"Are you pretending I don't exist..."
The instant Jiraiya moved, Shinji stepped in front of Sasuke, catching all the white hair shooting toward them around the blade of his Kubikiribōchō before driving it hard into the ground.
Thud!
Shinji stopped Jiraiya, while Sasuke's Chidori never actually struck, coming to a final halt just behind Naruto's heart.
Sasuke had no reason to kill Naruto now. Activating Chidori had merely been his response to Naruto's earlier aggression.
If possible, he hoped Naruto would never bother him again.
"Sorry. We concede."
Jiraiya took a deep breath and made that decision for Naruto.
With his entire face pressed into the dirt, Naruto couldn't speak, but he could still hear what Jiraiya said.
"Mmph..."
Naruto was still trying to struggle. He didn't want to admit defeat, especially not to Sasuke.
But the fact was that he had already suffered a crushing defeat.
"Concede? I thought you were itching for a fight too and wanted someone to spar with."
Jiraiya knew he was in the wrong, and Sasuke hadn't actually hurt Naruto, so he said nothing more and simply took the mockery.
Seeing Jiraiya remain silent, Shinji lost interest. He didn't press the issue, simply pulling out the Kubikiribōchō.
Jiraiya also released his Ninjutsu and withdrew his hair in tacit agreement.
"Sasuke, we're leaving."
Only then did Sasuke extinguish the lightning in his hand and release Naruto, who was still eating dirt.
"Two minutes and twenty-three seconds. Looks like I still gave you too much credit."
Lying facedown on the ground, Naruto dug his hands into the earth and clenched his fists hard when he heard those words. A terrifying chakra filled with an ominous aura suddenly began radiating from his body.
If anyone could have seen Naruto's face at that moment, they would have noticed