Watching his forces suffer catastrophic casualties and facing the risk of a total rout, Dodai ground his teeth in frustration.
He finally decided to play his final card.
The Cloud hadn't divided their forces on a whim; they were a cunning lot.
Dodai turned to a nearby guard and barked, "Kamuda! Tell her to engage!"
"Yes, Lord Dodai!"
Despite being heavily pressed by the Leaf forces, one Cloud operative managed to break away.
Jiraiya sensed something was wrong from their exchange, but Dodai and his elite guard threw themselves into a suicidal holding action to prevent the Sannin from pursuing.
Suddenly, a haunting, unique horn blast echoed across the battlefield.
Hearing the signal, every Cloud ninja—whether they were winning or losing—abandoned their positions and began a frantic, all-out retreat toward their rear.
As one of the few observers of the entire engagement, Saiki's Shadow Clone sensed the shift immediately.
However, as a mere clone, his sensory range was limited; he couldn't see what the Cloud were preparing behind their lines.
But the truth revealed itself quickly.
On the main body's side, Saiki was prepping a final offensive against the A-B brothers when he suddenly whipped his head around toward the other battlefield.
His sudden movement caused Minato to blink in confusion.
"Saiki? What is it? What's wrong?"
Saiki didn't answer. He simply asked, "Do you have a marker at Jiraiya's current location?"
"What do you mean?" Minato asked.
A second later, he felt it. The sky behind them flared with a blinding light—the signature of a catastrophic explosion.
Receiving the memories from his dispelled Shadow Clone, Saiki had no patience for banter.
He barked at Minato, "I'm asking you: can you teleport us to Jiraiya right now?!"
The flash of light had warned Minato that something apocalyptic had occurred.
His expression turned grim, and he nodded. "I can."
A and Bee had seen the flash too.
Realizing the internal trap had been sprung and knowing they couldn't let the two prodigies reinforce the main line, A roared, "STOP THEM!"
Saiki dismissed his Auspicious Cloud.
He slammed a hand onto Minato's back, linking their chakra pools.
The Cloud squad unleashed a desperate volley of kunai and Ninjutsu, but it was useless.
In the next heartbeat, the clearing was empty.
Experiencing spatial travel again, Saiki still felt the familiar surge of nausea, though it was significantly better than the "washing machine" experience of his previous Reverse Summoning while injured.
The transit was near-instant, but Saiki still harbored a lingering worry that Minato might "accidentally" drop him in the void.
They materialized.
When Saiki got a clear look at the battlefield, his expression hardened into a mask of cold fury.
He hadn't expected the Cloud to be this ruthless.
International treaties supposedly banned the use of Tailed Beasts in conventional warfare, but the Cloud and Stone treated those rules as suggestions.
By comparison, the Leaf looked like the only village actually following the rules—mostly because the Nine-Tails was too powerful and every Leaf Jinchuriki had struggled to control it.
Mito Uzumaki had been the exception, using her god-tier Fuinjutsu to suppress the fox and barely achieving a version of the Golden Mode.
Kushina, on the other hand, was prone to rampages and possessed zero control; the Leaf had to assign squads just to keep her seal stable.
And by the time she could actually utilize a portion of the fox's power, she would be dead.
As for Naruto? That account would be locked behind a seal for over a decade.
If you don't have the talent, even the best legacy is useless.
Despite being on high alert, the Leaf had been caught completely off guard by the enemy's total disregard for military ethics.
A Tailed Beast Ball had detonated in the center of the Leaf formation, resulting in horrifying casualties.
Jiraiya himself was bleeding from multiple wounds after shielding his subordinates from the blast.
Saiki ignored the coughing, wounded Jiraiya.
The moment he pinpointed Tsume's location, he vanished with a Body Flicker.
Even though his clone had dispelled, it had successfully used Earth Style to shelter them before it went.
Kurenai and the others were physically unharmed.
Seeing Saiki's clone vanish to protect them had left Kurenai in a panic.
She turned to Tsume, her eyes wide with terror. "Sensei! Is Saiki going to be okay?!"
Recalling the Tailed Beast Ball that had just threatened to erase them from existence, and the fact that the young man had once again placed himself in the line of fire for her, Tsume felt a surge of overwhelming gratitude and safety.
