45 Taking Me to the Hot Springs? What Are You Thinking?

"Hahaha, that makes sense. Now that I think about it, when I first met this kid, I thought he was some thief, didn't expect he would be Tsunade's cousin."

Jiraiya said while drinking another cup, then let out a long sigh.

Orochimaru silently drank a cup.

The war was over.

But.

The trauma, the pain would not disappear. Tsunade's experience was the tragedy of war.

"Hey, why so silent? You're creepy when you don't talk. Don't scare our cousin. Come, have a drink."

Jiraiya was very cordial.

He was outgoing by nature, but saying this was more hoping Orochimaru wouldn't overthink.

Orochimaru smiled and raised his cup to Kyōichi, "Kyōichi-kun, we meet again."

"You've met him before?"

Jiraiya was very surprised.

"He was the proctor during my Jounin Exams."

Kyōichi simply said.

Jiraiya was stunned for a moment, then immediately understood the situation.

Orochimaru as the proctor, the exam must have been very difficult. He smiled without asking further, and the three of them began to chatter.

Mostly asking about Tsunade's recent condition.

"Lady Tsunade is fine, the only problem is she's always short on money, with debt collectors chasing her every day for payments."

"Hahahaha!"

Jiraiya laughed loudly.

That's Tsunade alright!

She has everything except money.

Because no matter how much money she has, it's never enough for her to lose it all gambling in the end.

"Have you lent her money?"

"No, I never lend money to gamblers."

"You're right, better to give me that money for Ninjutsu research, at least there will be some results to teach you afterwards."

Orochimaru's mouth curled up slightly.

When it came to Tsunade, the gap and distance between the three seemed to have shortened a little.

Kyōichi could sense it.

At least at this moment, Orochimaru was not concerned about the Senju physique or Hashirama's cells. He was just an ordinary person who cared about his teammate.

"By the way, I heard from the old man you're researching some kind of technique. If you need any help, just say so. At least the two of us are still in the village for now, who knows when we'll be sent out again."

Jiraiya spoke enthusiastically, but also with resignation.

The current Konoha...

Could be described as in a precarious situation.

Wars every year, the other four Great Villages all trying to bite off a piece of Konoha.

"I don't need urgent help right now. You just mentioned having to go out again, could it be...?"

Kyōichi lowered his voice mid-sentence.

Jiraiya nodded lightly and said, "The Second Great Ninja War ended years ago, Kirigakure and Iwagakure have recovered a lot of strength. I've to go north to take a look."

"Kiri is also a possibility, right? They've recovered a fair bit in recent years too. And they have a famous duo who may make a move against us."

Kyōichi said.

He remembered Kiri and Iwa making their moves around the same time. Like Iwa, the outbreak of war with Kiri had been foreseeable.

Jiraiya and Orochimaru pondered for a moment, then nodded lightly: "You have a point, Kiri hasn't made a move in years. But recently, the Seven Ninja Swordsmen have been gaining notoriety."

Kyōichi didn't say any more.

He had conveyed enough.

He had 3 brats under him, couldn't possibly go north or east to investigate. He'll leave the analysis of the future situation to the higher-ups. Not everyone in Konoha leadership were useless alcoholics and gluttons.

"Come, let's drink... Kid, you drink this one for Tsunade. You absolutely can't refuse."

"No need for that."

Kyōichi waved his hand, then bit his thumb and used Summoning Jutsu.

A small slug crawled out.

"Katsuyu-sama?"

Jiraiya was quite surprised.

Orochimaru looked at Kyōichi meaningfully.

The Slug Summoning Contract.

This kid really got approval from the Senju clan.

Looks like he would need to visit Danzo again. Otherwise, who knows what could happen if that Tsunade girl got angry...

He drank a mouthful to conceal his expression.

"Katsuyu-sama, please pass this bottle of wine to Lady Tsunade. Tell her it's from the Three Legendary Ninja reunion hosted by Jiraiya and Orochimaru."

"Understood."

Katsuyu curled around the bottle, controlling her body fluids to avoid corrosion, then disappeared from the table.

Jiraiya was filled with emotion.

Signing the summoning contract represented acknowledgement of Kyōichi's Senju identity. Completely different from before.

That day, did he go to retrieve the summoning scroll?

Jiraiya realized, then was at a loss for words at Tsunade again - just leaving the contract scroll at home?

Too careless!

"Drink up, I'll chat with you about skin breathing after."

Jiraiya raised his cup.

After several cups, the food on the table was gradually cleaned out.

Orochimaru left first.

He was a busy man.

Jiraiya was used to it. He strolled around aimlessly with Kyōichi, talking about some techniques for skin breathing - the toads of Mount Myoboku had this ability.

During his sage training, he had experienced assimilating with the toads, and knew very well how skin breathing worked.

So Kyōichi had asked the right person.

However...

There was one problem.

"Master Jiraiya, I'm grateful for your teachings, but what's with bringing me to the hot springs?"

The swirling steam over the fence.

Women frolicking.

Kyōichi felt like there was a huge "Danger" sign above his head.

He was a teacher!

If discovered here, he could kiss Konoha goodbye.

"Cough cough! Don't get the wrong idea, I took a wrong turn, let's go, avoid this place. Don't want the ladies inside to misunderstand."

Jiraiya's old face turned red.

The alcohol made him unconsciously follow the voices here.

Kyōichi was speechless.

You need people to misunderstand?

Any Konohan would know of Jiraiya's illustrious Peeping Tom history.

He didn't poke holes in it though.

"Oh right, I still don't know what technique you're researching. Can you share?"

"Cell Activation Technique."

He didn't try to hide it.

Kyōichi stated it directly, gathering chakra in his hands, then...

He started hand seals.

The seal speed was noticeably faster than normal!

"This is how I'm currently applying skin breathing with the Activation Technique."

"Local stimulation of cell activation?"

Jiraiya looked thoughtful.

The method was ingenious, with room for enhancing based on needs. The burden on the body wouldn't be as great, but the requirements were also extremely high. Ordinary people couldn't possibly learn it.

"There should be even higher levels of application?"

"That's right, I named it the Seven Days Breathing Method. The first three levels of activation only require lung breathing, but for the fourth level of activation, I envision enhancing it with skin breathing."

"It's definitely feasible. This kind of technique..."

"I can teach you if you want to learn, but it's a forbidden technique, best not to use it frequently."

Kyōichi didn't hesitate.

The first three levels weren't precious treasures, no need to be stingy. Moreover - the gains from teaching Jiraiya may well outweigh their worth.

"Ahem, how about this, you teach me the activation technique, and I'll teach you my Hair Needle Senbon technique."

Jiraiya wouldn't feel good freeloading off Tsunade's junior.