signingbooks Chapter 173 Jiraiya's Death by Being Cut in Half at the Waist
Chapter 173 Jiraiya's Death by Being Cut in Half at the Waist
The swarm of insects pursued them relentlessly, but Jiraiya was, after all, one of the Legendary Sannin, and even though he was severely injured, his speed was still astonishing.
He ran while using fire magic to clear a path and rushed into the fire. His burned skin was smoking in the air, but he ignored the pain.
Close, closer!
He could feel the psychic contract recovering. He just needed to run a few hundred meters more—when suddenly, a strange fluctuation came from the air.
It wasn't the buzzing of insects, nor the howling of the wind, but a near-silent vibration, as if something was quietly approaching from behind him. Jiraiya instinctively dodged to the side.
A nearly transparent figure brushed past his shoulder, leaving a trail of blood.
It was a huge scorpion, its body as transparent as crystal, almost completely invisible in the afterglow of the setting sun.
Xiao Lai, the invisible scorpion, is the summoned beast of Aburame Zhicheng. It is a creature that has never been seen before, yet it is also the most deadly assassin.
A trap! This is a trap!
Jiraiya never expected that, in the end, Aburame Shisei would use such a simple trap to launch a sneak attack.
Before Jiraiya could react, the transparent scorpion's tail stabbed again.
Jiraiya managed to block with his kunai, only to discover it was a feint—the real killing blow came from another scorpion tail stabbing from the side.
*Thud*—The scorpion's tail pierced through his left shoulder.
The excruciating pain nearly made Jiraiya faint, but he gritted his teeth and endured it, unleashing a Fire Release attack on Sasori.
The transparent scorpion emitted a sharp hiss, its body twisted and deformed by the heat, finally revealing its outline.
But it was too late.
"Sage Shima, Sage Fukasaku!" Jiraiya roared, trying to summon the two great sages to aid him in battle.
However, there was no response.
He turned around abruptly and saw two figures falling from the swarm of insects—it was Shima and Fukasaku, the two toad masters.
They also had a wound on their body, and purple toxins were spreading through them.
"Little Jiraiya..." Shima opened her eyes with difficulty, "Go, hurry up!"
Before the words were finished, the two immortals fell silent.
"No—!" Jiraiya's eyes instantly turned red, but his roar was drowned out by the buzzing of the swarm of insects.
Yu Nu Zhicheng had caught up and stood a dozen meters away, quietly watching him.
"It's over," said Shisei Aburame.
Wind Release: Sage Art: Wind Slash.
The cyan wind blades condensed into countless thin lines in the air, weaving a net of death that enveloped Jiraiya.
Jiraiya used up his last bit of chakra to try and perform the Toad Mouth Binding Technique, but his chakra was already depleted, and the technique was interrupted after only being half completed.
The wind blades fell, and blood mist filled the air.
Jiraiya's body was neatly severed at the waist, separating his upper and lower body.
Blood gushed out, instantly staining the surrounding area red, but was quickly licked clean by the swarm of insects. The grayish-white insects surged forward frantically, and half of Jiraiya's body disappeared in an instant.
However, his upper body was still flying towards the open space, but his consciousness was completely blurred due to the intense pain and blood loss.
Finally, his body stopped beating completely, and his soul left his body!
Jiraiya, one of the Legendary Sannin, died on the spot!
Just then, a powerful spatial fluctuation suddenly appeared, indicating reverse psychic communication.
On Mount Myōboku, Gamamaru finally communicated with Jiraiya and used all his strength to pull his upper body into the spatial passage.
"It's a pity the body wasn't destroyed, but the fluctuation just now must have been a soul," Aburame Shige said softly as he landed in the direction where the half-corpse had disappeared.
Meanwhile, not far away, after Jiraiya disappeared, another toad appeared in the wilderness, hopping and skipping towards the Jashin Cave.
He didn't know what had happened; he only knew that Gamabunta had told him to come out, quickly find Jiraiya's disciples, and tell them to hurry up and "run!"
So he ran as fast as he could, following his instincts. No one knew that an ordinary little toad in the jungle carried the hope for the continuation of Konoha.
-
On Mount Myōboku, on the massive toad-shaped rock wall, space suddenly distorted, and Jiraiya's upper body fell from the void, crashing heavily to the ground.
"Little Jiraiya!" Bunta exclaimed as he rushed over, but stopped after only one glance.
Jiraiya's lower body was completely gone, the wound was still bleeding, and his face was as pale as paper. His eyes were half open, and his pupils were already dilated.
"How could this happen..." Wen Tai murmured, unsure of where to put his enormous hands.
The corpses of the two immortals, Fukasaku and Shima, were not summoned back, because they had already been eaten by Kora.
Upon learning of his death, the surrounding toads were filled with grief.
Just then, deep within the rock wall, the largest toad slowly opened its eyes—Gamamaru.
It looked old and frail, with cloudy eyes, as if it had just woken up from a long slumber.
It looked at Jiraiya on the ground, a complex light flashing in its murky eyes.
"Little Jiraiya..." its voice was old and slow: "Have you found the chosen one?"
Bunta turned his head, tears welling in his huge eyes: "Gamamaru-sama, Jiraiya... he's dead!"
Gamamaru was stunned.
It slowly crawled over, lowered its huge head, and looked at Jiraiya, who was now only an upper body.
Blood was still flowing, but the breath of life was fading away.
"How could this be..." Gamamaru murmured, "Jiraiya's mission is not over yet. The chosen one has not been found. Destiny should not fall. The chosen one must be guided."
It raised its head and looked at the toads around it.
"What changed destiny?"
A young toad stammered, "Lord Gamamaru, we sensed a spiritual connection, but something was interfering, preventing us from reaching it. By the time we were finally able to get there, the two immortals were already..."
"Interference?" Gamamaru suddenly said, "Ah! I remember now! I seemed to have a premonition that they were in danger, and then I activated the summoning. Hmm, it smelled like... insects."
He was just too old; his memory was often hazy, and his dreams and reality were often confused.
After a long while, it lowered its head and looked at Jiraiya again.
"Boss Gamamaru," Gamabunta began, "we should bury Jiraiya properly. He was a friend of Mount Myōboku and deserves a dignified burial—"
"You don't understand."
Gamamaru interrupted him, and then did something that shocked all the toads.
It opened its mouth and swallowed Jiraiya's upper body.
Wen Tai exclaimed, "Boss Toad Ball! What are you doing?"
"He's still useful." Gamamaru shut his mouth and mumbled, "He's the key to our entry."
"What's the entry requirement?"
Gamabunta was completely bewildered: "Gamamaru-sama, are you out of your mind? Jiraiya is dead! Shima and Fukasaku are dead too! Their bodies are nowhere to be found."