At the border of the Land of Fire, night was beginning to fall. Team 7 and Jiraiya decided to stop, camping in the wild to conserve their strength and avoid any potential enemies.
Kakashi Hatake and Sasuke Uchiha took responsibility for setting up tripwires around the perimeter. At the camp, Sakura Haruno was boiling water. Meanwhile, Jiraiya and Naruto Uzumaki went to the river to fish.
The middle-aged man held a simple, handmade fishing rod and looked at the yellow-haired kid sitting beside him. He couldn't help but chuckle. "Wilderness survival is a vital skill for a ninja. Once you find yourself in a dangerous, uninhabited place, you can only rely on your own abilities to find supplies..."
"Oh."
Naruto Uzumaki glanced at the fishing rod in his hand, then opened his palm, intending to form a Rasengan.
"Don't use ninjutsu!" Jiraiya reached out and stopped Naruto's hand as it gathered chakra. "Ninjutsu is too powerful. It could easily attract the attention of distant enemies..."
"Is that so?" The genin boy nodded and flicked the fishing hook into the river.
Jiraiya watched his skillful movements and stroked his chin curiously. "Did Kakashi teach you? I remember when Kakashi was a kid, he liked to fish by the river and would fry up his own fish for dinner. I heard his cooking skills were quite good..."
"No." Naruto shook his head and said calmly, "The living expenses the village gave me were always wasted. I always had to find a way to fill my stomach."
Before he became a ninja, Konoha issued him a standard living allowance every month, but no one had ever taught him how to manage his money. For a child, no matter how carefully he tried to budget, it was never enough. Most of the shopkeepers in the village avoided him, not wanting a customer like him for fear it would affect their business.
The only exceptions were Teuchi and Ayame from Ichiraku Ramen. They were kind and willing to accept him, and would occasionally call him over for a bowl of ramen. But as a child, he also had his pride. He couldn't bring himself to go to Ichiraku Ramen every single night.
From a young age, he learned to endure hunger. Later, as he got older, he learned to pick wild mushrooms and taught himself to fish, barely managing to survive until the next month's allowance arrived.
"Well, we're pretty similar in that regard!" Jiraiya rested his chin in his hand, lost in thought, and sighed. "When I was a kid, I often went fishing with Orochimaru, too. I did it to fill my stomach, but that guy did it to save up his monthly survivor's pension to buy strange ninja tools..."
"Orochimaru? The Pervy Sage's friend?" Naruto couldn't help but touch his forehead. He felt a stir in his mind, as the name had a big impact on him.
The middle-aged man nodded, a flash of nostalgia on his face. "That guy was the most famous genius in our class. He was always number one at the ninja academy, although he was still a little bit worse than me..."
"Wait..." A dark line appeared on Naruto's forehead, and the corner of his mouth couldn't help but twitch. "If he was the top student in the school, how could he still be worse than you?"
"Well..." Jiraiya's face immediately soured, but after a moment he found a rebuttal. "I heard from that little girl Sakura that Sasuke is also the top student in the ninja academy... but don't you think Sasuke is still a little bit worse than you?"
This was hard to refute. Naruto thought for a moment and nodded seriously. "...You're right. Even though Sasuke is the top student, he's still a little bit worse than me."
The two shameless guys had reached an agreement.
Just then, Naruto felt his fishing rod shake. As the shaking grew more intense, he suddenly yanked the rod. "Looks like a big one's on the hook!"
"Kid, want me to help you?"
"No need!" Naruto gripped the rod tightly and pulled upwards with all his strength.
Just as he had pulled a large fish out of the water and watched it wriggle violently, trying to get off the hook, a figure slowly walked out of the woods. The figure stood behind Naruto and chuckled in a low voice. "Heh heh heh... If you do it like that, the fishing rod will break..."
As soon as the words were spoken, the fishing rod snapped in two.
Naruto turned to look. A man with long, disheveled black hair stood behind him, a playful smile on his lips that made his heart jump.
First impression... sinister and cold.
Jiraiya watched the big fish fall back into the water and said with a sigh, "Just as you'd expect from a kid. Still lacking experience..."
"Heh heh heh... Jiraiya..." The long-haired man turned to look at Jiraiya and raised a hand. "Is that why you're so tolerant? Because you made the same mistake when you were a kid? For us back then, a fish that big was a great feast!"
"In your own words... that was just the us of the past!" Jiraiya's voice gradually rose. As he finished speaking, he flipped into the air and threw a punch at the man.
The Jiraiya who had always maintained an optimistic front for Team 7 was gone. His usual calm and joy were replaced by nothing but endless anger and confusion.
A long snake suddenly shot out from the black-haired man's sleeve, flicking its tongue as it lunged at Jiraiya, forcing him to pull back his attack.
The black-haired man retracted the snake, looked at Jiraiya's serious expression, and said with a smile, "Weren't you just saying that I was a little bit worse than you?"
"..." Jiraiya's face immediately turned red with shame. He hadn't been paying attention when he was boasting, and the person he was talking about had accidentally overheard.
This was really awkward, especially since this person was his close friend from many years ago. But now was not the time for reminiscing.
Jiraiya took a half step forward, shielding Naruto behind him, his face growing cold. "Orochimaru, what are you doing here?"
"Heh heh heh..." The black-haired man toyed with a strand of his long hair and said softly, "Do you think I came to find you for a class reunion?"
"..." Jiraiya gritted his teeth.
Although he couldn't figure out why Orochimaru was here, there had been little news of him since he defected from Konoha. For him to appear so suddenly, there had to be a plot.
The problem was... Orochimaru was a psycho. Even as his classmate for so many years, Jiraiya couldn't guess what was going on in Orochimaru's head. His actions were always without scruples.
"How heartless..." Orochimaru's arm suddenly shot out, and he shouted in a low voice, "Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!"
His arm transformed into dozens of venomous snakes, slithering out of his sleeve. Each one bared its fangs and swarmed toward Jiraiya.
"Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall!"
An earth wall erupted from the ground, blocking the swarm of snakes. Jiraiya deflected Orochimaru's ninjutsu and glanced at Naruto, who was rubbing his forehead beside him. Their battlefield was no place for anyone else.
Out of the corner of his eye, Jiraiya saw the snakes coming around the earth wall. He grabbed Naruto and flew back, whispering an instruction, "Naruto, get back!"
"Jiraiya, I think you'd be better off with a helper," Orochimaru's voice was like a ghost's, whispering into both of their ears. "Since you were three years old, you've never once beaten me..."
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Bonus:
Jiraiya: Orochimaru was number one, but he was a little bit worse than me...
Tsunade: Are you serious?
Orochimaru: As long as he's happy...
Naruto: Sasuke was the top student, but he was also a little bit worse than me...
Sakura: Have you no shame?
Sasuke: As long as he's happy...