Chapter 243: Battle with a Jinchuriki

"I thought you'd just run away, but it seems you still don't recognize your own strength." Old Purple said with some surprise, arms crossed.

After seeing the power of their Tailed Beast Balls, they actually dared to come back and keep fighting them.

"I'll show you the true power of the Toad Sage right now!" Jiraiya laughed loudly, and two small toads wearing cloaks had somehow appeared on his shoulders.

"Two sages, I'm counting on you. This enemy is no pushover."

His opponents were two jinchuriki who could use Tailed Beast Balls, so Jiraiya didn't dare to be careless. Right after Minato teleported away with the Flying Thunder God, he immediately began preparing Sage Mode, and before being teleported back, he summoned the two sages from Mount Myōboku.

His Sage Mode training was imperfect, requiring the two sages to assist him. However, having two sages helping also made it last longer than if he used Sage Mode alone.

"Aren't these tailed beasts? And there are two of them. This is indeed a very troublesome enemy." Sage Fukasaku said with surprise, sensing the powerful tailed beast chakra from Old Purple and Han.

In his eight hundred years of life, he had never encountered a situation like this—facing two tailed beasts at once.

"Little Jiraiya, your timing for summoning us is terrible. I was just thinking about what to cook for dinner." Sage Shima said somewhat discontentedly.

"This is no time to worry about such things. You need to take the enemy seriously. These are two jinchuriki—I can sense the terrifying chakra inside them." Sage Fukasaku said gravely.

"What do you mean 'such things'? Do you think being a housewife is easy, Father?" Sage Shima felt underestimated.

"After the battle is over, I'll introduce you to a culinary master. But for now, let's focus on the fight." Having the two toads arguing right by his ears gave Jiraiya a headache—they really were talking right next to his ears.

"All smoke and mirrors." Old Purple's chakra exploded as he formed hand seals for a jutsu.

"Lava Release: Scorching Stream Rock Technique!"

A large number of flaming lava spheres shot out from Old Purple's mouth. The spheres weren't that big—just slightly taller than an adult—but there were so many that they looked like a meteor shower falling.

"Time to use Sage Arts! Sage Art: Goemon!"

Jiraiya laughed loudly without dodging or evading, using Sage Arts on the spot to go head-to-head with Old Purple.

He gathered chakra in his throat, converted it into chakra oil, and spat it at the lava spheres.

The moment Jiraiya spat the chakra oil, Sage Shima spat Sage Art flames, which heated the chakra oil to a searing temperature. Then Sage Fukasaku spat a Sage Art Wind Release; the wind fed the fire, making it blaze hotter while also spreading the scalding hot oil over a wider area.

Boom, boom, boom!!

When the scorching hot oil met the lava, explosions erupted one after another. The boiling oil splattered everywhere, and the lava spheres fell one by one. In the end, all the lava fell. The hot oil and flames were somewhat depleted, but they still surged toward Old Purple and Han.

Mu Yue wore a thoughtful expression. The boost from Sage Mode was certainly considerable, but if Jiraiya had been using Sage Art Fire Release alone, he couldn't have achieved this kind of power.

It had to be said that having a good summoning beast could add a lot to one's combat strength. Mu Yue felt that if Jiraiya couldn't summon the Mount Myōboku toads, his overall strength would drop by a third.

Mu Yue actually wanted to train Kurohabaki, hoping to elevate him from being just a mode of transportation to someone who could be useful in battle. But after a few tries, he found it wasn't very effective—summoning beasts seemed to rely more on innate talent than humans did.

Whoosh!!

Old Purple and Han burst their chakra and flash-stepped backward.

"What kind of jutsu is that? Its power is even greater than my Lava Release." Old Purple looked very surprised, not expecting Jiraiya's strength to suddenly increase so much.

And this was his Lava Release using tailed beast chakra.

Swish, swish, swish!!

Minato quickly took four Flying Thunder God kunai from his ninja tool pouch and threw two at Old Purple and two at Han, but they were all easily blocked.

"Haha! Next I'll show you even more Sage Arts!" Jiraiya rushed toward Old Purple at top speed. With the enhancement from Sage Mode, his taijutsu abilities were also greatly boosted.

