https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-243-The-Tailed-Beasts-Fearsome-Chakra-Levels/12558251/
Chapter 244: Battle with the Jinchuriki
Chapter 244: Battle with the Jinchuriki
"I thought you would just run away. It seems you still don't understand your own strength." Lao Zi crossed his arms, a hint of surprise in his voice.
Despite witnessing the power of their tailed beasts, they dared to return and continue the fight.
"You're about to see the true power of the Toad Sage!" Jiraiya laughed heartily, and two small cloaked toads appeared by his side.
"Please help us, Sages. These enemies are not to be taken lightly."
Facing two Jinchuriki capable of using Beast Balls, Jiraiya didn't dare to be careless. As soon as Minato used the Flying Thunder God technique to leave, he began preparing for Sage Mode and summoned two toads from Mount Myoboku before Minato returned.
His mastery over Sage Mode was imperfect, and he required the assistance of the two toads. However, with their help, he could sustain it longer than a typical user.
"Are those tailed beasts? Two of them, no less. Indeed, these foes are formidable." Fukasaku, sensing the immense tailed beast chakra within Lao Zi and Han, exclaimed in surprise.
In his eight hundred years, he had never encountered such a situation—facing two tailed beasts at once.
"Young Jiraiya, your timing for the summons couldn't be worse. I was just contemplating what to cook for dinner." Shima-sama expressed his displeasure.
"Now is not the time to worry about such things. We must focus on our enemies—two Jinchuriki. I can sense the terrifying chakra within them," Fukasaku said gravely.
"What do you mean, 'such things'? Do you think being a homemaker is easy, dear?" Shima-sama felt slighted.
"I'll introduce you to a culinary master after the battle, but for now, let's focus on the fight," Jiraiya said, feeling a headache coming on as the two toads bickered in his ears—quite literally, as they were perched on his shoulders.
"Mystic deception," Lao Zi's chakra erupted as he formed hand seals and performed a ninjutsu.
"Lava Style: Scorching River of Rocks!"
Countless flaming lava orbs spewed from Lao Zi's mouth. The orbs weren't particularly large, only slightly taller than an adult, but their number was overwhelming, raining down like a meteor shower.
"It's time to unleash a Sage Art. Sage Art: Goemon!"
Jiraiya laughed loudly, choosing neither to dodge nor evade, but to confront the attack head-on with his own Sage Jutsu.
He gathered his chakra in his throat, converting it into chakra oil, and spat it toward the lava orbs.
As Jiraiya expelled the chakra oil, Shima-sama spat out a flame-based Sage Jutsu, causing the oil to heat up intensely. Fukasaku then added his own wind-style Sage Jutsu, fanning the flames and expanding the range of the scorching oil.
BOOM!!!
The superheated oil collided with the lava orbs, creating a series of explosions. The oil splattered in all directions, and the lava orbs fell one by one. Eventually, all the lava orbs were extinguished, and while some of the flames and oil were diminished, they continued their advance toward Lao Zi and Han.
Mu Yue's eyes narrowed in thought. The amplification provided by Sage Mode was indeed remarkable, but Jiraiya's Fire Style ninjutsu alone wouldn't have achieved this level of power.
It was undeniable that having a strong summon could greatly increase one's combat prowess. Mu Yue felt that if Jiraiya couldn't summon toads from Mount Myoboku, his overall strength would decrease by at least a third.
Mu Yue considered cultivating Black Feather's potential, hoping to elevate it beyond mere transportation and make it a valuable asset in combat. However, her attempts had proven futile thus far, and it seemed that summons were more reliant on innate talent than humans.
Whoosh!!
Lao Zi and Han burst into action, their chakra flaring as they retreated.
"What kind of ninjutsu is that? Its power surpasses even my Lava Style," Lao Zi exclaimed, taken aback by Jiraiya's sudden increase in strength.
And to think that he had used tailed beast chakra for his Lava Style.
Swish, swish!!
Minato swiftly retrieved four Flying Thunder God kunai from his ninja tool pouch and threw two each at Lao Zi and Han, but they deflected them with ease.
"Hahaha! I'll show you even more Sage Arts!" Jiraiya charged toward Lao Zi at incredible speed, his physical abilities enhanced by Sage Mode.
