Chapter 20

(Jiraiya POV)

Damn has this place really only been in construction for a week? Tall frames of multi story wooden buildings are lined up against each other and grand stone walls with sharp bones like wires enclose the area. In the village center a large building made of some strange pale white material looms over the entire area at over two hundred feet tall. A bright white light shines down from the large structure onto the vast dark sea.

Well no one is here to greet me so I suppose I should just walk in. Just as I think that a tall young man with curly black hair and startling white and black eyes appears in a gust of wind right in front of me. A loose black kimono with white bones patterns mimicking a human skeleton hangs on his shoulders revealing his collar bones and shoulders. The v line shows a bit of his chest as well as a moving tattoo shaped like a dragon made of wind, water and ice.

Hikaru Shiro, the new S-Rank shinobi of Konohagakure that I was sent to keep an eye on by the old man. Despite not saying that I would be here he showed up in an instant so there's probably some seals already set up here. Considering the fact that he was able to detect my presence the second I came near here he definitely has extraordinary talent in fuinjutsu. It hasn't been long since he started learning fuinjutsu but even so he's already shown progress in the flying thunder god jutsu and now he's set up defenses along this new village.

Wait a minute? Is that nature energy I feel coming into his body? Did he learn senjutsu from the snake sage? That would explain his weird eye change and ridiculous amount of nature energy being produced from him. But even if he knows senjutsu he shouldn't be able to collect nature energy without needing to focus. There is no way his body naturally sucks up nature energy without him knowing right?

The old man was right to send me here this guy is holding far too many secrets that make me uncomfortable. Even that cold look in his eyes is suspicious, why the hell is he doing that. I know Hiruzen told me this guy doesn't like talking to people and always has been apathetic towards others but even so I am a fellow shinobi from the same village.

"You are Jiraiya the toad sage, one of the three legendary sanin correct?"

Is this guy a fan? Maybe he's too nervous and is only keeping up a cold expression?

"Of course, have you read my book Icha Icha Paradise."

My bright smile must have startled the young man because there is no way he's actually disgusted by me right? A look of absolute disdain makes my bright smile falter as he lightly whispers.

"Damn this bastard is actually more of a disappointment than that perverted old man Hiruzen. He also isn't a perfect sage like I thought which means I'm far stronger than him no matter how many years of experience he has over me."

What did this little shit say? That smug arrogant smirk on his face makes me what to stomp on his head. Chakra swells in my hand creating a rasengan and I smile pleasantly at the annoying bastard.

"Since you believe that you're so much stronger than me why don't you take this rasengan to the chest."

Hikaru mockingly covers his mouth with both hands as if sorry for what he said but the amusement in his eyes continued to trigger me.

"Why don't you hit me with that weak jutsu, maybe you'll actually be able to scratch me."

Completely different from his cold expression before, the controlled smile on his face made me realize something, he's doing this on purpose. I don't know why he's trying to make me attack him but I won't back down from a challenge. Beside I should figure out where this new S-Rank stands on the shinobi totem pole in terms of strength.

With a great leap into the air the rasengan in my hand expands reaching a size that is many times larger than myself. Below me Hikaru lifts his fist up to meet my rasengan with no sort of chakra reinforcing his body.

In one upper cut his fist invades my rasengan, polluting my chakra and making it some type of dark, dense and disgusting energy that strengthens his punch and disrupts my chakra flow. The terrifying aura unleashed by the chakra visibly covers his arm makes me shiver as an impossibly wide smile stretches his lips from ear to ear like some sort of demon.

"Well Jiraiya-sama it looks like I was right. The legendary sanin really only got their title because Hanzo decided to spare the three of you. I have no doubt that even in sage mode you wouldn't be able to defeat me."

That's impossible, how was he able to infect and absorb my jutsu? Is this some type of kekkei genkai or a hidden technique? No, even if it was some type of kekkei genkai it shouldn't be so efficient in absorbing chakra. Not to mention the fact that the nature energy around us is being absorbed by him, has he learned snake sage mode? That would explain how he can move his skin like that.

But that raises another question, if he did learn snake sage mode, why can he absorb nature energy without meditating? If he doesn't need to meditate while collecting nature energy than that would mean he could potentially be in sage mode permanently. I need to go talk to Orochimaru to confirm this, if anyone knows about this it's him. Of course there is the possibility of Hikaru being able to passively absorb nature energy without even being a sage to begin with but I don't want to think about that. I doubt even Hashirama could do that, the prospect of entering sage mode permanently is simply to horrifying.