Starting as a pirate, he rose to become the strongest Shinigami in Soul Society.

Chapter 378 Jiraiya instantly defeats Konan and battles Pain!

Perhaps due to overconfidence, the Akatsuki organization did not construct any trigger traps or alarms in this secret room.

After Jiraiya finished his inspection, he felt a little relieved and prepared to release the sealing jutsu that was currently sealing the Seven-Tails Jinchuriki.

"Judging from its form, it should be a sealing technique similar to a magic seal, the main purpose of which is to lock down the opponent's mobility." Jiraiya stroked his chin, bent down to observe the cipher text of the sealing technique, and searched for a clue.

However, before he could figure out where to start to break the seal, the space in the room behind him suddenly distorted, and then a guy wearing a black Akatsuki trench coat with red clouds, an orange vortex mask with only one eye showing, walked out of the distorted space.

Uchiha Obito!

Without a word, Obito Uchiha raised his hand and threw a kunai at Jiraiya's back.

Jiraiya's reaction speed was also quite fast. In the enemy's stronghold, he certainly couldn't let his guard down. With a flick of his wrist, he raised his kunai and knocked the flying kunai away.

"Oh my, I wondered who was so capable as to sneak in here so quietly. It turns out to be the famous Sannin," Obito Uchiha said, raising an eyebrow.

"Who are you!?" Jiraiya asked, his expression turning serious.

This is a bit troublesome. We haven't accomplished anything yet, and we haven't gathered much intelligence, but we've already been discovered by the enemy. This is enemy territory, and it's obvious that reinforcements will be coming.

"Me?" Obito Uchiha said with a sly grin, "I'm Tobi, a newcomer who just joined the Akatsuki a few days ago. Please take care of me."

Initially, Obito Uchiha exerted influence on the Akatsuki organization from behind the scenes. However, recently, Kakuzu and Hidan both died in the Land of Lightning, and the Akatsuki's membership suddenly became insufficient. Therefore, after discussing with Obito Uchiha, Nagato allowed him to openly join the Akatsuki organization under the alias "Tobi".

"So, it really is your Akatsuki organization hiding here?" Jiraiya said coldly.

As soon as he finished speaking, the door was opened from the outside, and a figure wearing a black trench coat with red clouds, just like the "Ah Fei" in front of him, walked in.

It's Xiao Nan.

Her eyes flashed with murderous intent, and the moment she entered the room, the paper shuriken in her hand was already poised to strike. However, the next second, when she saw the enemy who had invaded the place, a look of surprise clearly flashed in her eyes.

But her surprise was only momentary; her gaze quickly turned cold.

"Jiraiya-sensei," Konan said softly.

Hearing his own name, Jiraiya was somewhat puzzled, especially since the other party referred to him as "teacher".

After carefully observing the other person's face, Jiraiya asked with an incredulous look in his eyes, "Konan? You're still alive?"

Konan didn't respond to Jiraiya's question, but instead looked at Obito Uchiha and said, "None of you should get involved in what happens next."

"What a touching storyline! Next, will the long-separated master and disciple engage in a life-or-death battle? It's very interesting. I'll be watching closely from the sidelines," Obito Uchiha said with a grin.

After making the joke, Obito Uchiha quickly intangibly appeared next to the Seven-Tails Jinchuriki, grabbed the guy's arm, and disappeared from the room with him.

Although Jiraiya noticed this situation and even had time to stop it, he did not do so.

Clearly, a battle was about to break out. Although he was confident in his own strength, he didn't think he could remain so composed while carrying a seriously injured man who was unconscious.

"I heard that the three of you had already... What about Yahiko and Nagato? How are they? Why are you in this rogue ninja organization?" Jiraiya couldn't help but ask.

"Because this organization was originally created by Yahiko," Konan replied coldly, then added, "Jiraiya-sensei, out of consideration for our past relationship, I can give you a chance. If you leave the Land of Rain now, we can pretend nothing happened."

"You're still so bad at lying, Minami." Jiraiya's expression gradually turned somewhat sad as he listened to this. "You guys never intended to let me go, did you?"

In the next instant, Konan flung out the paper shuriken in her hand, and at the same time, she formed a hand seal and chanted, "Paper Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique!"

A shuriken exploded in mid-air, transforming into countless dense, rain-like blades that attacked Jiraiya from all directions with the force of a storm.

Jiraiya had no time for sentimentality. Without even needing to form hand seals, he uttered a low shout: "Ninja Art: Needle Jizo!"

His wild silver hair immediately spread out, and in the blink of an eye, it protected his entire body within the hardened hair, leaving him completely vulnerable to the overwhelming barrage of shuriken.

What makes this technique even more ingenious is that, while protecting himself, Jiraiya can also immediately form hand seals to gain the initiative in the next wave.

In fact, he succeeded, letting the shuriken strike his hardened hair, while Jiraiya's three hand seals fell, ending with the standard Fire Release: Tiger Seal.

Before the storm of shuriken had even ended, Jiraiya revealed a sliver of space, just enough for him to open his mouth.

"Fire Release: Great Flame Bullet!"

A flame shot out from the needle-shaped Jizo statue, and then the flame grew larger in the wind. In no time, it had transformed into a huge fireball, which directly burned all the paper shuriken in front of it to ashes. At the same time, it crashed into Konan with undiminished power.

