Sage Mode!

The humid air, heavy with the rusty stench of blood, permeated the scorched battlefield. Smoke, dust, and the embers of chakra outlined the devastated terrain.

At the center of this hellscape, Jiraiya no longer looked anything like his usual self.

He had completed that imperfect Sage Mode, transforming into a humanoid frog sage.

His frog eyes, with their horizontal pupils, gleamed sharply beneath eyelids painted with fiery orange-red shadow.

His once high, straight nose had become broad and flat. Dense, dark bumps had sprouted close against his cheeks, lending him an unusual majesty.

The webbing between his fingers and toes trembled faintly in the air. His sharp nails glimmered darkly, while his rough skin bore the distinctive folds and texture of a toad's hide, with more prominent warts swelling in places.

His well-proportioned body was packed with knotted muscle, his shoulders and back bulging high.

The two sages of Mount Myōboku, Sage Fukasaku and Sage Shima, clung tightly to the bulging muscles of Jiraiya's shoulders and back as though they were symbiotic with him. Sage Chakra flowed endlessly through the three of them as one, forming a wondrous and solemn sight.

"Old man, old lady, I'll be counting on you from here on out."

Jiraiya's voice had grown far deeper, carrying an unusual resonance that rang clearly across the clamorous battlefield.

Sage Fukasaku stroked his short beard, his tone steady and dependable. "Leave it to us, little Jiraiya. There won't be the slightest error in balancing the Natural Energy."

His wise frog eyes swept across the battlefield, calculating the rhythm of the energies.

Sage Shima's voice, meanwhile, was full of heartache and reproach. "You foolish child! Look at all those injuries! You're covered in blood and torn flesh—I don't even know how many times your bones have broken! You should've