Jiraiya Crushed by Orochimaru?

Seven days passed in the blink of an eye.

Konoha's Back Mountain.

A cold wind swept dead leaves across the ground, sending them swirling through the clearing.

Eleven little heads, plus Might Duy in his green bodysuit, huddled at the edge, hardly daring to breathe.

At the center of the clearing.

Orochimaru and Jiraiya stood facing each other.

Today was the day they would put the results of their forbidden techniques to the test.

Tsunade was the referee.

Tsunade stood between them and casually stuck a twig into the ground.

"The rules are simple."

Tsunade looked up, her gaze sweeping over them both.

"Anything goes, even if someone dies."

"As long as you stay on this mountain, do whatever you want."

Orochimaru's and Jiraiya's mouths twitched, but neither said anything more.

They both knew the other would never actually try to kill him.

But they would certainly go all out!

"When the twig falls, begin."

The moment she finished speaking, Tsunade pushed off the ground and vanished, reappearing in the crown of a tree beyond the battlefield.

Click.

The wind blew over the twig.

Jiraiya slammed his hands together, and his long white hair sprang out like a hedgehog's spines.

"Ninja Art: Needle Jizō!"

His soft white hair instantly hardened into countless steel needles. It wrapped around him, then shot toward Orochimaru.

A cold smile tugged at Orochimaru's pale face.

"Jiraiya, that little probe of yours is boring."

He did not even form a hand sign.

An eerie hiss rose from his throat.

Boom!

The ground beneath Orochimaru collapsed.

Violent chakra surged outward in a ring like a tangible hurricane.

The nearby barrier shook fiercely, creaking under the strain.

"What kind of chakra is that..."

Minato Namikaze stared at the center of the battlefield, his blue pupils contracting sharply.

The chakra was so dense it seemed to writhe through the air like something alive!

The next instant.

Before everyone's horrified eyes, Orochimaru's body began to warp beyond belief.

His pale skin split apart inch by inch.

No ordinary blood spilled out.

Instead, rolling masses of white scales pushed through.

Bones cracked and shattered, then reformed with a sickening sound.

Eight enormous, pallid-scaled snake heads roared as they smashed through the surrounding rock and surged toward the sky!

Eight Branches Technique!

The wind howled, and dust and stones blotted out the sun.

An eight-headed serpent as vast as a mountain now loomed over Back Mountain.

Its eight barbed tails lashed at random, instantly flattening the entire forest behind it.

Enormous.

Terrifying.

Its oppressive presence stole the breath from their lungs.

The children of the Special Training Class were stunned.

Hyuga Hiashi's legs went weak. His Byakugan activated beyond his control, veins bulging around his eyes.

A monster!

That wasn't a ninja at all!

They had only ever seen chakra take physical form on this scale in their clans' ancient accounts of Tailed Beasts!

Uchiha Mikoto's face turned deathly pale. She bit her lip hard to keep herself from collapsing.

So this was the assistant instructor's true strength?!

All eight of the giant serpent's massive heads lowered at once.

They fixed their gaze on Jiraiya, who looked no bigger than an ant on the ground.

Cold, ravenous greed gleamed in their dark-gold slit pupils.

One head suddenly opened its vast maw.

A foul wind struck him.

The huge jaws slammed toward Jiraiya like a falling meteor.

Boom!

The earth shook, and soil flew everywhere.

Against the serpent's crushing strength, Needle Jizō's defense lasted only half a second before shattering.

Jiraiya flew backward just above the ground, smashing through more than a dozen trees before finally stopping.

"Cough, cough..."

Jiraiya spat out bloody saliva. Every bone in his body felt ready to fall apart.

That damned freak.

Seven days! Just seven days!

He'd actually mastered the Eight Branches Technique!

Physical attacks were useless!

The serpent's other seven heads had already cut off every escape route.

He couldn't hold back anymore.

"Fire Style: Dragon Flame Song!"

Jiraiya drew a deep breath, his chest swelling before he blasted out four blazing fire dragons.

The dragons roared into every blind spot around the serpent, then exploded.

Raging flames charred two of its heads beyond recognition.

Before the children of the Special Training Class could cheer.

Orochimaru's raspy laughter came from within the sea of fire.

The nauseating sound of flesh tearing followed.

The scorched skin on both heads split apart.

Two fresh white snake heads, slick with mucus, forced their way out of the charred remains.

The infinite regeneration granted by his fusion.

"You sick freak!"

Jiraiya cursed. He did not pause for even half a second after landing before turning to run.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The eight tails hammered the ground like steel whips.

Jiraiya could only leap and duck, scrambling through the rubble like a headless chicken.

He had no chance to fight back.

Outside the battlefield.

"So that's Lord Jiraiya's strength? Doesn't look like much!"

Nawaki frowned as he watched.

Kushina Uzumaki looked disappointed too. She pouted and muttered:

"He's no match for Lord Orochimaru. All he does is run."

Minato Namikaze kept his eyes on the battlefield and quickly assessed the fight:

"The gap is too big."

"With regeneration that fast, ordinary ninjutsu can't kill him. Lord Orochimaru has a monstrous amount of chakra."

The other children nodded along.

No one expected Jiraiya to win.

It was a completely one-sided beating.

Jiraiya's defeat seemed only a matter of time.

High above, Tsunade narrowed her eyes as she watched Jiraiya getting battered and covered in dust below.

The others could not see what was happening.

She could see it perfectly.

Ever since Jiraiya had been forced on the defensive, he had not tried to counterattack.

He was buying time.

As he fled, he had secretly used his own blood to draw two lines beneath his eyes.

His hands had remained tightly clasped the entire time.

Those bloodlines were the medium for a Summoning Jutsu.

He was preparing to summon a powerful creature!

And who it was went without saying!

Several minutes later.

At the center of the battlefield.

Jiraiya skidded to a halt atop a huge boulder.

He stopped running.

All eight of the serpent's heads opened their mouths, venom dripping from their fangs and eating into the ground.

"Giving up already?" Orochimaru asked, his voice full of mockery.

Jiraiya snapped his head up.

A playful glint had appeared in his eyes.

"Give up? Sorry, that word isn't in my dictionary."

Jiraiya slowly straightened and looked directly at the serpent before him.

"Orochimaru, you've always wanted to see whether I succeeded with Senjutsu."

"Today, you'll get your wish!"

All sixteen of the serpent's eyes narrowed at once.

The next instant, Jiraiya tore his clasped hands apart.

And slammed them into the ground!

"Summoning Technique!!"

Poof!!

Thick white smoke billowed up.

As the smoke cleared.

Two little toads wearing cloaks appeared on Jiraiya's shoulders.

Toad-like features had appeared on Jiraiya's face as well!

Jiraiya, the Sage!