Over the years, he had always comforted himself with the power of senjutsu.
It was fine if he looked a little ugly.
It was fine if the preparations took a little longer.
As long as it was strong enough.
But Fang Xu had not only mastered Perfect Sage Mode, he had even improved it along the way.
He could hide the facial markings.
He could activate senjutsu instantly.
Even the stability of his natural energy far surpassed Jiraiya's.
The more Jiraiya thought about it, the worse he felt.
How could the gap between two people be this enormous?
Minato Namikaze glanced at Fang Xu, then at his teacher.
He said nothing.
But that faintly sympathetic look only wounded Jiraiya further.
"It's really nothing special."
Jiraiya straightened his back, forcing himself to salvage some dignity.
"Everyone has different strengths."
"Just because you master senjutsu quickly doesn't mean you're better than me at everything else."
"Besides, you can count the people capable of practicing senjutsu in the entire shinobi world on one hand."
By this point, he finally felt a little better.
At least he had learned Mount Myoboku's senjutsu.
Tsunade had visited Shikkotsu Forest before and attempted to train with natural energy.
Hadn't she failed in the end?
Orochimaru had likewise failed to master Ryūchi Cave's senjutsu.
Of the Three Ninja, he alone truly possessed Sage Mode.
Thinking of it that way, Jiraiya felt he still qualified as a genius.
He cleared his throat softly, and a smile returned to his face.
"Fang Xu."
"Since you can improve Sage Mode, you must have put together plenty of training insights, right?"
Jiraiya took two steps forward.
He had just been desperately comforting himself, but now he cast his pride aside.
"Lend me your training notes."
"I won't take them for nothing."
"The