Shock! An Immortal Meets an Immortal!

An unexpected person also appeared in the town.

Lin Zi had barely taken half a step when the lingering perception from his Ryūchi Cave Sage Mode suddenly tugged at his ankles; from the direction of the small town, an incredibly massive amount of chakra was rampaging through the morning mist.

That chakra was as thick as a sponge soaked with water—sodden, heavy, and carrying the distinct, fishy sweetness of toad oil.

Lin Zi's golden slit pupils narrowed slightly, and he unconsciously licked his lips with the tip of his tongue.

"Yo, a new discovery."

Jiraiya felt like he had the worst luck in the world today.

When he received that distress letter from Minato, he hadn't even finished his bath before rushing headlong toward Konoha.

As it turned out, he was still half a day's journey from the village when his summoning toad popped out again, shoving a new piece of intelligence into his hands.

"Waaah! What do you mean the crisis has already been resolved? Are you playing with this Sage? That brat Minato!"

Jiraiya stood in the middle of the road clutching the scroll, so angry he wanted to shove the scrap of paper into the toad's mouth.

But after lowering his head to read it again and confirming that Minato and Kushina were both alive, the stone in his heart finally settled.

The power struggles in Konoha had long since chilled his heart.

Tsunade had run off, Orochimaru had defected, and the three kids from back then were now scattered across the world; these things had left a scar on his heart that throbbed whenever it was touched.

He shuffled along the town streets in his wooden sandals, his gaze drifting dishonestly toward the young women on the roadside.

"Heh heh, I've got material for tonight's research now."

He laughed like an old lecher, yet the strings in his mind remained taut.

He had spent these years running all over the world, claiming it was for novel research, but in reality, he had been chasing intelligence related to Orochimaru.

Failing to stop that snake back then was his greatest regret in life; he feared that the hatred in Orochimaru's heart would burn the entire world, so he kept searching, wanting to see clearly what his old friend was truly thinking.

Today, the Toad Sage Jiraiya wandered to the town entrance, looked up, and froze in place.

Standing opposite him was an acquaintance with pale skin, golden slit pupils, and purple eyeshadow.

Orochimaru.

The smile on Jiraiya's face vanished instantly, his right hand instinctively reaching for the scroll on his back.

"Orochimaru...?"

He stared fixedly at that face, but the aura radiating from the man made his spine go cold.

There was no chilling killing intent, no look of examining a test subject; instead, it exuded a sense of listlessness that was almost Jiraiya-esque.

The man opposite him tilted his head, a forked tongue darting out to lick his lips, and he opened his mouth to say something that sent Jiraiya's blood pressure soaring.

"Yo, Jiraiya, long time no see. You're not dead yet?"

The tone was flippant, the inflection rising at the end, just like a street punk hanging off his shoulder at the bathhouse.

Jiraiya's hand stiffened on the scroll, his brain completely crashing.

What on earth was going on?

"Orochimaru! What exactly are you trying to do? Was the crisis in Konoha your doing?"

Jiraiya's hands flashed through hand seals, but catching sight of the civilians peeking out from the street, he slammed his movements to a halt.

This dump was full of commoners; if a real fight broke out, one jutsu would send half the town to the afterlife.

He gritted his teeth and lowered his voice, "If you want to fight, let's go outside. Don't hurt the innocent here."

Lin Zi suppressed a laugh and nodded with a grave expression. He was already overjoyed inside; this Toad Sage had taken the bait, and he would definitely make him doubt his own sanity later.

The two walked one after the other toward the outskirts of town, walking for a full hour until the town shrank into a gray dot on the horizon, and eventually, even that dot vanished.

Before them lay an open grassy field; as the wind blew, the waves of grass rolled—a perfect place for a fight, and a perfect place to bury someone.

Lin Zi turned around, his golden slit pupils feigning a look of heartbreaking disappointment as he pointed at Jiraiya's nose and began to lecture.

"Jiraiya, you actually had the guts to come back? Do you still have Konoha in your heart? Do you still have any respect for Teacher Hiruzen?"

"Come back and confess your crimes with me now, and there might still be a chance for you to turn over a new leaf! Don't remain obsessed and lost!"

Jiraiya was completely bewildered.

What did "have Konoha in your heart" mean? What did "respect for Teacher Hiruzen" mean? And most absurd of all, what was this "confess your crimes"?

"Orochimaru, did you get your head caught in a door?" Jiraiya's eyes widened. "Are you playing the fool here? Or did you run all the way here just to prank me?"

Jiraiya couldn't be bothered with more nonsense; no matter what madness Orochimaru was suffering from, he would tie him up first!

"Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld!"

"Fire Release: Great Flame Bomb!"

The grass beneath their feet instantly turned into a churning mud swamp, opening a massive maw to swallow Lin Zi, while a giant fireball erupted from Jiraiya's mouth, the heat waves distorting the air as he tried to bind his target firmly within the mire.

"Summoning Jutsu!"

With a bang of white smoke, Sage Fukasaku and Sage Shima appeared, squatting on Jiraiya's left and right shoulders respectively.

