzumaki Naruto could even see his own reflection in the half-meter-wide scales.

The Purple Snake only needed to move slightly to make the earth tremble. Especially when it looked down at the ground, its gaze was cold-blooded and savage, as if everyone it saw was food.

"Snake Princess is here too? Lord Mirai, you haven’t summoned me in a long time."

After looking around, Xiao Zi immediately complained in a somewhat aggrieved tone to the person standing atop its head. It was a failure for a Summoning beast to be unable to fight for its master, especially since Xiao Zi had been raised by Hyuga Mirai since childhood.

Hyuga Mirai also felt that he had neglected Xiao Zi somewhat. He said, "Sorry, Xiao Zi. But I’ll need to trouble you today. There may be an enormous toad among our enemies. When the time comes—"

"Leave it to me, Lord Mirai. No matter who my opponent is, they can only end up in my stomach."

Xiao Zi spoke with complete confidence. Then it turned its gaze to the two toad corpses and asked Hyuga Mirai, "Lord Mirai, can I eat those two toads?"

"Of course. They’re for you."

As soon as Hyuga Mirai finished speaking, Xiao Zi happily moved all four limbs and quickly arrived beside Gamahiro and Gamaken’s bodies. It opened its mouth wide and swallowed, gulping down the two massive Toads that were each as large as small hills.

The lumps in its mouth were clearly visible, but once they reached its belly, Xiao Zi’s body slowly returned to normal.

"These kinds of Toads are still the tastiest, Lord Mirai. There are plenty of fish in the sea, but none of them taste anywhere near as good as Toads."

Xiao Zi spoke happily. There was no longer any food around Ryūchi Cave that could satisfy it, so it had run from Ryūchi Cave to the ocean to hunt there. With Xiao Zi’s current appetite, if it could not find enough food, it could only hibernate and rely on absorbing Natural Energy.

"I’ll let you eat your fill next."

After Hyuga Mirai collected the Sealing Scrolls carried by the two Toads, he had Naruto, Sasuke, and the Three Snake Princesses climb onto Xiao Zi’s head, then headed for Mount Myoboku.

As soon as Uzumaki Naruto came beside Hyuga Mirai, he pleaded with sparkling eyes, "S-so cool! Uncle Mirai, can I sign a summoning contract with Ryūchi Cave?"

"Naruto, you’ve already signed a contract with Shikkotsu Forest. In the future, only Gaara, me, and the others can summon this snake as a companion." Second Pillar snorted from the side. The corners of his mouth could not stop rising. At last, he had surpassed Naruto in terms of Summoning beasts.

Xiao Zi’s cool appearance and massive body had long since won over Sasuke, Gaara, and the others. Its Snake Scales resembled jade, and they were already imagining themselves standing atop Xiao Zi’s head and fighting enemies in the future.

"Kids, Xiao Zi is Lord Mirai’s exclusive Summoning beast. Unless Lord Mirai permits it, you can never summon it. But if you train hard, you may be able to summon us. Though you don’t smell as sweet as Lord Mirai, your scent is still rare among humans."

Ichikishimahime floated over to Sasuke, Gaara, Temari, and the others. She extended her snake tongue and chuckled softly at them.

Ever since Sasuke and the others had learned the Snake Princesses’ true identities, they had been somewhat afraid. Now that Ichikishimahime had come right up to them, they did not dare move at all.

They were not afraid of ordinary snakes or ordinary villains, but when those two things were combined, Sasuke found it a little unbearable.

Hyuga Mirai ignored Ichikishimahime’s malicious amusement and directed Xiao Zi toward Mount Myoboku. With a wingspan of more than a hundred meters when fully spread, each flap of its wings stirred up fierce winds.

After flying above Mount Myoboku, Xiao Zi immediately said excitedly, "Lord Mirai, there’s so much food down there! Can I have the biggest one?"

The toad Xiao Zi referred to was like a true mountain, lying motionless in a valley. There was even mountain soil and trees on its back, and toads were playing there.

In Xiao Zi’s eyes, that toad alone would be enough to feed it for three months.

That should be the Iwasuku Toad. As expected of Mount Myoboku’s largest toad, Hyuga Mirai could tell at a glance that it was at least five hundred meters tall. Xiao Zi was nothing but a little worm before it.

But since Xiao Zi had made the request itself, it meant it was confident in handling such a massive toad. Hyuga Mirai agreed and said, "Then I’ll leave it to you. If you can’t handle it, shout for me."

