Jiraiya's body trembled, his eyes gradually losing their light as he fell backward.
The silver hair entangling Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki also disappeared.
"Poof!"
Jiraiya's figure turned into a puff of smoke.
It was still just a shadow clone.
Uchiha Gin sighed helplessly — he no longer had the strength to continue fighting.
Luckily...
The bell hadn't vanished with Jiraiya but instead fell to the ground.
It was quickly snatched up by Kushina's chains.
At that moment, the real Jiraiya emerged from the woods, carrying a box in his hand.
"You guys really aren't simple, huh."
From the beginning, the one appearing among them had only been a shadow clone. But even a simple shadow clone wasn't something a regular Genin team could deal with — usually only a Chunin squad would stand a chance at defeating it.
"Jiraiya-sensei, we won!" Kushina cheered, waving the bell excitedly.
The bell chimed with crisp "ding ding dong dong" sounds.
Jiraiya smiled.
This little brat was finally calling him properly.
"First, let's eat," he said, patting the box in his hand.
"This is my lovingly prepared bento~"
Kushina pulled a disgusted face, but her hungry stomach didn't allow her to be picky. She followed Minato toward Jiraiya.
Uchiha Gin also weakly dragged himself over.
After all, Rasengan was extremely chakra-consuming. Even though Gin had derived it with the help of his system's simulation powers, it was still too taxing for him in his current state.
That one technique had drained a massive amount of his chakra, exhausting his stamina severely.
"Come on, let's eat!"
Inside the box was a hearty spread — and individual bowls of steaming hot rice for everyone.
The three of them began devouring the food.
The dishes quickly diminished before their eyes.
Jiraiya lifted his chopsticks and stared at the quickly-emptying plates, falling into thought.
Feeling their gazes, he awkwardly smiled, then quickly turned serious.
"So, have you three decided who's going back to the Ninja Academy?"
Minato and Kushina looked at each other.
Gin lazily lay down, unconcerned — this kind of trial meant nothing to him.
"I volunteer! I'd like to go back to the Academy for another ten years!"
If it meant becoming a long-term 'resident' of the Academy, he would happily accept.
Better that than being thrown onto the battlefield.
As for fighting to protect the village...
Sorry, Uchiha Gin considered himself a survivor of the Will of Fire, but not a sacrificial lamb.
Still, that was just a fantasy. With the current strength of the three of them...
There was no way the village would let them off so easily.
Minato raised his hand.
"I'll withdraw."
"After all, I feel like I wasn't very useful."
Though he wore a smile, it couldn't hide the trace of bitterness within.
Compared to Gin's overwhelming combat ability and Kushina's formidable Uzumaki clan techniques, Minato felt practically invisible.
"I'll withdraw too," said Kushina darkly.
"I doubt the village would assign me any missions anyway."
As the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, and an outsider to the village in her own eyes, she understood her situation well.
Among the three, only Uchiha Gin remained truly at ease.
He said nothing, just gazed up at the sky.
The sky was so blue. The clouds were so white.
"Hahaha!" Jiraiya suddenly laughed out loud, looking at the three with satisfaction.
"You all pass."
"Because you're teammates who must rely on each other. If you can't trust your own comrades, it would be disastrous."
What he had really been testing was the bond between them.
Kushina blinked in confusion, seeing Minato's bright and cheerful smile, finally realizing —
"So... we're all officially ninjas?"
As for Uchiha Gin... better not to comment.
"That's right! From today, you're officially Genin — Team 7 under Jiraiya-sensei!"
"Yay!!" Kushina jumped with joy.
Jiraiya chuckled, watching the three kids — they reminded him so much of the old Team 7.
Kushina, the violent girl like Tsunade.
Uchiha Gin, the steady presence like Orochimaru.
And Minato, handsome and gentle like himself.
That's right — in Jiraiya's mind, he was definitely the Minato of his own generation!
"As our team leader, shouldn't Jiraiya-sensei treat us to a feast?" Uchiha Gin suddenly sat up, grinning mischievously like a fox.
Seeing Minato and Kushina's expectant faces, Jiraiya patted his chest.
"Of course, no problem!"
Yet somehow... he had a bad feeling.
Hadn't they just eaten?
—
Konoha's Barbecue Restaurant.
Jiraiya stared at the long bill dragging on the ground, his jaw nearly hitting the floor.
Checking his wallet over and over again — still not enough money.
At this point in life, Jiraiya had not yet become a wealthy author.
Being a ninja paid well, sure, but ninja tools, training, and missions burned through cash fast.
Looking up at the smiling owner of the barbecue restaurant, Jiraiya hesitated and asked:
"Can I... wash dishes to pay?"
