Sage Mode Jiraiya

"It was him!"

The three Anbu had fled far away saw Kato Osamu's face and their expressions were filled with surprise and uncertainty. A feeling of resentment and humiliation gradually rose in their hearts. It was the man standing in the distance who had assassinated their Fourth Mizukage. Every member of Mist Shinobi hated him. For a village, this was a complete and utter humiliation.

"Damn it!"

Sensing the intense clash of Chakra between the two figures facing off in the distance, the impact permeated the entire space. Helpless, he couldn't help but feel a chill of fear rising in his heart. This man was actually able to directly confront a veteran powerhouse like Jiraiya!

"Jiraiya, truly worthy of being one of the legendary Three Legendary Sannin, on par with Orochimaru..."

His figure flashed, Kato Osamu's expression remained unchanged, still smiling lightly. One after another Earth Spear, brimming with killing intent, followed his steps, interspersed with Kunai and Senbon, and even wind blades. The speed was so fast that it seemed to know his landing point before he even landed.

Such a dense attack, combined with the exquisite coordination of the Five Elements Release, would be absolutely impossible for an ordinary ninja to break through, but for Kato Osamu in his current state, it was nothing more than child's play.

"It seems that if I don't use my real skills, I'm afraid I'll be underestimated by you young people..." A look of seriousness flashed across Jiraiya's face. Kato Osamu was more troublesome than he had imagined. He was experienced in combat, and his speed and perception were far beyond that of ordinary people. Conventional methods had no effect on him at all.

"Earth Release ·Yellow Spring Marsh!"

"Summoning Technique!"

The continuous land beneath Kato Osamu's feet suddenly turned into a man-eating swamp. Taking advantage of the moment when Kato Osamu dodged, the Gamabunta summoned by the Summoning Technique landed heavily on the ground, and the entire earth seemed to tremble incessantly.

"Jiraiya, it's been a long time..."

"Gamabunta, now is not the time for reminiscing..."

Jiraiya lightly touched down with his feet and landed on Gamabunta's head, his eyes fixed on Kato Osamu in the distance.

"Oh? Is the enemy this time just a brat?"

"Don't underestimate your enemy..."

"Ugh, what an rude fellow! No wonder he's so ugly..."

A look of surprise flashed across Gamabunta's face as he smoked his pipe. Kato Osamu was clearly far away, but his voice seemed to be right next to his ear. This one tactic alone made Gamabunta realize that the enemy was no ordinary person.

"So it was you..."

As if remembering something, Gamabunta's eyes grew even more serious; he had not forgotten that chilling feeling from back then.

"Gamabunta! Do you understand?!" Jiraiya nodded slightly, sensing that Gamabunta beneath him was gradually becoming serious.

"Um..."

Slowly drawing his short sword, Gamabunta exhaled a thick plume of smoke from his nostrils, his entire body involuntarily tensing up.

"You brat! I'll teach you what it means to respect the elderly and care for the young!"

The massive short sword was suddenly swung out, accompanied by a fierce gust of wind, heading straight for Kato Osamu.

Fire Release: Great Flame Bullet!

Jiraiya puffed out his cheeks, and blazing flames instantly surged forth, constantly blocking Kato Osamu's escape routes. The raging Kakkō illuminated the entire sky.

"Good timing!"

In the void, a jet-black longsword instantly took shape, as if it had absorbed all the light, so dark that it reflected no light at all. Kato Osamu gripped the longsword tightly, leaped into the air, and shouted loudly. A jet-black stream of light seemed to be drawn from the blade, splitting the entire space in two, rushing towards the Kakkō of the Great Flame Bullet.

"Soul Blade: First Form: Yin Yang Blade!"

The flash of blades and the clashing of flames created a bizarre scene that left everyone staring wide-eyed.

"What! The Fire Release was cleaved in two!"

"No, it wasn't just split open..."

The leader of the Anbu service looked somewhat bewildered, but he remained standing at a distance, his gaze solemn.

"The sword light absorbed the Fire Release Ninjutsu... and became even stronger..."

However, the scene in the sky at this moment no longer needed his explanation. The two Anbu beside him also saw a scene that overturned their understanding—as the black blade light moved forward, countless Kakkō seemed to be constantly drawn away, rapidly converging into the blade light from the sky, the earth, and the trees. Apart from the scorching smell in the air, it was as if the blazing fire from the sky had never existed.

"Gamabunta! We can't take it head-on!"

The dark blade absorbed the fireball, becoming even more terrifying. It carved a long trench in the ground and rushed towards Jiraiya. Gamabunta drew his sword to resist, but Jiraiya could feel the violent Chakra fluctuations within it.

"Yoshi!"

Gamabunta braced himself with his legs, leaving two enormous footprints in the ground as he narrowly escaped the attack. However, the rumbling sound behind him and the escalating shockwaves made him realize the terror it contained, and a cold sweat broke out on his forehead...

