Fukasaku looked at Natsuro with increasing satisfaction.
"Master, why wait for the right day? Let me show Natsuro around the place he'll be frequently visiting in the future." Jiraiya suggested.
"Sure, that sounds good. I'll prepare for a bit, you get ready here." Fukasaku nodded and then vanished in a puff of white smoke.
"Sensei, what should I prepare for? Also, will I be training over there?" Natsuro asked, some things were not clear to him and needed to be addressed.
"I'll handle the preparations. You just need to get yourself ready. The first time you perform reverse summoning, you might feel a bit uncomfortable." Jiraiya explained.
"As for the training location, it's pretty much the same everywhere. The problem is you can't maintain the summoning state constantly, so it's better to summon you when you need to be there."
Natsuro nodded in agreement.
"Don't want to leave Konoha and train outside?" Jiraiya asked.
"Not really."
"Ha ha, that's fine. With reverse summoning, you only need to go there during the day. You can still come back at night, just like I did before." Jiraiya reminisced about the times before Orochimaru's defection...
For a moment, the scene fell into silence.
"Natsuro, we're ready." Jiraiya suddenly said.
"Alright." He was already prepared.
In the next moment, the two figures disappeared from Konoha's back mountain.
...
"Is this Mount Myoboku?" He opened his eyes and looked around. The area was a sea of verdant green, filled with various sizes of toads.
The different toads noticed the two newcomers. Some greeted Jiraiya, while others pretended not to see them.
"Yes, Natsuro, this is Mount Myoboku," Fukasaku confirmed. Seeing that he had no adverse reactions to the reverse summoning was a bit strange, but he still answered.
Jiraiya was not surprised. Natsuro had spatial talent, so having no adverse effects was expected.
"It's beautiful." Natsuro remarked after hearing Fukasaku's words.
"Hmm." Fukasaku, satisfied, stroked his beard. Then he suddenly remembered something and asked, "Have you eaten? My wife should have prepared some delicious food. If you're hungry, you can go have some."
Fukasaku licked his lips, clearly a bit hungry.
As soon as Fukasaku mentioned this, Jiraiya's expression changed immediately.
"No, no, that's not necessary. Natsuro and I ate well before coming."
"Oh, that's a shame. I'll go by myself then. Jiraiya, you can show him around since you're familiar with this place." Fukasaku said, though he seemed a bit disappointed.
Once he left, Jiraiya sighed in relief.
Natsuro, recalling the food from the original story of Mount Myoboku, looked troubled and asked, "Sensei, the food here, does it mean we eat the same as the toads?"
Jiraiya looked at him and finally gave him a thumbs up, saying, "Smart!"
"So, I'll be eating bugs like the toads in the future?" His face went pale. He had forgotten about this aspect. He was somewhat picky about food, and he feared he would end up throwing up if he had to eat bugs.
He quickly thought about this and looked around the lush forest. Suddenly, he had an idea, bit his finger, and started forming hand seals.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
Jiraiya watched he curiously, eager to see what he was planning.
Natsuro sensed his chakra and found that the consumption was minimal. It was probably because the toad he was summoning was not far from his current location, resulting in low chakra usage. Maybe the Flying Thunder God technique would also show similar results in the future.
Natsuro pondered. Once familiar with reverse summoning, it might be possible to maintain a state similar to the empty realm. Perhaps he could sense something.
"Is that you, Natsuro?" Gamachū emerged, feeling the weight above him was different from Jiraiya's. Did they need to fight so soon?
Gamachū then noticed something was off and wondered why this environment felt so familiar.
"Eh? Did Natsuro come to Mount Myoboku?" Gamachū asked.
"Yes, Gamachū. I'll be training here most of the time." Natsuro replied.
"Do you need me to do anything?" Gamachū asked, somewhat confused. Did summoning him mean he needed to help with training?
"Yes, I'd like to ask Gamachū to find me some food." He finally revealed his purpose.
"Food? Bugs?" Gamachū inquired. "But isn't there plenty of bugs here?"
"Not bugs. Bugs are your food. I'm a human, and my food is different from yours."
"But my food is only bugs." Gamachū said, feeling it made sense, but he didn't have other human food.
"No, I'd like to ask Gamachū to bring me some fruits from the forest. Just to fill my stomach." He clarified.
"Fruits? You mean those fruits that grow on trees? There are many of them around. I can get some." Gamachū said kindly.
"Thank you, Gamachū. You're really helping me out!" Natsuro was thrilled. As long as he didn't have to eat bugs, he was relieved.
"Glad to help." Gamachū responded and then left.
He felt a bit touched. Summoning such a gentle spirit was wonderful. If it had been a difficult one, it would have been troublesome.
Jiraiya, staring at the scene before him, smacked his forehead. Indeed, with such a dense forest, finding fruits was easy. The forest probably even had some ordinary wild animals that were not summoning beasts...
Jiraiya questioned himself why he hadn't thought of this before and had been eating bugs for so long.
No, I shouldn't think about it anymore. Jiraiya felt that thinking further might make him vomit.
After making these arrangements, he resolved to learn the storage sealing technique first. He would prepare food in advance every day, so he could simply unseal it when hungry.
Until he mastered it, he would make do with fruits. He would not eat bugs... Bugs? Suddenly, his face stiffened, and he turned to Jiraiya, asking, "Sensei, the secret medicine of Mount Myoboku, it's not bugs, is it?"
If it was also bugs, Natsuro really didn't know what to do. For more chakra, he would have to endure eating them, but there was still hope. It all depended on Jiraiya's answer.
Jiraiya sighed and, seeing his face growing paler, said with a regretful tone, "Although I wish it were different, in reality, those secret medicines are no different from regular pills, at least in taste."
Natsuro sighed in relief. As long as it wasn't in the shape of bugs, he didn't care what the ingredients were.
He patted his chest and glared at Jiraiya. Seriously, almost scared him to death.
Jiraiya, observing his reaction, smiled. After all these days, it was the first time he saw Natsuro so flustered. It was quite like a 7-year-old child during peacetime.
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