Board Thread:Versus Debates/@comment-34656247-20180714075601/@comment-34194151-20180716045527

So I think since Kabuto starts in Sage Mode its only fair Jiraiya starts in Sage mode with ma and Pa, no?

But addressing the points, we haven't seen the full extent to which he can manipulate the environment though. To me, the limestone cave is better- there were basically already daggers hanging in the ceiling, so he could further weaponize them by making them project out of the ceiling, and since the cave was an enclosed space, its actually harder to dodge. In a flat open terrain such as the one given in this vs battle, it probably would be some glorified earth technique, as giving "life " to flat earth is basically already what most earth style users can do lol, it wouldn't be anything the Sannin haven't seen before. they can dodge, jump, etc. Bones and webs can also be dodged in this open terrain. Tsunade getting tagged by it wont't do anything, we have seen her impaled by countless susanoo swords in the fight with madara, and while she was definitely stunned, she was able to impressively free herself and heal and continue about her day with her incredible punches and kicks. Orochimaru can also do his subsitution thing. Jiriaiya is the only one who may run into trouble with getting hit by kabuto's attacks. The Saninn combined have way more quality experience/skill than just kabuto, and the Sanin have worked together tirelessly, their combined teamwork and knowledge of each other will help them cover each other and avoid the more easily seen through attacks kabuto can throw. Jiriaiya is good at misdirection and good at analyzing the opponent and coming up with creative countermeasures. The way I see it, He will summon gamabunta, and gamabunta, tsunade, orochimaru will cover Jiriaya using their durability while he sits back and analyzes kabuto after they see his strange abilities. And comes up with a strategy to take advantage of openings Tsunade and Orochimaru create, and they will combo attack together with their summons.

Now that said, Kabuto won't be easy to actually kill, as he will summon his own snakes as well, and he has also insane durability, tankability, regenability just like Tsunade, and his healing options are more versatile and can setup counterattacks, but orochimaru has experience with this because he is similiar to kabuto.

As I said before, Sage Art :White Rage Technique needs to be looked at in context. You can fact check this, but sound is greatly amplifed in caves, and thats why it had such a strong effect inside. Even with that, itachi, while paralyzed, mostly blinded, and mostly deafened, was still capable of using ninjutsu to defend sasuke. The jutsu prevents effective concrentation, cause paralyzsis, deafens the ear, and blinds, but in the broad daylight and in open terrain, those effects are significantly reduced. I believe the Sannin can still counter attack with ninjutsu if Kabuto uses this technique in the terrain given for this battle.

The flute genjutsu though is still kabuto's best win condition, but he would need to create significant distance to cast this effectively, something I doubt that the Sanin would allow that for long, as they are all pretty much mid range to close range fighters, with a big bias toward close range. The issue with the sound is again its an open space. It means that the Sannin can use their own techniques to drown out the sound effectively

This is where MA and Pa especially come in clutch, because they can use their wind techniques to counter the sound much like Temari did. And they are also experienced with sound based genjutsu. Their genjutsu goes off slower, but they would have an idea on how to counter Kabuto's

As for win conditions, i personally think that Sanin combined can compete with Kabuto in Stamina long enough to eventually immobilize him and stun him with a well timed attack from Tsuande, whose punches can blow his body in half, before he substitutes or can turn into water.

So all in all I feel like Team Sannin wins like 8/10, only because Kabuto's arsenal is haxxed and unexpected enough to potentially kill at least one off guard, most likely Jiraiya, which is bad a hit to the analytical part of the team, especially if he doesn't start in sage mode like I suggested.