Chapter 290: The Sage Concedes!
"Sage Art: Goemon!"
Jiraiya spewed toad oil, Sage Shima released fire to ignite it, and Sage Fukasaku summoned fierce winds to further intensify the blaze.
The instant this complex Ninjutsu, a mixture of Wind, Fire, and Oil nature transformations, appeared, it erupted with a terrifying power that was in no way inferior to the "Sage Art: Fire Style: Toad Oil Flame Bullet" from moments before!
The dim, hazy natural environment was completely illuminated by the hurricane of fire condensed by the "Sage Art: Goemon." Even the lead-gray clouds floating in the sky were tinged with an orange-yellow glow.
But before the scorching flames condensed by "Sage Art: Goemon" could blast toward the target's location, Nara Keisuke raised a single hand to the sky. A beam of silvery-white electric arc shot out from his palm like a plume of smoke, connecting with the cumulonimbus cloud that was constantly flashing with arcs of electricity.
The natural energy permeating the atmosphere completely ran wild at this moment.
"You idiot! Look up!"
Sage Shima, who had already sensed that the situation with the clouds in the sky was amiss, decisively stopped releasing her fire Ninjutsu and warned the two beside her.
"Jiraiya!"
With Sage Shima halting the release of the fire Ninjutsu, the aggressive posture of the "Sage Art: Goemon" came to an abrupt halt.
Relying solely on Jiraiya's "oil" and Sage Fukasaku's "wind" could not form any high-powered combined Ninjutsu.
However, in reality, Sage Shima's reminder was no longer necessary...
"Roar—"
Accompanied by an earth-shattering roar, the lightning Kirin, entirely silvery-white and radiating brilliant lightning, emerged from the black and yellow clouds. Its pair of silvery-white giant eyes emotionlessly looked down upon Jiraiya and the two Sages below.
"Hiss—"
Sage Fukasaku gazed at the silvery-white Kirin formed of lightning in the sky and immediately sucked in a breath of cold air.
"Little Jiraiya!"
"Sage Art: Goemon" was indeed a terrifyingly powerful composite Ninjutsu.
Even without involving the layer of "Sage Chakra," a simple triple nature transformation of Wind, Fire, and Oil would make it difficult to find an opponent in the Shinobi World.
Let alone the fact that this was a genuine Sage Art attack!
But compared to the pseudo-Sage Art Kirin, "Sage Art: Goemon" had a fatal flaw—its attack speed was simply too "slow"!
Sage Fukasaku had no doubt that if they continued to press the attack with "Sage Art: Goemon," the Kirin in the sky would instantly blast all three of them into dust.
Jiraiya understood this principle as well.
"I'm setting up my defense!"
Gazing at the Kirin in the sky, Jiraiya also felt his scalp prickle. He concentrated all his Sage Chakra into his hair, shielding his body with his hair at the fastest speed of his life.
"Sage Art: Needle Jizō!"
The Kirin's roar shattered the clouds and split the rocks. Carrying unparalleled momentum and pressure, it plummeted from the clouds toward the earth below. The space between heaven and earth was completely illuminated by the silvery-white electric light.
Crash—Boom—
Under Nara Keisuke's mental manipulation, the Kirin, which could instantaneously destroy a mountain, landed precisely on the "Sage Art: Needle Jizō" Jiraiya maintained.
The surrounding earth instantly shattered and cracked. Chunks of mud and stone as large as millstones were enveloped in the violent shockwave, flying outward in all directions. Dust and debris shot high into the sky.
When the lightning and dust had completely dissipated, a dilapidated "Silver Mountain" was revealed to Nara Keisuke's sight.
Continuously supplemented by Sage Chakra, Jiraiya's hair possessed an extraordinary regeneration speed. The "Sage Art: Needle Jizō" leveraged this to form an exaggerated mountain of silver needles.
But the power of the Kirin ultimately exceeded the defensive limit of the "Sage Art: Needle Jizō."
Large chunks of hair fragments were scattered on the ground around the "Silver Mountain." Most of them were scorched black and curly, clearly having been blasted directly off the "Sage Art: Needle Jizō" by the Kirin.
The "Sage Art: Needle Jizō" was also covered in cracks, with patches of scorched spots scattered across the "Silver Mountain." The seemingly tough and rigid hair was now dry and brittle.
But as long as the person inside was fine, the "Sage Art: Needle Jizō" would not completely fail.
"Lord Nara!"
Jiraiya's terrified voice drifted out from the gaps in the "Silver Mountain."
"Stop! No more fighting!"
Nara Keisuke raised an eyebrow and immediately halted his plan to attack.
If it were up to his personal will, now, with Jiraiya using the "Sage Art: Needle Jizō" to obstruct vision, he could test the destructive nature of Blaze Release on organic functions.
Blaze Release, derived from Yin Release and Fire Release, inherently contained the formidable power of fire, making it somewhat difficult to test its destructive effect on organic functions.
However, according to Nara Keisuke's analysis, the "silver hair" grown by Jiraiya's hair-series ninjutsu, especially after fusing with Sage Chakra, happened to be a special substance rich in organic function.
It would be perfect for testing the effect of Blaze Release.
But since Jiraiya had actively called a stop to the battle, Nara Keisuke couldn't continue to beat a drowning dog.
He didn't want to carelessly reveal the existence of Blaze Release to Jiraiya.
As for Kirin, this pseudo-Sage Art had already been used on the Kirigakure battlefield before.