Old Purple wanted to go head-to-head with Jiraiya in taijutsu, but he overestimated his own ability. Against Jiraiya in Sage Mode, he could barely hold his own, and with the two toads interfering from the side, he was even less of a match.

Bang!!

A dull impact sound rang out. Old Purple was hit by a single punch from Jiraiya carrying Sage Art chakra, skidding dozens of meters along the ground before stopping, leaving a deep gouge behind.

Han, who had been locked in combat with Mu Yue and the others, saw this and instantly burst his tailed beast chakra. White steam continuously erupted from his body, greatly enhancing his physical strength.

Although he himself didn't possess Boil Release, he could use the chakra of the Five-Tails. With a tailed beast inside him, it was no different from having Boil Release himself.

Unlike other Boil Release users, Han had developed Boil Release into a technique that supplemented taijutsu, cleverly using Boil Release chakra to amplify his own strength.

The slightly chubby dark-skinned ninja had been engaging Han in close-quarters combat using Lightning Release body-enhancement techniques. But once Han powered up with Boil Release, he was no match and was sent flying backward after their clash.

"Dekai!" the dark-haired Konoha ninja called out in worry as he saw his teammate get blasted away.

Seizing the opportunity, Han immediately concentrated chakra in his feet to boost his speed and charged toward the dark-haired Konoha ninja.

Mugetsu noticed the location of Mizumon and gave him a hint with his eyes while forming hand seals.

Mizumon immediately understood the moment he saw Mugetsu using hand seals for a ninjutsu, deliberately waiting until the last moment before Han was about to charge, then appearing beside his teammate and using Flying Thunder God to teleport his teammate away.

"Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!"

Mugetsu aimed directly at the spot where Mizumon's black-haired teammate had been standing and unleashed the Fire Release, spitting out a large number of small fireballs from his mouth that rapidly flew towards the black-haired teammate.

The moment Han charged, Mizumon and the black-haired teammate vanished, but Mugetsu's Phoenix Sage Fire was about to arrive, and over thirty small fireballs instantly struck Han.

Boom, boom, boom!!

A series of intense explosions rang out, and fierce flames enveloped Han, the stirred-up dust and thick smoke obscuring his figure.

"Brother, your Fire Release is really powerful no wonder that Kari lost to you without a complaint." Dekai climbed up just in time to see Mugetsu's Fire Release engulf Han, and couldn't help but laugh in praise.

"Even a jinchuriki, taking a Fire Release of this level head-on, should probably…"

Before Dekai could finish, the grayish-yellow smoke faded, white steam continued to rise, and Han appeared before everyone's eyes, his body emanating dark red chakra, with a trace of scorched black on his crimson armor.

"You're good. If I had been a little slower, you might have seriously injured me." The calm expression on Han's face disappeared, replaced by seriousness and gravity.

In that critical moment just now, he had rapidly used a massive amount of tailed beast chakra to create a Tailed Beast Coat, blocking this attack for himself.

Originally, he had looked down on the Konoha ninjas other than Jiraiya, thinking that aside from Jiraiya having some skill, the others were not worth mentioning.

But now Han had changed his mind. He wouldn't comment on the others, but those two blonde ninjas did have some skill, and working together they could cause him quite a bit of trouble.

"Then you'd better be careful next, because I still have an even stronger Fire Release that I haven't used yet." Mugetsu said with a smile.

"Your Fire Release is useless now. Next, you'll learn the true power of a tailed beast." Han said confidently, as the dark red chakra on his body increased, and five thick, long dark red tails appeared behind him.

Semi-tailsbeastified Han had terrifying strength without needing Boil Release; even a single charge could cause huge cracks in the ground.

However, with Mizumon's Flying Thunder God support, and the fact that everyone present was essentially elite among jonin, it wasn't so simple for Han to defeat them through brute force.

On the other side, Rōshi, who had been taught a lesson in taijutsu by Jiraiya, still wasn't convinced and directly entered Lava Release Chakra Mode, his entire body covered in scorching-hot lava, greatly increasing his defense and attack power.

This was a chakra mode Rōshi had developed by combining his own Lava Release with the special chakra of the Four-Tails. The continuously burning lava not only greatly enhanced his taijutsu power but also allowed him to block ninjutsu attacks.

