Toad Sage Appears

Bang!

The sound of an explosion rang out once more, and two figures burst through the rising dust and smoke.

Blood dripping from his mouth, Yueshu clutched his Kusanagi Sword as he was sent flying sideways.

Following close above him was Kurohane, who reached out toward Yueshu with a wicked grin.

"Fire Style, Great Fireball Technique."

Yueshu adjusted his body in mid-air and unleashed a jutsu directly.

"Not enough, not enough, still not enough!"

The Great Fireball had absolutely no effect on Kurohane.

Kurohane's voice cut through the flames, followed by his hand—an outstretched hand reaching out to grab Yueshu.

Yueshu had no way to dodge.

If Yueshu had been alone, he truly would have been done for.

But Yueshu was not alone; he had teammates, one after another.

A golden figure rushed out from the side.

Minato Namikaze charged over, gripping a kunai.

He thrust the kunai directly at Kurohane, who was still reaching for Yueshu.

Kurohane ignored the attack entirely, his hand continuing its motion.

Perhaps, to him, a mere brat's kunai could never hope to harm him.

But he guessed wrong.

A puff of smoke erupted from the golden-haired figure.

In the blink of an eye, the charging Minato Namikaze had transformed into someone else.

White hair cascaded down his back.

It was the man known as one of the Sannin, the Mad Ghost—Jiraiya.

He gripped his kunai, the wind-style nature transformation applied to the blade, bearing a striking resemblance to Sashizhen's technique.

Kurohane saw it, of course; his monstrous physical prowess allowed him to dodge Jiraiya's attack in an instant, though he didn't forget to land a kick on Yueshu at the same time.

The wind-style chakra transformation was indeed enough to injure Kurohane, as evidenced by his desperate attempt to dodge.

Yueshu was kicked away, sent hurtling toward Jiraiya's position.

"Water Style, White Shark Technique."

Kurohane landed, his hand seals already complete.

He slammed his hands onto the ground, and a rune emerged, followed by the sight of a shark fin.

Whoosh.

Jiraiya, naturally, would not be caught so easily.

Facing the charging shark fin, Jiraiya dodged it with ease.

A white shark leaped from the ground, its massive, blood-filled maw aiming to swallow both Yueshu and Jiraiya.

As Jiraiya and Yueshu evaded, Kushina and Mikoto fired several kunai attached with Explosive Tags toward the area.

The explosions followed, but these minor tricks were of no use against Kurohane; to him, it was no more than swatting away a mosquito.

As the Explosive Tags detonated all around, Yueshu held his sword in one hand and began forming a Rasengan with the other, while Jiraiya hoisted Yueshu's body up.

Yueshu stepped onto Jiraiya's hand, and with a timely push from Jiraiya, Yueshu was launched directly toward Kurohane.

"Earth Style, Swamp Technique."

A delicate voice rang out—it was Kushina and Mikoto.

The two of them provided excellent support.

Just as Yueshu flew toward Kurohane, Mikoto and Kushina perfectly restricted Kurohane's movement.

"Rasengan."

Yueshu sent the sphere forward, but Kurohane struck out with his palm, hitting empty air and sending Yueshu flying backward.

Air Palm!

One of the gentle fist techniques of the Hyuga clan, as seen in the original work, capable of dealing damage from a distance.

Yueshu was struck by this very move, causing him to cough up a mouthful of blood as his old wounds deepened, the bandages on his body soaking through with fresh red.

"Yueshu!"

Minato Namikaze caught Yueshu just in time, the two of them sliding backward together before rolling across the ground.

As for Jiraiya, being the strongest person present, he naturally stepped up to clash head-on with Kurohane and buy them time.

Jiraiya truly hadn't expected that such a monstrous individual would be present on this C-rank mission.

This is no longer an A-rank mission; it has reached the level of an S-rank.

Raising his hands to block a punch from Kurohane, Jiraiya was forced to take several steps back.

This strength, it's almost on par with Tsunade's monstrous force.

Jiraiya glanced at Kurohane, then shifted his gaze to Yueshu and the other three, who had gathered together. Yueshu's injuries were the most severe, leaving him with almost no combat capability, while Mikoto was by his side tending to his wounds.

Kushina stood nearby, looking anxious, while Minato Namikaze kept his eyes fixed on Jiraiya's position.

"When I get back, I'm definitely going to make the old man tighten the screening process for C-rank missions."

Recalling how his own first C-rank mission had also turned into an A-rank ordeal, Jiraiya couldn't help but curse under his breath.

Who could have imagined that a current C-rank mission would escalate to this extent, surpassing even an S-rank level?

"The Mad Ghost of Konoha."

Kurohane looked at Jiraiya, choosing not to strike immediately.

"One of the Sannin who showed his prowess during the Second Great Ninja War."

Kurohane spoke slowly, appearing quite relaxed.

"But even you are no match for me as I am now."

Kurohane wagged his finger.

"Even if you were to hold nothing back!"

Kurohane's aura surged once more, and the air in the area instantly became stifling.

"Don't go around scaring my students like that."

Jiraiya's expression was grave, though his words remained flippant. Nevertheless, his own aura climbed steadily, rising to directly confront Kurohane's.

It was thanks to this that Yueshu and the others felt so much less pressure.

"Fire Style: Toad Oil Bomb."

In a mere instant, Jiraiya finished his hand signs and spat out a massive oil projectile.

"Multiple."

Kurohane swatted the incoming oil bomb away, only to realize that the ground beneath his feet was already covered in oil.

The previous oil bomb had obstructed Kurohane's vision for a moment, and in that brief window, Jiraiya had prepared his next move.

"Fire Style: Oil Hell."

Jiraiya exhaled a torrent of flames, instantly igniting the oil on the ground. The fire roared to life.

A sea of flames was created just like that.

Jiraiya didn't let his guard down; in battle, the most important thing to watch out for is the opponent's unexpected moves.

As if on cue, Jiraiya stomped hard and retreated several meters.

Just as he moved, a hand reached out from the sea of flames right in front of him, trying to grab him.

"Wind Style."

"Air Palm."

Just as Jiraiya was about to use Wind Style, Kurohane struck first with an Air Palm.

"Great Breakthrough."

Jiraiya jerked his head and unleashed the jutsu beneath himself.

The powerful gust of wind he exhaled lifted his body into the air.

Kurohane's Air Palm struck the space behind him.

Bang! The power of the Air Palm was clearly immense.

Taking a hit like that head-on was no laughing matter.

Yueshu was still lying there on the sidelines, after all.

"Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique."

While in mid-air, Jiraiya threw a shuriken.

The shuriken multiplied—one became two, two became four—and thousands of shuriken continued to proliferate as they flew toward Kurohane.

"It's not going to be that simple!"

Seeing the rain of shuriken that was essentially useless against Kurohane, Jiraiya muttered to himself.

No sooner had he spoken than the sound of explosions erupted.

A swarm of shuriken, each attached with an Explosive Tag, rained down continuously upon Kurohane.

The explosions rang out like a symphony, echoing incessantly.

Taking advantage of this moment, Jiraiya clapped his hands together.

He intended to use his trump card.

That was the reason he called himself the Toad Sage.

"Sage Mode!"

Jiraiya's pupils transformed into horizontal slits, and red markings appeared around the corners of his eyes.

An indescribable aura began to permeate the space around Jiraiya.

"The Toad Sage."

"Has arrived!"