Chapter 88: Jiraiya's Doubts, Solo Battle Against the One-Tail
A few minutes earlier, about ten kilometers away from the battlefield
Jiraiya and Ling Yu were chatting casually while advancing side by side toward the battlefield between Konoha and the Land of Wind, followed by thousands of supporting Konoha ninja.
"Ling Yu, somehow your presence feels even harder to read now. Did you get stronger again?"
Jiraiya turned his head to glance at Ling Yu beside him, sensing the different aura coming from him, and asked in confusion.
A few weeks ago, Jiraiya could still vaguely feel the powerful presence emanating from Ling Yu, but after just a few weeks, that presence had become completely unfathomable.
Even in this urgent march, Kage-level ninja would normally use some chakra to increase their speed.
But Ling Yu? Not a trace of chakra leaked from his body—he was purely relying on his physical body to travel, and after running for so long, he didn't show the slightest sign of fatigue.
"What if I told you I've already reached Hashirama Senju's level—or even surpassed him by a lot? Would you believe me?"
Ling Yu gave a light laugh, speaking half-jokingly.
In the past six months, he had trained Observation Haki, Armament Haki, and the Six Powers to their absolute limits. This method of breaking through human physical limits had made his current body strength unmatched by anyone.
And a few weeks ago, the full awakening of his Sage Body had raised his physical strength several levels higher. Even relying solely on taijutsu, he could now easily kill Kage-level opponents.
"Come on, while you're stronger than me, reaching the level of the First Hokage at age ten is still too early for you."
Jiraiya gave Ling Yu a disdainful look, shook his head, and clearly didn't believe it.
Although he knew Ling Yu could fight evenly with Hanzō, surpassing the "God of Shinobi" Hashirama Senju was still far beyond him.
But deep inside, Jiraiya had always carried a doubt.
When he was young, the Great Toad Sage had told him that his future student would be the "Child of Prophecy."
The prophecy said the "Child of Prophecy" would possess world-shaking power, capable of bringing unprecedented peace to the world—or complete destruction.
He hadn't taken it seriously at the time. But after seeing Ling Yu's performance on the Rain battlefield—strength far beyond imagination, completely overturning his understanding—he began to recall what the Great Toad Sage had said about the "Child of Prophecy."
Yet on one hand, Ling Yu had no master-disciple relationship with him whatsoever. His only current student, Minato Namikaze, hadn't even graduated yet.
The gap in strength between the two was too vast, and for a moment he started doubting whether the "Child of Prophecy" was real.
"Don't believe me? Just wait until I blow up the One-Tail—then you'll see how strong I really am."
Ling Yu's lips curved into a faint smile, his eyes revealing an unfathomable glint.
He had no idea what Jiraiya was thinking right now, but even if he did, he would have only disdain for the so-called "Child of Prophecy."
With his current strength, any "Child of Prophecy" would fall in less than three moves against him.
And the "Child of Prophecy" wasn't him—it was his current student Minato's future son—Naruto.
"Fine. If you can't do it, you treat me. If I lose, I'll treat you."
"Deal."
"ROAR—"
The moment their words ended, a deafening roar suddenly entered their ears, and even the ground began to tremble slightly.
Following the direction of the sound, a mountain-like figure appeared several kilometers ahead.
"What is that!" Jiraiya exclaimed in shock and stopped in his tracks.
"The One-Tail Shukaku. You hurry to the battlefield—I'll go ahead and stall for a bit."
Ling Yu responded to Jiraiya in a deep voice. His figure instantly vanished, using Space Power to rush toward the battlefield.
He had kept Observation Haki active the entire time, constantly monitoring the battlefield situation.
He originally thought his group would arrive just in time, but unexpectedly the One-Tail had appeared early, putting Konoha in a bad position. He couldn't afford to delay any longer.
"Everyone—full speed ahead! The battle has already started!"
Hearing Ling Yu's words, Jiraiya immediately reacted and shouted to the ninja behind him.
…
On the battlefield
With both sides' Kage-level fighters pinned down, the numerical disparity grew even larger.
