As the Wind Release jutsu came flying at him, Jiraiya grinned. This not-yet-official student of his had already developed a fighting style of his own.
"Needle Jizo!"
Jiraiya's hair suddenly grew long, wrapping tightly around his body just as the jutsu was about to hit. His hair stiffened like armor, forming a durable cocoon.
This was his signature jutsu, not only could it defend by hardening his hair into spikes when enemies approached, but it also worked as a protective shield. In the original series, it even injured Orochimaru. It was both offensive and defensive in one technique.
Jiraiya could've easily dodged Yuki Seisui's attack, but he chose to take it head-on, to make a statement and show his strength.
By the time he retracted his hair, Seisui was already in front of him. Chakra surged along the boy's blade, turning into a stream of water that shot straight at Jiraiya.
Sensing danger, Jiraiya tried to dodge, but the stream still hit his waist, soaking his clothes.
"What kind of trick is this…?"
With a suspicious look, Jiraiya leapt backward to avoid the sword that followed. But then, out of nowhere, two shadow clones appeared at his sides, each holding a Rasengan.
"What the—?"
Frowning, Jiraiya quickly formed a seal. "Earth Style: Dark Swamp!"
The hard arena ground instantly turned into a marsh, surging upward to trap them.
Caught off guard and too close, the two clones couldn't escape and were quickly dispelled by the attack. Seisui, however, had already leapt out of the swamp's range.
It was clear to him now: Jiraiya wasn't even fighting seriously.
So this is Jiraiya's strength...
He had only used two jutsu so far, and it was already overwhelming. If memory serves, Jiraiya's peak was when he entered Sage Mode, summoning the two Great Toad Sages from Mount Myoboku to assist in battle.
That kind of power must be terrifying.
"Hahaha! Scared now, kid?" Jiraiya laughed heartily at Seisui's serious expression. "I'm the one and only Toad Sage, Jiraiya-sama!"
"You've got a long way to go if you want to match me!"
From Jiraiya's perspective, the test was done. He had a good grasp of Seisui's current level, it was above a genin's but not quite Chunin. Somewhere in between.
But while Jiraiya was ready to wrap things up, Seisui wasn't.
When else would he get to spar with a Kage-level shinobi? He was prepared to die in this duel space if needed!
"Boar–Dog–Rooster–Monkey–Goat! Panda Ming, come forth and aid me!"
A puff of smoke appeared, and from it emerged a 4-meter-tall panda wearing oversized boxer shorts.
"Uhh..." Panda Ming scratched his head and looked down at Seisui. "Seisui, are you in trouble?"
Then he turned toward Jiraiya. His goofy look instantly shifted to something fierce and threatening.
"Old man! You think you're worthy of laying a hand on our contractor?!"
ROAR!
"Old man?!" Jiraiya pointed to himself in disbelief. "Do I look like an old man to you?!"
"You damn panda, let's see how Jiraiya-sama deals with you!"
"Hmph! We pandas are strong!" Panda Ming roared and charged.
Jiraiya formed a quick hand seal, summoning a massive earthen dragon that lunged at the panda.
"Earth Style: Earth Dragon Bomb!"
The jutsu slammed into Panda Ming, causing it to groan in pain. But then, a white glow shimmered over its body, and just like that, it kept charging forward as if nothing had happened.
Seisui, who had been watching with concern, froze in surprise.
That white glow… It's like... Invincibility?!
It's you! The 98-yen Panda!!
Only now did Seisui realize why his ten-pull summon gave him a panda clan contract scroll.
It's the Invincible Panda!
Jiraiya quickly found himself annoyed. The usual Earth Swamp jutsu that restricted movement had no effect. This panda charged around like a juggernaut, completely ignoring crowd control.
A brute immune to jutsu, anyone would get a headache from that.
While Jiraiya was locked in battle with the panda, Seisui quietly circled behind him, blade in hand, ready to strike.
"Iaijutsu: Water Severing Strike!"
He had already soaked Jiraiya's clothes earlier, so he didn't need to wet them again to trigger the technique.
Focused on dodging Panda Ming's wild attacks, Jiraiya suddenly felt a pulling sensation, turning his head, he saw Seisui slashing down from behind.
"You little sneak!"
Jiraiya grumbled. Since this was only a test, he hadn't been fully on guard, who would've thought the kid would actually go for him?
"Fine. Looks like I need to get serious."
Taking a deep breath, Jiraiya resisted the blade's pull with sheer physical strength, sidestepped Panda Ming's strike, and lunged straight at Seisui.
In a blur, Jiraiya's foot connected with Seisui's stomach, sending him flying before he could even swing his sword.
Panda Ming roared in fury and charged again, even more ferocious than before.
The battle between man and panda resumed, but this time, Jiraiya didn't hold back. He launched wave after wave of jutsu.
Even with its invincibility frame, Panda Ming couldn't negate damage, it just couldn't be slowed down. Soon, it was covered in cuts, panting heavily.
This was the most frustrating fight of Panda Ming's life. He couldn't even touch Jiraiya's sleeve.
Too frustrating!
Two hours passed inside the duel space before the battle finally ended and Seisui and Jiraiya returned to the real world.
"Hahaha! That was fun!" Jiraiya clapped Seisui on the shoulder, laughing loudly.
So this is what it feels like to completely dominate someone… And not even worry about going overboard. Feels amazing!
"You're my student now!" he declared proudly.
"I'll be at your training ground tomorrow at noon!"
"The one at the ninja academy?" Seisui asked hopefully, waiting for Jiraiya to say something like "Forget that dump."
But dreams are called dreams because they rarely come true.
Jiraiya blinked. "Aren't you attending classes with a shadow clone?"
"Just send a clone over. That's enough."
Seisui sighed.
So I still have to go to school…
"I'm off," Jiraiya said, waving as he turned and walked away.
He still had to test Namikaze Minato.
As the other civilian-born genius right behind Seisui, Minato had also caught Sarutobi Hiruzen's eye.
That morning, Hiruzen had insisted Jiraiya take a student, and even said that one of the two was someone he had brought back in the past, so Jiraiya had to be the one to teach him.
"Since I have to take one anyway, I might as well take both," Jiraiya thought.
He had originally refused. He didn't want to mentor even one.
But the old man bribed him with a VIP pass to the hot springs…
So here he was.
Whatever happened between Jiraiya and Minato, Seisui didn't really care. At worst, Minato would get beaten up a bit, but after taking so many beatings from Seisui lately, Minato was probably used to it.
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