Jiraiya whipped his head around, only to find that the spot where Naruto had been standing was already empty.
On a low hillside in the distance that had been scorched by the Flame Bullet, Naruto had long since completed his retreat, taking advantage of the moment Jiraiya turned around.
He crouched on top of the hill, cupped his hands around his mouth, and shouted to the stunned Jiraiya in the forest, "Peeping Uncle, you are strong! Let's fight again next time! See ya!"
After shouting, Naruto turned around without hesitation and disappeared without a trace after a few bounds toward the forest behind the hillside.
"Cunning brat..."
Jiraiya stood in the woods, watching the golden speck that had vanished in the blink of an eye. The expression on his face shifted repeatedly between amusement and admiration.
He crossed his arms over his chest and grinned toward the direction where Naruto had disappeared.
"Minato, your son not only inherited your yelllow hair and good looks, but he also learned the hit-and-run tactic. He's even more asking for a beating than you were back then."
Jiraiya brushed his messy white hair back, his Chakra slightly gathering at the soles of his feet.
"However, this sage has already memorized your Chakra, you little rascal. Want to shake me off? You can't escape."
After speaking, his figure vanished from the spot.
...
Naruto leaped rapidly through the mountains, the dull thuds of his feet hitting branches echoing through the forest one after another.
He knew that Jiraiya's target was him. Given the level of Jiraiya's tracking techniques, unless he maintained Absolute Control and compressed his Chakra to almost zero, he would be found sooner or later.
However, wasn't he also waiting for Jiraiya?
He circled a large arc from the forest behind the mountain and finally landed on the rock wall behind the Hokage Rock.
There was a platform on the rock wall, piled with a few stones and overgrown with a few clumps of wild grass, offering an extremely wide view.
He sat down on the platform and spread out Negative Emotions Sensing to cover the entire village, confirming there was nothing unusual.
Just at this moment, he noticed that a Chakra source without any hostility was moving rapidly toward this side.
The corners of Naruto's lips lifted slightly. Jiraiya had indeed tracked him down.
Just as he was preparing to retract his Negative Emotions Sensing, one place suddenly caught his attention. He frowned slightly and focused his perception on that direction.
Swish!
Just then, a figure landed on the Hokage Rock platform.
"Found you, brat! Did you think you could escape?"
Jiraiya stood in front of Naruto with his hands on his hips, his face wearing an expression between smugness and annoyance.
Naruto retracted Negative Emotions Sensing without changing his expression. He looked up at Jiraiya, and a perfectly timed look of confusion appeared on his face. "Peeping Uncle, why are you chasing me? I didn't really go report you."
"Let me introduce myself again. I am the Toad Sage of Mount Myōboku, Jiraiya, one of the Legendary Sannin, author of the Icha Icha Paradise series, and also..."
Jiraiya took a deep breath and pointed a finger at Naruto. "For the next month, I am the temporary teacher responsible for guiding you."
"Huh?" Naruto was stunned for a moment.
Jiraiya crossed his arms over his chest, and his tone became a bit more serious. "The Third Hokage personally asked me to guide you for a month. Your team leader, Kakashi, has to take Sasuke away for special training this month, so you don't have anyone to lead you."
"The old man himself is too busy to attend to it, so this task fell to me. Of course, I originally planned to come see you in a few days, but I wanted to observe your daily routine this morning."
"Who knew you, brat, would be secretly practicing new Ninjutsu early in the morning?"
Naruto nodded.
So that's how it is.
Although Hiruzen didn't have time to teach him, he still called Jiraiya over, though it was also possible it was Jiraiya's own idea.
Although Jiraiya was lecherous, his ability and strength were undeniable, and at this stage, he could learn a lot by following him. But he shouldn't even think about Sage Arts, he definitely wouldn't teach that.
"Before that, Naruto, the two Ninjutsu you used on me just now, Vacuum Blade and Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique, the scrolls for these two Ninjutsu were only delivered to you last night, right?"
"Yeah."
"In other words, from the time you got the scrolls until now, it hasn't even been a full day."
Jiraiya walked closer step by step, his gaze becoming serious. "In less than a day, you were able to use two Ninjutsu in actual combat, and your proficiency in controlling them is not low."
"The Chakra shaping of your Vacuum Blade is not stable enough, but it was already able to cut through my hardened hair. This is definitely not something that can be achieved just by reading the scroll once."
"How did you do it?"
Naruto nodded. "To be precise, it was one morning. Last night, I only had time to finish reading and memorizing the scrolls. I started practicing for real this morning."
Jiraiya's lips moved, but no sound came out.
Half a day?
No, Naruto said one morning.
Jiraiya compared it in his mind with the number of days it took him to learn his first B-rank Fire Release back in the day, and then silently dismissed the thought.