In the middle of the battlefield, Jiraiya's chest had been pierced straight through where his heart was.
Yet, not a single drop of blood flowed from the wound.
Clearly, Jiraiya wasn't dead—he had entered some strange state.
This was what made the ancient sages so troublesome. Each one had their own secret techniques, and every single one of them was hard to deal with.
Even the Six Paths-level warriors recorded in future history weren't true sages. They had only inherited Rikudou Sennin's teachings.
The reason Jiraiya had earned the respect of the White Snake Sage and the Great Toad Sage, and even made Jigen take him so seriously, was because he had truly carved his own path.
He wasn't just relying on Mount Myoboku's sage techniques.
After all, even Myoboku's teachings hadn't reached Rikudou Sennin's level.
At that moment, deep in Jiraiya's spiritual world, within an endless darkness, a tiny flame flickered to life.
As the fire grew, a figure slowly emerged, his ceremonial robe swaying in the wind.
As the view zoomed in, the figure became clearer—golden hair, a youthful and handsome face.
It was none other than the Fourth Hokage of Konohagakure, Jiraiya's proud disciple—Namikaze Minato.
The next moment, Minato stretched out his hand and grasped the flame. At the same time, the fallen Jiraiya, lying before him, suddenly stood up.
Their figures overlapped—Jiraiya took Minato's place.
Just before the fire faded away, countless figures appeared behind Jiraiya, stretching endlessly into the darkness.
Back in the real world, Jiraiya's wounds healed in an instant.
"Divine Power - Descent!"
A powerful aura surged from Jiraiya's body. He had been completely reborn, his strength reaching an even higher level.
However…
His enemy had already disappeared.
"..."
"He's gone?"
Jiraiya jumped to his feet, scratching his head awkwardly.
In that state just now, even if his heart had been destroyed—or even if he had lost his entire body—he would still have been able to revive.
This was Jiraiya's true secret technique—"Descent."
By using his beliefs and willpower, he could connect with the spirits of those who had once walked the same path as him.
Even if he died, as long as the last trace of his will remained, he could come back to life.
It was an incredibly overpowered ability.
As Shanks would say, this was the true "Will of Fire."
A single spark could ignite an entire field.
As long as the flame never went out, it would only burn stronger.
That was why Jiraiya's sage technique focused entirely on survival—his ability to stay alive was maxed out.
There was nothing Jiraiya could do about it. His awakening happened because of Shanks. At that moment, he had pulled in a portion of Shanks' spirit, which was basically like Shanks stepping onto the battlefield himself. Even though their power levels were different, the intensity was the same.
That was just Shanks' nature. No matter what state he was in, even if he was barely holding on, his attack power wouldn't drop in the slightest.
So how could Jiraiya possibly wear down Shanks to death? With his strong defense? No way.
Shanks' attacks weren't something a normal person could block completely. Even if Jiraiya's spiritual strength was solid and his willpower was strong, Shanks was simply stronger.
A will that can pierce through the future—how do you even compare to that? You can't.
This went beyond just spiritual power. Spiritual power, in a way, was still a matter of quantity. But willpower and belief—those made spiritual power even more terrifying in quality.
And the quality of Shanks' spiritual power? Jiraiya couldn't even begin to understand how that guy had built it up.
For a normal person, if the world's will had accidentally pulled on their spirit like that, they'd probably pass out instantly.
But Shanks? He only lost a small bit, and he still acted like nothing had happened.
So inside Jiraiya's own spiritual world, he had no way to defeat Shanks.
It was one of those embarrassing situations where you pull someone into your own home turf, only to get completely beaten up by them.
Then again, this kind of thing fit Jiraiya's usual style. But if he had truly lost, he would've gone down in history as a disgrace to the ninja world.
At that time, both the White Snake Sage and the Great Toad Sage had thought Jiraiya had it in the bag. No one knew the kind of torment he had suffered inside his own spiritual world.
In the end, it was just dumb luck that led him to develop the absurd technique known as "Descent."
Can't block it? Then don't even try.
If you want to kill me, go ahead. Even if I die, there are thousands more of me. Let's see who lasts longer.
"Looks like this ability has some big flaws. The time it takes to use Descent is still way too long."
Jiraiya muttered to himself.
"No wonder Orochimaru became the legendary dragon, took over Ryuchi Cave, and even managed to scheme against Shanks—yet still didn't gain anything from it."
"Against someone like Shanks, there's just no opening to attack… But…"
Jiraiya suddenly thought of Jigen.
That guy… he wouldn't seriously try to challenge Shanks in his current state, would he?
Jiraiya recalled his own experience during his awakening—he had died nearly fifty times just to withstand Shanks' attacks.
Every time he used "Descent," his spiritual power and willpower stacked up, and even his chakra control improved.
And only after stacking it fifty times did he finally reach a level equal to Shanks.
And that was a weakened version of Shanks. The real Shanks? Jiraiya probably wouldn't be able to surpass him in his lifetime.
Jiraiya shook his head, a bitter smile flashing across his face.
"Shanks… The future of the ninja world depends on you now.
A small spark can start a wildfire—isn't that how the saying goes?"
Jiraiya withdrew from Sage Mode and returned to normal. With his current strength, the only person in the ninja world who could defeat him was Shanks.
And it wasn't that Jiraiya had no chance of surpassing Shanks.
But he didn't want that chance. In fact, he'd rather die than use that method to surpass him.
"Jiraiya-sama!!"
At that moment, Gai and Killer Bee came running over from the distance. When they saw that Jiraiya was unharmed, they both let out a sigh of relief.
Good. Otherwise, things would have gotten really messy.
"Gai, Killer Bee!"
Jiraiya straightened himself up, his face becoming more serious.
