Battle Against Jiraiya

"Interesting. In exchange for stirring up such pleasant memories, this sage will give you a chance. Come, let's play."

With that, he hung the bells from his waist and performed the hand seals for the Summoning Jutsu once more.

As the white mist dissipated, a toad roughly the height of an adult man appeared before Qiuyang.

Judging by the iron staff it held, it was clearly a combat-type toad.

"Gamakichi, spar with this kid opposite you. Mind your strength—just knock him out."

"Understood."

Summoned for the first time, Gamakichi appeared exceptionally excited, brandishing his staff as he leaped toward Qiuyang.

Qiuyang didn't waste words. To demonstrate his strength to Jiraiya, he chose to draw a kunai and engage Gamakichi head-on, shouting to Jiraiya:

"Teacher Jiraiya, you're underestimating me too much. I'll knock out your summon and then take the bells."

"Heh."

Jiraiya scoffed dismissively, thinking to himself that this brat hadn't even secured the bells yet and was already calling him teacher—what nerve.

Besides, calculating the time, after all this fuss, the bathhouse would be closed by the time he returned, and he wouldn't be able to see the beautiful ladies washing up.

Sigh, how wearying. He hadn't gathered enough material today; his Icha Icha Paradise writing was suffering...

Jiraiya sighed, resigned, and moved to sit cross-legged under a tree, critiquing the battle as if it were... a little charity for the village's growing generation.

But after watching for a while, he was genuinely shocked, shifting his focus from coaching the village youth to coaching Gamakichi.

When Qiuyang utilized the trajectory of a simple shuriken rebound to attack Gamakichi from a blind spot, Jiraiya shouted:

"Gamakichi, watch out for the ninja tools he's throwing! This guy's shurikenjutsu is top-tier, don't be careless."

When Qiuyang used extremely thin steel wires to quietly set up a movement-restricting trap while shifting positions, Jiraiya shouted:

"If you don't jump away now, you'll be tangled in those wires and unable to move, you idiot Gamakichi!"

The current situation was that Qiuyang could keep Gamakichi flustered, but under Jiraiya's guidance, he couldn't manage to defeat the toad.

Two against one—how was he supposed to fight this?

There was no other way.

Qiuyang's gaze shifted, and he began to feign exhaustion, fighting while retreating to lead Gamakichi toward the nearby river.

By the time Jiraiya noticed another Qiuyang standing in the river, it was already too late.

"Oh? When did this brat use a Shadow Clone? Was it when I turned around just now? Interesting."

Furthermore, he noticed the hand seals the brat in the water was performing... it was a powerful Water Style.

At that moment, Gamakichi landed a solid blow with his staff on the head of the Qiuyang he was grappling with. Just as he was about to turn back and report the mission accomplished, the Qiuyang he had struck transformed into a puff of smoke and vanished.

Just as he was left in confusion, Qiuyang's voice echoed in his ears: "Water Style: Great Waterfall Jutsu."

The power of a Water Style used in a watery environment can be imagined; a massive volume of water was guided by Qiuyang and lifted high into the air.

After the water swirled around the caster to adjust its orientation, it crashed toward Gamakichi with the force of a bursting dam.

"Whoosh—!"

The sound of this water flow wasn't the usual splashing; it was a terrifying roar, like a gale-force wind tearing through a forest.

Gamakichi frantically spun his iron staff to block, but it was like a mantis trying to stop a chariot; he didn't last two seconds before he was sent back to Mount Youboku with a splash.

The waterfall, like a tiger descending a mountain, didn't stop for a moment, continuing to crash toward the tree where Jiraiya was resting.

"Oh, so he specifically lured Gamakichi to that position just to hit me next, is that it?"

How interesting.

Jiraiya's interest was thoroughly piqued. He leaped up and performed hand seals rapidly:

"Earth Style: Earth Style Wall."

He slammed his hands onto the ground, and a thick wall rose instantly before him, forcefully blocking the incoming torrent.

Before Jiraiya could catch his breath, several crisp metallic clinking sounds echoed through the air.

Cling, cling-cling...

"Shimatta." (Damn it.)

Having just watched Qiuyang's shurikenjutsu, Jiraiya felt a sense of foreboding. When he turned, he saw several shuriken flying in from his blind spot.