The earth seemed to be torn apart, and a bottomless, pitch-black rift appeared behind Gamabunta. The giant ravine, several meters wide, was enough to bury a monster of Gamabunta's size.

"Jiraiya..."

"Try again!"

Jiraiya frowned. He had seen more powerful Ninjutsu before, but the ability to absorb other people's Ninjutsu and use it to counterattack was something he had never heard of before.

"Gamabunta! Use oil!"

"Good!"

Fire Release: Toad Oil Flame Bullet!

The Toad Oil from Mount Myoboku contains abundant Natural Energy. When this oil is combined with Fire Release Ninjutsu, ordinary Fire Release Ninjutsu becomes extraordinary, not only increasing its power several times over, but also becoming comparable to an incomplete Senjutsu.

"What kind of ability is this? Is it because of that knife?"

The fire swept in again, Jiraiya carefully watched Kato Osamu's every move, constantly thinking and analyzing the information that Kato Osamu had revealed in the battle.

Analyzing and countering others' tactics in battle seems to be an instinct for Jiraiya.

However, Kato Osamu did not choose to swing his sword. Instead, he leaped high into the air and plunged his long sword into the ground.

"Soul Blade Second Form - Ultimate Defense!"

A peculiar fluctuation instantly emanated from the Soul Blade, and a spherical field completely enveloped the space within a radius of tens of meters around Kato Osamu.

The flames from the oil-fire bomb rushed in, but were instantly extinguished as if they had vanished into thin air. The earth turned crimson, but Kato Osamu's body remained completely untouched by the Kakkō.

"Gather!"

Jiraiya roared, and the flames seemed to come alive, relentlessly engulfing Kato Osamu, constantly breaking through the spherical field as the flames penetrated deeper...

"The closer you get to the center, the more exponentially the Chakra drains from your Fire Release techniques..."

"Without the support of Chakra, the Fire Release simply cannot be maintained..."

Jiraiya frowned deeply. In normal mode, he had already used all his strength to control the oil flame bullets, but he had only managed to penetrate to the edge of the area.

Kato Osamu, whom he was looking at, was like someone encased in a transparent tortoise shell. No matter what you did, you couldn't get close to him.

"The Wild Lion's Mane Technique!"

As if suddenly remembering something, Jiraiya's white hair suddenly shot out like sharp arrows, mixed in with Fire Release, rushing towards Kato Osamu.

Compared to his Fire Release Ninjutsu, the white hair technique showed significant progress. Although it still couldn't reach the core of Kato Osamu, it did give Jiraiya some insight.

"Chakra attached to a physical body dissipates much more slowly than that obtained through escaping techniques..."

"What kind of Ninjutsu is this...?"

Jiraiya pondered. As a traditional ninja who practiced ninjutsu, although he knew that the Shinobi World possessed Yin Release and Yang Release Chakra, the secret techniques developed based on Yin-Yang Release Technique and Chakra still touched upon areas of his knowledge that were not his own.

Jiraiya may be an applied genius, but he doesn't seem to be a research genius...

"You noticed it... You're quite perceptive..."

Seeing the chains formed from a few strands of white hair probing into the Soul Blade's wave field, Kato Osamu made no move. Jiraiya was testing his Ninjutsu, and he was using Jiraiya a sparring partner to continuously refine his own secret techniques.

"Compared to the Five Elements Release, the Chakra attached to a physical body dissipates far too slowly... My understanding of Yin–Yang Release is still not deep enough..."

"If we could break down physical matter into its basic constituent units, just like Chakra, then we could eliminate any matter directly, just as we would annihilate Chakra..."

Are atoms the basic building blocks of matter?

"Wow, that's been so long..."

Kato Osamu sensed the subtle changes within the field and continuously adjusted his improvement plan. He also had a new goal regarding physical Chakra matter— Dust Release!

Even if he can't master Dust Release, which Kekkei Genkai, it will definitely bring him some new inspiration in Yin-Yang Release Technique.

"Gamabunta, it seems we're out of options with this 'turtle shell' for the time being..."

After testing various Ninjutsu, Jiraiya finally realized that conventional Ninjutsu wouldn't even be enough to get close to Kato Osamu. Therefore, he decided to use that...

"I need to ask those two gentlemen to come out..."

"Jiraiya... be careful... I can sense that this kid hasn't used his full strength yet..." Gamabunta's expression was slightly grave. He possessed immense power, yet had nowhere to unleash it, unable to even break through the opponent's defensive barrier...

"Hahaha... Don't worry, Gamabunta, I'm the famous Jiraiya! Everything will be alright..."

"Oh well..."

