Jiraiya was utterly stunned.
How old was this child again?
Twelve.
Only twelve!
And she had already developed her own ninjutsu?!
Not only that—
it was a one-handed technique, cast without hand seals!
But there was no time left for shock.
At that very moment, Kaoru was already charging straight at him, a swirling blue chakra sphere larger than her fist cradled in her palm, her speed frighteningly fast!
Off to the side, Kyusei calmly cracked melon seeds, watching the master-and-disciple duel with an expression far too relaxed.
Minato Namikaze had earned the title Yellow Flash because of the Flying Thunder God Technique—but anyone who underestimated Minato's raw speed because of that alone would be a fool.
Even without Flying Thunder God, Minato's movement speed was something ordinary ninja could only dream of catching.
Paired with the terrifying reaction speed required to perfectly wield Flying Thunder God, if Minato had ever wished to walk the shadows, he would have been the sharpest and deadliest blade hidden within them.
But his nature ensured he never would.
He was the rising sun—overwhelming his enemies with open, righteous force, while warming the comrades beside him.
Jiraiya didn't dare underestimate her.
Watching his gentle, polite, kind, innocent, beautiful disciple charging at him with a massive blue "death ball," he instantly prepared to use the Substitution Technique.
Boom!
The blue sphere slammed into the ground, erupting in a violent explosion.
As expected, with Jiraiya fully prepared, the attack failed to land.
Yet Kaoru showed no surprise at all.
She had warned him in advance.
If she had managed to hit him like that, then there would have been only one explanation—
The man in front of her wouldn't be Jiraiya.
He'd be a fake.
Instead of disappointment, a sly smile crept onto her face.
Just moments ago—
She had brushed the edge of his sleeve.
The Rasengan had only been a feint.
The true, decisive technique had already been set in motion.
The real battle was only just beginning.
Seeing the mischievous smile on the girl's face, Kyusei couldn't help but grin as well.
Yeah… Jiraiya's about to suffer.
That was close… way too close…
Having narrowly escaped with Substitution, Jiraiya stared at the massive crater left behind, his heart still pounding.
Just one hit, and it caused this much damage?
If that landed on his body, it would've hurt—a lot.
Feeling a bit irritated, he looked at his disciple, who was now smiling with absolute confidence.
"Being beaten around the whole time isn't really my style as a teacher," he said.
"Looks like it's time to show some teacherly authority."
His hands flew through seals as violent chakra surged into his mouth.
Fire Style: Flame Bullet!
A massive, scorching fireball roared toward Kaoru.
Jiraiya never expected it to hit.
Like the Fireball Jutsu, its purpose was simple—force movement, create an opening, then finish the fight in one blow.
But Kaoru didn't dodge.
She vanished.
Instantly.
No movement path. No blur.
She simply disappeared.
Seeing this, Kyusei's grin grew even wider.
The fight was already decided—unless Jiraiya was willing to completely level the entire area, he had no way to deal with Kaoru now.
Flying Thunder God Technique.
Minato Namikaze's core jutsu.
Minato's talent in space-time techniques was terrifying—enough that he could create derivative techniques like Flying Thunder God: Guiding Thunder, and combine teleportation with other jutsu in endlessly dazzling ways.
Even so, with Flying Thunder God alone, Kaoru could at best maintain a stalemate against Jiraiya.
After all, the gap in age still existed.
But—
Watching Kaoru vanish in such an illogical manner, Jiraiya couldn't help but feel shaken.
This completely unreasonable technique reminded him of an S-rank jutsu recorded in the Scroll of Seals.
But there was no way the old man would teach that to a student who hadn't even graduated yet.
Because his teacher was the Third Hokage, Jiraiya had once seen the Scroll of Seals.
Among countless forbidden and S-rank techniques, Flying Thunder God stood out even there.
He had tried learning it himself.
And failed.
He simply lacked talent in space-time ninjutsu.
Still—this technique required markers.
Regardless of how Kaoru learned it, the most important question now was—
Where was her marker?
Suddenly, Jiraiya's expression changed drastically.
He looked down at his sleeve.
There, etched clearly, was a string of unfamiliar symbols.
"…Crap."
In the next instant, Kaoru teleported directly in front of him!
A newly formed blue chakra sphere smashed toward him without hesitation!
Jiraiya barely avoided it and instinctively tried to counterattack—
But before his hand could touch her clothes, Kaoru vanished again, reappearing behind him in the blink of an eye!
Relying on decades of battle experience, Jiraiya dodged repeatedly—but every time he attempted to counter, Kaoru would instantly disappear and reappear in his blind spot.
Flying Thunder God was simply unfair.
The technique allowed infinite mistakes.
Kaoru could fail again and again.
Jiraiya only needed to fail once.
Unless he stripped off his clothes and summoned Gamabunta to completely annihilate the entire battlefield—leaving Kaoru nowhere to land—
He had no solution.
But he didn't do that.
Admitting a disciple's excellence wasn't difficult.
And Kaoru had already given him more than enough surprises.
This child's talent surpassed ninety-nine percent of all people.
Jiraiya let out a bitter smile.
Just as he was about to concede—
Kaoru suddenly appeared a short distance away, raising both hands helplessly in surrender.
"I lost, Jiraiya-sensei."
Only then did Jiraiya notice—
The blue sphere in her hand was gone.
"…I'm out of chakra."
Maintaining Rasengan while using Flying Thunder God dozens of times was simply too much for a twelve-year-old.
Jiraiya finally understood.
No matter how much he'd held back—no matter how serious he became—
There was still a clear gap between them.
Chakra reserves.
Kaoru didn't yet have the stamina to fight him for long.
Even so, Jiraiya felt deeply moved.
As expected…
It really is Kaoru.
The child I once identified as the Child of Prophecy.
To Read advanced Chapters, head over to P@treon
patreon.com/DarkVerse146