I, who just wanted to be lazy, was forced to become the Hokage.

Chapter 288 S-Rank Mission: [The Sage Jiraiya]!

The order, "Go deal with the Dark Shadow," landed squarely on Gamabunta's head.

Gamabunta, who knew nothing of Nara Rinka's ruthless reputation, looked at his opponent in the sky who still hadn't launched a counterattack, patted his round head, and said calmly and composedly.

"Then leave it to me! Tongue-based bondage!"

Gamabunta suddenly stuck out his long, narrow, red tongue, just like a frog catching an insect. His large, slimy tongue, covered in mucus, slashed across the sky and pierced towards Nara Rangsei.

"This attack...it's disgusting!"

Nara Rinka frowned deeply as he watched the large, fat tongue approaching.

He didn't want to be licked by Gamabunta's tongue!

Nara Rinka manipulated the [Shadow Creature], flexibly changing positions in mid-air.

Gamabunta's "Tongue Bind" seemed incredibly fast, but it was as clumsy as a piece of wood in front of the Shadow Creature, failing to even get close to its surroundings.

While manipulating the [Shadow Creature] to dodge attacks, Nara Rinka also raised his right hand, intending to "retaliate" against Gamabunta.

However, just as the Yin Release chakra was gathered in his palm, Nara Ranke silently adjusted his attack direction again.

He actually tried to use an attack like the Spiral Shadow Cannon against a super-large summoning beast like Gamabunta...

With the power of the Spiral Shadow Cannon, it can definitely inflict effective damage on Gamabunta.

However, given Gamabunta's enormous size, the damage that [Spiral Shadow Kill Cannon] can deal is at most "scratching" his health.

In a life-or-death struggle, Nara Rinka can switch to even more powerful moves.

For example, a single [Dark Spiral Wheel] attack can send Gamabunta and Jiraiya, who was charging up above him, to their deaths.

But this was just a friendly sparring match, and many powerful moves couldn't be used.

They went too far and didn't hurt Gamabunta.

Nara Rinkasa was afraid of hitting Gamabunta too hard and killing him on the spot...

Instead of getting bogged down in a fight with Gamabunta, we should focus on our main target – Jiraiya!

[Spiral Shadow Kill Cannon]!

Aiming at Jiraiya above Gamabunta's head, Nara Rinka releases a black shadow bullet the size of a Rasengan.

The [Spiral Shadow Kill Cannon], moving faster than the speed of sound, streaked across the sky like a dark meteor, hurtling towards Jiraiya who was still charging up.

Due to his innate racial talent, Gamabunta has extremely sharp dynamic vision.

Without needing Jiraiya's reminder, it noticed Nara Rinka's attack.

However, the black bullet was far too small, and its flight speed was far too agile.

Left with no other choice, Gamabunta could only retract his tongue, attempting to use his thick, massive tongue to block the attack of the Spiral Shadow Cannon.

But this attempt to stop them caused problems.

Just as Gamabunta moved his tongue to block the path of the Spiral Shadow Cannon, the dark shadow bullet made contact with the red tongue, and the latter was instantly suppressed and destroyed.

puff--

With a chilling sound, Gamabunta's tongue was blasted open by the Spiral Shadow Cannon, and blood and bits of flesh flew everywhere, making for a truly horrifying sight.

"Croak!"

Gamabunta let out a bloodcurdling scream.

But the intense pain did not cause this battle-hardened "Toad Boss" to lose his fighting spirit.

Ignoring its severely damaged tongue, it immediately crouched down, pulling Jiraiya down with it.

The [Spiral Shadow Kill Cannon], still raging, barely grazed Jiraiya's head, but did not cause him any damage.

"Bunta! Don't move!"

Jiraiya, who was focused on refining chakra, was unaware of what was happening.

"Fortunately, the preparations are complete..."

With the enemy at hand, Gamabunta couldn't bother scolding the blind Jiraiya, and just vaguely urged him on.

"Hurry up!"

Damage to his tongue made it difficult for Gamabunta to speak clearly.