"His whole body has turned into lava… I guess I can't keep using taijutsu." Jiraiya, seeing the layer of lava armor on Rōshi, abandoned taijutsu offense.

Although Sage Mode could strengthen his body, directly using his body to clash with lava was extremely unwise.

"Sage Art: Needle Jizō!"

Jiraiya launched a probing attack. This technique was the fastest one he could release and also had a wide range.

"Lava Release: Granite!"

Rōshi used nature transformation to strengthen his defense, then ignored Jiraiya's attack, letting the hard white hairs continuously stab at him.

Under the enhancement of Sage chakra, the hairs Jiraiya shot out were even harder than real senbon, but they still couldn't break through the defense of the lava armor and were quickly melted by the lava.

"Husband, how about using genjutsu? Getting close to this guy would be dangerous." Shima Sage spoke.

She and Fukasaku mastered a powerful Sage art genjutsu, which only the two of them in Mount Myōboku could use.

Before Fukasaku Sage could answer, Jiraiya dodged while shaking his head and said:

"Jinchuriki have tailed beasts inside them, so genjutsu is hard to affect them."

He knew how powerful the Toad Confrontation Chant genjutsu was, but this opponent wasn't suitable.

First, Toad Confrontation Chant requires time to take effect. During that time, because they have to keep singing, it's essentially constantly announcing their position to the enemy, and the two sages can't provide him help while using the genjutsu.

The battle on site was growing more intense. Mugetsu noticed the situation on Jiraiya's side and thought of a plan. He spoke:

"Mizumon, my Water Release is decent; I should be able to slightly block the Four-Tails jinchuriki's attack. Let's find an opportunity to switch Lord Jiraiya over here to strike the Five-Tails jinchuriki."

Mizumon's combat thinking was very clear; he instantly understood Mugetsu's idea and nodded.

Mugetsu split off a shadow clone and had the shadow clone carry a Flying Thunder God kunai and run towards Jiraiya's direction.

Han noticed the shadow clone's movement but ignored it. He wished that Mugetsu's original body would go over there, so he could quickly kill the remaining three people and then go support Rōshi.

After discovering how troublesome Mizumon and Mugetsu were, he now focused on attacking Mizumon's two teammates and had already injured them.

In Sage Mode, Jiraiya had strong perception; he sensed the arrival of Mugetsu's shadow clone, but he didn't know the specifics of their tactics.

"Lord Jiraiya, I can temporarily block this jinchuriki. You go deal with the other one," the Shadow Clone said quickly and succinctly.

In the next moment, Minato used Flying Thunder God to teleport Muyue's original body over.

Jiraiya's immense experience immediately made him realize that the two intended to use Flying Thunder God to switch positions and catch the Five-Tails Jinchuriki off guard. He immediately began forming hand seals to prepare to use senjutsu.

The situation was urgent. Without saying a word, Minato immediately brought Jiraiya back to the side of their comrades who were being attacked by the Five-Tails Jinchuriki.

"Fire Style: Great Flame Bullet!"

The moment he landed, Jiraiya spat out powerful senjutsu flames at the charging Han.

The enormous fireball collided precisely with the rushing Han, dealing full damage.

Jiraiya did not waste time; he immediately charged forward, burst his chakra, and gave the injured Han a heavy punch.

Bang!

A dull impact sounded, and Han was sent flying backward more than ten meters, blood uncontrollably flowing from the corner of his mouth.

"Water Style: Water Shockwave!"

"Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!"

Facing the charging Roshi, first the Shadow Clone spewed a large amount of water current. Using this massive water flow, Muyue's original body then formed hand seals and unleashed an enormous Water Dragon Bullet that rushed toward Roshi.

The powerful impact of the Water Dragon Bullet continuously pushed Roshi's body backward, while the fire of his lava decreased.

"Where did this water release expert come from? He just happens to counter my power." Roshi frowned. This Water Dragon Bullet, over twenty meters long and several meters tall, was clearly not something an ordinary person could use, and they weren't on a lake or ocean.

What he hated most were water release ninja; the only means he had to counter water release ninja was the Tailed Beast Ball.

Although he felt he could kill Muyue given some time, Roshi was more worried about the injured Han, so he also entered a state of half-tailed beast transformation and went to support Han.

