Chapter 1/2 posted 3/10/24

It's said that good luck was a skill of its own. And though Jiraya had come a long way from the dead last he once was, in this one respect, he was still just as hopeless as his asshole teammate proclaimed him to be all those years ago.

Tsuchibokori no Biwa? In this random, bum-fuck-middle-of-nowhere town in the Land of Rain? Really?

Team Seven had one small blessing, however. The S-class threat was encumbered by a team of his own. He would have to take their safety into consideration as well.

(Probably. With Iwa shinobi, you could never know for sure.)

In the context of this situation, that was a good thing. Outside of that context…well. It was never a good sign when such strong, enemy nin took proteges. It didn't happen often; the more powerful you were, the more say you had in getting out of things you didn't want to do. And who the hell wanted to babysit a bunch of brats?

Jiraya sure as hell hadn't. At first. But they grew on him eventually. Like mold, in the case of Mikoto and Sasuke.

Minato was a treat from the get-go.

Surveying the enemies before him, Jiraya felt nothing but exhaustion. Biwa's brats were all young, younger than both Mikoto and Sasuke by several years. Barely older than Minato, who had graduated impressively early, though the crazy one seemed to be his same age.

Knowing what he knew about Iwa's education system, Jiraya placed them as fresh genin. That was most assuredly a good thing. However, he also knew that Iwa didn't subscribe to Konoha's talent balancing philosophy. These were all the strongest kids in their batch. And he imagined the Tsuchikage's son must have hand-picked them for some reason. Which was really not good.

"I have an idea," Jiraya said with false cheer. "Why don't we just pretend we didn't see one another? I have no desire to get into it with you. And we're just passing through. It's likely our missions have nothing to do with one another."

Biwa gave him a look that was quite familiar. Usually it was Orochimaru that directed it at him, however.

"Do you seriously expect me to believe that?" he said. "I know Konoha is lax, but surely that would be taking things too far."

"I don't want to fight you," Jiraya said, ignoring the jab. "It would be pointless, and the fallout would be troublesome."

Scoffing, Biwa shook his head. "I don't believe in coincidences, and despite how stupid you paint yourself as, I doubt you do either. We didn't happen to run into each other while you were just passing through."

"The world isn't that big of a place," Jiraya snorted, fishing a mission scroll out of his pocket. Official band, signature, crest and everything. He tossed it like he would a kunai at Biwa, who caught it easily.

"Read it. We're going to Amegakure to pick up a merchant."

Biwa dropped it to the ground without so much as opening it. If that wasn't enough of a statement, he then stomped it into the mud, left over from a recent storm.

Jiraya sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Was that really necessary? I needed that."

"Sure you did," he condescended. "I don't care about whatever forgery you present me with. I won't let you assassinate my client."

"Sage damnit, you obstinate man," Jiraya groaned. "Use the critical thinking skills I know you have. Do you really think I'd take my genin team on an assassination mission?"

"I would," he said, decisively. "Because Iwa doesn't coddle weakness."

Of course he would. What did Jiraya expect?

"You really want to have it out here?" he attempted. "In a neutral country? Is Iwa really that ready to restart the war?"

"If this is the match that sets the kindling ablaze, then so be it. All of my brothers and sisters in arms will support me without hesitation."

Sometimes—oftentimes—Jiraya hated the world he lived in.

"Well, I'd like to keep the peace for a little longer," he remarked, frowning when the little kunoichi snorted, like she found that amusing. "And I definitely don't want to drag Ame into this."

The last thing he wanted was to draw Hanzo's ire. Jiraya wasn't sure he could survive it a second time.

"So let's move away from Chosuichi," he continued. "And follow standard protocol twenty-one. Is that agreeable?"

The grin that split Biwa's face should have made him nervous. But he had complete faith that his team would leave this challenge victorious.

Biwa slowly flipped through hand seals, and though Jiraya tensed at first, he realized that the speed was meant to placate him. Sure enough, it wasn't an attack; the man's body split, and a whole additional, identical person stepped out of his back. Fission clone. Even Biwa's students watched in interest; he must have never used the technique in front of them.