By now, Konoha's forces had collapsed into chaos. Nearly a quarter of the Konoha ninja had already been buried. The One-Tail Shukaku stood at Konoha's rear, blocking their retreat path and occasionally using ninjutsu to blast several Konoha ninja to death.
Seeing this situation, Ling Yu frowned. Realizing things were getting worse by the second, he prepared to act.
"Universal Pull!"
Raising his hand toward Shukaku, the fifty-plus-meter-tall, thousand-ton beast was yanked out of the battlefield by Ling Yu, dragging deep furrows across the ground.
"How is that possible! He dragged Shukaku away by himself!"
The commotion on Shukaku's side drew the attention of every ninja on the battlefield—including the Third Kazekage. He let out a shocked cry, staring at Ling Yu in complete disbelief.
"Ling Yu! That means Jiraiya's reinforcements should be arriving soon."
Hiruzen Sarutobi also saw Ling Yu's appearance. The heavy weight in his heart finally lifted. He shouted loudly toward the Konoha army:
"Hold on! Our reinforcements are almost here! Victory will be ours!"
"Reinforcements are coming? Is that true?"
"It must be true! Didn't you see? That's Ling Yu—the one who wiped out three thousand Rain ninja with a single move! With him here, we can definitely win."
"It really is him! Lord Third said reinforcements are coming—so it must be true."
"Charge! Kill the Sand ninja!"
With the One-Tail Shukaku being dragged away from the battlefield by the now-legendary Ling Yu, combined with encouragement from the Third Hokage, the Konoha ninja regained their morale. One after another, they charged toward the Sand ninja with renewed fury, as if injected with fresh energy.
…
Ling Yu vs. One-Tail Shukaku battlefield
"Who are you?"
Seeing Ling Yu use a bizarre ninjutsu to yank him out of position, Bunpuku asked while controlling Shukaku's body.
"The one who's going to kill you. The One-Tail is mine now."
Ling Yu floated in midair using repulsive force, speaking calmly.
"Arrogant! You think you can kill me? With just you?"
Bunpuku felt extremely irritated by Ling Yu's arrogant demeanor. Controlling Shukaku, he unleashed ninjutsu once again.
"Wind Release: Training Air Bullet!"
Facing Bunpuku's attack, Ling Yu secretly shook his head. The ninjutsu wasn't being unleashed by the real Shukaku—it was too weak. Bunpuku clearly hadn't fully mastered the One-Tail's power.
Raising one hand flat, Ling Yu stared calmly at the incoming attack with no fluctuation in his eyes, and spoke softly:
"Bakudō #81: Dankū!"
A transparent wall appeared in front of Ling Yu. No matter how fiercely Bunpuku's wind bullet struck the wall, it couldn't shake it in the slightest.
"Hadō #91: Senjū Kōten Taihō!"
After Bunpuku's attack ended, Ling Yu raised his hand and fired back with a Hadō, intending to force out Shukaku's true form.
In an instant, several pink light cones materialized beside Ling Yu. Feeling the power wasn't enough, Ling Yu continued charging more energy into them.
As Ling Yu poured energy into them, the terrifying power inside the light cones grew stronger and stronger. Even Bunpuku sensed the crisis and was about to make Shukaku leap away—
"Go!"
With a low shout from Ling Yu, the light cones instantly broke the speed of sound and mercilessly struck Shukaku's massive body, triggering a violent explosion.
The intense shockwave from the blast made the entire ground tremble. The area where Shukaku stood was completely shrouded in smoke and dust.
"Ahhh!"
A painful roar came from within the dust cloud. Then Bunpuku's voice disappeared, replaced by a beast-like howl.
"Human! You've enraged this great one! This great one will tear you to pieces!"
When the dust dispersed, Shukaku—its body pierced with several massive holes and heavily damaged—appeared on the battlefield once more.
The One-Tail Shukaku's body was entirely made of sand. Ordinary physical attacks had almost no effect on it.
But Ling Yu's attack—delivered through mental power—had struck its weak point directly, causing Bunpuku to fall into a deep sleep. The body was now fully controlled by its original owner.
At this moment, the One-Tail was no longer being controlled by the jinchūriki Bunpuku—it was the true Shukaku.
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