Gamabunta's figure suddenly turned into smoke and dust and disappeared, returning to Mount Myoboku. Jiraiya also stopped probing and simply stood quietly in the distance, looking at Kato Osamu, whose field had dissipated.

Kato Osamu's eyes held a hint of a smile, while Jiraiya's expression was complex.

"This move was originally intended for your master, Orochimaru, to be the first to see, but now, it's not bad that you Orochimaru's disciple, are doing it for him..."

"Orochimaru has truly trained a fine disciple..."

Seemingly realizing that Kato Osamu had no intention of fighting to the death, Jiraiya stopped hiding his intentions. The two seemed to be engaging in a fair and square sparring match, but both knew that if they had the chance to kill each other, the other would never let it go. However, neither of them was confident of an easy victory at the moment.

"Immortal Technique: Twin Life Technique!"

Jiraiya lightly bit his finger and summoned two old Toad, which perched on his shoulders, one on each side. The two creatures seemed slightly puzzled, but quickly came to their senses and began to cooperate with Jiraiya, seemingly performing some kind of secret technique.

In Kato Osamu's perception, the auras of the two Toad gradually merged with Jiraiya's aura, and the fluctuations of their Chakra gradually synchronized, eventually becoming one aura completely.

At that moment, a peculiar fluctuation began to emanate from Jiraiya's body.

"This is..."

"Natural Energy!"

"Is it the Sage Mode of Mount Myoboku...?" Kato Osamu's eyes lit up; he hadn't expected to find something unexpected here.

He had been unable to break through to the final step of Sage Mode for a long time, and this was the first time he had seen Sage Mode from another sacred land in the Shinobi World.

"Little Jiraiya, is this the enemy?"

"They actually managed to force Jiraiya to use this move..."

Perhaps because of his contract with Ryūchi Cave, Kato Osamu dislikes Toad, especially their bodies covered in countless bumpy bumps, which makes him feel uncomfortable.

"Summoning two old Toad, then uniting them into a trinity to maintain the balance of Natural Energy, physical energy, and spiritual energy...?"

"That's a really good idea..."

"What an impolite brat..." Fukasaku and Shima's expressions turned somewhat unpleasant upon hearing Kato Osamu's address to them, their eyes also showing a hint of hostility.

"Don't underestimate him. He's Orochimaru's disciple and also served under Minato Namikaze for a time. He's a genius..."

"Moreover, I can't understand his techniques yet..."

"Like Orochimaru, he's also a contractor from Ryūchi Cave... The moment I arrived, I smelled that disgusting stench of snakes..."

After Fukasaku, Shima, and Jiraiya's auras merged into one, Jiraiya's appearance also changed slightly. Red marks appeared on his face and around his eyes, and his entire face seemed to have aged a bit.

"So this is the Sage Mode of Mount Myoboku...? Just the aura alone is enough to make one want to attack..."

"However, it doesn't seem to be a perfect Sage Mode..."

According to the records of Ryūchi Cave, a perfect Sage Mode does not involve any physical changes and does not require external assistance. Jiraiya's state is a 'half-finished' Sage Mode, which is not yet perfect but still allows him to perform Senjutsu Techniques...

"Kato, for Orochimaru's sake, if you tell me about Orochimaru now, I won't hurt you..."

With the support of Fukasaku and Shima, Jiraiya used Sage Mode in actual combat for the first time. The feeling of controlling power made even him slightly arrogant. Looking at Kato Osamu not far away, he smiled for the first time.

"You probably have no idea how powerful Jiraiya, the Toad Sage, is now!"

"Then, I'll have to experience Lord Jiraiya's superior skills..."

After saying that, Kato Osamu set up the field again, smiling as he quietly watched the annoyed expression on Jiraiya's face.

Anyone who has unleashed countless Ninjutsu attacks without breaking through the opponent's defenses would feel somewhat annoyed.

"Hmph!" Jiraiya snorted lightly, saying nothing more, but a hint of coldness appeared in his eyes—as expected of his disciple, he was just as stubborn as Orochimaru!

"Immortal Technique: Sage Art: Hair Needle Senbon!"

Having already detected the 'weakness' of the field, Jiraiya seized the opportunity to unleash his Senjutsu, the fastest and widest-range technique among all his abilities.

His white hair suddenly transformed into sharp silver spears, each one moving with the speed of a storm. With the help of Fukasaku and Shima, Jiraiya's body became greatly activated, and his Sage Art: Hair Needle Senbon were now being fired in almost unlimited bursts.

"Click... click..."

For the first time, Kato Osamu felt the terror of a saturation attack. The immense pressure caused the Soul Blade to be almost overwhelmed, and cracks suddenly appeared and then spread rapidly.

"Bang!"

Soul Blade, shattered!

"Is this what Senjutsu is...?"

