Naruto stared at Jiraiya, utterly speechless. He had planned to head to the back mountain for training, but Jiraiya clung to him like a stubborn piece of plaster.
Wherever Naruto went, Jiraiya "happened" to appear, pretending it was just a coincidence.
Scratching his head awkwardly, Jiraiya thought to himself, It's not that obvious… right?
Over the past few days, he had even asked around about Naruto's reputation.
Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke were now known as the Twin Stars of Konoha—young shinobi whose strength already surpassed that of many Academy instructors.
And it wasn't just them. In Naruto's generation, heirs of several prominent clans had graduated, creating a wave of exceptional talent.
Among them, Hyūga Neji stood out the most, though it was a pity he belonged to the branch family. Jiraiya knew very well the Hyūga Clan's complicated situation. Still, he was relieved that the clan's heiress, Hinata, while not dazzling, had shown admirable progress.
Konoha finally had true successors.
After the Third Great Ninja War, the village had been slow to replenish its ranks. If not for this lack of fresh blood, they would never have remained silent when Kumogakure's provocations began.
Now, looking at Naruto—draped in a Hokage-style robe, golden hair shining, his young face still carrying traces of innocence—Jiraiya felt a pang of déjà vu. It was like seeing Minato standing before him again.
That only strengthened Jiraiya's resolve to make Naruto his disciple.
"I told you already—I don't need your guidance!"
Naruto clutched his head, sighing helplessly. Jiraiya only grinned back, convinced Naruto simply didn't understand how strong he was.
"Kid, I am Jiraiya, the Toad Sage of Mount Myōboku!"
With a dramatic gesture, Jiraiya performed the Summoning Technique, and a toad appeared with a puff of smoke, crouching impressively beside him.
"See that? With this jutsu, you can summon powerful creatures to fight at your side!" he boasted, hands on his hips. Summoning Contracts were rare, and few shinobi could wield beasts with true combat strength. Mount Myōboku's toads were counted among the strongest.
Naruto glanced at the creature and said flatly, "No. Too ugly."
Jiraiya froze. "…Ugly? Did you just say ugly!?"
Never in his life had anyone dismissed the Summoning Technique for such a reason. To have a Summoning Contract was to stand above ninety-nine percent of shinobi.
"Listen, brat," Jiraiya snapped, "Summoning Beasts are a great asset in battle. You can't just judge them by appearances!"
"Ugly is ugly," Naruto muttered, rolling his eyes.
He walked past Jiraiya without another word, heading toward the back mountain.
Jiraiya dispelled the toad with a sigh, then hurried after him.
"If you don't want to learn the Summoning Technique, I can still teach you plenty of other things—powerful ninjutsu, for example!" he rambled, practically begging him to accept.
If ordinary shinobi saw this scene, they would've died of jealousy.
"No! I said I don't need it!" Naruto barked back.
The two soon reached the training grounds in the back mountain. There, Naruto spotted Sasuke and the others—along with Kurama Yakumo.
Yakumo enjoyed the feeling of being with friends. Though she didn't come often, she sometimes asked Rock Lee for guidance in martial arts.
The group eyed Jiraiya curiously.
"Don't mind him," Naruto waved them off. His meaning was clear: don't worry about leaks. He's somewhat trustworthy, but don't show everything.
The message was understood immediately. They fell silent and returned to their own training.
Jiraiya's eyes lit up with sudden inspiration. If I can't win Naruto over directly, maybe I can do it through his friends…
"Hello, young shinobi!" he said with exaggerated cheer. "I'm a powerful ninja. How about I teach you some really cool ninjutsu?"
If he impressed Naruto's companions, Naruto himself would surely be tempted.
But Sasuke and the others didn't even look at him. Sasuke was too focused on refining his Railgun technique.
The last time he had faced Orochimaru, if his chakra control had been just a little sharper, he could have saved half his reserves. Worse, his precision wasn't perfect yet. Out of ten attempts, two still failed outright.
And in battle, a single failure could mean death.
A miss by a hair is still a miss by a mile.
Jiraiya gave a dry laugh, embarrassed by their lack of interest. Determined to win attention, he suddenly unleashed a massive Fire Release ninjutsu, flames roaring high into the air.
That, at least, turned a few heads.
Especially Yakumo Kurama, whose eyes shone with a different kind of brilliance. She had always dreamed of becoming a powerful kunoichi.
Though she could no longer walk the path of a shinobi, her body was no longer frail as it once had been, and she had found companions who stood by her side.
They were geniuses—true prodigies among prodigies.
"You must be one of the Legendary Sannin, Lord Jiraiya!"
Neji stopped, bowing respectfully as he spoke.
"That's right—I am Jiraiya," the white-haired sage replied. At the mention of the Sannin, a shadow briefly passed across his eyes, but it disappeared in an instant.
"Lord Jiraiya, as you must have noticed, I am of the Hyūga Clan, so I rely mainly on the Gentle Fist rather than ninjutsu," Neji continued.
"This is Lee. I'm sure you know Guy-sensei—Lee is his student, and he's a pure Taijutsu specialist like him.
"This is Yakumo, from the Kurama Clan. Her health has always been poor, so she cannot be a shinobi in the usual sense. And this is Uchiha Sasuke—he trains in his own way."
Jiraiya's eyes narrowed slightly as his gaze fell on Yakumo.
The Kurama Clan?
Of course he knew of them. A clan famed for their genjutsu prowess—so powerful that their kekkei genkai could blur the line between illusion and reality. Yet those few who awakened it were cursed with weak and fragile bodies.
This girl… she must have inherited that bloodline.
Then his gaze shifted to Sasuke. There was something in his face that faintly resembled Uchiha Mikoto. The memory of the Uchiha Clan's annihilation still weighed on the shinobi world. Even wandering as he did, Jiraiya had heard the whispers: the clan had been wiped out by none other than Uchiha Fugaku's eldest son—Uchiha Itachi.
Truly, a tragedy without end.
Jiraiya finally spoke, looking at Sasuke.
"Young man, do you wish to master powerful ninjutsu? I know many advanced Fire Release techniques."
Sasuke gave him a glance, said nothing, and instead walked off to an open area to begin his own training.
Jiraiya coughed awkwardly and turned back to Naruto.
"Well then… Naruto, how about I just teach you? I've got a very powerful jutsu to show you!"
He raised his hand. Chakra swirled and condensed into a perfect sphere—Rasengan.
"See this? This is the Rasengan, an A-rank ninjutsu created by the Fourth Hokage himself. No hand seals required!"
He expected Naruto to gape in awe. Instead, the boy's face stayed calm. Without hesitation, Naruto formed his own Rasengan.
Jiraiya nearly dropped his jaw.
"H-How—?! How do you know the Rasengan already?!"
Naruto dismissed him with a glance.
"Don't bother. I'm not learning from you."
"Then… what about this jutsu? You can't possibly know this one!"
Flustered, Jiraiya slammed his hands together, molding earth chakra into a Doton technique.
Naruto repeated it effortlessly.
"I've got plenty more!"
Jiraiya said desperately, stringing together more hand seals, unleashing one jutsu after another.
Each time, Naruto copied them with ease, as though a Sharingan burned behind his eyes.
By the end, Jiraiya was clutching his head, nearly in tears.
"This… this shouldn't even be possible! How am I supposed to teach you anything like this?!"
...
TN:
⚒️ Pa-treon-com/LordMerlin (Support me! 😊)