Multuple Shadow Clone Technique!
Over twenty Shadow Clones burst into existence simultaneously.
The Shadow Clones quickly dispersed into an arc formation, standing in staggered positions.
The front-row clones crouched with Kunai in hand, while the back-row clones stood ready, their angles completely covering all of Jiraiya's flank spaces.
Jiraiya scanned the twenty-plus Shadow Clones surrounding him and, surprisingly, couldn't immediately identify which one was the original.
He curled his lips slightly. This kid's Shadow Clone layout was far more seasoned than he had expected. Not only was the quantity high, but the tactical intent of their positioning was also very clear, it wasn't just randomly arranged.
Needle Jizo!
Jiraiya's white hair hardened once again, and countless white needles detached from his long hair, shooting rapidly toward the group of Shadow Clones.
Every Shadow Clone began to dodge rapidly the moment the needles were fired, jumping forward, rolling sideways, and flipping backward.
Bang, bang, bang...
However, Jiraiya's Needle Senbon far exceeded standard shuriken throws in both speed and density. The three clones in the front row couldn't retreat from the coverage area in time and turned into three puffs of white smoke.
The remaining Clones didn't just passively take the beating. The moment their companions were destroyed, the back-row Clones simultaneously threw the Kunai in their hands and formed hand seals.
Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique!
The dozens of Kunai split into hundreds in mid-air, pouring down on Jiraiya from all directions.
Jiraiya was taken aback, he hadn't expected these Clones to be able to organize a counterattack of this scale at the exact moment their front line was destroyed. The timing was precise, exactly when he had just used Needle Jizo.
This kid wasn't thinking at a Genin level, he was syncing with the timeline.
Fire Release: Flame Bullet!
Jiraiya quickly formed hand seals and spat out a sheet of flame from his mouth. The heat spread in a fan shape, engulfing all the incoming Kunai.
A large number of kunai were incinerated or blown away in the high-temperature wall of fire, but a few still pierced through, grazing Jiraiya's outer coat.
The Shadow Clones covered by the flames weren't idle either. The moment Jiraiya formed his hand seals, they had already begun rapidly distancing themselves to the perimeter. Only two Clones were caught by the residual flames of the Flame Bullet because they were too close, turning into white smoke.
The very instant the Flame Bullet's fire dissipated in mid-air, a figure burst out from behind the embers.
Naruto held a Kunai in each hand, the blades covered in a green film of Chakra.
Wind Release: Vacuum Blade!
He precisely closed the distance during the gap when Jiraiya had used Flame Bullet, slashing his dual Kunai diagonally toward his chest in a cross pattern.
Jiraiya's eyes lit up.
Closing in at the exact moment he was done with the Flame Bullet technique—this timing was even more precise than the counterattack from just a moment ago.
He parried both Kunai with his left and right hands. The blades, coated in Wind Chakra, and his own Chakra-infused hands erupted with a series of metallic clashing sounds at the point of contact.
Immediately after, the remaining dozen-plus Shadow Clones also simultaneously manifested Wind Release: Vacuum Blades, surrounding Jiraiya and attacking from different directions.
Jiraiya dodged left and right amidst the siege of over a dozen Shadow Clones, his blocks with fists and feet precise to the millimeter with every move.
During the close-quarters combat, the peripheral Shadow Clones would decisively use Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique to interject attacks whenever they found a gap in Jiraiya's defense.
Meanwhile, Jiraiya continuously used Needle Jizo and Flame Bullet for area suppression, attempting to break up the encirclement of Naruto's Clone group.
Neither of them had brought out their real skills. Jiraiya's Sage Mode and Summoning Technique were unused, and Naruto hadn't activated Kurama Chakra Mode or Rasengan. Both sides were testing each other's true limits.
Throughout the battle, gravel flew across the floor. The ground was slashed with marks of varying depths by the Wind Chakra, and scorched with large, blackened patches by the residual flames of the Flame Bullet.
Jiraiya parried another round of continuous Vacuum Blade slashes from the Clones. He wiped the sweat from his face, and looked at Naruto, whose breathing rhythm remained steady.
From the start of the fight until now, this kid had been playing with time differences against him. His attacking rhythm was neither rushed nor slow, and every counterattack precisely caught the gaps in his own moves. Not once did he resort to reckless brute force.
Although he hadn't shown his true abilities yet, Jiraiya had already gauged Naruto's current stage of strength to about eighty or ninety percent. He had seen no more than three ninjas who could reach this level at such an age.
Naruto had also roughly gauged the limits of his current standard combat strength. He was quite satisfied with this result. Being able to go back and forth like this with one of the Sannin in his normal state meant his foundation was already solid.
He couldn't show Jiraiya Kurama Chakra Mode or Rasengan just yet, but with his current level, it would be more than enough to handle Neji later on.
Just as Jiraiya was about to call a halt, Naruto suddenly looked up toward the direction behind Jiraiya, a look of pleasant surprise on his face, and waved.
"Grandpa Hokage, you're here! I want to report something, there's a Peeping Uncle here!"
Jiraiya's body stiffened. Reflexively, he turned to look, and sure enough, he saw Hiruzen walking toward them with his hands behind his back.
"Old man, you..."
Jiraiya's pupils constricted.
Something was wrong!
There were no Anbu accompanying the old man from the direction he came from, and at this distance, given Hiruzen's Chakra fluctuations, he shouldn't have gone completely undetected.