It was the first time Konan and the other two had stepped into the dueling arena.
They stared wide-eyed at the boundless space before them, their eyes sparkling like tiny stars.
"Hahaha!"
"Welcome… to my world!"
Yuki Seisui stood before the three, arms spread wide.
"Here, your life and death are mine to command!"
"Cut it out," Jiraiya muttered from the side, arms crossed with a look of exasperation.
He'd known for a long time that Yuki Seisui was never the serious type.
Looks like some things never change.
"This is your senior's Kekkei Genkai," Jiraiya explained, then glanced at Seisui.
"You don't mind telling them, right?"
"No problem." Seisui shook his head.
There was nothing to fear—so long as the "combat mode" wasn't casually revealed.
In its normal state, the arena was just a place to grind skill scrolls, replenish chakra, and practice in simulated combat.
Seeing him agree, Jiraiya continued:
"This is the boundary between illusion and reality. Anything from the outside world can be brought in. Here, even if you die, you won't truly die—you'll simply return to your body in the real world."
"Hiss…" Yahiko and the others gasped.
Konan looked at her "discount-price" senior brother in astonishment.
"Seisui-senpai, you're amazing!"
"Hahaha!" Seisui's grin spread from ear to ear.
"Later, I'll show you what a true powerhouse looks like!"
Jiraiya's face darkened slightly.
A "true powerhouse"?
Did he mean himself?
Seeing the teacher's growing irritation, Minato tugged discreetly at Seisui's sleeve.
"Tone it down, tone it down. Jiraiya-sensei's getting mad."
Uchiha Haru, on the other hand, was the complete opposite.
She locked eyes on Jiraiya, ready to strike at a moment's notice.
"Minato, you have zero awareness of being one of Konoha's strongest trio," Seisui complained.
"Under my lead, even Jiraiya-sensei wouldn't stand a chance!"
"Oh, really?" Jiraiya chuckled angrily.
"Alright then. Let's get started. As your teacher, I can't believe I'm being underestimated by my own students!"
He decided to teach Seisui a lesson he wouldn't forget.
"Let's see just how far your three years of sage training have taken you!"
The mention of Sage Arts made Jiraiya recall his own path.
Right after graduating from the academy, he'd accidentally summoned a toad from Mount Myoboku—one of the Three Great Sage Realms—despite having no prior contract beast.
That was when his sage training began.
Even now, his Sage Mode was incomplete, requiring the help of Fukasaku and Shima to maintain.
Could Seisui really master it in just three years?
No one understood Sage Mode better than he did.
Three years of training and he thought he could beat him?
What a joke.
"Jiraiya-sensei, will you be using Sage Mode?" Seisui asked calmly, smiling.
Jiraiya was about to say "no" but caught sight of Konan and the others.
"…Alright, I'll use Sage Mode to test you."
Forming hand signs, he summoned the two elder toads—Fukasaku and Shima.
"Jiraiya, what's the occasion?" Fukasaku asked, glancing around.
"Been a while, Elder Toads," Minato greeted warmly.
"Oh, Minato, eh?" Shima hopped over, smiling, before Minato eagerly asked:
"Elder Shima, what exactly is Sage Mode?"
"It's a state of being," she explained.
"Sage Mode uses natural energy to create senjutsu chakra, greatly amplifying the power of ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu."
Her gaze sharpened.
"You have enough chakra—you could start learning. Come to Myoboku sometime."
Minato's eyes lit up with excitement.
Haru, standing nearby, felt a pang of envy.
Seisui noticed and squeezed her hand.
"It's fine—you've still got your Sage Mode."
He suddenly remembered she didn't have a summoning beast yet.
Couldn't have her just standing by cheering while he and Minato went full Sage Mode in battle.
"Panda?" Haru blinked. "What panda?" She quickly understood.
"…You sure it's okay?"
"Of course," Seisui smiled. The Panda Sage would be thrilled to have more contractors.
Meanwhile, Jiraiya whispered to Fukasaku:
"I'm testing my disciples, but I can't quite gauge their strength. Help me enter Sage Mode."
Fukasaku glanced at Seisui's group, then at Nagato's trio watching eagerly from afar.
"A bittersweet thing—your students catching up to you."
He called out to Shima, who was mid-conversation with Minato.
"Wife, help Jiraiya enter Sage Mode!"
Shima bid Minato farewell and hopped to Jiraiya's shoulders.
A minute later, his eyes opened—pupils now toad-like, nose dotted with warts, and purple markings spread across his cheeks.
Haru frowned. "Ugly."
"Sensei looks so ugly like this," Konan added from afar.
Minato was starting to regret it.
Seisui had once said, Strength is temporary. Looking good is forever.
If his Sage Mode looked like this, Kushina might never let him live it down.
"You're not transforming?" Jiraiya asked, frowning.
Before he could finish, Seisui clapped his hands—white light flared, hair turning crimson, golden eyes locking onto Jiraiya.
"What was that, Sensei? I didn't quite catch it."
Jiraiya: "…"
Seisui's instant transformation hit him like a punch to the gut—yet, oddly enough, he felt proud.
"Hahaha! That's my disciple!"
"Looks like your student's talent outshines yours," Shima remarked.
Fukasaku's expression hardened.
"Another clan that's mastered natural energy… This won't be easy."
From afar, Nagato stared at Seisui's red hair, memories stirring.
Aside from his mother, he'd never met another with that hair—now, here stood his senior brother… his clansman.
Sensing the change in him, Konan pressed a paper flower into his hand.
"You still have us."
"Yeah—you've got us," Yahiko added, full of conviction.
"We will create a peaceful world!"
Seisui, in Sage Mode, picked up on their emotions instantly. He smiled.
"Stop overthinking. Watch closely and learn!"
And with that—
"Iaijutsu: Water Severing Strike!"
Mist swirled around him, cloaking his figure.
In an instant, Minato used the cover to strike at Jiraiya's throat with twin chakra blades—only for Jiraiya to dissolve into smoke.
"A shadow clone?!" Minato's eyes widened.
"When—?"
Before he could finish, the real Jiraiya appeared, boot slamming into Minato's stomach.
"Chidori!" Haru's lightning blade flashed as she and Seisui flanked Jiraiya from both sides.
Water tendrils wrapped around him—
"Ribbit! Ribbit!"
The twin sages unleashed their Toad Confrontation Chant, freezing nearly everyone—including Nagato's group a hundred meters away—inside an illusory barrier.
Everyone except Seisui.
"No genjutsu works on me!" he declared.
"Iaijutsu: Water Severing Strike!"
The water's pull dragged Jiraiya toward him.
The sages' eyes went wide—how had their chant failed?
Jiraiya's hair bristled like steel needles.
"Sage Art: Needle Jizo!"
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