Cherreads

Chapter 97 - Chapter 97: Becoming Frog-like

Killer B's nin-taijutsu and swordsmanship were indeed very strong. Speed, power, agility, flexibility – all of these qualities were top-notch. Therefore, not just ordinary ninjas, but even jonin, would at least suffer serious injuries after being engaged in close combat by him.

But Habara was different. Overall, Habara was never particularly afraid of enemies with superb swordsmanship. You can slash however you want, I have a turtle shell anyway… Let the eight winds blow, I stand firm. (This is a poetic way to say that no matter what happens, he is unmovable).

Killer B slashed for a while and felt that the feedback wasn't quite right. He only saw sparks flying, but he didn't see any blood spraying. And he didn't feel like he had hit anything at all. So he stopped his movements, quickly retreated a few steps, and then looked intently at Habara.

Then he saw the "skin" on Habara's body that shimmered with a dark metallic luster, and a one-palm-wide "iron ribbon" wrapped around his body.

"A Magnet Release ninja?"

After seeing this scene, Killer B immediately saw through Habara's identity. Kumogakure also had Magnet Release ninjas, so he wasn't lacking in understanding of this kekkei genkai… By the way, Habara had once relied on "superior suppression" to take down Kumogakure's Magnet Release ninjas.

"If it weren't for the chakra reserve issue, I'd like to show you my absolute defense mode," Habara said to Killer B.

This was actually just him bluffing, a case of not losing face even if he lost the battle. Exchanging his entire chakra reserve for twenty or thirty seconds of absolute defense was 100% suicidal in an open battlefield.

Killer B ignored Habara's trash talk. He began to consider how to attack next… Fortunately, he knew how to break through the defense of a Magnet Release ninja.

Habara, on the other hand, activated the Six Directions Technique. A larger amount of natural energy began to flow and circulate in his meridians.

Killer B was good at taijutsu, nin-taijutsu, and swordsmanship. He usually relied on close combat to deal with enemies and was not good at or didn't like to use various ninjutsu and releases to engage in fancy battles. This could probably be considered a clean and straightforward fighting style deeply ingrained in the bones of Kumogakure ninjas. This village never lacked muscleheads.

However, although Killer B didn't like to use releases, there was one exception… Like his adoptive older brother, Killer B was also very good at using Lightning Release.

So when Killer B once again swung his sword and struck Habara's shoulder, intense lightning chakra was attached to his blade. Relying on the Lightning Release "enchantment," his attack became a cutting machine. In an instant, Habara's shoulder looked like a construction site… According to Killer B's understanding of Magnet Release, this kind of intense Lightning Release was enough to disrupt the Magnet Release ninja's control over Magnet Release. As long as his Lightning Release was strong enough, it could neutralize Magnet Release to a certain extent.

This judgment was not wrong, but what Habara used was not simply Magnet Release. His ability could be roughly summarized as "magnetic field control" and "metal manipulation." Moreover, and more importantly, before Killer B used the Eight-Tails' chakra, his chakra quality could never surpass Habara's.

Habara's shoulder also erupted with a dazzling ball of lightning. His Lightning Release quality was higher, and the chakra conductivity of the metal defense layer on his body was also higher. Therefore, he could naturally defend against Killer B's attack.

And in the instant of their close-quarters clash, apart from the short sword in his hand, the control of Killer B's other six blades was instantly seized by Habara. They suddenly popped out of their sheaths, then turned their blades around in the air, and stabbed towards Killer B's back in a fast, accurate, and ruthless manner.

At the same time, Habara opened his palms and grabbed towards Killer B's right wrist, which had intruded into his personal space.

Habara's moves were always unexpected (sinister). Enemies who didn't understand his abilities were easily caught off guard at first sight.

At this moment, Killer B unhesitatingly released the blade in his hand. Then he exerted force with his feet and quickly retreated. At the same time, an intense chakra far exceeding before erupted from his body.

The six blades easily "pierced" Killer B's back.

Habara's attack missed. Then, the Cold Feather, Blazing Feather twin blades appeared in his hands. Then he took a step forward and thrust his swords straight. The two long swords instantly extended ten meters, making two puchi sounds as they pierced something.

Did this take down or seriously injure Killer B? Well, that thought was quite nice.

What appeared in front of Habara were densely packed suckers and huge tentacles intertwined together. Habara's long swords had pierced one of the tentacles, but this was definitely not a fatal injury.

The following scene was unbearable to look at, and it could be described as making one's sanity drop. The huge tentacles, clumped together, began to beat like a heart. And with each beat, its size increased. It wasn't until dozens of seconds later that its body suddenly and completely unfolded.

This was the full Tailed Beast transformation of a jinchuriki. The Eight-Tails, Gyuki, appeared before the Konoha ninjas.

"Kumogakure's jinchuriki are really troublesome," Seeing this situation, Habara couldn't help but sigh.

In the use of Tailed Beast power, twenty-year-old Killer B was definitely not as good as thirty-year-old Killer B. But for him, who had already achieved mutual understanding with the Eight-Tails, he could already be considered a more or less perfect jinchuriki at this time… Since he was a perfect jinchuriki, then this person could perform a rational and controllable Tailed Beast transformation anytime, anywhere.

