Chapter 146: Your Weakness Has Been Completely Seen Through by Me
Kou stared ahead, utterly speechless. So, while she had been running circles around the town trying to shake off her pursuers, this white-haired pervert had simply been waiting here the entire time.
How utterly shameless. He hadn't just used a massive intelligence network to track her down; he had blatantly hijacked the entire town's security force and blanketed the area with messenger toads to act as his personal surveillance cameras.
She gave her remaining arm a loose shake, rolling her shoulder to loosen the joints. It seemed a fight was entirely unavoidable.
"Then let me see just how much you've improved over these past five years, Jiraiya," she provoked, a dry smirk playing on her lips.
She drew the sword at her waist with a sharp metallic ring. Crimson bled into her irises, instantly morphing into the spinning silhouette of the three-tomoe Sharingan.
Seeing the dreaded dojutsu activate, Jiraiya didn't hesitate. His hands blurred through a rapid sequence of seals. "Bringer-of-Darkness Technique!"
Kou nearly stumbled as the world around her was instantly swallowed by an impenetrable, pitch-black void. 'Crap.' An illusion specifically designed to counter the visual prowess of the Uchiha—since when did Jiraiya learn Tobirama's signature anti-Uchiha jutsu?
The sharp, ringing clash of steel against kunai echoed through the darkened forest. The Bringer-of-Darkness Technique perfectly restricted the enhanced kinetic vision of her Sharingan, forcing her to rely entirely on sound and instinct.
Jiraiya didn't give her a moment to adjust. His taijutsu, ruthlessly honed over the last five years, had become incredibly sharp. He accurately pinpointed her openings, launching a relentless assault from the shadows.
His strikes were brutally effective and devoid of any flashy movements—fast, ruthless, and surgically precise. Every single blow was aimed directly at the defensive void left by her missing right arm. For a one-armed fighter, the lower rear-right angle was an absolute blind spot. Jiraiya exploited this mercilessly, constantly shifting to her right flank and forcing her into awkward, constrained parries that prevented her from exerting her full strength.
The sheer efficiency of his footwork and blade deflections even carried the distinct, lethal shadow of Sakumo Hatake's White Light Blade style.
'Good grief,' she cursed inwardly, barely deflecting a kunai aimed at her ribs. He must have undergone specialized tactical training specifically designed to counter her. Otherwise, how could he perfectly dissect her defensive gaps every single time?
Even through the pitch-black illusion, her intense, accusatory glare must have pierced through to him. Jiraiya's relentless assault actually paused for a fraction of a second. But any guilt he felt evaporated instantly, replaced by an even more ruthless barrage. Every subsequent strike sought to tear open her vulnerabilities.
Refusing to be cornered any longer, Kou forced her chakra pathways into overdrive. A volatile surge of intense chakra erupted from her core, violently shattering the genjutsu. The Bringer-of-Darkness Technique fractured like broken glass, instantly restoring light and color to her vision.
She discarded her sword, letting it embed into the dirt, and immediately brought her left hand up. "Fire Release: Great Fire Dragon Technique!"
Though forced to rely entirely on one-handed seals, her finger dexterity blurred at a speed that put average jonin to shame. By the time the final syllable left her lips, the jutsu was already complete. Scorching sheets of flame roared into existence, twisting into the massive, roaring visage of a fire dragon that surged directly toward her former comrade.
Jiraiya neither dodged nor flinched. He planted his feet firmly, his own hands flying through seals even faster. "Fire Release: Great Flame Bullet!"
He inhaled sharply and spat a colossal sphere of superheated fire from his mouth. The massive fireball intercepted the flaming dragon mid-air. The two high-level Fire Release techniques collided with a deafening roar, triggering a terrifying shockwave of thermal energy that instantly incinerated the surrounding foliage and kicked up a massive cloud of dust, completely obscuring their vision.
Before the ash could even settle, the sharp whistle of displaced air warned her. Five kunai tore through the smoke screen, aimed squarely at her chest.
Kou calmly shifted her weight, swaying fluidly to let the projectiles whistle harmlessly past her. In this ninja world, the only flying kunai one truly needed to fear belonged to the Flying Thunder God users—Tobirama Senju and Minato Namikaze. Anyone else's were just basic projectiles.
Her eyes tracked the passing blades. 'Wait.'
