Reko chuckled, his lips curling up as he ignored Jiraiya. Instead, he released the intense chakra he was concealing inside his body.
…
His chakra has been growing all along. Not to mention the time spent with the ladies.
"Why would I want to be just a shinobi?"
He spoke as he released the aura, putting intense pressure on Jiraiya and Naruto.
'This boy!! How much chakra does he have??'
Jiraiya seemed visibly surprised as he felt that presence. It was intense.
Intense at the level where only tailed-beasts and Jinchuriki could show off like that.
'How fast is he growing!!'
'I cannot distinguish between the intensity of Nine-Tails chakra and his chakra.'
The amount of chakra, the intense aura that Reko released was enough to put Jiraiya into shock.
He had known Reko for a long time. Even at that moment, the boy had visibly large chakra reserves.
But this!!!
This was hundreds of times more than that.
"I believe I am not needed here anymore. I can slack off."
Jiraiya shook his head as he spoke and stepped back from the battle. He did not need to intervene.
No need at all!
"Alright then, Nine-tails, be prepared to lose a huge chunk of your chakra today!"
Reko taunted the Nine-Tails as he began to bombard Naruto with untraceable kicks and punches.
He began using his full strength, every punch, every kick, it hurt Naruto.
Although the healing instantly kicked in, it still agitated the Nine-Tails, causing the beast to want to go on a rampage.
Its chakra flared once again.
"Roar!!!"
A beastly Roar erupted out of Naruto's newly constructed body.
"Hm? Almost like a real fox."
Reko muttered as he witnessed the transformation of the chakra cloak to the beast-like appearance of a fox.
There were real bones on Naruto, the Nine-Tails was materialising!
A little more and it would be irreversible. Nine-tails would be able to fully transform and become free.
And Naruto would be consumed, over!
"However, don't you think that an opponent my size would have been a smaller target?"
Reko spoke loudly, taunting Nine-tails for trying to materialize instead of cooperating with Naruto to deal with him.
The almost fully transformed Nine-Tails did not care for Naruto. It ran towards Reko, using the tails as a support to dash at him.
"No? Let me demonstrate!" Reko muttered in disappointment.
He had hoped that the beast would have some good brain on its head. Unfortunately, no!
The Nine-Tails really believed that it would be able to deal with him with just its physique.
It was in the skeleton form, the strongest it had ever been in Naruto while Naruto himself was barely conscious inside the fox's skeleton head.
Nine tails attacked Reko using its massive claws, the size of a regular house.
Not intending to deal with the claw head on, Reko dodged easily from within the gaps.
Escaping a few more attempts of the Nine-Tails trying to claw through his chest, Reko located Naruto's body.
Naruto was looking at him with intense eyes. Much to his surprise, the boy was holding up well.
It appeared that he could resist the corrosion of Nine-Tails for a while, thanks to the training.
However, Reko did not wish to make the boy wait that long. He decided that he would begin injuring the Nine-Tails. So, Naruto would gain the upper hand even in the physical transformation.
'I just hope that the sealed powers of Minato do not rush forward to help Naruto. It would be a waste.'
He was aware that Minato had sealed his powers inside Naruto. This knowledge allowed him to take the risk with Naruto's transformation.
Well, it was not like he was not capable of doing it himself. But it just felt secure to have a backup, just in case.
However, Jiraiya was naturally not aware of these matters. His sole hope was Reko's combat strength, which is why he was already prepared to assist Naruto's mindscape.
He looked anxious, a little worried about Naruto's mindscape.
"A big body sure has its advantages!"
Reko contemplated as he kept dodging the tails one by one.
The ground was full of cracks, anywhere the tail landed, it left a big hole.
But Reko was not without means. It was just that he wanted to weaken the Nine-Tails first before battling it out with the creature.
"Giant Rasengan!!"
As the last tail finally came close to him, he formed a giant Rasengan, made by the sage chakra, intending to decimate one of the tails fully.
The Nine-Tails also realised the threat. Instantly, it sensed that familiar form of chakra and shoved his other tails to attack Reko.
If the Giant Rasengan hit it, Reko would also be dealt with by the cluster of its remaining tails, allowing it to win.
Unfortunately for the beast, Reko had very quick reflexes. It didn't require much of his effort to escape all those tails narrowly.
Though, it did send him a little farther away from the Nine-Tails, allowing the beast a moment of relief.
Suddenly, Reko vanished from Nine-Tails vision and it felt a piercing pain after so many years.
The pain of its tail being severed!
"The tail broke off??"
Jiraiya spoke in surprise as he just kept staring at the broken tail that shook the ground as it fell down on it.
A huge chunk, a half of the tail just fell on the ground. The remaining half? It was destroyed by the giant Rasengan that hit the tail, decimating it.
His shocked face turned to a warm, fatherly figure as the memory of his student Minato came to his mind.
There was a reason why Minato was feared so much. His Sage Mode wasn't even the point, it was just his space-time technique.
The ability to appear and disappear, no need to dodge. And he just witnessed Reko using that to sever one of the beast's tails effortlessly.
"The perfect Senjutsu, stronger than that of the toad sages. He has already surpassed Minato."
Jiraiya spoke to his toad elders who he had summoned for Naruto's sake.
The toad sages also nodded along with Jiraiya's statement. It was indeed correct.
There was a difference of tier between their Sage Mode and Reko's.
As for Jiraiya, he was never an opponent. His Senjutsu was barely a Sage Mode, thanks to the help of the sage elders.
His resourcefulness and his terrifying mastery of so many skills made him the legendary Sannin. The Sage Mode played a part too.
…
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