Naruto shot forward, body cutting cleanly through the air, every step precise. The wind bent around him instead of resisting him, flowing like an extension of his movement.
Jiraiya's eyes narrowed—
Naruto slashed his hand forward.
WOOOOSH—
A compressed blade of wind tore through the space between them, invisible until it distorted the air itself. Jiraiya's eyes widened as he crossed his arms into an X just in time.
BOOM!
The wind crashed into him like a battering ram, grinding against his guard and forcing him backward. His feet dug trenches into the dirt as he skidded several meters before stopping.
'What was that?' Jiraiya thought.
He didn't get time to breathe.
Naruto was already there.
Jiraiya raised his guard as Naruto's fist came in—
—but the punch never landed.
Instead, an invisible gust detonated inches from Jiraiya's face.
WHAM!
The wind slapped him hard, snapping his head backward, rattling his teeth despite never physically touching him.
Pa's voice echoed in Jiraiya's mind, sharp and alert.
'Wind-nature attacks. Not even jutsu—he's shaping it instinctively.'
Jiraiya clicked his tongue mentally. 'Yeah. I've seen him do it before… just never like this.'
Naruto came again, relentless—hands slicing through the air, each motion releasing bursts of compressed wind that struck from unpredictable angles. One grazed Jiraiya's shoulder, another slammed into his ribs, each hit landing before Naruto's limbs could reach him.
'…Time to stop playing,' Jiraiya decided.
His eyes sharpened.
'Frog Kata.'
Jiraiya didn't rush forward. He waited. Naruto lunged in, winding up another wind-laced strike—And suddenly felt it. Pressure. Not from contact—but from space itself. Jiraiya stepped forward calmly and threw a punch that missed Naruto's chest by a full meter.
Yet—
BAM!
Naruto was blasted backward as if he'd been hit head-on, the shockwave of natural energy smashing into him from empty air. He flipped once, barely landing on his feet before another unseen strike clipped his shoulder.
His eyes widened.
'He's hitting me… without touching me. Isn't this that technique?'
Naruto gritted his teeth and adjusted instantly, weaving and twisting as he sent slicing gusts of wind in response. The air between them became a battlefield of invisible forces—wind blades colliding with natural energy shockwaves, detonating in sharp bursts that tore up the ground around them.
Jiraiya advanced slowly, each step measured, every movement precise. His strikes didn't chase Naruto—they occupied space, turning the air itself into a weapon.
Naruto ducked under an unseen blow, countered with a wide wind slash that ripped past Jiraiya's cheek—
Only for Jiraiya to appear beside him in the next instant.
"Good adaptation," Jiraiya said calmly.
Naruto barely raised his guard before an invisible strike slammed into his ribs, sending him skidding sideways across the dirt.
He rolled, sprang back to his feet, breathing hard—but smiling.
Now he understood. The clearing was silent for half a heartbeat. Then both of them stepped forward again.
Naruto shot upward, wind chakra surging beneath his feet like an unseen current. Each pulse of energy lifted him higher, higher—until the training grounds looked small beneath him and the moonlight wrapped around his silhouette.
Then—
A sharp, piercing whistle split the night.
Chakra roared into both of Naruto's arms as a sphere of brilliant blue formed between his palms. Violent wind spiraled around it, condensing, screaming—razor-thin blades of compressed air taking shape within the rotation.
A Rasengan.
No—
Something far worse.
Wind shuriken began to form inside the sphere, spinning so fast the air warped around them, tearing at space itself.
Jiraiya froze.
"…What the hell is that?" he muttered, Sage instincts screaming at him.
Ma's eyes widened in horror.
"DON'T let that hit you, boy!" she shouted. "If it does—it's over!"
Jiraiya's skin prickled as natural energy flared instinctively, his Sage senses finally catching up. The pressure rolling off that technique wasn't explosive—
It was destructive.
"…Is it really that dangerous?" he muttered—
Then he felt it fully.
And his blood ran cold.
From the treeline, Tsunade narrowed her eyes.
"So that's the jutsu," she said quietly.
Katsuyu sat on her head, completely unfazed, eyes half-lidded as she somehow dozed off.
'She's really starting to act like Tonton,' Tsunade thought absently.
High above, Naruto smirked.
'If this doesn't end it,' he thought, eyes burning with resolve, 'I don't know what will.'
He hurled the technique downward.
WHIII-WOOOOSH—!!!
The Rasenshuriken screamed through the air, splitting the night open as it descended. The wind pressure alone flattened grass and ripped chunks of earth upward as it closed in.
Jiraiya slammed both hands onto the ground.
"Doton: Doryūheki!"
GRUUUMBLE—!!!
The earth erupted violently.
Massive stone walls surged upward in rapid succession, each one thicker and taller than the last—towering like cliffs, layered defensively between Jiraiya and the incoming attack.
CRACK—SCREEECH—
One of the wind shuriken slammed into the first wall—
And cut straight through it.
Stone disintegrated into powder, sliced apart at a microscopic level as the technique carved forward without losing speed.
Jiraiya's eyes widened.
Another shuriken curved unnaturally, spiraling around the remaining walls, tracking him like a living blade.
"—Tch!"
He leapt backward, chakra exploding through his legs as he tried to escape—
Too late. The Rasenshuriken closed in—And then—
They vanished.
Jiraiya's instincts screamed.
His eyes snapped forward—
BAAAM!
Naruto was suddenly there.
Just a fist—coated in perfectly controlled wind chakra—slamming directly into Jiraiya's face.
The impact detonated.
Jiraiya was sent flying backward like a cannonball, body ripping through the air before crashing violently into the treeline.
BOOOOM!
Trees shattered. Trunks splintered. Leaves and debris exploded outward as Jiraiya disappeared into the forest with a thunderous crash.
The clearing fell silent.
Naruto landed heavily, breathing hard, arms trembling as the remnants of wind chakra faded from his hands. Dust drifted through the moonlight.
' That felt good. I'm gonna hit Sasuke with the same shi' he thought.
TO BE CONTINUED