"Check is Thirty thousand ryo, plaese come back again~"
Two days later, in front of the barbecue restaurant in Konoha, Jiraiya, wallet in hand, froze mid-smile. A sudden realization hit him – something was amiss.
This time, the mission had only yielded him twenty thousand ryo as his share. Treating these two mischievous brats to barbecue unexpectedly cost him thirty thousand ryo. It looked like he was in the red?!
However, in the blink of an eye, Jiraiya caught the gazes of Tatsuma and Minato, tinged with approval and admiration. Instantly, Jiraiya's heart ceased its momentary ache.
If he lost some money, so be it. Besides, Tsunade couldn't borrow money from him recently, and his savings were quite substantial!
"Jiraiya sensei, what should we do next? Continue with missions, or..."
Tatsuma looked at the distracted Jiraiya and timely reminded him. Jiraiya slapped his forehead, snapped back to his senses, and said, "We still need to continue with the missions, but they won't be C-rank from now on."
At this, Tatsuma pursed his lips and glanced at Minato, saying, "Jiraiya sensei, do you think Minato and I are now capable of handling B-rank missions?"
"Who said anything about B-rank missions? The next tasks for you are D-rank missions. Accumulate enough tasks for your future chunin promotion, and meanwhile, you will follow me for training."
Jiraiya shook his head, a subtle smile playing on his face. There was a time, just after graduation, when he aspired to tackle high-difficulty missions every day. However, after years of handling A-rank and S-rank missions, he found himself reminiscing about the simplicity of D-rank missions.
Tatsuma and Minato's eyes lit up at the mention of training, especially Tatsuma. Over the past week, due to mission constraints, he had hardly had a chance to team up with Minato. His progress had fallen behind.
Now, upon learning that Jiraiya would guide them through both D-rank missions and training, Tatsuma sensed the opportune moment to leverage Minato's skills once again.
Earlier, Jiraiya had mentioned their team as a temporary arrangement. Either Tatsuma or Minato were destined to join Tsunade's team eventually, akin to selling piglets. This implied that Tatsuma would eventually lose Minato as a valuable resource. While he still had the chance, Tatsuma planned to make the most of it.
"Alright, tonight, you guys go back and rest. Your clothes haven't been washed for over a week. Despite the early spring and being kids, your clothes are all stinky now. I'll notify you tomorrow."
Seeing the enthusiastic demeanor of the two, Jiraiya quickly waved his hand. He understood the diligence of these two brats but had no intention of spending the late evening entertaining them.
After that, Jiraiya vanished without a trace. Tatsuma admired his Body Flicker technique. He then turned to Minato and remarked, "Just had barbecue, and I don't feel like resting so soon. What about you?"
"You won't let me rest anyway, right? What's the training plan for tonight?"
In response to Minato's question, Tatsuma flashed a contagious smile and suggested, "Genjutsu, perhaps. I'm not as skilled in Genjutsu as you are. How about we compete to see how many times we can trap each other in illusions before exhausting our Chakra?"
"Sure, let's go."
The next morning, nearing noon, Tatsuma stirred awake. After expending a substantial amount of chakra and stamina the previous night, he found himself unusually having slept a full eight hours.
As he opened his eyes, Tatsuma spotted a toad by his pillow, observing him with its round eyes. Remaining composed, Tatsuma recognized it as Jiraiya's summoning creature.
"Did Jiraiya sensei send you?" Tatsuma inquired as he sat up in bed. The toad nodded, handing him a scroll before transforming into smoke and disappearing. Tatsuma unrolled the scroll to inspect its contents.
It contained the meeting point and time. However, when Tatsuma saw that the meeting time was 8 o'clock in the morning, he glanced at the clock in his house in a bit of panic and realized it was already eleven.
He hastily changed his clothes and brushed his teeth simultaneously. Leaving his unruly hair untouched, he secured the forehead protector, fastened his ninja tools pouch, and rushed out of the house, heading straight for the agreed-upon location at the back of the Konoha Hokage Rock.
Upon reaching the base of the Hokage Rock, he noticed Minato, also looking flustered, approaching from another direction. Upon locking eyes, both of them inexplicably breathed a sigh of relief.
