Testing the Waters

Uchiha Clan Compound.

By the time Jiraiya arrived, the gates to the Uchiha Clan Compound were already wide open. Natsuki stood at the entrance, welcoming Jiraiya with a smile.

"Yo, Lord Jiraiya, you're here. I've been awaiting you for quite some time."

It was as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over Jiraiya's head. Awaiting him for quite some time? Was Natsuki deliberately trying to provoke him?

As he speculated inwardly, Jiraiya narrowed his eyes.

"Uchiha Natsuki, you knew I would come?"

Natsuki nodded.

"I was worried you wouldn't, so I specifically had someone hand out flyers to lure you here."

Jiraiya had long stopped underestimating Natsuki. He merely said in a low voice, "Why are you targeting me?"

Natsuki waved a hand.

"Hey, how can you call it targeting? Everything I said was the truth."

"You—" Just as Jiraiya was about to speak, Natsuki's expression changed.

He said coldly, "You can't take it already? Compared to the grievances our Uchiha Clan has suffered over the years, this doesn't even amount to one percent."

"You were also away on a mission during the Nine-Tails' Rampage, and you didn't return. Our Uchiha Clan even evacuated the villagers, yet we were still resented for it. Why was nothing said when you came back?"

"Isn't it because the Third Hokage is your teacher? Otherwise, why did no one accuse you, Jiraiya, of deliberately not returning during the Nine-Tails' Rampage?"

Jiraiya let out a breath, then found himself both annoyed and amused.

"You resent me over that? Is there something wrong with your head?"

Natsuki rolled his eyes.

"You're overthinking it. I only want to tell you that we Uchiha Clan are moving away from Konoha because we don't want anything more to do with you."

"Whenever we do something, we get scolded if we do it wrong, and we get scolded even if we do it right. We Uchiha Clan are tired. We don't want to get involved in any of this anymore."

"We've already returned all of Konoha's authority to you. We have no interest in the Hokage position, so please stop coming to test us."

Jiraiya had not expected Natsuki to be so blunt. He scratched his head.

"Then couldn't you have just said so? Did you have to mess with me?"

Natsuki spread his hands.

"I didn't set any traps. Weren't you caught because you went peeping yourself? How can you blame me?"

Jiraiya's face turned green, then white. In the end, he snorted heavily.

Still, he decided to carry out the task the Third Hokage had given him.

"I've heard that the Uchiha Clan's Susanoo possesses unparalleled power. I wonder if we could exchange a few moves."

Natsuki did not decline.

"I've also heard that the Sage of the Toads dominates the battlefield. I'd like to experience it today."

"Come to our training ground."

Natsuki headed toward the training ground. He had long known that he and Jiraiya would inevitably have a fight.

He had already cleared all the Uchiha Clan members out of the compound.

With no one around, Natsuki and Jiraiya took their positions. Natsuki raised a finger first.

He formed a Seal of Confrontation.

Hmm? Jiraiya's expression changed as well, and he formed a Seal of Confrontation.

Natsuki struck first. Raising his hands to form seals, he launched a Great Fireball straight at Jiraiya.

He charged in right behind it.

Jiraiya clasped his hands together.

Ninja Art: Needle Jizo!

Jiraiya's white hair lengthened and curled around him, blocking the flames.

Then he changed hand seals again.

Lion Combo Technique!

His white hair shot out and swept forward.

Natsuki casually pulled out a kunai to block it, but it produced a sharp metallic clang.

Natsuki threw the kunai, only for Jiraiya to kick it away.

Natsuki rushed forward and collided head-on with Jiraiya.

Bang!

His powerful kick was blocked by Jiraiya's arm. Jiraiya slid his feet backward, then raised his arm.

Borrowing the force, Natsuki flew backward. While still in midair, he threw shuriken.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh. With a series of throws, the shuriken struck one another, sealing off Jiraiya's avenues of escape from different angles.

Jiraiya's eyes sharpened. Uchiha-style Throwing Technique?

Summoning Technique!

Poof!

The purple Gamaken appeared on the field.

He drew the shield from his back and instantly covered both himself and Jiraiya.

Natsuki threw out shuriken and formed hand seals.

Fire Release: Hosenka Claw Red!

Flames clung to the flying shuriken, imbuing them with scorching heat as they flew toward Gamaken like impatiens blossoms scattered across the sky.

Gamaken leaped up with all his strength, his twin forks dancing into afterimages as he barely blocked the burning shuriken.

Jiraiya darted out from behind him, a blue sphere of chakra in his hand.

Rasengan!

Natsuki lowered his body and slammed into Jiraiya's chest, only to be stopped by the white hair.

Natsuki thrust his kunai straight toward Jiraiya's jaw.

If Jiraiya's Rasengan struck him, the kunai would also pierce Jiraiya's jaw.

Jiraiya tucked himself in and hunched his chest, then kicked Natsuki away.

