"Bonds are truly fascinating," Shiroishi murmured softly, his tone filled with profound emotion.
Yet deep within the World Tree's core, in that compressed and distorted space, Jiraiya stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the Mega Evolved Swampert. Their unified aura was so powerful that even the World Tree's branches trembled faintly.
Facing such a lineup, Shiroishi revealed a rare, genuine smile.
He first chuckled quietly, then couldn't help but throw his head back in full laughter.
"Hahaha..."
The laughter echoed through the tree's hollow interior. Unlike his previous cold, calculating laughter, this time Shiroishi's voice carried sincere delight.
"Don't you see, Teacher Jiraiya? This proves it."
Shiroishi raised his hand, pointing at the faint glow surrounding them.
"The bond between humans and Pokémon is the most beautiful thing in this world. Only such bonds can break free from the World Tree's restraints, even temporarily interfering with my authority."
His eyes shone brightly, as if observing a successful experiment.
"So you see, I wasn't wrong. The era of ninjas should end. What comes next is the world of Trainers and Pokémon."
Jiraiya clenched his teeth, his voice hoarse: "What you want to destroy is the entire Shinobi World."
Shiroishi shook his head slightly, the smile never leaving his lips though his gaze gradually cooled.
"Destruction? No, I'd call it restoration."
He raised a finger, gently pointing downward.
"Doesn't it strike you as strange?"
Shiroishi's voice grew deeper. "This God Tree carries an aura almost identical to the Tailed Beasts."
A dull resonance echoed from deep within the trunk, as if responding to his words.
That pulsation belonging both to the Ten-Tails and the World Tree crept up inch by inch through the soles of Jiraiya's feet.
"The origin of the Shinobi World was a woman stealing a fruit - the God Tree, Chakra, the Tailed Beasts."
Shiroishi spoke calmly. "Since then, war, slaughter, stealing others' Chakra became the norm of this world. The so-called Shinobi World you protect is itself a bloody, distorted creation."
Jiraiya fell silent.
He had his doubts.
Having lived through the Warring States Period, witnessing mountains of corpses and rivers of blood - what part of such a world could be considered right?
Yet even knowing it was wrong from the beginning, he had never considered uprooting it entirely.
"What you intend to do..." Jiraiya slowly exhaled a turbid breath, reassuming his combat stance, "...is no longer about correcting mistakes, but resetting the entire world."
Shiroishi shook his head regretfully.
"You still don't understand, Teacher Jiraiya."
"Even if you and Swampert achieve Mega Evolution, no matter how beautiful your bond, it remains just a small story confined within the limited world of the Shinobi World."
As he spoke, his aura surged once more.
The World Tree's roots automatically retreated from his feet, the space around him expanding as if pushed open from within to a higher dimension.
The restraints Jiraiya had woven using Sage Art and Crystal Barrier shattered like glass with Shiroishi's casual hand gesture.
"This ends now."
The moment the words fell, Jiraiya and Mega Swampert moved.
Without any superfluous preparatory movements, the two moved with the seamless coordination of countless rehearsals.
Swampert stomped the ground first, causing the earth to surge like a tsunami. A mudslide erupted in the World Tree's core, transforming into towering waves of mud that rushed straight toward Shiroishi.
Sage Art: Collapsing Torrent!
Jiraiya's voice echoed within the mud waves as he clasped his hands together. Chakra, Sage Art power, and the Natural Energy within Swampert converged mid-air.
The sea of mud instantly carried an extreme chill, with ice-crystal boulders forming at the crests of the waves, crashing down upon Shiroishi like countless meteors.
Simultaneously, Swampert gathered its strength. Its thick arms, enhanced by Mega Evolution, resembled steel pillars.
Frost-coated fists combined with terrestrial energy, each punch creating visible white sonic barriers in the air.
Mud, frost, and shockwaves—
three destructive forces converged into a single point aimed directly at Shiroishi.
The entire World Tree's core seemed overturned, with spatial edges repeatedly tearing and forcibly mending in distorted patterns.
Yet Shiroishi merely leaped lightly.
He stepped onto a root descending from the treetop, his figure slicing diagonally through the mud waves and frost.
The moment he landed, one hand pressed against Mega Swampert's shoulder.
"What a pity."
The World Tree patterns on his palm glowed as countless tiny vines instantly erupted from beneath Swampert's skin, coiling around its muscles and bones in an attempt to seize control once more.
The vines spread wildly, but in the next moment—
Thud.
A dull sound echoed.
The Mega Swampert beneath Shiroishi's hand distorted violently in his vision,
transforming not into Swampert, but Jiraiya.
Transformation Technique?
The vines only managed to restrain Jiraiya for an instant.
In that fleeting moment, every muscle in Jiraiya's body tensed—
an action condensing a lifetime of combat experience and power.
No hand seals, no technique name.
Just one punch.
Taijutsu and Sage Art, the power of the Mega Evolution bond, and Swampert's unwavering trust—
all compressed into his right fist.
As the punch launched, Jiraiya's white hair, robes, and even the Sage markings on his skin distorted in the violent wind.
The air before his fist compressed into a distorted, transparent concave surface,
then, without any flourish, struck Shiroishi squarely in the face.
Boom!
Shiroishi's head snapped sideways from the impact,
half his face twisting grotesquely, the surface skin shattering to reveal intertwined tree patterns and metallic textures beneath.
Space trembled, the World Tree's branches groaned, and the entire tree core seemed to dent inward from the force of the punch.
Jiraiya knelt on one knee, chest heaving violently.
"Almost there."
Shiroishi's calm voice sounded in his ear.
He slowly turned his head back, the shattered half of his face visibly regenerating—
tree patterns, bones, muscles, and skin layering back into place until even his expression restored itself.
His Byakugan gleamed eerily, a gear-like pattern rotating deep within his pupils as if reading, recording, and replaying the moment just passed.
"This is...?"
Jiraiya's pupils contracted slightly.
"Prediction."
Shiroishi spoke tonelessly. "The power of Round Eyes."
As the words fell, his entire figure flickered subtly.
Though he performed no Body Flicker Technique, he seemed erased from his position for a single frame, reappearing directly above Jiraiya.
At this moment, his movements were as if he had watched the battle footage twice already—every muscle reaction, every fluctuation of chakra was no longer unfamiliar to him.
"That punch earlier was quite impressive."
"So now it's my turn."
Shiroishi clenched his fist, with no technique name uttered, only pure, unadulterated power. As his fist descended, Jiraiya barely raised his arm to defend, but a tearing agony shot through his bones.
Boom!!!
This time, it was Jiraiya who was sent flying head-on.
He hurtled like a falling meteor, smashing through tree roots, shattering branches and vines, carving a deep trench along the way,
until he crashed heavily against the wall deep within the World Tree, finally coming to a halt.
Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, staining his chin crimson.
In the distance, Swampert let out a frantic roar, struggling to charge forward but hindered by the World Tree's roots and lingering Leech Seeds, its steps sluggish.
Shiroishi hovered mid-air, looking down upon it all.
"See, Jiraiya-sensei."
"Bonds are indeed beautiful, and Mega Evolution is spectacular."
"But all of this is granted by Pokémon, not by this cruel Shinobi World."
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