Lao Zi intended to engage Jiraiya in close-quarters combat, underestimating his own capabilities. Even without Sage Mode, he would have struggled against Jiraiya, and with the two toads interfering, he didn't stand a chance.
BOOM!!
A dull thud reverberated as Lao Zi was struck by Jiraiya's fist, imbued with Sage chakra, sending him sliding across the ground for several dozen meters, leaving a deep gouge in his wake.
Han, who had been occupied fighting Mu Yue and the others, immediately unleashed his tailed beast chakra upon seeing his partner's plight. Steam billowed from his body, and his physical strength underwent a tremendous enhancement.
Although he didn't inherently possess Boil Style, he could utilize the chakra of the Five-Tails. With the tailed beast within him, it was as if he had mastered the Boil Style himself.
Unlike other Boil Style ninjas, Han had developed this ability to augment his physical techniques. He cleverly employed his Boil Style chakra to bolster his strength.
The slightly overweight black-skinned ninja, who had been engaging in close-quarters combat with Han using Lightning Style ninjutsu, found himself outmatched the instant Han activated his Boil Style enhancement. He was no match for Han's strengthened might and was sent flying with a single blow.
"Deidara!" The black-haired Konoha ninja couldn't help but call out in worry as his teammate was blasted away.
Seizing the opportunity, Han concentrated chakra in his feet, boosting his speed as he rushed toward the black-haired Konoha ninja.
Mu Yue, mindful of Minato's position, began forming hand seals while giving him subtle eye signals.
Minato, understanding Mu Yue's intent, waited until the last moment before appearing beside his teammate and using the Flying Thunder God technique to whisk him to safety.
Just as Han rushed over, Minato and his black-haired teammate disappeared, but Mu Yue's fireballs continued their trajectory, and over thirty fireballs instantly rained down on Han.
BOOM!!!
A series of intense explosions rang out, and brilliant flames engulfed Han, obscuring him from view as dust and smoke billowed.
"Damn, your fire style is fierce! No wonder that hunter lost to you," Dekayi exclaimed as he climbed to his feet, witnessing Mu Yue's fire style overwhelming Han.
"Even a jinchuriki would suffer severe injuries if they took that fire style attack head-on..."
Before Dekayi could finish his sentence, the grayish-yellow smoke dissipated, revealing Han, surrounded by white steam and exuding his dark red chakra. His reddish armor now bore charred marks.
"You're good. If I had been just a bit slower, I might have been seriously injured by you," Han said, his usual nonchalant expression replaced by one of seriousness and gravity.
In that moment of crisis, he had swiftly utilized a massive amount of tailed beast chakra to create a tailed beast cloak that shielded him from the attack.
Initially, he had looked down on the Konoha ninjas apart from Jiraiya, believing that only Jiraiya possessed some level of strength while the others were insignificant.
But now, Han had changed his mind. He wouldn't comment on the others, but those two golden-haired ninjas indeed had some skills; their combined efforts could pose a considerable challenge.
"Then you'd better be careful from now on. I haven't even shown you my more powerful fire styles yet," Mu Yue said with a smile.
"Your fire styles won't help you anymore. You're about to witness the true power of a tailed beast," Han said confidently. The dark red chakra around him intensified, and five thick, dark red tails appeared behind him.
Even without fully transforming into his tailed beast, Han possessed terrifying strength. A single strike from him could create massive fissures in the ground.
However, with Minato's Flying Thunder God technique and the presence of elite jonin-level shinobi among them, it wouldn't be easy for Han to overpower them with brute force alone.
On the other side, Lao Zi, who had just been on the receiving end of Jiraiya's taijutsu onslaught, was still unrepentant. He entered a Lava Style Chakra Mode, causing superheated lava to cover his entire body and significantly boosting his defense and offense.
This was a chakra mode Lao Zi had developed by combining his lava style with the Four-Tails' unique chakra, granting him constantly burning lava that not only enhanced his taijutsu's power but also provided defense against ninjutsu attacks.
"So, you've turned your whole body into lava, huh? Looks like I can't get close for taijutsu then," Jiraiya remarked upon seeing the layer of lava armor on Lao Zi.
