Catching his breath, Taiichi was buzzing with excitement. A fight where he could go all out was exactly what he needed.
"Jiraiya-sensei! I'm going to get serious now!" Taiichi shouted, feeling his chakra mostly recovered.
"Oh? Confident little brat. Alright then, I'll get serious too," Jiraiya chuckled.
Taiichi stabbed his tanto into the ground with a flourish and rapidly wove hand signs.
"Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!"
Thirty-six small fireballs spat from his mouth, moving in erratic, controlled clusters of three, homing in on Jiraiya from multiple angles.
Jiraiya watched the setup with a smile, but when the fireballs actually launched, his eyebrows shot up.
It wasn't just the quantity. Each fireball was under Taiichi's active control, constantly shifting trajectories. That level of multitasking was impressive. Usually, ninja just fired and forgot; sustaining control over that many projectiles was rare.
"Earth Style: Earth Wall!"
A thick, wide wall of earth rose up, shielding Jiraiya completely.
Seeing this, Taiichi immediately formed a seal. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Poof! Poof! Two clones appeared on his left and right.
Without a word, the clones dashed around the sides of the Earth Wall.
Once they had a line of sight on Jiraiya behind the wall, they attacked simultaneously.
"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!"
"Fire Style: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!"
Wind and fire met behind the wall. The wind fed the fire, the fire rode the wind. A torrential wave of flames instantly engulfed the Earth Wall and the space behind it.
Taiichi scanned the area intensely. He knew it wouldn't be that easy to beat a Sannin. This attack was just to force Jiraiya to acknowledge his strength.
Suddenly, the ground beneath his feet trembled slightly. Without thinking, Taiichi leaped into the air.
In that split second, a pair of large hands burst from the earth, grabbing at where his ankles had just been.
Mid-air, Taiichi didn't hesitate. He slashed downward with his tanto.
Poof!
The Jiraiya emerging from the ground vanished in a cloud of smoke—a Shadow Clone.
But as the smoke cleared, another Jiraiya burst from the ground right behind where Taiichi landed.
"Fire Style: Flame Bullet!"
A massive fireball roared toward Taiichi's face at point-blank range.
Too close. No time for hand signs. Taiichi poured everything into his blade, coating it in Wind Release chakra, and swung with all his might directly at the fireball.
Unlike his usual sharp wind blade, this time, the wind around the blade was a turbulent, spinning vortex.
Slash!
The fireball was split in two. The swirling air currents around the blade deflected the flames to either side, sparing Taiichi from incineration.
Taiichi landed, stunned. That was pure instinct. He actually cut a Jutsu in half. Though, his execution wasn't perfect—the heat singed a patch of his hair.
Jiraiya was equally shocked. Cutting through Ninjutsu with a sword wasn't unheard of, but it was extremely high-level stuff. He had been about to cancel the Jutsu to save the kid, but Taiichi handled it himself.
"Not bad! But how about this?" Jiraiya was getting into it now. He rapidly wove signs.
"Fire Style: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!"
A much larger, hotter dragon of flame roared toward Taiichi. Knowing Jiraiya was testing him, Taiichi didn't panic. He focused on guiding the Wind chakra along his blade, creating a more structured flow.
Instead of a chaotic vortex, he made the wind flow outward from the edge of the blade. It consumed more chakra, but it created a perfect deflecting barrier for cutting.
SWISH!
The Fire Dragon was sliced cleanly down the middle. The intense flames rushed past Taiichi on both sides, parted like the Red Sea by the wind barrier.
The only downside was he had to keep swinging. If he stopped, the flames would engulf him instantly.
Jiraiya watched Taiichi standing amidst the flames, looking a bit ragged but unharmed. He was genuinely impressed. The kid had mastered the concept on the fly.
Deciding to up the ante, Jiraiya stopped holding back his physical speed and charged.
The pressure on Taiichi skyrocketed. Even with just Taijutsu, Jiraiya was a monster. Every punch and kick was heavy and fast. Taiichi could barely parry, let alone counterattack. He couldn't even find a split second to weave signs for a Jutsu.
Defense eventually fails. After taking the first solid punch, Taiichi became a punching bag. Soon enough, he was lying on the ground, staring up at Jiraiya's fist stopped inches from his nose.
"Jiraiya-sensei..." Taiichi groaned, touching his swollen eye and bruised cheek. "You did that on purpose." He winced. "Definitely on purpose."
"Haha! What are you talking about?" Jiraiya laughed awkwardly, pulling Taiichi up.
They sat on the grass by the river, catching their breath.
"Taiichi, do you know what your problems are in combat?" Jiraiya asked, turning serious.
Taiichi shook his head. He knew he lacked experience, but he couldn't pinpoint the technical flaws. Most of his wins so far had been against weaklings or through traps.
Jiraiya nodded. "Your Kenjutsu (Sword), Taijutsu, and Ninjutsu are all excellent individually. In isolation, any one of them is arguably approaching Jonin level."
"However, they don't integrate. You can't use Ninjutsu while fighting with your sword. To cast a spell, you have to stop, stab your sword into the ground, and use both hands. That's a huge waste of time and momentum."
Taiichi nodded. He had felt that clunky transition himself.
"Also, your Jutsu arsenal is too small. You don't need to master everything, but you need variety to handle different situations."
"These are common problems for most ninja, but since you're already at this level, you need to fix them. The longer you wait, the more they become weaknesses," Jiraiya concluded.
"So, what do you suggest, Sensei?" Taiichi asked humbly.
"Most ninja specialize to avoid this issue. But you have the talent to be an all-rounder," Jiraiya explained.
"Two things. First: learn one-handed seals. If you can develop seal-less Jutsu, even better. Second: use your mission merits to buy more Jutsu from the village archives."
"I can teach you the theory for one-handed seals, but you'll have to figure out the practice yourself. Everyone's chakra flow is different. As for seal-less Jutsu... don't ask me, I can't do them either."
"And about buying Jutsu... Village rules. I can't teach you Konoha's library Jutsu privately unless I invented them or took them from an enemy."
"I understand, Sensei."
Jiraiya spent some time explaining the theoretical basis for one-handed seals. Taiichi listened intently, memorizing every word.
"Alright, that's it for today. I ate, I beat up a student, now I gotta go turn in my mission." Jiraiya stood up and strode away without waiting for a reply.
"Ah! Sensei! You totally beat me up for revenge!" Taiichi yelled at his back.
Jiraiya just waved without looking back.
Watching him leave, Taiichi lay back down on the grass, staring at the blue sky. He replayed the fight in his mind.
Especially the feeling of cutting through the fire. If he could perfect that technique... it would be a nasty surprise for his enemies.
Action follows thought. Taiichi jumped up, grabbed his tanto, and began pouring Wind chakra into it. He focused on the airflow, manipulating it with minute adjustments.
> [Practicing Chakra Control. Understanding increased.]
> [Skill: Chakra Control +100]
> [Skill: Wind Nature Transformation +100]
> [You have comprehended a new Kenjutsu. Advanced Kenjutsu +200]
The system notifications confirmed he was on the right track. He was getting the hang of it.
Finally, Taiichi decided to test the limit. He poured all his remaining chakra into the blade.
The wind around the tanto roared, becoming visible as a faint green aura. The screech of cutting air grew louder and louder.
Then—
CRACK.