A standoff in the wind and snow.
Jiraiya's mind raced. Sasuke Uchiha came looking for me by name. This has to be on Orochimaru's orders. Or… he IS Orochimaru. But… A slight smirk touched his lips. Orochimaru would never use a fawning honorific like 'you' with a peer. I know that much.
His smile widened. Good. Naruto… the person you're so desperate to bring back… he's still alive in this world.
He reined in the grin, his voice turning serious. "Sasuke Uchiha. Your 'seeking instruction' puzzles me slightly. Is there something you wish to ask me?"
Sasuke said, "You needn't overthink it. Simply put, I wish to fight you."
Jiraiya blinked. Then he threw his head back and laughed. "Hahahahaha…!"
The laughter died as quickly as it came. "Kid, even jokes have their limits. You're a friend cherished by my precious student. So this next question is crucial. Answer it seriously. Challenging me… is this your own will? Or Orochimaru's?"
Sasuke lowered his gaze, thinking it over carefully. "Both, I suppose."
Jiraiya's eyes narrowed. He means it. If Orochimaru knows about this move… then Orochimaru has already judged him capable of fighting me.
"Over half a year ago, I heard you made your teacher, Kakashi Hatake, stumble. Let me see for myself… how much you've grown since then."
Jiraiya's hands formed a seal.
— Fire Style: Flame Bullet!
Fwoosh!
Oil refined from chakra, ignited by fire release, blasted forward as a massive projectile!
The searing heat washed over him. Sasuke didn't flinch. Two fingers came together.
— Fire Style: Flame Serpent Dragon!
Hiss!
Dark crimson, condensed flames erupted, taking the form of a coiling dragon mid-air!
BOOM! The two infernos collided. A shockwave of blistering heat rolled outward, scattering the snowstorm.
Jiraiya's eyes widened. Oh? Releasing fire chakra in such a highly condensed form… it rivals my Flame Bullet!
Fizzle…
But in the next instant, his Flame Bullet rapidly weakened. Simultaneously, the flame dragon swelled in size!
What?! It's absorbing my fire! A same-element absorption jutsu?!?!
KABOOOOOM!!!
Having devoured the Flame Bullet, the fully-grown Flame Serpent Dragon soared upward, then plunged down for the kill!!
Jiraiya bit his thumb, slamming it to the ground!!
POOF! CRASH!
White smoke billowed. A wall of fire erupted.
A split-second before the flames exploded, a frog-shaped silhouette leapt into the sky.
Sasuke's memory flashed. That's Mount Myōboku's 'Great Strength Toad.' Incredible power. Flight capability. I saw him use it when we fought Urashiki together.
On the toad's back, Jiraiya's expression was grave. "With that fire technique alone, he's nearly unbeatable in a fire-style clash. Exchanging long-range fire blasts with him isn't wise."
A grin spread across his face. "Let's change tactics!"
Whoosh!
The Great Strength Toad glided in. Jiraiya leapt from its back, a spiraling sphere of blue chakra erupting in his palm as he dove!!!
Swish—!
Sasuke's eyes flashed with three tomoe. He sidestepped with casual ease. Lightning crackled to life on his own palm, sweeping horizontally.
Slice!
Jiraiya dropped low, avoiding the strike. "With the Sharingan's insight… not so easy to land a hit, huh!"
— Wild Lion's Mane Technique!!!
SHWIP!! Jiraiya's white hair exploded in length, extending into a lion's head shape that wrapped around Sasuke in an instant! The Rasengan came swinging right after!!
Zzzzt…!!
Sasuke's eyes shifted. Mangekyō. Dark purple chakra erupted, forming a skeletal ribcage that shattered the binding hair!
"!?" Jiraiya jolted in surprise. His wooden sandals scraped ground as he skidded to a halt, throwing himself backward!
Susanoo's skeletal fist followed like a comet.
Jiraiya dispersed the Rasengan, slapping the ground again!
CLANG…!!!
A toad rising from the white smoke blocked the skeletal fist with arms sheathed in iron plates!
Sasuke's gaze sharpened. Mount Myōboku's Iron Armored Toad. Exceptional defensive power…
Jiraiya stared at the purple skeleton encasing Sasuke. "So that's the chakra-materialized exoskeleton Kakashi mentioned… Susanoo!"
The Iron Armored Toad grunted, straining. "Hey, Jiraiya… stop this thing! I can't hold it!!!"
"Sorry, sorry! Leave it to me!!"
Jiraiya leapt. A torrent of toad oil erupted from his mouth, drenching the Susanoo skeleton. A follow-up fire technique ignited it.
The Susanoo became a flaming skeleton… sizzling and crackling under the intense heat, but not breaking.
Jiraiya's face tightened. "This durability… even the Great Toad Sage might not crush it in one go. But, paired with that move…"
His hands flew through seals.
Gloop gloop gloop… A swamp of mud bubbled up beneath Sasuke's flaming Susanoo.
"Earth Style: Swamp of the Underworld?"
Jiraiya's seals shifted rapidly. "Now, Iron Arm! Fall back!!!"
"Got it! You be careful…!!!"
The Iron Armored Toad vanished in a puff of white.
— Summoning: Toad Crushing Technique!
RUMBLE-RUMBLE-RUMBLE!!
