Madara Uchiha's body was an Impure World Reincarnation body, so facing Jiraiya, who resembled a hedgehog, did not faze him in the slightest. Instead, he increased the pull of Banshō Ten'in, drawing Jiraiya straight into his palm and effortlessly activating the Preta Path's chakra absorption technique.
"Too weak. I thought you might spark a little interest in me, but I never expected you to be this pathetic. Has Konoha truly rotted away? Even someone of your caliber dares to call himself a sage."
As he felt Jiraiya's chakra flow into his body without the slightest resistance, Madara Uchiha felt no joy at all. Instead, he was deeply disappointed.
Just then, however, Jiraiya suddenly raised his head in Madara Uchiha's grasp, a sly smile curling at the corners of his mouth. Madara Uchiha paused in surprise.
"You fell for it..."
As soon as Jiraiya finished speaking, the hair wrapped around his entire body returned to its original length, revealing the Explosive Tags plastered all over him.
Boom!
The Explosive Tags had already burned down to their ends, so the instant Madara Uchiha's gaze landed on them, they erupted in a violent explosion.
As the deafening explosion rang out, the real Jiraiya's face twitched slightly in a nearby corner, and cold sweat beaded on his forehead.
"Hiss... getting blown to death by Explosive Tags really hurts. I wonder how long it'll take that monster to recover."
To conceal his Shadow Clone from that monster's eyes, Jiraiya had poured most of his chakra into it. That, coupled with Madara Uchiha's own lax, casual attitude, had made this outcome possible.
However, Jiraiya knew the effects of the Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu very well. He understood that even though his strategy had worked well, it would not do much damage to that man. All it