Being a rogue ninja is worse than being Hokage.

No wonder that even with the power of Naruto's Sage Art: Rasengan hitting him head-on, Shima, whose body was not even as big as the Rasengan in Naruto's hand, still had some remains left!

"Naruto! Are you even going to desecrate the dead!?"

Naruto did not respond to Jiraiya's angry rebuke. Jiraiya keenly noticed that the gaze of Naruto's Mangekyou Sharingan in his left eye was fixed on Fukasaku, the sage on his right shoulder.

Are you planning to use Kamui again?

Naruto seemed to know very well that without the help of the two toad sages, Jiraiya would not be able to maintain Sage Mode on his own during the battle.

His primary target has always been the two toad masters, not Jiraiya.

"Don't even think about succeeding!"

Jiraiya immediately dispelled the summoning jutsu, and Fukasaku vanished in a wisp of blue smoke, along with the remains of Shima, who had been marked with the Flying Thunder God seal.

This means Naruto will no longer be able to use Shima Sage's Flying Thunder God Technique for teleportation.

But right now, Naruto is bringing Jiraiya one crisis after another.

Having lost the Sage Art: Rebirth Technique used by the Toad Sages to create Sage Chakra for Jiraiya, Jiraiya, who could no longer perfectly use Sage Mode, immediately exited Sage Mode, and his eyes and nose returned to normal.

Naruto had also disappeared from Jiraiya's sight.

Naruto didn't refrain from pressing his advantage when Jiraiya deactivated Sage Mode; rather, his "pursuit" had already begun!

Instead of Naruto disappearing before Jiraiya's eyes, what appeared before Jiraiya was a Great Fireball Infused with Sage Chakra!

Faced with Sage Art: Great Fireball Technique at such close range, there was simply not enough time to form hand seals to counter it. This is probably one of the reasons why Naruto appeared in front of Jiraiya twice before, which was to make Jiraiya miss the time to form hand seals.

The Great Fireball Technique, infused with Sage Chakra, should not be underestimated.

Even without Sage Mode and ninjutsu to counter him, Jiraiya did not simply sit idly by and wait for his doom; he still had ways to deal with the situation.

Jiraiya unhesitatingly pulled out the sealing scroll and spread it out before his eyes—

—Fire Sealing Seal!!!

The moment the scorching flames came into contact with the sealing scroll paper, it wasn't the flames that devoured the paper; rather, it was the fragile paper that completely consumed the fireball!

Jiraiya retrieved the sealing scroll, pondering that the sealed Sage Art: Great Fireball Technique might have an unexpected effect on Naruto through the Fire Release Seal.

His gaze fell on Naruto.

After a brief battle, he and Naruto returned to their initial standoff.

The two kept a moderate distance between them, wary of each other.

The only difference is that the main battlefield that Jiraiya prepared for himself to deal with Naruto has now given Naruto the advantage.

"Naruto..."

Jiraiya wanted to say something, but in the next instant, he felt as if he had a fishbone stuck in his throat.

Naruto's Fire Release technique was indeed sealed by the Fire Sealing Seal.

However, the burning sensation of his skin being scorched spread throughout Jiraiya's body without warning.

The flames that burned Jiraiya were not ordinary red.

Instead, it was terrifying darkness.

"So that's how it is. You deliberately tricked me into using the sealing scroll of the Fire Sealing Seal."

Jiraiya endured the stinging pain in his body and looked at Naruto's left eye.

The Mangekyou Sharingan, which was originally shaped like three interconnected shuriken, has now changed its appearance.

Naruto's left eye's Mangekyou Sharingan markings have turned into a six-pointed star.

Red blood flowed from Naruto's left eye socket like tears.

Naruto's left eye is no longer Kamui, which distorts space.

Rather, it can burn everything in the world—

——Amaterasu.

But at least—

—At least before I'm completely burned to ashes by Amaterasu, I must also take care of Naruto!

Jiraiya, with his indomitable willpower, staggered toward Naruto.

Because of Amaterasu burning his body, his speed is ridiculously slow. Perhaps even a genin could easily dodge his attacks now.

But Naruto, contrary to his usual behavior, neither dodged nor avoided Jiraiya's embrace.

Amaterasu's black flames spread from Jiraiya's body to Naruto's.

Facing the burning Amaterasu, Naruto stared at Jiraiya expressionlessly, as if his sense of pain had long since decayed.

In stark contrast to Naruto's expressionless face was Jiraiya's incredulous and desperate expression.

"Congratulations, Jiraiya-sensei."

"He killed my shadow clone with all his might."

How could Naruto possibly repeat the mistakes of three years ago?

From beginning to end, all that appeared in front of Jiraiya were Naruto's shadow clones.

"Naruto, where exactly is your real body?"

Jiraiya used his last bit of strength to ask Naruto a question.

The only response Jiraiya received was that his shadow clones had been damaged within the restrictions, causing the spell to automatically dissipate and creating a cloud of smoke.

……

……

"Who knows? Maybe I am the real me now, or maybe I am just a shadow clone."

Naruto's gaze fell on Might Guy, who had opened the Eight Gates and used the Daytime Tiger technique in the Seventh Gate, putting a heavy strain on his body.

"Physical skills have their limits, but you can open the eighth gate to break through your own limits and gamble on whether the current me is the original form."

