Monkey Talisman

"Hell Hound!"

Two comets struck the earth, the mere shockwaves shattering the surrounding woods. Chixing charged at Zhi Qiang first, his arm transforming into scorching magma as he lunged forward.

Hell Hound was renowned in the pirate world for its blistering speed, immense piercing power, and devastating lethality. However, Zhi Qiang's advanced Observation Haki was no slouch; he dodged the attack with a sidestep, then immediately spun around to coat his axe in Armament Haki, colliding head-on with the magma fist as it curved back toward him.

--Bang!

Magma splattered, igniting sparks that set the forest ablaze. Chixing and Zhi Qiang's faces were nearly pressed together, but Chixing possessed the ability of elementalization; his cheek instantly turned into boiling magma. Although Zhi Qiang reacted in the blink of an eye, hardening his body with Armament Haki and leaping backward to avoid the extreme heat, he still lost a layer of skin.

"It seems the Three Admirals of Bikini Bottom are not just famous in name. I suppose it's time I got serious!"

Zhi Qiang tossed his axe into the air, leaped high, gripped the handle firmly, and swung with all his might!

--Swish! Swish! Swish!

Tangible sword qi flew out in succession, seemingly tearing through space and leaving behind conspicuous red lightning that crackled with a faint, scorched scent.

Chixing tilted his head, watching the sword qi grow larger in his vision. He raised both fists, condensing magma until they formed two gargantuan fists that blotted out a large portion of the sky.

"Great Eruption!"

Chixing launched his fists using the impact force of a simulated volcanic eruption, firing not just liquid magma, but solid lava bombs as well.

The fists and sword qi collided, and Chixing unleashed a barrage of punches to neutralize Zhi Qiang's relentless assault.

Just as the two sides reached a stalemate and the surrounding landscape lay in total ruin, Uncle finally arrived. At the same time, the Shadowkhan, acting as "troublemakers," conscientiously carried out their mission to hold Uncle back.

"Aiya! You wretched Shadowkhan!"

"Evil spirits and demons, begone..."

Just as Uncle was about to chant a spell to banish the Shadowkhan, Zhi Qiang did something entirely unexpected. While hardening his body with Armament Haki to tank a blow from Chixing, he unleashed the magic of the Monkey Talisman upon Uncle.

As the light faded, Uncle had transformed into an old mountain goat, standing on four hooves and bleating incessantly. The dried pufferfish and gecko fell to the ground, making it impossible for him to chant any spells.

"Uncle!"

Seeing Uncle fall victim to the trick, Chixing lost his appetite for battle and immediately rushed to Uncle's side, shielding him from the Shadowkhan.

"My apologies... Mr. Uncle, I'll be taking the Monkey Talisman now..."

As the saying goes, "the enemy of my enemy is my friend." As long as he could obtain the talisman, using the Shadowkhan as tools for a while wasn't out of the question.

After carving a path with a few axe swings, Zhi Qiang sheathed his weapon. Just as he prepared to leave, his keen Observation Haki warned him of approaching danger, and he immediately held his axe horizontally across his chest to defend.

"Rasengan!"

Jiraiya hung in the air with a comical, toad-like leap, pushing a massive Rasengan from the webbing of his front paws.

"It... it had no effect?!"

Jiraiya was astonished, but Zhi Qiang had no intention of answering his questions. With a swing of his axe, he split the Rasengan in two. Jiraiya immediately leaped back to dodge the sword qi, forming hand seals with his short paws: "Then try this on for size!"

"Fire Style: Flame Bomb!"

Jiraiya held oil refined from chakra in his mouth, spitting it out while using a fire jutsu to ignite it, attacking forward in the shape of a flame bomb.

In the original Naruto series, this technique possessed considerable power, instantly killing the Yatagarasu, the summoning beast of the Pain Animal Path.

Facing Jiraiya's barrage of flame bombs, Zhi Qiang simply closed his eyes. He then proceeded to predict the landing point of every single one of Jiraiya's attacks with unreasonable precision, dodging every strike with grace.

"What?!"

"Too slow! Too slow! Even that squirrel in Bear Ridge that only knows how to climb trees is several times faster than you."

Having spent so many years in the Ninja World, he had performed at least eighty S-rank missions; to be looked down upon like this?

Who could endure that?

Jiraiya immediately entered his "serious mode." It's just a pity that in this current form, I can't summon the two Great Toad Sages...

"Fire Style: Great Flame Bomb!"

Once again, he refined chakra into oil, igniting it with a fire jutsu as he spat it out. But this time, the amount of chakra Jiraiya consumed was far greater, and the power was ten times that of a standard Fire Style: Flame Bomb!

Staring at the incoming sea of fire, Zhi Qiang smiled faintly. "Finally, something worth looking at... then let's try this out as well...!"

Zhi Qiang held up the Monkey Talisman, aiming it at himself. As the light flashed, temporarily blinding everyone, a massive cloud of white smoke billowed upward.

"Wait...! What is this cold, evil chakra?!"

Just as Jiraiya cried out "Oh no!", it was already too late. A fierce, crimson glare erupted from the smoke, and a massive palm covered in orange-red fur, tipped with razor-sharp claws, descended from the sky, completely obliterating the forest in the area.

--Roar!

Two giant paws parted the smoke, slowly revealing the true form of the behemoth. "The... Nine-Tails?!"

Jiraiya's toad-like eyes widened as if struck by lightning, and he froze in place. Had he not performed "Release" countless times to no avail, he would have thought he was trapped in a genjutsu.

"So... this is the divine power of the Monkey Talisman?!"

To be fair, Jiraiya had absolutely no desire to face the Nine-Tails, but Zhi Qiang didn't care about any of that. A single sweep of the nine tails carried the force of a landslide, and a simple breath sounded like a howling gale.

The "immense power" of the Fire Style: Great Flame Bomb was nothing more than a light scratch against the Nine-Tails, which was coated in Armament Haki and possessed a defensive power comparable to the Armored Susanoo. It didn't even break the skin.

"You are strong, but not nearly strong enough to make me draw my chainsaw..."

Zhi Qiang's voice had become as deep as the Nine-Tails'. He looked down at Jiraiya, bringing extreme pressure to bear, and opened his blood-red maw, which was filled with heat. A high-density black energy ball slowly formed, beginning to rotate at high speed.

"Is that a Tailed Beast Bomb?!"

The reason for Jiraiya's shock was simple: could the Monkey Talisman actually grant the user the powers of the creature they transformed into while shifting forms? No wonder he felt his jumping ability had increased significantly and his field of vision had widened so much.

"It's not just a simple transformation..."

After making this assessment, Jiraiya immediately leaped into the air, for the Tailed Beast Bomb had already been launched and was about to detonate right beside him!

--BOOM!

A massive fireball rapidly expanded and rose on the horizon, sending intense flashes, air currents, and shockwaves spreading outward. In the end, accompanied by thick clouds of smoke, the entire mountain peak vanished from the map of the Ninja World, leaving behind nothing but a crater so vast it made one tremble.