"What are you saying? How many times have I told you not to talk with a pipe in your mouth!"

As Jiraiya responded to Gamabunta, he used his freshly bitten finger to draw facial marks with blood below his eyes.

"I'm about to begin the summoning! Summoning Jutsu!"

Jiraiya's actions were clearly captured by Nara Rinka on the back of the [Shadow Creature].

Driven by his established strategic objectives, Nara Rinkei did not interfere with Jiraiya's actions at this time. Instead, he silently observed his opponent's every move while expanding his sensory abilities to the limit.

Jiraiya then unleashed his own chakra.

The blood-red patterns newly imprinted beneath his eyes replaced the effect of a summoning talisman array in the conventional sense of a [Summoning Technique]. Using Jiraiya's blood as a contract, he directly summoned the two toad sages of Mount Myōboku.

The little green toad with white eyebrows and a goatee looks like an immortal.

Another small green toad with purple scabies and dark lips, Shima the Hermit.

"Jiraiya, I'm not trying to be mean, but..."

Fukasaku, standing on Jiraiya's right shoulder, spoke in an old-fashioned manner.

"You should also learn to enter sage mode on your own."

"You bastard! Jiraiya's side is in the middle of a battle!"

Standing on her left shoulder, Shima the hermit scolded her husband rather rudely.

"Focus on dealing with the enemy! Use the Twin Life Technique now!"

"I'm using it, I'm using it..."

The immortal Fukasaku formed a hand seal and responded softly.

"Celestial Art: Twin Life Technique!"

The top-tier Sage Art "Sage Art: Twin Life Technique," originating from Mount Myōboku, allows parts of Fukasaku and Shima's bodies to merge with Jiraiya's, and the chakra of the three can be exchanged and transmitted through this merged body.

The Trinity is the final form of Jiraiya's Sage Mode!

Jiraiya's facial features have changed considerably compared to before.

His eyes were covered with a thick layer of eyeshadow, his nose was enlarged and had bumps that looked like the skin of a toad, and if you looked closely you could see his pupils that were almost identical to the eyes of a frog.

"As expected, I'm still stronger now!"

Jiraiya took a deep breath and sensed his current internal condition.

Although the Sage Mode of Mount Myōboku is extremely difficult to cultivate, and one can easily die if one is not careful.

However, once you successfully cultivate Sage Mode, the boost it provides is quite astonishing!

It not only provides a comprehensive boost to the three aspects of ninjutsu, body, and illusion, but also enhances the activation of body cells, among other things.

In Sage Mode, Jiraiya could clearly feel that the injuries to his chest and ribs were healing at an accelerated rate.

"Excuse me, esteemed immortals, I need to correct what you just said."

Jiraiya snapped out of his daze and reminded the two toad sages on his shoulders.

"I'm not fighting on the battlefield right now, I'm just sparring with my fellow villagers."

"A friendly spar?"

Fukasaku tapped Jiraiya on the head.

"Jiraiya, are you out of your mind? Using Sage Mode during a sparring match? What did your opponent ever do to you?"

"If I had known it would be like this, I wouldn't have come!"

Master Shima looked extremely impatient.

"I still need to prepare the meal..."

"I'm sorry, Master Shima, please don't leave."

Jiraiya clasped his hands together in a pleading gesture.

"This sparring match is related to my happiness for the rest of my life... so I'm begging you two immortals!"

"At the moment, I don't need the two immortals to intervene; I just need them to help me stabilize my immortal mode."

Having swiftly and decisively resolved the issues concerning Fukasaku and Shima (in his own opinion), Jiraiya then steered the conversation back to Gamabunta.

"Bunta!"

Jiraiya's attitude towards Gamabunta was not as humble and polite.

"Let's use our combination ninjutsu!"

"quick!"

Gamabunta's eyes lit up.

In the battle just now, it was the only one that was injured.

At this moment, Jiraiya entered Sage Mode, with Elders Fukasaku and Shima assisting him.

If we don't avenge our hatred now, when will we ever get another chance?