This situation is quite peculiar. When you're the only one running late, there's a sense of panic. However, when you discover that someone else is also tardy like you, there's an inexplicable sense of relief.
"Did you just wake up too?" Tatsuma greeted. Minato nodded, pointing to his chest and said, "Your buttons are crooked."
Tatsuma glanced down and realized that the buttons on his clothes were misaligned. He swiftly unbuttoned and then rebuttoned them correctly. Alongside Minato, they hastened towards the top of the Hokage Rock.
Arriving at the back of the mountain, both of them were still catching their breath when they suddenly saw Jiraiya, with a grim expression, appearing in front of them.
Observing Jiraiya's silent demeanor, Minato couldn't help but feel guilty, lowering his head deeply, unsure of what to say. Tatsuma forced a smile and remarked, "Jiraiya sensei, you truly live up to your reputation, being here so early."
"Duang~"
The cost of speaking was a resounding konck on the head from Jiraiya. Despite receiving a love tap, Tatsuma felt a strange sense of relief from the stern Jiraiya.
With a slightly eased expression on his face, Jiraiya observed Tatsuma, who was grimacing while holding his head and standing up. Finally, Jiraiya spoke, "What time did you two train until last night?"
"Until two-thirty."
Minato spoke somewhat sheepishly. In reality, they could have finished before midnight last night, as their chakra was nearly depleted. However, a suddenly arrived senior in tight-fitting night training attire prolonged their session.
Confirming from Minato's words that their lateness was due to additional training, Jiraiya's anger subsided a bit more. He didn't reproach them but instead said, "In the future, exercise restraint. Don't rely on youth alone. Training should be planned, understand?"
"Understood."
Minato nodded, while Tatsuma's expression was somewhat peculiar. Seeing Jiraiya raising his hand again, ready to deliver another knock, Tatsuma quickly nodded and said, "Understood!"
"Small in size, big in trouble!"
Jiraiya muttered, then took out a scroll, saying, "Although your chakra attributes are somewhat different, you both have wind and fire attributes."
"I consider myself fairly skilled in Fire Release Ninjutsu. While I'm not a master of Wind Release, I borrowed some study notes from my teammate Orochimaru. With your talents, you should be able to understand them on your own. Currently, your biggest weakness is the lack of elemental jutsu. Therefore, for the next period, I will prioritize teaching you Fire Release and Wind Release Ninjutsu, as well as Nature Transformation. Additionally, you will learn techniques from other ninjas."
Saying this, Jiraiya unraveled a scroll and placed it on the ground. The scroll depicted various peculiar seals. Jiraiya formed hand signs and then slapped the scroll with one hand.
"Boom~"
Smoke rose and dispersed, revealing numerous scrolls on the ground. Jiraiya continued, "I've selected Ninjutsu for you, including C-rank Fire Release techniques like the Great Fireball Jutsu and Flame Bullet Jutsu, as well as C-rank Wind Release techniques like the Great Breakthrough Jutsu and Gale Palm Jutsu. Additionally, there are notes and insights from Orochimaru and me on Nature Transformation for both Fire and Wind Chakra attributes. These will be the main focus of your studies going forward."
As Jiraiya spoke, several scrolls were thrown out, and Tatsuma and Minato quickly caught them. Glancing at the remaining scrolls, Jiraiya remarked, "The rest are Genjutsu, Taijutsu, and Sealing Jutsu. I originally wanted to teach you Summoning Jutsu as well, but let's wait until you have a true sensei. Besides, Summoning Jutsu is a bit risky."
While speaking, a hint of lingering fear flashed across Jiraiya's face. Minato didn't mind Jiraiya holding back; instead, he was full of gratitude. Tatsuma, eyeing the pile of scrolls, felt a bit embarrassed and said, "Jiraiya sensei, actually, there's another Ninjutsu I want to learn."
A glimmer of curiosity appeared on Jiraiya's face as he said
"What attribute?"
"No, Jiraiya sensei, it's the Shadow Clone Jutsu." Tatsuma had a hopeful look on his face
Upon hearing this, Jiraiya stroked his chin and said, "Shadow Clone Jutsu is indeed a very good technique, especially useful for you in the learning stage. However, not now. I will teach you this technique, but not at the moment."
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