Tsunade's team had just finished their training for the day and were strolling through the streets.
Tsunade was clearly in a bad mood. Jiraiya was sticking to her like glue, buzzing around her and chattering endlessly.
"Tsunade, look! It's the Toad Oil Flame Bullet I just learned!"
Jiraiya formed a hand seal and spat out a small flame, accidentally singeing a patch of Orochimaru's hair as he walked by. Orochimaru touched his hair, and his fists clenched.
"Jiraiya!"
Facing Orochimaru's angry glare, Jiraiya shrank back. He patted Orochimaru's hair with a nervous laugh, brushing off the ash, then cheerfully went back to pestering Tsunade.
Orochimaru looked at the black soot on his hand and sighed in resignation. He formed a hand seal and used the Transformation Jutsu, turning back into himself, the only difference being his now-perfect hair.
Seeing Jiraiya catch up, Tsunade rolled her eyes and changed direction.
"Tsunade, don't ignore me! I know a new barbecue place just opened. Want to go try it?"
Tsunade's fists clenched and unclenched, a vein throbbing on her forehead. She had tried to ignore him, but his voice was a constant, droning presence, a 3D surround sound experience. Finally, she couldn't take it anymore.
"Can you just get lost?! You're so annoying!"
Just as she was about to get physical with Jiraiya, she caught sight of An Yan out of the corner of her eye. He had just received her signal and arrived.
For this fateful meeting of rivals, An Yan had dressed up. He was clean from head to toe, his handsome face framed by stylishly messy short hair. He had woken up early to put on subtle makeup, and his sky-blue outfit gave him an air of nobility.
Tsunade rushed over and grabbed An Yan's arm, pointing at Jiraiya.
"Big brother, he's been harassing me."
An Yan looked at Jiraiya, his killing intent locking onto him.
As Hiruzen Sarutobi's disciple, Jiraiya had never seen real bloodshed. The Third Hokage didn't have time to lead teams on bandit-suppression missions. An Yan's killing intent completely froze him.
In a daze, Jiraiya saw a river of blood flowing from behind An Yan. The river swelled, rising higher and higher until it became a monstrous, bloody wave crashing down on him. He wanted to run, but his body was frozen, unable to move.
When he snapped out of it, he found himself drenched in a cold sweat.
Tsunade was still talking. "Big brother, beat him up for me."
An Yan smiled and ruffled Tsunade's blonde hair. "Alright, just watch."
Jiraiya was wiping the sweat from his forehead. Hearing that An Yan was going to teach him a lesson on Tsunade's behalf, he immediately got into a fighting stance. He had already felt how terrifying An Yan was, but he still tried to act tough.
"I'm not someone you can just push around! You want to fight me for Tsunade? Let me show you my new Toad Oil—"
Before Jiraiya could finish, An Yan was behind him. A chokehold and a kick to the back of the knee sent him to the ground.
"Youth is wonderful. Falls asleep the moment his head hits the pillow."
An Yan made a sarcastic comment as soon as he had taken Jiraiya down. Tsunade burst out laughing, her previous bad mood completely gone.
Jiraiya scrambled to his feet and tried to grab An Yan, but An Yan caught his wrist with a joint lock. With a slight twist, Jiraiya's arm was neutralized, and he was forced to his knees, glaring at An Yan in frustration.
"You bastard, let me go!"
An Yan held him fast, ignoring his shouts. He looked down at him, his voice gentle but firm.
"Jiraiya, the village is not yet strong and prosperous. How can you be concerned with romance?"
"You're wasting your energy in the wrong place. In the prime of your youth, instead of annoying people with pointless words, you should be spending your time and energy improving yourself."
"A person's time and energy are limited. You must use your strength where it counts. Getting stronger is what we should be focused on now."
"Indulging in romance will only make you weak."
The powerful words struck a chord in Jiraiya's heart. He fell into a state of confusion. Jiraiya had always been one to question himself.
Why do I want to become stronger? Is it for beautiful women?
Is my only goal to be liked by pretty girls?
Well, that seems to be it, right?
Jiraiya questioned himself again and again and found nothing wrong with his reasoning.
Nearby, Orochimaru was listening thoughtfully to An Yan's words.
A person's time and energy are indeed limited. If only one had infinite time and energy, then one could learn all the ninjutsu in the world.
Tsunade stood by, a slight smile on her face as she watched An Yan easily subdue Jiraiya. She felt a sense of vindication, and her frustration vanished.
Jiraiya was easy to read as a child; his thoughts were written all over his face. An Yan could see that he was still unrepentant. Old habits die hard.
An Yan's eyes darted around, and he came up with another approach.
"My name is An Yan. I'm Tsunade's childhood friend. If you have any ideas about her, you'll have to get through me first. In this world, only the strong can protect what they want to protect, whether it's people or things. But looking at your strength, you can't even protect yourself, let alone Tsunade. You're not thinking of having Tsunade protect you in the future, are you?"
"Don't be ridiculous!" Jiraiya struggled to his feet and faced An Yan directly. "I will become strong in the future, strong enough to protect anyone."
An Yan sneered. "Anyone can talk big. A person is judged not by what they say, but by what they do. You say you can become strong, but how? By shamelessly pestering a girl? There are no shortcuts to becoming strong. It's all about training hard, one step at a time. If you'd rather daydream, you should just go home and sleep."
Jiraiya glared at him. "I said I will become strong, and I will!"
An Yan was speechless. So that's your ninja way too?
He took two steps forward, looked Jiraiya in the eye, and said arrogantly:
"Whether you become strong or weak has nothing to do with me. But your actions are affecting Tsunade's life. From now on, I don't want you to harass her again. Otherwise, don't blame me for being rude."
Jiraiya gritted his teeth, wanting to retort, but seeing An Yan's cold gaze, he found himself speechless.
He looked at the icy expression on Tsunade's face, then at An Yan beside her. His own face flushed red and white. He turned and walked away, leaving only one sentence behind.
"I understand."
-------
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