Jiraiya's Guidance, Composite Ninjutsu

Sarutobi Enju hurried forward and spoke to Jiraiya, while signaling Uchiha Gen with his eyes to take out the bell.

"Haha, it's fine. Orochimaru told me about this little bell too, so don't worry. This bell uses sound-based genjutsu, while Gamabō's works in all directions. With his skill, combining the two will definitely work better than using either one alone!"

At that moment, the sleazy expression transferred to Jiraiya's face.

The pits I've fallen into? No matter what, you guys have to fall into them too!

Sarutobi Enju's face immediately turned even greener, while Utsuki Ruri looked somewhat worried as well.

"Very good. Then let's begin!"

Jiraiya spoke.

"Alright, here I come! You're first, little guy!"

Under Sarutobi Enju's terrified gaze, Gamabō stuck out his long tongue and pounced toward him.

"Don't!"

"Mwah!!!"

Uchiha Gen shut his eyes, unable to bear the sight.

Although Jiraiya and Gamabō knew their limits and the scene was not overly violent, it was still rather bizarre.

A few seconds later, Sarutobi Enju collapsed onto the ground with a terrified expression. Forming hand seals, he desperately tried to disrupt the genjutsu's effect on his own Chakra and dispel it with all his strength.

Well, the scenes within that genjutsu were far more violent and bizarre than reality. Sarutobi Enju had no choice but to give it his all.

"Senior Gamabō, please... please don't hold back. I'll give it everything I have too!"

Utsuki Ruri spoke to Gamabō with a resolute expression.

"A girl... and quite a cute one too. Alright then, it's your turn now."

Gamabō blew Utsuki Ruri a kiss. The flying heart and his long tongue touched her cheek together, hypnotizing her into the world of genjutsu.

"Here, brat. The bell. Turn up the intensity for those two a little more."

Jiraiya held out his hand toward Uchiha Gen.

The latter handed the Genjutsu Bell to Jiraiya, who then tossed it to Gamabō.

"I'll leave them to you, Gamabō. Come on, brat. It's time to let you witness this great master's teaching skills!"

Jiraiya strode forward with his hands on his hips and his head held high, his tone full of confidence.

Two hours later.

On the other side of the Training Ground.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"

"Wind Style: Air Current Wild Dance!"

The massive Great Fireball was swept up and spun by the airflow before slamming into the hardened sandy ground, blasting out an irregular crater.

The powerful impact sent shattered stones flying in every direction. Even the ground briefly glowed red-hot, and after the heat faded, it remained grayish white.

"Tsk, tsk. I really am a genius. With just a little guidance from me, this brat can use Composite Ninjutsu so well."

Jiraiya leaned against a distant tree, his left hand behind his head and a novel with an explicit cover in his right. As he secretly glanced at Uchiha Gen, he could not help boasting to himself.

Whoever got lucky enough to meet a genius teacher like me in the future would truly be fortunate.

On the other side, Uchiha Gen looked at the marks on the ground and let out a small breath of relief. He was fairly satisfied with his progress.

Both Jiraiya and Orochimaru were actually excellent teachers. Judging from their results alone, the former was even better. Aside from Yahiko, who died young, every disciple he taught had become monstrously powerful. Konan, who possessed Kage-level strength, could only rank last among them.

Orochimaru, on the other hand, had taught Sasuke, an absolute monster, but among everyone else he had trained, only Yakushi Kabuto could be considered exceptionally strong. And even then, Kabuto had only truly come into his own after Orochimaru's death, when he absorbed Orochimaru's legacy.

After training with Jiraiya for a while, Uchiha Gen had roughly figured out why the results of their teaching differed so greatly.

Compared to Orochimaru, Jiraiya was undoubtedly much more long-winded. Yet in many respects, Jiraiya was also far more meticulous.

Orochimaru was too much of a genius. Difficulties that others considered major problems were merely trivial matters to him, sometimes not even problems at all.

It was like asking him how to solve a question. Orochimaru would only glance at it, give you a solution that skipped countless steps, then tell you it was already detailed enough. If you still could not understand it, then you were simply stupid, and he had no idea how else to make you understand.

Jiraiya was different. Although his talent far surpassed that of ordinary ninja, his comprehension was inferior to that of his teammate Orochimaru. When he was young, merely keeping up with his squad's progress had already been extremely difficult.

But even slow people had their own ways.

He could not learn ten thousand ninjutsu like Orochimaru, but he could practice one ninjutsu ten thousand times, building an exceptionally solid foundation and using the simplest moves to unleash the greatest power.

He pursued perfection in every detail. No matter how simple a detail was, he had to take it to the extreme.

At the beginning of Shippuden, Naruto had not learned many powerful ninjutsu either, but Jiraiya had cultivated an exceptionally solid foundation for him. That was what allowed him to grow so quickly within a single year.

Nagato and Konan were the same. Jiraiya had not taught them any profound or powerful ninjutsu, and he had not taught them a single ninjutsu belonging to Konoha. Once he believed they had enough ability to protect themselves, he left the Land of Rain early on.

They later became so powerful without receiving further guidance from Jiraiya during their continued growth. Yet the solid foundation Jiraiya had laid for them allowed them to rapidly grow stronger once they found their direction.

It guaranteed a solid lower limit, while the upper limit was also high.

If there was a drawback, it was that Jiraiya's teaching method was rather slow in the early stages and required a great deal of time. It emphasized gradual accumulation and eventual payoff. Without a fortunate encounter or talent like Minato's or Konan's, it was difficult to break through the upper limit.

Orochimaru's approach, meanwhile, was much more directly tied to talent. It was best suited for genius ninja like Uchiha Sasuke and Yakushi Kabuto, who, like Orochimaru himself, possessed high intelligence and strong comprehension. For those of mediocre aptitude, he also had all kinds of forbidden techniques and dark technological methods that could forcibly break through the limits of their strength—though they could easily end up becoming expendable test subjects.

From that perspective, Jiraiya also seemed somewhat suited to him—during the years he had possessed Haruno Sakura's Character Card, he had had enough time to absorb that period of Sakura's abilities as his own. It was practically the same as attending the Ninja Academy twice, giving him an exceptionally solid foundation.

"Well, you've more or less gotten started with Composite Ninjutsu. Wind can continuously stir the air, allowing fire to come into contact with more oxygen and burn more fully. It can also expand the range of the flames. That is the most basic principle behind Wind Release strengthening Fire Release, and with your skill, it isn't difficult.

"But if you want to improve further, you'll need to raise your Wind Release proficiency. Compared with your Fire Release, your Wind Release is still far weaker."