Ever since the toads of Mount Myoboku disappeared and no one knew where they had gone,
Jiraiya had been forced to rely on himself for his Senjutsu training.
He had always thought his talent was poor.
That was a misconception!
He—
Jiraiya's talent wasn't poor at all.
When he was a child, after his teacher, Sarutobi Hiruzen, taught him the hand seals for the Summoning Technique,
he had performed a haphazard string of seals
and still managed to arrive at Mount Myoboku without fail.
And...
If he knew that even after his death in the future,
others would covet his abilities enough to copy them,
he would understand that his talent
was absolutely no worse than Orochimaru's or Tsunade's.
As things stood,
through his own efforts,
and without the toads' guidance, he had gradually found his own path in Senjutsu training.
As the teacher of so many important figures in the future of the Shinobi World,
he had a role to play in the great tide of fate sweeping through the world.
His share of it
had never been one to underestimate.
The planet's still-naive will had always been watching him.
Even though the planet of the Shinobi World
now had a perfect contract partner in "Uchiha Genmei,"
that didn't mean Jiraiya's importance
had vanished completely.
Under these circumstances, his Sage Mode had also formed a strange connection with heaven and earth.
At that very moment,
as Uchiha Genmei mercilessly attacked Salamander Hanzo,
Jiraiya sensed that, as the Cursed Speech was uttered,
the windstorm, thunder, raindrops, and the chakra and Sage Power coursing through the young man's body all joined in a single breath.
Thunder boomed, and the roar of the storm continued without end.
It went on until
the stretch of woodland had been blasted down by dozens of