Instead of resisting, Xiao Nan slipped and quickly retreated through the door behind her, turning left and hiding in the stairwell.

Then, the fireball exploded, shattering the walls of the door and corridor, kicking up a lot of smoke and scorching black smoke that obscured the view.

Before Konan could seize another opportunity, Jiraiya's figure burst out from the dust and kicked Konan.

Konan only had time to raise her arms and cross them in front of her before Jiraiya kicked her away. In mid-air, her arms seemed to fall apart, and pieces of paper fell off. With the falling of these papers, the force of the blow and the damage she suffered were reduced to the extreme.

"Your Paper Release technique is still as reliable as ever," Jiraiya remarked.

He was talking, but his hands didn't stop moving. He formed hand seals incredibly fast, almost in the blink of an eye, several seals were completed, and he slammed one hand on the ground, shouting, "Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall!"

A wall of earth magic suddenly rose up in the narrow passage, completely blocking Konan's escape route.

Jiraiya's technique was not simply Earth Release; it was a complex ninjutsu that required a high level of skill and technique from the ninja.

He started with Earth Release, followed by Fire Release, and then unleashed another Great Fireball Technique. But that wasn't all. Jiraiya truly lived up to his reputation as an exceptionally skilled ninja. Although he was deeply saddened and felt great pity for Konan, he showed no mercy when it came to striking.

Earth Release sealed off Konan's escape route, leaving her with no way to hide in the long, narrow, enclosed corridor. Then, Fire Release became the main attack. The moment the Fire Release material appeared, Jiraiya clapped his hands together and shouted, "Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"

Not a single mistake, not a single poem, not a single post, not a single piece of content, not a single look!

The faster Wind Release ninjutsu caught up with the Great Fireball ahead first. Then, the wind fueled the fire, and the already powerful Great Fireball suddenly expanded several times, filling the entire corridor and leaving Konan with no space at all.

Konan seemed surprised that Jiraiya-sensei was still so fierce after all these years, or rather, even stronger than she remembered.

As a result, after she fell into a disadvantageous position in one round, she was directly forced into such a desperate situation by Jiraiya.

Although she often uses the Paper Release technique, Konan's chakra nature is four types: wind, water, earth, and yang. As a member of Amegakure, how could she not know how to use water release ninjutsu?

At this point, using paper magic was clearly ineffective, so Konan formed a hand seal and shouted, "Water Release: Water Wall Technique!"

A surging torrent of water rose from the ground, transforming into a whirlwind that spiraled upwards around Xiao Nan, forming a defensive barrier with no blind spots. Then, a massive fireball slammed into the water array's wall.

The scorching heat instantly evaporated most of the water array wall, and it felt like the water array wall was about to be completely breached after only one breath.

Undoubtedly, in the common knowledge of the ninja world, water style is extremely effective against fire style, but this common knowledge can only be used as a general reference.

With Jiraiya's mastery of Fire Release, Water Release techniques generally have no effect on him. As for Konan, she is clearly not very proficient in Water Release; she can only do it so far.

Just as Konan's water barrier was about to be completely breached, the corridor wall was violently smashed open, and a burly figure with orange hair, showing no fear whatsoever, charged headfirst into the fierce ninjutsu battle.

As a result of his action, Jiraiya's raging and terrifying fireball subsided in a strange and extremely rapid manner.

It's as if the power of this technique has been absorbed by someone.

Indeed, that was the case. The figure that crashed through the wall and rushed into the narrow battlefield was none other than the Preta Path, one of the Six Paths of Pain!

Almost at the same moment, a bald head emerged from the corridor wall behind Jiraiya, which he had previously blasted open with his Great Fireball Technique—the Asura Path!

As soon as he appeared, he locked onto Jiraiya. With a burst of speed, a sharp, serrated longsword emerged from behind him, aiming to pierce through Jiraiya's body as it hurtled towards him.

However, Jiraiya is only just beginning to exert his strength and is in good condition, so he was not instantly and severely injured by the Asura Path as he was in the original story.

His reaction was swift. He took a step forward, further widening the distance between himself and the Asura Path chasing behind him. At the same time, he bit his lip and shouted, "Summoning - Roof Collapse Technique!!!"

In the previous one-on-one fight, Jiraiya held an absolute advantage and was happy to fight Konan in such a narrow place. He was even one step away from taking advantage of the terrain to use a combo to kill Konan instantly.

But now, the situation has changed. He is surrounded by enemies, and this narrow terrain has become his disadvantage. Therefore, the experienced Jiraiya made a decision immediately and flipped the table!

With a loud bang, a huge cloud of smoke exploded, causing the wide and towering building to tremble. The narrow corridor was burst open, and the Shura Path that had caught up was crushed to the ground by the giant toad.

Even Xiao Nan and the Hungry Ghost Path were knocked away by the toad, flying off into the air along with the ruins of the building.

This giant toad, with a huge pipe in its mouth and a short knife at its waist, was no less impressive in size than a tailed beast. It was none other than Gamabunta, the underworld boss of Mount Myōboku!

However, it is the largest and tallest building in Amegakure. Even with Gamabunta's physique, he was still inside the building after smashing through the walls between the floors. Moreover, the building was quite spacious. It could easily accommodate not only Gamabunta, but also several other large toads!

(End of this chapter)