Chapter 60: Chapter 60: I Never Cross Dress
"Minato, why are your eyes bruised? Who did this? I'll avenge you!"
The next day, nearing eight o'clock, Jiraiya looked at Minato with a black eye and cotton stuffed in his nose, expressing righteous indignation.
Even with a gentle personality like Minato's, upon hearing Jiraiya's words, he couldn't muster a smile. He even subtly rolled his eyes at this unreliable Jonin leading the team.
Jiraiya paid his reaction no mind, lowering his body and leaning towards Minato's ear, eagerly asking, "What about Tatsuma? Did he also get a good beating?"
At these words, the distress on Minato's face became more apparent. Seeing Minato's expression, Jiraiya was somewhat puzzled. Before he could inquire further, Tatsuma's lively voice came over.
"Good morning, Jiraiya-sensei, Minato!"
Jiraiya looked in the direction of the voice and found Tatsuma completely unharmed. He had even taken the time to tidy up his hair today, making his naturally curly hair look less menacing.
"Did you not get beaten up yesterday?"
Jiraiya directly voiced his doubts, and Tatsuma straightened his posture, saying, "Ahaha, I'm a man with good virtues and only follow the right path. Why would I get beaten?"
"You're lying!" Minato said with a sense of grievance. "Yesterday, you transformed into a woman in a bathrobe. I was distracted, and you infiltrated among those who beat me up! I even feel like you took advantage of the opportunity and were the one who caused my injuries."
"Minato Namikaze! Don't make baseless accusations. When did I, Sakamoto Tatsuma, turn into a woman?!" Tatsuma declared indignantly, while Jiraiya wore a skeptical expression and said, "Ahem, I believe Minato. Tatsuma, turning into a woman is just turning into a woman. Ninjas do these things normally."
"It wasn't me; I didn't do it. Don't talk nonsense!"
After denying the embarassing accusations which were in fact true, Tatsuma abruptly changed the subject, saying, "Jiraiya sensei, what's the training agenda for today?"
Jiraiya glanced at Tatsuma, whose face turned red with embarrassment, without dwelling on it. Instead, he looked towards the Senju Clan's territory and said, "Next, Tsunade will take you charge of you for a while."
"I need to plan the next stage of your training. It's about time to teach you other Chakra attributes and some advanced Ninjutsu."
"Does that include Shadow Clone Jutsu?" Tatsuma asked excitedly. Jiraiya nodded and said, "Yes, I can teach you that technique, but you must not abuse it. During this period, follow Tsunade to learn some basic Medical Ninjutsu, and as promised by Lady Mito last time, she will teach you two Sealing Jutsu. Pay attention and learn well. If you miss this opportunity, you will regret it in the future. There's no one as good as her in Sealing Jutsu"
Tatsuma nodded and was about to ask another question when Jiraiya interrupted, "Hmph, you little rascal." Jiraiya tousled Tatsuma's head, messing up the carefully arranged curls. He then took out two scrolls and said, "Shadow Clone Jutsu, I've prepared the scrolls for you."
"It won't be long before I won't have as much time to supervise your training every day. You two youngsters need to become more reliable."
Tatsuma and Minato both nodded with a serious attitude. It was not easy for a Jonin, especially one in a rapid ascent phase like Jiraiya, to set aside all tasks and lead them for almost half a year.
The village wouldn't let Jiraiya stay idle. Only A-rank or even S-rank missions would fully utilize Jiraiya's capabilities. Perhaps they would have to wait for a break in Jiraiya's missions to find time for further training.
Seeing his two students understanding what he was saying, Jiraiya showed a pleased smile. Then he turned around and said, "Alright, you should go meet your new sensei. I need to discuss the matter of Kincho with Lady Mito."
"Yes!" x2
Following Jiraiya, the two arrived for the second time at the depths of the Senju Clan's territory. When they were about a hundred meters away from where Tatsuma and Minato had waited last time, Jiraiya suddenly stopped.
"By the way, I haven't given you the mission reward yet."
Jiraiya took out forty thousand ryo and handed it to Tatsuma. Tatsuma, looking puzzled, asked, "Isn't it a total of just forty thousand ryo? What about yours?"
"Sigh~ Just take it all. Once we step through that gate, my money isn't my money anymore."
Jiraiya looked ahead with a melancholic expression. Tatsuma understood and counted out twenty thousand ryo, handing it to Minato. Minato seemed to recall the scene from two years ago when he first met Jiraiya, nodded, and accepted the money.
After watching the two stow away the money, Jiraiya led the way again, stepping into the corridor. A voice rang out.
"Jiraiya? Long time no see!"
Jiraiya's face revealed exaggerated dissatisfaction, saying, "Nawaki! How many times have I told you? When you see me, you should call me big brother. You'll have to change your address in the future."
"Call you what?"
At this moment, Tsunade's displeased voice interrupted them. Jiraiya's expression stiffened, then he shook his head, saying, "Nothing, forget it."
Following behind Jiraiya, Tatsuma scrutinized the boy in front of him, not much older than himself. He knew this boy was Nawaki, the grandson of Senju Hashirama.
Nawaki's talent was not as great as his grandfather Senju Hashirama, not even as much as his sister Tsunade. He hadn't had the chance to showcase his abilities before meeting an early end on the battlefield.
If Tatsuma remembered correctly, Nawaki seemed to have died in battle at the age of twelve. Looking at Nawaki now, he appeared to be around ten years old.
Jiraiya walked up to Nawaki at this moment, ruffling his hair and smiling as he turned to the displeased Tsunade. "Nawaki just started his break, right? Orochimaru didn't take him for training?"
Jiraiya's skill of changing the topic was not any less skillful than Tatsuma's. Nawaki escaped Jiraiya's grasp and replied, "Orochimaru sensei is on a mission and will be back in a few days."
"Hmph! You call Orochimaru 'sensei,' but you call me by my name. Oh well, it seems the bond has faded," Jiraiya said, sounding somewhat disappointed.
Noticing the difference in how Nawaki addressed them, Jiraiya pretended to be heartbroken, but Tsunade and Nawaki, in sync, rolled their eyes and ignored him.
After a brief awkward moment, Jiraiya chuckled and continued, "Tsunade, for the next period, can you help guide Tatsuma and Minato?"
"I can help them, but..."
"I'm going to find Lady Mito first!"
Without waiting for Tsunade to finish, Jiraiya headed straight for the residence of Uzumaki Mito. Having known Tsunade for almost twenty years, how could he not know that she wanted him to pay? In the past six months, he had been leading Tatsuma and Minato on D-rank and C-rank missions, but there was hardly any profit for Tsunade to scrape off.
"Hmph!"
Seeing Jiraiya escape, Tsunade, with an unpleasant expression, turned to Tatsuma and Minato, asking, "You two have been on quite a few missions recently, haven't you?"
Minato was about to respond when Tatsuma tugged at his sleeve and then smiled at Tsunade, saying, "Tsunade-sama, we don't have much money, but we brought you this."
With that, Tatsuma pulled out a box of playing cards. Upon seeing the cards, Tsunade instantly smiled, nodding in approval. She said, "Not bad, not bad, but you have to let me win every day."
"I understand."
Tatsuma nodded. At this moment, Nawaki looked at the two and asked, "Are you the two geniuses Granny often talks about? You look pretty ordinary. How about a little spar?"
Hearing Nawaki's words, Minato showed a hesitant expression, while Tatsuma displayed an excited smile as if meeting a kindred spirit.
"Indeed, as expected of the grandson of the First Hokage. Very bold and straightforward. I accept!"
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