After entering the room.
"Thank you so much, Kyoichi!"
Jiraiya bowed deeply and solemnly.
"Lord Jiraiya, there's no need for this. I was just saying it casually, and it's still hard to say whether it'll be useful..."
Kyoichi was somewhat surprised.
Jiraiya was his elder, after all.
Such a grand bow was really inappropriate, but Jiraiya was very insistent and did not stop because of Kyoichi's words.
Fortunately, they were indoors.
Jiraiya carried the things inside and placed them on the table. Kyoichi then tossed over a cushion.
The two sat down.
The atmosphere was different from the last time they had met.
Previously, at the tavern, Kyoichi had been the junior. Jiraiya had called him in partly to meet him and partly to let Orochimaru get to know him again.
But this time...
"There are many things Orochimaru and Tsunade don't know about, such as why I took Yahiko and the others as my disciples."
Jiraiya poured himself a cup of wine and spoke with a broad smile.
It seemed...
He planned to share his secrets with Kyoichi.
Kyoichi opened his mouth.
He wanted to refuse.
But then.
After thinking it over, he felt that knowing this probably wouldn't matter much.
Mount Myōboku didn't know about him, anyway.
Jiraiya began telling him about how he had gone to Mount Myōboku and met the Toad Sage. He rambled on from beginning to end, and the story was more or less the same as the one Kyoichi had seen in Naruto in his previous life.
The only difference was...
According to Jiraiya, he had been wise and mighty. The moment the Toad Sage saw him, he had recognized him as a genius and begged him to sign a contract with Mount Myōboku...
It was obvious enough who had the problem.
Kyoichi