Toad Boss, Here to Pay His Respects!

Sasuke took a deep breath, focused his mind once more, gathered Chakra beneath his feet, and walked toward the water.

"Hey! What are you doing? Didn't the Perverted Sage tell you not to train?"

Seeing this, Naruto shouted.

"Sasuke! Why are you disobeying again? Naruto, pull him back up!"

Hearing the commotion, Jiraiya raised his head from beneath the tree and called out to them.

"I've already recovered!"

Sasuke said stubbornly.

"Fine, but this time, you still can't go over fifteen minutes! And if you fall into the water even once, Training ends immediately!"

Jiraiya said helplessly.

Without saying a word, Sasuke slowly practiced in the water.

He bent over and braced both hands against the surface of the water.

With his feet fixed in place, he crawled forward on his hands. Once he reached his limit, he pulled back, slowly inverted himself, then slowly lowered his feet and stood atop the water. That counted as one set.

Seeing Sasuke's trembling hands, Naruto could not help trying to persuade him again.

"Hey! Don't push yourself! What's so cool about showing off like this?"

Sasuke did not answer. He merely asked casually, "Come to think of it, do you remember someone named Yakushi Kabuto?"

"Oh? You mean Kabuto Senior?" Naruto asked.

The moment Sasuke heard that Naruto knew him, he flipped upright on the water and hurriedly asked, "You know him?"

"You met him too!" Naruto said. "Before the first round of the Chunin Exams started, there was a senior who'd taken the exam seven times in a row and still never passed. Don't you remember?"

"He had a bunch of ninja cards. Oh, and he got into a conflict with Sound Ninja Dosu!" Naruto continued, trying to jog his memory.

Sasuke suddenly remembered, stumbled, and nearly fell into the water.

It was not that he did not remember the man.

It was just that the man had seemed so weak at the exam venue that it was hard to connect him to the Anbu ninja from that night.

Thinking back on it, their glasses really had been identical!

Sasuke understood.

Compared to before, the situation had become a little clearer.

Next, as long as he figured out who Yakushi Kabuto was working for, all his doubts would be resolved.

After returning to shore, Sasuke hesitated over whether to tell Kakashi about this information.

Ever since Jiraiya had told him that the Third Hokage was not a suspect, Sasuke had felt somewhat guilty about his earlier attitude toward Kakashi.

Now that someone had died, Kakashi and the village must be frantic as well.

But Sasuke quickly reconsidered. If he told them, he would not be able to explain the source of his information. For all he knew, he might even have to hand over the sacred artifact on his chest.

Smart people did not stumble over the same thing twice.

With that thought, Sasuke immediately dismissed the idea.

"Sasuke! Come take a look! Does this frog's tail seem a little short?"

Naruto was filthy, but he still eagerly invited Sasuke to inspect his Tailed Frog.

I really have to admire this guy.

Sasuke thought to himself. Nearly two weeks of nonstop Training without any progress, and he could still keep up such incredible enthusiasm.

Jiraiya watched his two disciples in thought for a long time. At last, he made up his mind, put away his manuscript, and walked over.

"You've trained for so long, yet you're still at this level. I'm afraid there's no point in continuing."

Jiraiya said to Naruto.

"Th-that's not true!" Naruto protested. "I've been training with everything I've got."

"I know, I know." Jiraiya waved a hand and sighed. "But this won't do. We should consider another method."

"Huh? There's a secret trick? If there was, why didn't you tell me sooner? You Perverted Sage!"

Naruto said excitedly.

"However, you need to have the resolve to stake your life on it. Can you do that?" Jiraiya asked seriously.

"Stake... my life?"

Naruto and Sasuke were both secretly shocked, unable to tell what Jiraiya was planning.

"This is no joke. Do you still want to continue Training?" Jiraiya asked.

"O-of course! I've always had that resolve!"

Naruto said, forcing a brave front.

"Fine. Then follow me."

Jiraiya stood and motioned for his two disciples to follow.

Afterward, the three of them headed to Hot Springs Street and enjoyed a long soak in the hot springs.

Then they went together to eat Naruto's favorite, Ichiraku Ramen.

Finally, Jiraiya asked, "Naruto, is there any girl you like?"

Caught off guard by the question, Naruto immediately became bashful and fidgety.

"Well, I don't know, hehe... Um, Sakura is pretty cute, I guess. Hehehe."

"Very good! Go right now and give that girl a tight hug!"

"Huh?! This is Training too?"

Naruto's face lit up with joy.

If this counted as Training, Naruto figured he could keep it up for a hundred days straight!

Standing nearby, Sasuke felt that the two of them spent their days doing nonsense, but it was kind of amusing.

"You bastard! What do you think you're doing?!"

Unfortunately, after Sakura gave him a brutal beating, Naruto learned what it meant to touch a rose with thorns.

Returning with a huge lump on his head, Naruto asked, "Hey, Perverted Sage, can I really learn the Summoning Technique like this?"

"That's right. Absolutely."

As Jiraiya spoke, he led the two of them to the top of a waterfall cliff.

Then he turned to Naruto and said seriously,

"Now, you don't have anything holding you back anymore, right?"

"What's holding me back? Also, where are we?"

Naruto asked blankly.

"If danger and anger are the key to drawing out the Nine-Tails' Chakra, then you need to learn how to make your body remember how to flip that switch."

Jiraiya went on speaking as if to himself.

"Training ends here."

"What do you mean, ends? I haven't learned anything yet!" Naruto protested.

"Now, please go die."

Jiraiya said seriously.

"Huh?"

Naruto did not understand.

Sasuke seemed to realize something and watched the two of them nervously.

"Release enormous Chakra through the fear of death. Use your own body to experience it and find the trick."

"If you don't want to die, figure it out yourself!"

Jiraiya let out a thunderous shout and tapped Naruto's Headband. Naruto immediately flew backward at high speed.

"W-wait!"

Sasuke, realizing what was happening, hurriedly shouted.

But it was already too late.

Naruto plummeted down the cliff. Sasuke reached out to grab him, but only caught the edge of his clothes.

Watching Naruto fall into the ravine, Sasuke's pupils rapidly dilated.

"Now is the moment to see whether your power can be used by you."

Jiraiya slowly walked to Sasuke's side, gazed down into the valley, and said in a low voice.

Meanwhile, Sasuke was already too horrified to speak.

Naruto rapidly gathered Chakra, trying to grab onto the jutting rocks along the cliff face.

However, the waterfall had polished the rocks exceptionally smooth, and with how fast he was falling, Naruto could not steady himself at all.

As the ground rushed toward him, the fear of death clutched Naruto's heart tightly.

"Naruto!!"

Sasuke cried out desperately.

Jiraiya, however, suddenly curled his lips into a faint smile and thought, Here it comes.

Naruto's terrified eyes turned crimson. The next second, he bit through his finger, formed hand seals, and slammed his hand downward.

"Summoning Technique!"

Boom!

A gigantic toad with a pipe clenched in its mouth appeared out of thin air beneath Naruto's feet.

The Toad Boss braced itself with all four limbs, steadied itself between the cliff walls, and easily saved Naruto.