A New Predicament

Chiba Etsu had already planned everything out, intending to focus his efforts on learning a few defensive ninjutsu from Jiraiya, but who would have thought that things would go wrong here as well.

"I'm sorry, but I probably can't teach you any powerful techniques." Jiraiya's face was full of helplessness.

"Why?"

Chiba Etsu couldn't help but feel puzzled; Jiraiya didn't seem like the type to hoard knowledge.

Jiraiya sighed. "To be honest, I possess many techniques with considerable power. I have B-rank Water Style, Fire Style, Earth Style, and Wind Style ninjutsu, and even a few A-rank ones, but I cannot teach any of these to you."

Hearing this, Chiba Etsu suddenly realized something.

"Could it be because of Konoha?"

"Exactly. The techniques I've learned are considered the property of Konoha. Without the village's permission, I cannot pass them on to outsiders. If discovered, I would be branded a missing-nin, and you would be hunted down without end."

"Is it really that serious?"

At first, Chiba Etsu was slightly stunned, but he quickly came to his senses. Indeed, for any village, the leakage of any technique was strictly prohibited.

Every ninja village treated such matters with the utmost seriousness. If a leak were discovered, the consequences would likely be even worse than what Jiraiya described.

Moreover, even if Konoha were to overlook it out of respect for Jiraiya's status, Jiraiya's own character would never allow him to leak secrets behind their backs.

If that was the case, had his chance to learn powerful ninjutsu from Jiraiya just vanished?

Jiraiya looked quite helpless at this moment.

"It's not just that. I can't even teach you C-rank ninjutsu that have been modified and carry Konoha's signature, nor can I teach you the original techniques I've created that are already on record in Konoha."

"So, I can only teach you common C-rank and D-rank ninjutsu that I've collected from various villages."

Hearing this, Chiba Etsu felt increasingly speechless. No wonder Yahiko and the others were still only using C-rank ninjutsu after being with him for so long. It was one thing for others, but given Nagato's talent, that clearly didn't make sense. He hadn't expected this to be the reason.

Chiba Etsu's heart was absolutely crushed. If things were really as Jiraiya said, then what was the point? He already lacked a bloodline limit cheat, and now he didn't even have any powerful techniques. He wasn't just a weakling in the ordinary sense anymore.

Seeing Chiba Etsu, Yahiko, and the others looking dejected, Jiraiya patted their shoulders and comforted them: "Although I cannot teach you powerful ninjutsu, I can teach you the principles and development logic behind them. I believe that with your talent, you will certainly be able to develop powerful ninjutsu that suit you."

"In fact, researching new techniques on your own is beneficial for your future development of elemental affinities and becoming true powerhouses. You must know that ninjutsu is not the fundamental factor that determines combat strength. What matters most between ninjas is the individual's performance; in the hands of a strong person, even a C-rank ninjutsu can be very powerful."

After hearing Jiraiya's words, Yahiko and Nagato nodded in agreement. For them, they hadn't really thought that much about it to begin with.

However, Chiba Etsu couldn't help but feel even more frustrated. Jiraiya's words might fool others, but they couldn't fool him.

A powerful technique is a powerful technique. With equal power, the side with the stronger technique undoubtedly holds the advantage.

And the so-called benefit of developing one's own ninjutsu was just a platitude. Did learning powerful techniques somehow prevent one from developing their own?

But no matter how helpless Chiba Etsu felt, the fact remained: it was a foregone conclusion that Jiraiya could not teach them anything too powerful.

The only thing he could do was to study Jiraiya's so-called ninjutsu theory earnestly and find a way to develop his own techniques.

Yet, a major question couldn't help but form in Chiba Etsu's mind.

Yahiko and the others couldn't possibly still be using C-rank ninjutsu when they eventually fought Hanzo, right? But if Jiraiya wasn't teaching them stronger techniques, where would they come from?

They couldn't possibly rely solely on self-developed ninjutsu to fight. Even if they were geniuses, developing techniques took time.

Vaguely, Chiba Etsu felt there was some secret he didn't know.

Soon, after teaching Chiba Etsu and the others the various theories of ninjutsu and the meanings behind the hand seals, Jiraiya officially began teaching them ninjutsu.

To train their abilities, Jiraiya didn't teach them the techniques directly, but chose to let them deduce them on their own.

In the blink of an eye, three months had passed. During these months, through Jiraiya's descriptions of the principles of various techniques, and with the combined intelligence of Chiba Etsu, Nagato, Yahiko, and Konan, they finally deduced almost all E-rank basic ninjutsu, such as the Three Body Technique.

For this, Jiraiya constantly praised them as geniuses.

Although E-rank ninjutsu were not actually very complex, for a group of children who had never learned ninjutsu, deducing them was not a simple task.

The fact that they could produce results so quickly was enough to demonstrate their talent.

Well, Chiba Etsu probably owed a large part of it to the others; it turned out that in terms of sensitivity to techniques, he was only slightly better than Yahiko, while Nagato and Konan were the true main force in deciphering them.

While learning these E-rank ninjutsu, the group finally accumulated a sufficient amount of chakra under Jiraiya's guidance.

After completing this, Jiraiya finally began the next stage of training.

Based on the individual affinities of Chiba Etsu and the others, Jiraiya began to teach them their first true D-rank ninjutsu.