Minato sensed the leg kicking towards him and, without hesitation, mobilized all his Chakra once more, targeting the Flying Thunder God Kunai around him.
Almost at the same time.
Araki reached into his ninja tool pouch with his left hand and threw a Flying Thunder God Kunai upwards, which landed squarely on Jiraiya's head.
Minato immediately noticed this moving Flying Thunder God Formula.
Almost without hesitation.
Minato immediately activated the Flying Thunder God Formula, controlling his body and Flying Thunder God Technique, causing him to flash upwards.
Bang!
Bang!
Two sounds of collision rang out, and when Araki's palm collided with Jiraiya's arm, it immediately contained a soft green light.
After colliding, the two quickly retreated, creating some distance between them.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh...
The sound of air being torn apart suddenly rang out at that moment. The Kunai thrown by Kushina almost sealed off all the space around Jiraiya and shot straight towards Jiraiya.
Whoosh!
Above his head, Minato's figure flashed quickly, his right hand gripping the Flying Thunder God Kunai that was rising. At this moment, he chose to trust Araki, his eyes fixed on the bell on Jiraiya's body. He knew very well that in their silent plan, it was Araki and Kushina who created the opportunity for him to take the bell.
The ground is now covered with Kunai, and the only space to hide is the air above. In other words, if Jiraiya wants to avoid these Kunai, he must leap high into the air, which would just cause him to collide with Minato.
What a brilliant teamwork!
A smile appeared on Jiraiya's face, and his hands immediately formed hand Hand Seals rapidly. Before he could even complete the Hand Seals, his long, silver-white hair began to grow at an alarming rate.
"Ninjutsu: Needle Jizo!"
Jiraiya's silver-white hair grew extremely rapidly, covering his entire body in the blink of an eye. As the hair hardened, it looked like countless silver needles, resembling a hedgehog.
Ding ding ding ding ding...
Kunai struck Jiraiya's hair one after another, making a metallic clanging sound, but all of Kunai were blocked.
but.
After completing this block.
Jiraiya immediately restored his hair to its original state.
After all, he came here to test these disciples, not to actually fight. Otherwise, if he had maintained this state, these disciples would have had no way to obtain the bell.
In that instant, he felt a fierce gust of wind above his head, coming from Minato Namikaze descending from above.
Since the Kunai did not force Jiraiya to leap, he could only attack from above, and could not focus on the bell. This meant that he immediately changed his battle strategy in that instant.
"Not bad!"
Jiraiya's smile grew even wider. He was someone who enjoyed teaching, and having excellent disciples was a very gratifying thing for him. Now, seeing these three people achieve such a feat, he was filled with excitement.
In fact, Jiraiya had already acknowledged his three disciples from the moment Araki and the other two began to defer to each other.
Now, the three of them are displaying a rare and exquisite teamwork, completely exceeding his expectations and making him even more surprised on top of his initial delight.
In an instant.
Jiraiya raised his hands to meet Minato's attack.
As far as he could see, Kushina was still quite a distance away, and after using the scroll that sealed the Kunai, she hadn't used any other Sealing Jutsu. This gave him reason to speculate that she seemed to have no more powerful methods left.
Jiraiya was not surprised by this.
Kushina is a member of the Uzumaki Clan, which he had already researched before taking her as a disciple. He had met and interacted with members of the Uzumaki Clan before. They almost never use Ninjutsu, relying instead on their family's Sealing Jutsu.
This is somewhat similar to the Hyuga Clan in the village.
When a family's inherited skills become powerful enough, those skills that can be learned by the general public seem somewhat inferior.
It's not that you can't learn, but there's no need to waste time on it. You could spend that time practicing more powerful techniques.
but...
Sealing Jutsu are different from the Gentle Fist of the Hyuga Clan; this is a technique that becomes more powerful as it grows stronger in later stages.
In the early stages, it was somewhat of a waste of time.
When the caster is not strong enough, the combat power they can display is very limited, and they may even be the weakest member of the team.
But once you raise them...