"If this is a ploy to separate us so that you allies might pursue our client, they will not find him so unguarded."

Jiraya rolled his eyes. "Okay, sure. Knock yourself out."

The clone flickered away, and Jiraya took off with his team in the opposite direction. He kept his senses primed, almost expecting an attack from behind despite their agreement.

"Sensei?" Mikoto asked in a hushed whisper. "What's going on? What is standard protocol twenty-one?"

"When two high ranking shinobi fight, there is usually a staggering amount of collateral damage," he answered grimly. "And a lot of bystander casualties. Standard protocol twenty-one presents a method of resolving disagreements that isn't as destructive. Instead of the jonin going at it personally, they each nominate a lower-ranked champion to fight on their behalf."

"It's a proxy battle," Minato surmised, eyes flinty and a frown on his face.

"Exactly," Jiraya agreed, sympathetically.

They ran for half an hour, until they were far away from the city. Then, the teams stood opposite to one another, a sizable gap between them.

"Who is your nomination?" Jiraya called. Neither sensei knew anything about the other's team, so there was no advantage to picking second. They would each choose their strongest member.

"Sensei, shall I?" the largest boy offered, a quiet confidence in his voice. He seemed tough, and Jiraya almost expected Biwa to agree. Instead, he shook his head.

"Since it's only Konoha, I'm sure any one of you would be sufficient," he stated. What an asshole. "But still, I see no reason to take chances."

With a disappointed sigh, he and the other boy stepped back as one, leaving the grinning little kunoichi in front. Jiraya sized her up, now more intrigued. He knew no kid on Tsuchibokori no Biwa's team would be a slouch, but, in his own experience, it was usually the littlest dog that barked the loudest. From her behavior towards Minato, Jiraya wouldn't have pegged her as the powerhouse of the team. But even her own teammates deferred to her superiority without objection.

"And you?" the enemy jonin asked pointedly. But before Jiraya could even open his mouth, Minato immediately stepped forward, a grim look on his face. Jiraya was surprised; yes, he was obviously going to pick Minato anyway. But his protege didn't usually volunteer himself for something like this.

"Sensei?" he asked, and Jiraya simply nodded.

"Hey, I wanted to knock her down a peg or two!" Sasuke complained.

"No, Sasuke-kun," Minato snapped, taking his entire team aback. Minato was always perfectly respectful, even to those who didn't deserve it. Sasuke frequently tried to get a rise out of the composed blond, but he was never successful.

Minato's eyes never left the deranged little girl.

"She's too dangerous. It has to be me."

And suddenly, Jiraya's previously unshakable confidence in their chances…shook. Namikaze Minato was the most naturally gifted sensor that he had ever met. His range was already impressive, but his sensitivity blew even that out of the water. His index rating rivaled practiced jonin. If he could call that little girl dangerous with such confidence, he must have sensed something in her chakra.

They took a moment before squaring off, and Jiraya asked him.

"It's unlike anything I've ever encountered," Minato said. "Her reserves are large, greater than mine. And the chakra inside is dense. But there's something off about it. Something unnatural."

Jiraya's gaze hardened. "Jinchūriki?"

His other two students watched in confusion, not knowing the word. But Minato shook his head.

"I don't think so. It feels very different from…nine. Hers almost feels…cold. But maybe each number has different traits."

Jiraya didn't think so, especially taking into account which two Biju Iwa had to its name. Steam and lava shouldn't feel cold. But he wasn't a sensor; what did he know?

Minato wasn't finished. "But that's not all. Her chakra…it flows like your teammate's."

His teammate's?

"Like Orochimaru's?" Jiraya asked, confused. But Minato shook his head.

"Tsunade's."

…oh no.

"In what way?" Jiraya asked, a sinking feeling in his gut. Because while Jiraya fancied himself to be pretty strong, and knew that Orochimaru had both frightening combat potential and intellect, there was no question as to who was the real freak out of the Sannin.

"Her chakra is perfectly smooth. Orderly, at every point along her chakra system. It's like she's micromanaging it everywhere, all at once. The internal chakra control it takes to do that, I can't even fathom."

