Till the end of the week, Jiraiya tieag them while only giving them the necessary rest. At the end of the week, three ninjas were once again standing in front of Jiraiya, sparks visible in their eyes.

  “This is your final test. We are once again going to py tag, but this time, you guys have to use everything you because if you lose again, I’m going to cel this mission. We’re not taking so much risk if you guys ’t even achieve this much,” Jiraiya said.

  But there was no reply, just burning gazes fixed on him. Everyone was waiting for Jiraiya to say the word. Uanding that, a smirk appeared on his face.

  “Start,” Jiraiya said and vanished from his position. In the sed, the spot where he had been standing was shrouded by tens of earth bullets released by Kaida and Kabuto. her of them expected this to work; it was just a move to force Jiraiya toward a more favorable location, away from the woods where he could hide easily and defend from many attacks.

  Jiraiya reappeared a good distance away from the onsught of earth bullets, nding lightly on a nearby boulder. His eyes gleamed with a mix of amusement and pride as he observed the well-coordinated assault.

  “Not bad,” he muttered, weaving hand signs effortlessly. “But let’s see how you hahis!”

  With a rapid exhale, Jiraiya unched Fire Release: Fme Bullet, a bzing stream of fire that scorched the ground as it advaoward the group.

  her Kaida nor Kabuto made a move to dodge it, because they kachi had already prepared for such a move. He tered immediately with his Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Teique, a simple k jutsu, but in Itachi’s hands, it became an imperable shield. Multiple fireballs spiraled toward Jiraiya’s attack, accurately timed. The es caused a massive explosion, creating a brief smokes.

  ‘Perfect,’ Itachi thought, his Sharingan spinning. 'Now’s the ce.'

  Kaida, enhanced by his Mitotic Regeion Seal, used the smoke as cover. By now, he had already created a shadow e which transformed into a giant hammer. With his strength amplified, he hefted the 120 kg hammer with ease, positioning himself just outside the radius of the fire csh. Timing was everything, and Kaida k.

  Kabuto was already on the move, using the explosion's distra to meld into the ground with Earth Release: Hiding Like a Mole Teique. His role was to disrupt Jiraiya’s footing, leaving him vulnerable to Kaida’s strike.

  But they knew Jiraiya could easily sense his approach. Approag a ninja who knows earth jutsu from underground is deadly, but Kabuto took this risk. If Jiraiya attempted to attack him, Kaida and Itachi would seize that opportunity to strike, as they were attag from opposite dires, making it difficult for Jiraiya to handle everything at once.

  "Now!" Itachi’s voice echoed in Kaida’s head—a very profound use of genjutsu where, with the caster's permission, the user could eheir mind’s outer yer for untraceable unication.

  Kaida leaped from his position with all the power his enharength could muster, hammer aimed directly at Jiraiya. At the same moment, Kabuto erupted from the grouh Jiraiya with spiraling water fangs, leaving Jiraiya with limited options to move.

  "Not bad at all," Jiraiya muttered, his lips curling into a grin. With a series of rapid hand signs, he activated Earth Release: Mud Wall, p thrice the normal amount of chakra into the jutsu, making the wall rger and sturdier. A thick wall of earth rose between him and Kaida’s hammer. The force of Kaida’s blow shattered the wall, sending debris flying in every dire, but the momentary defense gave Jiraiya the split sed he needed.

  Sending a kunai toward Kabuto’s hand, he forced Kabuto to release his grip and dodge the attack. Jiraiya flickered once again, reappearing high in the air.

  But this time, Itachi was ready. Using Jiraiya's pse in tration, Itachi pced him in a subtle genjutsu, making it seem as though his Sharingan hadn’t been activated. When Jiraiya looked at Itachi to see what he was doing, Itachi cast the stro genjutsu he could muster, knowing Jiraiya would quickly realize he was in an illusion. It was better to go full force from the start. Jiraiya’s vision blurred, causing him to instinctively evade Kaida’s wind bde.

  "Now!" Itachi called out, activating the sed yer of his genjutsu—a subtle yet effective illusion that made it seem as though Jiraiya’s nding spot was solid ground.

  Instead, Jiraiya nded directly into Kabuto’s trap. The moment his feet touched the ground, Kabuto’s Earth Release: Bottomless S activated, causing the earth to bee unstable and sih him. Jiraiya stumbled slightly, his feet momentarily stuck, and that was all Kaida needed.

  Kaida, still wielding the massive hammer, dashed forward with determination. This time, Jiraiya had no time to escape, but he was still able to deflect the hammer with a bination of Earth Release: Iron Skin Jutsu and chakra-enharength. With a thunderous crash, Kaida’s hammer smmed into the ground just beside Jiraiya, sending a shockwave that made the ground tremble. The force of the blow dislodged Jiraiya from the s, throwing him off bance.

  Itachi took the opportunity to release a barrage of Shuriken Shadow e Jutsu, multiplying the ons tenfold as they surrounded Jiraiya from all sides.

  Jiraiya grunted, defleg most of the shuriken with his enhanced physical abilities, but the stant assault was effective against him. “Alright, they’ve improved,” he admitted under his breath, pride swelling in his chest despite being under heavy attack.

  Just as Jiraiya prepared to terattack, a kunai flew past him, grazing his arm. He looked down and noticed a paper tag attached to it—an explosive tag. He had only a split sed to react.

  *Boom!*

  The explosion wasn’t rge enough to cause signifit damage, but it was a distra—ohat Itachi had pnned meticulously. In the brief moment Jiraiya was forced to defend, Kaida, Kabuto, and Itachi verged from all sides. Kaida aimed a chakra-enhanced punch, Kabuto prepared a Chakra Scalpel, and Itachi readied a finishing move.

  Before any of them could nd their attacks, Jiraiya raised both hands in surrender, a wide grin on his face. “Alright, alright! You win!” he ughed, pletely unfazed by the danger he had been in just moments before. “That teamwork was on point, boys. I’m impressed.”

  The trio halted, panting heavily but with smiles of triumph on their faces. Jiraiya wiped the sweat from his brow, clearly proud of their progress.

  “Now that’s what I’m talking about!” Jiraiya said, g his hands together. “That was some top-tier teamwork. You used your strengths to cover each other’s weaknesses, and you coordinated your attacks perfectly. You’ve all e a long way in just a week.”

  Kaida, Kabuto, and Itachi exged gnces, eae feeling a sense of aplishment.

  “As promised,” Jiraiya said, grinning, “I’ll treat you all to some dango. You ear.”

  “Thanks, Sensei,” all three of them said. Eaew Jiraiya hadn’t used his full strength—especially Kaida, who realized Jiraiya had her used any A-rank her jutsu, nor his Sage Mode, his ultimate teique. One could say he had only used 30% of his power, but eveing him while he used that much was impressive.

  “Let’s go then. After that, you guys are free for the day. Enjoy it, because tomorrow we’re moving out for the mission,” Jiraiya said.