BOOM!!!
As the saying went, the greatest forms were silent. Even sound seemed afraid of such terrifying power. Only after a long, drawn-out moment did the noise reach them, while the surrounding buildings were torn to pieces.
Tap!
With a soft tap, Madara Uchiha dispelled his Susanoo and landed before Jiraiya.
Jiraiya lay sprawled on the ground, covered in wounds. Perhaps because he had used more natural energy than he could control, his body had taken on a whitish cast, as though he had begun to turn to stone.
Even so, Jiraiya refused to give up. Trembling all over, he rose to his feet and stared at Madara Uchiha with bloodshot eyes. Seeing that Madara appeared unhurt, his gaze dimmed for a moment. Yet he stubbornly extended his battered right hand, and with an exertion of his will, a head-sized Rasengan appeared in his palm.
Just as Jiraiya was about to move, Madara Uchiha anticipated his intention. An enormous Susanoo arm materialized around Madara, then slapped Jiraiya, who could barely stand, sending him flying.
BOOM!
With a thunderous crash, the Rasengan in Jiraiya's hand slammed into the ground, gouging out another enormous crater.
"Enough. This farce ends here. You win this time, brat from Konoha."
Jiraiya was in terrible shape. That Rasengan had been his last means of attack, yet Madara Uchiha had casually thwarted even that.
Jiraiya had therefore already resigned himself to being killed by Madara Uchiha. He had never expected to hear those words instead.
"Huh?"
Jiraiya barely managed to roll over and laboriously prop up the upper half of his body. Watching Madara Uchiha warily a short distance away, he asked in a hoarse voice:
"Madara Uchiha, what do you mean?"
Madara Uchiha clearly held an overwhelming advantage. Killing Jiraiya would have taken little more than