Sage Mode, Jiraiya?!

"What's wrong with that? Doesn't that just prove I'm qualified... wait, what did you just... ?!!"

Tsunade had originally intended to say that she was the most qualified person to be Uchiha Chen's teacher, but halfway through her sentence, she suddenly realized that what this brat said didn't mean that at all!

Immediately, Uchiha Chen saw Tsunade's pretty face turning red, and a large "＃" vein popped up on her forehead.

Watching Tsunade slowly raise her fist, Uchiha Chen's eyes widened, and he couldn't help but feel a sudden urge to run, though he ultimately gave up on the idea.

After all, the gap in their strength was right there.

In the end, Tsunade's punch transformed into a slap, landing a solid smack on the back of Uchiha Chen's head!

"Smack!!"

"Hiss!!!!"

Seeing Uchiha Chen wincing in pain, Tsunade finally revealed a faint smile, her red lips parting slightly.

"Kid, you dare to tease me? Are you tired of living?"

"Cough, cough, Lady Tsunade, you can't blame me for that. It was your own phrasing that was ambiguous and easy to misunderstand!"

Uchiha Chen felt incredibly annoyed with himself. He shouldn't have been so cheeky just now. If he had really angered Tsunade, one punch from her monstrous strength would have likely...

"You want to learn medical ninjutsu, and I am... Tsunade... one of the Sannin of Konoha. Can't you figure out what that implies?"

Generally speaking, Tsunade would not refer to herself by the title of one of the Konoha Sannin in front of others, but today, she mentioned it for the first time.

There was no helping it; this Uchiha Chen seemed a bit slow on the uptake, so she felt it necessary to remind him of her achievements in medical ninjutsu.

"It is already an honor for a junior like me to have Lady Tsunade, one of the Sannin, bring me medical texts. How could I dare to ask for anything more!"

Uchiha Chen stopped being cheeky and bowed respectfully.

However, his refusal was quite clear.

"Don't you want to take me as your master?"

"With my guidance, your medical ninjutsu would definitely improve by leaps and bounds..."

Tsunade naturally caught the subtext in Uchiha Chen's words. Her delicate brows furrowed, and she spoke with a hint of reluctance.

"Lady Tsunade, medical ninjutsu is really just a hobby of mine. Studying it in my spare time is enough; I don't intend to spend too much time on it. If I were to become your student because of this and end up disappointing you, that is not what I want."

Uchiha Chen smiled slightly and spoke his "heartfelt thoughts" very "sincerely."

"Fine, since that's the case, I won't force you. I'll bring you some basic medical texts tomorrow."

Seeing that Uchiha Chen's attitude was so firm, Tsunade rolled her eyes, stopped pushing, and spoke indifferently.

"Then thank you very much, Lady Tsunade!"

Uchiha Chen was naturally overjoyed.

"Mm."

Tsunade nodded calmly, then turned and left.

Since a direct approach didn't work, she would just change her tactics.

She, Tsunade, was not a stubborn person!

Thinking of this, the corners of Tsunade's mouth couldn't help but curl into a beautiful arc once more.

"Finally got rid of her!"

Watching Tsunade's departing back, Uchiha Chen let out a long sigh of relief. He finally had time to continue researching the Innate Breathing Technique!

Over the next few days, Tsunade continued as before, "dropping by" Uchiha Chen's place almost every day, though each time she came, she brought him a few medical books.

Moreover, Tsunade was surprised to find that Uchiha Chen only needed to read the medical books she brought once to fully grasp them; he didn't need her guidance at all!

This made Tsunade, who had other ideas in mind, feel like she was redundant.

Setting those other thoughts aside, her desire to take him as a student only grew stronger.

"Phew, five whole days, and I've finally mastered Sage Mode!"

Uchiha Chen let out a long breath, muttering to himself with a look of delight.

Although he had previously used his max-level comprehension to create a method for cultivating senjutsu chakra, that didn't mean he immediately possessed enough senjutsu chakra to activate Sage Mode.

Therefore, during these five days, aside from self-studying medical ninjutsu, Uchiha Chen had spent all his time accumulating senjutsu chakra!

"However, with my current reserves of senjutsu chakra, I can probably only maintain Sage Mode for six minutes."

"That is far from enough; I must continue to accumulate more!"

With that, Uchiha Chen sat cross-legged and began to cultivate again.

With the experience from the past few days, Uchiha Chen now dared to fully execute the Innate Breathing Technique, absorbing senjutsu chakra with all his might.

Energy from heaven and earth flooded into the courtyard where Uchiha Chen was, eventually transforming into senjutsu chakra and entering his dantian.

Meanwhile, on a street in the Leaf Village, Perched atop the roof of a women's bathhouse, Jiraiya—one of the legendary Sannin—was pressed against a window, his nostrils flaring as his eyes remained fixed on the steamy scenes unfolding within.

Just then, Jiraiya seemed to sense something. He whipped around, staring off into the distance with a look of utter astonishment.

"What's going on? How am I sensing someone absorbing the natural energy of the world? Minato isn't in the village right now; could there really be someone else in the Leaf who knows Sage Mode?"

Having mastered Sage Mode himself, Jiraiya was incredibly sensitive to natural energy and had instantly detected the disturbance.

With a single leap, Jiraiya vaulted away, covering several hundred meters in moments.

"Hm? This direction... is that the Uchiha compound? No matter, I have to go take a look!"

"Swish!"

"Swish! Swish!"

After a few consecutive leaps, Jiraiya appeared on a rooftop. Finding cover, he stared in shock at the young man sitting cross-legged in the courtyard below.

Natural energy was currently surging into the young man's body. That young man was none other than Uchiha Chen.

"It really is Sage Mode?!"

Looking at the familiar markings around Uchiha Chen's eyes, what else could it be but Sage Mode?

Jiraiya was completely stunned.

"Who's there?"

Uchiha Chen, in the midst of his training, furrowed his brows. He opened his eyes, looked up toward Jiraiya's position, and let out a cold shout.

"Oh? Discovered already?"

Jiraiya raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised.

However, since he had been spotted, he didn't bother hiding anymore. He stepped out from behind his cover with a carefree air, then leaped down, landing right in front of Uchiha Chen. "Hahahaha, to be able to detect me so quickly—not bad, kid."

"Hm?? Pervy Sage??"

The moment Jiraiya appeared, Uchiha Chen recognized him instantly.

The long white hair, the forehead protector with the character for "Oil," the red markings under his eyes...

There was no helping it; Jiraiya's image from the original series was simply too iconic.