They locked off his escape routes, forcing him to use a defensive jutsu: "Ninja Art: Needle Jizo."

His long white hair hardened like armor, covering his entire body and leaving only his face exposed, looking like a... defensive hedgehog.

But Jiraiya never noticed that among the kunai that had just flown by, one marked with a faint Eight Trigrams Yin-Yang symbol had embedded itself in the tree behind him.

Qiuyang, having finished the Great Waterfall Jutsu, moved until he was within range to sense the Flying Thunder God formula. He raised his fingers, appeared silently on the tree, and performed hand seals...

His chakra was nearly depleted. This was his final jutsu, and one of the only two Uchiha clan Fire Style techniques his original body had mastered.

Whether he would see Jiraiya use the Rasengan depended on this single strike.

"Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique."

Jiraiya, having just dodged the kunai and standing atop an Earth Style Wall, felt a jolt in his heart as he heard the voice suddenly erupt from above while frantically searching for Qiuyang.

When did this little brat jump into the trees? By all logic, he shouldn't have been able to approach without being detected.

Furthermore, this kid was remarkably calculating; throughout the entire battle, he hadn't made a single wasted movement.

"Good lad, the way you use these combo techniques... I'll give you credit for that. Rasengan!"

Qiuyang's eyes turned crimson, his gaze locked intently on the entire process of the Rasengan forming in Jiraiya's hand.

Power, rotation, compression... So that's how it is.

As Jiraiya used the Rasengan to deflect the Phoenix Sage Fire, he noticed those eyes.

It's actually the Sharingan. Wasn't that clan wiped out by the rogue ninja Itachi, leaving only a brat named Sasuke?

This white-haired kid was clearly a few years older than that one.

One year ago:

Jiraiya had been brought before the Great Toad Sage by the couple Fukasaku and Shima, who claimed there was an urgent matter.

Great Toad Sage: "Who are you?"

"It's me, Jiraiya, Great Sage. Have you forgotten again?"

Jiraiya felt utterly helpless. The memory of this toad sage, who had lived for countless years, was failing; every time he came to visit, it would ask his name all over again.

"Oh, oh, it's little Jiraiya. I remember now. I do have something to ask of you."

"Little Jiraiya, I had a dream while I was sleeping."

Hearing this, Jiraiya immediately turned serious.

"Is there another prophecy or revelation?"

This was because every time the Great Sage dreamed, it foretold events that would come to pass, such as his encounter with Nagato, who possessed the Sage Eyes.

"Little Jiraiya, you will take on another disciple who will influence the future of the world. He has a pair of scarlet eyes and uses the same ninjutsu as you..."

The Great Toad Sage's speech slowed down, becoming so sluggish that Jiraiya thought this fossil, who had lived for thousands of years, might stop at any moment.

"Whether he becomes like Uchiha Madara and destroys the ninja world, or inherits the will of the First Hokage to protect it, depends entirely on how you guide him..."

Then, the sound of snoring filled the air. Fukasaku stepped forward to say the Great Sage had fallen back asleep, and he led Jiraiya away from the site.

Now, he had truly encountered another Child of Prophecy.

Jiraiya grew very serious during the subsequent sparring, treating the bell-snatching game with Qiuyang as a formal disciple assessment.

But Qiuyang was no match for a serious Jiraiya; aside from those initial combo techniques, he was spun around in circles for the rest of the fight.

By evening, exhausted and famished, Qiuyang decided to find something to eat, figuring Jiraiya was hiding somewhere nearby anyway.

The ingredients were, naturally, the plump mandarin fish caught right from the river.

Before long, Jiraiya, who was hiding in the shadows and starving himself, caught the scent of grilled fish. He twitched his nose, sniffing repeatedly.

Wow, that smells incredible!

What kind of seasoning did this brat use to make it smell so enticing? And why do I smell a rich, malty scent of beer?

Jiraiya quietly poked his head out to look at the campfire Qiuyang had built not far away. Even from a distance, he could hear the fish sizzling and see a layer of glistening oil coating the golden-brown skin.

It was enough to make anyone's mouth water; it was clearly cooked to perfection.

Although this little brat has no manners, he does have his merits—like his cooking.

This was the secret weapon Qiuyang had brought along from the start.

He believed no man could resist the temptation of grilled fish and beer.