Whoosh!
Shima Sage's tongue shot out like a long whip, lashing toward Rokuro.
Rokuro, clad in his crackling lightning armor with his chakra fully activated, swiftly sidestepped. To his surprise, eyes had grown along Shima's tongue. Spotting Rokuro's location, the tongue twisted and lunged again.
Rokuro dodged once more, swinging his hand blade to strike the middle of the tongue.
Squeak! A sound like an axe hitting steel rang out; his hand blade bounced off, and Shima's tongue remained unscathed.
"So that's the effect of Sage-enhanced chakra… no wonder he's tough."
His sensory tools alerted him. Rokuro executed another high-speed lateral shift, and the ground beneath him split in two. A torrent of high-pressure water sliced through, cutting hard rock as if it were tofu.
Turning his gaze, he saw another sage, Fukasaku, unleashing a Water Cutting Wave–like sage technique.
The destructive power was beyond any regular ninjutsu!
One tongue and one torrent of water forced Rokuro to retreat repeatedly. He pulled out his kunai, hurling them toward Jiraiya.
"Don't get your way!"
"Wild Lion Hair Technique!"
Jiraiya's hair shot out, rapidly elongating and coiling into a thick hair-dragon, snapping up a kunai etched with a space seal.
Meanwhile, Rokuro used Instant Transmission to appear elsewhere, throwing several projectile-like objects.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Shima's tongue intercepted them, and on contact, small explosions erupted, sending thick dark purple smoke across the area.
Jiraiya assumed it was poison smoke, held his breath, and charged forward—but Rokuro appeared directly in front of him, hand blade striking at blinding speed.
Blood splattered as Jiraiya was launched again, but Rokuro was also hit.
Three hair needles, the Senbon variation, pierced through the lightning armor and embedded in his chest muscles.
Rokuro removed them and applied medical ninjutsu to stop the bleeding.
Senbon, whether metallic or hair-based, were essentially just needles. Unless striking a vital point like the eyes, their lethality was limited. Some masters coat them with poison. Jiraiya's hair needles were infused with chakra but harmless.
The three punctures were quickly treated. On the other side, Jiraiya, struck multiple times by hand blades, looked tense.
"You okay, little Jiraiya?"
Shima asked about his injuries. Jiraiya shook his head.
"Good thing my senses are heightened in Sage Mode, or I'd be shredded. Damn it—did he set spatial seals in advance? That sudden appearance was definitely Flying Thunder God!"
Fukasaku Sage agreed, even pointing toward the kunai Rokuro had thrown earlier.
"That kunai hasn't moved; those smoke bombs didn't have spatial seals… how did he appear? Strange."
"Little Jiraiya, no time to study this. We need the upper hand. You blocked the vital strikes with Needle Hide, but you can't just stay on the defensive forever."
"I understand. Two sages, lend me your strength!"
Jiraiya's feet expanded, breaking his shoes. With a boom, he leapt tens of meters high.
"Sage Art: Goemon!"
All three—one man and two toads—faced the ground. Fukasaku used Wind, Jiraiya used Oil, and Shima used Fire. This combined ninjutsu, amplified by sage chakra, covered half the island.
"His lightning speed is fast, but he can't dodge this. To evade, he'd need Flying Thunder God."
Almost instantly, Rokuro appeared behind Jiraiya, delivering a whip kick infused with lightning chakra.
Sage Mode's sensory abilities allowed Jiraiya to react, but he couldn't dodge and relied on Needle Hide again.
Fukasaku quickly used Earth Style to raise a platform, preventing them from falling into their own jutsu.
Sweat dotted Jiraiya's forehead. Though he blocked the kick, he was lightly injured. More importantly, he confirmed that this opponent could perform spatial movement without relying on spatial seals.
Terrifying. Flying Thunder God itself is a forbidden technique. Minato used it to earn his yellow flash reputation. Even so, it has a weakness—it requires spatial seals. The usual counter is to blast away all chakra-infused tools with area ninjutsu.
But now, Rokuro could traverse space without any tools. What defense is left? Might as well surrender!
Rokuro disappeared midair, reappearing on a distant rock. Jiraiya looked puzzled.
"Truly impressive. His tactical response and the power of his sage chakra are remarkable. Today's battle ends here; I hope we cross paths again in the future. Farewell!"
Rokuro turned and left without hesitation, leaving Jiraiya and the two toad sages dumbfounded.
"What? He had the advantage—why did he suddenly retreat?"
Shima couldn't understand. Fukasaku had a thought:
"Perhaps… he realized continuing would lead to mutual destruction?"
"Impossible! Little Jiraiya was cornered. A few more rounds, we'd win for sure!"
Jiraiya let out a wry smile, slowly leaving Sage Mode.
"In any case, that was a close call. Didn't expect Orochimaru to have such a capable ally—it'll make facing him much harder in the future."
Both sides breathed easier.
"Using my own chakra in battle is exhausting. I barely used wide-area ninjutsu, yet my chakra is nearly depleted. If I stayed, I'd have to draw on Kurama's chakra."
Before, with Kurama as his power source, he could throw jutsu freely, like a ninja's machine gun. Now, he had to generate all chakra himself.
"No wonder Kakashi's battle IQ is so high. With limited chakra, if you're not efficient, you'll exhaust yourself before defeating the enemy."
Still, the battle had its benefits. At the very least, it validated that mobile sensory barriers could be applied in combat.
END OF CHAPTER
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