Twenty-five days remained until the finals.
Shinju and Naruto had begun their days of training under Jiraiya of the Legendary Sannin.
At this moment, Jiraiya stood with Naruto and Shinju on a clearing outside the village, speaking with a solemn expression:
"Starting today, your first lesson in training is chakra control."
"We already learned that! Back in the Land of Waves, Kakashi-sensei taught us how to stick chakra to our feet to climb trees."
Naruto frowned in dissatisfaction.
In his mind, training with one of the Legendary Sannin should have meant learning all kinds of powerful jutsu.
Things like Kakashi-sensei's Lightning Cutter, or the Fire and Water Release techniques Shinju had used before.
"Chakra training can't be rushed. You must first master basic chakra control!"
Knowing Naruto's impatient nature, Jiraiya explained,
"Let me give you an example. Say you and Shinju have the same amount of chakra. Yet Shinju's Shadow Clones are dozens of times stronger than yours. The difference lies in this—Shinju's control over chakra is far more refined than yours."
"More importantly, once you master chakra control, you'll be able to maximize the power of your jutsu with the same amount of chakra."
"Fine…"
Naruto nodded.
Precise chakra manipulation—things that required finesse and brainpower—were indeed his weak points.
"Alright then! Let's begin today's first training! Try focusing chakra into your feet and see if you can stand on the surface of water."
With that, Jiraiya turned around.
He figured this exercise would take them at least two or three days to grasp.
So, while the brats were busy training, he planned to… check on the beautiful women bathing under the nearby waterfall.
But just as he turned to leave, before he could take a single step, Shinju's voice called from behind him.
"Jiraiya-sensei?"
"There are no shortcuts in chakra control. Don't ask me—I don't have any special tricks. You'll just have to figure it out," Jiraiya said without even turning around.
He thought Shinju was finding the exercise difficult.
Naruto, however, piped up beside him,
"Hey, Pervy Sage, Shinju already did it. (||๐_๐)"
o_O???
Already…?
Jiraiya turned his head in disbelief.
What???
(⊙o⊙)
He actually mastered it that quickly?!
No wonder Kakashi said this kid was a genius!
"Jiraiya-sensei, I've known how to do this for a while."
Shinju stood casually on the water's surface.
"And just now, I realized something else. By adjusting the amount of chakra under my feet, I can actually control how deep I sink into the water."
As he spoke, Shinju demonstrated.
His feet dipped precisely two centimeters into the water as he calmly took a step.
"Splash… splash…"
To Jiraiya's shock, Shinju maintained the exact same depth with every step, his feet sinking exactly two centimeters beneath the surface!
Such delicate control over chakra was simply beyond comprehension!
Even Jiraiya himself couldn't pull this off.
After all, every ninja was taught only how to stand on water—not how to adjust their chakra to control sinking depth!
"Ahem… looks like you're doing pretty well," Jiraiya said, forcing down his astonishment and pretending to be composed.
"Then let's move you on to the next stage of training."
Forming hand seals, Jiraiya summoned a large patterned toad.
The toad opened its mouth and spat out a scroll engraved with mysterious runes.
"This is a summoning contract scroll. By writing your name on it, you can sign a contract with the toads of Mount Myōboku. After that, you'll be able to summon them during battle to aid you," Jiraiya explained.
"Toad summons? Like you, Pervy Sage?" Naruto asked curiously.
With pride, Jiraiya raised his head high.
"That's right… But Naruto, you need to hurry up and train! Until you can walk on water as freely as Shinju—and even control your depth—don't even think about learning anything else."
Naruto: "???"
"No normal person can pull off what Shinju just did!
"Altering the balance between chakra and water to control depth? That's insane!!"
(╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻
Jiraiya chuckled. "If Shinju can do it, then so can you. Less talking, more training!"
Then, with a pat, Jiraiya signaled the toad to turn and present the scroll to Shinju.
"Shinju, use your blood to write your name here, then press down the prints of all five fingers. From now on, whenever you want to summon a toad, just place your hand on the ground and perform the seals."
"The sequence is: Boar → Dog → Bird → Monkey → Ram."
Shinju took the scroll from the toad's tongue and unrolled it.
He bit his finger, carefully wrote his name stroke by stroke, then pressed down all five bloody fingerprints with a solemn air.
Once Shinju finished, Jiraiya nodded in satisfaction.
"Give it a try."
"Mm!"
Shinju nodded firmly.
He had already grasped the idea of Contract Summoning—on his trip to the Land of Waves, he had used such a technique to tame a hawk.
But this was his first time signing an official blood contract tied to a sacred place.
Taking a deep breath, he weaved through the hand seals.
"Boar—Dog—Bird—Monkey—Ram!"
"Summoning Jutsu!!!"
...
Mount Myōboku.
One of the three great sacred places alongside Ryūchi Cave and Shikkotsu Forest.
Countless toads dwelled here.
Unlike ordinary toads, the ones of Mount Myōboku specialized in Senjutsu.
Among them, the Great Toad Sage, Gamamaru, had once accompanied the Sage of Six Paths himself in learning Sage Arts.
At this moment.
In a temple deep within Mount Myōboku, the ancient Great Toad Sage, wearing a scholar's cap, sat with eyes half-closed, chin resting on his hand, dozing off.
Suddenly, the Great Toad Sage jolted awake.
The two attending sages, Fukasaku and Shima, hurried forward.
"Great Toad Sage, did you have another dream?"
Toads possessed the ability to see the future through dreams. They rarely dreamt, but when they did, those visions always came true.
It was thanks to such a dream that Jiraiya had once been guided to seek the Child of Prophecy.
"I dreamt something vague… only a field of red…"
The Great Toad Sage's voice was slow and heavy.
"A field of red? What could that mean?"
Fukasaku furrowed his brow.
He was a small toad with white hair and a beard, second only to the Great Toad Sage in seniority. Yet even he had never heard of such a dream.
His wife, Shima, her skin a deep purple, said gravely,
"Could it be a sign of bloodshed—or a disaster that's about to befall us?"
The Great Toad Sage lifted his head slightly, his cloudy eyes gazing toward the sky outside the temple.
"I don't know… but I have a bad feeling."
"It seems this world won't know peace for much longer," Fukasaku said.
The two elder sages looked up—
Σ(っ °Д °;)っ
!!!∑(°Д°ノ)ノ
"The Great Toad Sage?!!"
"Where did the Great Toad Sage go?!!"
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