Jiraiya and the Overly Familiar Brat

The barrier shrouding Sunny City might have been unfamiliar to Uncle Umino, but Touma knew it very well. This kind of barrier, which could release poison gas, had been developed by Orochimaru.

The formation was called the "Four Flower Tree Formation." It used chakra to imitate the poisonous miasma of flowers and plants, poisoning every enemy inside the barrier and making them lose control of the chakra in their bodies.

The "Four Flower Tree Formation" had been developed based on First Senju Hashirama's "Wood Release: Nativity of a World of Trees," so those who assembled it needed to be skilled in the nature transformations of Water Release, Earth Release, and Yang Release.

It was also a technique that made the First's Wood Release easier to use. Other similar barrier techniques included the "Four Seal Ten Formation," the "Four Beast Press Formation," and the "Four Sage Buddha Formation." Orochimaru had developed all three based on ideas left behind by Senju Tobirama.

However, the requirements for using those last three barrier techniques were increasingly demanding. The final one, the "Four Sage Buddha Formation," even required four ninja who could all enter Sage Mode at the same time. It was impossible to popularize.

The only people in Konoha who had trained in Sage Mode were Orochimaru, Jiraiya, and Tsunade, who had summoning scrolls from the Three Great Sage Lands. Of the three, only Orochimaru could use Sage Mode in actual combat. Jiraiya and Tsunade both needed a long time to prepare before they could enter Sage Mode.

Even if they counted Shibi, who could barely use "Insect Sage Mode," those four still couldn't sustain the "Four Sage Buddha Formation." It showed just how powerful Senju Hashirama had been.

There was little doubt that Jiraiya had assembled the "Four Flower Tree Formation," since he was the only one who could have obtained the technique from Orochimaru.

So as long as Touma led Uncle Umino along the line of Barrier Pillars, they would find Jiraiya.

Sure enough, the guy was hiding in an underground cavern twelve meters below the surface, monitoring what was happening in Sunny City. He hadn't noticed Touma silently float in through the ventilation shaft.

In the "Heavenly Storm Sky Dance" state, Touma could turn not only his clothes and weapons into their elemental forms, but also Uncle Umino, who wasn't resisting.

Uncle Umino might have devoted most of his talent to the field of summoning, but at his level, he still knew a thing or two about turning chakra into its elemental form.

Unfortunately, while Touma was turning him into his elemental form, he couldn't use chakra to sense his surroundings. Otherwise, he might have been able to glean something from the experience.

"Pervert Jiraiya!"

Touma suddenly revealed himself and shouted right beside Jiraiya.

But to Touma's surprise, those words immediately put Jiraiya on edge and sent him into battle mode.

The next second, the white hair on his head shot out, transforming into sharp needles that thrust toward Touma.

Touma wasn't afraid. In the "Heavenly Storm Sky Dance" state, he quickly formed Hand Seals and used a "Clone Technique" enhanced with Yin Release Chakra nature transformation. It was called "Flash Shadow Clone."

"Flash Shadow Clone" could directly animate every shadow in sight, turning them into his clones to attack a target without a sound.

It was far more practical than the Nara Clan's shadow techniques. The Nara Clan spent their training time refining their shadows to make them more flexible and resilient, but as soon as the environment changed, the shadows' attributes weakened rapidly.

The "Flash Shadow Clone" didn't require chakra to suppress the target's chakra. Touma only had to animate the target's shadow and bring it under his control. The shadow at Jiraiya's neck had already turned into a sharp blade. With a single thought, Touma could have killed him!

Only when Jiraiya noticed his shadow changing did he realize the person before him wasn't an enemy, but that annoying "overly familiar brat"!

When Touma was little, he'd been close to both Orochimaru and Tsunade. He just couldn't stand Jiraiya.

And Touma's former self had been a devoted follower of the Will of Fire. He'd looked down on Jiraiya for slacking off during his training and often mocked him with cutting remarks.

On top of that, when they were young, Jiraiya had tried to court Tsunade, but every time he prepared something, it ended in disaster.

Touma, who used to tag along with them and mooch off their food, would then verbally attack him, showing no respect at all for Jiraiya, who often called himself the big brother.

The two of them always ended up trading insults whenever they met!

"Overly familiar brat, you nearly scared me to death!"

"Undo your jutsu already. What a waste of time!"

Jiraiya saw the shadow blade at his neck recede, then used a kunai to cut off his own long hair.

"Can't you make that hair retract?"

"It's been ages, and you're still so dumb, Pervert Jiraiya!"

Touma hadn't meant to say anything, but his mouth had gone into mockery mode all by itself.

"Brat... Just wait until this mission's over. You'll see how Jiraiya-sama deals with you!"

Looking at the floor strewn with white hair, Jiraiya gritted his teeth and spoke irritably.

In truth, Jiraiya wasn't all that confident.

Especially since he'd recently received a letter from Orochimaru saying that the "overly familiar brat" was already approaching the level of a jōnin.

Orochimaru had even told him, in a remarkably casual tone, that he might not be a match for the "overly familiar brat." As a result, Jiraiya hadn't dared return to the village for the past six months, afraid the brat would come looking for a spar.

In reality, Jiraiya's fighting style might not have fully taken shape yet, but his battle instincts were excellent. If they fought to the death, Touma might not survive.

But when they'd sparred in the past, Jiraiya would instinctively hold back, while Touma often took advantage of his age and refused to let up. The result was that Jiraiya lost far more often than he won.

Mainly, Jiraiya didn't dare win too often. If he did, he might have to endure the combined violence of Orochimaru and Tsunade, and he could already picture how miserably that would end for him.

Now that this "overly familiar brat" was even stronger, his life was definitely going to get harder.

Jiraiya recognized "Flash Shadow Clone" because its chakra-shaping approach imitated the one he'd used to develop the "Wild Lion Mane Technique."

He was the only one who knew the training process for this signature technique he'd developed himself—aside from the "overly familiar brat."

It wasn't that the "overly familiar brat" had asked him to teach it. After successfully developing the technique, Jiraiya had gone to brag about it, only to be mocked for its flaws.

But Jiraiya hadn't expected that the "overly familiar brat" would actually manage to develop the more perfect technique he'd once claimed he could make.

Jiraiya had the experience to see that, just now, Yin Release Chakra nature transformation had animated his shadow in an instant, making it attack him, its own master. It was indeed far more perfect than his "Wild Lion Mane Technique."

But just as he was about to turn his attention back to Sunny City, he realized something was wrong. How had the brat gotten into their underground monitoring room?

After all, they'd all entered by using "Earth Release: Hiding Like a Mole Technique." If someone had used an Earth Release jutsu, the ninja guarding the perimeter would have warned them.

Yet the "overly familiar brat" had suddenly appeared right beside him, bringing along a Kairan Village jōnin who looked vaguely familiar. Jiraiya couldn't help but grow wary!