Jiraiya's Great Adventure

The morning sunlight filtered through the gaps in the leaves, dappling the streets of Konoha.

After that C-rank mission, Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru had returned to their daily grind of D-rank tasks.

Now they were helping a village near Konoha with farming and driving off wild beasts.

For the three of them, this kind of mission was like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut—so boring it made you want to doze off.

"Hey, Tsunade, those dark circles under your eyes are almost as bad as a panda's. Were you out thieving last night?"

Jiraiya walked with his hands behind his head, a blade of dog-tail grass dangling from his mouth, his eyes slyly sliding toward Tsunade.

Tsunade paused mid-step and shot Jiraiya a glare at his grinning face.

She rubbed her eyes instinctively, masking the trace of exhaustion.

Her gaze drifted unconsciously to Orochimaru, who walked ahead with his usual calm, unhurried stride.

"Nothing."

Tsunade brushed it off vaguely, her voice carrying a hint of barely perceptible resentment.

Nothing?

Hmph!

It was all thanks to someone!

What special learning method? It was pure hellish training!

Just thinking about those stacks of Molecules and Cells and Fundamentals of Immunology exams made her head ache.

Sure, Orochimaru summarized the knowledge well, and the method was efficient, but it was a real brain drain.

Jiraiya had only been teasing, but when he saw Tsunade's reaction—especially that resentful little glance toward Orochimaru—he froze on the spot.

Then, a flood of X-rated images flashed through his mind, and his face twisted into disbelief.

Orochimaru... Tsunade... dark circles... secret lessons?!

Holy crap!

Jiraiya felt like he'd uncovered a massive secret!

"Orochimaru! You sly dog!"

"Nice one! You always seem so cold, but you move fast! Good for you, buddy! Teach me, will you?"

He lunged forward, slapping a hand on Orochimaru's shoulder, winking and grinning, his tone exaggerated, his eyes gleaming with a lecherous "I get you, bro" look.

"?"

Orochimaru was taken aback by Jiraiya's sudden move and nonsensical words.

He frowned slightly, looking at Jiraiya's sleazy grin, then at Tsunade's dark face...

In a flash, Orochimaru understood.

That idiot Jiraiya was filling his head with perverted, dirty thoughts again!

"You're overthinking it. I wouldn't lay a hand on an underdeveloped little girl, after all~"

Orochimaru calmly brushed Jiraiya's hand away and tossed out a casual explanation.

The moment those words left his mouth, the air went dead silent.

"Sss—"

Jiraiya's grin froze, and he sucked in a sharp breath.

Daring to say something like that right in front of the violent Tsunade—only Orochimaru could pull off what he himself wouldn't dare.

He turned to look at Tsunade, saw her face darken, and wisely stepped aside.

Little girl?

Underdeveloped?!

Boom!

A surge of rage shot straight to Tsunade's skull!

"You bastard Jiraiya! Go die!"

Tsunade roared, all her pent-up frustration and the sting of being hit where it hurt exploding at once. She swung her fist straight at Jiraiya.

Huh?! Wait, why me?!

Jiraiya froze, too slow to react.

The fist, packed with the Strength of a Hundred, slammed mercilessly into his still-dazed face!

"Thud!"

A dull thud, followed by Jiraiya's scream, sent him flying like a broken kite in a perfect arc, crashing hard into a pile of trash cans in the distance.

Having dealt with the culprit, Tsunade's anger still simmered. She turned sharply and let out a heavy "Hmph!" at Orochimaru, who stood there calm and almost innocent-looking.

"Hmph!"

Then she huffed and turned her head away, refusing to look at him anymore.

"..."

Orochimaru was a bit baffled.

Hitting Jiraiya was one thing—that guy deserved it, after all.

But why was she huffing at him?

He hadn't said anything wrong, had he?

Forget it...

Orochimaru quickly gave up wasting brain cells on this. His past life had taught him that women's minds were harder to decipher than research papers and lab reports.

On the other side, Jiraiya crawled out of a pile of trash cans, wincing, with a clear fist print on his face and some unknown liquid dripping from the corner of his mouth.

"Cough... Tsunade, you really didn't hold back..."

Jiraiya rubbed his face as he spoke, then shot a resentful glance at Orochimaru.

Hearing this, Tsunade cracked her knuckles with a sharp pop.

"Stop, stop, stop! I'm wrong, I'm wrong, okay?! No more hitting! Let's get serious!

You're in luck today! I'll show you the new jutsu I learned from the old man!"

Seeing Tsunade about to flare up again, Jiraiya's face shifted as he forcefully changed the subject.

With that, he bit his finger and began forming hand signs rapidly!

Boar—Dog—Bird—Monkey—Ram!

"Huh?"

Seeing the familiar sequence of hand signs and the blood on his fingertip, Orochimaru's eyes flickered slightly.

Summoning Jutsu?

So Jiraiya had learned Summoning Jutsu from the Third Hokage?

If he remembered correctly, Jiraiya's summoning beast should be those toads from Mount Myoboku.

This was a good chance to see it.

Tsunade also temporarily forgot her earlier irritation and watched Jiraiya's hand signs with curiosity.

But then, the next moment.

Just as Orochimaru expected Jiraiya to summon a toad—

"Poof!"

A soft sound, accompanied by the white smoke of the jutsu activating.

Jiraiya... just vanished from where he stood.

Where'd he go?

Summoned nothing?

Or... did he summon himself away?

Staring at the spot where Jiraiya had disappeared, Orochimaru and Tsunade fell into deep thought.

Meanwhile.

In an unfamiliar environment filled with enormous plants and thick, humid mist.

Jiraiya stood there, completely dumbfounded.

He looked at the mushroom-like plants bigger than houses, and then at the giant toad squatting not far away, its body as massive as a small hill, staring at him with huge, horizontally striped pupils, full of curiosity.

Jiraiya fell into a long silence.

Who am I?

Where am I?

What the hell is this?

Konoha, Hokage's Office.

"What?!"

After hearing the reports from Orochimaru and Tsunade, Hiruzen Sarutobi shot up from his chair, his expression instantly turning grim.

"Nonsense! Absolute nonsense!

The Summoning Jutsu isn't something to be used carelessly!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi's face darkened as he paced around the office.

Jiraiya's foundation was weak. If he wanted to grow stronger quickly, the only way Hiruzen could think of was to find a powerful summoning beast!

But powerful summoning beast clans often test those who sign contracts with them!

For example, the Monkey King Enma contracted with his Sarutobi clan was exactly like this...

So he had been spending this time screening suitable summoning beasts for Jiraiya, not yet letting him formally sign a contract!

He never expected that this fool would just use it directly...

"Hiss—forcibly using the Summoning Technique without a contract will randomly teleport you to the habitat of a summoning beast with a Chakra nature similar to the caster's..."

Thinking of this, Hiruzen Sarutobi couldn't help but draw in a sharp breath, feeling a headache coming on.

The scope of this "similar" was far too broad—who knew where Jiraiya would be teleported...