Jiraiya's footsteps flickered continuously within the World Tree's depths, yet his gaze had never been as sharp and clear as it was now.
As one of the Three Ninja, he was a survivor who had crawled out from countless battles and piles of corpses.
Observation, judgment, taijutsu, ninjutsu, reaction speed...
Each skill firmly placed him at the pinnacle of Kage-level.
Moreover, he was no longer the same Jiraiya from before.
Tempered by the battles in the Land of Rain, having mastered Wide Guard after hatching Marshtomp, and enlightened by Sage Art at Mount Myōboku, he now stood as a true Kage-level master in every sense.
With his hands pressed to the ground, Wide Guard transformed into layers of blue mirrors, rapidly spreading through the air.
Crack!
Space visibly fractured under the cutting light of the mirrors, the World Tree's roots even cracking under the continuous distortions of twisted spatial traces.
Shiroishi finally dropped his smile for the first time.
"To think it could be used like this... As expected of Jiraiya."
Despite his words, his movements were far quicker than his speech.
Shiroishi ceased holding back, raising both palms.
A metallic luster emerged from beneath his skin, his joints overlapping like mechanisms, revealing mechanical patterns.
His palms suddenly ignited with massive flames, the temperature instantly rising enough to distort the air.
Just as Marshtomp leaped onto Jiraiya's shoulder, Shiroishi's flames precisely targeted it like a locked-on system.
Boom!
A sea of fire transformed into a dark tornado, sweeping across the ground.
Yet, all it burned was an afterimage.
Jiraiya's true form had already turned into smoke, materializing behind Shiroishi.
At that moment, Marshtomp and Jiraiya resonated with each other, generating a powerful vortex of Sage Art energy.
Sage Art: Goemon!
He had just formed the first hand seal,
When Shiroishi turned around, slashing through the air with a claw-like strike.
"Teacher Jiraiya, you're truly pitiful."
His voice was cold and calm.
"Spending your whole life searching for the so-called Children of Destiny... It's utterly laughable."
Jiraiya ignored the taunt, continuing to move rapidly.
He had to find the true weakness in Shiroishi's power, or transmit the intelligence about the Land of Rain.
Otherwise, the entire Shinobi World would perish within Shiroishi's utopian vision.
Jiraiya could sense, beneath Shiroishi's calm words, an increasingly mad ideal and terrifying plan.
This was a madman.
A madman capable of destroying the Shinobi World.
How old was he?
To wield such formidable power!
Shiroishi's words grew sharper, his figure flickering as if folding space to another location.
The ground erupted, vines surging forth like a tsunami.
"The Children of Destiny are nothing but a joke."
The vines swept past like blade-like whip shadows, nearly grazing Jiraiya's nose.
"You believe it because I once supported the Children of Destiny, because you think they are Yahiko or Nagato. It's truly laughable, foolish enough to believe such pretexts."
Jiraiya coldly retorted, "You're nothing but an arrogant fool inflated by power."
Shiroishi smiled faintly. "No, I'm not arrogant."
"I am clear-sighted."
Clairvoyance activated, Shiroishi's eyes revealed a pair of eerie pupils.
A bizarre glow of crimson and gold intertwined, causing the World Tree's shadow to tremble.
Seeing these eyes, Jiraiya froze: "You're from the Hyuga clan?"
"Hyuga?"
Shiraishi shook his head: "I am Ōtsutsuki Shiraishi, of the Ōtsutsuki Clan."
The Ōtsutsuki Clan!?
"There is no peace in the Shinobi World—it only endlessly repeats destruction and reconstruction. Therefore, I will follow my own plan."
He raised his hand, his palm transforming into a blazing energy sphere capable of annihilating worlds.
"Eliminate the Shinobi World and bring all conflict to absolute zero."
BOOM!!!
The heart of the World Tree erupted into chaos, yet it had no effect.
Because Jiraiya's own Wide Guard had isolated these ninjutsu, allowing Shiraishi to unleash his full combat power without restraint.
Of course, Jiraiya couldn't casually withdraw the Wide Guard—otherwise, the World Tree would activate fully, and he'd only be defeated faster.
