The crow's super-condensed Tailed Beast Ball might have been the kind of lonely ultimate move... that missed every target.
Well, not exactly. The once densely forested hills had vanished from the earth, turning into a massive artificial lake... Kitahara quietly praised himself. This move was pretty good—very beneficial to the people.
Back in the day, some country had been rich enough to use nuclear weapons to build reservoirs. This move had a similar effect, and without any radiation. The nearby residents would probably be grateful, right?
But it took too long to gather Chakra, and its accuracy was somewhat off. For now, it could only be used as a strategic nuclear weapon. It still needed plenty of practice... practice...
"...Kitahara, it didn't hurt Teacher Jiraiya, did it...?"
Uchiha Itachi acknowledged the strength of the legendary Sannin, but before a natural disaster that could easily destroy an entire town... it was hard to say whether he could emerge unscathed.
"Caw?"
Thinking back to when he had fired the Tailed Beast Ball, Kitahara remembered spotting a giant toad fleeing. They probably had not suffered any accidents, right?
Once the children gathered around Itachi had gotten over their panic, they became lively again, chirping away about wanting to go home...
There were also a few odd children crying that they were thirsty and wanted water...
Perhaps because they had seen the groundwater rise up and turn into a lake...
Jiraiya was comparatively lucky. Protected by Gamabunta, he had not suffered any serious injuries, only slight internal damage. At that moment, he was reflecting on himself.
"Silence is golden..."
Every day, he came up with a different reason to insult the crow... Yet merely being caught in the aftermath had nearly killed him. One could only imagine what the center of the blast looked like...
He had originally thought his new disciple was merely extraordinarily gifted. Even if Itachi's learning ability was roughly on par with Nagato's, his future achievements still seemed likely to be limited.
He had neither a sage's eyes nor any apparent special heritage or talent... The Sharingan? Don't joke around. Jiraiya had never even seen a truly powerful Uchiha!
But that crow on his shoulder... Jiraiya was beginning to wonder whether there was really any need to search for the Child of Prophecy.
A single Tailed Beast Ball could effortlessly wipe out a hidden village of one of the Five Great Nations... Refuse to listen, and a natural disaster would descend.
When Jiraiya returned to the center of the battlefield, he saw Uchiha Itachi. The little boy was sitting beside a bonfire, telling stories to a group of children.
Uchiha Itachi told the tale earnestly. Though it was only a myth from legend, the way he told it made it sound as though it had truly happened...
"...To avenge his friend, Hou Yi shot down nine suns in succession. After the remaining little sun escaped, it called itself Amaterasu Ōmikami and transformed into a crow, diligently governing the human world..."
"...It was said that an eight-headed serpent called the Yamata no Orochi had wrought havoc upon the human world, so Amaterasu ordered her subordinate Susanoo to kill it with the Totsuka Blade... From its body, he pulled out a Kusanagi Sword..."
At that point, Itachi pointed at the snakeskin on the ground, then tapped the Kusanagi Sword in his hand... making Jiraiya's brow twitch violently...
The children beside him all expressed their shock!
"Wow, this sword was just found inside that snake's body!"
"Was it the Yamata no Orochi?"
"It definitely was! Didn't we just see that sword pulled out from its corpse?"
"..."
The story Uchiha Itachi had told was rather strange...
Jiraiya was in no mood to correct the story's inaccuracies. His eyes were simply red as he stepped forward, excitedly stroking the snakeskin. "Orochimaru... Hm? So he really isn't dead..."
Did he want Orochimaru dead... or did he want him alive?
Jiraiya clearly understood the principles behind Orochimaru's Great Serpent Style Substitution Technique. By consuming a huge amount of Chakra, it incubated a new body, much like a snake shedding its skin...
This remaining snakeskin had been left behind by the Great Serpent Style Substitution Technique. It seemed that man had probably escaped... Faced with an unknown danger, how could he possibly have stayed?
While Uchiha Itachi had been leading the children to search the battlefield, he found a long snake shed. To his surprise, he discovered a Kusanagi Sword inside it, so he began a little lecture...
He told a complete mess of a story, one that blended together myths Kitahara had told with myths Fugaku Uchiha had recounted.
The facts fully proved one thing: whatever the truth was, once it became a story told by Uchiha Itachi, it turned into utter nonsense...
Uchiha Itachi looked at him worriedly. "Teacher Jiraiya! Are you all right?"
"Hahaha... How could I be hurt..." A streak of crimson flowed from the corner of Jiraiya's mouth as he laughed and gasped. He hurriedly wiped it away awkwardly, then feigned composure as he asked, "How are all of you?"
"Kitahara protected us, so none of us were badly hurt, but..." Itachi frowned and said quietly, "Manda should have escaped after releasing the Summoning Technique!"
Jiraiya: "..."
So Orochimaru had used the Great Serpent Style Substitution Technique to recover from his wounds, while Manda had released the Summoning Technique and returned to Ryūchi Cave...
So the result of that Tailed Beast Ball was that he and Gamabunta had suffered the most miserably...
Who had they even provoked? Especially Gamabunta—it had appeared the latest, yet suffered the worst injuries...
And now that it had returned on its own with those injuries, the toads of Mount Myōboku would probably be traumatized by Jiraiya's summoning calls.
"Was that huge explosion just now caused by the crow lord you brought with you? How is it now?" Jiraiya searched for the crow... It was unclear whether he wanted to argue with it or apologize to it...
"It was too late, and Kitahara was really too sleepy..." Uchiha Itachi carefully pointed at the crow sleeping soundly beside him. "So I let him sleep..."
Curled up in sleep, Kitahara seemed to be dreaming about something. He turned over, looking as though nothing had happened. He slept very well.
"...Let him get some proper rest... After all, he used such a powerful technique..." Jiraiya shook his head helplessly. "Itachi, it seems I won't need to help you find a summoning beast anymore..."
Besides, Jiraiya felt that Mount Myōboku probably would not welcome them right now. He did not dare share a Summoning Contract with Uchiha Itachi, either...
That move was simply too deadly!
He did not want Kitahara, who could be a little jealous, to blow Mount Myōboku into the sky over such a trivial matter...
Mount Myōboku.
Things there were indeed about to turn upside down.
Sage Fukasaku and Sage Shima watched their son hurriedly head off to Jiraiya's side, then rush back in a panic... But he was in a terrible state.
Blood covered the ground... He was teetering on the brink of life and death...
As long as he did not die, with the vitality and recovery ability of Mount Myōboku's toads, he would soon be hopping around again, catching bugs.
Sage Shima even began worrying about their contractor. "Did Little Jiraiya encounter a powerful enemy? Old man, let's go take a look..."
"Don't go!" Gamabunta firmly stopped the two elderly toads. "That crow is too strong! My injuries were only because I was on the outskirts of its attack... If you accidentally got too close..."
Sage Fukasaku shot his old wife a startled glance, then questioned his son, "What exactly happened to you? The outskirts?
"Don't tell me that as soon as you reached Little Jiraiya's place, you started running away?"
"..." Gamabunta was troubled, because his father had spoken the truth. He did not know how to describe that kind of danger to his parents. Maybe he should find some time to have Jiraiya come over?
It seemed that... he could have brought Jiraiya back just now...
No, he should have brought Jiraiya back to Mount Myōboku the instant that Tailed Beast Ball fell!
Second update. I'm exhausted, so give it a quick read first. I'll revise it tomorrow. Also, please send some recommendation votes.
Before you continue