37 Battle

"You want to fight me?" Jiraiya frowned, glancing at Fukasaku, who didn't scatter away from portraying his internal displeasure. However, after a few moments of silence, Fukasaku sighed in defeat, locking eyes with his former student.

"Just fight him. Zeus has been pestering me about not having any opponents to test out his strength for a while now." Fukasaku answered. "Just don't go overboard."

"Do I really have to do it?" Jiraiya scratched the back of his head, confusingly looking back and forth between everyone present, yet not receiving any response in the end. Sighing as well, Jiraiya took a step towards the energy excluded by Zeus, not afraid at all. "Alright, Zeus, we can go for a spar. I will gauge whether you are strong enough to pursue Orochimaru."

"After all." Jiraiya continued, pulling away the bags from his shoulders and putting them on the ground. "I can't let Hiruzen's son go back to dead just after finding that he is alive."

"You are a funny one, Jiraiya." Zeus remained standing in the same spot, staring at Jiraiya with frightening energy circling all around him. "Enter the sage mode, I want to fight on equal terms."

"I will try faring without it," Jiraiya answered. However, just when he said those words, Zeus disappeared from the spot. Feeling danger from behind, Jiraiya turned around in an instant. Yet, not a single soul stood there.

"Are you sure, Jiraiya?" Zeus's voice traveled into Jiraiya's left ear. His eyes moved along the line of sight, where he saw Zeus's face just a millimeter away from him, a huge grin plastered across his skin. Zeus's body was hazed with electrical currents, some of them being so dense that they collided with Jiraiya's skin.

A beat of sweat dripped from Jiraiya's forehead as he gulped down the accumulated saliva in his mouth. "I take my words back. Perhaps I should enter the sage mode after all."

With that, Zeus took a few steps back, letting Jiraiya have some breathing room. The man fell to his knees, putting his hands together, as he concentrated on gathering natural energy. With just a glance, Zeus noticed how lacking Jiraiya's assemblage was compared to his.

"You..." Zeus tilted his head to the side, seeing Jiraiya turn into half frog half human. There were some pimples on his nose and his eyes looked like that of a beast. He looked nothing like earlier, noting Zeus of his inadequate control over natural energy. "Is this a joke? Fukasaku said that you have been training for years, and that's all you have achieved?"

Jiraiya almost stumbled, his face twisting. "Hey, don't start insulting me now, you little prick! It's not my fault you are some kind of monster!"

"Ah, whatever." Zeus sighed, getting into a battle stance. He waited for a few seconds till Fukasaku and Gamaton got some distance away. When he saw the spirit of battle ignite in Jiraiya's eyes, Zeus vanished from the spot.

He appeared right above Jiraiya, already in the motion of a downward kick. However, this time Jiraiya finally managed to react in time. Putting his hands up, Jiraiya blocked the attack, causing his feet to fracture the ground beneath.

Then, Jiraiya shifted his body, kicking Zeus in the stomach and sending him flying away. Yet, just as he did so, a lightning spear fell from the sky, having been thrown by Zeus previously. It was aimed perfectly at Jiraiya, forcing him to promptly create some hand seal and form a stone wall.

It broke down instantly but changed the course of the attack. Jiraiya's sight got covered in the dust, letting another opportunity for Zeus. While Jiraiya was still oblivious to his surroundings, a lighting arrow suddenly flew at him from the south.

It was solely due to his senjutsu mode senses that he was able to dodge. However, these arrows continued to pour down on him like an avalanche, making him wonder if he was actually fighting a single person. When the dust settled, Jiraiya looked around, not seeing Zeus anywhere.

"Overlock, 60%."

That was all he heard before feeling danger from all around. Literally. Jiraiya didn't even understand from which way was the attack incoming, for it was so fast. He looked to the left, exposing his back, when he suddenly understood that he couldn't move.

All it took was one glance down, where he saw a chain of lightning curled around his leg. Then, all Jiraiya could feel was pain and colliding with something hard with his back. Dust once again covered his vision and he heard Fukasaku shouting something about ancestors.

Jiraiya didn't have a lot of time to relax, feeling danger once again. This time, Jiraiya came up with a much more reasonable solution. His long white hair suddenly extended to an even greater length, becoming more dense and formidable. It curled around him, protecting him from the outside attacks.

However, that didn't stop Zeus. Zeus punched through the hair, only to feel his hand get stuck inside as if it was in cement. Everything happened in an instant, but the course of the fight shifted in Jiraiya's favor when he jumped out from beneath the ground, having abandoned his adobe of white hair.

Zeus saw a strange blue ball of chakra in Jiraiya's hand, and he understood that it was quite dangerous. Zeus moved his other hand towards Jiraiya, instantly creating a translucent shield of lightning.

Both jutsus collided with each other, creating an earth-shattering explosion, which even moved the huge stone frogs a bit.

When the vicinity got cleared again, two figures could be seen standing one against each other. Some of their clothes have been burned, but they looked uninjured. However, Jiraiya was breathing heavily, whilst Zeus was in a perfect state. The conclusion of the battle was clear, but Zeus's hands were still trembling with excitement.

For an instant, he forgot that Jiraiya wasn't actually his enemy and an immense amount of chakra moved toward Zeus's hands. A strange thing started forming in Zeus's hands, silencing the entire vicinity and forcing Jiraiya to take a step back.

However, Zeus was stopped by Fukasaku, who appeared behind Zeus and smacked him in the head. "You freaking bastards. Look behind! Is this a way to honor your ancestors?!"

Zeus followed the toad's line of sight, seeing numerous stone frogs bumbled over each other. Some of them have even been broken, causing Zeus to scratch his head in shame. "Sorry, Fukasaku, I have gotten too excited."

"No apologies! Go and tidy everything up!" Fukasaku shouted.

"Ah..." Zeus looked back at Jiraiya pitifully, lifting up a thump. "It was a good battle. You are strong. Let's talk after I bring those ancestors back to life. I have some more questions."

Finishing his words, Zeus walked away, his senjutsu mode still activated. He started lifting the frogs and putting them back in place. Meanwhile, Fukasaku looked back, walking up to Jiraiya, whose eyes were still a bit shaky after witnessing Zeus's last jutsu.

"Fukasau...what the hell was that?" Jiraiya mumbled.

"I have no idea what that monster came up with," Fukasaku answered, sighing as he glanced at the sky. "But be grateful that I stepped in. If you were to be hit by that, you would have died."

***

Gif: Monster

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