c13 – Psychic Technique
Jiraiya also coughed: "I've already decided to take you as my apprentice, are you willing?"
Naruto originally thought it would take a long period of testing, since Jiraiya had spent the earlier chapters dodging responsibility and peeping whenever he could, but the sudden straightforwardness caught him off guard. He quickly replied, "Thank you, Jiraiya-sensei! I hope you'll guide me well from now on."
In truth, although Jiraiya often acted like a clown, he became completely serious when true training or intelligence-gathering was involved. His infiltration into enemy territory during the Third Great Ninja War and even his solo pursuit of Akatsuki members proved this. And with Naruto, someone so straightforward and naïve very much like the young Minato he once taught Jiraiya naturally slipped into his habit of joking around more.
As for taking Naruto as his apprentice, it was something he had considered since discovering that the Fourth Hokage's son carried the Nine-Tails. Minato had entrusted Naruto's future to him in his final moments during the Kyuubi attack, and Jiraiya had deliberately come to Konoha after hearing rumors that Orochimaru was active again. So taking Naruto under his wing was, in a sense, an obligation long overdue.
Jiraiya then struck a dramatic pose and said: "My name is Jiraiya. You can call me the Toad Sage, one of the Legendary Sannin. Impressed yet?"
"Then show me your strength!"
Naruto didn't hesitate; he drew a kunai and rushed forward, throwing punches and kicks, just like he had practiced against Kakashi during the bell test. Jiraiya blocked with only one hand, replying, "Your chakra control has improved since the tree-climbing exercise, and your taijutsu's decent, but you still lack combat experience. And don't try big jutsu here you'll blow up half the clearing."
"Come here. I'll teach you real ninjutsu."
Naruto stopped attacking as Jiraiya unrolled a large summoning scroll—the same scroll that held the contracts for Mount Myōboku's toads and instructed Naruto to sign his name with blood.
The moment Naruto saw it, he realized he was about to learn the Summoning Technique. Jiraiya's toad summons Gamakichi, Gamatatsu, and especially the great boss Gamabunta were legends in the manga, and even Sage Arts could be learned from Mount Myōboku's elders. The Great Toad Sage had lived since the era of Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki and had witnessed centuries of shinobi history.
Naruto bit his thumb without hesitation and wrote his name.
Jiraiya began demonstrating the hand-seals Boar, Dog, Bird, Monkey, Ram and Naruto memorized them instantly. But if one looked closely at Jiraiya's summoning in previous chapters, the toad's size depended heavily on the chakra poured into the technique. In the manga, Naruto had famously summoned only a tiny tadpole on his first attempt. Even with his confidence, Naruto didn't want to humiliate himself in front of a Sannin.
So he performed the seals exactly as instructed and, desperate not to repeat the tadpole incident, he pushed his chakra harder. Under the pressure of his own fierce will similar to the moments when the Nine-Tails' chakra leaked during life-or-death battles his dormant power erupted. Chakra surged to a level nearly a hundred times stronger than normal. The moment he completed the final seal, the raging chakra blasted outward; even Jiraiya staggered back in shock, despite his experience.
"This kid's chakra… ridiculous! If he summons someone like Gamabunta here, I'm done for no, I need to get out of the blast zone before it's too late!"
By then Naruto's hands were already slammed to the ground. "Summoning Technique!"
Jiraiya couldn't dodge the wave of chakra now and could only pray he wouldn't end up dealing with a grumpy Bunta dropped into the middle of the training field.
With a tremendous puff of smoke, Jiraiya braced himself but fortunately, he didn't find himself standing atop a giant toad's head. He exhaled in relief. Yet considering the chakra Naruto had unleashed, the result felt strangely inconsistent.
This was a voice Jiraiya knew far too well: "Really now? What happened that dragged me out? I was in the middle of preparing dinner for the young ones at Mount Myōboku. Jiraiya, did you run into some terrifying enemy again?"
Hearing this familiar scolding tone, Jiraiya instantly turned stiff as stone. Nani!!!
