"Toad Mouth Bind!"
With a loud shout, Jiraiya slammed his palm onto the ground. In an instant, a summoning formula spread out, covering the area beneath him—and beneath Kakuzu.
Kakuzu barely had time to react before his surroundings warped. In the blink of an eye, the environment had changed entirely.
Thick, pulsating flesh enclosed him from all sides.
"What is this jutsu?"
A sense of unease crept into Kakuzu's heart as he took in the writhing, fleshy walls and the tight, claustrophobic space.
Jiraiya had summoned the stomach of the Great Toad of Mount Myoboku, trapping them both within its living, organic confines.
Without hesitation, Jiraiya pressed his hands together in a seal.
"Sage Mode."
Natural energy surged into his body, fusing with his chakra to create immensely powerful senjutsu chakra. Dark markings spread across his face.
"You can use Sage Mode?"
Kakuzu's expression twisted in shock. A rare flicker of fear flashed in his eyes.
He had lived for decades—long enough to know many secrets that others didn't. Most shinobi might be unaware of Sage Mode, but he wasn't one of them.
A shinobi who could enter Sage Mode wielded an overwhelming power.
The legendary Hashirama Senju, the God of Shinobi himself, had mastered it.
"Damn those Konoha shinobi… They never mentioned this in the intel. Those bastards really are swindlers!"
Kakuzu cursed inwardly.
If he had known Jiraiya could use Sage Mode, he would have demanded a much higher bounty. At least double the price.
A Sage Mode-enhanced Jiraiya easily had the power of an elite jōnin—possibly even higher.
But he had only asked for 15 million ryo. What a complete rip-off.
Even so, Kakuzu wasn't panicking.
Sage Mode might be powerful, but it consumed a great deal of stamina.
Jiraiya was still young. Even if he had mastered it, he couldn't maintain it indefinitely.
As long as Kakuzu could endure his attacks, Jiraiya would eventually enter a weakened state.
And when that happened…
Jiraiya would die.
Worst-case scenario, if he truly couldn't win, he had another option.
He had five hearts.
Unless all five were destroyed simultaneously, he wouldn't die.
Jiraiya didn't know that.
If things got too dangerous, he could always sacrifice one heart, feign death, and wait for the perfect opportunity to strike.
With this thought in mind, Kakuzu relaxed.
Five lives.
Jiraiya couldn't possibly win.
A thrill of excitement coursed through him.
If he could kill Jiraiya and take his heart…
Would he gain Sage Mode, too?
The idea was intoxicating. Kakuzu's breathing quickened, his gaze locked onto Jiraiya like a predator eyeing prey.
A twisted hunger gleamed in his eyes.
Jiraiya's expression darkened.
What the hell was that look?
He felt… offended.
Without hesitation, he formed hand seals.
"Fire Release: Great Flame Technique!"
With a deep breath, he gathered senjutsu chakra and unleashed a massive fireball from his mouth.
Fueled by Sage Mode, the fireball's power was exponentially greater—dozens of times stronger than normal.
The air around it warped from the heat, flames surging like a tidal wave.
In the cramped confines of the toad's stomach, there was no room to dodge.
That was Jiraiya's plan all along—overwhelm Kakuzu with raw power, leaving him no escape.
Kakuzu's expression flickered.
His clothes had already started to burn.
From the red-masked mouth on his chest, a surge of fire erupted in response.
At the same time, his own hands flew through seals, gathering vast amounts of earth chakra.
Chunks of earth materialized in front of him, rapidly forming into a thick defensive wall.
It happened in the blink of an eye.
Even inside the toad's stomach, ninjutsu could still be used freely.
But there was a problem.
Using Earth Release techniques in the outside world was far less chakra-intensive.
Normally, a shinobi could manipulate existing terrain, using minimal chakra to mold the land into walls or barriers.
But inside the toad's stomach?
There was no earth to manipulate.
Kakuzu was forced to create his earth walls from pure chakra—draining far more energy than usual.
And that wasn't his only problem.
The fire attack Jiraiya unleashed was no ordinary fire jutsu.
The red-masked creature's flames barely slowed it down.
In an instant, the Great Flame crashed into Kakuzu's earth wall.
The intense heat scorched the hardened soil, turning it into a molten, glassy surface before the entire structure crumbled.
A bloodcurdling scream echoed through the fleshy chamber as the flames engulfed Kakuzu.
Senjutsu techniques were on a completely different level. Ordinary ninjutsu simply couldn't compare.
Only the strongest jōnin—or Kage-level shinobi—could hope to withstand them.
Right now, Kakuzu's Earth Grudge Fear wasn't fully optimized.
On top of that, his other masks weren't nearby to assist him.
His strength was already compromised.
Jiraiya's trained eyes saw everything.
Even through the raging flames, he could make out the black tendrils writhing around Kakuzu's body, wrapping tightly to shield him.
Many of them were already burning, but they were preventing serious damage.
"Tch. Persistent bastard."
Jiraiya shook his head.
But he wasn't surprised.
Kakuzu was tough.
In the original timeline, he and Hidan had taken down the Seven-Tails' jinchūriki and slaughtered numerous jōnin from Takigakure.
Even so…
Right now, Kakuzu wasn't as powerful as he had been back then.
And in this space, his abilities were limited.
Victory was already within reach.
Jiraiya's hands flew through another sequence of seals.
"Adamantine Sealing Chains!"
From his back, glowing golden chains burst forth—twisting and writhing like living dragons as they shot toward Kakuzu at blinding speed.
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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