The three of them were certainly eager for this, so they headed together to the training ground outside the city.
Having been apart for too long, Jiraiya only had some intelligence about Nagato and their strength. To better guide them and fueled by a bit of curiosity, Jiraiya engaged in combat training with Nagato and the other three.
However, for better effect, Jiraiya had them come at him one by one rather than all together.
After all, there was quite a gap in skill among the three, and if they engaged all at once, it might just turn into Nagato's personal showcase.
"How about I go first?" Yahiko said first.
Seeing that Konan and Nagato had no objections, Yahiko stepped across from Jiraiya.
"Do your best to use everything you've got. Don't hold back; let me see everything you've got," Jiraiya exclaimed boldly.
As a well-known strong figure in the current Ninja World, Jiraiya had the confidence for this.
"Jiraiya sensei, pardon me." Since Jiraiya said this himself, Yahiko didn't hold back and directly gathered his strength to charge.
At the moment of launch, Yahiko concentrated his breath to strengthen his body's power.
The breathing technique Yahiko practiced was a branch developed by Mokgetsu based on the Breath of Rock, called the Breath of Ninja.
Strictly speaking, the Breath of Ninja consists of two breathing techniques. One enhances power, paired with a taijutsu move similar to Rankyaku, while the other enhances defense, with a defensive ninjutsu akin to Tekkai.
The two breathing techniques can be cultivated simultaneously but cannot be used at the same time. Unlike Breath of Rock, which is both powerful in attack and defense.
The corresponding benefit is a significant decrease in cultivation difficulty. Under Mokgetsu's guidance, even the most ordinary ninja of the Ninja Sect can gradually learn one of them.
Yahiko's talent is decent, so he mastered the complete Breath of Ninja.
Shoo shoo!!
Yahiko first threw out two kunai.
Clang clang!!
Jiraiya casually drew out kunai from the Ninja Pouch to block Yahiko's thrown kunai.
Swish!
Seizing the moment when Jiraiya waved the kunai, Yahiko quickly kicked out a crescent-shaped chakra slash, gathering strength in his legs.
But Jiraiya's combat experience was exceedingly rich. By merely observing Yahiko's moves, he stepped aside to avoid Yahiko's kick technique.
Bam!
The crescent-shaped chakra slash cut the tree, leaving a deep gash, almost cutting the tree in half.
"The force is decent, but the speed is slow," Jiraiya commented.
An attack like that could cause quite a bit of damage if it hit a ninja.
"Water Release: Water Spear!"
Unfazed by Jiraiya's words, Yahiko poured himself into the battle, gathering chakra and forming three water spears to shoot at Jiraiya.
"Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall!"
With rapid hand seals, Jiraiya raised a thick earth wall before him. Yahiko's water spears only left pits on the Earth Flow Wall, failing to breach its defense.
With ninjutsu unsuccessful, Yahiko once again gathered strength from breathing to assault Jiraiya, preparing for a taijutsu exchange.
Bam bam!
With Jiraiya holding back, they fought back and forth.
After discerning Yahiko's taijutsu habits, Jiraiya began raising the difficulty. A feint exposed Yahiko's weakness.
"Earth Release: Rock Iron Jutsu!"
Calmly, Yahiko used what amounted to the Ninja World's version of Tekkai.
Pumping breathing force into his body to enhance defense, coupled with the Earth Attribute Chakra Nature Changes for hardening, this move had the potential to withstand ninjutsu.
Within the Ninja Sect, this jutsu was affectionately known as Turtle Shell Jutsu because it was genuinely solid.
Bam!
Jiraiya punched Yahiko, but Yahiko remained unmoved, while Jiraiya's fist was slightly reddened from the recoil.
Yahiko couldn't help but grin smugly.
Jiraiya raised an eyebrow, amused by Yahiko's overconfidence despite the lenience.
Next, Jiraiya's palm exploded with increased chakra power, swiftly attacking again, sending Yahiko flying with a punch.
"Using defensive ninjutsu when there's no way to avoid is certainly correct, but you need to immediately create distance or retaliate afterward," Jiraiya advised.
"The jutsu you just used must be Earth Release. It's best not to use it against Lightning Release ninjas, as it might backfire." Jiraiya informed.
During his encounters with Hidden Rock in the Second Ninja World War, their hardening jutsu was quite troublesome for ninjas like him who hadn't mastered Lightning Attribute Chakra Nature Changes, but against Lightning Release ninjas, this technique was practically voided.
Since hardening jutsu augments the body with ninjutsu, once it's broken, the best result is getting hurt.
"Hehe, thank you for the reminder, Jiraiya sensei." Yahiko thanked with a chuckle.
In fact, Mokgetsu had already pointed this out during teaching, as these defensive ninjutsu often gave people a false sense of invincible defense, easily leading to arrogance without warning.
Ten minutes later, Jiraiya looked at Nagato and Konan, "Who wants to go next?"
Nagato voluntarily stepped back.
It's not that Nagato was shy, but if he engaged in battle with Jiraiya, by the time he advised Konan, Jiraiya might need to rest for a while.
Though he didn't feel he could defeat Jiraiya, Nagato's Celestial Path and Preta Path absorption abilities alone would prevent Jiraiya from easily defeating him.
One absorbs all ninjutsu, while the other deflects all attacks, combining to deal with numerous scenarios.
"Then I'll go." Konan stepped forward.
"Paper Shuriken!"
Konan took a paper piece from her body, infused it with chakra to harden, and threw it.
Though her Ninja Pouch contained kunai and shuriken, Konan was frugal and preferred to use her secret technique as a substitute.
Whoosh!
After throwing shuriken, Konan quickly using breath power flashed toward Jiraiya.
Unlike Yahiko, though Konan quickly mastered the power-type Breath of Ninja, she didn't learn the defense-type Breath of Ninja like Yahiko did.
Because Konan practiced Paper Secret Technique, which offered strong defensive measures, as long as it was sufficiently skilled, she could paperize her body to evade attacks without needing to harden.
"Your taijutsu is quite good, more aggressive than Yahiko's," Jiraiya praised.
Of course, despite the compliments, Jiraiya didn't treat her specially just because Konan was a girl; he still fought accordingly.
After being harshly taught in taijutsu, Konan flung shuriken at Jiraiya.
This time, Jiraiya didn't use kunai to block but used Fire Release to preemptively take down the incoming shuriken.
Boom!!
The shuriken hit by the Flame Bomb exploded.
One of the three shuriken was a disguised fake shuriken by Konan using Paper Secret Technique as Explosive Tag.
Konan's fake shuriken appeared identical to real ones, but was slightly different. To an experienced ninja like Jiraiya, they exposed flaws once launched.
Another ten or so minutes later, having been guided, Konan retreated, leaving Jiraiya facing Nagato.
At this time, Nagato also looked at Jiraiya. They locked eyes, and Jiraiya once again saw the pair of Rinnegan that had stunned him before.
It was those unique eyes that made Jiraiya believe Nagato might be the prophesied child.
"Jiraiya sensei, please be cautious next," Nagato stepped forward respectfully.
Under circumstances where the opponent lacks intelligence, the Rinnegan's abilities can easily cause a first encounter kill.
"Haha, let me take a look at your growth over the years," Jiraiya didn't consider Nagato's words as boasting.
Bearing the title of Ninja World's number one talent, plus the eyes of the Six Paths Sage.
Adding to the uncertainty in ninja combat, if Nagato were Jiraiya's enemy, Jiraiya would surely start with Summoning to call Bunta for assistance.
Those are the legendary eyes of the Six Paths Sage. Who knows what terrifying abilities they might harbor.
PS: Stayed up late last night, only 4k today