On Konoha's side, seeing the Tailed Beast, Habara quickly retreated. Tenzo stepped forward, and then a large number of square wooden bars wrapped around the Eight-Tails' tentacles.

In theory, Wood Release had the ability to suppress all Tailed Beasts, including the Ten-Tails. However, that specifically referred to the Wood Release of the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju. For Tenzo at this time, his Wood Release could only be effective against jinchuriki in a chakra-cloaked state. But since the Eight-Tails had already completed the Tailed Beast transformation, Tenzo's Wood Release had almost no effect.

Indeed, Wood Release had superior attributes, but the difference in chakra between the two sides was too great.

So Tenzo wasn't very useful. His Wood Release was easily broken free by the Eight-Tails' brute force… At this time, Kushina Uzumaki should have been brought to the battlefield. It's a pity that Konoha and Kumogakure had completely opposite policies on the use of jinchuriki. Kumogakure would actively deploy jinchuriki on the battlefield, while Konoha consistently hid jinchuriki at home… For Konoha, as long as the jinchuriki didn't cause trouble, that was the greatest help.

In front of the Tailed Beast, Konoha's numerical advantage was already useless.

Here, Kumogakure had an overwhelming advantage. On the other side of the battlefield, Jiraiya had been engaged in a close fight with the Fourth Raikage.

Compared to the Fourth Raikage, who had a strong desire to attack, Jiraiya was just dodging and avoiding battle. He was dodging, hiding, and circling around in the forest, as if he was playing with a monkey. So the Fourth Raikage felt that he was being looked down upon. He became angrier and angrier as he fought, and the angrier he got, the faster he became.

"Got you!"

Finally, the Fourth Raikage found an opportunity to get in front of Jiraiya. The two of them almost collided head-on. In an instant, the lightning on the Raikage's body surged. He punched towards Jiraiya's chest.

But Jiraiya seemed to have sensed it beforehand. Before the Raikage's attack arrived, he had already completed the Summoning Technique. So a one-person-tall "little toad" blocked between him and the Raikage. And the Raikage's straight punch hit the little toad's abdomen, and then…

It was like a stone sinking into the sea.

The little toad's soft abdomen completely absorbed the force of the Raikage's punch. Although one of his arms was completely submerged in the toad's belly, this toad was unharmed.

The little toad looked at the Raikage with dull, innocent, and pure eyes. In contrast, the Raikage's gnashing teeth and slightly ferocious expression due to excessive force were somewhat comical.

"Time's up."

At this time, Jiraiya, hiding behind the toad, revealed half of his body. He looked at the Raikage and said this.

Then, first Jiraiya's figure disappeared with a "poof" sound, and then the summoned beast also dispelled the summoning.

"Shadow… Clone?"

At this time, the Raikage was stunned on the one hand, and on the other hand, he felt clear-headed… No wonder Jiraiya had been running away, it turned out to be just a clone.

And before he could have more thoughts about his simplicity, he suddenly turned his head to look in a certain direction.

At the same time, Habara, who was thinking about how to deal with the Eight-Tails, the Konoha sensory ninjas, and Killer B, who was planning to crush the Konoha ninjas one by one, all stopped what they were doing at the same time and turned their heads to look into the forest.

Ten full minutes had passed since the two sides encountered, started talking trash to each other, and then started fighting. And these ten minutes, for Jiraiya at this time, were equivalent to the final lifeline… As long as he could endure these ten minutes, the rest would be his turn.

The old-generation cheaters were all dead, and the new-generation cheaters were still young. For the ninja world at this time, Sage Jiraiya could be roughly considered the number one ninja in the world in terms of overall qualities.

An overwhelming chakra was slowly moving, step by step. Jiraiya reappeared in front of everyone, unhurried.

"Is that… Lord Jiraiya?" a Konoha ninja asked hesitantly.

At this time, Jiraiya, whether it was his appearance or his chakra attributes, was significantly different from his normal state. Therefore, even his own people were a little unsure of his identity for a while.

"Who else could it be? Besides me, who else… Mount Myoboku Sage, Jiraiya, is back," Jiraiya said.

However, ordinary people really couldn't confirm his identity. Firstly, at this time, Jiraiya had a sage face paint. Secondly, because he couldn't accurately control natural energy, Jiraiya's appearance had become somewhat frog-like. Thirdly, Jiraiya had two small toads squatting on his shoulders, so he looked like a three-headed person.

"Little Jiraiya, don't be so proud. By now, you should have almost learned to enter Sage Mode on your own. How many years have you been training?" said the toad Fukasaku on his right shoulder.

"Pa, don't be so strict. Little Jiraiya is still so young. We should encourage young people more and criticize them less… Little Jiraiya, don't mind what Pa says. He's old and senile. You're already good enough," and then Shima on Jiraiya's left shoulder said this.

Jiraiya: "…"

Jiraiya hadn't used Sage Mode in actual combat many times. Precisely because the opportunity was rare, he wanted to make a grand entrance every time. However, this plan failed every time, because…

He really couldn't stop the two great toad sages from bickering like parents.

____

Join me on Patreon! A free subscription grants you immediate access to 25 chapters!: patreon.com/Shinobi_Scrolls

More Chapters