This was absurd unbelievably absurd. How in the world had Naruto summoned Shima, one of the two elder toad sages who assisted Jiraiya in Sage Mode during the battle against Pain in the manga? Jiraiya reacted immediately and bowed deeply, apologizing with the sincerity of a man begging for his life: "I'm truly sorry! This is Naruto's first attempt at the Summoning Technique. I never imagined he'd use enough chakra to disturb you, Shima-sama. I sincerely apologize."
Shima Sage looked thoroughly unconvinced. "Little Jiraiya, you're exaggerating again. Not only is this boy just a brat, but even you needed steady, focused chakra for an extended time to summon me when you first signed the contract. What exactly did you two do to yank me halfway across Mount Myōboku?"
Naruto stood off to the side, overwhelmed with guilt. He hadn't meant to cause such trouble. He had only tried to use more chakra because, in the earlier manga chapters, he had summoned nothing but a tiny tadpole. He definitely never expected that using too much chakra would directly call out Shima Sage herself. Although he hadn't embarrassed himself, the result was far more intimidating than he anticipated.
Jiraiya, knowing explanations were pointless Shima never believed excuses, even back when he trained under Fukasaku pulled out the summoning scroll and presented it to her. When Shima saw Naruto's name freshly inked on the toad contract, it was her turn to be speechless. She hadn't expected a human child who had just learned the technique to summon her level of toad. The sheer chakra must have been monstrous.
She hopped over to Naruto, landing right in front of him. "Little Naruto, you certainly have talent. But don't let that big chakra fool you hard training is still essential."
Then she turned back to Jiraiya and lectured him like he was still a genin. "Little Jiraiya, this child is exceptional. You'd better teach him properly. With chakra this strong, he'll be ready to practice much more advanced techniques sooner than you think."
"Alright, I'm heading back. The children will burn dinner if I don't return."
With a sharp bang, she disappeared in a puff of smoke.
Jiraiya finally exhaled in relief and turned to Naruto.
Seeing Jiraiya's traumatized expression.as if he had narrowly avoided being dragged back to Mount Myōboku to peel vegetables Naruto deliberately asked, "Jiraiya-sensei… did I not perform the Summoning Technique correctly? Should I… try it again?"
Jiraiya panicked instantly. "No, no! It's already good no, it's perfect! Absolutely flawless! Just, uh, tone down the chakra next time. Way, way down."
Naruto laughed inwardly, though he kept a straight face. "Oh, I see. Well then, Jiraiya-sensei, do you want to teach me another ninjutsu today?"
"That's enough for today. I'll treat you to dinner tonight, and we'll start new ninjutsu training tomorrow."
Given Naruto's "excellent" performance nearly summoning one of the highest-ranking sages Jiraiya had no choice but to treat him. Unfortunately, Naruto had burned through enough chakra to be starving like he'd been after the mass shadow clone training. The dinner bill almost emptied Jiraiya's wallet. But Naruto wasn't worried Jiraiya had always been known as a best-selling author and was rarely actually poor.
At the same time, Naruto wondered what ninjutsu Jiraiya would teach next. If he remembered correctly from earlier manga hints, it should be the Rasengan, the technique Minato created and Jiraiya later passed down. But Naruto had already mastered it on his own through relentless practice. Even so, the more advanced forms like the Ōdama Rasengan, which required stronger chakra shaping—still needed Jiraiya's guidance.
Naruto decided that if Jiraiya taught the Rasengan, he should pretend to learn it quickly but not impossibly fast, so Jiraiya wouldn't think anything was wrong. He only needed to appear as an unusually gifted prodigy. In truth, Naruto wanted to learn the legendary Senjutsu more than anything. Sage Mode would elevate his strength to a new realm, as seen later when he surpassed even Jiraiya's performance. And based on what Shima Sage had said, it seemed he would reach that stage sooner than expected.
He settled down for the night, determined to rest well and prepare for the next day's training.
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