"Ah, I'm not really a fighter, so please handle any physical disagreements with my good friend." Ayumu bowed in fake respect, a puddle of black liquid formed beside him.
It rose upwards, and then collapsed, revealing another man, he wore simple clothes, black hair tied back in a ponytail, he looked rather young, but Jiraya was experienced enough to know that he was no pushover.
"Yo, Osamu!" Ayumu greeted cheerfully. "Please beat up this pervert for me."
Jiraya blinked, that was offensive to him, he wasn't a pervert, he was a super pervert, also less importantly, he didn't even mention who he was, did this Osamu already know? Was Ayumu an idiot? Or simply just overconfident?
The man turned to Ayumu and raised an arm, Ayumu responded by raising his own, they high-fived each other before Osamu turned back towards Jiraya.
"My friend, I would love too!" The man agreed cheerfully, a grin on his face.
These two were clearly good friends, huh?
He wondered what their relationship actually was, he had never heard of an Osamu in any capacity, while Ayumu was a mystery, but not unknown.
"You don't even know what's going on," Jiraya commented dryly. "You should at least ask."
Osamu blinked, looking at Jiraya like he had said something very stupid.
"Do you not know who I am? If my good friend asks me to beat someone up, I will beat that person up." Osamu asked, offended, he pointed at himself. "After all, I am the future strongest man in the world! My fists are as hard as my abs!"
Jiraya wondered if this was some kind of Genjutsu for a second, this whole situation took a very surreal tone after the serious conversation he was having with Ayumu, but a quick check told him that no, he wasn't under any Genjutsu.
"From the east to the west, north to south, all across the lands, people will call out my name! Below the Heavens, there is none greater than me! My name is Osamu! OSAMU!"
He did a front flip in the air before he landed into an exaggerated bow, one hand stretched out in front of him and the other behind his back.
Jiraya's felt deeply offended by this display, he obviously was copying his amazing introduction.
This could not stand.
"Alright, you bastard, that's not how you introduce yourself." Jiraya interrupted coldly. "You have to do it like this."
Jiraya jumped onto one foot, raising an arm above his head and pointing at Osamu.
"People far and wide cry out for my name, crying babies are soothed with my introduction, criminals shudder when they hear my coming! The great Toad Sage is me, Jiraya! The most-"
"TALKING ISN'T A FREE ACTION!"
A swirling ball of fire came flying towards him, Jiraya barely managed to dodge the attack, which crashed into the ground where he had just stood, exploding violently, sending him tumbling through the air.
He managed to get himself under control, landing on his feet.
He was going to kill this punk.
A fist flew toward his face, he ducked under it, bringing up his own fist, slamming it into Osamu's stomach and forcing him backwards.
Jiraya followed with a Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique, a torrent of flames was released from his mouth, enveloping Osamu.
As the flames abated, a dome of rock was revealed, covering the entire area around Osamu, blackened by the heat.
Jiraya charged forward, a Big Ball Rasengan forming in his hand, he slammed it into the top of the dome, crushing it down.
It was empty.
Jiraya jumped, he was more than familiar with this trick, it was common for Earth Release users to tunnel into the ground after forming walls or domes.
And as predicted, Osamu popped out of the ground behind him, spinning in the air to kick at Jiraya's head, but the Sannin was prepared, he slapped the leg, Chakra gathering at his fingertips, dark lines spread across Osamu's leg.
Osamu cursed loudly, leaping away, clutching his now weighted limb.
'Sealing Jutsu: Heavy Step.'
It wouldn't last more than a few minutes when applied without an anchor, but that was more than enough time in a fight.
Jiraya raised his hands, weaving a few hand seals and pointed one hand at Osamu, water gathered in his palm.
"Water Release: Water Whip!"
He slashed, the whip-like stream of water followed, crashing into Osamu, cutting him in half.
Red Liquid splashed on the ground and surrounding area.
Jiraya blinked, but a split second later he realized that there was too much blood, he pulsed his Chakra, realizing what happened.
The Genjutsu dispelled, revealing that it was a Water Clone.
But a split second was all Osamu needed, a Water Dragon erupted from behind a nearby hill, charging forward towards Jiraya, jaws opened wide.
Osamu was riding on top of its head, a grin on his face, his hands flew through seals.
"Combination Jutsu: Hellfire Hurricane!"
A bright blue inferno spewed out from his mouth, swirling around the Water Dragon in a hurricane of flames.
Jiraya grit his teeth and after a series of hand seals slammed his palms into the ground, forming a barrier of earth to protect himself.
And then another, and another, raising a series of walls between him and the attack.
It still wasn't enough to stop it completely, but it did its job, diverting the force around him, he gathered Chakra in his palm, Rasengan forming, he had an inkling of what Osamu was trying to do here.
As expected, a kick flew towards his head from inside the stream of fire above him, Jiraya dodged, and slammed the Rasengan upwards, directly into Osamu's stomach.
The other man was blown away, flying out of sight, landing with a loud thud, sending up a plume of dust.
Jiraya watched as Osamu struggled to get back onto his feet, blood leaking from his mouth.
This man was weird, his Chakra capacity and Jutsu were impressive, layering that 'Hellfire Hurricane' onto the Water Dragon required incredible amounts of control and pure Chakra capacity.
His physical abilities were also extremely high, only surpassed by actual Taijutsu experts, but...
He was inexperienced, too easily he was goaded into certain responses, his tactics weren't bad, but they were on the level of a new Jōnin, clever, but not tempered by countless battles where 'clever' wasn't enough.
Osamu staggered upright, breathing heavily, blood running down his chin, but he was smiling.
"That's pretty good, old man..." He started, wiping the blood off of his mouth. "You're definitely worthy of your reputation."
"How long have you been fighting, kid?" Jiraya asked curiously, watching him as he closed his eyes.
Osamu hummed, and was interrupted by a cough, more blood splattering onto the ground, but none of that seemed to bother him.
"Like a year? But this was my first fight with someone who actually challenged me." He said honestly, Jiraya saw the truth in his words.
That was frightening, and also explained quite a lot.
His natural talent with Ninjutsu and Taijutsu was clear, any normal Shinobi would be overwhelmed by sheer power, technique didn't matter much when their opponent was this strong, it would simply get beaten down with raw strength.
But now Osamu faced someone who could take that power head on, leaving his weakness exposed.
"Surrender." Jiraya offered kindly. "Your friend already left, and while you are good, you aren't good enough to beat me."
Jiraya had noticed Ayumu had disappeared at some point during the fight, likely using that black liquid teleportation ability he had used to kidnap Jiraya and summon Osamu in the first place.
Osamu's only response was to stretch out his arms, a grin on his face.
"Fuck no." He denied cheerfully. "You know how hard it is for me to find people to actually test my abilities against? No way am I missing this chance."
Jiraya frowned, he understood Osamu's desire to test himself, but he wasn't playing around, if Ayumu was gone, then Osamu was his best lead on finding him, and there was no way he was letting him get away.
"If you don't surrender, I will not hold back," Jiraya warned, trying one last time.
"Good." Osamu responded easily. "That would be boring otherwise."
Jiraya sighed, it seemed like he really had to do this the hard way.
Jiraya was not lying, if he held back, then there was a chance Osamu could wound him, and even if Jiraya was confident in winning, he was not confident in winning without risking Osamu's death.
Non-lethal takedown were always a pain.
Looks like it was time to go all out then, best to just crush him in a couple moves.
He bit his thumb, blood dripping into his palm.
"Summoning Jutsu!"