Skyfire Battle Body

Aside from using Spirit Energy Body Infusion, Jiraiya hadn't channeled any spirit energy to enhance that kick. You could say it had been powered purely by his physical strength.

Jiraiya tried again, gathering spirit energy in his leg. The moment it reached the sole of his foot, the ground beneath him split apart, cracks spreading out like a spiderweb over a radius of five or six meters.

Then Jiraiya leaped high into the air and kicked at the dead trees around him. With a sharp whoosh, he shot toward the nearest one with unstoppable force.

The dead tree splintered into wood chips where Jiraiya's foot struck. Then came the second tree, the third, and so on. He finally stopped at the seventh.

After testing how he could use spirit energy, Jiraiya wanted to see what would happen if he used it to perform ninjutsu. He formed hand seals and gathered spirit energy toward his mouth, but the moment the Flame Bullet took shape, he suddenly looked up at the sky.

A fireball many times larger than the Flame Bullet Jiraiya had used before practicing the Great Sun Skyfire Art burst from his mouth. Its searing heat sent waves rippling through the air around them.

The instant the Flame Bullet took shape, Jiraiya sensed the energy inside it. If he released it as it was, he had no idea how many of the trees before him would be destroyed. And if it started a wildfire, that would be a real problem.

Jiraiya didn't dare try any more Fire Release Ninjutsu. Even a C-rank Flame Bullet was this powerful. What would happen if he used an A-rank or S-rank technique?

He tried some other ninjutsu afterward. Their enhancement was still powerful, but nothing compared to Fire Release. Finally, Jiraiya tried the Rasengan.

The Rasengan he formed was the same fiery red as his vortex, and flames flickered around it.

Looking at the Rasengan in his hand, Jiraiya tried feeding more spirit energy into it. As he did, it gradually grew larger: the size of a person's head, then a washbasin, then a water vat. At last, a Rasengan five meters in diameter formed above his raised hand. Jiraiya stopped there.

It wasn't because he'd run out of spirit energy. The Rasengan had grown heavier and heavier, and he felt he wouldn't be able to control it if it got any bigger. Even when it had reached the size of a water vat, the energy fluctuations it gave off had already stirred the air around it. The violent spirit energy inside dragged the surrounding air in every direction, creating turbulent currents.

Once the Rasengan reached five meters in diameter, Jiraiya drew a spark of flame from the vortex and channeled it into the sphere. Flames appeared across its surface, and the turbulent air currents around it became scorching gales.

Even Naruto, standing some distance away, felt the wave of heat wash over him. He also sensed a deep danger in the Rasengan, as though his body were telling him to get as far away from it as possible.

Since he'd already formed it, Jiraiya didn't want to disperse it. Instead, he leaped high into the air and hurled the Rasengan at the ground. He felt it wouldn't vanish once it left his hand.

Sure enough, the Rasengan didn't disappear after he threw it. It slammed into the ground and drilled downward, spinning as it burrowed deep beneath the earth. Jiraiya, meanwhile, leaped over to Naruto.

A deafening explosion rang out. Naruto grabbed Jiraiya and used the Flying Thunder God to get them away in a flash. At the same time as the blast, Naruto felt a powerful shock wave rushing toward them.

Naruto teleported them to a Flying Thunder God Mark he'd left behind while hunting the previous night. Even there, he could feel the shock wave bearing down on them, laden with scorching heat.

Once the explosion had completely subsided and the shock wave had dissipated, Naruto took Jiraiya back to the clearing.

The clearing had vanished. In its place was a massive crater, its surface charred black. The surrounding trees had been uprooted by the shock wave and now lay scattered around the crater.

Naruto was sure of it now: Jiraiya's spirit body was an offensive one, and its boost to his attack power was terrifying.

Naruto swallowed and turned to Jiraiya. "Pervy Sage, after you used that Rasengan, could you have withstood the shock wave without getting away?"

"Definitely. At worst, I'd have needed to change clothes," Jiraiya replied confidently after a moment's thought.

Naruto was briefly speechless, but then he understood. Jiraiya could already use Sage Mode, which gave his strength an immense boost. But the spirit energy he'd used then was only borrowed temporarily. Now he could fully control the spirit energy he'd cultivated himself.

The Great Sun Skyfire Art Jiraiya practiced was the most powerful fire-based cultivation art in Naruto's memories. It had nine levels, and through last night's practice, Jiraiya had forced his way to the third. That was the main reason he'd awakened a spirit body and formed a flame within his vortex. Perhaps his decades of uninterrupted Sage Mode training had also played a part.

