"Who... were you again?"
The Sand Puppeteer staggered, nearly falling over. Furious, he snapped, "Bastard, are you humiliating me?"
"No, no, I genuinely don't remember you," Jiraiya explained.
It would have been better if he had said nothing. That explanation only enraged the puppeteer further. He had regarded Jiraiya as his fated enemy, training day and night solely to avenge himself, yet his opponent had never taken him seriously and did not even remember his name. The enormous psychological blow shattered the puppeteer's reason. With a roar, his ten fingers twitched, controlling two humanoid puppets hidden underground as they burst from the earth. Poison-coated blades sprang from their palms and stabbed toward Jiraiya.
Ninjutsu: Needle Jizo!
Jiraiya's silver hair instantly lengthened and hardened, turning into spikes that wrapped around his entire body. The poisoned blades failed to penetrate, leaving only two sparks against his white hair.
If it had been the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, he would have been holding a long, thick staff by now and demolishing the puppets head-on. But Jiraiya was not as slick as his teacher, so he honestly stuck to his secret techniques. He also wanted to draw out some intelligence, so he did not reveal his true strength. After all, the puppeteer opposite him looked rather foolish and seemed like a potential breakthrough.
"You think Konoha has victory in the bag? Don't be stupid. Every move you make is under the control of us Sand Shinobi. Today is the day Konoha pays its debts!" the puppeteer laughed wildly as he controlled the humanoid puppets.
Jiraiya did not answer. Frowning, he dodged the puppets' attacks, occasionally using Earth Release and Needle Jizo to defend himself while doing his best to appear overwhelmed.
Seeing Jiraiya being suppressed head-on, the puppeteer became even more smug and blurted