After the reception ceremony, the Third Hokage first arranged accommodations for the Uzumaki clan's envoys. Then he personally saw Sansho and Mito Uzumaki off from the Sarutobi estate.
The Sarutobi clan could be considered one of Konoha's major clans; however, their estate naturally couldn't compare to the Senju mansion that Haseo had seen before. Unfortunately, the Senju estate had fallen into disrepair. Since Hiruzen Sarutobi had become the Third Hokage, the Sarutobi household had inevitably become the most prestigious and prominent residence in all of Konoha.
Compared to the Senju, Haseo had little reason to connect with the Sarutobi clan. After things quieted down for the day, he quietly stationed himself by a corridor near the entrance, ready to receive the Hokage's dismissal order at any moment. After all, Haseo was quite rule-abiding—he wouldn't go wandering recklessly through the Sarutobi residence like Tsunade or Orochimaru would.
Just as Haseo leaned idly against a wall, lost in thought while waiting for his shift to end, suddenly he heard the voice of the Third Hokage behind him.
"Strong wind, weak flame—pushing the cutting nature to its pinnacle. It performs exceptionally well in aspects such as penetrating damage, internal destruction, and area-of-effect carnage... This is the characteristic of Wind Release chakra and Wind Release techniques. Haseo, are you currently practicing in this area?"
This man had made absolutely no sound while approaching, appearing silently behind Haseo without the faintest footstep. No wonder he was known as the Hokage—his mastery of stealth techniques was absolute.
"Third..." Haseo stepped away from the wall and straightened his posture respectfully before the Hokage. However, only after a brief pause did he realize exactly what the other person was talking about. Then he lowered his gaze slightly, glancing at his own fingers—there, between two fingers, lay a single leaf.
No wonder the Third Hokage had said that. It turned out that unconsciously, he had been practicing Wind Nature Transformation.
"Yes, Lord Third, I'm indeed practicing Wind Nature Transformation," Haseo then admitted frankly. There was nothing to hide about this; it was an open topic of conversation.
"Self-guided training... It must be twice the effort for half the result. Doing it entirely alone can be quite difficult." After a moment's contemplation, the Third Hokage remarked.
Though Sansho was an excellent teacher, there were many things she couldn't actually teach Haseo. Even if she explained a theory, concept, or training method in great detail, for her student, nothing would be more illustrative than an actual live demonstration.
Unfortunately, Sansho couldn't perform such a demonstration herself.
The Third Hokage wasn't someone who sought to lecture others, but he also didn't mind offering a helping hand to young ninjas in the village. Next, he extended one hand, palm open and flat, then spoke, "Judging from your practice level, you've already developed a preliminary understanding of wind nature chakra and Wind Release techniques—very good. What comes next is simply increasing the amount of practice. Once your capacity and efficiency of converting chakra into wind nature improve sufficiently, you will be able to use Wind Release techniques.
Wind's defining trait is its cutting power. More concretely speaking, it's like when you press both hands together forcefully, then suddenly slide them apart, creating a tearing force between them that ruptures space itself... This sense of intense, abrupt ripping action within an extremely confined space—that is the feeling of Wind Release."
As he explained, the neutral chakra emanating from Hiruzen's palms subtly shifted, eventually forming a tiny rotating vortex right between his hands. His movements were slow enough for Haseo to clearly follow each step of the chakra nature transformation process.
Undoubtedly, this seemingly ordinary demonstration by the Third Hokage was top-notch instruction. It allowed Haseo's understanding of Wind Release to expand from a general impression toward concrete methods of efficiently converting wind-natured chakra... One could only say, the Third truly lived up to the title of "Professor of Ninjutsu."
Soon afterward, the Hokage dissipated the chakra in his hands and continued, "Thank you for informing me about Jiraiya. Please continue helping monitor his situation moving forward. Although I am the Hokage, the resources I can invest searching for my own disciple are limited—it wouldn't be appropriate for me to abuse my official position for personal affairs."
While Sarutobi was indeed the Hokage, he couldn't possibly mobilize significant forces from Konoha just to search for his own student. What would that look like? The ninja of Konoha served Konoha, not as private servants of the Hokage.
"I understand, Lord Hokage. I'll monitor Jiraiya's situation. If Katsuyu can once again pinpoint the spatial location she previously sensed, that would be even better," Haseo immediately agreed, essentially repaying a favor. Then he shot the Hokage a sidelong glance—already satisfied but still looking to negotiate more. "However, Lord Hokage…"
"Hmm? Didn't see my demonstration clearly enough? Should I go through it again?" the Hokage joked with a smile. He didn't dislike young people who were quick to learn and eager to ask questions.
Unexpectedly, though, Haseo shook his head. "No, the previous demonstration by Lord Third was more than clear; I've memorized everything… What I meant was, since we're taking advantage of this rare opportunity anyway, why not seize the moment? Could Lord Hokage please also demonstrate Earth nature chakra nature transformation?"
Right—what's the difference between one and two anyway?
Actually, Haseo had somewhat regretted it—when the Hokage had initially taught him Fire Release, he should have asked for demonstrations on all types of chakra transformations at once… Well, thinking like that might seem a bit too greedy.
[Third Hokage]: "..."
Youth, don't get too comfortable now, alright?
Haseo knew he was being a bit greedy, but this was a rare opportunity. A seasoned veteran like the Third Hokage, one of the elders of the Ninjutsu World, wasn't always willing to offer someone else a ride.
"Are you sure? Aren't you afraid you'll end up confused by learning too much?"
"Third, we're ninjas. We don't fear anything."
Haseo wasn't worried about overloading himself with knowledge. Just because he was exposed to so many different techniques didn't mean he'd get confused—it just meant he had more tricks up his sleeve. In fact, what he really feared was falling short in his studies. His unique Hand-Sealing method wasn't merely about creating Hand Seals; it was closer to rewriting ninjutsu at its core. During the process of 'code restructuring' and generating effective sequences, the more elemental chakra affinities and ninjutsu techniques he understood, the better his efficiency and combat effectiveness would be.
...
Three days later, the village had nearly turned upside down because of Jiraiya's disappearance. If it happened on a battlefield, a ninja going radio silent for three days would have the command headquarters thinking about filing a death report.
At the same time, at Mount Myoboku—
Jiraiya was walking behind a toad, taking in the fresh, lush greenery, almost overwhelmed by how beautiful it all was. But as he walked along, something suddenly occurred to him.
Wait... didn't he kind of forget to tell the village he was here at Mount Myoboku?
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