As long as Saiki was there, the world felt stable.
"Don't worry! He's fine," Tsume promised.
The words were barely out of her mouth when Saiki materialized beside them.
"Sensei, Kurenai, Genhai! Are you all okay?"
Though he was terrified, Genhai—who was determined to become a "manly pillar" of the village—refused to show his weakness.
Hearing the familiar voice, he let out a shout of pure joy.
"BOSS!"
"Saiki!" Kurenai cried out simultaneously.
Before anyone could say another word, Tsume stepped forward and pulled Saiki into a fierce, desperate hug.
The sudden embrace took Saiki by surprise, but he could feel the frantic tension and insecurity bleeding out of her.
The only downside was that the rigid green flak jacket she was wearing was pressing uncomfortably against his face.
Regardless, he leaned into it, whispering soothingly, "I'm here, Sensei. It's over. You're safe."
Hearing his voice, Tsume finally snapped back to her senses.
She released him in a flustered panic, realizing she had just hugged her student in front of everyone.
It had been a purely instinctive reaction to his presence.
Struggling to fix her expression, she reverted to her "concerned teacher" persona.
"Saiki... are you hurt?"
"I'm fine, Sensei. Don't worry about me," Saiki smiled, before turning his attention to Kurenai and Genhai.
"What about you two?"
"We're fine!" Both teenagers shook their heads.
He could still see the lingering trauma in their eyes.
In a bid to lighten the mood, Saiki offered a playful smirk.
"What's this? Do you two want a hug as well?"
To Saiki's shock, Kurenai didn't hesitate for a second.
She lunged forward and buried her face in his chest, catching him completely off guard.
"Saiki... I'm so glad you're okay," the young girl whispered.
Kurenai's proactive move was the result of a week of secret tears and agonizing worry following Saiki's previous disappearance.
Seeing him vanish again today had nearly broken her.
His body stiffened for a heartbeat, but Saiki eventually relaxed, gently patting her back.
"Relax, Kurenai. I told you, I'm not that easy to kill."
Even though he was the most popular boy at the Academy, Saiki genuinely lacked experience with girls his own age.
He always felt a sense of guilt, as if he were leading them on when they were still so young.
Compared to little girls, mature, voluptuous women like Tsunade, Nono'u, Kushina, and Tsume were much more his style.
He might have entertained a few fantasies about playing with "lolis," but he was definitely not a lolicon!
The battle was raging again.
The Cloud hadn't stopped with a single Tailed Beast Ball; they intended to finish the job and wipe the Leaf out entirely.
Patting Kurenai's back one last time, Saiki whispered, "Alright, Kurenai. Deep breaths. The fight is starting again. If you still want a hug, we can do it properly later."
Hearing his words, Kurenai's face flushed a brilliant red, and she scrambled back, releasing him in a panic.
Watching from the side, Tsume felt a complicated twist in her gut.
She knew all the girls adored Saiki, and she knew she had no right to be jealous, yet a distinct pang of sourness hit her nonetheless—even though she knew those girls were the appropriate matches for him.
Saiki didn't notice Tsume's internal struggle. He turned to Genhai with a grin.
"As for you... you're a grown man. You don't get a hug."
"Boss!" Genhai muttered, looking both embarrassed and relieved.
Saiki reached out and slapped the boy's shoulder.
"I saw everything. Good job. You've really grown."
"I'm still a long way from catching up to you, Boss!" Genhai said, his voice vibrating with renewed excitement.
Saiki laughed, then his expression turned serious.
He generated a Shadow Clone and turned to the group.
"The next phase of this fight is beyond your level. Retreat to the secondary line now. This engagement is officially over for you."
Tsume and Genhai nodded, understanding the gravity of the situation.
Kurenai, however, remained dazed, her brain stuck on a continuous loop of: "I hugged Saiki! I actually hugged him! I'm so happy!"
Saiki nodded to his clone. "They're in your hands."
With that, the real Saiki vanished with a Body Flicker.
He rocketed toward the center of the carnage, locking onto a massive, two-tailed cat-demon wreathed in blue flames that was currently tearing through the Leaf's ranks.