Jiraya swore under his breath. Internal chakra control was a facet of chakra manipulation that a lot of people underestimated, but he knew better than anyone that those truly distinguished with it could do frightening things. The proverb—fear not the man who has conquered enemies, but the man who has conquered himself—existed for a reason

Orochimaru had been trying to replicate Tsunade's Tranquil State Technique for years, with the guidance of the woman herself. He had achieved minor success, and even that had increased his abilities by leaps and bounds. But to hear this kid did something similar? Without guidance?

He looked at Minato's opponent in a new light, trying to find anything to point out to his student to give him an edge. He noticed what looked to be storage scrolls affixed to the sides of her vest at odd angles, and wondered at their purpose.

Biwa had his back to them, and was speaking to his student much like Jiraya had been. But the girl broke eye contact and glanced at Jiraya, as if she could feel his gaze on her. She smirked, and reached up near her throat to the zipper of her vest, and began to slowly pull downwards.

It probably spoke to Jiraya's depravity that his first instinct was to wonder why this child was giving him a strip tease. Obviously she was wearing something under it; you didn't just wear a vest. It was the taunting look in her eye that gave him that impression.

But then he realized what she was showing him.

"Fuck," he whispered. "Oh, no. This is not good."

"Sensei, what's wrong?" Mikoto asked, Sasuke craning his neck to see around him. Minato was frowning, trying to identify what Jiraya had seen.

"That bandage pattern," Jiraya said, not attempting to explain the subtle importances of wrappings in Iwagakure. "I've never seen it before, but I know what it means. Minato, be very careful against her. She's being groomed to be Tsuchikage."

The situation had suddenly gotten much more dire. But there was an even greater opportunity. If Minato could eliminate her, that would be huge.

Jiraya was more than apprehensive, but a look at his student settled his nerves somewhat. That fierce determination behind his eyes showed that he grasped the significance immediately. As expected. Because, though it hadn't been stated, Minato knew he was in the same position as the girl in front of him. And for good reason.

His opponent must be something. But Jiraya had never met anyone with as much potential as Namikaze Minato. He wouldn't lose. He couldn't.

The girl sauntered towards them, apparently done with her preparations. After a quick glance towards Jiraya, Minato went to meet her.

"You're like me, aren't you?" she crooned. "This will be so much fun!"

Minato looked displeased by the comment. "I don't get the sense I have much in common with someone like you."

It was clearly an insult; the someone like you was spat with undisguised vitriol. But the girl laughed all the same.

"Don't be obtuse," she said. "I know a beast when I see one. It's hard not to after all these years looking in a mirror."

"Hasn't anyone ever told you that pride comes before the fall?" he retorted.

She clapped a hand to her mouth, as if genuinely taken aback.

"Wow, the hypocrisy is unreal!" she chortled. "I'm legit blown away. You're calling me prideful?"

"Stop talking like you know anything about me," Minato said, his voice perfectly even. A far cry from his opponents exuberance, and unusual speech patterns. "If you're trying to unbalance me, it won't work."

"I'm not trying to unbalance you," she claimed. "I'm just…well. I can't lie; I'm kinda stoked for this. It's like a dream come true. I was starting to think I'd never find anyone who understands me. You think I don't know anything about you? Buddy, I'm the only one who knows you."

She held up a finger. "Stop me if you've heard this one. Once upon a time, there was a poor, clanless orphan with a dream of becoming a shinobi and changing the world. The loss of their parents haunted them all of their life, and though they knew they were expected to love and honor their memory, that memory began to feel more like chains holding them down. But even without the resources available to most shinobi children, they unlocked their chakra before they knew what it was. It began to change their young mind. They began to understand things that others their age didn't. They began to instantly pick up skills they shouldn't be able to so much as comprehend. Adults call them a prodigy, a natural talent, and while they smiled and accepted the praise like a shy little schoolgirl, inside they burned with fury."

She puts a hand on her hip, and the tilt of her head makes it seem like she's looking down on him, even though they were roughly the same height.

