The Sannin's Scathing Review

Akaseki:...

As everyone knew, the last person to be criticized always had the biggest problem!

"Akaseki, your performance was the worst just now... Aren't you from the Uchiha Clan? Haven't you already awakened your Sharingan? Why did you keep trying to attack while holding me back? Is that how the Uchiha Clan uses Taijutsu?" Jiraiya pointed out the biggest problem.

Indeed, Akaseki lowered his head.

He still had to train...

Akaseki really had fought in a disorganized way just now. Once he got anxious, he kept attacking relentlessly and didn't manage a single "counterattack"!

"And there's the Genjutsu you used... This False Surroundings Technique. The less certain you are that it'll trap your opponent, the more you need to make the illusion resemble the real environment. You suddenly switched all my senses completely—did you think I wouldn't notice?" Jiraiya continued lecturing him.

Jiraiya looked at the three of them and said, "You've really disappointed me. You think you can become Genin like this? You're completely unqualified. I'll give you one last chance this afternoon... Akaseki, you performed the worst, so you don't get lunch!"

Half an hour later...

At the Third Training Ground, Akashi Uchiha had been trapped in place by Jiraiya's "Earth Style: Rock Pillar Technique," unable to move. Ranwu and Minato were off to the side, and they'd been allowed to eat.

Ranwu, however, found the food hard to stomach. It seemed the criticism had hit her pretty hard.

Meanwhile...

"You've got some nerve... How are you going to criticize me, huh?"

The three of them couldn't see what was happening in the distance. Jiraiya was having his ear twisted by Konoha's eldest princess, while a pale, long-haired man watched the show beside her.

That's right. Tsunade and Orochimaru had actually been watching from the shadows.

"Ow, ow, ow... Let go, let go..." Once Jiraiya had begged enough to be released, he muttered, "My ear again... One of these days, I'll develop a technique to protect my ears..."

As Jiraiya spoke, he rubbed his ear, then his white hair, and suddenly seemed to think of something.

"Besides, you shouldn't have taught Ranwu Strength of a Hundred in the first place, should you?" Jiraiya insisted.

"I certainly didn't teach her! Although that little girl did ask me for advice recently about using chakra for Strength of a Hundred, I only taught her some chakra control techniques...

"But Strength of a Hundred was originally a secret technique my second grandfather developed for me. Maybe she found out how to train in it from the records he left behind." Tsunade shook her head helplessly as she spoke.

Jiraiya had been right earlier. Strength of a Hundred looked like a rough, brute-force fighting style, but in reality, it was completely different from ordinary explosive Taijutsu!

Strength of a Hundred demanded extremely precise chakra control. It required large amounts of chakra to circulate rapidly through the body with effortless ease, creating a polarized force. If your control wasn't good enough, you'd end up injuring yourself instead.

Even Medical Ninja capable of performing surgery generally lacked the control needed to wield Strength of a Hundred. It could be said that every ninja who mastered Strength of a Hundred was also a top-tier Medical Ninja...

"By the way, you two... Teacher Sarutobi asked you to serve as their Jonin instructors, but you kept making excuses, so I was the only one stuck doing all the work. Why are you so eager to come watch now?" Jiraiya asked, disgruntled.

"That's not quite fair. I just don't like mediocre talents. I could take that Minato Namikaze under my wing," Orochimaru said in his eerie voice.

"Don't even think about it!" Jiraiya shot back at once.

"Isn't this the worst class you've ever had?" Orochimaru said calmly.

"It's the best class I've ever had!" Jiraiya retorted.

Tsunade joined in. "Honestly, I can't believe young people are this impressive now."

"Aren't we supposed to be the young ones?" Jiraiya quipped.

Indeed, Minato Namikaze, Ranwu, and Akashi Uchiha's abilities had genuinely astonished Jiraiya.

He'd known Minato Namikaze was a genius and had observed him before choosing him, but it wasn't until today that Jiraiya realized he'd underestimated him.

"He's only ten, and he left the Ninja Academy just yesterday. He has no Kekkei Genkai or special abilities, yet he's already as strong as an ordinary Jonin... No wonder Orochimaru's interested in him too." Tsunade looked toward the three and sighed.

"Give it up, you slippery snake! Minato is a gentle, sunny, kind... good boy. Clearly, he's nothing like you!" Jiraiya took the opportunity to put Orochimaru down.

But Orochimaru didn't get angry. Instead, he said in a sinister tone, "Exactly. That's why he needs my guidance even more... Forcing himself to 'fit in' at the end was simply unacceptable."

"Hey, you slippery snake, stay away from my student." Jiraiya glared at him, suddenly serious.

Of course, Jiraiya had also realized that the reason behind Minato Namikaze's "reckless charge" at the end was that they had already lost and couldn't complete the mission. But Minato could have ended things more gracefully. He'd only sent them all rolling into the Starch Syrup Capturing Field because he was considering how his two teammates felt...

"Hahaha, wasn't he still unqualified? Since when did he become your student?" Tsunade teased him with a laugh.

"That's my teaching style!" Jiraiya declared with conviction.

"But Minato Namikaze isn't the only one who's good. Ranwu is too. She may not have the same mastery of Water Style shape transformation as my second grandfather, but she's skilled at Water Style chakra nature transformation." Tsunade put in a good word for Ranwu.

"Mm, I can see that..." Jiraiya recalled the Starch Syrup Capturing Field from earlier.

A technique that altered the nature of chakra wasn't as simple as mastering changes to Water Style chakra. It transformed the "water" made from ordinary chakra into a syrup-like substance, a technique that could only be performed by someone highly proficient in nature transformation.

Although it was only a C-rank technique, Ranwu's nature transformation in the Starch Syrup Capturing Field was clearly advanced. That wasn't something an ordinary ninja could do.

"In my observations, people skilled in chakra nature transformation tend to be fickle," Orochimaru said, sharing his research in a most unwelcome manner.

"Nobody's going to think you're mute if you stop talking!" Tsunade glared at him.

Orochimaru didn't keep quiet. Instead, he continued, "By contrast, ninjas skilled in chakra shape transformation tend to be independent and fond of reasoning... That might be a more suitable temperament for a Hokage."

The First's Wood Release and the Second Hokage's Water Style were both extensions of chakra shape transformation.

Jiraiya now thought of Minato Namikaze's "Wind Release: Gale Palm" from earlier...

Seeing that Tsunade and Orochimaru had moved on, Jiraiya made a point of adding, "Actually, that kid from the Uchiha Clan isn't bad either... He's still a little weak right now, but since he only just awakened his Sharingan, he'll improve by leaps and bounds over the next month."

"Hm? He only awakened his Sharingan, didn't he?" Tsunade didn't see any talent in Akaseki beyond the abilities that came with awakening his Sharingan.