How About a Bet

On the road outside Konohagakure, the master of white and the disciple of gold traveled side-by-side.

Not far behind them followed another person, also a disciple of gold.

A Shadow Clone.

Jiraiya carried only a giant scroll on his back, his left sleeve empty; Naruto, on the other hand, had a backpack and was chatting casually with Jiraiya.

The Shadow Clone trailing behind them walked with its head bowed, paying attention to its palm, where a black sphere was condensing.

The prototype of the Rasengan, the Tailed Beast Bomb.

"Hey, Pervy Sage, where are we going to find Grandma Tsunade?" Naruto asked curiously. This point in time was much earlier than the time "in the memory" when they, master and disciple, went to find Tsunade, so he naturally didn't know how Jiraiya found her.

In fact, even in that memory, "he" barely knew how Jiraiya found Tsunade's information. This old guy would sneak into all sorts of pleasure districts under the guise of gathering intelligence wherever he went...

"Tsunade is easy to find, as long as..." Jiraiya was about to boast about his understanding of that old woman Tsunade's habits when he suddenly sensed a violent chakra aura explode behind him...

The Tailed Beast Bomb is formed by mixing the tailed beast's chakra with Yin and Yang energies in a 2:8 ratio, making it extremely difficult to control. Especially the Tailed Beast Bomb held on a jinchuriki's palm, it was like holding a restless landmine.

Bang...

The Tailed Beast Bomb in the Shadow Clone's hand unfortunately dispersed, and the scattered, violent tailed beast chakra directly scattered Naruto's clone, with the clone's training experience simultaneously entering Naruto's main body's mind. The master and disciple took two steps forward, dodging the impact.

"Boom!"

Another Shadow Clone Naruto appeared, consciously positioning itself not far behind the two, and began practicing the Tailed Beast Bomb again. In fact, if they weren't traveling, and if they weren't on the road, splitting too many clones would attract too much attention, otherwise Naruto would have already split a hundred or even a hundred and eighty clones to train.

The Chunin Exams were about to begin, and Naruto wanted to become stronger as quickly as possible.

Because that also meant that the "snake" and "raccoon" mentioned by the Great Toad Sage would appear soon.

That would be Orochimaru and Gaara.

Orochimaru was undoubtedly difficult to deal with, and Gaara at this time was even more of a madman. When these two truly threatened the village, Naruto would naturally step forward without hesitation.

With one more point of strength, he could protect one more person at that time.

The master and disciple continued walking as if nothing had happened.

At noon, the master and disciple arrived at a small town.

Unsurprisingly, Jiraiya swaggered into the red-light district, leaving his cute disciple to practice ninjutsu alone in the inn.

Naruto was also happy to have some peace, as he was truly not good at gathering information.

Reviewing the key points of the Flying Thunder God Technique in his mind, Naruto extended his right hand and placed it on the coffee table, channeling chakra from his palm, attempting to draw the unique mark of the Flying Thunder God.

He only managed to draw a blurry outline before the mark became distorted...

"Ah! Failed again!" Naruto scratched his head in frustration.

But he quickly gathered his spirits again and tried once more.

Failure.

Failure.

Failure.

An afternoon passed.

"Ah..." Naruto collapsed onto the small bed, his mind exhausted, sweat beading on his forehead.

How did Dad learn such a difficult jutsu... Recalling the phantom figure of his father, Minato Namikaze, using the Flying Thunder God Technique in his memory, Naruto felt that his father was incredibly cool, but why couldn't he learn it himself...

It felt like just a little bit was missing...

A crucial little bit...

Just one point... He couldn't think of it, couldn't figure it out, and thus he couldn't overcome this hurdle.

And so the jutsu could not be formed.

When Jiraiya returned, reeking of alcohol and perfume, he found Naruto already asleep on the bed from exhaustion. Jiraiya smiled silently, leaned against the window, and quietly gazed at the hazy, setting sun in the distance.

He looked at his severed left arm and thought of his two disciples, who were currently in Amegakure.

Nagato...

For the next full week, Jiraiya and Naruto were on the road searching for Tsunade. Their search range was within two hundred kilometers centered on Konoha; Jiraiya knew that Tsunade wouldn't be too far from the village.

Every time they arrived at a town, they would first visit all the local casinos, asking for news of the "legendary big spender." The casino owners and regulars would usually shake their heads with regret and sorrow, saying, "Haven't seen that person in a while," sighing, "What a big chunk of income lost..."

Naruto wasn't idle on the road either. Besides practicing the Tailed Beast Bomb diligently, he was also repeatedly dissecting and analyzing the Flying Thunder God Technique, experimenting over and over, but all attempts failed without exception.

