Evening
Uchiha Iori came out of his tent and headed to the welcome party. He also hoped to hitch a ride with Minato Namikaze and gain some political capital for his own rise to power.
Besides, as one of the few Senjutsu users in the Ninja World, Jiraiya was someone Uchiha Iori was very interested in.
If Natural Energy had an equivalent in the Type-Moon World, it would probably be Mana or True Ether.
If he could learn how to use it, it would be very helpful, whether for developing Sage Art: Susanoo or enhancing his Noble Phantasm.
Although Jiraiya's Sage Mode was far from perfect, it was very crude compared with the Sage Modes of the First and Naruto Uzumaki.
Not only did it take a long time to activate, but it also required two toads to assist him. Still, his chakra balance and training methods could serve as useful references.
Iori secretly decided that if he ever got the chance, he wouldn't pass up the Sage training methods of any of the Three Great Sage Regions.
By the time Iori arrived, quite a few people had already gathered. The reinforcements from the village were all familiar faces.
Nearly a third of the Chunin from Kakashi Hatake's graduating class had come, including Asuma Sarutobi and Kurenai Yuhi.
Besides Jiraiya, the group was led by elite Jonin such as Hizashi Hyuga and Aburame Shibi.
But as Iori looked around, he noticed something was off. Why were so many Genin here too?
Hadn't the war just begun? Were they already so short on troops? Had other villages also declared war on Konoha?
Thinking carefully about what Konoha would face later in the original story, Uchiha Iori's heart sank.
The Sand or Mist must have already started their attack. The worst-case scenario was that both had.
With troops also needed to guard against the Cloud and protect the village, Konoha must have been forced to send even recently graduated Genin into battle.
Thinking of Konoha's Will of Fire and what they were doing now, Iori almost laughed.
[They say that wherever the leaves dance, the fire will never die. The firelight will continue to illuminate the village and help new leaves sprout.]
[The young are the hope of the future. The older generation should trust and protect them.]
[The sacrifices of the older generation aren't meaningless; they inspire the young to become the pillars who will shoulder the future.]
[But the old folks stayed put in the village and sent the young out to die.]
[And this was a superhuman world, where the strong could take on ten thousand enemies alone.]
[Yet the Hokage and the advisors, the most powerful people around, had barely ever gone to the battlefield. Shimura Danzō, the supposed great villain, was more qualified by comparison.]
[At least he lost an arm on the battlefield before retreating to the rear. Before he transplanted Sharingan and Hashirama Cells, he was far weaker than he'd once been.]
"Iori, you're here too. Come with me to see Lord Jiraiya. He's heard about you and is eager to meet you."
Minato Namikaze's voice interrupted his thoughts.
"Of course. I've heard plenty about the Konoha Sannin. Their reputation precedes them, and I've long admired them."
Uchiha Iori had never formally met Jiraiya before. It wasn't just that the Hokage's faction and the Uchiha Clan rarely crossed paths.
After Jiraiya had accepted Mount Myoboku's mission to find the Child of Prophecy, he hadn't spent much time in the village either.
Of the Sannin, Tsunade was actually the most approachable. You might run into her if you went to Konoha Hospital.
Once, when Iori was injured during training, Tsunade had treated him as a matter of course.
"So you're Uchiha Iori. You did a fine job before, badly damaging the Iwagakure Ninja vanguard and buying us time."
Jiraiya stepped forward to greet him. The stories he'd heard about Iori around the camp recently had greatly improved his opinion of him.
Jiraiya thought Iori might become one of Minato Namikaze's right-hand men and help the Uchiha Clan integrate into the village.
"Lord Jiraiya, you're too kind. In the battles to come, don't hesitate to use my strength. Put me on the front line."
"I'll show them the power of Konoha."
Iori spoke boldly, deliberately downplaying his identity as an Uchiha and emphasizing that he was a force of Konoha.
Jiraiya nodded. "Konoha's situation isn't good right now, so we won't be getting much support at the front. I'd like to test your strength."
"If you're strong enough, I'd like you to join the vanguard squad. Your job would be to move behind enemy lines and destroy their supplies and strongholds."
Jiraiya was straightforward. On the one hand, he wanted to see whether Iori was strong enough to join the vanguard squad and give him a chance to show what he could do.
On the other hand, he wanted to demonstrate his own strength. After all, it had been more than ten years since the last great war. The younger generation knew the Sannin were powerful, but not how powerful they really were.
"It's an honor to fight one of the Konoha Sannin."
Iori was eager. This would be his first fight against a Kage Level opponent, and Jiraiya wasn't like Minato Namikaze, whose unusual combat strength made him hard to use as a benchmark.
Before entering Sage Mode, Jiraiya was a weaker version of the Third Hokage at his peak: a standard Kage-level fighter.
The two headed away from the camp. One was Kage level, while the other was at least an elite Jonin. If they fought too close to camp, they'd be forced to hold back.
"Come on, let's go watch them fight. You don't often get to see a battle at this level."
Minato Namikaze called to his subordinates. Jonin such as Gekko Nobuhiko also brought their own subordinates along to watch.
Looking at the crowd around them, Iori understood why they were there—and that Jiraiya wanted to show off his strength to raise morale.
But he still wanted to complain. Weren't they afraid of dying? Were they bloodthirsty spectators, drawn to the fight?
Did they want to shout, [Whoa, a battle between top-tier fighters! Even if I die this time, I'll have gotten my money's worth]?
Then Iori remembered Minato was nearby, and stopped worrying about the spectators' safety.
He decided to start with Fire Release and see how Jiraiya planned to test his strength.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique."
Iori spat out a ball of fire. The enormous fireball shot straight at Jiraiya, leaving a scorched trail across the ground.
After mastering the nature transformation of Fire Release chakra, his fire techniques had improved once again.
"Fire Release: Flame Bullet."
Jiraiya wanted to show off his strength. He didn't dodge, but met the attack with Fire Release.
One of Jiraiya's signature techniques, Flame Bullet used chakra oil as fuel and was far more powerful than the Great Fireball.
After destroying the Great Fireball, the Flame Bullet continued straight toward Uchiha Iori.
Iori leaped to the right and dodged the attack. A crimson spear appeared in his hand.
"Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld." Jiraiya anticipated Uchiha Iori's move and used the Swamp of the Underworld to try to trap him.
Iori's lips curled into a smile. He thrust the spear in his hand into the ground, and the mire beneath his feet instantly collapsed, returning to loose soil.
With a slight push, Iori leaped out of it. "I'm afraid your attacks aren't very effective against me, Lord Jiraiya."
Iori said with a laugh.