Then, in the later stages, it's all about controlling the game.
Jiraiya was well aware of this; considering Kushina's age, it was already quite impressive that she could use such a scroll.
and.
To some extent.
This scroll is sustainable; the scattered Kunai can still be retrieved, which is very important.
It's not a disposable item.
The technical skill involved is quite advanced, which indirectly reflects Kushina's mastery of Sealing Jutsu.
On the other side.
Araki, who had just retreated, stood at about the same distance as Kushina.
Under such circumstances, no matter how fast they are, they cannot get to his side in a short time, and even if the latter launches an attack, he can calmly deal with Minato after dealing with him.
In other words...
That attack just now was actually their strongest combined attack, and also the closest they got to the bell!
Things won't be so easy from now on.
This kind of battle is least afraid of fighting alone.
Solving them one by one would be no challenge for him at all; he could easily and happily torment each child until they questioned their existence.
Almost instantly, Jiraiya had already analyzed the current situation in his mind and turned his attention to Minato, who was coming down from above.
Jiraiya raised his hands, but just as they were halfway up, an indescribable sharp pain shot through his arms. Not only did he fail to raise his hands to their original height, but they also drooped down, and he couldn't muster any strength at all.
"???"
A whole host of questions immediately popped into Jiraiya's mind. This was the first time something like this had ever happened, and he had no idea what was going on. He was completely bewildered by this sudden turn of events.
but...
Now is not the time to think about these things carefully.
Minato was right above him, wielding Kunai. Although it couldn't hurt him, the way he was positioned, combined with the teleportation-like Flying Thunder God Technique, left him with no doubt that if he didn't dodge, he might lose his bell.
Suddenly.
Jiraiya suddenly exerted force with both feet, stomping the ground with terrifying power, creating a loud bang and immediately causing himself to shift a distance to the side.
This distance allowed him to avoid Minato's attack.
But...
Jiraiya was about to raise his hand again to try, a figure suddenly appeared in front of him, appearing instantly like a ghost, as if it had been waiting for him there.
That figure was none other than Araki.
Araki was holding a Kunai in his left hand, with the Flying Thunder God technique inscribed on it—it was Minato's Flying Thunder God Kunai.
He took the Kunai and threw it at a 45-degree angle downwards towards Jiraiya's thigh, the position perfectly aligned with the bell.
This Kunai immediately caught Jiraiya's attention.
Immediately afterwards.
Araki's hands struck towards Jiraiya again, his movements incredibly fast, his palms radiating a soft aura of Chakra.
"This is it!"
Jiraiya's attention was immediately drawn to the aura emanating from Araki's hand. He realized that his arms had just come into contact with this green-glowing palm, which was why he couldn't lift them.
The problem must lie in this palm.
I can't let those hands touch me again!
The thought immediately popped into Jiraiya's mind, but before he could think of anything else, the Flying Thunder God Kunai was already at his waist.
"Good lad!"
When Jiraiya encountered this situation, he didn't get angry but smiled. The more amazing the three kids were, the happier he was, which proved that his judgment in choosing disciples was correct.
He is now facing a choice between two options.
If you choose to defend Araki, you have to give up the bell.
Choosing to defend against Minato means you'll be attacked by Araki.
We can't give up the bell!
Jiraiya that instant. After all, if he gave up the bell, the assessment could be declared over immediately, and he didn't want it to end so quickly. He still wanted to play with his disciples a bit more.
Of course, he wasn't using his full strength right now. He didn't use the technique that made his hair grow back. At such close range, using such a technique would only result in injuring Araki and Minato.
He didn't want to do that.
Instantly.
After weighing his options, Jiraiya slightly turned his body, using the force of his turn to fling the bell behind him, and then raised his foot again to kick Minato.
at the same time.
He struggled to raise his hands, controlling his Chakra to surge upwards, and the tingling sensation he had felt before was gone.
Bang!
First, a sound of collision rang out.
Jiraiya's kick landed squarely on Minato, sending the latter flying.
Just that moment.
Minato did not use the Flying Thunder God Technique.