"They aren't naturally talented," she said. "It's just that others can't see all of the effort they put into everything. Either because they practice while no one's watching, because all the labor is in their own head, or because they think the adults will stop them if they so much as hint at what they're really working towards. Because it's too dangerous for a normal kid. They're not normal, but the adults will never accept that it's safe for them alone."

Jiraya got the sense that he was intruding on something he shouldn't. Because, while he would normally dismiss an obviously insane enemy's ramblings, Minato had stiffened. There was no expression on his face—he was too good for that—but Jiraya could read him like no one else could. He was distressed. This girl was somehow hitting the nail on the head. Jiraya was privy to some of that already—he and Minato had a close bond. But even he didn't know everything.

"You're…well, lonely isn't the right word," she said. "You have bonds that you treasure, and that's all well and good. But you feel like an outsider constantly, because you're not normal. You don't think in the same ways. People find you uncanny; many romanticize the notion of you publically, but they instinctively shy away from you in private. Because you know too much about them. When people lie, or try to hide things from you, you see right through. It unsettles your comrades especially, your fellow shinobi who value secrecy above all else. You realize that the only way to not be excluded is to forge an inauthentic persona. One that isn't so unpalatable to the sensitivities of those around you."

Minato began to circle her, but instead of reorienting her entire body, she merely turned her head to follow him. Meanwhile, the change of pronouns didn't escape Jiraya's notice.

"But one day, he realizes that being fake all the time is only damaging himself and his relationships with others. Realizes it's holding him back both professionally and socially; he's beginning to lose his ability to empathize with others. He pursues the paths others tell him are right, just for the sake of it. He knows he needs to make a change, but he's been pretending to be someone he's not for so long, that he doesn't even remember what his original personality was. Eventually, he makes a choice. He's been acting all this time, hasn't he? If he's a blank slate, he can at least choose who he wants to be, how to act, what ideals to throw himself behind. Instead of beholding himself to the whims of others, he chooses to mold himself into the person he wants to be."

Quick as a flash, a kunai appears in Minato's hands, and he throws it at the girl with blinding speeds from behind. Still, despite her apparent distraction, she reached under her opposite arm and caught it by the handle with ease.

"My bad," she said with a condescending smirk. "It seems you haven't quite gotten there yet. Maybe someday. Once you grow up a little."

She twirled the kunai by its ring around her finger. "Still think I don't know anything about you? From your reaction, I'd say I'm right on the money. We are the same. I'm just ahead of the curve, and you're lagging behind."

Minato kicked off, blasting forward with enough speed to leave most chunin in the dust. It was his greatest weapon. But he hit air as the girl spun around him nearly as fast, the kunai she caught streaking towards his neck in an icepick grip. He blocked, and the force was so great that Jiraya could hear their forearms collide. Neither so much as winced; in fact, the girl's smile only widened.

"I suppose I can't blame you," she mused conversationally. "Coming from Konoha. They're so…polite there. So out of touch with their animal instincts. Ninja have to keep their emotions in check, but y'all take it too far. Repressing everything negative about yourself isn't healthy. But why preach to the choir? You already know how frustrating it is to have to stuff down every scrap of rage you hold within you—and you hold a lot. No matter how strictly you try to stick to that nice guy routine you have going for you. You are an angry, angry child. Just. Like. Me."

Jiraya was used to bitter, cutting jabs at the village he loved so much. Especially from Iwa nin; provoking opponents was something of a talent of theirs. But the girl's taunts were disturbingly insightful. It was a more than valid critique of Konoha's culture. And from someone who'd never been, no less.

Minato, it seemed, had decided to make her shut up once and for all. By the book as always, he moved in to engage her in taijutsu, blitzing forward before ducking under her line of sight and launching a blistering straight into her stomach. Such a move, even lacking the power he now placed behind it, never failed to land on even Mikoto with her Sharingan active. It should be too fast for any genin to handle. But the girl lifted one leg up and simply redirected the blow to the side with her knee, forcibly opening his guard. Mercilessly capitalizing on the opening, she jabbed downward at his solar plexus, but he rose with all the formidable power in his legs, twisting away so that the blow passed behind his back.

