The Three-Way Brawl

Early the next morning at the Third Training Ground, Namikaze Minato introduced Yamanaka Tohru and Kakashi to his teacher, Jiraiya.

"Kid, what are you doing here?" Jiraiya asked, surprised to see Yamanaka Tohru.

"Old man, so you really are Jiraiya. Who would've thought Lord Jiraiya, one of the legendary Three Legendary Sannin, was a peeping tom?" Yamanaka Tohru gave Jiraiya a knowing look.

"Teacher Jiraiya, how many times have I told you to stop peeping? Now your grandstudent's laughing at you!" Kushina said, looking thoroughly disgusted.

"Grandstudent? Whose disciple is this kid?" Jiraiya had skin as thick as a castle wall. He ignored Kushina and Yamanaka Tohru's taunts.

"He's Kushina's. Um, teacher, please don't go peeping anymore." Namikaze Minato had also reminded Jiraiya about his peeping many times.

"Tohru and Kakashi, stay away from this guy from now on. Minato, you too!" Jiraiya's nonchalant attitude made Kushina furious.

"Haha, don't be so stingy, Kushina!"

"Teacher, don't make Kushina angry," Namikaze Minato said, trying to smooth things over.

"Hmph! Minato, stay out of it. Today, I'm going to teach this dirty old man a lesson!" With that, Kushina drew on the Nine-Tails Chakra, and a three-tailed Tailed Beast Cloak appeared in an instant.

"Hey, hey, Kushina, you're serious?" Jiraiya was startled by Kushina's Tailed Beast Cloak.

"And that's not all! Tohru!" Between Kushina and Jiraiya—his teacher and the pervy old man—Yamanaka Tohru chose easily.

"Sorry, Uncle Jiraiya!" Yamanaka Tohru had no intention of holding back. He activated Ice Lightning Mode at once.

Was Jiraiya strong? Of course he was! Yamanaka Tohru, who had read the original manga, knew full well how powerful Jiraiya was.

In terms of stats: Ninjutsu 10, Taijutsu 9, Genjutsu 6, Intelligence 9, Strength 9, Speed 9, Stamina 10, Hand Seals 9, for a total of 71. Apart from Genjutsu, Jiraiya's stats were impressive; he tied for first place with Uchiha Itachi in the Databook.

In terms of combat strength, Jiraiya with Sage Mode fully activated could fight Pain's three paths to a standstill, even without knowing anything about the Rinnegan's abilities. The Six Paths of Pain could take on all of Konoha, and Jiraiya fighting three of them by himself was proof enough of his strength.

In Yamanaka Tohru's view, the Six Paths of Pain were the last "human" boss in Naruto. The later Six Paths Obito, Madara Uchiha, and Kaguya Otsutsuki were already gods.

All things considered, among the ninja who still fell within the "human" category, Jiraiya was at least among the top five. Facing an opponent this powerful, even if he wasn't at the peak of his life, Yamanaka Tohru couldn't afford to hold back.

Seeing how serious Kushina and Yamanaka Tohru were, Jiraiya sobered up too. Kushina in her three-tailed state had Kage-level strength, while Yamanaka Tohru looked to have the combat strength of a Special Jonin. If Jiraiya wasn't careful, he could end up getting caught off guard.

"Uncle Jiraiya, here I come!" Under Ice Lightning Mode, Yamanaka Tohru's Lightning Body Flicker was fast enough that even Namikaze Minato had to take it seriously. Since Jiraiya had no idea how strong Tohru was, and wasn't a speed-type ninja himself, he nearly paid dearly in their first exchange.

Yamanaka Tohru used Lightning Body Flicker to appear behind Jiraiya and thrust at him with Chidori. At the last moment, Jiraiya turned into a log. Yamanaka Tohru's surprise attack was foiled by Jiraiya's years of combat experience.

"That's fast! No wonder you're using Lightning Release Chakra Mode!" Jiraiya had only just managed to dodge the attack. The moment Yamanaka Tohru vanished, he began forming the Hand Seals for Substitution Technique. He'd barely finished when Tohru's Chidori struck.

"That was close, that was close! Are kids these days all this terrifying?"

"The dangerous part is still coming, Uncle Jiraiya!" As Yamanaka Tohru's attack missed, Kushina rushed Jiraiya with a red Rasengan formed using the Nine-Tails Chakra.

"Earth Release: Earth Wall! Earth Release: Earth Shore Return!" Jiraiya used two defensive Earth Release techniques to protect himself.

Kushina's Rasengan easily broke through both techniques' defenses. Jiraiya took the opportunity to leave behind an Earth Clone, while his real body used Earth Release: Rock Concealment Technique to hide.

Jiraiya formed Hand Seals incredibly fast, and his technique activated in an instant. If not for Yamanaka Tohru's keen sensory abilities, he might not have noticed him at all.

"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet! Ice Seal! Ice Release: Ice Dragon!" Yamanaka Tohru had created Ice Release: Ice Dragon by imitating the First Hokage's Wood Dragon.

Freezing the Water Dragon Bullet consumed a great deal of Chakra, but once it was frozen, controlling the Ice Dragon took nothing but Yamanaka Tohru's mental energy. Tohru was only providing support in his fight with Jiraiya; Kushina was the main attacker.

The instant Yamanaka Tohru used Ice Release, Jiraiya—who had trained in Senjutsu at Mount Myōboku—sensed the fluctuations in the Nature Energy around them.

Then he noticed that some of the Nature Energy had entered Yamanaka Tohru's Water Dragon Bullet, which instantly turned into an Ice Dragon.

The Ice Dragon slammed into the rock where Jiraiya was hiding. The rock shattered, but the Ice Dragon was unharmed.

Jiraiya stared at the Ice Dragon in amazement. The technique was made up of a part of the Nature Energy.

"Summoning Technique!" Jiraiya summoned Gama-Tada.

"Gama-Tada, use oil. Great Toad Oil Bomb!" Toad attacks from Mount Myōboku carried Nature Energy, and Yamanaka Tohru's Ice Dragon gradually melted.

Against Jiraiya's Fire Release, Yamanaka Tohru was helpless, and Kushina could only avoid its full force. Once Gama-Tada ran out of oil, Jiraiya's Fire Release came to a halt.

"Sis Kushina! Bring out the big guns!"

Kushina nodded and created 50 Shadow Clones. Each one carried the Nine-Tails Chakra, and they quickly surrounded Jiraiya.

Yamanaka Tohru used Lightning Body Flicker to leave the battlefield, then stood off to the side to watch the show.

"Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique!" All 50 Shadow Clones, each carrying the Nine-Tails Chakra, used Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique at once.

"Earth Release: Earth Wall x4!" Jiraiya raised four earthen walls around himself. But how could walls like those easily stop a rain of Shuriken carrying the Nine-Tails Chakra? The Earth Walls were destroyed in the blink of an eye.

"Earth Release: Earth Flow River!" The instant the Earth Walls were completely destroyed, Jiraiya activated Earth Flow River. The mudslide blocked and scattered some of the Shuriken, but the rest kept flying toward him.

Jiraiya unleashed several more techniques in quick succession, but they had little effect. Just as the Shuriken were about to hit him, he shouted, "Minato, help!"

Minato, who had been watching, heard Jiraiya's plea and immediately used Flying Thunder God to pull him out of the Shuriken storm.

"I'm done, I'm done! You two were trying to kill me!" Jiraiya panted as he spoke to them.

"Since you've admitted defeat, Teacher Jiraiya, please behave yourself from now on and stop peeping," Kushina declared as the victor, setting the terms for a truce.

Jiraiya could only grit his teeth and agree.

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