For Nara Keisuke, Kirin was a "powerful technique" that could be used routinely, and there was no longer any need to conceal it.
The same applied to the Dark Spiral Annihilation Sphere.
This technique had also been used in front of Minato Namikaze during his clashes with the Third Raikage and the AB Combo.
If Kirin was a "powerful technique," then the Dark Spiral Annihilation Sphere was an "ultimate technique."
However, today's battle was not a life-and-death struggle, but merely a small spar.
Nara Keisuke didn't need to smash Jiraiya's face with the Dark Spiral Annihilation Sphere.
Sensing that there was no movement outside for a long time, Jiraiya finally deactivated the "Sage Art: Needle Jizō" defense. The man and the two toads walked out from the "Silver Mountain."
Fully utilizing the augmentation effect of Sage Mode on his physical strength, Jiraiya instantly appeared in front of Nara Keisuke with a body flicker.
"That ninjutsu just now has exceeded the scope of what a shinobi can handle."
Jiraiya, recalling the Kirin from before, still felt nervous.
"Lord Nara, this is just a spar! It's not a fight to the death!"
"In terms of overall power, Kirin isn't that strong."
Nara Keisuke replied calmly and unhurriedly.
"Jiraiya-sama, the super-large-range fire Ninjutsu you combined with Gamabunta earlier, and the multi-composite large-range fire Ninjutsu afterward, in terms of attack effect alone, are not weaker than Kirin."
The attack effect of Kirin was indeed strong, but its strength was genuinely limited.
After Sasuke created Kirin, the "first battle" of this pseudo-Sage Art failed to break even the half-body Susanoo of an exhausted Itachi Uchiha. (Though this might involve the interference of the Yata Mirror's defense).
But as a "victim" of Kirin, Jiraiya only wanted to stare after hearing Nara Keisuke's words.
He used the "Toad Oil Flame Bullet" and "Goemon" because he knew Nara Keisuke could fly.
Even if his opponent couldn't withstand the attack of the "Toad Oil Flame Bullet" or "Goemon," he could at least fly away and dodge it.
But when Nara Keisuke used a super-large-range, super-fast natural phenomenon attack like Kirin, Jiraiya had no way to dodge!
Sages Fukasaku and Shima, still standing on Jiraiya's shoulders, were equally terrified.
Had the world of shinobi become this dangerous?
A natural disaster attack of that magnitude could be described as "not that strong"?
To what level had Konoha's shinobi grown?
"But… but…"
Jiraiya stuttered for a long time, unable to express his point.
He wanted to refute Nara Keisuke's statement.
But the person who preemptively used super-large-range powerful ninjutsu was, in fact, him.
Could he forbid Nara Keisuke from using Kirin while he himself entered Sage Mode and released large-area ninjutsu?
As for Nara Keisuke being able to fly and dodge, hadn't Jiraiya's "Sage Art: Needle Jizō" just tanked the damage from Kirin?
It just hurt his scalp a bit…
"What is it, Jiraiya-sama? Do you have any new ideas?"
Nara Keisuke actively took over the conversation, looking at Jiraiya, who was still in Sage Mode.
"Or… should we call off this spar today, just like the last one?"
"Yes…"
Jiraiya lowered his head, crestfallen.
"Let's end it here today!
"If we continue fighting, I'm genuinely worried I won't be able to control the situation."
Jiraiya still had many techniques and maneuvers he hadn't used.
But just in the fight moments ago, techniques like "Sage Art: Toad Oil Flame Bullet," "Sage Art: Goemon," and "Kirin" were all brought out.
Jiraiya was truly worried that Nara Keisuke might get carried away and blast him with a "Tailed Beast Bomb."
Minato had already told him that Nara Keisuke possessed a violent technique whose attack power was in no way inferior to a Tailed Beast Bomb!
Even Jiraiya, Sage Mode Jiraiya, was not confident he could withstand the attack of a Tailed Beast Bomb.
Furthermore, Jiraiya hadn't used his ultimate trump card.
But had Nara Keisuke truly brought out all his means?
According to the intelligence Jiraiya possessed, his opponent also commanded a Giant Ninjutsu capable of suppressing a Tailed Beast!
It was… truly terrifying.
'Why is learning a single transparency ninjutsu so difficult…'
Jiraiya felt utterly aggrieved.
Just then, Nara Keisuke spoke.
"Then what is the result of today's match?"
Jiraiya looked up, asking tentatively.
"A draw?"
"Jiraiya-sama."
Nara Keisuke's mouth twitched, forcing out a very polite, fake smile.
"I can fight you for an entire day."
"Then I lose!"
Jiraiya sighed internally.
"I will prepare the scroll for the Telescope Technique."
[You have defeated the S-Rank Ninja Battle Mission target!]
[You have obtained one S-Rank Secret Ninja Scroll!]
"Jiraiya-sama."
The smile on Nara Keisuke's face became much more genuine.
"Next time, please come prepared when you challenge me again…
"If you want to set any special combat rules, that is also acceptable."
Jiraiya's eyes widened. He hadn't expected Nara Keisuke to be so kind until he heard the latter half of his sentence.
"Just remember to bring the wager."
This brat definitely learned his bad habits from Tsunade!
I have successfully translated Chapter 290 and triggered the S-Rank mission for Sage Jiraiya, which rewarded an S-Rank Secret Ninja Scroll.
Would you like me to tell you the contents of the S-Rank Secret Ninja Scroll from Sage Jiraiya, or the one from the Swift Release mission? Alternatively, I can move on to the next chapter.
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