Tsunade was astonished: "A human?"
"A human is not like a plant. Who among us can live without emotions? If I live my life that way, it will be long and extremely boring. I believe that my deceased relatives wouldn't want to see me living like this. That's why I need to be like others; I need friends who will accompany me through my long life. You three are the friends I've chosen."
"A human is not like a plant. Who among us can live without emotions?"
Orochimaru pondered these deep words, feeling a sense of admiration.
"Tōshirō is truly talented."
Just a few words from him made Orochimaru feel greatly enlightened.
In Orochimaru's eyes, Tōshirō would sleep all day in school, not out of laziness as others thought, but because he was so intelligent that nothing intrigued him anymore.
"Chosen?"
Tsunade looked confused: "What do you mean?"
"As I said before, humans are creatures inclined to seek benefit and avoid harm. Since I cannot stop my classmates from becoming ninjas and risking their lives, I will choose those who are most likely to survive while performing missions to be my friends. After observing, you three are the most talented students of this generation after me."
"Unless something unexpected happens, you three will be the strongest in the future, and thus your chances of dying on missions will be relatively low."
"Of course, the prerequisite is that you get along well with me. If you cannot get along with me, I will not continue to associate with or consider you as friends."
Hearing this, the three felt touched.
First, Jiraiya was extremely pleased.
Since he started school, he was always ridiculed by others for being stupid.
Although he didn't want to admit it, Jiraiya was well aware of his abilities and never expected to be acknowledged by the genius Tōshirō in such a manner.
Orochimaru felt enlightened, finally understanding why Tōshirō had approached him that day. As for any impure intentions, Orochimaru didn't care; he saw in Tōshirō an honest person who didn't hide his feelings, making Orochimaru feel that Tōshirō genuinely considered him a friend.
Like Orochimaru, Tsunade didn't care about Tōshirō's impure motives. Her connection with Tōshirō wasn't out of pure intentions, as she initially liked the food he prepared, but over time, this interest turned into a genuine friendship.
But she was still uncertain about one thing:
"If that's the case, it makes sense. But why Jiraiya? What attracted your attention to him? While he does agree with you on some matters, like your shared love for mischief, you mentioned that choosing friends depends on great ninja talent. Honestly, I don't see any talent in Jiraiya. He always falls into the obvious traps in Sarutobi-sensei's tests. How can someone like him survive on missions? It seems he doesn't meet your criteria."
Tsunade provided a logical analysis, even pointing out all of Jiraiya's flaws, which made him feel extremely embarrassed.
"Hey, Tsunade, that's not fair."
Jiraiya was annoyed. He didn't expect to have this kind of image in Tsunade's eyes, but after thinking a bit, he realized her words were true...
Tōshirō said, "You're underestimating Jiraiya."
Jiraiya looked at him, touched: "Tōshirō..."
"Well, you're right, to some extent."
Jiraiya: .....
Tsunade laughed: "I was saying, maybe you lowered your standards for choosing friends because of your love for mischievous adventures with Jiraiya."
"I'm not the type to lower my standards for such reasons. Choosing Jiraiya as a friend has clear reasons," Tōshirō said calmly. "Haven't you ever wondered why, despite being the best in the class, you three were placed in a team with Jiraiya, who is considered the lowest-ranking student?"
Tsunade answered confidently, "Isn't that to balance the team's strength?"
Tōshirō shook his head: "You're thinking too simply. If the goal was to balance strength, you and Orochimaru should have been paired with another average student. That would be true balance. But obviously, that's not what happened. And I remember you mentioned that your teacher, Sarutobi, is a disciple of the Second Hokage, meaning he's one of the strongest in the village. So the question is, why were you and Orochimaru, along with a powerful teacher like Sarutobi, placed with Jiraiya, the weakest student?"
Tsunade thought for a moment, then looked at Jiraiya, who seemed stunned, and hesitantly said, "Could it be that this guy is a hidden genius?"
Tōshirō shrugged: "Of course, otherwise what?"
Jiraiya: "What? I'm a genius?"
Jiraiya was dumbfounded, scratching his head.
"I've lived my whole life and never had anyone tell me I'm a genius."
"It's like living your whole life poor, and then one day your father comes to you and says, 'Son, I'm actually very rich. All these years, I've raised you this way so you'd learn to be self-reliant. But now it's time to tell you the truth.'"
At this moment, Jiraiya was extremely happy, laughing loudly: "Haha, I knew it! I knew I was a genius. Even the Toad Sage wasn't wrong when he told me I'm the chosen one. Who else could it be but me?"
Tsunade felt irritated seeing Jiraiya showing off like that, so she looked at Tōshirō with questioning eyes, as if saying: "Tōshirō, was this just a joke?"
Tōshirō sighed softly: "Sorry, but in a way, Jiraiya really is a genius. He possesses something we three don't. And this thing is closely linked to ninja talent."
"Tōshirō, you really understand me, I love you so much. Mwah~"
"Get away, I'm not into guys," Tōshirō said with disgust, pushing Jiraiya away.