That movement translated into a beautiful hammer arm, enhanced with enough chakra to fell a young tree. The girl leaned back just far enough away for it to miss, and as soon as the blow passed she popped up into her own spinning back kick. Minato danced away.

Not even two seconds had passed. Genin did not fight like this.

Immediately deducing that a frontal assault wasn't to his advantage, Minato broke away, seeking to capitalize on his greatest strength: his speed. He danced around the girl, and though she wasn't exactly a tortoise herself, she was outclassed. However, that didn't seem to matter.

Next to Jiraya, Sasuke was hollering, because to a layman it appeared as though Minato was running circles around his opponent (both literally and figuratively). But Jiraya could tell that his student's unstoppable force had just, for the first time against someone his own age, met an immovable object. He couldn't put enough power behind his hits to break through her guard, and her manic smile was static. Minato couldn't even get a wince out of her.

Iwa was known for their defensive taijutsu style. If she was this skilled with it, Jiraya suspected that she could do this all day. And with all the extra movement, Minato was burning energy faster than she was.

But his student was a genius, so he realized all that as well. He leapt back, flipping through hand seals with assurance, his opponent watching him like a hawk all the while. Jiraya recognized it immediately—Futon: Senkai Chakuramu Akuma no Odori no Jutsu (Wind Style: Whirling Chakram Devil Dance). It was Minato's first original technique, and Jiraya was still trying to convince him to workshop the name. But what appeared to be a simple bullet technique had a surprise twist at the end.

Wind techniques were practically invisible, especially if there was no debris for them to pick up along the way. But any ninja worth their salt barely relied on their eyes anyway, especially if they knew their opponents were about to cast a jutsu. Sure enough the girl leaned back, allowing the sharp chakra lance to pass over her shoulder as she herself ran through hand seals.

Jiraya grinned.

And that's the match.

He knew it was over the moment he felt Minato seize command of the technique, controlling his chakra flawlessly to warp the blade itself, curling its end inwards. In a split second, the once linear projectile wrapped around itself, forming a devastatingly sharp discus with the girl in its center. And it hadn't stopped, now that there was a body within its confines.

There was no time for the girl to abort her current jutsu and run through the hand seals of another. No matter what she did, she was a goner.

But then he felt a flicker, saw a plume of moist soil erupt from below her the exact moment the devastating jutsu rent her from hip to shoulder, slicing cleanly through muscle and bone. And…rock, and dirt?

Shit. It was a clone. But how? That was the girl's real body just a moment ago, he was sure of it! Jiraya couldn't see her mold the seals for the rock clone or the replacement technique! And if Jiraya didn't see it, it didn't happen. If not for the fundamental rules of chakra, including the Subjugation Principle, he would have thought that Biwa must have intervened. But it was impossible to perform a Kawarimi with someone else's body.

What the hell was going on?

Meanwhile, Minato had to flinch out of the way as a shuriken shot straight out of the earth, passing right next to his head. An instant later, from an entirely different location, the girl sprang out of the ground in front of him, arms outstretched in a tackle. It would have been childsplay to evade and punish her for the telegraphed move, but Jiraya saw the glint of panic in Minato's eye as he engaged the shunshin—something that was rarely necessary—to get the hell out of dodge.

It was immediately clear what he had sensed when the girl—clone again—exploded. But in a way that made Jiraya's eyes narrow.

That wasn't an ordinary exploding tag. There was more force and far less fire. Shattered remnants of the clone's body were spread far across the battlefield, and he realized their true purpose immediately.

Arena prep.

She was likely setting up objects to replace herself with, since this field was flat and devoid of obstacles. And the problem was, Minato couldn't use them in that same manner. Due to the nature of the Rock Clone technique, those pieces were still saturated with her chakra. Minato couldn't utilize them for the Kawarimi, for the same reason he couldn't replace himself with another person. Once again, the Subjugation Principle.

"That was a neat little jutsu," she said, her real body rising out of the earth a distance away. "But I understand exactly how it works. It won't catch me by surprise again."