As he savored the process of the Senjutsu Chakra disintegrating the field, a hint of enlightenment flashed in Kato Osamu's eyes. The moment the Soul Blade shattered, he quickly moved away from the center of the attack. At this moment, the once flat land was a mess, with soil and rocks completely reduced to dust.

"Kato, it's not that simple!"

Jiraiya moved with near-instantaneous speed, suddenly appearing behind Kato Osamu. As if already imagining Kato Osamu's terrified face, Jiraiya couldn't help but reveal his pearly white teeth.

"So fast!"

Just as Jiraiya had expected, Kato Osamu hadn't anticipated that Jiraiya in Sage Mode would be so fast. Even if it couldn't match the Flying Thunder God, it was still quite formidable in close combat.

"Spirit-Body Armor!"

"Sage Flying Kick!"

Jiraiya launched a flying kick at Kato Osamu's back, but Kato Osamu avoided the injury and used the momentum to move away from Jiraiya.

"Minato Namikaze's fighting style is really convenient..." Before Kato Osamu even landed, Jiraiya's voice came from behind him again. In Sage Mode, Kato Osamu was no match for Jiraiya.

"Immortal Technique· Ultra-Big Ball Rasengan!"

A huge sphere of light suddenly appeared behind Kato Osamu, heading straight towards her back. Jiraiya's face also showed a relaxed expression.

"Looks like we can't play anymore..."

"Spirit Transformation Technique!"

A hint of helplessness flashed across Kato Osamu's face as the Big Ball Rasengan suddenly passed through his body. Jiraiya's eyes were filled with horror, as if he didn't understand why this was happening at all. But in an instant, he felt a sharp pain in his abdomen, and blood gushed out.

In Kato Osamu's hand, the Soul Blade, which had somehow reformed, slashed a huge wound across Jiraiya's chest, spanning his abdomen. Dark incantations clung to the wound like maggots clinging to his bones.

"Oh no! Little Jiraiya! The wound won't heal!"

Fukasaku and Shima sensed Jiraiya's body, simultaneously activating it and promoting wound healing. Minor injuries would heal instantly, but now, the runes-covered wounds, despite their suppression preventing further damage, were resisting their power.

"Sealing Jutsu!"

"I never expected... his Sealing Jutsu to be so powerful..."

Jiraiya through them, and enduring the pain in his abdomen, he instantly formed a complex hand seal.

The runes suddenly shot from his hand to his abdomen, working with Fukasaku and Shima to seal away the runes left by Kato Osamu. However, it was as if the runes had devoured the flesh and blood in his abdomen. Although the wound healed in the blink of an eye, it still left a deep ravine, devoid of flesh and blood.

"I really underestimated you..."

Looking up at Kato Osamu again, Jiraiya's brows furrowed tightly, his previous ease completely gone—it was yet another secret technique he had never heard of before, so bizarre.

"You can't kill me, and you certainly can't get any information from me..."

"I can't kill you either..." Kato Osamu said, Fukasaku slightly at Jiraiya and Shima on Shima's shoulder. With the support of these two old Toad, Jiraiya recovered in an instant despite being so badly injured, and there was no sign of any decline in his aura.

Given his current strength, he's managed to fight Jiraiya this far, but there's not much chance he can defeat him unless he can eliminate Fukasaku and Shima first.

"See you next time..., Jiraiya..."

"Stay here!"

Kato Osamu's figure slowly faded into the air, disappearing without a trace no matter how Jiraiya attacked. Jiraiya frowned deeply, seemingly completely unable to understand what kind of Ninjutsu this was...

"Fukasaku, Shima, do you have any thoughts on the special secret techniques used by Kato Osamu?"

"Jiraiya, I've thought of a possibility, but I'm not entirely sure. I need to go back and look up some information..."

Fukasaku's face showed a thoughtful expression, Jiraiya was also deep in thought. Hearing Fukasaku's voice, he couldn't help but feel a little expectant.

"Then I'll leave it to you, Fukasaku!"

"I'll come to Mount Myoboku later..."

After seeing Fukasaku and Shima off, Jiraiya's face was not pleasant. He hadn't expected Kato Osamu to have grown to such a level, even his Sage Mode was helpless against him. If all the Akatsuki were like this...

Once again, Jiraiya's concern for the Akatsuki finally outweighed his obsession with his best friend, even without information about Orochimaru.

"Hey! You three! Take me to see your Fifth Mizukage! Do you understand?!"

The three trembling Anbu Ninja, probably witnessing the top-tier combat power in the Shinobi World for the first time, had a hint of reverence in their eyes, and did not immediately object to Jiraiya's orders.

"Yes... yes!" The leader of the Anbu Ninja finally gritted his teeth and agreed. With such fighting power, could they withstand the attack on their Fifth Mizukage...?

"Jiraiya from Konoha wouldn't do anything reckless, would he...?"

He couldn't help but silently mourn for the Mizukage...