By the time Dix finished exploring the ruins it was already morning. He wanted to sleep some. Even though he pushed his brain's potential to the limit, he still had to sleep regularly, as it was quite hard on him mentally to uphold a thousand clones at once. But sadly he had no time to rest.
Right after the day of the preliminaries his ticket to Mount Myoboku arrives to the village. Jiraiya, the Mountain Toad Sage, one of the three Sannin would return to his home to find material for his new book and also to teach Naruto some techniques. Unfortunately for him, Dix already knows everything he could teach him, probably even more, much more. But the way to Mount Myoboku was still concealed, except if he were to get there trough Jiraiya. That was his plan.
He was a bit grumpy because of the lack of sleep, but he got his shit together and moved out to the local hot springs, as he knew Jiraiya will be there to peek on naked women. Don't get the wrong idea about that, he was actually a nice guy, if you get to know him better.
So Dix waited at the female baths for a while, and used his sensor ability to track people. After a few hours a peculiar chakra signature showed up, it was a really strong one, which emitted wise vibes. Just like a real sage. Even though that was the 'pervy sage'. He headed straight to the side of the female baths to peek on the women trough some cracks on the walls. Dix was a bit annoyed at the prospect, but he moved in and called out to him.
"What are you doing there, old man?" he asked
"Ahhhh! Kid, don't scare me like that! What.. I'm not doing anything... Just... who are you? Why did you interrupt me?!" he said trying to hide his indecency, then when he got his shit together he tried to turn the table on Dix.
"I am Naruto, son of the Fourth Hokage. And if I remember correctly... I read about you in a book. You must be Lord Jiraiya, a reputable shinobi, one of the great Sannin. It's kind of a disappointment, to be honest..." he answered, then waited for his words to take effect.
"What do you mean?! I am the Great Mountain Toad Sage! How dare you question my integrity!... Wait, you said you are the son of Minato? Is that... true?" he said at first angrily, then with wonder and marvel in his voice.
"Yes I am... I always wanted to know, what does this Mountain Toad Sage means? You have some special ability or what?" Dix asked without stopping for even a second. He wanted to keep up the pace and get to the point as soon as possible.
"Haha, kid, marvel at my greatness! Just so you know, I have the power of nature on my side! I mastered the Toad Senjutsu techniques, with this I became the Sage of Toads! Incredible, isn't it?"
It was as easy as taking candy from a little kid. Dix knew Jiraiya's two main weaknesses. He knew he will get what he wants if he works around Jiraiya's ego and lust. But he never thought it would be this easy.
"Wow! It really is incredible. Why are you peeking at women in the bath if you are so incredible though?" Dix answered while tilting his head a bit and with a judging expression on his face.
"Aaahrg! Kid, you don't know anything. I am gathering inspiration! I need to see some great female shapes so I can continue writing my books!" he said, then pulled out a book from his pocket that was the same what Kakashi is obsessed with.
"Oh, wow! You wrote Make-Out Paradise? I heard about it, its pretty famous. My teacher really likes it... Who can't really help me train right now as he is too busy. Hmmm, Jiraiya-sama, could you help me out a little bit?" Dix said.
"Go away kid, I have no time to babysit you. Find someone else to play with you. I have to go and gather more material." Jiraiya answered, then moved away. Dix followed him.
"Wait! If you help me out, I'll make it worth your while." he said, at which Jiraiya stopped and looked back with a smug face.
"Hehe, what could a little brat like you offer me for my help? You know who I am, my help is not cheap."
"If you accept my request I'll get you some stacked girls for you to stare at." he said.
"Ahhaha, can you really do that? Ahh damn, a really enticing offer... Khmm. I mean, lets hear what you need, kid." Jiraiya said with barely concealed excitement in his voice, and with a kinda creepy face.
"I want to learn Senjutsu. I already know everything that is available in this village, so I need someone to teach me the next step on my way to greatness."
"... What? You want to learn Senjutsu? That's impossible, what are you? 10 years old? You are not ready for it. Also, whats with the bullshit with you learning everything? You are just a frog at the bottom of the well, you don't know how high the sky is. Also you are too arrogant kid, you won't be strong like this anytime soon..." Jiraiya retorted with genuine anger in his voice. It was unheard of for someone to be so arrogant. Its impossible to learn everything the village has to offer. There is a lifetime worth of knowledge stacked here, how could anyone do what the kid claimed he has done?
