Jiraiya came quietly—and left just as quietly.
Hagoromo had really wanted to knock him out and toss him into the river, but in the end, he didn't do it.
On the one hand, Jiraiya was a good person.
On the other hand, Hagoromo wasn't entirely sure who would end up throwing whom into the river.
So he restrained his negative emotions—emotions that mainly stemmed from the fact that Jiraiya had mocked his Water Release proficiency, as well as his clumsy training methods.
What annoyed him most was that Jiraiya never actually explained what a so-called "high-efficiency" training method was.
But this wasn't because Jiraiya was being stingy. In truth, training chakra nature transformation was inherently clumsy and slow. It required steady accumulation, step by step. There were no shortcuts to begin with, and Jiraiya couldn't just conjure up a miraculous method out of thin air.
Moreover, Jiraiya believed strongly in a ninja's personal enlightenment. In his view, only jutsus cultivated through one's own understanding could truly become part of a ninja's strength.
Thirdly, Jiraiya believed that a ninja's growth should be gradual. From what Minato and Kushina had told him, Jiraiya already had a fairly accurate grasp of Hagoromo's abilities. Setting aside the sheer variety of jutsus Hagoromo could already use, the fact that someone his age could skillfully—one might even say masterfully—wield two chakra natures was already remarkable. As for a third nature transformation, Jiraiya felt there was no need to rush it. Let it come naturally. There was no need to force accelerated training methods.
Ninjas needed to grow step by step.
Jiraiya believed that ninjutsu was not everything to a ninja. Or rather, there were things far more important than the jutsus they mastered.
How did Orochimaru define a ninja?
To him, a ninja was someone who could use ninjutsu.
How did Jiraiya define a ninja?
He believed a ninja was someone who could endure anything.
The difference between their philosophies was obvious.
Of course, this was Jiraiya's own view, and he hadn't gone out of his way to explain all this to Hagoromo in detail.
As for Hagoromo himself, he naturally hoped to master Water Release as soon as possible.
This war was not over. Sooner or later, he would return to the battlefield—and that moment likely wasn't far off.
Increasing his combat strength was therefore necessary, in preparation for a battlefield he could be sent to at any time.
In terms of raw maximum combat power, setting aside Hagoromo's own special circumstances, and looking only at ninjas and ninjutsu: if his current maximum offensive output was 100, then even after mastering Water Release, that number would not exceed 100.
Because no matter what, excluding sealing jutsus and the like, Hagoromo at his strongest was still Hagoromo using Lightning Release.
But battles weren't calculated that way.
The more ninjutsu a ninja mastered, the richer and more flexible their attack methods became. The more options they had in combat, the easier it was to catch an enemy off guard.
And that made victory easier to achieve. More methods usually meant greater overall strength.
Still, Hagoromo's progress in Water Release training could not be considered fast.
Of course, he had no idea that in the future, someone would train chakra nature transformation by abusing Shadow Clones—splitting into thousands of bodies and completing training in an absurdly short time. The idea that the Shadow Clone jutsu could be used that way had never even crossed Hagoromo's mind.
And even if he did know, his chakra reserves wouldn't allow it. Even if they did, he wouldn't use such a method.
The reason was simple: Hagoromo's individual efficiency was extremely high—far higher than Naruto's would be in the future. If he were to create two thousand Shadow Clones and then dispel them all at once, the massive influx of information returning to his main body would probably fry his brain.
Having ninjutsu consume his brain—what a tragic outcome that would be.
Unless absolutely necessary, Hagoromo would never choose a training method that placed an excessive burden on his mind. Having a healthy brain was crucial to him.
Alright, that was a bit of a redundant statement. A healthy brain was important to anyone—but for Hagoromo, it was more important than usual.
Thus, the only viable option for him was steady, step-by-step training.
Five days after Hagoromo returned to Konoha, inside his own home—
Hagoromo sat on a chair. On the table in front of him was a glass filled a little over halfway with water.
He brought his hands together and formed a hand seal. Chakra gathered in the palm of his left hand. He laid his left arm flat on the table and pressed his palm against the glass.
Then, despite the glass not being full to begin with, the water level began to rise—until it overflowed from the rim.
If this had been somewhere else, his actions might have looked like some sort of reinforcement-type ability training. But here, it had nothing to do with that. He was simply extracting Water-nature chakra and attempting to apply Water Release.
Water Release: "We Produce Water, Not Transport It" jutsu.
Compared to five days ago, Hagoromo's progress was obvious. At this pace, in about a month, his instantaneous Water-nature chakra conversion should be sufficient to support low-rank Water Release jutsus.
In roughly three months, his Water-nature chakra should be enough to sustain B-rank or higher Water Release ninjutsu—this estimate being based purely on chakra conversion efficiency, without factoring in other elements such as hand seals or combat application.
Hagoromo didn't withdraw his hand immediately. He intended to test his sustained chakra output and conversion ability, even if only with a very small amount of chakra.
But he abandoned the idea.
He stopped releasing chakra, pulled his hand away from the glass, casually wiped the wet palm on his shirt, and walked toward the door.
He grasped the handle and opened it.
An ANBU ninja was standing right outside his house.
Of course, this wasn't coincidence.
"Kamishiro Hagoromo," the ANBU said. "The Third Hokage summons you."
The ANBU paused briefly at Hagoromo opening the door so suddenly, but didn't make a big deal out of it. He simply delivered the order as instructed.
"Time?" Hagoromo asked, nodding.
That was one of the advantages of dealing with ANBU—no pleasantries, no nonsense. If there was business, they spoke. If not, they ignored you entirely.
"Immediately."
"Understood."
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