Chapter 69: Heavenly Canopy Method
"Seems the old man left a few things out of your file."
Jiraiya hauled himself out of the river and onto the bank, shaking water off his sleeves, and got his first proper look at her.
He stopped.
He'd missed it before. Now, with better light and less river water in his eyes, he could see it clearly: a violet diamond on her forehead, faint but unmistakable.
If she already has that technique...
Then holding off Orochimaru makes sense. Barely. But it makes sense.
"What are you looking at."
"Pervert."
Sakura met his examining gaze with a flat stare.
"Rude," Jiraiya said cheerfully, wringing out a section of his hair. "I'm your senior, you know. Show some respect."
"Sure."
She wasn't moving from the bridge railing. Her green eyes tracked him with the pragmatic patience of someone who had come here with a purpose and was waiting to get to it.
"Skip the pleasantries," she said. "The old man already told you everything. I need to talk to you about a—"
She stopped.
Her gaze had moved past him, down the path, to two figures approaching from the direction of the main street.
One she knew immediately. Orange. Loud. Impossible to miss at any distance.
The other wore dark ninja gear, a black headband over his hair, and sunglasses that looked like they'd been sourced from a market stall selling things that time forgot.
...Ebisu?
"Sakura!"
Naruto spotted the pink hair and broke into a wave, already grinning.
"Lady Sakura."
Ebisu blinked at her from behind his terrible glasses. He knew her — anyone who spent time around the Hokage's household knew the Third's last disciple. He'd been roped in by Kakashi to run supplementary training for the Uzumaki kid, and he had not expected this particular afternoon.
His eyes moved to the dripping white-haired man on the riverbank.
...That's — that's Jiraiya-sama?
He's back?
"Naruto, why are you here?" Sakura asked.
"Kakashi-sensei went off to do special training with Sasuke," Naruto said, with a particular edge of grievance on special, "so he dumped me with this guy." He hooked a thumb at Ebisu with the body language of someone reviewing a disappointing meal. "Some pervert he is."
Ebisu had, famously, been defeated by the Sexy Technique. This was apparently not something Naruto was willing to let go of.
"Ebisu is a good teacher," Sakura said. "Theoretically."
Emphasis on theoretically.
Ebisu, meanwhile, had crossed to Jiraiya with the reverence of someone approaching a national monument, even a soggy one.
"Jiraiya-sama. I didn't realize you'd returned to the village."
"Mm." Jiraiya was watching Naruto with the expression of a man doing quiet arithmetic. The kid's voice wasn't small, and he'd caught the broad strokes. "You're running the boy's training?"
"Kakashi asked me to."
"Let me take over."
He clapped a hand on Ebisu's shoulder, didn't wait for an answer, and walked toward Naruto and Sakura.
Ebisu stood there watching the white-and-gold figures side by side and felt something tug at the edge of his memory. Two hair colors. A specific way of standing. Something about it was—
No. That's ridiculous.
He shook his head and let the thought go.
"What?!"
Naruto had just been informed, by Sakura, about the bathhouse situation.
"You were peeping? And now you want to teach me?" He stared at Jiraiya with the look of a person recalibrating everything. "You're gonna need about ten thousand more years before you're qualified to—"
"Did you have to tell him that," Jiraiya said to Sakura, flat.
"I could apologize," Sakura said, "if you can honestly tell me you're done with bathhouses."
"That's—" Jiraiya began.
"That's not a denial."
The novels were important. The readers were waiting. The research was research, and the distinction between that and what it looked like was a matter of artistic framing that clearly neither of these children were mature enough to appreciate—
He kept all of this inside, looked at Naruto, and bit his thumb.
Seals. Fast.
The smoke cleared. Standing before them was a toad the height of a grown man, fully armored, radiating the particular dignity of a summoned creature that has been places.
Jiraiya shook out his very wet hair. The resulting spray covered both of them in a fine mist.
Then he struck a pose.
"One of the Legendary Sannin. White-haired prodigy of Mount Myōboku. The Toad Sage — handsome enough to make crying children fall silent. Jiraiya-sama is standing before you."
Naruto didn't even wipe the droplets off his face. He was staring at the toad with pure uncomplicated awe.
"That toad is so cool."
Sakura dragged her sleeve across her cheek.
The toad is just a toad.
"Well?" Jiraiya crossed his arms, smug and wet. "Am I qualified now?"
"Yes! Definitely yes! Perverted Sage, teach me everything—"
"Toad Sage—"
"I want to learn that!"
Naruto was pointing at the toad with the energy of someone who has found their life's direction.
Jiraiya looked at him. Looked at Sakura. Looked back.
He'd gotten the full briefing from Hiruzen. He knew what Sakura wanted: a sensing technique. Mobile, body-centered, continuous. Hiruzen had already identified the right one. Had, in fact, sent the girl to find Jiraiya specifically because it was his technique.
The Heavenly Canopy Method.
Close to a hundred meters of active sensory range, moving with the user in real time — a complete picture of the immediate environment at all times. Exactly what she'd described needing in the forest. Perfect for compensating for the Body Flicker's entry freeze.
Practically made for her.
But just handing it over —
That'd be cheap.
Jiraiya looked at Naruto again.
The smile that crossed his face had layers to it that Naruto apparently found alarming, because the boy leaned slightly backward.
"Why are you looking at me like that..."
Because, Jiraiya thought, I know who you are. And I know what you're going to need. And I think the next month is going to be very interesting for everyone.
(End of Chapter 69)