The toad Gamahiro descended from the sky like a falling mountain, landing squarely on the blazing Susanoo. It didn't crush it—but it drove it deep into the quagmire!!!
"Yowch-ow-ow-ow! My butt's on fire!!!"
Gamahiro, his rear end ablaze, hopped thirty feet into the air and disappeared in another puff of smoke!!!
On the edge of the swamp, Jiraiya formed seals once more.
— Sealing: Earth Binding Technique!
Crunch-crunch-crunch…!
The mud solidified. The earth below compacted, filling the swamp into an impossibly dense layer of bedrock!
Jiraiya slapped a sealing tag onto the center. As he completed the seal, intricate patterns spread out, forming a closed circuit.
He stood. "Just sit tight for a while. I'll release you before you suffocate."
CRACK!!
Suddenly, a giant purple sword cleaved through the bedrock and the sealing tag!!!
Jiraiya jerked back!
The upper half of Susanoo erupted from the ground. Tendons and muscle fibers wreathed the skeleton.
Jiraiya's expression turned severe. "A form superior to the skeleton… It broke the Earth Binding…"
Inside Susanoo, Sasuke's gaze was low and murderous. "Your strength shouldn't be limited to this, should it? What I want isn't this child's play of back-and-forth… Or are you afraid of killing me, holding back on purpose? There's no need. I came seeking instruction in earnest."
Sasuke brought his hands together before his chest.
— Wood Style: Advent of a World of Trees!!
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
A riotous forest of trees burst from the earth, writhing like dancing demons. The scale was absurd. Jiraiya didn't even bother with a futile dodge.
His gaze hardened completely. "Orochimaru… what in the world have you done to this child?"
Thwip…!!
Susanoo drew its bow, nocking a massive arrow. It aimed at the man now firmly entangled by the monstrous trees. It fired.
The great arrow pierced through.
Jiraiya's body vanished into white smoke.
A shadow clone.
Sasuke's eyes remained calm. Not surprised in the least. Slowly, he shifted his gaze to the ground burned through by his Flame Serpent Dragon earlier.
So that was it. The moment the Flame Serpent Dragon descended, Jiraiya's clone used the Great Strength Toad's leap to draw attention. The real body used an earth technique to dive underground.
In Jiraiya's initial plan, Sasuke was Orochimaru's vanguard.
Maybe it was overkill. But to protect 'Naruto,' he decided to summon the Two Great Sage Toads right here, right now, and enter Sage Mode!!
The clone's disappearance also informed Jiraiya of the situation above ground.
"Not good. Really not good. Sasuke Uchiha… his current strength surpasses my base form. It's not that I don't trust Naruto… but the gap has grown too wide. It seems… I must be the one to resolve this troublesome situation personally now…"
Then… Jiraiya, his face now marked with red war paint, looked up sharply. His eyes, filled with new gravity, fixed on the 'great arrow' nocked on a bowstring aimed down into his earthen tunnel.
"Summoning the Two Great Sages requires time. Both my hands must remain joined during that period. That Susanoo arrow… I have to deal with it somehow…"
Tap!
Jiraiya hopped slightly. The soles of his sandals clicked together. His hair swayed.
— Barrier: Canopy Method Formation!
I can only expand my perception with a barrier… and avoid as best I can…!
SWOOSH!!!
The great arrow released. Jiraiya's body hurled itself sideways with all his might.
KABOOOOOOOOOM!!!
Even with expanded perception, Jiraiya ultimately failed to dodge the arrow, swift as a thunderclap…
The Jiraiya struck by the arrow dissolved into white smoke.
"He didn't just form a sensing barrier with his feet earlier… he also formed the shadow clone seal simultaneously…" Sasuke murmured. He watched the real Jiraiya, hands still firmly pressed together, now running full-tilt like a madman, and couldn't help a slight, amused smile. "Truly master and disciple… cut from the same cloth."
However, the opponent for the fifth battle was Sage Mode Jiraiya. If that didn't appear, the fifth battle would be meaningless.
"I'll chase him… symbolically."
Clad in his upper-body Susanoo, Sasuke gave pursuit. Great arrows split the air one after another… Jiraiya leapt and scrambled, always avoiding them by a hair's breadth.
A flicker of doubt crossed Jiraiya's face. "Losing accuracy during high-speed pursuit?"
But… this was salvation. Otherwise, even if he summoned a giant toad to buy time, it would likely be a wasted life under those Susanoo arrows.
Elsewhere, among the ruins of the Land of Whirlpools.
Orochimaru, Itachi, Kabuto, and Karin watched the live feed through a crystal ball.
Kabuto adjusted his glasses. "Somehow… this isn't quite what I imagined…"
Itachi said calmly, "It's related to the activation method of Sage Mode. If we could have informed Lord Jiraiya about this battle beforehand, allowing him to enter the state early, he wouldn't be in such a predicament…"
Orochimaru's snake-like smile appeared. "But if we did that… Jiraiya would find it very hard to fight to kill. That would deviate from the original intent of the Ten-Battle Project…"
Karin's senses flared. "They're coming… two powerful, unusual chakra signatures. Descending from somewhere far away!"
Bzzzzt…!
A white, semi-transparent aura shimmered around Jiraiya's joined palms!!
His spirits lifted. "They're here…!!!"
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
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