"Hehehehe..."
Jiraiya suddenly let out a bizarre, foolish laugh from his throat.
"..."
Akihara Kagura was silent for a moment.
As a student, Akihara Kagura found it really hard to criticize his own teacher.
Akihara Kagura climbed out of the bath, wrapped himself in his towel, returned to the changing room to get dressed, and informed the hot springs owner.
Akihara Kagura sat in a drink shop opposite the hot springs and casually ordered two glasses of pear juice.
Half a minute later.
Jiraiya fled out with a towel over him.
A group of old ladies working at the hot springs, armed with brooms, were chasing him relentlessly!
Only after Jiraiya hid embarrassingly in a small alley did these dim-sighted old ladies seem not to see him and reluctantly returned to the shop.
"Jiraiya-sensei, why not use ninjutsu?"
Akihara Kagura looked at the disheveled Jiraiya, handed him a cup of pear juice, and began his obvious question: "Even a simple taijutsu would settle them, or a Clone Jutsu would get rid of their entanglement..."
"Hmm, anyway, I managed to escape..."
Jiraiya's lips revealed a confident smile as he reached for the pear juice, sipping through the straw, he continued with the lesson: "Kid, a ninja's talent isn't in the amount of ninjutsu mastered, it's about perseverance. Naturally, we shouldn't use these to bully innocents..."
This was the second lesson Jiraiya intended to teach at the moment.
Ninjas are not high and mighty beings who cannot rely on their power to bully the weak.
After all, Akihara Kagura, this disciple, was too powerful, this guy had never been afraid of strength.
"Moreover, importantly, this time it was Jiraiya-sensei who made the first mistake, right?"
Akihara Kagura nodded and continued, "I think I understand, I want to learn Jiraiya-sensei's perseverance, I informed the town's mayor of a peeper; Jiraiya-sensei, please escape without using any ninjutsu and taijutsu amidst being surrounded by the entire town..."
"Once you finish this glass of pear juice, the people of the town will gather..."
"Jiraiya-sensei, I'll be waiting for you at the mountain top outside the town..."
Akihara Kagura raised his hand to point to the distant mountain, his body gradually turned into a wooden sculpture, then a group of town residents suddenly kicked open the sculpture and slowly surrounded the stunned Jiraiya with various cleaning tools in hand.
"Wait...wait..."
Jiraiya loudly shouted, hoping to have a good chat with Akihara Kagura.
If Jiraiya had inquired a little more from his teacher, the Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen, he might have had a chance to know that even Sarutobi Hiruzen, to prove the Hokage's worth, had to treat this kid to two bowls of ramen...
Night.
The moonlight was bright.
On the mountain top outside the town.
Akihara Kagura leaned against a tree, sleeping soundly with slightly dry lips.
"Kid..."
A man with white hair, full of bruises and swelling, was almost unrecognizable.
This man was Jiraiya. For his disciple Akihara Kagura to be convinced, Jiraiya did not use his Chakra, was chased and beaten by the entire town's residents, and barely made it to the mountain.
Upon reaching the mountain, Jiraiya still chose not to use his Chakra, instead stubbornly relying on his strength to climb to the top, beside his disciple Akihara Kagura, hoping to use this chance to continue teaching this kid.
Just as Jiraiya didn't choose to use Chakra, but instead struggled to reach out his hand, trying to nudge the sleeping Akihara Kagura.
A cup of pear juice was pushed to Jiraiya's hand.
"You little rascal..."
Jiraiya instantly perked up, tore open the package vigorously, and gulped down the sweet pear juice!
"I only bought two cups of pear juice."
Akihara Kagura, seemingly without drinking water, his voice a bit hoarse, spoke softly, "This afternoon, I let Jiraiya-sensei drink the first cup of pear juice. This second cup has been untouched, left here for you, Jiraiya-sensei."
"Why didn't you drink it?"
Jiraiya looked at the empty cup, feeling a mix of emotions.
"Because it was meant for Jiraiya-sensei."
Akihara Kagura shook his head, giving a rather peculiar answer: "I wanted to save this one cup, meant to quench my thirst, as a gift for Jiraiya-sensei's victorious return. Perhaps, because I hope my teacher is a ninja who can do what he says..."
"If a teacher can do what he says..."
"Then everything he says, every lesson he wants to impart, students should believe."
"I will remember this lesson from Jiraiya-sensei. No matter how strong the ninjutsu I master in the future, I won't use my power to bully innocent people."
"..."
Jiraiya was somewhat shocked in his heart.
It was clearly him teaching this child a lesson, but the child's actions also moved him.
This child...
Might really be the child of prophecy!
"Alright."
Jiraiya looked at Akihara Kagura before him and earnestly said, "Then let me heal up tonight, tomorrow I will officially teach you training, let you witness the true power of Mount Myoboku's Toad Sage!"