Jiraiya drew back the foot he had just planted on the fence.
He swayed in midair and nearly toppled straight off.
Then he turned his head and looked at me in confusion.
"A wooden talisman? What lousy wooden talisman?"
He stood on the rain-slick fence, disdain written all over his face.
"You're not messing with me, are you, kid?"
I ignored him and slowly sat up in my wicker chair.
Peanut shells scattered from my trouser legs onto the ground.
I rummaged around inside my shirt for a while.
Then I pulled out a dark little piece of wood the size of my palm.
Its surface was uneven, and its edges were still covered in splinters.
It looked like a scrap of rotten firewood casually snapped off a decaying log.
I flicked my finger, sending the wood spinning through the air toward him.
Jiraiya caught it and held it before his eyes, muttering.
"This? Isn't this just a fucking piece of rotten wood?"
"Sen, you think I'm some beggar?"
He pinched the talisman between two fingers and waved it around in the moonlight.
"You could've at least given me some travel money. What a cheapskate."
I rolled my eyes and snorted coldly.
"If you don't want it, toss it back into the mud and feed the bugs."
"I give you something out of the goodness of my heart, and all you do is complain."
Jiraiya chuckled, but he didn't actually throw it away.
He leaned closer to inspect it, rubbing his fingers over its rough surface.
Suddenly, his expression shifted slightly.
His brows instinctively knitted together.
"Wait, the chakra in this..."
He muttered under his breath, a strange look flickering in his eyes.
"Why does it feel so heavy, like a solid block of iron?"
I yawned sleepily and answered