After waiting for nearly three hours, Jiraiya finally arrived at the clearing behind the mountain with Isamu, Minato Namikaze, and Uzumaki Kushina.
Following a brief explanation of the rules, the traditional bell-snatching exercise officially began.
The moment the test started, Isamu and Minato vanished into the surrounding forest without hesitation, concealing themselves perfectly within the bushes and trees nearby.
Only Kushina remained standing in place.
Not only did she not hide, but she even assumed a fighting stance directly in front of Jiraiya.
Jiraiya: "…"
Watching the two boys immediately conceal themselves, Jiraiya nodded in satisfaction.
"Very good. A Ninja's most basic skill is hiding their presence. Not bad at all."
Then he looked at Kushina.
The corner of his mouth twitched instantly.
"But… what exactly are you doing?"
"Hehe!" Kushina confidently raised her fists. "Come on! Let's fight fair and square!"
Hidden in the distant treetops, Isamu covered his face helplessly.
"Damn… now I finally understand where Naruto inherited that personality from."
A Genin challenging a Kage-level Shinobi head-on…
Only Kushina would do something that outrageous.
Jiraiya stuffed his hands into his pockets and stared at her speechlessly.
"Uh… little girl… are you sure there isn't something wrong with your brain?"
Kushina instantly exploded.
"What do you mean there's something wrong with my brain?! You're the weird one! You're not even old, yet your hair is already completely white!"
As soon as she finished shouting, she rushed toward Jiraiya.
"The first lesson of Ninja combat," Jiraiya said lazily while reaching into his ninja pouch, "is taijutsu."
Seeing him pull something out, Kushina immediately became alert.
'A weapon?!'
But after fumbling around for a while…
Jiraiya pulled out a book and a pen.
The book's cover had four bold words written across it:
Icha Icha Paradise.
"Huh?"
Kushina froze.
Even Minato and Isamu, hidden nearby, were momentarily stunned.
"You said you were teaching taijutsu…" Kushina asked blankly. "Why are you taking out a book?"
Jiraiya casually flipped open the novel.
"I need to think carefully about the next chapter," he replied while writing. "Don't mind me. I can easily deal with you kids while working."
The corner of Isamu's mouth twitched violently from atop the tree.
"Damn it… this idiot Jiraiya is way too full of himself."
Even lions used their full strength to hunt rabbits.
Yet this guy was actually reading and writing during the test.
If he underestimated those three brats too much today…
He was definitely going to suffer.
As expected, Kushina exploded immediately.
"You bastard! How dare you look down on me?! I'm definitely going to beat you up today!"
She rolled up her sleeves and charged forward furiously.
"Take this! Flying kick!"
"Spinning kick!"
"Punch combo!"
Kushina unleashed a flurry of taijutsu attacks.
Unfortunately…
None of them landed.
The gap between her and Jiraiya was simply too enormous.
Jiraiya casually twisted his body while continuing to write in his notebook, effortlessly dodging every single strike.
Finally, Kushina gathered all her strength into one powerful punch.
"Take this!"
At that moment, Jiraiya used the Body Flicker Technique and instantly appeared behind her.
"How can a Ninja leave their back completely open?"
Then—
Bang!
He kicked Kushina directly into the nearby river.
"AHHHHHH!"
Splash!
Water exploded everywhere.
Hidden in the forest, Minato almost rushed out immediately, but he forcefully stopped himself.
'Calm down…'
'Kushina isn't hurt.'
'I can't ruin the plan now.'
Meanwhile, Kushina crawled out of the river with a drenched and furious expression.
"How did I lose in one move?!"
Just as she surfaced, she suddenly threw two shuriken toward Jiraiya in a sneak attack.
Unfortunately—
Clink!
Jiraiya casually caught both shuriken using only the pen in his hand.
"What's this?" Jiraiya yawned. "If you don't get the bells before noon, you won't get lunch."
"I KNOW THAT!"
Kushina shouted angrily while dragging herself onto shore.
"You were pretty energetic earlier," Jiraiya teased. "Why do you suddenly look half-dead now?"
Right after he finished speaking—
Grrrrrr…
Kushina's stomach growled loudly.
Her face immediately turned red.
"D-Damn it! Even if I'm hungry, I can still fight!"
At the same time, hidden in the shadows, Minato and Isamu both quietly pressed a hand against their stomachs.
Even Isamu, who was secretly observing from the tree, felt a bit hungry.
Looking up at the sun, he clicked his tongue.
"No wonder I'm hungry already. It's almost noon."
Then he glanced toward Kushina.
"Watching Kushina get toyed with by Jiraiya is honestly boring. You two brats better hurry up already. I'm still waiting to see Jiraiya embarrass himself."
After mocking Kushina a little more, Jiraiya turned around and began walking away from the riverbank.
Playing with this scatterbrained little girl was too boring.
He'd rather lure out the other two.
"Where are you going?!"
Kushina shouted unwillingly.
"I was just careless earlier!"
But the moment she finished yelling, a wave of weakness suddenly hit her.
Her stomach growled again.
"Damn it… I'm starving…"
Then she clenched her fists tightly.
"No!"
"I absolutely can't stop here!"
"I'm going to become a real Ninja!"
The instant those words fell—
Two golden chakra chains suddenly burst out from Kushina's body and shot directly toward Jiraiya.
Jiraiya's eyes narrowed slightly.
"Oh?"
"The Uzumaki Clan's Chakra Chains…"
"This technique can only be mastered by exceptionally talented members of the Uzumaki Clan."
A hint of surprise finally appeared on his face.
"For her to awaken it at this age… interesting."
Hidden in the treetop, Isamu nodded in satisfaction.
"Kushina really does have talent."
"In the future, once her chakra grows strong enough, this technique alone could suppress even Kage-level opponents."
"Unfortunately… right now she's still far too inexperienced."
Facing the incoming chains, Jiraiya remained completely calm.
"With your current chakra reserves, you probably can't maintain this technique for more than a minute."
He casually stepped aside.
"You're making a pretty impressive display…"
"But in the end, you're still just a little girl."
"A technique at this level can't possibly threaten me."
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