To drive back Jiraiya and the others, Roshi began charging a small Tailed Beast Ball.

Seeing this, Jiraiya and Minato immediately distanced themselves and regrouped with Muyue.

"Han, are you okay?" Roshi asked Han while carefully eyeing Jiraiya.

"It's not life-threatening, but I won't be able to go all out from now on," Han said as he stood up.

Tailed Beast chakra gave him strong regenerative abilities, but Jiraiya's senjutsu was powerful; he couldn't recover fully in such a short time.

"Let's both use Tailed Beast Balls and then retreat. These guys are tough to deal with; if we keep fighting, it'll only end in mutual destruction," Roshi said.

One-on-one, he felt he could defeat either Muyue or Jiraiya, but if it was Jiraiya supported by Muyue, that would be a difficult fight.

Add in a Minato who appears and disappears unpredictably, and it becomes even more troublesome.

"Then let's retreat," Han nodded in agreement.

After all, Iwagakure's forces had already lost, so there was no issue with them retreating.

Then the two together used Tailed Beast Balls. Seeing this, Minato used Flying Thunder God to teleport everyone to a safe location again.

The same terrifying explosive white light—even from a distance, one could sense its immense power.

"So thrilling, and for the second time," Dekai couldn't help but remark.

"Fighting jinchuriki is really stressful," the black-haired teammate said, touching the back of his clothes, which were soaked with sweat.

"Jiraiya-sensei, should we go back and continue fighting?" Minato asked.

"Let's return to camp. Two jinchuriki together are too difficult to deal with," Jiraiya shook his head and said.

Han was seriously injured, but Jiraiya's chakra was also heavily depleted, so he had no intention of pursuing.

"Although we didn't completely defeat them, without a doubt, this time Konoha has won a great victory!" Jiraiya laughed heartily after canceling his Summoning Technique and Sage Mode.

As fellow Five Great Ninja Villages, Iwagakure had already deployed two jinchuriki, yet Konoha won without sending any jinchuriki—they were far ahead.

"Everyone performed very well this time, especially Minato and Muyue," Jiraiya said, looking at Muyue with an extremely appreciative gaze.

He already knew Minato was excellent, after all, he had trained him personally, but Muyue had truly given him a surprise.

He realized that Muyue's foundation in ninjutsu was extremely solid. Although he hadn't used many high-level techniques, every technique he used was very proficient and had considerable power.

If this battle had damage output data, Muyue's output would definitely be second.

Of course, if he had to choose the most important support, Jiraiya would still pick Minato, because without the Flying Thunder God technique, he couldn't have blocked two Tailed Beast Balls.

"I didn't expect that besides your unparalleled cooking skills in the ninja world, your ninjutsu is also so good. Compared to me in the past, you seem more like Sarutobi-sensei's disciple," Jiraiya said, stroking his chin.

During the battle, Muyue used ninjutsu of three different natures, all seeming very proficient, and could combine them to unleash greater power.

"It's mainly because Minato's space–time ninjutsu is amazing." Muyue smiled and gave the credit to Minato.

In fact, that was what he thought in his heart.

In Muyue's eyes, in this battle, first was Jiraiya, who could single-handedly suppress a jinchuriki, then Minato as the best support, and third was himself.

Through this battle, Muyue roughly figured out the strength of an ordinary jinchuriki; fighting was fine, but he couldn't kill one.

Because when Muyue goes all out, it is even less sustainable than an ordinary person opening Sage Mode; chakra would be mostly consumed quickly.

"No matter how strong my space–time ninjutsu is, someone has to create the opportunity. If it weren't for your powerful Water Release, Muyue, it would be hard for us to achieve such results," Minato said with a smile, speaking of Muyue's role.

"Haha, you two really... Minato, if you keep this up, I'll start suspecting you're lying to me—maybe you two really are blood brothers." Jiraiya watched the two praising each other, put his hands on Muyue's and Minato's shoulders, and said with a big laugh.

"Alright, you're both amazing, all great heroes." Jiraiya announced the result, then led the group back to the rear camp.

5k, got a bit stuck writing this chapter, so it's a little late.

Also, actually I've been updating quite a lot recently, all 9k8k, it's just that I merged chapters, so it looks fewer.