"Pervy Sage, we've confirmed that you awakened a spirit body with tremendous offensive power. Since you cultivated it yourself, why not give it a name?" Naruto continued.

Jiraiya sat cross-legged on the ground and thought for a moment. Then he let out a breath and said, "Since I awakened this spirit body by practicing the Great Sun Skyfire Art, I'll call it the Skyfire Battle Body."

Naruto nodded at the name, then asked, "Pervy Sage, do you have a weapon you like?"

"I've never practiced any weapon-based ninjutsu, so I don't usually use weapons," Jiraiya replied.

After a moment's thought, Naruto said, "You'll need a hammer when you start practicing artifact refinement. As for martial techniques, I'll give you a hammer technique and a finger technique."

Jiraiya then asked Naruto what martial techniques were. Naruto replied, "As your strength grows, a lot of ninjutsu will become useless in the later stages. The only ninjutsu you can probably keep using is the Rasengan. But once mastered, martial techniques grow in power along with you. They're skills you can keep using."

Naruto gave Jiraiya the finger technique because his fire spirit energy had tremendous explosive power and offensive strength. Once he mastered it, he could focus all that power into a single point and unleash it in a concentrated burst. The damage would be unimaginable.

Jiraiya said he had no objections, and Naruto once again raised his hand and touched Jiraiya's forehead. This time, Naruto passed on all the cultivation arts and martial techniques he could teach him at his current stage: Great Sumeru Hammer Seven Tribulations Finger Soul Gathering Art Fierce Demon Body. When Naruto withdrew his finger, Jiraiya had two martial techniques and two cultivation arts in his mind.

The Great Sun Skyfire Art Jiraiya practiced was a spirit-cultivation art. Unlike Naruto's Supreme Demon Sutra, it wasn't a comprehensive cultivation art that trained the body, spirit energy, and soul.

The Fierce Demon Body was an art for cultivating the physical body. It could be practiced alongside the Great Sun Skyfire Art, allowing Jiraiya's physical strength to keep pace with his cultivation. Naruto had decided to teach it to him after seeing him use the Rasengan, so Jiraiya wouldn't end up killed by his own attack someday.

Although Jiraiya had also awakened spiritual perception, its range was too small. He could only sense within fifty meters of himself. Perhaps that was because he lacked talent in perception. The Soul Gathering Art would make up for his soul's shortcomings.

Naruto taught Jiraiya all of this because he wanted him to grow as strong as possible. First, Naruto's own progress with the Supreme Demon Sutra was slow, and his cultivation wouldn't surge anytime soon. He was already quite strong, but still had a long way to go before reaching the Shinobi World's top tier. The stronger Jiraiya became, the safer Naruto would be. He had memories of the next few decades, but who knew whether the future might change?

Second, the stronger Jiraiya became, the more weapons he could forge, and the higher their quality would be. One weapon they would need later required a very skilled smith, especially when it came to the soul.

Seeing that Naruto had given him two martial techniques and two cultivation arts at once, on top of the Great Sun Skyfire Art and the Encyclopedia of Artifact Refining, Jiraiya gave him a wry smile. He'd have his hands full for a while.

Still, Jiraiya didn't plan to keep practicing there. Instead, he took Naruto by the hand and headed for the nearest town—the one Naruto had visited the day before.

Naruto let Jiraiya lead him without asking questions, savoring a warmth he'd never felt before. They chatted about all sorts of things along the way. Jiraiya told him what foods were good in different countries and places, and what places were fun to visit. Naruto, in turn, brought up Hinata, which greatly displeased the still-single Jiraiya. He ruffled Naruto's hair roughly.

Laughing and talking, the two reached the town. Jiraiya took Naruto to a clothing store. Inside, he headed to the children's section and, as Naruto stared blankly, picked out several outfits for him to try on.

Naruto had assumed Jiraiya was there to buy clothes for himself. He hadn't expected him to be buying clothes for Naruto.

When he saw Naruto standing there dumbstruck, Jiraiya pointed at his feet. Naruto looked down and saw that his pant legs had somehow become too short, leaving part of his shins exposed. He checked his sleeves too, and found the same thing.

Only then did Naruto realize that his body had grown too quickly because of his cultivation, and his old clothes no longer fit. He just hadn't noticed.

Naruto was still wearing the same orange outfit he'd had on when he moved out. Hiruzen Sarutobi had given it to him in a large box, along with a whole series of clothes in different sizes.

Naruto had originally thought Hiruzen Sarutobi had bought them for him. But later, Kushina Uzumaki had told him that she'd prepared those clothes when she was pregnant with him, and that they would fit him until he was twelve.