Tsunade had a look of absolute confidence, as if she had already won. Compared to her usual bets with unlimited stakes, today's bet was incredibly small. No matter who won or lost, the worst that would happen was a bit of pain. She had considered the possibility of losing, but she wasn't afraid. Even if she did lose, she didn't believe Haruto Saito would actually dare to hit her!
"Cough, cough, cough..." Haruto coughed for a while before finally stopping. Wiping his mouth, he said, "You've been wanting to hit me for a long time, haven't you?"
"Of course!" Tsunade nodded and admitted it outright.
"Sigh..." Haruto sighed. He suddenly felt a little sorry for Tsunade. She always lost bets but kept making them anyway. Turning his head slightly, he asked, "Jiraiya-sama, you heard that, right?"
"Mm." Jiraiya responded with a nasal sound.
"Good!" Haruto then looked at Tsunade. "Since this is a small bet, we don't need to write a formal agreement. But let me repeat: if I can successfully use chakra-infused hypnosis, you lose. If I fail to demonstrate it, I lose. Is that correct?"
"That's right." Tsunade raised her chin slightly. "Come on, start already!"
"Give me the pendant." Haruto gestured with his hand.
Tsunade tossed the pendant to him, but then Haruto asked, "So, how should I demonstrate it? Should I hypnotize you?"
Tsunade didn't answer immediately. She thought for a moment, then looked up. "Jiraiya, come over here."
"Hey! Don't drag me into your bets, okay?" Jiraiya stood in place, unmoving. He was worried that if Tsunade lost, he'd be the one she took her frustration out on. And that would not end well for him!
"Jiraiya-sama, don't worry. You'll just be the target of my hypnosis. The outcome of the bet has nothing to do with you." Haruto reassured him.
"I swear, if I lose, I won't take it out on you!" Tsunade quickly promised.
"You're going to hypnotize me?" Jiraiya was stunned. He had thought Tsunade called him over to help judge the effectiveness of the hypnosis, perhaps through a group vote. It never occurred to him that Haruto was planning to directly hypnotize him.
Was this a joke?!
Did Haruto actually believe his hypnosis was strong enough to work on him? Hypnotizing an average ninja might be one thing, but Jiraiya didn't believe for a second that he could be put under. He was a pure ninjutsu specialist with exceptionally high spiritual energy—higher than Tsunade's, in fact!
"You really… plan to hypnotize me?" Jiraiya walked over, looking skeptical.
"Yes. Any objections?" Haruto asked, puzzled.
Tsunade remained silent, her expression also a bit strange.
There was one thing she hadn't told Jiraiya: she had been hypnotized by Haruto before! Of course, such an embarrassing event was not something she would voluntarily bring up. Jiraiya was unaware of this, so he had no idea just how powerful the hypnosis truly was.
Jiraiya knew Haruto's hypnosis was impressive, but in reality, it was even more terrifying than he imagined!
"Alright, hypnotize me. Let's see what you've got." Jiraiya stopped in front of them, looking indifferent.
At this moment, he was starting to believe Tsunade would win this bet.
In truth, if Haruto was still using his basic hypnosis technique, he wouldn't have been confident in hypnotizing Jiraiya either. Jiraiya's spiritual energy was far greater than Tsunade's. But things were different now—Haruto had mastered the advanced version: Magic Hypnosis! This was an S-rank forbidden jutsu!
He had a reasonable level of confidence, and he was eager to see just how effective Magic Hypnosis could be.
"Jiraiya-sama, please sit down first. I need you to cooperate with me." Haruto said.
"Why should I cooperate?" Jiraiya asked a question that might have sounded silly, but was actually very reasonable—because enemies wouldn't cooperate in a real situation.
"It's true that I need your cooperation," Tsunade interjected. "This technique has certain limitations. We can't create the perfect conditions naturally, so cooperation is necessary."
"Fine, I'll cooperate!" Jiraiya nodded. Since even Tsunade admitted it, he was willing to comply.
Jiraiya leaned against the cave wall, while Tsunade sat across from him. Haruto positioned himself at Jiraiya's side.
"Alright, Jiraiya-sama, now I need you to withdraw your external perception. Don't maintain any external awareness—just relax your body and empty your mind as much as possible..."
Haruto spoke, and Jiraiya followed his instructions.
"Now, I can tell you this: for the hypnosis to work, the target needs to be mentally exhausted or completely unguarded. Feeling relaxed and at ease also helps. You must completely lower your guard, Jiraiya-sama. Do you understand?"
Jiraiya nodded but then muttered, "That sounds troublesome. This technique doesn't seem very practical. Who would lower their guard in a real battle? The practicality seems low."
Haruto didn't argue, because this was indeed a major drawback. The technique required too many preconditions, making it less useful in battle.
"Basic hypnosis does have its limitations, but advanced control—like forcing someone to answer questions—can be extremely useful." Tsunade added, "If this ability is applied to captured enemies, it can quickly extract a vast amount of accurate intelligence. It's much more efficient than torture."
"That makes sense." Jiraiya nodded.
"Alright, stop talking." Haruto cut in, then turned back to Jiraiya. "Now, Jiraiya-sama, are you sure you've withdrawn your external perception?"
"Yes."
"Are you fully relaxed?"
"I am."
"Good. Now take a few deep breaths to help relax even further."
Jiraiya followed the instructions, taking several deep breaths.
"It's a pity that Jiraiya-sama just woke up." Haruto noted, "If you were exhausted before sleep, the success rate would be even higher."
Jiraiya glanced at Haruto, still unconvinced. He was now tempted to make a bet himself—there was no way he was going to be hypnotized! He had overheard Haruto and Tsunade's discussions earlier, and the more he listened, the more it all seemed like nonsense. The method was just too unconventional.
Even though Jiraiya had seen Haruto hypnotize others before, those were weak individuals. There were very few ninjas in the world who could reach Jiraiya's level of mental resilience in their twenties.
"Hey, kid, let me remind you—it has to be chakra-infused hypnosis!" Tsunade suddenly interjected. "You must use chakra as we discussed. You can't just use your regular technique."
"Would you mind shutting up?" Haruto shot back irritably.
Tsunade was always interrupting.
"Alright, Jiraiya-sama, are you ready? As I described?" Haruto asked.
"I'm ready." Jiraiya confirmed.
"Good… Oh, wait. Tsunade-sama, could you stand up for a moment? I need your help with something."
Tsunade blinked, then instinctively stood up without questioning it.
At that instant—because of Haruto's words and Tsunade's movement—Jiraiya's attention momentarily shifted to her!
Snap!
Haruto snapped his fingers, letting the pendant dangle. The moment Jiraiya's gaze instinctively followed the swinging pendant, Haruto leaned in and whispered into his ear, "Sleep."
Jiraiya's eyelids resisted for a brief second before shutting completely. An overwhelming wave of drowsiness crashed over his consciousness.
The cave fell into silence.
Tsunade, halfway through standing up, froze in place, eyes wide in shock.
Jiraiya's breathing became deep and steady.
He was asleep…
What just happened?!
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