Faced with Naruto's sobbing and Sage Fukasaku's lecture, Jiraiya simply couldn't wrap his head around it.
What did he mean, Naruto had disturbed the Great Toad Sage?
How could a brat who hadn't even hit puberty possibly disturb Mount Myōboku's ancient patriarch?
Wait...
As though something had occurred to him, Jiraiya said, "You mean the Great Toad Sage foresaw Naruto being in danger, so you let Naruto summon you and saved him while you were at it?"
Jiraiya certainly lived up to his reputation as a novelist. That logic, that deduction... No wonder his perfectly respectable, filler-packed novels sold a whopping hundred copies a year. Unbeatable.
Hearing that, Lord Fukasaku immediately slapped Jiraiya across the face.
"What nonsense are you babbling about?" Sage Fukasaku snapped. While soothing Naruto's wounded little soul, he pointed at Jiraiya's nose and scolded, "Naruto summoned the Great Toad Sage, me, the Child's Mother, and Gamabunta, all in one go!"
The Great Toad Sage, me, the Child's Mother, and Gamabunta, all in one go...
Those words kept reverberating through Jiraiya's head like echoes in a valley. Only his wild imagination as an author of dirty novels kept him from having a mental breakdown on the spot.
"That's! Not! Possible! Him?"
Every feature on Jiraiya's face registered shock, leaving his whole expression horribly contorted with disbelief.
Smack!
Listening to little Naruto sob out accusation after accusation against Jiraiya without hesitation, Sage Fukasaku delivered another backhanded slap.
"When have I ever lied to you? You don't even believe me anymore?"
[Ding! Received 5,000,000 negative emotion points and 5,000,000 shock points from Jiraiya!!!]
Watching Sage Fukasaku beat Jiraiya like a naughty grandson, Naruto went full award-winning actor, tears running down his face while the corners of his mouth curled upward.
Of course, that smile wasn't an act.