Hidden beneath the hilts were the distinct, crinkled edges of lit explosive tags.
Kou instantly channeled chakra into her legs, activating the Body Flicker Technique. She vanished into a blur just as a deafening, crackling chain of explosions erupted right where she had been standing, sending shockwaves rippling through the clearing.
She reappeared a dozen meters away, but before she could even draw a breath, the metallic glint of countless steel wires shot out from the surrounding canopy. They crisscrossed in a complex geometric web, instantly pinning themselves around her perimeter and severely restricting her escape routes.
A shadow fell over her. She glanced up to see a dense, metallic rain of shuriken plummeting from the sky, threatening to turn her into a bloody pincushion.
Jiraiya had actually taken the time to lace this entire sector with advanced traps before engaging her.
But how could such rudimentary traps ever hope to catch her? Kou moved like a phantom. She contorted her body to slip through the razor-thin gaps in the steel wires, deflected the falling shuriken with precise bursts of chakra, and danced gracefully over the hidden explosive tag formations. She casually sidestepped concealed ground spikes and vaulted over hidden trapdoors with infuriating ease.
In the distance, Jiraiya stood perfectly motionless. His sharp eyes carefully tracked her erratic movements, calculating her trajectory. The very second Kou leaped to clear a final wire trap and her boots touched solid earth once more, his hands slammed together.
"Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld!"
The solid ground beneath Kou's feet instantly liquefied into a bubbling, viscous mire of dark mud. The swamp rapidly enveloped her boots and calves, the heavy suction dragging her deeper and deeper into the earth with terrifying speed.
Capitalizing on that brief, fatal pause, Jiraiya manipulated his chakra.
"Wild Lion's Mane Technique!"
His spiky silver hair suddenly exploded outward, extending into thick, prehensile tendrils of hardened white strands. The hair shot forward like a nest of vipers, wrapping tightly around her immobilized form and violently dragging her out of the mud, pulling her straight toward him.
Suddenly, the air pressure plummeted. A massive, spectral ribcage of pitch-black chakra materialized from the void, encasing her entirely. It was only a partial skeletal manifestation of the Susanoo, but the sheer density of the chakra construct was more than enough to violently snap the restraints of Jiraiya's hardened hair.
"Jiraiya," she drawled, her voice echoing from within the dark, skeletal avatar. "You must understand that before these eyes, all your little tricks amount to absolutely nothing."
Unfazed, Jiraiya raised a kunai and sliced it across his palm. He slammed his bleeding hand onto the earth. Black summoning formulas spread outward in a complex web.
A massive plume of white smoke erupted. When it cleared, a gargantuan, rust-red toad loomed over the forest canopy, a massive dosu blade resting at its hip. It was none other than the Toad Boss of Mount Myōboku, Gamabunta.
"I must admit, your strength has increased rapidly over these past five years," Kou noted, looking up at the towering amphibian. "But this... is still far from enough."
The dark chakra radiating from her body surged violently. The skeletal ribcage rapidly expanded, growing taller and denser as muscle and armor wove themselves into existence. In seconds, the partial frame evolved into a towering, fully-formed humanoid Susanoo, complete with armored legs that crushed the forest floor beneath its weight.
Without a second of hesitation, the colossal black Susanoo raised its massive fist and smashed it down toward Gamabunta and Jiraiya.
Gamabunta let out a deep croak, drawing his colossal blade in a flash of steel to brace against the descending strike. The sheer force of the impact cratered the earth beneath the toad's webbed feet.
Operating with years of extreme, tacit understanding, summon and summoner launched their counterattack. Gamabunta inhaled deeply, spewing a massive torrent of highly flammable toad oil, while Jiraiya ignited it with a concentrated burst of flame.
"Fire Release: Toad Oil Flame Bullet!"
The resulting inferno was apocalyptic. The high-temperature, oil-fueled flames washed over the black Susanoo, the intense heat attempting to erode the dense chakra armor. But despite the terrifying temperature, it simply wasn't enough to melt through the absolute defense.
After exchanging a few more devastating blows to test the waters, the colossal clash of Fire Release finally died down, leaving the battlefield scorched and smoking.
Jiraiya's figure vanished from atop the toad, slipping behind the thick trunk of a surviving ancient tree. He held his position, refusing to make another reckless move against the towering chakra giant.
