Chapter 323 - Cap 301: Naa

"So are we going to help him?" - Kimimaro asked as he looked at the other two.

"Naa... Jiraiya can handle it alone" - said Kisame as he shook his head - "He's using that thing... Sennin I don't know what..."

"Sennin Modo, Kisame" - said Itachi neutrally - "It is the unique ability that can only be learned in the Sage Lands inhabited by the Snakes, Slugs or Toads..."

* * * * [Jiraiya vs Sasori] * * * *.

"Aka Higi: Hyakki no Soen (Red Secret Art: Appearance of 100 Puppets)!" - Sasori exclaimed as out of nowhere 100 puppets showed up - "I'm going to enjoy turning your body into one more puppet for my collection..."

"We're ready Jiraiya-chan!" - Shima and Fukasaku shouted as Jiraiya's eyes changed to those of a toad.

"Thank you, Ma, Pa! Senpo: Rasengan!" - Jiraiya shouted as he concentrated the Nature Energy in his hand to form a Rasengan. The Sannin quickly moved on top of Sasori and prepared to land a firm blow, only to widen his eyes in surprise when he noticed how all the puppets were opening their mouths - "Shit!"

"Quick, Jiraiya-chan, get out of there!" - Shima shouted in terror as he knew things would not end well if his student stayed there.

Jiraiya quickly backed away, only to notice how all the puppets were following him at full speed - "I won't be able to lose them!"

"Then use Senjutsu with your protection Jutsu!" - Fukasaku exclaimed seriously.

"Shikomi Kugutsu: Shinshin Happa!" - Sasori commanded as countless Senbon needles shot out of the mouths of all the puppets - "Shine (Die)!"

"Senpo - Kekkai: Tengai Hojin (Sage Art - Barrier: Dome Formation Method)!" - Jiraiya quickly placed his hands on the ground as a dome surrounded his body, blocking all the needles heading in his direction - "If I hadn't used Senjutsu.... those needles would have pierced my barrier..."

Jiraiya stayed focused because the rain of needles was endless no matter how much time passed, though he let out a sigh of relief when he saw how the frequency of the shots slowly started to become less and less, proving that the ammunition was starting to run out.

Sasori watched this with a frown as he had thought that with this the battle would be over, but now he understood that he was wrong - "You're more annoying than I thought..."

"That's something many have told me" - Jiraiya replied with a sad expression - "And now I'm depressed. Anyway, I'd better get moving."

Jiraiya quickly disappeared from inside the dome when he saw how the Needles had run out, only to appear in front of Sasori - "I hope you like toad oil because you're going to enjoy this.... Senpo: Gaemon!"

Jiraiya threw toad oil while Fukasaku threw a wind stream and Shima threw a fire breath in a combined technique that created a huge explosion when the three breaths collided with each other.

"I think that's enough" - Fukasaku said as he saw that the Nature Energy inside Jiraiya had stabilized and no longer needed his help - "Come on, Ma, let's leave Jiraiya to finish the job."

"Ok" - Shima replied.

"Thanks, Ma, Pa" - Jiraiya said as he watched the two toads leave, only to be surprised to see that his opponent only had one half destroyed - ". . ."

"If I had been a normal person, that would have killed me...." - Sasori said as he looked at how the entire left area of his body had disappeared, exposing his inner hollow self - "Too bad I'm a zombie puppet, a strange combination of two types of immortality..."

"Let's see if you can remain immortal after this..." - Jiraiya said as he concentrated all his Chakra in his hand, creating a huge white sphere that was being surrounded by a powerful wind current that slowly took the shape of a Shuriken - "I feel bad that I'm the one who learns more from my student than he does from me, but this is no time for regrets..."

Jiraiya continued to concentrate as he felt his right hand begin to ache from the constant pressure of the air current, only to grit his teeth tightly - "Futon: Rasen Shuriken (Wind Release: Spiral Shuriken)!"

The huge wind Shuriken came out firing at full speed at Sasori, who, in his current state, couldn't do much to try to dodge it, only to disappear in a huge smoke screen.

