After the Chunin Exams preliminaries ended, Konoha was granted a month of downtime.
During this period, many ninja took the chance to rest, or to double down on their training and patch up their weaknesses.
The hot spring inns outside the village were doing brisk business.
At one such inn, a white-haired man with a forehead protector bearing the kanji for "oil" was crouched sneakily outside the bamboo wall of the women's bath, peeking through the gaps.
"Hehehe… now this is what youth is all about…"
He was just getting into it when a hand suddenly dropped onto his shoulder.
"Jiraiya-sensei, what are you doing here, sneaking around?"
A gentle voice sounded behind him.
Jiraiya's body stiffened. Cold sweat broke out at once. A little embarrassed, he turned his head and saw his most outstanding student, Minato, looking at him with a face full of helpless exasperation.
"M–Minato? What are you doing here?"
"I'm here to bring you home for a visit," Minato said.
At the Namikaze household.
Jiraiya sat cross-legged in the living room, a bit ill at ease. He sighed that it had been a long time since he'd been here; the last time, he had been deeply impressed by the complexity of the family's sealing arts. Kushina came over with a cup of tea, her fiery red hair as eye-catching as ever.
"Jiraiya-sensei, long time no see. You haven't changed at all. How's the view at the women's bath? Still nice and bright?" Kushina teased.
"Haha… it's all research. Purely for artistic inspiration," Jiraiya laughed weakly, dodging the topic as his eyes searched the room.
"Where's Naruto? My precious grand-student?"
The words had barely left his mouth when a blond kid burst out of a side room, ink still smudged on his face.
"Pervy Sage!"
Naruto threw himself at Jiraiya, practically tackling him with excitement.
Jiraiya scooped Naruto up with one arm and ruffled his hair, quietly feeling the enormous chakra swirling inside the boy. He nodded in satisfaction.
"Not bad, not bad. Your fundamentals are rock solid."
Then his expression shifted slightly.
He had sensed another chakra—a sinister, raging force intertwined with Naruto's own.
The Kyubi.
Jiraiya's face grew serious. He looked toward Minato and Kushina. "This kid's seal…"
"I'm teaching him how to control the Kyubi's chakra," Kushina said casually as she held the teapot.
Jiraiya froze.
Control?
That was the Kyubi they were talking about—the strongest of the tailed beasts. Forget control; most jinchuriki were doing well if they weren't completely devoured and driven mad.
He focused his senses more carefully and realized that while the Kyubi's chakra inside Naruto was vast, it was unusually stable. There wasn't the slightest sign of a rampage.
"You two…"
Jiraiya's mouth worked soundlessly. He didn't even know where to begin.
He had come prepared with an entire lecture on how to suppress a tailed beast and a detailed training regimen, even a plan to work with the toads of Mount Myoboku to reinforce and stabilize the Kyubi's seal.
Now it looked like none of that was necessary.
In fact, it was completely pointless.
In front of Minato and Kushina, the legendary Sannin suddenly felt… redundant.
No. He had to salvage this.
Jiraiya cleared his throat and gave Naruto a mysterious, knowing smile.
"Naruto, want to learn an even stronger jutsu? The kind that lets you summon giant summons to fight for you!"
"Summons?" Naruto's eyes lit up instantly.
"That's right!" Jiraiya straightened his back, slipping into his instructor mode. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu (Summoning Technique) is a kind of space-time ninjutsu. You need to sign a blood contract with a summon creature, then…"
He launched into an endless explanation about the principles of Kuchiyose no Jutsu and how powerful it was, ready to bask in Naruto's worshipful gaze.
Naruto scratched his head when he finished.
"Pervy Sage, my dad already taught me that."
Jiraiya's smile froze on his face.
"What?"
"My dad said it's one of the basic jutsu of the Namikaze family," Naruto answered earnestly.
Minato smiled quietly from the side, not saying a word.
Jiraiya felt his cheeks burn.
No matter what anyone said, there was no way a six- or seven-year-old kid had really mastered such a complex space-time ninjutsu.
"Then summon something and show me."
"Okay!"
Naruto hopped out into the yard, bit his thumb, and flew through a rapid string of hand seals.