"Sorry, I got too excited," Jiraiya said enthusiastically. "Tell me, what's the hidden talent I have that no one knows about? I didn't even know I had it."
"Lust."
"Huh?"
Jiraiya's smile froze in an instant.
Perhaps the explanation wasn't clear enough, so Tōshirō added very seriously: "And on top of that, he's extremely lustful."
Jiraiya: ....
Jiraiya looked at Tōshirō with eyes that seemed to say: "Are you kidding me?"
Tsunade was laughing out loud, swaying with laughter.
Orochimaru covered his mouth to hide his chuckle.
Tōshirō continued seriously: "I'm not joking."
Everyone: "Oh..."
Tōshirō added: "Jiraiya is extremely lustful, and that's a flaw, but it's also an advantage."
Tsunade was speechless, thinking how could lust be an advantage? She began to doubt whether Tōshirō was serious or just messing with Jiraiya.
"Tōshirō, are you sure you're not joking with me?"
Jiraiya had enough self-awareness to admit he was lustful, but he didn't have the nerve to claim that lust could be an advantage linked to ninja abilities.
Tōshirō answered seriously: "Why would I joke? I'm completely serious; Jiraiya has an enormous amount of chakra, possibly more than the combined chakra of me, Tsunade, and Orochimaru."
"Him? Just him?"
Orochimaru and Tsunade looked at Jiraiya with expressions filled with disbelief.
Jiraiya felt insulted and raised his voice to confirm: "What? Is that impossible for me?"
Tsunade shook her head: "I don't believe it."
Orochimaru agreed: "Neither do I."
Jiraiya felt disheartened: "Hey, do you think I'm that bad?"
Orochimaru and Tsunade nodded together, making Jiraiya feel dejected.
Jiraiya looked at Tōshirō with hopeful eyes, thinking it was pointless to try convincing them, so he decided to leave it to his closest friend to justify.
Tōshirō smiled and said: "Do you remember what chakra is made of?"
Orochimaru answered: "Chakra is a combination of spiritual energy and physical energy, isn't that right, Tōshirō?"
"Exactly. When we understand the components of chakra, we can simply deduce who has large amounts of it. And if you want to enhance your chakra, you should focus on these two aspects."
"The strength of spiritual energy and physical energy—Tsunade and I are clear examples of this, thanks to our unique family traits."
"The Uchiha clan naturally possesses strong spiritual energy, while the Senju clan has strong physical energy, so our chakra surpasses most people."
Tsunade looked at Jiraiya and said: "So, do you mean Jiraiya possesses strong spiritual or physical energy?"
Tōshirō agreed: "Exactly."
Tsunade wondered: :
Tōshirō smiled and said: "Because lustful people often secrete more male hormones."
"What are these hormones?"
It wasn't just Jiraiya who seemed confused; Tsunade was too.
"Male hormones... Ah, this is a bit off-topic and somewhat complex, but what you need to know is that lustful people usually have excess energy. In other words, they have strong physical energy. If I were to rank you based on chakra levels, it would be Jiraiya first, then Tsunade, and lastly Orochimaru. Jiraiya, due to his lust, has a high chakra energy, and Tsunade, being from the Senju clan, also has strong chakra, placing her second. Orochimaru, since he's not lustful, has the least amount of chakra."
Orochimaru: ...
There might not be a direct link between lust and physical energy, but Tōshirō was sure that Jiraiya's immense chakra was largely tied to his strong physical energy.
He pondered: "Why do you think Jiraiya, at his age, still has a full head of hair? Without strong physical energy, who would believe that?"
Tsunade shook her head: "I don't understand."
Tōshirō gently replied: "What's the problem? Tell me."
Tsunade asked: "You're lustful too, right?"
"How can you claim that Jiraiya has more chakra than the three of us combined?"
Tōshirō: "That's the average for a man, isn't it?"
Tsunade raised an eyebrow: "Really? But I remember you once said your dream was to marry two women. I don't think that's what an average person would say."
Tōshirō replied seriously: "I'm cautious."
Tsunade didn't get it: "What does that have to do with being cautious?"
Tōshirō began explaining, counting on his fingers: "Think about it, if I marry just one woman and she dies in an unexpected accident, I'll be left alone. But if I marry two, even if one dies, I'll still have the other. It's like having extra insurance."
Tōshirō was so convincing that Tsunade started to question his reasoning, though it seemed logical. But she knew that Tōshirō always used his intelligence for unimportant matters.
Jiraiya suddenly felt enlightened, realizing he could use this concept to justify his lust by claiming he was being cautious.
Tsunade felt a headache coming on and decided to change the subject: "Anyway, I understand now that you want to become a medical ninja because you don't want to see your comrades die, right? I can see that you're a sensitive person."
Tōshirō replied: "Oh, no, actually, I want to become a medical ninja because I'm afraid of dying."
Tsunade: .....
Jiraiya: ...
Orochimaru: .....
(End of Chapter)
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