Using shadow clones to engage in multi-faceted combat as if the main body were fighting is a tactic that only Naruto, who possesses the Uzumaki bloodline and the Nine-Tails' chakra, can employ.

Chapter 90 The big spiral danger

"You're a nuisance."

Naruto gave a brief and fair assessment of Might Guy's strength: "In terms of taijutsu alone, no one in the ninja world can compare to you."

Even though Naruto had anticipated this, he still couldn't dodge the "Day Tiger" fist technique unleashed by the Seventh Gate.

While Kakashi's Lightning Release: Lightning Clone Technique did help restrict Naruto's actions at crucial moments, the undeniable fact remains that Naruto's shadow clone was hit head-on by "Daytime Tiger."

But that's all...

"However, only those who have a thorough understanding and skill in the three arts of ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu can be called 'ninjas'."

Naruto's gaze fell on Might Guy, who was panting heavily, unable to hide the severe strain his body was under after using the seventh gate of the Eight Inner Gates.

Even if Might Guy opens the Eighth Gate of the Eight Gates, the Gate of Death, and unleashes the "Night Guy" technique that even Madara Uchiha praised as the "strongest"—no matter how powerful Might Guy's taijutsu is, if he cannot hit the enemy, it will ultimately be futile and he will only harm himself.

The battle is not over yet, but Might Guy is currently unable to actively deactivate the Eight Gates. He can only continue fighting by relying on the Eight Gates to break through the limits of his physical body. Once the Eight Gates are deactivated, the price of forcibly breaking through the limits of his physical body will be that he will not even be able to stand up.

However, the taijutsu attack just now has proven that the Eight Gates Formation is ineffective against Naruto. Naruto, who is skilled in fighting with shadow clones, can be considered the nemesis of Might Guy, who mainly relies on taijutsu attacks.

Might Guy cannot attack Naruto's main body, and if Naruto delays even slightly, Might Guy himself will be dragged down by the Eight Gates and defeated.

Once the Eight Gates are used, they will constantly consume the user's flesh and blood, burning the caster's life force.

“Those who lack talent tread paths that are not their own, and their journey is limited—a short path where the end can be seen from the beginning. No matter how fast you run along the way, you will eventually stop and be unable to move forward. You will watch helplessly as others pull further and further away from you.”

"On this path called 'ninja,' I have gone further than you."

Naruto's "theory of talent" sounded so grating to Might Guy's ears.

Influenced by his father Might Dai, Might Guy, who devoted his life to physical techniques because he lacked talent in ninjutsu and genjutsu, firmly believed that "hard work" could catch up with geniuses.

And he did indeed do that.

He was taken seriously by Kakashi Hatake, a genius of Konoha, and became a "rival" recognized by geniuses.

The gap between the incompetent and the genius is called "talent." Effort can only infinitely shorten the distance between oneself and the genius, but it can never stand at the same level as the genius.

Just like the forbidden technique, the Eight Gates, Kakashi can also use it.

However, the importance of the Eight Gates Formation to the two men was vastly different.

For Might Guy, the Eight Gates was his only truly powerful killing move, but for Kakashi, it was merely a technique he could use in battle and training.

Compared to the power of the Eight Gates, the cost of using them was clearly not worth the painstaking study of the Eight Gates to the seventh or even eighth gate in Kakashi's eyes.

Therefore, Kakashi did not master the Eight Gates. If he had devoted himself to studying the Eight Gates like Might Guy, with Kakashi's talent, he could have easily surpassed Might Guy's achievements in the Eight Gates.

This forbidden technique, which injures the enemy eight hundred while harming oneself a thousand, is something only the incompetent, who has no other choice, would risk everything to learn!

The most representative example is Rock Lee, the disciple whom Matt Kay devoted all his teachings to.

Rock Lee, whose ninja skills were even inferior to Might Guy's, was able to master the Eight Gates Formation up to the fifth gate during the Chunin Exams. However, he only broke through the fifth gate and was able to open the sixth gate of the Eight Gates Formation during the Fourth Shinobi World War.

His only talent had been completely exploited in the past; the former "strongest" genin of Konoha was ultimately just a flash in the pan.

However, Might Guy, who can fully open all eight gates of the Eight Gates Formation, is still someone that Naruto needs to be somewhat wary of.

Naruto conjured a Rasengan in his hand, watching Might Guy's every move.

Compared to Might Guy's later desperate use of the Eighth Gate, Death Gate, to employ the strongest physical technique he had mastered—"Evening Elephant" or "Night Guy"—through a sneak attack, this was a far cry from his later use of the Eighth Gate.

Thus, Might Guy, who was now exposed on the front lines and had already opened the seventh gate of the Eight Gates, the Gate of Shock, was forced to open the eighth gate, the Gate of Death.

Let Might Guy burn out his life force and die from his own forbidden technique!

This is the best choice for Naruto.

However, just as Naruto was pondering how to induce Might Guy to open the Eighth Gate, the Gate of Death, an unexpected phenomenon appeared on the ground beneath his feet.

A pair of strong, powerful hands suddenly burst from the ground and grabbed Naruto's ankles tightly!

This move is all too familiar to Naruto!

That was his most proficient move in Earth Release ninjutsu.