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My Journey as Fourth Kazekage 189
🕑 Added 2025-05-29 16:00:04 +0000 UTCChapter 189: Rasa VS Jiraiya (Part 3)
Sasuke’s words took everyone by surprise.
Especially the adults.
Of course, they all knew exactly who Sasuke meant by that man.
Having been through the Land of Waves incident and knowing what had happened to Sasuke, even Naruto could only stare blankly at him.
Kakashi’s expression darkened. After thinking it over, he still decided to explain.
“A shinobi’s strength is generally divided into ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu—and beyond that, chakra itself. Jiraiya-sama and the Kazekage have already reached the pinnacle in ninjutsu, taijutsu, and chakra. As for genjutsu, while I’ve heard that Jiraiya-sama isn’t particularly skilled in it, at this level, most genjutsu wouldn’t work on them anyway.”
As he said this, Kakashi noticed Sasuke’s tightly clenched fists, and he continued.
“Of course, the Sharingan’s power can’t be understood by conventional logic. So, when it comes to who is stronger, it’s not something we can clearly say in just a few words.”
“What about chakra control and hand seals?” Sakura suddenly asked.
Because… maybe that was the only area in which she could still hope to catch up to Sasuke and Naruto.
Kakashi had once praised her for it.
This time, it was Asuma who answered, looking toward the two distant figures.
“At the level of Jiraiya-sama and the Kazekage, chakra control and hand seals are merely basic abilities.”
Asuma spoke up partly to help his laid-back student Shikamaru recognize the reality of the shinobi world.
“Basic abilities?!”
Sakura was stunned.
“That’s right,”
Asuma said, patting Shikamaru’s shoulder as he looked out into the distance.
“You all watched the battle just now between those two… did you notice anything?”
“Notice what?”
Team 10’s trio looked confused—except for Shikamaru, who seemed to realize something.
“Jiraiya-sama and the Kazekage barely used hand seals. Or rather, their seals were extremely simple.”
All the jōnin present looked at Shikamaru with approval.
“Exactly. That’s what I meant—once you reach Jiraiya-sama and the Kazekage’s level, chakra control and hand seal speed are merely the fundamentals. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t important. Heck, on the contrary, they’re the foundation required to reach that level. So you really need to stop slacking off, Shikamaru.”
Shikamaru’s face stiffened.
“Yeah, yeah. What a drag...”
And at that moment, with his next battle strategy now decided, Jiraiya launched his assault.
This time, he abandoned ninjutsu altogether—and began probing with pure taijutsu.
Whoosh!
As a non-Bloodline Limit user, Jiraiya’s taijutsu was absurdly strong.
His figure turned into a blur as he dashed across the Gold Dust-covered forest floor, heading straight toward Rasa.
“So fast!”
Sasuke realized, to his shock, that even with the Sharingan activated, he couldn’t follow Jiraiya’s movements.
That kind of speed—even someone like Lee using the Eight Gates couldn’t keep up.
As a taijutsu user himself, Guy suddenly lit up with excitement.
“As expected of Jiraiya-sama! His taijutsu mastery is truly formidable!”
Jiraiya’s body moved with incredible agility, weaving through the rain of gold dust shuriken and the deadly Gold Dust Barrier Technique. He evaded everything flawlessly, closing in on Rasa in a matter of moments.
Rasa’s eyes lit up with interest. Compared to the Jiraiya of his own time, this older Jiraiya clearly had aged quite a bit, but in terms of taijutsu, he was even stronger now.
Rasa didn’t summon his gold dust to continue attacking. Instead, he seemed intrigued and chose to engage Jiraiya directly with taijutsu.
Jiraiya’s eyes also lit up in response.
He was confident in his taijutsu—forged under the punishing strength of Tsunade’s monstrous fists.
Besides, he had one thing he was sure of: the Fourth Kazekage of Sunagakure shouldn’t be that good at taijutsu.
This wasn’t just an assessment based on intel, but also based on Rasa’s Bloodline Limit, Magnet Release.
After all, one’s energy is limited.
Sunagakure’s Magnet Release clearly wasn’t a bloodline that synergized well with close combat.
Not to mention, Rasa was more than ten years younger.
But the moment their fists clashed, Jiraiya realized just how wrong he had been.
Boom!
A powerful force surged from Rasa’s punch.
It wasn’t quite as monstrous as Tsunade’s, but it was still shocking enough to leave Jiraiya in disbelief.
“How is this possible? Even this young man’s taijutsu is this strong?!”
Rasa, indeed, had never been a taijutsu-oriented shinobi. In the past, he’d been more like a mage-type, relying on his Magnet Release.
But everything had changed after he gained access to the Eight Gates.
Now, thanks to intense training, Rasa’s body had reached the level where he could maintain Five Gates in a normal state.
Not just a burst of Five Gates, but a constant state of Five Gates.
What difference did that make?
Put simply, Rasa’s body was now fully adapted to the strain of Five Gates, meaning when he pushed himself, he could unleash power beyond it.
Boom!
Just like now. Jiraiya’s brief moment of surprise gave Rasa an opening—he exploded forward with a speed beyond the Fifth Gate, driving a powerful kick straight into Jiraiya’s chest.
Jiraiya reacted quickly and blocked with his arms, but the impact still sent him flying like a broken kite. He crashed through several trees, carving a long trench into the earth before finally skidding to a stop.
“Pervy Sage!”
“Jiraiya-sama!”
“No way!”
Naruto and the others shouted anxiously.
The scene was utterly beyond everyone’s expectations.
The Kazekage is actually this strong?
It was one thing for him to suppress Jiraiya with ninjutsu, but even his taijutsu was this overwhelming?
As the dust settled, Jiraiya’s somewhat battered figure became visible to the crowd.
Fortunately, he didn’t seem seriously injured—just a bit roughed up, with some tears in his clothing.
He had his monstrous endurance, honed under Tsunade’s training, to thank for that.
But Jiraiya’s expression had never been this serious.
Though they had only been fighting for barely over ten minutes, he was already feeling the pressure. Ninjutsu, taijutsu, and that strange force that didn’t even seem like chakra—at this rate, Jiraiya realized he’d have to go all out. He’d need to enter Sage Mode just to gauge the full extent of Rasa’s power.
But… was it worth going that far?
If he did, it could escalate into a full-scale war between Sunagakure and Konohagakure.
Right now, the old man, the Third Hokage, was likely already dead, and the village was still in ruins after Orochimaru’s assault.
If war broke out now…
Jiraiya felt a heavy sense of powerlessness at the thought.
Just as he hesitated, Rasa lost interest.
He had already realized—Jiraiya was no longer a match for him.
Even if Jiraiya entered Sage Mode, Rasa wouldn’t be afraid.
After all, he had only used his Gold Dust so far. He hadn’t even touched the rest of his arsenal.
And although they stood on opposite sides, Rasa had a certain respect for someone like Jiraiya. He wasn’t someone he would kill without cause.
So, he simply spoke up.
“This ends here.”
Rasa’s declaration shocked everyone present.
“This entire ‘Konoha Collapse Plan’ was orchestrated by your rogue ninja, Orochimaru. It’s your village’s internal matter. Sunagakure has no interest in meddling further. So let’s end it here. Of course… if Konoha insists on continuing the fight, we won’t back down either. Baki, pull everyone back.”
