Teaching Jiraiya the Rasengan

Three days later, Jiraiya and the others had recovered from their injuries and started back to Konoha.

"Big Brother Tianqi, our injuries were almost healed by the second day. Why did you insist on staying two extra days? Now we're traveling so slowly. Don't you want to get back to Konoha sooner?"

Tianqi shot Jiraiya a sidelong glance. "You sure talk a lot. Do you still want to learn ninjutsu from me or not?"

"I do, of course!" Jiraiya nodded frantically when he heard Tianqi mention ninjutsu.

"I'll teach it to you on the way. I might have a bit of trouble when we get back to Konoha." Though it was a serious matter, Tianqi spoke casually, as if nothing were wrong.

"How could you be in trouble? We exceeded the requirements for this mission. We should be rewarded, not get into trouble." Tsunade frowned when she heard Tianqi mention trouble.

"Yeah, the village shouldn't make things difficult for us. After all, this mission was above C-rank." Orochimaru immediately began analyzing the situation.

Tianqi shook his head. "You haven't understood me. I said I was in trouble, not you. You'll be fine."

"You? How is that possible? I don't believe the village would be so unreasonable. If they give you trouble, I'll demand an explanation from Teacher Sarutobi." Hearing Tianqi say he was in trouble, Tsunade spoke indignantly. She didn't believe the village would treat him that way.

"This time, Sarutobi probably won't be able to do anything either."

Thinking about how badly he had beaten Iwagakure, Tianqi figured Sarutobi probably wouldn't be able to protect him this time. Still, at worst he'd receive a minor punishment. They probably wouldn't dare punish him severely.

While Tianqi and the others were making their way back, an event was taking place in the village. Sarutobi watched Danzo with a pleased expression. That's right, today Danzo was officially becoming an elder. Sarutobi had learned that Tianqi was away from the village, so he'd hurried to appoint Danzo as an elder and hold a celebration.

If Tianqi had been in the village, Sarutobi would probably have just made the announcement and wrapped things up. If they'd held a celebration, who knew what kind of chaos it would have caused?

Danzo, standing nearby, looked unhappy. An elder was nothing. He wanted the position of Hokage, not this so-called elders' post.

While the village celebrated, Tianqi began his lesson.

"All right, it's only a minor problem. I'm not worried about it. Jiraiya, come with me. I'll teach you the Rasengan. If you want to learn, you can come along too."

"But..." Tsunade had just started to speak when Tianqi pulled Jiraiya aside.

"If the village gives you trouble, I'll go to Grandma Mito and demand justice for you," Tsunade murmured, watching Tianqi walk away.

"Orochimaru, do you think the village would really be so unreasonable? We exceeded the mission requirements, yet Tianqi might still be punished."

"I don't know. I just have a feeling this won't be so simple." Hearing Tsunade ask him, Orochimaru gave his opinion.

Neither of them went with Tianqi. They stayed where they were and rested.

"Jiraiya, the Rasengan has three stages. The first stage is rotation." As he spoke, Tianqi took out a water balloon he'd filled beforehand and stored in the Kamui Dimension.

"Jiraiya, watch closely. This first stage is simple. Gather Chakra in your hand, make it rotate, and burst the balloon." Holding the water balloon, Tianqi explained and demonstrated the technique to Jiraiya.

"That sounds easy. Give me a water balloon and let me try." Seeing how simple it looked, Jiraiya immediately wanted to give it a go.

"Go ahead, but there's a little trick to this step. Lower your head and let me take a look." Instead of handing over a water balloon right away, Tianqi asked Jiraiya to bow his head.

"If the energy inside your body rotates in the same direction as the Chakra in your hand, it'll burst the balloon much faster, making it easy to pop."

"To tell which way your body's energy rotates, just look at the swirl on your head. Yours goes to the left, so try rotating your Chakra to the left." After inspecting Jiraiya's head, Tianqi handed him a water balloon.

"No problem, Big Brother Tianqi. Watch me get it on the first try!" Jiraiya confidently started his attempt.

Then Jiraiya just stood there, staring at the water balloon without moving.

"What are you standing around for? Get started!" Seeing Jiraiya frozen in place, Tianqi urged him on.

"Uh, Big Brother Tianqi, um... I've already started," Jiraiya said sheepishly.

"What? You've started? Why isn't anything happening?" Tianqi began to doubt himself. Had he failed to explain it clearly? "Jiraiya, did you understand what I said?"

"Don't rush me. Let me try again."

"Burst!" Jiraiya tried again.

Tianqi's face darkened. Once again, nothing had happened. "You're hopeless. Stay here and practice by yourself. Don't come back until you succeed." With that, Tianqi turned and walked away without looking back.

"Big Brother Tianqi, don't go! Give me one more chance. I'll definitely get it next time!" Jiraiya called after him as Tianqi started to leave.

Tianqi didn't stop or answer him. He ran straight over to where Tsunade and Orochimaru were.

As soon as he arrived, he saw that the two of them had lit a small fire and were roasting several chickens over it.

Tianqi said nothing. He plopped down beside the fire.

"Big Brother Tianqi, what's wrong? Where's Jiraiya? Didn't the training go well?" Tsunade asked when she saw Tianqi sitting there without a word.

"I thought Jiraiya wouldn't be like Naru—... I mean, I didn't think he'd be that stupid. I didn't expect him to get stuck on something this simple." Tianqi had almost said Jiraiya wouldn't be as stupid as Naruto, but realized he'd let something slip and quickly corrected himself. He didn't want to alter Naruto's life path because of something he'd said.

"Hahaha, so that's what happened. Don't worry about it, Big Brother Tianqi. That's just how he is. Give him a little time and he'll get it." Hearing that the training hadn't gone well, Tsunade laughed.

"That idiot." Thinking of Jiraiya, who had a powerful ninjutsu right in front of him but still couldn't learn it, Orochimaru laughed too.

"Forget it. Give him some time. He'll learn it sooner or later."

"Orochimaru, can I ask you something?" Tianqi looked at Orochimaru, who was smiling.

"What is it?" Orochimaru turned to Tianqi with a puzzled expression, wondering why he'd suddenly wanted to ask him something.

"Do you think it's more important to have a Kekkei Genkai, or to rely on your own hard work?" Tianqi asked Orochimaru seriously.

Orochimaru thought for a moment, then answered at once. "Some Kekkei Genkai are very powerful, but I still think you should rely on your own hard work. Someone with a Kekkei Genkai who doesn't work hard is still useless."

Tianqi nodded in agreement. "Mm. I hope you can hold on to that conviction."

"Orochimaru, do you know the true meaning of life?" Thinking about what Orochimaru would become in the future, Tianqi wanted to offer him a little guidance.

"Hm? What?" Orochimaru and Tsunade stared at Tianqi, confused. They didn't know why he was bringing this up.

"In my view, everyone has a reason for living. The true meaning of life, as I see it, comes down to six words."

"Endure."

"Fate."

"Destiny."

"Effort."

"Understand."

"Wait."

"These six words are my gift to you, Orochimaru. I hope that one day you'll truly see through things and understand them."

Orochimaru nodded when Tianqi finished speaking, even though he didn't understand.

"Big Brother Tianqi, what's wrong with you? You're acting strange today." Tsunade looked at Tianqi, puzzled.

"Nothing. I was just thinking about a few things and feeling a little sentimental," Tianqi said slowly.

"All right, while Jiraiya's practicing ninjutsu, I'll write something up for you, Tsunade." With that, Tianqi picked up a scroll and wrote out a ninjutsu for her.