Jiraiya was an open-minded man.
Although Naruto's extraordinary talent had hit him so hard at first that he nearly shut himself away, after some time passed, he accepted reality.
If he had been young, he might have developed the urge to catch up to and surpass Naruto, just like when he had competed with Orochimaru and Tsunade in his youth.
But the Jiraiya of now had already reached the age of knowing the mandate of heaven, and he knew full well that his own strength had already hit a ceiling.
After teaching Naruto every ninjutsu he knew, Jiraiya no longer stayed around Naruto every day, circling him nonstop. Instead, he returned to his usual life of roaming the Shinobi World, visiting brothels until he practically went missing, gathering material and writing.
Only occasionally would he take time out to tell Naruto about some of the things he had seen and heard during his travels through the Shinobi World.
As for Naruto, he lived his life the same as ever.
Training, studying, resting, training...
So it went, again and again.
Until one day, half a year later.
Beside a lake some distance away from the waterfall, Sasuke was practicing the S-Rank Ninjutsu he had created himself, Lightning Release: Kirin.
As the ninjutsu activated, Sasuke formed the seals for Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Technique at a dazzling speed. Using the principle of rising air currents, he created thunderstorm weather, then activated Chidori and used his own body as a lightning rod to draw in the lightning.
Under Sasuke's control, the vast might of nature transformed into the enormous form of a Kirin.
Then that Kirin-shaped form pounced out and crashed into the lake before him.
Boom!
An explosion rang out. Electric currents spilled through the air with a sizzling crackle, and