At that moment, the immense force of the shuriken had left Gamaken's steel forks covered in chips, while the shield on his back bore many scars as well.

"I truly am too foolish." With a poof, he vanished.

As Natsuki was kicked away, Jiraiya puffed out his cheeks and spat out, "Fire Release: Flame Bullet!"

Surging flames crashed directly into Natsuki.

Poof!

"Caw... caw... caw..."

Amid a burst of crow cries, Natsuki's entire body turned into countless crows, and his figure vanished among them.

The countless crows wheeled through the air and rushed at Jiraiya.

Jiraiya formed hand seals.

Summoning Technique!

Poof!

A green toad rushed from the smoke with twin blades in hand. As his blades swung, one crow after another turned into smoke and disappeared.

Natsuki emerged from the smoke.

Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique!

Whoosh... Fierce flames spewed from Natsuki's mouth.

The instant Natsuki landed, he felt the ground beneath his feet soften.

The Jiraiya struck by the Dragon Fire had already turned into a clump of mud.

The real Jiraiya was behind him, having activated the Yellow Springs Swamp.

Natsuki's Mangekyo spun in his eyes.

Susanoo!

Boom! The first stage of Susanoo manifested around him.

Natsuki broke free from the Yellow Springs Swamp and climbed out.

A stream of oil had already been sprayed onto the Susanoo.

"Fire Release: Great Flame Bullet." Flames ignited the oil covering Natsuki's Susanoo.

Natsuki instantly dispelled his Susanoo and slipped out through a gap.

Natsuki used the Body Flicker Technique to retreat, then made a hand gesture.

"I concede."

Natsuki's face looked somewhat exhausted, as though he had severely depleted his chakra.

Jiraiya dispersed the Great Ball Rasengan in his hand as well, a trace of dissatisfaction on his face.

"Can't your Susanoo grow larger?"

Natsuki sat down on the ground without any regard for appearances. "I don't have that much chakra."

Jiraiya narrowed his eyes.

Natsuki had used several techniques in succession just now, and the Crow Clone Technique and Dragon Fire Technique had consumed the most chakra.

His chakra consumption had to be considerable.

Besides chakra, Susanoo also consumed ocular power.

Natsuki should not have much chakra left, right?

As Jiraiya calculated inwardly, Natsuki had likely held back, while he himself had not used Sage Mode.

If neither of them held back, he should be able to win.

Susanoo placed enormous demands on chakra. If Natsuki went all out, he would not be able to sustain it for long.

As Jiraiya pondered this, he walked toward Natsuki.

Natsuki stood and formed a Reconciliation Seal. Jiraiya formed one with him as well.

Then Natsuki lay down on the ground without the slightest concern for appearances.

"If you can get rid of that habit of peeping on women's baths, maybe we can still be friends."

Natsuki rested his hands beneath his head and lay there leisurely.

His eyes were on Jiraiya. At this point, Jiraiya was still lecherous and lustful, lazy by nature, unfocused in his work, and lacking in responsibility.

If he had seriously gone after Orochimaru, Orochimaru probably would not have escaped. At the very least, he would not have been able to develop in one place for so long.

Natsuki's spar with Jiraiya today had also been a test of his own capabilities. It was different from the battles with Shisui and the others in his dreams.

Jiraiya's attacks were broad and forceful. Many times, they could only clash with ninjutsu head-on, lacking the finesse of the Uchiha Clan.

And his own handling of combat truly was not refined enough.

The facts proved that although he had been pretending, in battles at the Kage level—

Once he encountered an opponent with absurd amounts of chakra, unless he ended the fight quickly, the odds of losing were high.

Natsuki knew Jiraiya had not even used Sage Mode, nor had he summoned the two toads.

But in a fight to the death, Natsuki would definitely activate the second, flesh-and-blood form of Susanoo immediately, or an even higher form.

Although Natsuki had not awakened an ocular technique, that did not stop him from opening Susanoo first and charging in recklessly.

His chakra was sufficient for ordinary techniques, but Susanoo was a massive chakra drain. He needed to think of a solution.

After fighting Natsuki, Jiraiya could sense that Natsuki's fighting style and battle mentality were nothing like those of an ambitious person.

He no longer held any particular ill will toward Natsuki.

Jiraiya was somewhat exhausted after the battle as well, and he sat cross-legged on the ground.

"What do you think of Konoha?"

Natsuki shook his head. "It has nothing to do with me. Whether Konoha is good or bad has nothing to do with me. Don't ask me questions like that."

"As long as no one comes to provoke the Uchiha Clan, we only want to develop our businesses and let our clan members live better lives. After all, the Uchiha Clan has many civilians too."

After resting enough, Natsuki stood and headed back toward the compound.

"I still have things to do. I won't see you out."

Jiraiya frowned as he sized up Natsuki's retreating back, not knowing what he was thinking.