That was her being caught by surprise?

"However, your actions just now," she continued, the wolfish smile returning to her face. "A normal person with our level of experience wouldn't have guessed there was a tag buried in that clone's body. You're a sensor, aren't you?"

And shit. It really would have been great to keep that from her a little longer.

Minato readjusted his stance. "If you've figured that out already, I want to ask you something in return. Those nodes below you. Those are clones, aren't they? You don't need to mold hand seals to create them. They're just shooting from your feet."

…what? She was casting jutsu with her feet? What did that mean? Jiraya realized he should be ashamed for being so lost in a battle between (technically) genin. But his concern outweighed that by far.

The girl just laughed. "Guess that cat's out of the bag too."

Jiraya had never heard that idiom, but he guessed it was a confirmation.

Then, Minato ran through more hand seals, forming the more traditional Futon: Repussho (Wind Release: Gale Palm), shooting a powerful gust towards the girl. In response, she threaded a finger through a ring affixed to one of the scrolls on her vest. As she pulled it, unveiling its contents, Jiraya's heart plummeted even further.

The jutsu impacted the ink-sewn leather and did nothing. The girl stumbled and her hair was whipped around as if caught in a sudden gust, but there was no damage. No indication that she had just met a c-rank jutsu head on.

The Wind Sealing Method. Fuinjutsu.

"That's not a tier one seal," Minato observed frostily. The implication being that this wasn't something anyone could just slap a neutralization matrix onto. She would have had to reinvent it herself.

As if this wasn't already bad enough. Jiraya's threat assessment for this kid, which was already concerningly high, rose another two notches.

"No, it's not," she agreed, humor dancing in her eyes. "Surprised?"

Minato didn't answer, instead snatching a kunai out of his pouch. Before he could make a move, his opponent spun through her own hand seals and cupped a hand to her mouth. From that alone it was obvious she was about to loose a bullet-type justu, but instead of aiming at Minato, she craned her neck almost straight up.

Jiraya's student was quick to capitalize, throwing a wave of kunai with chakra enhanced strength. However, no chakra was actually channeled into the weapons themselves, so they couldn't be sensed. Not that it seemed to matter.

Before the weapons could land, the girl's jutsu fired, launching five rocks into the sky in quick succession. Then, with the sharp metal mere feet away and counting, she jerked her head downward, firing the last shot into the swarm.

The fist size rock bullets grew quickly in size. Five boulders, aided by gravity, crashed down upon Minato, just as the sixth batted away the kunai and continued at him from the front.

Jiraya knew that Minato had only one possible answer, and sure enough his prodigy quickly pulled out a kunai with a complex tag tied to the end. Quickly, he bit into his thumb hard enough to draw blood, and he swiped a streak of red onto the parchment. With incredible skill, he threw it through the slightest gap, right as the tightly-clustered boulders began to crash down upon him.

However, Gamatenko—the only toad Minato had proven himself to so far—appeared in a puff of smoke next to the kunai, out of harm's way. He coughed up a tag of his own that was very similar to the first, and there was a much larger pop as Minato appeared right next to him, reverse summoned by his friend out of harm's way.

And straight into a fist. His opponent had chased her own projectile, hiding directly behind it and somehow correctly predicting where he'd end up. With incredible reflexes, Minato twisted away at the last second, but Jiraya winced as the blow still sent him sprawling.

Mikoto, perhaps without even realizing it, reached out and clutched Jiraiya by the wrist, her face pale as Orochimaru's. In retrospect, Jiraya wasn't sure she had ever seen her teammate take a clean hit like that before from anyone below jonin. Still, Minato caught himself in a handspring before he could hit the ground.

But he was shaken. Jiraya could tell. And he had definitely felt the hit, even through his perfect chakra enhancement.

His opponent hadn't let up, engaging him in a blistering bout of taijutsu to keep him on the back foot.

"You use fuinjutsu too!" she said between fierce strikes, seemingly delighted by the fact. "I had a feeling from your overall vibe, but wow. We really are the same!"