Boar–Dog–Bird–Monkey–Ram!
"Kuchiyose no Jutsu (Summoning Technique)!"
He slammed his palm down on the ground.
Boom!
A massive puff of white smoke exploded outward, filling the entire yard.
A gigantic shadow completely enveloped Jiraiya.
The ground shook violently.
When the smoke cleared, Gamabunta's mountain-like body was towering over the yard, a huge pipe in his mouth, a short coat on his back, and a massive short sword strapped across his shoulders.
Jiraiya's jaw practically hit the ground.
Gamabunta, the boss of Mount Myoboku, the foul-tempered, hardest-to-please toad… had actually been summoned out just like that.
Gamabunta lowered his massive head and noticed Jiraiya standing at his feet. He lazily blew a smoke ring.
"Oh, Jiraiya, huh. Long time no see."
His tone was bland, like he was greeting some junior he vaguely knew.
Then he turned to Naruto instead. In those enormous eyes, a look of respect flickered. He lowered his proud head.
"Naruto-boss, what can I do for you?"
Boss…
Jiraiya's mind went completely blank.
He remembered how he himself had been beaten half to death trying to get Gamabunta to accept him. It had taken years of butting heads before they could barely be called partners.
And Naruto… was being called "boss"?
What in the world was going on?
Hands on his hips, Naruto looked up at Gamabunta with the air of an old man lecturing a junior. "It's fine, Gamabunta. I just wanted to show Pervy Sage. You can go back now."
"Got it."
Gamabunta gave a slight nod and vanished in another burst of white smoke.
The shaking of the yard faded away.
Jiraiya stood there alone, his mouth still hanging open.
Minato walked to his side and laid a hand on his shoulder. "Sensei, Naruto gets along quite well with the toads of Mount Myoboku."
Jiraiya's neck turned with painful stiffness. His gaze shifted from Naruto to Minato's face.
"Minato… just what did you and Kushina raise? At this point, does he even need me?"
His decades as a shinobi, decades of training and honing his skills, suddenly felt like a joke.
He had come with a complete training program in mind—from basic chakra control to advanced Kuchiyose no Jutsu, and finally his trump card, Senjutsu (Sage Arts).
He had imagined every obstacle Naruto might encounter and prepared all the scoldings and encouragement he would need along the way.
Instead, before he could even start on step one—the most crucial step—the kid had already skipped to the end. No, beyond the end.
Gamabunta was the boss of the toads. Even Jiraiya himself had to negotiate with him politely. Naruto, meanwhile, treated him like a mount he could call out whenever.
It was a brutal sense of defeat. As one of the legendary Sannin, as the teacher of the Fourth Hokage, as the guide meant to lead the protagonist on his path, he suddenly felt… unnecessary.
No.
He absolutely could not back down here.
He was Jiraiya.
Kuchiyose no Jutsu didn't count. That was just the basics. He still had his true specialty.
Jiraiya straightened his back. He couldn't let his own grand-student outshine him to this degree. His dignity as an elder and his authority as a teacher had to be maintained.
He cleared his throat and spoke to Naruto again, his voice regaining its calm weight.
"Naruto, Summoning is just the foundation. Next, I'll teach you an even greater power. A secret art that draws on the power of nature itself, multiplying your strength many times over—Sennin Modo (Sage Mode)!"
As he said those words, he finally felt confident again.
There was no way Naruto had already learned this jutsu.
Training in Senjutsu (Sage Arts) was incredibly difficult and extremely dangerous. It required absolute stillness of mind and immense chakra reserves. With Naruto's personality, mastering it should be impossible.
He was just about to take Naruto out to find a suitable place to begin his training when someone appeared in the doorway, blocking the light.
Shinju.
Shinju walked in. He didn't look at Naruto or Minato. Instead, he went straight up to Jiraiya and held out a scroll.
Jiraiya didn't take it right away. He glanced at the boy, then at the scroll. "What's this?"
Shinju spoke, his tone perfectly calm. "Jiraiya-sama, these are some notes on Senjutsu (Sage Arts) training. The contents might help Naruto save some time. You can look it over when you need it."
(End of Chapter)
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