Naruto watched Jiraiya's performance with an awkward expression, then frowned and asked, "Was that toad yours just now? Why did it attack me?" Faced with Naruto's question, Jiraiya didn't quite know how to respond.
Everything was completely different from what he had anticipated. His entrance was supposed to be so impressive, yet Naruto wasn't awestruck at all? Standing on the toad's head, Jiraiya also felt a bit embarrassed.
But he had encountered such situations many times before. Jiraiya regained his composure and introduced himself to Naruto. "Kid, how dare you speak so rudely to this Toad Sage. Do you know who I am?"
Naruto looked at Jiraiya with a calm expression, making Jiraiya feel very awkward. Forcing himself to continue, he said, "This Toad Sage is none other than Jiraiya of the Legendary Sannin."
As soon as Jiraiya finished speaking, Naruto, who had been calm, suddenly widened his eyes and stared at Jiraiya. "Who did you say you are?" Seeing Naruto's intense gaze, Jiraiya felt a bit uneasy and stammered, "Jiraiya, of course. Don't you recognize me?"
Jiraiya thought Naruto didn't know him. But Naruto took a few steps toward the toad, looked at Jiraiya, and shouted, "You're Jiraiya of the Legendary Sannin?"
Seeing that Naruto recognized him, Jiraiya laughed heartily, "Of course I am. What do you think? Are you shocked?" Naruto ignored Jiraiya's words, looking at him with anticipation, "Are you the Jiraiya who is mentioned alongside Orochimaru and Tsunade as the Legendary Sannin?" Jiraiya found Naruto's excitement a bit strange but admitted, "Yes, that's right. Are you surprised?"
Naruto ignored Jiraiya again and said to himself, "So the village is saved. You can definitely defeat Orochimaru, right?" Naruto looked up at Jiraiya and asked. Seeing Naruto's expectant gaze, Jiraiya felt a bit odd.
However, he confidently replied, "Of course, but how do you know about the Sannin, and Orochimaru and Tsunade? Who told you all this?" Naruto ignored Jiraiya once more. After Jiraiya confirmed it, Naruto jumped up excitedly, "Yay, the village is saved! I have to tell Kakashi-sensei and Sakura."
Seeing Naruto about to run off, Jiraiya's mouth twitched slightly. "This guy has ignored this sage so many times." "But for him to know so much about the Sannin, it seems he's learned well at the ninja academy."
Jiraiya assumed Naruto learned about the Sannin at the ninja academy. Seeing Naruto about to leave, Jiraiya quickly stopped him, "Hold on, kid." Just as he was about to tell Kakashi and Sakura about the appearance of the Sannin, Naruto turned around and asked Jiraiya irritably, "What is it?"
Jiraiya, speechless, said, "I'm one of the Sannin. Don't you have anything you want to say to me?" Naruto paused for a moment, muttering to himself, "Right, you're one of the Sannin. I should have something to say to you, shouldn't I?" Naruto's words left Jiraiya even more speechless.
"You really are a bit slow, aren't you?" Naruto wasn't angry, and he asked Jiraiya, "Was that toad yours just now? Why did it attack me?"
This was all part of Jiraiya's plan. So he pretended to be profound and nodded, "That's right, that toad just now was summoned by this Toad Sage."
"A summoning beast?" Naruto asked curiously. Jiraiya nodded, "That's right. How about it, pretty powerful, huh?"
"It is indeed powerful, but it's still not my match," Naruto said confidently. Jiraiya was a bit speechless. If Kakashi had told him earlier that Naruto had mastered the Rasengan, he wouldn't have summoned that toad. Instead, he would have summoned a more powerful one.
However, Jiraiya was quite pleased. After all, Naruto had grown well over the years. At his age, mastering the Rasengan was impressive, and even without it, Naruto's taijutsu skills and combat awareness had already reached the level of a Chunin. Jiraiya had originally thought Naruto would be much weaker.
Jiraiya looked at Naruto and smiled, "Kid, I have even more powerful summoning beasts. Do you want to learn from me?" Naruto was taken aback for a moment, then frowned and asked, "Are you suggesting I learn ninjutsu from you?" Jiraiya nodded confidently, thinking Naruto wouldn't refuse.
But after thinking for a while, Naruto shook his head and said, "No, I can't learn from you. Even though you're one of the Sannin, I'm Kakashi-sensei's student, and I believe Kakashi-sensei can make me stronger."
"Because Yoruha was taught by Kakashi-sensei, and Yoruha is not inferior to you." Although Naruto saw Yoruha as a rival to surpass, he trusted Yoruha deeply.
Moreover, Yoruha had also created a training plan for Naruto, which Naruto handed over to Kakashi to train him accordingly. In less than a month, he already felt much stronger than before. Naruto believed that following Yoruha's plan, he would become very strong in no time, and once he mastered the power of the Nine-Tails, he could surpass both Yoruha and Sasuke.
Naturally, he wasn't interested in learning from Jiraiya. Jiraiya hadn't expected Naruto to refuse him. Looking at Naruto in surprise, Jiraiya asked, "Do you not know my strength?"
"Do you think your teacher is stronger than me?" Naruto looked up at Jiraiya and shook his head seriously, "I didn't say that. You're one of the Sannin, and Kakashi-sensei has told me how powerful you all are."
"You all have Kage-level strength, much stronger than Kakashi-sensei." Jiraiya looked at Naruto, puzzled, "Then why would you refuse?"
Naruto smiled at Jiraiya and said, "Because Kakashi-sensei is more likely to make me stronger." Jiraiya was completely baffled, "But if you follow me, you'll become stronger. I'm stronger than Kakashi and can teach you more powerful ninjutsu."
Naruto chuckled, "Maybe, but Kakashi-sensei suits me better." Jiraiya was at a loss for words. This was the first time someone had refused him.
In the past, people begged him to be their teacher, and now, when he offered himself, he was turned down. It was too embarrassing. "Why do you think Kakashi is better than me?"
Naruto thought for a moment and said, "I didn't say Kakashi-sensei is better than you. It's just that he knows better how to make me stronger. A friend once told me that the best method is the one that suits you. No matter how good something is, if it doesn't suit you, it won't make you stronger."
Jiraiya was stunned. He hadn't expected Naruto to say something like that. He had read some of Naruto's files before, and in those, Naruto wouldn't have said such things.
What Jiraiya didn't know was that the files he read were outdated. Recently, Yoruha had changed a lot about Team 7, and Kakashi was more serious about the three than in the original story. The three were now much stronger than in the original.
Moreover, Naruto trusted Kakashi because Kakashi had unwavering faith in him. Yoruha's training plan had indeed made him much stronger. Naturally, no matter how strong Jiraiya was, Naruto felt that Jiraiya couldn't understand him better than Yoruha.