Survival

Hearing Jun's words, Jiraiya sighed. The kid was definitely underestimating him...

In reality, Jun would never waste such an opportunity. He had been wanting to fight someone stronger than him for decades! Thanks to this new body of his, it was finally possible.

Calming himself, Jun gathered his energy. Watching Jiraiya, he looked for an opening.

Seeing Jun's expression change, Jiraiya subconsciously raised his guard.

'What's with that look?'

Detecting Jiraiya's slight shift in attention, Jun flickered, disappearing from his initial spot and reappearing in front of Jiraiya.

'Shunshin! And to a high level at that!'[1]

Impressed by Jun's speed, Jiraiya crossed his arms, blocking the kick coming his way.

"Fast!"

Still, in hiding, both Minato and Nozomi gaped at the sight. Jun's body had practically disappeared from his previous position… It almost looked like teleportation!

Jun continued exploiting the openings in Jiraiya's stance, aiming at sensitive areas, such as the liver or the chin. Overwhelmed by the onslaught of attacks, Jiraiya was forced to go on the defensive.

'This kid's taijutsu… It's better than mine!'

Jiraiya couldn't understand. How could a fourteen-year-old kid have such a great understanding of taijutsu? It was as if he'd been tempered through decades of war!

Suddenly, Jun noticed a huge opening and landed a perfect kick on Jiraiya's chest, sending him back a few meters.

'Nice going!'

Minato smiled as he watched Jun push back their sensei. A deep respect for him took root in his heart as he felt determination coursing through his veins.

On the other hand, Nozomi was biting her nails in frustration.

'How is he so strong?!'

If both Minato and Jun were monsters, would there even be a bell left for her? Depressed, she continued watching.

"Whew! That was impressive!"

Whistling in awe, Jiraiya dusted himself off. Closing his eyes, he decided to get serious... Getting into a martial stance, he waited for Jun to approach.

"Come! I'll show- what?"

Suddenly, Jiraiya felt hands gripping at his feet. Looking down, he saw two pairs of hands locking his ankles shut, making him unable to move… They were coming out of the ground, weirding him out.

Smiling, Jun started performing hand-seals.

"I've got you now."

"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu." (Fire-style: Great fireball technique.)

Expanding his lungs, Jun breathed out a huge, perfectly spherical fireball, three times as big as the one he produced last time. It rotated and burned the grass underneath it, closing in on Jiraiya.

"Is he even a genin?!"

Jiraiya, Minato, and Nozomi all stared at the fireball in disbelief. Especially Jiraiya, who knew how complicated nature-transformation Jutsu were.

Reacting quickly, he also formed some hand seals and placed two fingers in front of his mouth as he spat out a wall of water in front of him.

"Suiton: Suijinheki!" (Water-style: Water wall!)

Once the fireball came into contact with the water, a large amount of steam was generated, as it was successfully neutralized.

Thinking it was over, Jiraiya sighed in relief.

Before he could relax, a disturbance in the air caused him to react. Jun had flickered right behind him and was about to take one of the bells.

"No, you don't!"

Furrowing his brows, Jiraiya's hair grew out of proportion, generating deadly spikes and covering the bells in the process. Feeling the incoming threat, Jun retreated but was still cut a little on his cheek.

Now at a safe distance, Jin canceled both of his shadow-clones, releasing Jiraiya's ankles. Tasting the blood trailing down his cheek, his will to battle increased.

'Kage-Bunshin? But how did he have them crawl out of the ground, and avoid my detection?'

Jiraiya was confused. After all, it didn't make sense for a Genin to be capable of hiding from him.

Smiling mysteriously, Jun raised his hand to his chest and performed the single-handed ram seal. As if he had become a ghost, Jun merged into the ground, disappearing from sight.

Seeing this, Jiraiya was shocked.

'I can't feel his presence anymore!'

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[1] For those who don't know, Shunshin is the body flicker technique.