Watching Rorin's transformation, Fukasaku was inwardly amazed: As expected of little Rorin, mastering it so quickly. So this is the face pattern of his Sage Mode.
On the other side, Jiraiya also noticed Rorin's change. He smiled faintly and murmured,
"Heh, got it already, huh?"
"Ah—ah—!" Uzumaki Naruto suddenly swayed left and right on the wooden board, then tumbled down the mountain.
Jiraiya glanced at the flying ninja eagle.
The ninja eagle immediately flew toward where Uzumaki Naruto was falling and caught him.
After bringing him back up, Naruto jumped onto the wooden board again.
"You'd better work harder. That bone kid has already succeeded." Jiraiya nodded toward Naruto and looked in Rorin's direction.
Following Jiraiya's gaze, Naruto saw Rorin's appearance after activating Sage Mode. He smiled slightly, then focused again and reentered his training state.
Meanwhile, Rorin stood up on the wooden board. Since he could absorb natural energy at all times, as long as he became familiar with maintaining that balance, he could essentially remain in Sage Mode continuously, just like Fukasaku.
Under Sage Mode, his entire body was enhanced, and his Shikotsumyaku became even stronger.
"Congratulations, little Rorin. Your Sage Mode is complete. Next comes the final step," Fukasaku said with a smile.
Rorin smiled faintly, his expression slightly "puzzled," and said,
"It's all thanks to your guidance, Sage-sama. So what's the final step?"
"Since your training isn't exactly our kind of Sage Mode, I can only teach you how to use senjutsu chakra," Fukasaku explained.
Rorin nodded slightly. For him, learning how to use senjutsu chakra in battle was the key.
Then Fukasaku turned to look at Naruto on another peak and said calmly,
"Looks like little Naruto still needs some time. In that case, let's begin first."
Right after that, Fukasaku began teaching Rorin how to use senjutsu chakra and sparred with him.
A quarter of an hour later, Fukasaku was drenched in sweat, panting heavily. He raised his hand to stop Rorin, who was attacking him.
"Let's stop here for now, little Rorin."
Still brimming with fighting spirit, Rorin looked somewhat disappointed.
"We're only just getting started."
Fukasaku slowly shook his head, then looked at Jiraiya and said,
"I'll take a short rest first, little Jiraiya!"
"What is it?" Jiraiya asked in confusion. Naruto, who had just fallen and climbed back onto the board, also turned his head to look.
"Let's switch. I'll watch over little Naruto, and you spar with little Rorin and teach him how to use senjutsu chakra," Fukasaku said calmly.
"Spar with the bone kid? Alright." Jiraiya nodded, then jumped down the mountain. The ninja eagle caught him and carried him to the ground.
Fukasaku jumped in front of Naruto. "Little Naruto, keep it up!"
"Yeah, I will!" Naruto nodded firmly and reentered meditation.
Fukasaku watched Rorin and Jiraiya fighting fiercely below the mountain and nodded slightly.
Soon, the sky grew dark. Naruto and Fukasaku came down from the mountain, and Rorin and Jiraiya also stopped.
Rorin casually wiped the sweat from his forehead, while Jiraiya was drenched in sweat. He shot Fukasaku a somewhat resentful glance.
Fukasaku pretended not to notice, coughed lightly, and said, "It's time to eat. Let's head back!"
The three of them and the toad went back for dinner. It's worth mentioning that after Rorin taught Shima a new cooking method, Jiraiya tried the new insect feast once and found it quite tasty, so he stopped running away from eating bugs.
Time always flies during training. Three days after Rorin successfully entered Sage Mode, Naruto also completed his Sage Mode.
Before long, Rorin's main sparring partner became Naruto. The two trained against each other and grew together.
Jiraiya and Fukasaku sparred with Rorin less frequently and mainly trained with Naruto instead.
It wasn't that they favored Naruto—training with Rorin was simply too exhausting and too painful. Compared to that, sparring with Naruto was much easier.
Naruto came to deeply understand this two days later. Looking at his swollen, reddened hands, he let out a long sigh.
One night, while everyone else was asleep, Naruto quietly got up and slipped out of the room.
Even though he moved very quietly, he still woke Rorin and Jiraiya.
Watching Naruto run out, Rorin's eyes narrowed slightly as he murmured, "Going to practice a new jutsu?"
After Naruto had gone far enough, Rorin and Jiraiya slowly got up and exchanged a smile.
The two left the room together. Fukasaku, who had been sleeping, opened his eyes, shook his head, and then lay back down to continue sleeping.
Rorin and Jiraiya quietly approached the place where Naruto was practicing his new jutsu.
Naruto tried two or three times but still couldn't throw the Wind Release: Rasenshuriken successfully. He looked troubled.
Dropping out of Sage Mode, Naruto muttered to himself,
"Just a little more… Feels like I'm about to succeed."
Jiraiya smiled faintly. He had thought something serious had happened for Naruto to sneak out in the middle of the night, but it turned out he was just developing a new jutsu.
Rorin glanced at Jiraiya and said with a smile,
"Looks like we worried for nothing, you greasy old man. Let's go."
Jiraiya nodded, and the two headed back.
"By the way, bone kid, I chatted with Kakashi some time ago. He mentioned you. He said you used to learn ninjutsu from him and that you wanted to learn a no-hand-sign jutsu back then, right?"
Jiraiya turned to look at Rorin as he spoke.
Rorin nodded slightly. "Yeah, that's right. I remember Kakashi-sensei said he knew a no-hand-sign jutsu called the Rasengan, but he could only teach me the theory. The rest I had to figure out myself, so I didn't end up learning it."
After saying that, Rorin looked at Jiraiya with a "puzzled" expression, though inwardly he had already guessed something.
"Heh, so do you still want to learn it now?" Jiraiya said with a squinting smile.
With the mindset that having more skills never hurts, Rorin thought for a moment, then raised his head and said firmly, "I want to learn!"
"Then starting tomorrow, you'll have one more thing to learn." Jiraiya smiled faintly, a glint flashing in the depths of his eyes.
Jiraiya thought to himself: This way I won't have to trade punches with this guy anymore. Heh, better let him spend some effort learning ninjutsu!
Rorin smiled slightly. It wasn't that he had never considered the Rasengan before, but whenever he thought of Naruto's teaching style, he gave up. He hadn't expected Jiraiya to bring it up and offer to teach him the Rasengan today.
...
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