This Kid is All Black Inside

"That's fine too."

Kyoichi didn't refuse.

Exchanging secret techniques was a common practice among many ninjas.

Of course.

Family secret techniques were generally not passed down, and these were mostly self-created secret techniques, like Jiraiya's hair-based Ninjutsu.

Needle Jizo was very practical, there was no reason to refuse.

He explained the principles and methods of the Seven Heavenly Breathing Methods, and then detailed some of the localized effects he had developed from skin breathing—

Leg enhancement, increasing speed.

Hands enhancement for hand seals.

He even planned to achieve single-handed hand seals later, allowing Ninjutsu and swordsmanship to be used concurrently.

Jiraiya listened intently.

After all, he was one of the Sannin, with profound knowledge accumulation. Coupled with his existing foundation in skin breathing, he quickly learned the localized enhancement—in fact, this was the effect Jiraiya coveted the most.

Compared to the genuine Seven Heavenly Breathing Methods, he preferred the localized stimulation of the Activation Technique.

After experimenting...

Jiraiya said, "This technique is too useful. Although the learning difficulty is S-rank, I think it can be promoted as a learnable forbidden technique."

"Really? I was thinking of lowering the learning difficulty a bit more..."

"Difficult, very difficult!"

Jiraiya understood Kyoichi's intention.

If this technique could be lowered to A-rank difficulty, then many Jonin and elite Chunin would have a chance to master it, greatly increasing their survival rate on the battlefield.

But stimulating cells itself was delicate work.

Without sufficient chakra control, it was impossible to master. And Kyoichi's current research on skin breathing was even more difficult; it couldn't possibly reach A-rank, no matter how much it was lowered.

Kyoichi could only sigh regretfully.

"Now it's my turn to teach you. My technique is called Needle Jizo..."

With hand seals and chakra extraction techniques, the Ninjutsu was not difficult to learn.

Kyoichi quickly mastered it.

However, he was curious about Jiraiya's initial motivation for creating this technique.

Was he afraid of getting beaten when peeking?

He couldn't figure it out.

After exchanging secret techniques, Jiraiya bid farewell to Kyoichi and left with a chuckle.

Who knew if he would "get lost" again.

Kyoichi shook his head.

The Sannin were truly...

Each with their own hobbies.

He glanced at the system panel.

[Completed 'Secret Technique Exchange']

[Evaluation: Average]

[Reward: Seal Fire Seal]

Average?

Kyoichi was first surprised, then understood the reason.

Jiraiya didn't need him to teach him at all. In fact, after Kyoichi explained the principles, Jiraiya had already figured out how to use the Activation Technique, but he was too embarrassed to just accept it for free.

Therefore, the system classified it as an "exchange" rather than teaching, and the evaluation was not high.

However.

The Seal Fire Seal could even seal Amaterasu, and it was very practical in itself—if the Fourth Raikage knew the Seal Fire Seal, would he need to cut off his arm directly?

It showed that drawing inferences about other cases from one instance was useful.

He also gained Needle Jizo, and the Seal Fire Seal was essentially obtained for free. Moreover, sealing techniques were very precious and had extremely high learning difficulties. Learning one was definitely not a loss.

Thinking this way, his mind instantly became clear.

As for Jiraiya...

As a righteous person, he could not tolerate such a thing happening.

As he left the woods, he encountered a female teacher from the Ninja Academy and casually mentioned that someone was lurking around suspiciously.

A moment later.

A scream rang out, followed by a barrage of curses.

Kyoichi coughed lightly, leaving the scene, his merits and fame deeply hidden.

After a long while.

Jiraiya appeared before Kyoichi with a mournful expression.

"Little Kyoichi, I barely hid myself before someone showed up. You definitely sold me out!"

"Lord Jiraiya, I didn't. Someone just happened to pass by. By the way, I heard you almost died because of something like this in your younger days?"

Kyoichi chuckled.