"Don't flatter yourself," Minato grunted as he tried to disengage. But the girl wouldn't give him room to mold signs. "No matter what you've cobbled together in your little caves in Iwa, it can't compare to the majesty of Uzumaki fuinjutsu."

At his (admittedly feeble—Jiraya would need to work on that with him) attempt to rile her up, the girl laughed in his face.

"Caves?" she spluttered, swatting aside a punch and pressed into his guard with a sucker punch Minato barely sidestepped. "Is that what Konoha teaches its young? Ha! That's hilarious."

Minato's skill finally won out, taking a page from his opponent's book from earlier. He launched a powerful knee right through her guard, but it couldn't do real damage because she clapped a hand against it and pressed with comparable force. It would have been technically perfect counter if she was older, but she didn't currently have enough weight on her side to keep her footing. Minato lifted her entirely off the ground with brute strength, making enough room to finally form the seals for his shunsin. A split second later, he was gone.

Rather than being angered that she lost her advantage, the girl shook her head in bemusement.

"I already know how impressive the Uzumaki were with their art," she said, ignoring what had just happened in the fight itself. "I assume you were taught by a survivor?"

He nodded curtly, warily, and her mirth transformed into something far more sinister.

"Then it may surprise you. I learned from the Uzumaki as well."

Jiraya caught a flicker of dismay in his students eye, and his hands clenched into fists. He wanted to scream at him, to assure Minato that it was a lie. That Iwagakure had no Uzumaki, as prisoners or otherwise. But he couldn't, not without admitting how far his spy network had infiltrated the village.

The girl maliciously let that sink in for a moment.

"You're lying," Minato finally decided, his voice sounding more sure than was what was reflected in his stance.

"No, I'm not. I'll admit, I'm mostly a self-study, but the Uzumaki still taught me a great deal of what I know."

That familiar, damned smirk split her face.

"Posthumously."

There was no question; this girl was Iwa through and through. Cruelty shone through her every word, and though she couldn't know it, that statement would hit Minato harder now than anything.

Many months ago, Uzumaki Mito died. That was a secret kept from all foreigners, and even the general Konoha population. But Minato, one of her students, knew all too well and grieved her deeply.

Unfortunately, her death caused a great schism between him and his fellow disciple. Uzumaki Kushina had always held Minato in low regard, and her fiercely competitive nature turned to true bitterness upon her last living (direct) relative's death. It didn't help that the physical embodiment of rage had also just been sealed inside of her, which she was forced to come to terms with at the same time.

That was something Minato regretted with all his heart, and he tried his best to mend their deteriorated relationship. His most recent attempt…to say it didn't go over well would be an understatement.

Minato flipped through hand seals with twice the speed, and lightning began to crackle in his hand. Pointing a finger at the girl, the electricity leapt away from him and grew, transforming into a hound that barreled straight towards his opponent. Arcs striking the ground acted as legs, and allowed the jutsu to nimbly change direction with an application of chakra control.

Raiton: Raijū Hashiri no Jutsu (Lightning Style: Lightning Beast Running Technique)

Perfectly selected. It didn't take a genius to figure out that the two other scrolls on her vest contained different elemental sealing methods. Jiraya could even guess which ones. But Minato's single water technique would be resisted by his opponents Earth Style, and he didn't have any Doton techniques of his own.

This lightning jutsu would have to do. Its agility and capacity to quickly change directions made it Minato's best chance at avoiding her seals and landing an attack from a more opportune angle.

But the girl seemed to realize this as well, because she pulled her hand away from the scroll it had flown to just as quickly, and she began to race through her own hand seals.

Jiraya's stomach dropped as he instantly recognized the jutsu she chose. How could he not? He'd helped invent it.

Her wind lance was perfectly aimed, piercing the lightning beast and dispelling it in an instant. Minato gracelessly dove out of the way, but he needn't have bothered. It never reached its second, more widespread stage.

Mikoto's grip on Jiraya's arm tightened, her expression turning horrified. "No!"

"Huh? Sensei, wha'd she do?" Sasuke asked, bewildered. He wasn't observant or sensitive enough to grasp the significance for himself, but some part of him recognized the gravity.

