On the border between the Land of Rain and the Land of Grass.
Jiraiya and Rinjin sat out front of their small base, watching Yahiko and his friends train hard in the distance, chatting idly as the afternoon wore on.
"Jiraiya, your teaching skills could use some work."
"Oh? And what makes you say that?"
Jiraiya looked at Rinjin with genuine confusion. Honestly, he was pretty confident about his abilities as a mentor. Before the war, he'd trained Minato Namikaze—that brilliant kid. Word from passing Konoha shinobi was that Minato had been excelling lately, already standing out as an exceptional ninja.
Jiraiya was certain that, before long, Minato would become someone trustworthy and dependable.
Faced with Jiraiya's puzzled look, Rinjin thought for a moment, then chuckled,
"You should've brought them back to Konoha instead of staying in this backwater yourself. As a teacher, well… you ought to be a little more forceful."
Jiraiya just grinned and shook his head, clearly disagreeing.
"They have their own dreams and convictions. Konoha isn't the place for them."
Rinjin only smiled and let the topic drop.
Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru—on the surface, they seemed wildly different, but deep down, all three were stubborn to the core:
Orochimaru pursued immortality;
Jiraiya chased the Child of Prophecy;
Tsunade was dead set on gambling.
Even during the Third Shinobi War, when Konoha took a beating, not one of them stepped up to save the day.
Seeing there was no changing Jiraiya's mind, Rinjin simply shifted gears to the real reason he'd come.
"Jiraiya, can you take me to Mount Myōboku?"
"What brings this up all of a sudden?"
Jiraiya looked a bit surprised. He knew about Rinjin's contract with Shikkotsu Forest—Rinjin hadn't hidden it.
"It's the toad oil. I just want to know how it's actually made. And… can you eat the stuff?"
That caught Jiraiya off guard.
Truth be told, he had no clue where the endless flow of toad oil in Mount Myōboku's waterfalls came from. But as for how it was produced—he did know that much.
Senjutsu chakra could be converted into toad oil, and nearly every big-name toad in Mount Myōboku could do it.
But could you eat it?
He honestly had no idea. He'd never tried.
Scratching his head, Jiraiya shot his friend a weird look and hesitated,
"Can you eat it? No clue. Want me to spit some out for you to try?! By the way, Rinjin, can you use Sage Mode?"
Rinjin's eyes lit up as he nodded enthusiastically.
"Yep!"
As he spoke, a vibrant emerald green crept from his roots to the tips of his hair. At the same time, a pair of massive dark circles framed his eyes.
Seeing Rinjin'sSage Mode, Jiraiya couldn't help himself—he doubled over, covering his mouth as he burst out laughing.
"Heh heh~ I thought my Sage Mode looked bad, but yours is next-level. Dark circles and green hair? What, did you get cheated on and end up with insomnia from heartbreak?"
"..."
Watching Jiraiya laugh so hard he nearly fell over, Rinjin rolled his eyes.
Cheated on? My wife's the Slug Sage—who'd dare cheat on me!
After a good laugh, Jiraiya finally caught his breath and clapped Rinjin on the shoulder.
"Alright, I'll summon Gama-Chū and have him give you some toad oil."
With a rapid flurry of hand signs—poof!—a cloud of smoke erupted.
An enormous orange toad appeared, a necklace with the kanji for "loyalty" hanging around his neck.
"Jiraiya, what the hell do you want now?"
Gama-Chū's wide, flat eyes swept the area, then landed on Rinjin.
"Senjutsu from Shikkotsu Forest? Now that's rare!"
Jiraiya gave his old friend a friendly pat.
"Gama-Chū, this is my buddy, Sakuho Rinjin. Rinjin, meet Gama-Chū."
Rinjin smiled and nodded, offering a quick wave.
Gama-Chū gave a slight nod in return.
Introductions done, Jiraiya explained Rinjin's request: some toad oil.
For the toads of Mount Myōboku, toad oil wasn't exactly a big deal.
Without hesitation, Gama-Chū opened his mouth and spat a stream of earthy-yellow toad oil into a nearby bucket.
Watching this, Rinjin grinned from ear to ear.
In no time, the bucket was full. Gama-Chū glanced around, looking for another container.
Seeing this, Rinjin quickly waved his hands,
"Thanks, that's more than enough."
Gama-Chū nodded seriously, then asked with some curiosity,
"Rinjin-san, if you don't mind me asking, what are you planning to do with the toad oil?"
Before Rinjin could reply, Jiraiya sidled up with a mischievous grin,
"Chū, this guy wants to see if toad oil is edible."
At that, Gama-Chū's mouth visibly twitched.
"Uh… in theory it's usable, but nobody actually eats it."
"Why not?" Rinjin pressed.
Gama-Chū frowned, thinking it over, then explained,
"You know Sage Mode, so you must realize that senjutsu chakra needs the right mix of natural energy, spiritual energy, and physical energy. Toad oil lets your skin absorb natural energy with no barrier at all. That makes your senjutsu chakra super unstable.
If you just make it and spit it out, no problem for someone who's mastered Sage Mode. But if it sits in your stomach too long, you might end up with a toad's stomach—or even turn to stone."
Rinjin smiled and nodded, genuinely grateful for the warning—but honestly, he didn't care.
No way he'd turn into a toad. Even if the natural energy ratio got totally out of whack, worst case, he'd just turn into a giant tree… and then grow himself as fruit.
He'd already tested this in Shikkotsu Forest.
As long as toad oil worked, he'd figure out the rest.
With that thought, Rinjin hefted the bucket, and right in front of Gama-Chū and Jiraiya, took a huge gulp.
"(⊙o⊙)… Ugh, so greasy!"
Immediately, an icy-cool sensation shot from his mouth down to his stomach, like chugging a bowl of ultra-concentrated mint juice.
He felt like his whole body had turned into a giant sieve—natural energy surged in from everywhere, flooding his system.
At the same time, every cell in his body started cranking out chakra, burning through the incoming natural energy.
Outside, Jiraiya stared at Rinjin in utter shock.
Maybe it was the Shikkotsu Forest senjutsu, but Rinjin's body began passively burning off the excess senjutsu chakra.
And suddenly, thick, slimy slug mucus started oozing from his skin.
"So… so gross!"
Jiraiya blurted out, saying something that would probably get him smacked by Tsunade.
But beside him, Gama-Chū quietly swallowed a mouthful of saliva.
So… so fragrant!
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
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