Kou narrowed her Sharingan, wondering what the old pervert was plotting in the shadows. A moment later, Jiraiya stepped out into the open.
Perched upon his shoulders were two small, ancient-looking toads. His eyes had shifted into a piercing, horizontal golden slit, and thick, warty toad-like markings framed his face.
It was the legendary Sage Mode of Mount Myōboku.
As any seasoned shinobi knew, entering Sage Mode didn't just exponentially multiply a user's chakra capacity and physical recovery. The infusion of natural energy drastically enhanced their sensory perception, allowing them to predict an enemy's movements with terrifying accuracy.
Staring down the towering Gamabunta, the newly empowered Jiraiya, and the two elder toads feeding him natural energy, Kou felt a distinct, irritating sensation. She was being thoroughly ganged up on.
The two elder toads immediately went to work. They puffed out their cheeks, unleashing a devastating auditory genjutsu—the Demonic Illusion: Toad Confrontation Chant. The grating, multi-layered croaking echoed through the clearing, violently interfering with her concentration and disrupting her chakra control. Simultaneously, Gamabunta lunged forward, swinging his massive blade in wide, lethal arcs to keep her Susanoo perpetually on the defensive.
As for Jiraiya himself... he had become a completely different beast.
He unleashed a relentless barrage of advanced senjutsu, firing off Sage Art: Hair Needle Senbon with the speed of a gatling gun, and blanketing the area in the boiling oil and fire of Sage Art: Goemon. If it weren't for the fortunate fact that Jiraiya hadn't yet learned Minato's signature Rasengan, Kou had absolutely no doubt he would be trying to smash a massive Sage Art Rasengan directly through her Susanoo's ribcage right now.
A single drop of cold sweat trickled down her temple.
Had Jiraiya been chugging steroids for the past five years? How the hell had his combat strength skyrocketed so rapidly?
Worse still, his battle tactics were incredibly insidious. He had completely dissected her fighting style and laid bare all her hidden weaknesses. First, she had just survived a brutal, high-stakes battle against the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki a mere two days ago. Her chakra reserves were still severely depleted and far from fully recovered. Second, her natural chakra capacity was notoriously shallow—only marginally better than Kakashi's when he spammed his borrowed Sharingan. In terms of raw stamina, she was objectively weak.
And Jiraiya knew it. He was deliberately dragging out the fight, using high-pressure tactics to force her to maintain the chakra-guzzling Susanoo until she completely exhausted her reserves.
Left with no other choice, she channeled power into her left eye, activating the unique Mangekyo ability she had deliberately leaked in her intelligence files: Amplification. A sudden surge of artificial vitality flooded her system, temporarily boosting her physical strength, kinetic speed, and remaining chakra to their absolute limits.
The black Susanoo roared, moving with wide, sweeping strikes that forced the toads back. Although the combined assault from Sage Mode Jiraiya and Gamabunta was overwhelming, this was not yet the legendary, battle-hardened Sannin of the future. He still lacked experience in maintaining the delicate balance of natural energy, and she could see the toad-like markings on his face beginning to recede. His Sage Mode was already reaching its time limit.
Kou's mind raced, pondering the most efficient escape route. Should she risk opening her domain to trap them all, nuke the area in one fell swoop, and then make a run for it?
That split second of tactical distraction cost her dearly.
Jiraiya slammed his hands down. "Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld!"
A massive sinkhole of dark mud opened directly beneath the towering chakra giant, causing the Susanoo to abruptly sink waist-deep into the earth. Simultaneously, a relentless barrage of hardened Hair Needle Senbon hammered against the armored shell, the sheer kinetic impact causing the massive construct's movements to turn sluggish.
Kou's Susanoo wobbled, its balance critically compromised.
An opening.
In that exact instant, Jiraiya's silver hair lengthened into massive, thick cables. The hardened strands whipped forward, wrapping securely around the Susanoo's exposed left leg. He planted his feet, his chakra flaring wildly as he poured every last ounce of his physical and spiritual strength into this single, decisive pull.
With a thunderous groan, the black Susanoo lost its footing entirely, toppling backward toward the earth like a felled titan.
"Now's the time!" Jiraiya roared, his hands blurring through a final, complex string of seals. "Ninja Art: Reverse Summoning Technique!"
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