Chapter 179: Sage Mode
On the fighting platform, Jiraiya had no time to think. He formed hand seals again, channeling chakra back into his long hair.
This time, he did not attack with his hair. Instead, he reeled it in, using its strength to pull himself toward the front-left side of the field.
The Rabbit Escape swarm was converging on his original position from every direction. Staying there would only leave him surrounded and trapped.
But although Jiraiya had evaded Divine Dog: White's frontal assault, Divine Dog: Black was already waiting along his path.
This black, wolf-shaped shikigami was the craftiest of all. It had concealed itself from the start, lurking in the dark shadows.
"Another one!"
Jiraiya let out a startled cry, took a huge step backward with his left foot, and slammed his right hand into the ground.
Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld!
In an instant, the entire stretch of ground between the Rabbit Escape swarm and Divine Dog: Black liquefied into a viscous swamp.
The swamp slowed the rabbits' advance, and Divine Dog: Black's pursuit faltered as well.
Jiraiya seized the opening to escape the rabbits' encirclement, his hands forming another dazzlingly fast sequence of seals.
Earth Release: Opening Earth Rising Excavation!
As Jiraiya clapped his hands together, the earth abruptly heaved upward. Countless rabbits and both Divine Dogs were smashed into shadows by the overturned ground.
Seeing this, Sōji calmly raised his hand again.
The next moment, Desolate Skeleton emerged fully from the Black Cavity behind him. The thirty-meter skeletal giant cast an enormous shadow beneath the midday sun, its white bones coated in grayish-brown keratin that gleamed cold and hard.
Its bony claws spread as it descended from above!
Jiraiya's face turned green. He hurriedly whipped his long hair out, pulling himself to safety.