"Such an annoying brat." Hearing the sound of something tearing through the air behind him, Jiraiya felt a headache coming on, 'How was this kid so fast?'
[Body Flicker Technique!]
As the sound got closer, Jiraiya instinctively used the Body Flicker Technique. Then, he noticed Setsuna's pursuit halted for a moment before he changed direction and continued the chase.
"He doesn't know the Body Flicker Technique?" Jiraiya was surprised, 'The Body Flicker Technique was only a D-rank Jutsu. How could someone with his speed not know it?'
'Could it be that he only knows Taijutsu?' Jiraiya's mind became active. Anyone can go fast in a straight line, while true speed is shown in the corners.
He used the Body Flicker Technique a few more times. Sure enough, he found that although the kid's straight-line speed was astonishingly fast, whenever he used Body Flicker to change his landing point, the kid had to reacquire his position.
'Tch, pure Taijutsu really does have its flaws.' Setsuna also realized his own shortcoming. His perception of Ki was still at a basic stage, so he could only sense the faint changes in airflow in the surrounding environment and use that to capture the enemy's presence and movements.
If it were the Raikage's Lightning Release Body Flicker, which leaned more towards high-speed displacement, he could certainly perceive the airflow direction.
But Jiraiya's Body Flicker Technique was purely Ninjutsu-based. Since Setsuna didn't know any Ninjutsu at all, it was difficult for him to keep up with Jiraiya.
Setsuna sighed inwardly, 'Indeed, I couldn't look down on ninjas. If the opponent was unprepared, I could take out most physically fragile Ninjas with one punch. But once these Ninjas were on guard, even something like the Body Flicker Technique could cause me significant trouble.'
Of course, this trouble was only at the level of pursuit. If anyone tried to use this to get close for a sneak attack, he would make them understand the consequences of getting close to a martial artist.
Jiraiya laughed quite proudly: "Brat, you should stop. You can't catch up to me."
Setsuna wasn't bothered and said calmly: "Are you planning to travel using the Body Flicker Technique the whole way?"
The smile on Jiraiya's face instantly froze, 'Oh, right. I couldn't shake this kid off. If I kept using the Body Flicker Technique to travel, my Chakra would eventually be depleted, and then I'd be at his mercy.'
Thinking of this, Jiraiya turned around: "It seems I need to teach you a little lesson, brat."
Hearing this, Setsuna was not alarmed but pleased: "Yes, that's more like it. What's the fun in just running away?"
Jiraiya's speed at forming hand seals was extremely fast, almost instantaneously using a Jutsu: "Fire Release: Flame Bullet!"
When he used this Jutsu, he was still a little worried that he might be going too hard. Although it was only a C-Rank Jutsu, in his hands, it was no less powerful than a B-Rank Jutsu, especially since the opponent was just a kid who didn't know Ninjutsu.
However, Setsuna casually smacked the Flame Bullet away, looking very dissatisfied: "Is this all you've got? Get serious!"
Although his 'magic resistance' wasn't on par with his 'physical resistance', he could still withstand cannon fire like Goku.
Compared to the high temperatures released by an exploding cannonball, the temperature of this flame bullet was nothing.
Jiraiya was shocked. This was the first time he had seen someone block a Jutsu like that.
He quickly formed seals again: "Fire Release: Great Flame Bullet!"
As an advanced version of the Flame Bullet, the Great Flame Bullet's power was ten times that of the former, about the size of an ordinary house.
The blazing flame rapidly heated the forest, the firelight shooting into the sky.
In the distance, the Third Hokage, who was rushing over, saw this scene with a grave expression.
'The power of this Jutsu had already exceeded that of an ordinary Jonin. It seemed what Obito said was true.'
After realizing the enemy's strength, Obito and the others had hurriedly gone to find reinforcements.
Under normal circumstances, someone of their status couldn't just see the Hokage whenever they wanted. But they found Asuma, and Asuma, not holding a grudge over his loss to Setsuna, found the Third Hokage as quickly as possible after hearing about the spy situation.