When the smoke disappeared, only Sasori's head remained.

Jiraiya wasted no time, he quickly put the scroll on it, only to see it disappear without a trace, not even the body that had been used as a sacrifice.

"You took longer covering yourself like a turtle than defeating him" - said Kisame as he appeared beside the tired Sannin who had deactivated his Sennin Mode.

"If you were already here, you could have helped me" - said Jiraiya with a frown.

"And where's the fun in that?" - Kisame asked with a huge toothy grin, only to notice how Jiraiya didn't answer him - "Are you okay?"

"Yeah... just a little tired because the Rasen Shuriken consumes more Chakra than it should..." - Jiraiya replied with a frown - "Not to mention that I feel like my hand is paralyzed..."

"I recommend you not to use that technique again for a long time" - Itachi said seriously because he had noticed how dangerous that Jutsu was and not only for his opponent, but also for the user if he didn't have the proper control.

"I know, I don't plan to use the Rasen Shuriken for a while" - replied Jiraiya as he sighed regretfully - "If I do, I won't be able to continue writing my wonderful novel."

". . ." - Kimimaro and Itachi were only silent as they gave the Sannin a blank stare.

"Pff... Ha ha ha ha!" - Kisame couldn't contain himself when he heard this, so he let out the loudest laugh he could - "That sounds like someone you would do, Jiraiya."

"Writing art is my passion" - Jiraiya replied proudly - "And I plan to continue to bring the wonders of my hand for the other knowers of good art in the world."

"We'd better go inside Konoha" - said Itachi as he decided to ignore the Sannin.

"I concur..." - Kimimaro replied as he followed the young Uchiha.

"Those two..." - Jiraiya said with a frown - "They look like two peas in a pod..."

"Tell me about it" - replied Kisame with irritation - "I have known Itachi for a short time and I always thought he was one of a kind, now I see that I was wrong and discovered that there was another member of his race..."

"How is it that you endured so long with him as a teammate?" - Jiraiya asked as he raised an eyebrow because this brought back memories of when Orochimaru was part of his team and he was always running around quietly or thinking about his experiments.

"I have absolutely no idea" - Kisame replied as he shook his head - "I can only tell you that thanks to almost no conversation and my massive boredom, I took a Rock I came across in Iwa as a pet..."

Jiraiya was only silent when he heard this as he gave as much support as he could to the blue-skinned man.

* * * * *

"The plan failed..." - Obito muttered in irritation as he saw how he had lost his control over his former comrades - "It seems someone expected us to revive our former colleagues for how fast these were defeated..."

"Itachi and Kisame are nowhere to be seen, so possibly they have something to do with it" - Black Zetsu replied as he shook his head.

"You can always use Yugito Nii as a method for the Kyubi to stop the troops and buy us some time" - Zetsu said neutrally.

"If we do that and lose the Nibi's Jinchuriki, then our plans will indeed go to shit" - Obito replied coldly - "Remember that she is the only cause of Kurama not going straight to destroy us..."

". . ." - Black Zetsu frowned when he heard this because it was true - "Although I don't understand the reason for this..."

"Because he's hoping to revive her and needs the body intact" - Obito replied neutrally.

"They can use Edo Tensei" - Black Zetsu replied coolly as he looked at his teammate.

"Yes he can, but there's a problem... he doesn't have the Jinchuriki's DNA" - said Obito with a huge grin - "Remember that Jinchurikis have very different bodies than a normal human."

Getting the DNA of a Jinchuriki can only do directly, in other words, with blood samples, saliva, or other fluids, since these did not lose hair thanks to their increased resistance.

"I guess that makes sense..." - Zetsu muttered as he frowned because it was a very convenient thing to do that was honestly welcome.

"How long until Madara wakes up?" - Obito asked seriously. That was the important issue they had to deal with right now, the awakening of their trump card.

"Not in enough time" - replied Zetsu Black with a frown - "Our enemies will enter our base long before Madara wakes up, so we need something to be able to stop them and fast."

". . ." - Obito was silent as he thought of a possible countermeasure for their current situation - "I think I know what to do..."