After saying that, Hyuga Mirai took out a Nano Space Capsule, pressed the button, and threw it into the air.

Boom!

A huge cloud of smoke flashed past, and one hundred Mecha Puppets controlled by Android 18 instantly appeared in the air. These Mecha Puppets had been created by Hyuga Mirai using Mark 46 as a template. However, he had sacrificed speed, close-combat ability, and other aspects to greatly enhance the Puppets’ heavy firepower.

In other words, they were one hundred airborne mobile artillery platforms, created specifically for war.

The Ninja World still did not place much importance on resource development. The resources used to create these Mecha Puppets had all come from mineral deposits gathered by the Yasunori Trading Company in Rōran and the deserts of the Land of Wind.

"Android 18, use the Mecha Puppets to seal off Mount Myoboku."

Hyuga Mirai gave the order. Mount Myoboku was too large. These hundred Puppets could only barely seal off its perimeter. If there were too many Toads skilled in Earth Style, it would be difficult to contain them, but there definitely were not many Earth Style techniques capable of completely evading the Mecha Puppets’ surveillance.

After the Puppet Mechs spread out, Xiao Zi carried Hyuga Mirai and the others down to the ground.

"You little ones, be careful on your own. If you get too aggressive, you really will die."

Hyuga Mirai gave Naruto and the others one final warning. Naruto was no longer the Child of Prophecy. As a group of Genin, even killing smaller Toads along the outskirts would be difficult for them. But this kind of training would benefit them too. At least their enemies were Toads, so they could strike without holding back.

"Okay! I definitely won’t let Uncle Mirai down! Summoning Technique!"

Uzumaki Naruto shouted, then immediately used the Summoning Technique.

Bang.

A cloud of smoke appeared, and Uzumaki Naruto summoned a Katsuyu nearly five meters tall.

"Naruto? Eh, where is this? The Natural Energy is so dense, and there’s such a huge snake? Is this Ryūchi Cave?"

After seeing the unfamiliar surroundings, even Katsuyu’s gentle voice became a little sharper. This level of Natural Energy could not possibly exist in the Ninja World.

"Katsuyu, here’s the situation—"

Naruto quickly explained his purpose to Katsuyu. He needed Katsuyu’s help to deal with Mount Myoboku’s Toads.

"So that’s what’s happening. I never expected war to break out between the Three Great Sage Locations as well. Fighting Toads… Toads!? Th-this is a little… Naruto, I’m afraid this is too difficult!!"

The moment Katsuyu thought of Toads, its soft body immediately trembled. Fighting Ryūchi Cave would have been fine, but asking a slug like it to fight Mount Myoboku’s Toads…

Seeing Naruto use the Summoning Technique, Sasuke and Gaara were unwilling to be outdone and used the Summoning Technique as well.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

After the smoke dispersed, Ryūchi Cave Great Snakes of varying sizes appeared beneath Sasuke, Gaara, Kankuro, and Temari. The snake summoned by Gaara was the largest, more than thirty meters long. The other three had only summoned Great Snakes around ten meters long.

Hyuga Mirai took one look and saw that only the Great Snake summoned by Gaara could be considered mature fighting strength. The other three were merely juvenile Great Snakes.

Kankuro and Temari looked at Gaara with envy. Second Pillar pouted, feeling that he had embarrassed himself in front of Hyuga Mirai.

Because Hyuga Mirai, Xiao Zi, and the Three Snake Princesses were here, the Ryūchi Cave Great Snakes summoned by Sasuke and the others had no thoughts of resisting or testing their masters’ strength. They obediently lay to one side.

"I should summon some helpers too. There really are quite a lot of Toads here. Ayaka, come with me."

After using his Byakugan to inspect half of Mount Myoboku’s territory and finding nearly a thousand Toads, Hyuga Mirai felt that relying on just them and the Mecha Puppets might truly leave some overlooked.

"Summoning Technique!"

Hyuga Mirai and Uzumaki Ayaka used the Summoning Technique at the same time. A vast cloud of smoke produced by the technique instantly appeared before them.

After a while, when the smoke dispersed, Uzumaki Naruto and the others saw dozens of Ryūchi Cave Great Snakes nearly a hundred meters long. At their head was Manda, covered in alternating purple and black rings, with horns growing from its head.