The owner's eyes widened — he'd never seen such a shameless ninja! Even that brat who kept rolling his eyes last time was more straightforward!
After a quick calculation with his abacus, the boss reluctantly agreed.
Jiraiya, face full of despair, had barely stepped outside when he heard Gin's lively chatter:
"People like us, who can never get enough food, have to find some sucker to treat us!"
Minato looked awkward, but Kushina nodded seriously.
Jiraiya's face darkened — he took back every nice thing he'd ever thought about Uchiha Gin.
While Gin was proudly sharing his "how to find a sucker" strategy, he noticed Jiraiya's blackened expression and greeted him.
"Yo! Suck— I mean, Jiraiya-sensei!"
You were definitely going to say "sucker"!!
Jiraiya screamed internally.
Now he realized — this kid was a walking disaster!
"Alright, alright, don't be mad," Gin said, pulling out a small notebook and handing it to Jiraiya like he was comforting a child.
"What's this?" Jiraiya asked, glancing at the pages.
"Basic Inner Force Techniques."
"This was the secret why I didn't use ninjutsu before."
Since they were now officially teammates, there was no point hiding it anymore — and it definitely wasn't because Gin was greedy for Jiraiya's knowledge.
Jiraiya's curiosity was instantly piqued.
Just then —
"Jiraiya."
A cold, dark voice interrupted them. Orochimaru had appeared beside them at some point.
Seeing Orochimaru, Jiraiya's face lit up with joy.
A savior!
"Yo, Orochimaru! You're just in time — lend me some money!"
Orochimaru tilted his head, confused: "???"
Checking his pockets... he found no wallet.
"I didn't bring my wallet today."
Jiraiya: orz.
So much for a savior!
Orochimaru's eyes then landed on the notebook in Jiraiya's hand, a subtle smile appearing on his face.
"Jiraiya, that could be the path to true power."
"Huh?" Jiraiya lifted the notebook, confused.
But Orochimaru offered no further explanation.
"I'm taking him with me."
Gin waved at Minato.
"See you tomorrow."
After Uchiha Gin and Orochimaru left, Minato asked Jiraiya, puzzled:
"Sensei, who was that?"
Jiraiya stood there, a look of melancholy on his face.
"An elite Jonin. Orochimaru. He was my teammate."
The sadness turned into a bitter smile.
"I've got something to do. You two go home. Tomorrow we'll start missions."
With that, Jiraiya walked back into the barbecue restaurant, a tragic figure about to wash ten thousand dishes.
Minato and Kushina exchanged glances, speechless.
—
Following Orochimaru, Gin ventured into increasingly remote areas.
If he remembered correctly, this was the direction of the Forest of Death.
That place was sealed off, filled with wild beasts and summonable creatures. Only ninjas were allowed to enter.
Many Uchiha clan members had found their summoning beasts there.
Though suspicious, Gin said nothing.
They soon arrived at a hidden entrance and entered what looked like a secret laboratory.
Orochimaru explained:
"This will be your training ground. The first floor is a combat arena, the second floor holds captured beasts, the third is the ninjutsu archive — you can study freely — and the fourth floor is my personal lab."
Gin bluntly asked:
"Orochimaru-sama, you're not doing all this just to train me, right?"
No matter the past or present, Gin wasn't naive enough to think Orochimaru would offer selfless support.
He wasn't someone with deep political backing like Nawaki.
There must be a purpose behind it.
Orochimaru chuckled and countered:
"Do you understand what your created ninjutsu represents, Gin-kun?"
Gin frowned, falling deep into thought.
His techniques were simply born from thinking differently — what else could they mean?
Orochimaru provided the answer:
"A revolution — a transformation of the entire ninja world."
Instantly, Gin jumped back, pulling out a kunai.
Revolutions weren't something to be spoken of lightly — coming from someone else's mouth, it meant danger.
"Hisss—"
A snake hissed nearby — Gin turned to see a colorful snake coiling around him.
He froze, not daring to make a single move.
The gap in strength was too massive.
Orochimaru chuckled softly:
"Relax, Gin-kun. I won't harm you. In fact, I'll protect you — as long as you continue developing this so-called Basic Inner Force."
Through his research these past days, Orochimaru had realized — though Basic Inner Force was profound, its methodology was still immature.
Without fully understanding the system's mindset, he couldn't modify it at will.
Why not let the creator improve it himself?
"My current knowledge base isn't enough to push it further," Gin admitted.
It wasn't that he didn't want to — it's that the system kept rejecting his simulations!
"I'll provide you the resources and shelter you need. You just need to give me the results."
"And in the meantime..." Orochimaru added, eyes gleaming.
"You'll participate in my experiments."
"What experiments?" Gin asked cautiously.
"Hashirama Cell experiments."
(End of Chapter)