Becoming Jiraiya's Disciple

Over the past half-month of training, aside from becoming more proficient with the Flying Thunder God, Qiuyang still couldn't get the hang of the Rasengan.

It seemed he had hit a bottleneck that defied description. Qiuyang had a premonition that to truly master it, he needed to witness the formation of the Rasengan firsthand.

With a thought, he unsealed his summoning scroll and began to meticulously study some of the Second Hokage's ninjutsu.

Later, after returning to the village and learning that Kakashi had accepted the mission to escort Tazuna to the Land of Waves, Qiuyang realized his current training phase had officially concluded.

Under Kakashi's leadership, the three rookies—Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura—would encounter Demon Zabuza and Haku during this mission.

All three would find opportunities for growth, especially Sasuke, who would awaken his Two-Tomoe Sharingan.

However, what concerned Qiuyang more was this:

Not long after Naruto and the others returned, the Chunin Exams arc would begin. Jiraiya would make his official debut then, teaching Naruto how to control the Nine-Tails' chakra and the art of summoning.

Therefore, he reasoned that Jiraiya must currently be operating within the borders of the Land of Fire.

He could take advantage of this time gap to find Jiraiya first and beg to become his student.

He was currently struggling like a chef without rice; he desperately needed a way to rapidly increase his chakra, and if he could trick Jiraiya into teaching him Sage Arts, that would be even better.

Thus, for the next month, Qiuyang traveled between various large towns and villages near Konoha, searching for traces of Jiraiya.

He had thought that searching for someone with an "Oil" forehead protector would be easy, but the reality proved to be a grueling ordeal.

It was true that girls in a few towns mentioned seeing this pervert, but that had been months ago.

Qiuyang could only follow the timeline and try his luck, but every subsequent village and town reported no sign of such a man.

Qiuyang couldn't help but feel discouraged, lamenting that Jiraiya, a master of intelligence gathering, was indeed difficult to track down.

One day, after a long search, Qiuyang was soaking in a bathhouse, lying still to relax.

With his finances in a state of emergency, he had been contemplating since yesterday whether to give up on finding Jiraiya.

First, as an intelligence operative, Jiraiya was unlikely to leave a trail of his whereabouts.

Second, based on his memories, gaining Jiraiya's favor was no easy feat; becoming his student would be quite difficult.

Third, the ninjutsu in his scroll was sufficient for now, and as for the lack of chakra... he could try checking the Naka Shrine at the Uchiha Ruins to see if there was anything there.

But that carried risks; he didn't know if that old fox Obito had left a White Zetsu there, waiting specifically for him.

It was fine for Sasuke to go, as he had his brother to back him up, but Qiuyang dared not risk it before obtaining the Scroll of Sealing.

Even with the Second Hokage's sensory techniques, he couldn't guarantee he would detect if the area was being monitored.

Thinking about his precarious situation, Qiuyang let out a deep sigh and submerged his face into the warm water, hoping the heat would soothe his inner anxiety.

After about two minutes, unable to hold his breath any longer, he surfaced. To his surprise, when he opened his eyes, he spotted a scruffy, lecherous man crouching on a hidden rock above.

The man was holding a monocular, drooling.

Given the angle and direction, Qiuyang didn't even need to look to know he was spying on the women's bath nearby.

"Ahem, although the person I'm looking for is just as perverted as you, you aren't him, so..."

Qiuyang lunged forward, intending to knock the peeping tom unconscious. After all, there were several lovely ladies in the women's bath who had just shared information with him!

Reason and morality both dictated he stop this.

Just as his fist was about to strike the peeping tom's head, white smoke erupted beneath the man, and Qiuyang felt his fist slam into a hard steel plate.

Clearly, something had replaced the pervert's head.

"Kid, do you really think you can just hit this Sage?"

As the smoke cleared, a middle-aged man with long white hair and wooden sandals appeared before Qiuyang.

Qiuyang realized his fist had struck the wrist guard of a giant toad.

A toad? A Transformation Jutsu??

Qiuyang widened his eyes and stepped back, his face etched with disbelief: "You... you are..."

It was truly a case of searching high and low, only to find it without effort!

He hadn't expected to stumble upon Jiraiya just as he had decided to give up the search.

The questioned Jiraiya looked quite smug, performing a very awkward dance before declaring:

"Good question, kid! I am the Toad Sage of Mount Mayoboku, the Sage of the Toad, at your service—"

"Wow, it really is one of the Sannin, the Sage of Mount Mayoboku, Jiraiya sensei! I am a ninja from Konoha, Xia... Qiuyang, and I've come to ask you to take me as your student."

Upon seeing Jiraiya, Qiuyang decided he would no longer use his other village name, "Xia Yi."

He was no longer a mere genin; if he became Jiraiya's student, his past would inevitably be exposed, and he had no intention of hiding it any longer.

"Ha, a Konoha ninja?"

Jiraiya, who had been planning to order his toad to knock Qiuyang out, paused and stared at him with an expression of utter disdain.

He watched as Qiuyang quickly put on his clothes from the shore and donned his Konoha forehead protector.

Well, he really was a ninja from his own village.

Jiraiya sighed helplessly, dispelled his summoning, and waved for Qiuyang to leave, stating that he needed to continue gathering his "material."

Jiraiya had not even managed to crouch back into his original position before this guy squeezed over again, chattering incessantly in his ear:

"Master Jiraiya, just take me on as your student. I have great talent and I'm very strong."

"Master, are you peeking? That's not good. If you get caught, you'll be beaten to death."

"Master..."

If you keep nagging, I'm going to be annoyed to death by you.

"Get lost, get lost, get lost! This Sage does not take apprentices."

Annoyed to the point of madness, Jiraiya lost all interest in admiring the "beauties" and vanished in a puff of smoke to make his escape.

But Qiuyang had no intention of letting him go; he followed the trail and gave chase, causing a scene by overturning stalls in the street and drawing the angry shouts of the vendors as he pursued Jiraiya...

By the time the two reached the outskirts, Jiraiya was thoroughly impatient. He stopped and turned his head away with a haughty air, continuing his refusal:

"The disciples this Sage takes are all exceptionally gifted. I won't take a mediocrity like you. Don't think I'll agree just because you're a junior from Konoha."

He swore that if this guy kept pestering him, he would show him what he was made of.

But as he spoke, Jiraiya suddenly heard a "jingle" and instinctively reached out to catch the object.

Opening his hand to look, he saw a very familiar item.

A bell??

The sight left Jiraiya stunned.

...Back in the day, the Old Man had used two bells to test the strength of him, Tsunade, and... Orochimaru.

Back then, the four of them were so happy, all looking forward to a future filled with hope.

It was a pity that now Orochimaru had defected and his whereabouts were unknown, while Tsunade spent her days drinking and gambling, also nowhere to be found.

The bell Qiuyang had thrown stirred up a flood of memories, and for the first time, Jiraiya looked at Qiuyang with a serious, scrutinizing gaze.

Hmm... still couldn't find anything special about him.