Jiraiya gritted his teeth, the two of them understanding each other perfectly.

However, thinking about this brat's identity...

His whole body trembled.

If Tsunade knew he had almost gotten Kyoichi involved in that kind of business, she would have beaten him half to death.

"Sigh, I just tend to get lost easily. Look at this misunderstanding. I really shouldn't have drunk that wine. Cough, cough, I'm leaving, I'm leaving."

Jiraiya coughed awkwardly and then decisively left.

Returning to the village, he suddenly remembered.

Why did the name Kanda Kyoichi sound so familiar?

Minato's letters had mentioned him multiple times, praising his talented junior who had all sorts of brilliant ideas and was particularly skilled in education. It seemed that guy was also Kyoichi.

"Minato was still too young."

Jiraiya sighed.

This kid looked innocent, but he was dark on the inside, just like Orochimaru.

Of course.

He didn't think there was anything wrong with Kyoichi.

He was creative, passionate about the village, and willing to share many techniques to help Konoha become stronger.

He had also learned about the Ninja Academy.

Kyoichi had done a great job.

If nothing else.

This year's batch of graduates was definitely the highest quality among all graduates in recent years. Their foundation in ninjutsu was very solid, and they would quickly integrate into the genin teams.

The special training was also a brilliant idea.

Many things weren't difficult, but no one had thought of them. Kyoichi's ideas were precisely this type.

In Jiraiya's opinion, Kyoichi was the same kind of person as Orochimaru.

Kyoichi was unaware that Jiraiya held him in such high regard. After parting ways with Jiraiya, he went directly to the Hokage Building to fulfill his promise and submit the phased results of the Activation Technique.

As a result.

He ran into the Third Hokage. Before he could even mention the technique, the Third Hokage brought up a troublesome matter.

"After Asuma returned, he told me he wanted to take on B-rank missions to train himself. Did you instigate him?"

"Misunderstanding!"

Kyoichi coughed repeatedly upon hearing this.

That guy Asuma actually went and caused trouble?

He was just joking!

"Alright, alright, stop pretending. I know you have the ability, and Asuma has made great progress, becoming much more mature in all aspects. Take a look at this first..."

The Third Hokage produced a mission scroll.

Kyoichi was stunned for a moment.

There was actually a mission?

He took it and read it for a while, his expression gradually becoming serious.

The mission location: Land of Rivers!

This was intelligence provided by bandits they had captured.

Those people were originally wandering samurai from the Land of Rivers.

Although they made a living by plundering in the Land of Rivers, they generally didn't dare to come to the Land of Fire. However, recently, there had been many ninja in the Land of Rivers who were clearing out the bandits, forcing these people to flee to the Land of Fire.

Northern Land of Rivers, ninja...

Akatsuki?

Kyoichi considered this possibility in his heart.

He said solemnly, "Lord Hokage, this isn't a B-rank mission, is it?"

This kind of mission could be upgraded to A-rank or even S-rank at any time.

Shisui and the others might not be able to handle it.

He wasn't reckless like Kakashi, who insisted on completing the mission in the Land of Waves alone despite knowing the situation. If Haku hadn't held back, Naruto and Sasuke would have been in serious danger.

"Of course not."

The Third Hokage nodded and paused before continuing, "Minato's team left for the Land of Rivers two days ago on a C-rank mission. While it shouldn't be too dangerous, I want you to go and provide backup. This is Minato's kunai."

"Is this mark the Flying Thunder God?"

"Yes, if they encounter danger, Minato can teleport everyone to your side. The Anbu are all deployed in other countries right now, and there's no spare manpower. We can only send you to complete it, and the village will cover the payment."

The Third Hokage sighed.

They had to monitor the Land of Wind, Land of Earth, and Land of Lightning. With Orochimaru's recent visit and his mention of Kyoichi, they were told to send people to the Land of Water in the east as well.

The Great War had just ended, how could they have so many people?

"Understood, I'll depart immediately."