Gamabunta pressed his hands to his abdomen, made no hand seals, and then opened his mouth to spew out a thick, heavy, dark toad oil.

At the same time, Jiraiya quickly formed hand seals, transforming his Sage Chakra into Fire Release Chakra through nature change.

At that moment, Nara Rinkei keenly sensed the restlessness of the surrounding natural energy.

"Are you planning to use Sage Mode? And... Fire Release at that?"

By observing Jiraiya's hand gestures in advance, Nara Rinka determined the type of ninjutsu that the opponent was about to use, and his gaze quickly slid down to the ground below.

"The small pond that Gamabunta created with his Water Release technique, and... that large hot spring over there!"

Shadow Clone Technique!

Almost the instant Jiraiya finished his hand seals, Nara Rinka manipulated the [Shadow Creature] to fly to the side, while simultaneously creating a [Shadow Clone] to head towards the small pond that Gamabunta had just created.

At the same time, Jiraiya completed the hand seals and used a ninjutsu on the toad oil released by Gamabunta.

"Sage Art: Fire Release: Toad Oil Flame Bullet!"

In the ninja world, fire style is the counter to wind style, and most wind styles even have a "fueling" effect on fire style.

But if we're talking about "combustion aid," what could be more suitable than "oil"?

Jiraiya's Fire Release: Sage Mode chakra combined with Gamabunta's toad oil, instantly igniting the viscous toad oil and unleashing terrifying power.

Like a tidal wave, the toad oil became the perfect fuel for the flames, instantly forming a raging inferno.

A massive, orange-red flame surged toward Nara Rinka's location, seemingly filling and igniting every corner of the sky and earth, leaving no room to dodge.

The Shadow Clone, which arrived on the ground a step ahead, quickly formed hand seals, manipulated the "water flow" transformed from Gamabunta's chakra, and unleashed a ninjutsu at the oncoming sea of ​​fire.

[Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique]!

Under the control of the Shadow Clone Technique, the pond water created by Gamabunta surged upwards, transforming into a powerful silver waterfall that resisted the raging sea of ​​fire.

boom!

The collision of the waterfall and the sea of ​​fire instantly produced a deafening roar, and milky white steam burst and spread in all directions.

However, compared to the power of Sage Art: Fire Release, the Water Release ninjutsu of Shadow Clone Jutsu is simply not enough.

The small pond created by Gamabunta quickly dried up, revealing its original surface environment.

Even though the Shadow Clone Technique converted all of his chakra into Water Release to replenish the power of the Great Waterfall Technique, it was still powerless against Sage Jiraiya's "Sage Art: Fire Release: Toad Oil Flame Bullet".

The towering sea of ​​fire was about to engulf the Shadow Clone, whose chakra was almost depleted.

Another mighty torrent of water rushed in from the side, heading straight for the sea of ​​fire.

[Water Release·Big Explosive Water Wave]!

However, Nara Rinka, who had arrived at the natural hot spring, used a water-style ninjutsu to support the clone there.

Rumbling--

With the replenishment of natural water, Nara Rinka's [Water Release: Great Exploding Water Wave] is several times stronger than in its normal state.

Although its overall power is still not as great as "Sage Art: Fire Release: Toad Oil Flame Bullet".

But at least we can hold our own against the other side.

The massive water jets collided and rubbed against the towering sea of ​​fire, sending plumes of steam soaring into the sky, where they condensed upon cooling, forming clouds.

If it weren't for the terrifying intensity of the "Sage Art: Fire Release: Toad Oil Flame Bullet," which illuminated most of the sky, it would have been a different story.

Otherwise, the surrounding environment would certainly have fallen into darkness at this moment.

At the moment of stalemate between fire and water.

Nara Rinka glanced at the new S-rank mission that popped up on the panel, and a slight smile appeared on her lips.

"Finally, you've arrived! [Sage Jiraiya]!"

This is the second update from yesterday...

The overall update volume has not decreased and remains at 6k.

Goodnight everybody.

(End of this chapter)