While Sage Mode enhanced his physical abilities, directly engaging in close combat with the lava-covered opponent would be unwise.
"Sage Art: Hair Needle Senbon!"
Jiraiya launched a probing attack, one of his fastest ninjutsu with a wide range.
"Lava Style: Granite!"
Lao Zi used nature transformation to strengthen his defense, ignoring Jiraiya's attack and letting the hard senbon rain down on him.
Enhanced by Sage Mode chakra, Jiraiya's hair was now harder than true senbon, but it still couldn't penetrate Lao Zi's lava armor and was quickly melted by the molten rock.
"Damn it, Jiraiya, how about using genjutsu? Getting close to this guy is dangerous," Shima-sama suggested.
She and Fukasaku possessed a powerful Sage Art genjutsu that only the two of them on Mount Myoboku could use.
Before Fukasaku could respond, Jiraiya, dodging and weaving, shook his head and said, "Genjutsu won't work well on jinchuriki because of the tailed beasts inside them."
He knew how powerful the Frog Song genjutsu was, but it wasn't suitable for this situation.
Firstly, Frog Song required a continuous chanting of the song, which meant essentially maintaining constant contact with the enemy, and during that time, the two sages couldn't provide him with any assistance.
As the battle intensified, Mu Yue observed Jiraiya's situation and devised a strategy. "Minato, my water style is quite good. I should be able to temporarily hold off the Four-Tails jinchuriki. Let's look for an opportunity to switch places with Jiraiya-sensei and launch a surprise attack on the Five-Tails jinchuriki."
Minato, with his clear battle instincts, instantly understood Mu Yue's plan and nodded.
Mu Yue created a shadow clone and sent it running towards Jiraiya's location, carrying a Flying Thunder God kunai.
Han noticed the movement of the shadow clone but paid it no heed. He was eager for Mu Yue's main body to come over so he could swiftly finish off the remaining three opponents and then go support Lao Zi.
Having realized the difficulty in dealing with Minato and Mu Yue, he was now focused on attacking Minato's two teammates and had already injured them.
Jiraiya, in Sage Mode, possessed heightened senses and was aware of Mu Yue's shadow clone approaching, although he didn't know their specific plan.
"Jiraiya-sensei, I can temporarily hold off this jinchuriki. You go deal with the other one," the shadow clone swiftly conveyed.
In the next moment, Minato used the Flying Thunder God technique to bring Mu Yue's main body over.
With his vast experience, Jiraiya immediately surmised that they intended to use the Flying Thunder God switch to catch the Five-Tails jinchuriki off guard and began forming hand seals to prepare a senjutsu.
The situation was urgent, and without a word, Minato brought Jiraiya back to his black-haired teammate, who was currently engaged in battle with the Five-Tails jinchuriki.
The massive fireball collided with Han's rushing figure, dealing significant damage.
Without wasting a moment, Jiraiya rushed forward again, channeling his chakra to deliver a heavy blow to the injured Han.
BOOM!
A dull thud reverberated as Han was sent flying over ten meters away, unable to hold back the blood that trickled from the corner of his mouth.
"Water Style: Water Rush!"
"Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!"
Facing the charging Lao Zi, a shadow clone spewed out a massive amount of water, aiding Mu Yue's main body as she formed hand seals and unleashed an enormous water dragon bullet towards Lao Zi.
The powerful impact of the water dragon bullet forced Lao Zi backwards, while the molten lava covering his body diminished in intensity.
"Where did this Water Style expert come from? It perfectly counters my abilities." Lao Zi frowned. This twenty-plus-meter-tall and several-meter-wide water dragon bullet was clearly not something an ordinary person could produce, especially not on dry land.
He despised Water Style ninjas the most, and the only countermeasure he had against them was the Tailed Beast Ball.
Although he felt that he could take the time to kill Mu Yue, Lao Zi was more concerned about the injured Han. Thus, he entered a semi-tailed beast state to support his partner.
To drive back Jiraiya and the others, Lao Zi began charging a small Tailed Beast Ball.
Upon seeing this, Jiraiya and Mizuki quickly created distance and regrouped.
"Han, are you alright?" Lao Zi warily eyed Jiraiya as he asked Han.