As an answer, Dix reached out with his right hand with his palm facing upwards. He then proceeded to produce a big ball of rasengan. In itself it was quite badass, and Jiraiya gasped at the sight, but then it was pushed one level further. Dix used fire release and perfectly merged it with the rasengan, thus it turned into a raging tornado of flames. It was extremely effective at getting his point trough. The elemental rasengan was so strong Jiraiya had to step back and shield his eyes with his hands due to the heat emitted.
"Holy shit... How can you do that?!" Jiraiya shouted after the flames were put out. Dix crossed his arms in front of his body, then answered.
"As I said, I know everything. I need a teacher for the next step. I would appreciate if you could help me, but if you are too 'busy', it would be enough if you were to take me to Mount Myoboku and put in a good word for me at the great toads there."
"Minato... what have you left behind for us... Is he really the one this time...?" Jiraiya began by mumbling to himself, still amazed at what he witnessed, then soon turned back to Dix. "Okay kid. I believe you are a super genius and learned everything possible. Also, it is a great idea to learn Senjutsu next. But being a genius doesn't mean you are suited to learn Senjutsu. Tell me now, do you have a summoning contract with any race?"
"No, I've never summoned anything before." came the answer.
"Good. You'll have to do a test for me. I will let you make a contract with the toads, and you will have to summon Gamabunta, the strongest toad from Mount Myoboku, then complete the trial he sets in front of you. If you can do all that, I promise I'll teach you Senjutsu."
"Great! Lets begin right away!" Dix said with a huge grin on his face. It really was too easy.
"Good, lets move out, we will need quite some space for this." Jiraiya instructed, then they together walked out of the village and soon arrived to a big clearing around a small river. Jiraiya sat down, summoned the contract scroll of the toads and laid it out in front of Dix.
"Here, sign your name in your own blood and stamp the fingerprints of one hand in blood under that. Then build up chakra in the place you want to summon and set down the hand you contracted. The handsigns are Boar-Dog-Bird-Monkey-Sheep."
Dix did as instructed, drew blood, signed the contract, then proceeded with the summoning. He used quite a bit of his chakra, so he was sure to summon Gamabunta. When he finished with the handsigns and used the summoning jutsu, a huge amount of ninja-smoke blew up in front of him. It was too big, actually. The anime never gave justice to how huge these beasts are. Even before the smoke disappeared an extremely loud low rumbling voice filled the air around them, while Jiraiya was marveling at the concept that the kid was able to summon Gamabunta with his own strength only.
"Why am I here?! Where is that Jiraiya to explain to me whats going on?! Ahhrg! Show yourself!"
"I am here, Gamabunta, but I wasn't the one to summon you. I will have to trouble you to help me out a little bit..." answered Jiraiya. It was a bit risky for him to show his face in front of Gamabunta, as they weren't at the best of terms, but he had to sort this matter out no matter what.
"Help you out a bit?! How dare you ask me of anything after what happened last time?! You dare show your face?! God damn you, you brat!" shouted Gamabunta. It was so loud that every bird in the radius of a kilometer got frightened and flew away. Any animal that was even remotely close rushed away as fast as they could.
"I know, but I'm not playing with you. This is quite important now." Jiraiya answered with a serious face and tone. "This here is the son of the Fourth. He is even better than that one. I'd like to ask you to test this kid. If he can stay on your back before the Sun goes down, I promised I will teach him Senjutsu. He is only 12, but he has the talent to pull it off. Now you see why I needed you?"
"Kid of the Fourth, huh? And you say he is even better? I see. I want to see that myself. Okay, I'll let you off the hook this time. Kid. Tell me your name." Gamabunta answered while contemplating.
"I am Naruto Uzumaki. Its a pleasure to meet you, great toad! I challenge you so I can take my next step towards becoming the Hokage!"
"Hehehe... He's got some spunk in him for sure. Okay, I accept your challenge. Kid, you will do as Jiraiya said. You will have to stay on my back until the Sun is still visible on the sky. If you fall, you fail. Also I won't go easy on you, just because you are the son of the Fourth."
"Yes, thank you, Gamabunta." Dix answered, then jumped on his back and sat down with crossed legs and arms. He didn't try to latch onto the toad so badly, he knew his limits and the difficulty of the test. He had no doubts in himself.
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