There was just a hurdle blocking his path.

"Do I have to do it that way... I feel a bit embarrassed..." Naruto rubbed his nose. Compared to doing that, he wanted to learn this jutsu himself and stand before that person.

Proudly standing before his father.

However, unexpectedly, before he could seek his father's guidance, the fat... Tsunade appeared.

"Bang!"

A sake bottle suddenly landed on her table. Tsunade, her cheeks flushed red, knitted her brows. Who dared to court death by bothering her? Glaring up with a killing intent, she saw Jiraiya grinning shamelessly and saying, "You've drunk so much... how much did you lose today?"

"Get lost!" Tsunade roared in anger, raising her hand as a warning. Jiraiya flinched and instinctively moved a foot away from her.

Shizune, cradling the pig Tonton, sat opposite Tsunade and apologized sheepishly to Jiraiya, "I'm sorry, Lord Jiraiya, Lady Tsunade has had a bit too much to drink..."

"Who says I'm drunk!" Tsunade slammed the sake bottle back onto the table with a "bang" and yelled at Shizune, displeased.

I never said you were drunk... Shizune thought aggrievedly, but she didn't dare to retort to Lady Tsunade at a time like this.

You've really worked hard, Shizune... Jiraiya thought silently. So many years had passed, yet that old hag Tsunade's fiery temper hadn't changed one bit.

"What are you doing here, Jiraiya? Come to peek into the women's bathhouse?" Tsunade taunted drunkenly, gulping down several mouthfuls of sake.

Jiraiya's lips twitched. Just then, Naruto walked over from behind and asked curiously, "Pervy Sage, what are you doing... Huh? Isn't that Grandma Tsunade? Great, I finally found you!"

"Are you two specifically looking for Lady Tsunade?" Shizune asked, surprised.

"Pervy Sage... haha... that really suits you..." Tsunade laughed heartily, slapping the table without any regard for her image, tears almost welling up in her eyes. "Who is this brat? Is he that interesting? Pervy Sage... hahaha..."

Jiraiya's head ached.

"Who he is... won't you know if you look closely?" Jiraiya said calmly.

"Hmm? Look closely?..." Tsunade leaned in, her eyes hazy with drink, scrutinizing Naruto from head to toe. Her expression... gradually cleared up.

"Why did you bring him out?" Tsunade questioned Jiraiya sternly.

Shizune also observed Naruto closely, finding him nothing special... were those whisker-like marks on his face?

"Because Naruto, he's a bit different from what you might expect," Jiraiya said with a smile.

"Hmph..." Tsunade scoffed dismissively, but she couldn't be bothered to argue further with Jiraiya. She also didn't want to deal with the village's troublesome affairs anymore and tilted her head back for another swig of sake.

She had involuntarily used her medical chakra to metabolize the alcohol in her body earlier and needed to replenish it... Tsunade needed to get drunk right now because she didn't want to be sober today. Every moment, every minute, every second of today was too painful and agonizing for Tsunade.

Nawaki... Shizune mouthed the words to Jiraiya.

Jiraiya suddenly remembered that it was the anniversary of Tsunade's younger brother, Nawaki's, death. His mood also grew heavy. That once vibrant young boy had been gone for so many years without them realizing.

Tsunade continued drinking by herself, showing no intention of engaging with Jiraiya anymore.

Jiraiya fell into silence for a moment, but someone clearly couldn't hold back...

"Hey! Old woman! How long are you going to keep drinking!" Naruto grabbed Tsunade's hand, which was holding the sake bottle, and looked at the young and beautiful elder with determined eyes. "There's no time to waste! The village needs you now! Soon, you'll even need to take on the position of Hokage! Hurry back to Konoha with us!"

Tsunade almost laughed out loud in anger and tried to shake off Naruto's hand. To her surprise, she couldn't, due to her carelessness. Tsunade was utterly enraged and grabbed Naruto's hand with her other hand, grinning menacingly. "Brat, do you want to die? Hokage? What kind of crap is that? Only fools would want to be Hokage!"

Jiraiya held his forehead at the side.

What kind of grip does Tsunade have?

Naruto pulled his hand away in pain, but his gaze remained firm. "Hokage... is my dream! I will definitely become Hokage!"

Tsunade looked at him with disdain, taking a small sip of sake.

Grandma Tsunade is really infuriating right now... Naruto gritted his teeth. "Then, how about a bet with me, Grandma, who thinks Hokage is crap?"

He extended his right hand, and a blue sphere of chakra light formed rapidly.

"I bet I can learn the Fourth Hokage's Flying Thunder God Technique within a week!"