"Oh?"
Mikami Yuu, Kakashi, and Obito exchanged glances, all of them interested.
Yuu had a rough idea of Jiraiya's ninjutsu set.
Most of Jiraiya's regular elemental techniques should have come from Sarutobi Hiruzen; his sage arts came from Mount Myōboku; his sealing techniques were uncertain, but definitely not self-created. So aside from joke techniques like "throw all the shuriken outward," only a few techniques seemed to fit the condition.
Hair-based secret arts such as Wild Lion's Mane and Hair Needle Senbon; the Toad Transformation Technique that turned people into frogs; and the ghost-possession-like Toad Flat Shadow Manipulation Technique.
If Jiraiya was planning to teach one of those…
Yuu thought that would be pretty good.
However…
"This technique is called—Transparent Escape!"
Jiraiya proudly shook his wine cup and said, "This so-called Transparent Escape was born to observe the truths of the world! Once mastered, hehe, wherever your gaze reaches, every fine detail will be revealed. No matter what kind of wonderful scenery it is, you can take it all in at once! Back then, I used this technique at Konoha's hot springs…"
"Cough, cough, cough!"
Minato suddenly broke into a violent coughing fit, cutting off Jiraiya's increasingly outrageous speech.
"Sensei! You've had too much to drink! We can discuss teaching ninjutsu after you're sober!"
If he kept talking, he was probably going to say something that would corrupt the children…
Kakashi and Obito looked at each other, confused.
Only Yuu's mouth twitched, his face full of speechlessness.
Alright.
And here he'd thought Jiraiya was about to say something profound. So it was this…
In the original story, Jiraiya did know a technique called "Transparent Escape," but he had never shown it publicly. It was probably some kind of technique for hiding his presence, though its actual effectiveness was questionable—after all, Jiraiya had once been caught red-handed by Tsunade while peeping, and had eight ribs broken for it.
Of course, considering Tsunade was a descendant of the Senju clan and might have strong sensory ability, being discovered by her didn't prove that Transparent Escape was useless against ordinary ninja.
More importantly, when Jiraiya said those words just now, a text box appeared in front of Yuu.
[From a white-haired uncle, you have learned the name of a young lady. It is said that this girl has a graceful figure and dazzling beauty. Please decide whether to seize this opportunity and have a fated encounter with that mysterious young lady: Yes / No]
That's right.
Transparent Escape had been recognized by the galgame system!
Since it had been recognized…
Then it was highly worth learning.
Judging from the previous Three Basic Jutsu, the galgame system sometimes had the ability to turn rotten wood into a miracle. For example, the ordinary Substitution Technique in other people's hands had been turned by Yuu into a low-spec version of Flying Thunder God. In theory, Transparent Escape might be able to repeat that miracle.
And even if it couldn't, that was fine.
It was still a functional ninjutsu, so there was no harm in practicing it. Just yesterday, Yuu had finally maxed out Phoenix Sage Fire Technique's affection, so he could now spare some time and energy to work on the other targets in his "harem," or look for new encounter targets…
On the other side,
after being interrupted by Minato, Jiraiya also realized that what he'd just said had been a little inappropriate. He scratched his head.
"Ha, haha, true. That technique is still a little too early for you kids… No problem. I'll just switch to another one!"
"How about this? Tomorrow morning at nine, come to the training ground. Don't bring ninja tools. I'll think about what would be best to teach you."
"For now, just rest and enjoy the holiday. Don't worry about patrol today."
After saying that, Jiraiya laughed it off, stood up, and went to drink with the other jōnin.
Minato sat down, accepted a piece of barbecue from Rin, took a bite, and brought up another topic.
"Yuu, Rin, and Obito, there's something I should tell you in advance.
"Jiraiya-sensei just received news from Konoha today. One item concerns the Chūnin Exams…"
"The Chūnin Exams?"
"That's right. Although you've already been on the battlefield for several months, strictly speaking, you are all still genin. You need to go through the selection process of the Chūnin Exams to be promoted."
Minato explained, then continued, "The Third Hokage's intention is for our team to return when we have time, probably for about half a month, and participate in this exam. What do you think?"
"…That's a good thing!"
Obito was the first to stand up, thrilled. "I've been wanting to cut down Kakashi and take his chūnin vest for myself! Come to think of it, it's been a long time since we've seen Asuma, Guy, and the others. When we go back this time, I'll definitely show them how amazing I, Uchiha Obito, have become!"
Mm, as the saying went: returning home without showing off wealth was like walking at night in brocade.
Ever since Obito awakened the Sharingan, he had barely been able to restrain the urge to boast. He practically wanted to ask people eight hundred times a day, "How did you know I awakened the Sharingan?" But there were only so many familiar faces here in Wildfire City, so many times he couldn't find an audience even when he wanted to show off.
Konoha was different.
Obito knew many people there, and many still looked at him as "dead last." If he went back now, activated his Sharingan in front of those people, and showed off properly…
Just thinking about it felt amazing!
Obito's eyes shone, and he felt like his Sharingan was already starving for action.
Objectively speaking, the current Obito really was fairly strong. After all, the Sharingan's boost was obvious, and he had also spent several months tempering himself on the southwestern battlefield. If he didn't pull any bizarre stunts, there really weren't many among his peers who could defeat him.
—Assuming teammates weren't allowed to fight each other.
"I have a question…"
Rin raised her small hand, catching one detail. "Minato-sensei, if all of us pass the Chūnin Exams… can we still keep doing missions together? I heard that once someone becomes a chūnin, they have to start serving as a squad captain…"
"Under normal circumstances, yes."
Minato nodded, then changed direction. "But this is wartime. At least until this war ends, our squad won't disband. However, if all of you become chūnin, you may start acting separately from me."
"…"
Yuu fell into thought.
Logically speaking, a squad made up of four chūnin—with two jōnin-level fighters like Yuu and Kakashi among them—was indeed qualified to carry out missions independently. In fact, their team was very strong, enough to count as an elite squad.
The problem was…
Team Minato's greatest enemy was not Suna, or later Kumo and Iwa…
but that old thing hiding god-knows-where, Uchiha Madara.
That made things a little troublesome.
~~~
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