Scramble!

"Jiraiya!"

"You already have a student as excellent as Minato, yet you still come here to snatch this one from me!"

Tsunade gritted her teeth. She never expected Jiraiya to suddenly appear halfway through and disrupt her plans.

Especially with a talent as exceptional as Uchiha Chen, she truly did not want to let him slip away.

"Heh heh, who would ever complain about having too many excellent students?"

Jiraiya chuckled, clearly showing no intention of backing down.

"Jiraiya, it's been a while, it seems you've forgotten the power of my fists!"

Tsunade's gaze sharpened as she stared at Jiraiya, speaking coldly.

At the same time, she clenched her fists, and her entire aura instantly turned frigid and sharp.

"Heh, that's only because I used to let you win. If we really fought, I, the Toad Sage of Mount Myoboku, wouldn't be afraid of you!"

Jiraiya refused to show weakness, his own aura erupting instantly.

Two powerful auras collided within Uchiha Chen's small courtyard, then surged toward the sky.

Uchiha Chen's face twitched as he watched the two confronting each other, and he slowly raised his hand.

"Um, you two seniors, I... I... I haven't even said whether I want to take on a master yet!"

As soon as Uchiha Chen finished speaking, Jiraiya and Tsunade turned their heads to glare at him at the exact same time, speaking in unison:

"No way! Today, you must choose one of us as your teacher!!"

Uchiha Chen: ...

Is there even any room for choice here?

If he really had to choose a teacher, both Tsunade and Jiraiya seemed like decent options; after all, both were members of the Legendary Sannin, and their strength was certainly not to be underestimated.

But... who should he choose?

For a moment, Uchiha Chen fell into a dilemma.

Tsunade watched Uchiha Chen's conflicted expression, and an inexplicable fire ignited in her heart. If Jiraiya hadn't suddenly popped up, her plan would have definitely succeeded, and she would have smoothly taken Uchiha Chen under her wing.

But now, everything had changed!

"Jiraiya, take this!"

Tsunade stomped her foot hard, creating a spiderweb-like crater in the ground, and launched herself forward like an arrow released from a bow.

Her right fist, carrying a powerful gust of wind, smashed fiercely toward Jiraiya.

"Good grief, you're doing this for real?!"

Seeing this, Jiraiya's eyes nearly popped out of his head. He hadn't expected Tsunade to actually resort to violence!

Facing a punch from Tsunade that carried more than a little resentment, Jiraiya naturally wasn't going to be stubborn enough to take it head-on with his bare body.

He pushed off with his toes, leaped backward, and dodged her strike.

"BOOM!!"

With a thunderous roar, stone fragments flew everywhere, and the ground was smashed into another deep crater by Tsunade.

"Lady Tsunade, Lord Jiraiya, please stop fighting!!"

Looking at the two large and small craters that had appeared in his courtyard in the blink of an eye, Uchiha Chen's eyes widened in agony. His heart ached so much he could barely breathe, and he hurriedly shouted to stop them.

What made Uchiha Chen even more devastated was that Tsunade and Jiraiya both turned back, flashed a smile, and once again spoke in unison:

"Kid, don't worry, I will definitely take him/her down as soon as possible and become your teacher!"

As soon as the words left their mouths, the two turned into blurs and began brawling again.

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

In the blink of an eye, two more spiderweb-like craters appeared on the ground of Uchiha Chen's courtyard.

"My house!!"

Uchiha Chen let out a mournful cry.

"You two, please stop fighting! If you keep going, my home is going to be demolished!!"

However, Tsunade and Jiraiya seemed to have completely ignored Uchiha Chen's cries, fighting with even more vigor.

Before long, the entire courtyard collapsed with a roar!

The only thing to be thankful for, perhaps, was that the house behind Uchiha Chen was still standing... right?!

At the same time, Other members of the Uchiha clan near Uchiha Chen's home all looked toward his direction with expressions of shock.

"What's going on? It sounds like someone is fighting over there?"

"Who would dare to cause trouble in our Uchiha clan's territory? Are they tired of living?"

"Let's go, let's go see!"

"Move!"

"Hey, hey, wait for me! I'm coming too!"

In an instant, countless members of the Uchiha clan rushed toward Uchiha Chen's house.

At the same time, the Leaf Village ninjas living near Uchiha Chen's home stared in shock and confusion at the collapsed wall and the clouds of dust billowing into the sky.

Because Uchiha Chen's house was located on the edge of the Uchiha clan's district, many ordinary Leaf ninjas lived in the vicinity.

As the dust gradually settled, the members of the Uchiha clan arrived one after another.

Only then did everyone get a clear look at the situation inside the courtyard.

Tsunade and Jiraiya stood there with grave expressions, staring daggers at each other.

Not far away, Uchiha Chen stood with a blank expression, looking like he was about to cry.

"Huh? Aren't those Lady Tsunade and Lord Jiraiya?"

"It really is them!"

"Looking at this, it seems like Lady Tsunade and Lord Jiraiya are fighting?"

"I knew Lady Tsunade returned to the village a while ago, but I had no idea when Lord Jiraiya got back."

"Hey, what does that matter? The important thing is, why are Tsunade and Jiraiya fighting?"

"Exactly! Aren't they both part of the Legendary Sannin? How did they end up fighting each other?"

The group of Leaf ninjas, having seen the situation clearly, were left stunned, their faces full of confusion.

Just as everyone was wondering what was going on, Jiraiya spoke slowly.

"Tsunade, there's no point in us continuing like this. Neither of us can do anything to the other!"

"So what? No matter what, I'm going to defeat you today so that brat Uchiha Chen understands that becoming my apprentice is the wisest choice!"

However, Tsunade didn't seem to have any intention of stopping.

The two remained locked in a tense standoff, with a major battle ready to erupt at any moment.

Although the spectators still hadn't figured out exactly what had happened, they managed to extract a key piece of information from the conversation between Tsunade and Jiraiya.

"...Um... I think I know why Lady Tsunade and Lord Jiraiya are fighting!"

"They're actually fighting over a disciple?!"

"This... how is this possible?! These are two of the Legendary Sannin!"

"Who is it? Who on earth is so heaven-defying that they could win the favor of both Lady Tsunade and Lord Jiraiya at the same time?!"

"That person... I think his name is Uchiha Chen!"

"Uchiha Chen? Someone from the Uchiha clan?!"

"Hey, isn't that Uchiha Chen right there?"

Following the direction of the ninja's finger, the gazes of almost every ninja in the vicinity converged on Uchiha Chen.

Yet, the questions on everyone's faces only grew more numerous!

"This is Uchiha Chen? He looks completely unremarkable."

"Hey, I know this Uchiha Chen, but his talent is terrible. What's going on here?"