Sage Fukasaku squinted his eyes: "Little Jiraiya, are you going to cross hands with that brat Orochimaru again?"

Shima slapped the back of Fukasaku's head: "You old fool! Can't you see he's standing right there? Do you even need to ask?!"

Jiraiya's expression was grave: "Two Sages, I need to gather energy to enter Sage Mode; I'll have to trouble you to assist me."

Fukasaku and Shima nodded and began helping him condense natural energy.

Lin Zi stood to the side with his arms crossed, watching the show, when he suddenly let out a scoff: "Yo, Jiraiya, since when did you learn Senjutsu?"

"...Huh?"

"But then again," Lin Zi tilted his head, his snake-like pupils filled with mockery, "it looks like you're still far from the mark."

Before the words had even faded, Lin Zi pressed his palms together.

"Sage Mode, activate!"

BOOM—

Violent natural energy exploded from his center. Two sharp horns suddenly protruded from the top of his head, the purple eyeshadow at the corners of his eyes deepened to a dark hue, and a nictitating membrane covered his pupils.

The pressure of that Ryūchi Cave Senjutsu slammed heavily onto the grass, causing even the mud to ripple.

Fukasaku and Shima, perched on Jiraiya's shoulders, both stiffened simultaneously.

"Th-this is the Senjutsu of Ryūchi Cave?!" Fukasaku exclaimed, losing his composure.

Lin Zi stood there with his horns, arms crossed and looking relaxed, watching Jiraiya—who was still slowly gathering energy—as if he were watching a play.

"Take your time gathering it, I'm not in a rush." He licked his lips, "Once you're ready, we'll settle our accounts."

Lin Zi spread his arms, his golden vertical pupils glowing terrifyingly, and shouted in a tone that sounded almost like a theatrical performance.

"The Spirit Snake Sprite Sage Daoist of Ryūchi Cave—commonly known as the Spirit Snake Sage—has arrived!"

Jiraiya's face darkened, the corner of his eye twitching violently.

"...Is this plagiarism?" he cursed, "You're even copying this master's creative title?"

Too impatient to wait any longer, Jiraiya kicked off the ground and lunged straight at Lin Zi, roaring, "Sages, coordinate with me!"

"Understood!" Sage Fukasaku puffed out his cheeks and spat out a massive glob of viscous toad oil, while almost simultaneously, Jiraiya tilted his head back, a scorching flame rolling from his throat.

Sage Art: Toad Oil Flame Bullet!

The oil and fire collided in mid-air, exploding into a towering sea of flames. The temperature was so high that the very air distorted as it bore down on Lin Zi.

Lin Zi stood motionless, the corners of his mouth curling upward slightly.

"Sage Art: White Rage Technique."

He opened his mouth, and a dragon glowing with red light surged from his throat. The dragon's claws gripped a pitch-black orb, its body coiling around the sphere and spinning frantically. It spun faster and faster until the entire dragon dove headlong into the orb.

The black orb expanded and detonated.

BOOM—!!!

The blinding red light was as if someone had thrown a sun onto the grass, instantly swallowing the Toad Oil Flame Bullet. This was followed by a screeching blast that threatened to pierce the eardrums; the sound wave exploded in a ring, shaking the entire field.

Jiraiya let out a pained cry, his hands clamped tightly over his ears. His eyes burned, tears streaming down his face, and his head felt as if countless needles were stabbing into it as he stumbled backward.

Sage Fukasaku's expression was grim: "It really is the Senjutsu of Ryūchi Cave... and he is ridiculously proficient at it. You couldn't reach this level without fifteen or twenty years of practice."

He turned his head to look at Jiraiya, his voice heavy: "Little Jiraiya, before you finish gathering energy to enter Sage Mode, you are completely unable to beat him in your current state."

The intense light dissipated, the horns on Lin Zi's head gleaming coldly amidst the embers.

He looked down at Jiraiya, who was kneeling and gasping for air, a playful glint in his snake-like eyes.

"Still want to fight? Jiraiya, you've been running for so many years; it's time to go back and face justice."

"I'm telling you, I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about!"

Jiraiya roared, ripped the large scroll from his back, bit his thumb, and slammed it onto the ground.

"Summoning Jutsu!"

BOOM!!!

The earth trembled violently, dust and debris surging into the sky. A toad as massive as a mountain descended from above, slamming into the grass with such force that the ground for a hundred meters around jumped three times.

The toad held a pipe in its mouth and carried a giant short sword strapped across its back; it was none other than Gamabunta.

"Hey, Jiraiya," Gamabunta spoke in a gruff voice, the embers in his pipe flickering, "didn't you already summon Boss Fukasaku and the others? Why are you still..."

His voice cut off abruptly.

Gamabunta slowly turned his head, his copper-bell-sized eyes locking onto the man opposite them.

Sage Mode.

Orochimaru.

The pipe in Gamabunta's mouth fell with a clatter, smashing a crater into the ground.

"...Orochimaru in Sage Mode?"

Gamabunta's voice had lost its composure, sounding as if someone were strangling him.

What kind of monster is this?