Just then, an ear-splitting roar reverberated through the mountain forest.
The Third Hokage didn't understand what was happening, but Jiraiya broke out in a cold sweat.
His Great Flame Bullet had actually been blown back by Setsuna's roar.
What frightened him even more was that Setsuna charged out from the sea of fire, his punch tearing through the air. Jiraiya barely managed to dodge, but the ground where he had been standing was struck by Setsuna, creating a huge crater like one from a meteorite.
Seeing the destruction caused by Setsuna, Jiraiya was sweating profusely and began to wonder inwardly: 'Could this brat be Tsunade's secret love child?'
He didn't have time to think too much about it, as Setsuna's attacks followed him as closely as a maggot clinging to bone. The pressure made him feel like he was fighting the Raikage, barely able to catch his breath.
'This is troublesome. I underestimated this brat from the start. Now, if I want to use Sage Mode, it's too late to summon the two Toad Sages.' Jiraiya's expression was grave.
His Sage Mode training wasn't yet complete, and he needed the assistance of the two Toad Sages, Fukasaku and Shima. But Setsuna's offensive was too fierce, giving him no time to summon the Toad Sages.
'At this point, I have no choice but to go all out!' Jiraiya quickly formed hand seals. "Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld!"
The ground for hundreds of meters around instantly turned into a giant swamp, trapping Setsuna's legs.
However, Jiraiya didn't expect this move to hold Setsuna for long. After using the Earth Release Jutsu, he quickly formed hand seals for a summoning. "Toad Mouth Bind!"
The flesh walls of the Rock Lodging Toad were summoned. This technique was usually used to trap enemies, but now he was using it to protect himself.
After doing all this, Jiraiya still felt it wasn't safe enough and formed seals again: "Ninja Art: Needle Jizo!"
His silver hair first grew rapidly, wrapping around his own body, and then hardened, like the shell of a sea urchin.
Only then did Jiraiya let out a slight sigh of relief, clasped his hands together, and prepared to summon the two Toad Sages.
However, he had barely caught his breath for less than a second when he saw a fist break through the Needle Jizo and land on his abdomen.
Jiraiya's face instantly contorted. He felt excruciating pain throughout his body, as if an elephant had been trampling him repeatedly.
The Rock Lodging Toad's flesh walls disappeared.
Jiraiya spun backwards for hundreds of meters, breaking more than a dozen large trees along the way before finally stopping. He felt like there wasn't a single part of his body that didn't hurt.
'What kind of power is this? It's even more terrifying than Tsunade's punch!' Jiraiya was horrified. If he hadn't been beaten by Tsunade since childhood and developed some immunity to being hit, and if the defense of Needle Jizo hadn't dissipated a lot of the force, he suspected he might have been shattered to pieces by that punch.
"He's probably not dead, right?" Setsuna muttered quietly.
He was confident in his control over his strength, and this punch should, at most, make Jiraiya suffer a bit.
Hearing Setsuna's muttering, Jiraiya quickly made his breathing slow and shallow. He admitted defeat this time, but he still wanted to save his dignity as much as possible.
'It looks like I can only wait for him to be distracted and then use the Reverse Summoning Technique to slip away.' Jiraiya thought to himself. He had already discovered that the other party had no Chakra and didn't know any ninjutsu. Without Chakra, it was impossible to seal him.
As long as he could still use Ninjutsu, he knew this brat couldn't keep him.
Just then, Setsuna lightly tapped a few points on his body.
Jiraiya's eyes suddenly widened, cold sweat breaking out on his forehead. He asked in a trembling voice: "Tenketsu! You don't have the Byakugan, how can you know how to strike Tenketsu?"
Setsuna looked at him very calmly, 'As a martial artist, isn't knowing pressure points perfectly normal?'
Jiraiya felt like crying but had no tears. The thought of being escorted back to the village and becoming the laughingstock of Orochimaru and Tsunade made waves of grief and indignation surge within him, indescribable.