"Eight Gates Formation! Why do you know the Eight Gates Formation?!"
Watching Yahiko open the first six gates of the Eight Gates Formation in one go, Jiraiya was utterly at a loss for words.
He had wondered why his opponent's taijutsu moves looked so familiar. It turned out he practiced the taijutsu that went with the Eight Gates Formation.
But the problem was that the Eight Gates Formation was a Konoha technique.
How had a technique like this fallen into the hands of Akatsuki's founder? Was this man actually from Konoha? But that didn't make sense.
"Is there a problem with me knowing this technique?"
"That's a Konoha technique!"
Green energy radiated from Yahiko's entire body as he replied.
"If I learned it, then naturally, someone taught me."
"Someone taught you? Who?"
Several names instantly sprang to Jiraiya's mind, but he quickly ruled them out one by one.
"That's none of your concern. After all, thinking won't do a dead man any good!"
As his words fell, Yahiko vanished again.
Jiraiya immediately retreated.
He had only taken one step back when the ground where he had been standing exploded.
"Fire Release!"
As he retreated, Jiraiya finished forming hand seals and spat flames from his mouth.
But a technique of this level couldn't possibly hit Yahiko.
"Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld!"
Realizing that hitting Yahiko with his sixth gate open wouldn't be so easy, Jiraiya changed tactics.
He activated Swamp of the Underworld, turning all the surrounding ground into a swamp.
Although Yahiko could walk through the air by kicking off it with the sixth gate open, he still needed to adjust his stance to attack.
And to adjust his stance, he would have to land eventually.
"Got you!"
Jiraiya kept watching where mud splashed up from the ground and