Early the next morning, Qingshui, who was already used to getting up early to exercise, didn't change his routine just because he was in the Land of Rain.
No matter how hard it rained, it couldn't stop his resolve to grow stronger.
By the time he had finished his morning workout, everyone else had gotten up too.
"Big Brother Qingshui, you're up so early!"
Konan, following behind Jiraiya, looked at Qingshui in surprise.
Yahiko, standing nearby, was just as surprised. At the same time, he secretly resolved to get up even earlier the next day.
He had thought that they were already early risers, but it turned out there was someone even more impressive.
"No wonder Big Brother Qingshui has gotten so strong."
Minato sighed.
Back during the Second Shinobi World War, he and Qingshui had gone on missions together.
At the time, Qingshui was older than him, but not as strong.
He had survived the war mostly because of his cautious nature.
Minato hadn't expected that after only two or three years apart, Big Brother Qingshui would not only catch up to him, but surpass him by a wide margin.
As someone who had always been called a genius, Minato couldn't help feeling a little defeated.
As for Nagato, he was still hiding behind Yahiko without saying a word.
After smiling and greeting everyone, Qingshui turned to Jiraiya and asked,
"Lord Jiraiya, could I trouble you to give me some guidance?"
Although the system had already granted Qingshui several ninjutsu, he hadn't yet cleared the others of suspicion, so he couldn't use them openly.
After all, although Uncle Kosuke was very strong, he only knew Water Release.
Jiraiya was different. As a student of Hiruzen Sarutobi, he was skilled in several nature transformations.
Fire Release was simply his strongest.
"Haha, of course."
Jiraiya agreed with a hearty laugh, without hesitation.
He might usually be unreliable, but when it came to the younger generation in the village, he became kind and dependable.
His lifelong pursuit of the Child of Prophecy might not have been something everyone approved of, but Jiraiya was indeed a ninja who embodied the Will of Fire.
Besides, Qingshui had looked after Minato like an older brother on the battlefield.
Jiraiya could never refuse him for that alone.
"Sorry for the trouble."
With Jiraiya's guidance, Qingshui and the others began their respective training.
The Three Little Ones already had their arrangements, so they continued with the training plan Jiraiya had previously set for them.
Next was Minato.
After their recent battle, he was dissatisfied with his current strength.
His fundamentals were solid, and even when facing several enemies, he could hold his own and keep them at bay.
The fact that he could avoid injury while being attacked by three enemies was proof enough.
But that was all.
His weakness was his lack of offensive techniques with enough killing power, which made it difficult for him to quickly defeat enemies in a head-on fight.
"Teacher Jiraiya, I want to learn offensive ninjutsu."
After hearing Minato's request, Jiraiya took out a piece of chakra paper and had him test his chakra nature first.
Minato took the paper and infused it with Chakra. Soon, it split in half down the middle.
"Minato, your chakra nature is Wind. It has the properties of cutting and piercing. It's uncommon, but powerful on the attack."
After briefly explaining the nature of Wind Release, Jiraiya began teaching Minato Wind Release Nature Transformation.
"Now, Minato, train on your own. Once you can cut a leaf in half, you'll have mastered Wind Release Nature Transformation."
After guiding Minato, Jiraiya went over to Qingshui.
"Lord Jiraiya, I've already learned Water Release and Wind Release. I'd like to learn another chakra nature transformation."
Every ninja was born with one or two chakra natures. Qingshui, for example, had Water, while Minato had Wind.
Ninjas usually learned the chakra natures they were born with first. They generally didn't begin studying other nature transformations until they became Jonin.
Jiraiya had seen Qingshui fight before and knew that although he was still a Genin, his strength was already on par with a Jonin.
It was only natural that he wanted to learn more chakra nature transformations.
"Which one do you want to learn?"
After thinking briefly, Qingshui answered, "Fire Release."
It didn't really matter which one he picked first, since he had already mastered all the chakra nature transformations.
He chose Fire Release simply because the system had granted him several Fire Release techniques, more than it had given him for Earth Style or Lightning Release.
"Sure. Fire Release is my specialty. Aside from my teacher, the Third Hokage, no one is better than me."
After some self-praise, Jiraiya began teaching Qingshui.
"Fire Release has the properties of burning and high heat. Once you can set a leaf on fire without using a flame, you'll have mastered Fire Release Nature Transformation."
After explaining, Jiraiya told Qingshui to practice on his own, then went to check on the Three Little Ones.
To avoid making too much of a spectacle, Qingshui pretended to practice for an hour before finding Jiraiya to show him that he had finished.
Even so, Jiraiya was still very surprised.
Minato, whom he had taught first, hadn't mastered Wind Release Nature Transformation yet.
Could Qingshui actually be more talented than Minato?
No, it was probably because Qingshui had already mastered Water Release and Wind Release, and had plenty of experience, so he had been able to master Fire Release so quickly.
After reasoning it out, Jiraiya taught Qingshui Fire Release: Flame Bullet.
It was the Fire Release technique he used most often.
To perform it, the user first refined Chakra into oil and held it in their mouth. Then, as they spat it out, they used Fire Release to ignite it, forming a powerful flame bullet.
The process was a little troublesome, but by controlling the amount of oil, the user could adjust the technique's power and preparation time.
Overall, its strengths outweighed its flaws.
"Thank you, Lord Jiraiya."
After thanking him, Qingshui resumed training on his own.
In truth, he could have immediately shown that he had already learned the technique.
The system had granted him this Fire Release technique long ago.
But since he had been judged to lack talent, performing like Uchiha Itachi and learning a C-Rank technique at a glance would have been too outrageous.
It could easily raise suspicions.
So he absolutely couldn't skip the necessary pretense. Qingshui figured that pretending to practice for three or four hours before mastering it would be about right.
That was still pretty fast, but people could understand it as the result of long preparation finally paying off.
As he received more and more rewards from the system, he would inevitably have to start revealing his talent.
By the afternoon, after lunch, Jiraiya asked Qingshui how his training was going.
Instead of answering, Qingshui formed Hand Seals and showed him.
Seeing that Qingshui could already perform Fire Release: Flame Bullet with ease, and that its power was impressive too, Jiraiya couldn't help praising him.
"Qingshui, you're very talented. You mastered a C-Rank ninjutsu so quickly. In the same amount of time, Minato has only just mastered Wind Release Nature Transformation."
"Most of the credit goes to your excellent teaching, Lord Jiraiya."
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