"I'm not at the brink of death, but I won't be able to fight at full strength from now on," Han replied as he climbed to his feet.
While the tailed beast chakra granted him strong regenerative abilities, Jiraiya's powerful senjutsu meant that he wouldn't recover to his peak condition anytime soon.
"Let's use our Tailed Beast Balls and then retreat. These guys are tough customers, and if we continue fighting, it'll only end in mutual destruction," Lao Zi suggested.
In a one-on-one situation, he believed he could defeat either Mu Yue or Jiraiya, but with Mu Yue assisting Jiraiya, the battle became much more challenging.
Add in the unpredictable Minato, and the situation became even more difficult.
"Then let's retreat," Han agreed, nodding.
After all, the Rock Ninja Village's forces had already lost, so their retreat wouldn't make much difference.
The two of them used their Tailed Beast Balls, and Minato once again used the Flying Thunder God technique to transport everyone to a safe location.
The same terrifying explosion of white light ensued, its immense power palpable even from a distance.
"That was really exciting, the second time now," Dekayi commented dryly.
"Fighting against Jinchuriki is really stressful," the black-haired teammate said as he wiped the sweat from the back of his shirt.
"Teacher Jiraiya, do we go back and continue the fight?" Minato asked.
"Let's head back to the camp. It's too difficult to deal with two Jinchuriki together," Jiraiya shook his head.
While Han had sustained serious injuries, Jiraiya had also expended a lot of chakra, so he had no intention of pursuing them.
"Although we didn't completely defeat them, there's no doubt that this was a major victory for Konoha!" Jiraiya declared, laughing heartily after dispelling his Sage Mode and toad summoning.
Among the five great ninja villages, the Rock Village had sent out two Jinchuriki, but Konoha had emerged victorious without deploying any Jinchuriki, giving them a significant lead.
"You all performed exceptionally well this time, especially Minato and Mu Yue," Jiraiya said, his eyes filled with appreciation as he looked at Mu Yue.
He was well aware of Minato's capabilities, having trained him himself, but Mu Yue had truly surprised him.
Jiraiya noticed that Mu Yue's foundation in ninjutsu was extremely solid. Although he hadn't used many advanced ninjutsu, each technique he employed was executed skillfully and with considerable power.
If there were output data for this battle, Mu Yue's output value would undoubtedly be second only to his.
Of course, if he had to choose the most critical support, Jiraiya would still pick Minato, as he wouldn't have been able to withstand the two Tailed Beast Balls without the Flying Thunder God technique.
"I never expected that, in addition to your unparalleled culinary skills in the ninja world, your ninjutsu would be so impressive as well. Compared to me, you're more like a disciple of Teacher Sarutobi," Jiraiya said, stroking his chin.
During the battle, Mu Yue had used ninjutsu from three different elements, each executed with apparent proficiency and combined effectively to maximize their destructive potential.
"It's mainly because Minato's spatial ninjutsu is so powerful," Mu Yue smiled, sharing the credit with Minato.
Indeed, that was what he truly thought.
In Mu Yue's eyes, the MVP of this battle was first and foremost Jiraiya, who could single-handedly fight and suppress a Jinchuriki. Next was the invaluable support provided by Minato, followed by himself in third place.
Through this battle, Mu Yue had gained a rough understanding of the strength of an ordinary Jinchuriki. While he could defeat them, killing them was another matter.
Mu Yue's full power lasted shorter than a typical Sage Mode user, and his chakra would quickly deplete to half its capacity.
"No matter how strong my spatial ninjutsu is, I still need someone to create opportunities. If not for your powerful Water Style, we wouldn't have achieved such remarkable results," Minato smiled, acknowledging Mu Yue's contribution.
"Haha, you two. Minato, if you keep this up, I'll start suspecting that you're deceiving me. Are you two really not blood-related brothers?" Jiraiya laughed, placing his hands on Mu Yue and Minato's shoulders as he teased them.
"Alright, you two are both amazing and have made great contributions. Now, let's head back to the rear camp," Jiraiya announced, leading the group back to their base.
5k, I experienced a bit of writer's block with this chapter, so it's a bit late.
Also, I've been updating quite frequently lately, with chapters around 9k and 8k words, but I've combined them, so they appear shorter.
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
