At that moment, Jiraiya, his head completely wrapped in bandages, appeared at the classroom door.
He looked at Hayashi with a pitiful expression, his resentful gaze making Hayashi's scalp tingle.
"Jiraiya-san, I was wrong, okay?" Hayashi quickly said.
"Uh… Jiraiya-san, you weren't really peeping into the women's bathhouse and got beaten up, were you?" Nawaki asked, startled by Jiraiya's battered appearance. Nawaki had heard rumors of his sister hitting Jiraiya before, but he hadn't seen it firsthand. He hadn't expected the damage to be this bad.
"No, no. These are injuries I sustained while on a mission for the Third Hokage. An S-rank mission, in fact. Orochimaru can vouch for me," Jiraiya quickly explained. It was a matter of pride — if the students knew he had been beaten senseless by Tsunade, how could he face the ninja world again?
"Jiraiya-san, did you also… visit that shop with the short-skirted lady?" Nawaki added in a silly tone.
Hayashi blinked. From now on, if anyone called Nawaki a fool, Hayashi would argue with them.
Nawaki clearly saw Jiraiya's miserable state and was afraid of his sister, Tsunade. So, instead of testing things himself, he casually leaked the information to Jiraiya, hoping Jiraiya would take the bait and deal with the danger first.
If Jiraiya survived, then it would be safe for him to go investigate.
Indeed, ninjas were not so easy to trick.
"Really? The other party could be a spy from an enemy village. For the safety of Konoha, a thorough investigation must be done — from one o'clock to three o'clock," Jiraiya declared seriously.
"..."
As expected, he had become Nawaki's life mentor.
But even so, after the last incident with Tsunade, Jiraiya remained on guard.
"Nawaki, where did this information come from? Is it reliable?" Jiraiya asked warily, glancing at Hayashi. He had just been tricked before, after all.
"Uh, I saw it this morning when I passed by the shop," Nawaki stammered.
Hayashi had told him beforehand not to reveal the real source of the information. Why? Because of Mikoto. Hayashi still wanted to live a few more days.
So, Nawaki became the "discoverer" of the information. Though he felt a little ashamed — he had always claimed to be Konoha's top intelligence officer — it couldn't be helped.
Hearing that it didn't come from Hayashi, Jiraiya relaxed a little. His face showed an ambiguous smile.
"Very good, Nawaki. I'll go check it out later. I'm sure the Third Hokage will also be very interested."
"..."
It seemed Jiraiya wanted to drag the Hokage into it as well.
After exchanging words, Jiraiya called out Hayashi, Mikoto, and Minato.
Hayashi was tactful and didn't question Jiraiya about being late. It was obvious Jiraiya was just looking for an excuse to teach him a lesson.
The sunlight filtered through the dense leaves, scattering dappled shadows across the training grounds.
Only Orochimaru was waiting there, his tall figure clad in a Jōnin vest.
But where was Tsunade?
"For this period of time, the three of us will be guiding you," Jiraiya said, pointing at Orochimaru and the absent Tsunade.
"This training will last one week. Time is precious, so make the best of it."
"Minato, you'll be with me," Jiraiya continued. Truthfully, he had wanted to personally train Hayashi, to teach him a "special lesson." But he had already promised Minato earlier. Besides, he had a soft spot for Minato, a fellow commoner with extraordinary talent.
And most importantly, Tsunade had already claimed Hayashi for herself.
"Then Mikoto, you'll be with me," Orochimaru's hoarse voice followed.
Mikoto nodded without objection. She had no interest in medical ninjutsu and wasn't specialized in taijutsu either. Her strengths lay in ninjutsu, so Tsunade's training style wouldn't suit her anyway.
Hayashi, on the other hand, was a well-rounded shinobi. Since his strongest skill at present was taijutsu, Tsunade was the most suitable teacher. More importantly, everyone already knew that Tsunade had set her sights on him.
That's right — he had been reserved.
Tsunade intended to mold Konoha's problem child into shape with her own methods.
"Um… then what about me?" Hayashi asked, noticing Tsunade was nowhere to be seen.
Jiraiya smirked and patted his shoulder.
"Kid, Tsunade is waiting for you at the Senju compound. Oh, and don't forget to bring your wallet. No money, no treatment."
The sheer weight of that statement left Hayashi frozen for a moment. So Tsunade was going to beat him half to death, make him pay her to heal him, then beat him again?
They could really come up with such schemes!
"Uh… can I give up this spot?" Hayashi swallowed nervously.
"You can. But in that case, your money won't be used for treatment…" Jiraiya said slyly.
"That's great!" Hayashi blurted.
"…You can use it directly to buy yourself a nice grave plot."
"..."
"It's okay, Hayashi. Just apologize to Tsunade-sama. She'll forgive you," Mikoto offered kindly.
If apologizing worked, Jiraiya thought grimly, he wouldn't be wrapped in bandages right now.
"Minato, let's go. I'll teach you some powerful jutsu. You must defeat Hayashi and avenge me, understood?!" Jiraiya barked, clearly irritated that Hayashi was still being comforted by Mikoto.
"…Ah, haha." Minato gave a wry smile and followed after him.
"Hayashi, I told you before the competition — excellent students are always welcome to seek me out. After training with Tsunade, you can come to me for further guidance. That offer will always stand," Orochimaru said softly, narrowing his eyes.
Though he felt regretful, since Tsunade had personally chosen Hayashi, Orochimaru wouldn't interfere. There would be plenty of chances later.
"Follow me first," he added, casting his snake-like gaze at Mikoto.
"Well then, I'll see you later, Hayashi," Mikoto said, before following Orochimaru and disappearing into the trees.
Now, Hayashi stood alone.
Should he really go see Tsunade?
To live, or to die?
That was the question.
---