"Summoning Jutsu!"
Jiraiya pressed his hands to the ground, and a thick cloud of smoke erupted.
Three massive toads appeared simultaneously.
The first was a giant red toad with a pipe clenched in its mouth, bandages wrapped around its waist, and a short sword strapped to its back—Gamabunta, the leader of Mount Myōboku's new generation.
"Jiraiya, you really know how to drag me into trouble," Gamabunta grumbled.
The second was a towering purplish-red toad with a U-shaped black tattoo on its face, a pot-lid shield on its back, and a trident in hand—Gamaken.
"I may not be much, but I'll do my best," Gamaken said humbly.
The third was Gamahiro, who had been fighting alongside Jiraiya earlier.
The Toad Trio of Mount Myōboku had arrived!
Having already heard about their opponent from Gamahiro, neither Gamabunta nor Gamaken dared to underestimate him.
This was the pinnacle of the shinobi world today.
Though Mount Myōboku typically avoided meddling in human wars, as summoned creatures, they had no choice but to fight for their contractor—especially since Jiraiya was the one Mount Myōboku had chosen.
"You three, buy me some time," Jiraiya said, biting his finger and beginning to paint strange markings on his face.
"So, you're planning to use that technique," Gamabunta remarked, exhaling a smoke ring as his hand tightened around the hilt of his short sword.
That secret art of Mount Myōboku—
Sage Mode?
"If I don't, I might not make it back alive," Jiraiya admitted.
He knew his limits.
Against the Tsuchikage before him, his current strength simply wasn't enough.
Whether it was Ōnoki's ability to fly freely or his Dust Release, which could erase anything from existence, Jiraiya was at a disadvantage.
"Are you done talking?"
Ōnoki spread his arms and launched his attack. He had no intention of waiting for them to finish their conversation.
He'd been preparing his jutsu all along.
"Dust Release: Detachment of the Primitive World!"
A massive white cube rapidly expanded, engulfing everything in its path. A blinding light flashed, reducing all within it to atoms.
When the cube dissipated, Ōnoki frowned and looked up at the sky.
The three giant toads were plummeting toward him. At the critical moment of his attack, they had leaped with all their might—evading his Dust Release entirely.
The first to land was Gamabunta's colossal blade.
BOOM!
The ground split like brittle paper under the force of the strike.
Ōnoki dodged just in time.
But two more blades followed in rapid succession, not striking the ground but instead slashing wildly at him.
"Swish! Swish! Swish!"
Ōnoki weaved through the gaps between the blades with his small stature.
Then, a trident thrust into the fray, joined by Gamabunta's sword.
Despite their massive size, the three toads wielded their weapons with terrifying speed, relentlessly pressing Ōnoki.
The Tsuchikage could only rely on his agility to evade.
No matter how dense their onslaught, there were always brief openings—and for Ōnoki, seizing them was child's play.
He even had enough focus to form hand seals.
Seeing this, the three toads immediately retreated.
"Earth Release: Rock Golem Technique!"
Three towering rock monsters erupted from the ground, charging at the toads.
Gamabunta lunged forward, his blade sending one golem staggering. Behind him, Gamahiro severed its arms with two swift strikes.
Gamaken drove his trident through the golem's chest.
"I may not be much, but I'll do my best," Gamaken repeated, raising his shield to block the hammering fists of the other two golems.
Gamabunta and Gamahiro dashed past the remaining golems.
CRACK!
The rock giants shattered into pieces.
The three toads kicked off the ground, the earth fracturing beneath them as they shot toward Ōnoki.
Seizing the opportunity, Ōnoki soared higher into the sky, effortlessly escaping their range.
As the toads hung mid-air, Ōnoki raised his hand.
"Dust Release: Atomic Dismantling Jutsu!"
A white cube rapidly expanded, positioned directly in their path.
Gamabunta's expression darkened. With no way to change trajectory mid-air, there was only one option—
Slash through it!
As if sharing a single mind, the three toads swung their weapons at the cube.
"Naive," Ōnoki sneered. His Dust Release wasn't so easily shattered.
Just as he waited for the toads to be engulfed and disintegrated—
A sudden shout rang out.
"Sage Art: Hair Needle Senbon!"
Countless razor-sharp white hairs, hardened to extreme durability, shot toward Ōnoki from behind.
The Tsuchikage's face twisted in alarm. Abandoning his Dust Release, he swiftly ascended higher.
The Toad Trio landed safely on the ground.
"Thanks for holding the line."
High above, Jiraiya stood suspended in the air, his gaze fixed on Ōnoki.
"Sage Art: Moonwalk!"
His appearance had transformed. His face was now adorned with strange markings, and patches of his skin had taken on a stony texture.
His eyes resembled those of a toad, but even the whites had turned ashen gray.
He looked like a man halfway turned to stone.
"Sage Art: Basic Internal Energy Technique—Modified! Stone Toad Sage Mode!"
"Is that... Sage Mode?" Gamabunta muttered, staring at Jiraiya in confusion.
This wasn't how Sage Mode was supposed to look. Moreover, Jiraiya's talent for senjutsu chakra was notoriously poor.
He shouldn't have been able to enter it so quickly—let alone without the assistance of Fukasaku and Shima.
And he definitely shouldn't have been able to sustain it for long.
"This is a Sage Mode unique to me, Jiraiya."
Using the principles of the third layer of the Basic Internal Energy Technique, he had forcibly sealed natural energy into his body with the second layer, achieving this new form.
It wasn't just Orochimaru and Tsunade who had progressed—Jiraiya had made remarkable strides of his own.
However, this state consumed chakra at an alarming rate.
The second layer's essence was to accumulate chakra within the body, but sealing natural energy instead caused a degree of rejection.
Yet, the sealing technique inherently contained formulas for restraining natural energy—originally intended as preparation for the third layer.
Unable to reach the third layer, Jiraiya had taken an unorthodox path.
Though far weaker than the third layer's potential, the Body-Opening Realm's enhancement, combined with natural energy and his own chakra, still granted him a significant power boost.
And thanks to the seal, Jiraiya avoided complete petrification.
"Sage Mode, huh?"
Ōnoki's expression darkened. He'd heard of this technique—something the First Hokage had used.
"Then, let the second round begin."
Jiraiya clasped his hands together.
"You three can return now."
"Leave it to you, Jiraiya," Gamabunta said as the trio sheathed their weapons.
POOF! POOF! POOF!
The three toads vanished in clouds of white smoke.
"Now, let's fight."
Jiraiya, in Stone Toad Sage Mode, charged straight at Ōnoki.
...
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(End of Chapter)