Boom!
As the stomach walls of Mount Myōboku's Rock Lodging Toad vanished, a lake's worth of water spread out in an instant.
Then two figures appeared.
One stood, while the other lay on the ground.
Though the enemy's strength and tenacity had somewhat exceeded Jiraiya's expectations, making the process a little bumpy, the winner was still him-Demon Jiraiya of the Konoha Sannin!
Kisame was in a rather miserable state, especially with the Stone Sword embedded in his chest, just a centimeter away from piercing his heart.
This was clearly the result of Jiraiya deliberately holding back at the end.
As a precaution, he needed to take this fellow along and try to exchange him for Naruto.
Even if that failed, he needed to make Itachi hesitate to act.
Provided their relationship really was as good as he imagined.
"Sages, I need you to help me maintain Sage Mode. I'm going after him right now. I'm afraid something will happen to Naruto if I'm too late."
Jiraiya took a couple of heavy breaths before steadying his breathing.
Though he seemed largely uninjured, he had expended a great deal of energy.
One could say Kisame had been completely overwhelmed by Jiraiya's relentless series of Senjutsu attacks.
So much so that Kisame's Water Release and enormous reserves of chakra had never had a chance to come into play.
"Go ahead, little Jiraiya. The old man and I will help you."
"Yes, that's right."
Sages Fukasaku and Shima nodded together, then quietly concentrated on helping Jiraiya replenish the senjutsu chakra he had just expended to extend the duration of Sage Mode.
If he deactivated it now, entering Sage Mode again after catching up would waste too much time, and the enemy might exploit that opening.
Fortunately, though Jiraiya had yet to master Sage Mode,