With this in mind, he had no choice but to fight Shiraishi within the limited time!
The entire space transformed into a battlefield as Shiraishi slowly raised a hand, flicking his finger lightly.
The whole area resonated instantly, as if the entire forest was breathing under his control.
Vine-like roots burst from the ground.
The roots surged wildly, churning soil and shattering rock walls.
Like steel whips, each swing carried toxicity and corrosive power.
Transparent Chakra bubbles floated mid-air, exploding upon the slightest touch, distorting and denting the very air with their blasts.
Fireballs orbited Shiraishi, spitting flames like fragments of the sun.
Each one locked onto its target with precision, scorching the space around them.
Shiraishi's pale face appeared cold and dangerous in the firelight:
"Jiraiya-sensei, stop running."
In the face of this terrifying scene, Jiraiya glanced at Marshtomp: "Sorry to drag you into this."
But Marshtomp gave a rare smile, unfazed by it all.
Jiraiya took a deep breath, a faint mist rising around him as his energy rapidly gathered.
Sage Art: Hair Needle Thousand Senbon!
The white hair on his back instantly bristled, hardening into thousands of steel-like needles that shot out, sketching a storm of sharp projectiles across the space.
The hair needles spun rapidly, not only severing some of the encroaching vines but even forcing several fireballs to detonate mid-air.
BOOM!
At that moment, Marshtomp stomped the ground, its fins glowing blue.
The energy surging through its body resonated with Jiraiya's Sage Art!
Four high-speed water jets twisted like azure serpents,
carving deep trenches into the ground while shattering some bubbles prematurely to disrupt the fireballs' targeting.
Immediately after, Marshtomp charged forward at an astonishing speed, surrounded by raging cold air.
Freezing Light snaked along the World Tree's roots, freezing and shattering large swathes of vines and roots, clearing a brief path forward for Jiraiya.
A piercing shriek suddenly tore through the sky as if it were collapsing.
Poipole plummeted like a black meteor, arms spread wide, its body oozing thick, dark venom.
The transparent bubbles in the air reacted instantly, their surfaces turning purplish-black as their toxicity doubled!
The bubbles exploded erratically, their venom and Chakra-absorbing properties intertwining, capable of devouring even Sage Art Chakra.
The path Marshtomp had just cleared was instantly swallowed and scattered by the toxic bubbles.
Following closely, a sharp whistling sound filled the air as Poipole spun around Shiraishi, releasing vast clouds of Poison Mist, weaving a net of death within the space.
Anyone stepping into this net would be instantly corroded by the poison.
Roots crashed down like falling mountains.
Jiraiya stomped the ground fiercely: "Great Breakthrough!"
Crimson flames surged from his mouth, rolling waves of fire that burned through large swaths of tree roots and even vaporized the toxic bubbles.
Yet Shiroishi neither dodged nor evaded.
He extended two fingers and lightly traced through the air.
Space distorted as if glass were being sliced.
The flames were cleanly severed into two segments upon contact with the distorted surface!
Jiraiya's expression shifted:
"Space-Time Ninjutsu... has it already reached such a level!?"
Shiroishi took a light step, his figure merging with the tree shadows and vanishing, only to reappear directly above Jiraiya the next second.
His metallic-armored arm transformed into a blade, descending from the sky in a cleaving strike.
Jiraiya crossed his arms wreathed in the crystalline power of Wide Guard, raising them to block!!
It must be said, Jiraiya's profound mastery of Wide Guard was something even Shiroishi hadn't anticipated.
At the critical moment, Marshtomp leaped from the side, slamming headfirst into Shiroishi's ribs.
Mud exploded everywhere, disrupting the spatial patterns, allowing Jiraiya to leap backward while wiping blood from the corner of his mouth.
Landing with a furious roar, Marshtomp positioned itself before Jiraiya, blocking Shiroishi as evolutionary light erupted across its entire body!
Observing the evolving Marshtomp before him, Shiroishi raised an eyebrow slightly: "How pathetic. I never expected you to go this far for Jiraiya."
"But even if you evolve, what can you possibly change!?"