The Toad Sage Makes His Entrance

Boom!

The explosion sounded once again, and two figures shot out through the rising smoke.

Blood dripped from his mouth as Yueshu gripped the Kusanagi Sword, his whole body hurled through the air.

Above him, Kurohane grinned wickedly as he reached out toward Yueshu.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique."

Yueshu adjusted his position and immediately unleashed a ninjutsu.

"Not enough! Not enough—not nearly enough!"

The Great Fireball did nothing to Kurohane.

Kurohane's voice pierced through the flames, followed by his hand, reaching out to seize Yueshu.

Yueshu had no way to dodge.

If he had been alone, he might really have fallen into Kurohane's trap.

But Yueshu wasn't alone. He had one teammate after another at his side.

A golden figure darted out from nearby.

Minato Namikaze charged forward, Kunai in hand.

He thrust the Kunai straight at Kurohane as he reached for Yueshu.

Kurohane paid no attention to him and continued his attack.

Perhaps he thought a mere brat's Kunai could never hurt him.

But he was wrong.

A puff of smoke appeared around the blond figure.

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

White hair fell down his back.

It was Jiraiya, the Mad Ghost, one of the Sannin.

He gripped the Kunai, channeling Wind Style chakra into it. The result looked a little like Sashizhen's needles of sand and stone.

Kurohane saw him, of course. His monstrous physical prowess let him dodge Jiraiya's attack in an instant, and he still managed to kick Yueshu.

Wind Style chakra was certainly enough to wound Kurohane. The fact that he'd dodged the attack alone made that clear.

Yueshu was kicked flying, straight toward Jiraiya.

"Water Style: White Shark Technique."

Kurohane landed, having already finished forming the hand seals.

He slammed his hand down onto the ground. A symbol appeared, along with a shark fin.

Whoosh!

Jiraiya wasn't about to fall for it so easily.

He easily dodged the shark fin charging toward him.

A white shark leaped from the ground, its enormous, bloody maw aimed at swallowing Yueshu and Jiraiya whole.

As Jiraiya and Yueshu dodged, Kushina and Mikoto hurled several Kunai with Explosive Tags toward Kurohane.

The explosions went off. To Kurohane, these little tricks were no more troublesome than swatting at a few mosquitoes.

As the Explosive Tags detonated around them, Yueshu held his sword in one hand and formed a sphere of chakra with the other, while Jiraiya lifted him up.

Yueshu planted one foot on Jiraiya's hand. Jiraiya pushed with perfect timing, sending Yueshu flying straight at Kurohane.

"Earth Style: Swamp Technique."

Kushina and Mikoto's voices rang out.

The two of them provided excellent support.

As Yueshu flew toward Kurohane, Mikoto and Kushina managed to restrict his movements at just the right moment.

"Rasengan!"

Yueshu sent the Rasengan at him, but Kurohane struck him away with a palm, without even touching him.

Air Palm!

One of the Hyuga Clan's Gentle Fist techniques. It had appeared in the original story, and allowed the user to strike from a distance.

Yueshu was hit by the attack. He spat out a mouthful of blood, and his old wounds all began to worsen. His bandages quickly turned an even deeper red.

"Yueshu!"

Minato Namikaze caught Yueshu just in time. The two of them flew backward together before crashing to the ground and rolling several times.

As for Jiraiya, he was the strongest one here, so he went to engage Kurohane head-on and buy them time.

Jiraiya truly hadn't expected such a monster to show up on a C-rank mission.

This wasn't some A-rank mission in disguise. The enemy was S-rank, if not worse.

Jiraiya raised both hands to block Kurohane's punch and staggered several steps backward.

That strength is almost on par with Tsunade's monstrous power.

Jiraiya glanced at Kurohane, then looked at Yueshu and the other three, who had regrouped. Yueshu was the most badly injured and could barely fight now. Mikoto was treating his wounds nearby.

Kushina looked anxious, while Minato Namikaze watched Jiraiya.

"When we get back, I'm absolutely making the old man screen C-rank missions more carefully."

Remembering how his own first C-rank mission had turned out to be an A-rank mission, Jiraiya couldn't help cursing under his breath.

Who could have guessed that C-rank missions had been upgraded again? This one was well beyond S-rank.

"The Mad Ghost of Konoha."

Kurohane looked at Jiraiya, but didn't attack right away.

"One of the Sannin who made a name for himself in the Second Ninja War."

Kurohane spoke slowly, looking perfectly at ease.

"But even you aren't a match for me as I am now."

Kurohane waggled a finger.

"Even if you're holding nothing back!"

Kurohane's aura surged another level, and the air grew oppressive.

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

Jiraiya looked serious, though his words sounded rather flippant. His own aura continued to rise, meeting Kurohane's head-on.

Thanks to that, the pressure Yueshu and the others felt was much lighter.

"Fire Style: Toad Oil Bomb."

In an instant, Jiraiya finished forming the hand seals and spat out a bomb of oil.

"Multiply."

Kurohane swept away the oil bomb flying at him. Only then did he notice that the ground beneath his feet was covered in oil.

The oil bomb had briefly blocked Kurohane's vision. In that short moment, Jiraiya had prepared his next move.

"Fire Style: Oil Hell."

Jiraiya spewed out a stream of fire, igniting the oil on the ground. Flames surged upward.

A sea of fire spread around them.

Jiraiya didn't let himself get carried away. In a fight, the most important thing was to watch out for the enemy's unexpected moves.

No sooner had he thought it than it happened. Jiraiya suddenly pushed off the ground and retreated several meters.

A hand reached out from the sea of fire in front of him, right on cue.

"Wind Style—"

"Air Palm."

Jiraiya was just about to use Wind Style when Kurohane struck first with Air Palm.

"Great Breakthrough!"

Jiraiya flicked his head and aimed the ninjutsu beneath himself.

The powerful gust he exhaled lifted him into the air.

Kurohane's Air Palm struck the space behind him.

Bang! The force of the Air Palm was plain to see.

Taking that head-on would be no joke.

Yueshu was still lying nearby, after all.

"Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique!"

Jiraiya threw a Shuriken while still in the air.

One Shuriken became two, two became four. Thousands of Shuriken multiplied without end, flying toward Kurohane.

"It won't be that easy!"

Seeing that the Shuriken rain had little effect on Kurohane, Jiraiya spoke.

The moment he finished, explosions rang out.

A swarm of Shuriken carrying Explosive Tags rained down on Kurohane.

The explosions resounded continuously, like a symphony.

Taking advantage of the moment, Jiraiya pressed his hands together.

He was going to use his trump card.

This was why he called himself the Toad Sage.

"Sage Mode!"

Jiraiya's pupils became horizontal slits, and red markings appeared around his eyes.

An indescribable aura began to spread around him.

"The Toad Sage—"

"makes his entrance!"