"That jutsu isn't very user friendly, is it?" the girl mused, staring down Jiraya's shell-shocked prodigy. "No matter. I'll get it down eventually, I'm sure."

For the actual first time ever, Jiraya saw Namikaze Minato absolutely blindsided.

"What…how…?" he stammered, before confusion gave way to fury. "THAT WAS MY ORIGINAL TECHNIQUE!"

"I guess it's my original technique now, bitch boy," she said, caustically, tormentingly. "What are you going to do—cry about it? Come on, you have an Uchiha as a teammate. You should be used to it by now."

"How?" Mikoto spoke up for the first time. She hadn't wanted to distract Minato, but she needed an answer. Jiraya didn't stop her; he wanted one as well. "You don't have the Sharingan."

"I don't need the Sharinagan," she sneered. "Anyone who truly understands chakra, anyone who knows how each hand seal builds off one another, doesn't need to rely on shit like that to reverse engineer techniques. Copying jutsu isn't an inherent skill of the Sharingan; it's a side effect. Photographic memory and the ability to see chakra. Those are the two shortcuts your clan uses."

Mikoto stiffened, but she wasn't done.

"You can see exactly how chakra flows through the jutsu once it's cast, and you retain all the subtleties that you detect so that you can replicate them. That's the essence of your oh-so-illustrious bloodline."

The girl snorted.

"What a joke. The Uchiha's pride in their special eyes is infamous, and to me—someone with actual skill—that's the funniest shit I've ever heard. You should all be ashamed to have to rely on such a crutch! But instead you boast about it? Ha!"

Mikoto had no rebuttal, but she was shaking. Both in rage, and in fear. Jiraya, feeling like he'd swallowed lead, looked past the girl, to her sensei, and shuddered. Biwa looked to be having the time of his life. He was positively beaming, and the expression was far scarier to Jiraya than any scowl he could imagine from the man.

"You know what I'm going to do when I get back to Iwa?" the girl asked, turning her attention back to Minato. "I'm going to teach this jutsu to any wind-style user who wants it. I'm sure it will come in handy when the war starts. Your comrades will die, flesh split, blood spilt, cursing your name for inventing their demise."

Minato grew stock still. Then, he made a sound Jiraya had never heard fall from his student's lip.

He roared in fury, killing intent pouring from him in waves. The girl only laughed, flaring her own intent in response, and the air felt heavy. Jiraya did his best to shield his students as Biwa no doubt did the same, but it was like fighting back the tide.

Mikoto and Sasuke had never felt Minato's killing intent before. And neither had Jiraya. It was an instinctive technique; of course Minato was capable of using it. But he had pledged never to do so, stating that it was the antithesis of who he wanted to be as a shinobi. Jiraya had supported him in it, because if there was anyone in history who could thrive as a shinobi without the desire to kill, it was his student.

Now, here he was. Breaking his own values, pushed well beyond the edge by an enemy unlike any he'd ever faced. An equal, with a heart of malice.

"There it is!" the little demon crowed. "There's the fury I knew was buried in there! Yes!"

As Minato blurred towards her, the pit in Jiraya's stomach only grew. No matter the conclusion to this battle, Minato was going to lose. In some fashion, he wouldn't make it out unscathed.

It would be up to Jiraya to save his student. And he would, even if it killed him.

- - - { ワナビー } - - -

AN: Hey, y'all! It's finally here! The big one.

I only planned to make it one chapter, but I thought it was too long, so I separated it into two. I took great pleasure in writing this first part especially. I don't know, seeing outside perspectives of Kasaiki is always hype for some reason. This just adds another layer, since Jiraya is a character we Naruto enjoyers know very well.

I especially enjoyed the bit with Mikoto and the Sharingan deconstruction. I don't like the sharingan. I don't like deus ex machina at all. I don't think it should exist past the regular tomoe; it's already powerful enough without the mangekyo abilities.

Minato's teammates are Mikoto and... Sasuke?! What? A spiritual high five to anyone who can figure out what that's all about.

Anyway, go on and keep reading!