Chapter 8: Jiraiya's Strength
"Ninja Art: Lion's Mane Technique!"
Jiraiya's gaze sharpened. He had never seen a slashing technique like this before, so he had to treat it seriously.
In that instant, the hair behind him shot longer. Hard as iron, it whipped toward Zabuza's slash with a howling wind.
Boom!!
The air trembled again, and water sprayed everywhere.
Jiraiya's expression finally turned serious. He had underestimated Zabuza's strength, and he had also underestimated Zabuza's resolve.
Zabuza was absolutely not at the level of an ordinary elite jonin.
Jiraiya's combat experience was terrifyingly deep, and in that moment he clearly judged Zabuza's strength.
"What a powerful attack. A slash with almost no chakra fluctuation… is this a form of taijutsu?"
Jiraiya vanished from where he stood.
He had met plenty of taijutsu fighters, but to reach this level, only a few in the shinobi world could do it.
Using sheer physical skill to create long-range attacks was not something ordinary taijutsu users could achieve.
A ripping sound cut through the air again, and Zabuza's figure appeared behind Jiraiya.
"Ninja Art: Swamp of the Underworld!"
In the next instant, the ground beneath Zabuza's feet turned into a swamp, and Zabuza's attack was interrupted.
At the same time, on the other side, a water clone finished its hand seals.
"Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique!"
As the technique activated, water was drawn from the river nearby, forming a massive waterfall that crashed toward Jiraiya.
Jiraiya's Rasengan in his right hand was canceled instantly. The moment the waterfall slammed into him—
Boom!
A puff of white smoke burst out, leaving only a substitution log behind.
At this moment, Zabuza used the Great Waterfall Technique to break free of the Swamp of the Underworld. A layer of water covered the swamp's surface, and Zabuza rose to stand on the water.
"Toad Flat Shadow Manipulation."
Jiraiya's voice came from behind. Zabuza couldn't react in time.
His right hand holding the blade had just begun to move, then froze. His body was firmly locked down in that instant.
"When did you—"
"When I swapped positions with the substitution log."
Jiraiya stood behind Zabuza, his tone calm.
When he used the Swamp of the Underworld, the substitution log had been concealed. Under a large-scale terrain-altering technique like that, no normal person could spot it.
Zabuza was the same. With just one small mistake, he lost.
"You're too impatient. Your injuries forced you to choose offense and try to end the fight quickly."
A smile appeared on Jiraiya's face.
"Hahaha. Losing to me, the Toad Hakim Jiraiya, isn't anything to be ashamed of."
"Jiraiya? You're Jiraiya, one of the Legendary Sannin?"
Zabuza exclaimed in shock. So it was Jiraiya—no wonder he was this strong.
Losing to Jiraiya wasn't surprising. Winning would have been surprising. Being able to hold on this long was already impressive.
Cough!!
Zabuza's injuries rebounded, and he spat out a mouthful of blood.
In the same instant, the Executioner's Blade in his hand shattered apart.
The reason the Executioner's Blade could be reforged in that moment was not only Zabuza's blood, but also his chakra.
Now Zabuza's body couldn't hold on anymore, and his aura plunged sharply.
As Zabuza's eyes began to dull, a hand pressed against his chest. A stream of chakra flowed from Jiraiya's fingers, sealing Zabuza's pressure points.
"Stay put. I'll go take a look."
Jiraiya laid Zabuza on the ground and started walking toward Shanks's direction.
"That's where Shanks is training. He's from the Uzumaki Clan. Are you sure you want to go?"
Zabuza's weak voice came through. It was faint, but it made Jiraiya stop.
The Uzumaki Clan.
They had once been Konoha's allies. Yet clearly, Konoha had not fulfilled its duty as an ally. The destruction of the Land of Whirlpools meant Konoha bore responsibility too.
Jiraiya couldn't help but pause.
"Shanks? An Uzumaki clansman?"
"Impossible. Even an Uzumaki clansman couldn't stir up that natural energy."
Jiraiya shook his head, rejecting Zabuza's words.
"A normal person couldn't. But Shanks is different. What if he uses the Uzumaki Clan's massive chakra reserves entirely for sensing?"
"With chakra that huge, besides the Uzumaki Clan, there shouldn't be anyone else."
A smile tugged at the corner of Zabuza's mouth.
He didn't know why, but when he saw Jiraiya's disbelief, he felt a strange pride.
That was Shanks. Even if the guy was a bit strange, he was the greatest genius Zabuza had ever seen.
Of course, Zabuza didn't realize that after spending time with someone "strange" like Shanks, he had started treating Shanks as a companion. He had never had a "companion" before.
He had become "strange" too.
"Shanks hasn't been in contact with the shinobi world for a long time. He doesn't even know that the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, died. He also doesn't know that the princess of the Land of Whirlpools died in that disaster ten years ago."
The Nine-Tails incident in Konoha was naturally concealed, but for someone like Zabuza, a high-level figure from Kirigakure, accessing certain secret intelligence was easy.
After saying that, Zabuza closed his eyes.
If it was Jiraiya of Konoha, he probably wouldn't harm Shanks. But it still wasn't appropriate. At least in Zabuza's view right now, the two of them weren't suitable to meet.
"A friend of Minato's?"
Jiraiya had no memory of anyone named Shanks.
But as a member of the Uzumaki Clan, knowing Minato was normal, given Kushina's connection.
Yet the fact that Shanks didn't know those events made Jiraiya abandon the thought.
"Keep these medicines."
Jiraiya turned and left, leaving some wound medicine for Zabuza.
"I'm investigating something in Kirigakure. Under the Bloody Mist, the Mizukage seems to be someone else."
After saying that, Jiraiya vanished into the forest.
He had discovered hints of this while investigating that organization, but he hadn't dug deeper.
Because even Jiraiya felt like he was being used as a tool by Orochimaru.
And that was indeed the case. After betraying the Akatsuki, Orochimaru had been hunted nonstop, so he could only use Jiraiya from time to time to disrupt the Akatsuki's strength.
But none of that had anything to do with Zabuza right now.
"Someone else, huh. It's not my place as a shinobi of Kirigakure."
"Someone else… leave it to Mei Terumi to handle. If the 'Akainu' Shanks values is like the 'Kizaru' and Minato Namikaze, then she'll become Mizukage too."