Jiraiya, still falling, glanced up at Yuichi, who had leapt after him.
This guy… he jumped down of his own accord?
Jiraiya lowered his gaze toward the gorge below.
Beneath the seemingly bottomless drop, a faint echo rose up to meet him.
There's a huge open space down there…
Judging from the sound, Jiraiya quickly understood. He then looked back at Yuichi, still descending from above.
Hmph. He forced me down here on purpose. A vast space prepared beneath the cliff… so that the noise from our battle won't draw Konoha's attention.
Even so, this wasn't all that far from the village. Once things erupted, the scale of the clash could still be felt in Konoha.
Fine. Let's see what game you're playing…
A few seconds later, Jiraiya's body arched, bracing for the inevitable impact.
BOOM!
The crash thundered as he hit the ground. Dust and grit exploded outward, cloaking him. Jiraiya rolled with the landing, cleverly dispersing the deadly force of the fall. After tumbling several times, he pushed himself upright at the edge of the dust cloud, patting dirt from his cloak.
The world around him was nothing but darkness. He couldn't see his own hand in front of his face.
But judging by the echo of his fall, the chamber stretched vast beneath the earth.
Boom!
Yuichi's landing shook the cavern like thunder. His impact rattled harder than Jiraiya's—he hadn't bothered to soften the fall, simply enduring the shock head-on.
Dust swept into Jiraiya's face. He raised a hand to cover his mouth, but even blinded, his senses tracked Yuichi's presence.
"Is this the battlefield you prepared?" Jiraiya asked.
"That's right."
"Hmph." Jiraiya gave a crooked smile. "Not bad. To carve out nearly five thousand square meters of space under a gorge… impressive."
It was about the size of a football field.
"You must have gone to great lengths just for this fight."
In truth, with the right Earth Release techniques, such a feat wasn't impossible. Yuichi had used an advanced jutsu known as Active Transformation, reshaping the terrain to match a design laid out in advance. The result was this cavernous underground arena.
Yuichi smiled faintly. He removed his mask and tossed it aside.
Not that it mattered—Jiraiya couldn't see his face in this darkness anyway.
Yuichi crouched, pressing a palm against the ground.
"Wood Release… Tree Boundary Wall."
Chakra surged from his body like a rushing torrent, flooding the space.
Jiraiya's eyes narrowed.
Wood Release?
This kid… knows Wood Release?!
BOOM—BOOM—BOOM!
The sound of trees erupting filled the cavern. Though unseen, Jiraiya could hear the wooden walls closing in on every side.
The noise soon faded. The air stilled.
Jiraiya's expression hardened.
"This isn't a battlefield anymore," he muttered. "This is a cage. And only one of us is walking out alive."
His hands moved subtly, beginning to weave seals in the darkness.
Yuichi straightened. "You're right. Between you and me, only one will leave this place alive."
At the same time, he felt the chakra Jiraiya was gathering.
Trying to summon the toads from Mount Myōboku?
Yuichi snorted inwardly. He knew his raw combat power didn't necessarily outmatch Jiraiya's. But without Sage Mode, Jiraiya was far weaker.
Whoosh!
The air cracked like thunder as Yuichi blurred forward. A violent gust slammed into Jiraiya's face.
Fast! Body Flicker? And in this darkness, he can still track me so easily? Damn it—
In the pitch black, Jiraiya could only sense Yuichi roughly, not with precision. He needed Sage Mode to sharpen his perception enough to pinpoint an enemy here.
But Yuichi didn't have that problem. Thanks to a reward from the three-week trial, his chakra perception was honed within thirty meters.
Boom!
Yuichi's fist smashed into the earth. Cracks spider-webbed outward, tearing across a ten-meter radius before the ground collapsed inward.
Jiraiya barely dodged aside, cold sweat on his brow.
That power… just like Tsunade's monstrous strength. One direct hit and I'm done.
Before he could recover, a rushing sound echoed.
"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet!"
A torrent surged into the form of a twisting dragon, glowing faintly blue as it spiraled toward him.
Jiraiya darted aside, evading just as it slammed into the ground.
His speed at weaving seals… unbelievably fast!
Before he could regain his stance—
Two more water dragons materialized, roaring from left and right. The first hadn't even dispersed yet.
Impossible! He just launched one jutsu, and already two more?
They cut off every escape. He couldn't keep gathering chakra for Sage Mode—he had to counter now.
His hands blurred through seals.
"Fire Release: Flame Bullet!"
A torrent of fire erupted, colliding head-on with the twin water dragons.
BOOOOM!