Jiraiya turned his head with great effort toward the direction of the voice.
Three figures were approaching. Leading them was a boy around twelve or thirteen years old, with gray-white hair, two red dots on his forehead, and a vigilant gaze. He held a white, bone-like weapon in each hand, exuding a chilling aura.
Kaguya Kimimaro.
Behind him,
Orochimaru leaned weakly against another boy of similar age. His face was deathly pale, his chakra and aura scattered and erratic, his presence barely detectable, clearly in critical condition.
Jiraiya and Orochimaru locked eyes from a distance. Both were stunned to see the other in such a miserable state, wounded, beaten, and ragged. It was not the kind of reunion either of them had expected.
"You ran into him too?"
Orochimaru rasped as he glanced at Jiraiya. He withdrew his hand with difficulty and swayed slightly before turning to the boy beside him. "Haku, go treat his injuries."
"Yes."
Haku, who had originally been Zabuza Momochi's companion, had since become one of Orochimaru's subordinates after Kaede's earlier intervention. Without hesitation, Haku rushed to Jiraiya and examined his condition. His face immediately turned grave.
"Orochimaru-sama… his injuries are severe. I can't heal him."
"Cough… that's fine."
Jiraiya coughed, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. He looked at Haku and said, "Just get these things off me… I can summon help…"
Haku glanced at Orochimaru. After receiving a nod of approval, he promptly removed the bone spikes impaling Jiraiya's limbs and pressed his hand to Jiraiya's arm.
With Haku's support, Jiraiya weakly formed the hand seal and slapped the ground.
Poof!!
A small toad appeared in a puff of smoke. Seeing Jiraiya's condition, its eyes widened in shock.
"Jiraiya?! What the hell happened to you?!"
Jiraiya weakly replied, "Just hurry up and heal me…"
"Right!"
The toad wrapped its tongue around Jiraiya's wrist, channeling green healing chakra into his body. The energy flowed through his system, quickly stabilizing his deteriorating condition and halting the internal damage.
As the pain dulled and his breathing steadied, Jiraiya's face regained a bit of color. He wiped away some blood and muttered:
"Kaede… really doesn't hold back… What about you? Who did that to you?"
Orochimaru's eyes narrowed. "Your injuries are from Kaede? He's nearby?"
He had assumed they'd both been defeated by the same mysterious opponent, but clearly that wasn't the case.
"Yeah…"
Jiraiya's voice was weak and low. "He's not nearby anymore, he's probably about twenty or thirty miles away."
He didn't bother explaining why Kaede had injured him. Instead, he turned his gaze toward Orochimaru with a grim look.
"What happened to you? Who did that?"
"A troublesome one," Orochimaru muttered hoarsely. "I've never seen chakra like his before. I thought I could capture him and use him as a test subject, but…"
He trailed off there.
The truth was, this unknown enemy had come straight to one of Orochimaru's hidden bases. Orochimaru had intended to take the intruder alive for experimentation, but instead, he was utterly defeated. The entire base had been destroyed.
Fortunately, Haku and Kimimaro had been away on other tasks. Orochimaru had managed to resurrect himself through Haku's curse mark, and was seeking a quiet place to recover when he coincidentally ran into Jiraiya.
At first, Kimimaro had instinctively attacked Jiraiya, perceiving him as an enemy due to Orochimaru's condition. If not for Orochimaru recognizing Jiraiya's chakra and quickly stopping Kimimaro from aiming for vital spots, Jiraiya might have already died, humiliated and confused, under Kimimaro's bone spears.
"An opponent you couldn't handle… that's rare."
Jiraiya looked at Orochimaru with surprise.
As one of the Legendary Sannin himself, he knew Orochimaru's capabilities well. Very few ninjas could actually defeat Orochimaru, and even fewer could cause him serious harm. Orochimaru was infamous for his regeneration, immortality techniques, and ability to escape from any situation.
Yet here he was, visibly and severely wounded, chakra in disarray, body frail and exhausted.
Jiraiya couldn't remember the last time he'd seen Orochimaru in such a weakened state.
"Which direction is Kaede in?"
Orochimaru asked solemnly.
By now, Jiraiya could sit up with effort. He leaned against a tree and pointed in the direction he had been sent flying from.
"About thirty miles that way… there's a town."
"I want to meet him," Orochimaru said, glancing at Jiraiya with a strange flicker in his eye. "You coming?"
He had a pretty good idea how Jiraiya had ended up like this. Clearly, Jiraiya hadn't provoked Kaede, he'd just had terrible luck and happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
"I'll pass," Jiraiya replied feebly.
He still wanted to live a few more years… and write a few more books.
"I didn't even get to see anything…" he mumbled under his breath, feeling a bit wronged.
But just then,
A calm voice suddenly sounded beside him:
"If you had seen anything, you'd already be dead."
Jiraiya froze.
Haku's expression shifted as well, shocked that someone had approached this close without any of them noticing. He instinctively gripped a kunai, alarmed.
Kimimaro reacted instantly, hurling two bone spears toward the source.
Clink!
Wearing only a white bathrobe, Kaede flicked his finger and effortlessly deflected the bone spears.
Kimimaro's pupils contracted. He immediately crossed his arms, forming two new bone spears in his hands, staring at Kaede with intense wariness.
This guy is strong!
If Kaede had simply snuck up on them without being noticed, that could've been attributed to exceptional stealth. But the ease with which he flicked away his reinforced bone spears, designed to pierce steel, meant Kaede's physical power was off the charts.
Both his speed and strength were terrifying!
Kaede didn't seem particularly bothered by Kimimaro's reaction.
After launching Jiraiya earlier, he had casually checked on the situation out of curiosity, only to spot Orochimaru nearby. Sensing that Orochimaru was seriously wounded, he'd thrown on a bathrobe and came over to investigate.
Poof!
Kaede's figure vanished in an instant and reappeared directly in front of Orochimaru.
Kimimaro, standing guard next to Orochimaru, turned pale.
That speed,
Uncertain whether Kaede was friend or foe, Kimimaro instinctively swung his bone spear at him, trying to drive him back.
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Completed version available on Patreon.com/Veltoria