"No major casualties, right?"
"N-No.
They didn't attack us, but they took all our ships. They also took those pirates with them."
Killer Bee and Guy didn't look good. Those pirates weren't very strong—they had been captured soon after gaining their Devil Fruit abilities.
Plus, with their powers restricted by Seastone, they never even had the chance to develop their abilities.
But their determination and ambition were terrifying. Now that they had escaped, trouble was bound to follow.
Who knew if another "Jigen" would rise from among them?
"Jiraiya-sama, is that guy Jigen really a pirate?"
Killer Bee's face was serious. He had never heard of that name before.
If pirates had become this powerful, then…
"Yes, he's a big-time pirate.
He's even strong enough to challenge Shanks' position. But not all pirates can reach his level."
Jiraiya walked toward the distant group, explaining as he went.
"He didn't reveal his identity, but his mental energy is unusual. He's probably someone who has lived for a long time.
He might have used the power of the Greyral Stone. In this era, there shouldn't be many people like him."
Jigen hadn't claimed to be from the Otsutsuki clan, so Jiraiya could only assume this was his background. And honestly, it made sense—there was nothing wrong with the idea.
An ancient nation with Greyral Stone technology producing such a powerful figure wasn't surprising.
"I see. As long as there aren't too many like him, that's a relief."
Killer Bee let out a breath of relief. At least he wasn't completely out of his depth in this era.
Even though he had lived through the Third Shinobi War, Killer Bee felt that the pressure of this time was even greater than back then.
Back then, it was just battles between villages, and the consequences weren't too extreme.
What does that mean? Well, people died in war, but at least it was just people. Now, the scale of battle was completely out of control.
One wrong move, and an entire nation could be wiped out—completely erased, leaving nothing behind.
In the past, every village had a Tailed Beast as a "nuclear deterrent." But now? Now, these Devil Fruit users were the new nuclear deterrents.
"Let's go. The mission failed. Looks like the Five Great Nations will be busy again."
Jiraiya sighed. The nobles and daimyos of the Five Great Nations would probably use this as an excuse to stir up trouble. But that had nothing to do with him.
This matter had nothing to do with Jiraiya. It would just be another round of political games between the nobles and the villages, with the nobles trying to gain more benefits.
But that wasn't too big of a deal. No matter what, the ninja villages of the Five Great Nations still stood with their countries. Those political games were just minor issues.
If a real crisis came, they wouldn't even have time for politics.
Meanwhile, Jigen led the captured ships and pirates south to the coastal region of the Land of Wind, where he found a place to land.
At this moment, Jigen's body was barely holding on.
If not for the lingering energy from the Dragon Vein sustaining him during the battle, Isshiki would have taken over by now.
Luckily, thanks to the life force from the Dragon Vein, Jigen's body hadn't completely collapsed yet.
Boom!!
More than ten large ships crashed down from the sky, sending sand flying across the beach. The pirates looked around, all showing some level of fear on their faces.
They also saw the fight between Jigen and Jiraiya.
That kind of power… calling it a natural disaster wouldn't be an exaggeration.
"Did we… escape?"
"Why did that guy save us?"
"No idea, but we should hurry and run while we can. If we wait too long, the ninjas will catch up."
Some pirates quickly realized what was going on.
The shackles on their bodies were made of metal—not Seastone.
They had simply been tied down with a lot of Seastone, but with no one guarding them, removing it was easy.
Before long, some pirates had freed themselves.
Finally…
They looked at the ocean right in front of them, breathing in the salty sea air.
At last, their era as pirates had begun.
"Hahaha! I finally made it out! This new era needs someone like me!"
"Heh… hahaha… Ninjas, next time we meet, things won't be this easy.
I hope you can handle the sea as well as you handled today."
"So this is… the taste of a new era. Even the sea breeze feels freer.
The power to break the old era… it's time to rise with the waves."
A young man clenched his fists, staring at the ocean with excitement.
This sea belonged to them, the pirates.
But then, he saw a figure sitting on a rock by the shore.
The scent of blood filled the air—Jigen's clothes were soaked in red.
His head was hanging low, and his katana lay beside him.
With a nervous heart, the young man took a few steps forward.
Jigen's power was terrifying.
"That's him? He's way stronger than I expected."
"So this is the power of a Devil Fruit… One day, I'll have strength like this too."
"…"
A crowd started to gather.
The young man finally spoke.
"Jigen… sir!!"
Jigen didn't respond. He just sat there silently.
When he didn't answer for a long time, the crowd moved closer—only then did they realize how badly he was injured.
Almost every bone in his body was broken, even his skull was cracked.
Jigen had passed out.
"Can anyone save him?"
"I'll give it a try."
"I'll try too. Letting an arrogant guy like him die here would be such a waste."
"Hah… talking about challenging Shanks, yet almost dying at the hands of ninjas…
He really is a pirate, through and through."
They carried Jigen back to the beach. As they looked at the man lying on the sand, an indescribable feeling stirred in their hearts.
They all understood why Jigen had come to save them. After all, he was a pioneer among pirates in this era, someone important enough to be taken seriously by the Five Great Nations. They weren't fools.
"Taking on the strongest man in the shinobi world, huh? Doing it alone probably won't be enough. Even that man has strong allies by his side."
"Hope you make it out alive."
Some chose to stay, while others turned and left without hesitation.
Their goal wasn't to become the strongest. They had their own ambitions.
But no matter what, they would never forget the man not far from them.
That golden Armament Haki covering the sky, that lion-like warrior—arrogant, yet powerful.
"Hope you really get to stand before Shanks one day."
The pirates left. They had their own era to create.
And this era wasn't called "Shanks"—it was called "Pirates!"
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