You Had Your Chance, But You Were Useless?!

"Oi, Big Brother Jiraiya, practicing?"

"Yikes! What the? Oh, it's you, little brat Qi Luna. Why did you run over here? Done with your disguise?"

Jiraiya, startled by Qi Luna's sudden appearance, looked the boy up and down before something seemed to cross his mind.

"Tell me, is there any..."

"No. Don't dream about it, give up on that idea!"

Qi Luna knew exactly what this unreliable guy was going to say, so he delivered a triple refusal, not even giving him the chance to finish his sentence.

"How could you? I'm clearly handsome and dashing, a man of refined bearing. Why won't Tsunade just like me..."

Hearing Qi Luna shut him down before he could even finish, Jiraiya's entire aura turned gray. He crouched in the corner and started drawing circles on the ground.

"Heh... heh..."

Regarding Jiraiya's narcissism, Qi Luna simply gave him a fake Byakugan glare before flopping onto Jiraiya's bed.

"A big bed is just comfortable, after all~"

"This war has been going on for half a year. I've spent nearly six months sleeping on that damn single cot. During my sleep, I had to stay alert for potential Amegakure raids, and with this endless rain, I couldn't eat well or sleep well. I'm truly sick of it!"

Having finished his day's work and finally lying on the bed he had been dreaming of, Qi Luna finally dropped his guard, unable to stop himself from complaining about his recent life.

"Then why did you go to such lengths to get to the battlefield in the first place?"

Jiraiya, who had been struggling to sense natural energy on his own, heard the complaint and decided that his training wasn't urgent. He simply started chatting with Qi Luna.

"I must be sick in the head, looking for trouble and running to the battlefield to suffer! Aside from an ever-growing chakra pool, rich combat experience, inspiration for developing New Vortex Style Taijutsu, and the friendship of the Uchiha clan, I've got nothing... Hahahahaha... wait, were the gains actually that big?"

As he spoke, Qi Luna sat up on the bed and started laughing at himself.

Is this a 'try not to laugh' challenge? Interesting.

"You annoying brat, you really are hard to like!"

"But you didn't move in here just for my big bed, did you? What? Interested in the Sage Mode I'm practicing?"

As he spoke, Jiraiya sat on the edge of the bed, draped an arm over Qi Luna's shoulder, and asked in a low voice.

"Want to form a summoning contract with Mount Myoboku? This is a secret ninjutsu I haven't even taught Minato yet~ You just need to..."

Jiraiya said this while giving Qi Luna a sleazy, "you know what I mean" look.

"Forget it. I don't really like toads. You should save that for Minato."

Pushing away Jiraiya's large face, Qi Luna politely declined his "generous invitation."

"You really don't know quality when you see it! Mount Myoboku is one of the three great sage regions. Countless people want to sign a contract with Mount Myoboku and never get the chance, and you're just turning it down like that?!"

Jiraiya was a bit surprised by the rejection, though it wasn't entirely unacceptable, just a bit of a pity.

He felt a deep sense of regret thinking that no one would be there to share his insect feasts, no one to experience the pain of bugs wriggling in their mouths and bursting with juices.

"Don't like toads? Then what do you like?"

"Compared to toads, I prefer ninja dogs or ninja cats."

Qi Luna replied after a moment of thought.

"You like fluffy little animals? You really are just a kid~ Hahaha~"

Jiraiya gave a mocking expression at Qi Luna's preference; the speed of his mood swing was as easy as breathing.

Qi Luna didn't get angry, simply explaining himself:

"Large summoning beasts don't fit my combat style well, and small ones struggle to provide help in battle. Ninja dogs' tracking abilities and ninja cats' intelligence gathering are the only things that are actually useful to me."

"Tracking and intel gathering, huh? That's definitely not a toad's specialty. For ninja dogs, I can help you ask Inuzuka Gaku. As for ninja cats, don't you have a good relationship with the Uchiha? Their clan has had good ties with the ninja cats for generations. If you get the chance, you can ask them yourself."

Seeing Qi Luna's serious analysis, Jiraiya became serious as well, rarely helping him think through the problem of how to acquire a ninja dog or cat.

"Why ask them? It's not like it's a necessity. It's too much trouble, forget it."

Qi Luna waved his hand. They only had a decent impression of each other; it wasn't nearly enough to share intelligence. Besides, he planned to raise a big pet later on; there was no need to sign a contract with a cat or dog right now!

"Well, don't blame me then. I tried my best to help you, but you said you didn't need it! So, about that thing... can we discuss it again?"

Jiraiya turned to the side, crossed his arms over his chest, and spoke with a hint of indignation, but then turned back, asking in a soft, earnest voice with a slight blush on his cheeks.

"..."

"I give up. Just this once, and don't expect it again!"

The next day.

In the morning, they fought another war of attrition with Amegakure.

In the afternoon, thanks to Tsunade's arrival, the medical work finished earlier than usual.

After a brief rest to replenish his stamina, Qi Luna brought Tsunade to his temporary training ground.

Activating Kagura Mind's Eye to clearly see the surrounding environment and any "enemies," Qi Luna began to warm up as usual.

Watching Qi Luna's warm-up, Tsunade was long past being surprised. She simply loosened up in her own habitual way and began practicing the New Vortex Style Taijutsu that Qi Luna had given her the night before.

After all, given the strength of her physical constitution, Tsunade quickly completed the first two forms, totaling four taijutsu techniques, and subsequently began her study of the eighth form.

During this period, Tsunade utilized Super Strength multiple times, and her practice of the eighth form gradually reached a state of mastery.

Meanwhile, Qi Luna, who was practicing Super Strength from scratch on the sidelines, gradually grasped some of the tricks to the force-generating techniques of Super Strength through Tsunade's repeated demonstrations.

They practiced until evening. After performing some "slight" restoration work on the training ground, Qi Luna and Tsunade were just preparing to return to the camp together when a ninja wearing an ugly mask appeared abruptly, blocking their path.

"An enemy? Qi Luna, you must be careful!"

Having said that, she vanished from her spot in an instant.

"Vortex Style, First Form: Violent Step!"

Following a dull thud, Tsunade had already appeared right in front of the masked ninja!

"Vortex Style, Second Form, Modified: Super Strength Strike!"

So fast! It far exceeds a standard Body Flicker Technique! No, I can't take this head-on, I'll die!

The masked ninja felt as if he saw a massive, blood-red "DANGER" character appear above his head; he felt as though he had fallen into an ice cellar. Fortunately, his body's autonomous reaction and combat intuition caused his upper body to instinctively lean backward, allowing him to narrowly dodge Tsunade's attack.

However, the ugly mask on his face did not escape unscathed; merely grazed by the chakra overflowing from Tsunade's fist, the mask was shattered into two halves.

"Tsunade, watch out, I'm coming to save—"

Having just arrived and intending to play the hero saving the damsel, Jiraiya was left completely dumbfounded when he saw Orochimaru being forced back by Tsunade's punch...

"Oh~ Orochimaru, why are you appearing here now?"

"And Jiraiya too, what kind of tricks are you two up to again?"

After Tsunade's gaze swept back and forth between Orochimaru and Jiraiya for a moment, Orochimaru finally couldn't hold back. He shoved the cracked, ugly mask into Jiraiya's arms with one hand and muttered a curse under his breath:

"Idiot! Don't ever come looking for me for this kind of thing again!"