Jiraiya stood with his arms crossed, a confident smirk on his face as he declared, "A mere Second Hokage? Of course, I can't beat him!"
For a moment, there was silence. Then, the expressions on the faces of the twelve genin present shifted from awe to sheer disappointment. They had expected something grand, some incredible proclamation that would shake the foundation of their beliefs. Instead, they got this?
Uzumaki Naruto, who had been eagerly listening, tilted his head, then casually picked his nose after finishing a leek box. "Ero-sennin, if you can't even beat the Second Hokage, why should I become your disciple?"
Jiraiya's face twitched. "You ungrateful little brat! You were born evil! How could Minato have a son like you? I was thinking of making you my apprentice out of the kindness of my heart, and this is how you talk to me?!"
Naruto chewed on another bite of his food, completely unfazed. He knew Jiraiya was strong—after all, he was the teacher of his father, Namikaze Minato—but right now, strength alone wasn't enough to impress him. If he was going to be someone's disciple, he needed benefits.
"I mean, I'm not saying no," Naruto said, waving his hand. "But you've got to make it worth my while. If I accept you as my teacher, what can you give me? I heard there's some kind of ceremony for becoming an apprentice, right? Out of the kindness of my heart, I won't charge too much for the apprenticeship gift… just 3.5 billion ryo should do."
Jiraiya nearly choked on his own spit. "What kind of nonsense is that?! Since when does the master give money to the disciple?! The ceremony is supposed to be the other way around!"
Naruto shrugged. "Times change, Ero-sennin. You've got to adapt."
Jiraiya took a deep breath. He needed to turn this around before Naruto dismissed him completely. "Fine! Forget money! If you become my disciple, I'll teach you an extremely powerful jutsu!"
Naruto's interest piqued slightly. "How strong are we talking?"
Jiraiya grinned. "Ever heard of the Rasengan? It's a high-level ninjutsu that's in the Scroll of Seals!"
Naruto blinked. "Oh, that? The Second Hokage is already teaching me, and my dad is helping too. Not just me, by the way—everyone's learning! The Mutual Multiplication Explosive Tag, the Hidden Shadow Jutsu, the Eight Inner Gates, Flying Thunder God… yeah, we're all getting stronger."
Jiraiya's jaw almost hit the floor. "Wait, wait, wait! Hold on! You're saying you're already learning all those forbidden techniques?!"
Naruto nodded casually. "Yeah. You're kind of late to the party, old man."
Jiraiya felt a headache coming on. The forbidden techniques in the Scroll of Seals were some of the most powerful jutsu in existence. He himself didn't even know half of them! And here was Naruto, casually talking about learning them as if it were a school curriculum.
No, he couldn't give up yet. He had another card to play.
"Alright, fine! If that doesn't impress you, then how about this? I can teach you summoning jutsu!"
Naruto's ears perked up. "Summoning jutsu?"
Jiraiya nodded. "That's right! With it, you can call upon powerful toads from Mount Myoboku to fight alongside you!"
Naruto considered it for a moment, then sighed. "Tch… not interested."
Jiraiya stumbled back in shock. "WHAT?! Why not?!"
"Can you summon the First Hokage or Uchiha Madara like Souta can?"
Jiraiya nearly collapsed on the spot. "Are you insane?! That's not how summoning jutsu works! Only Souta has the ability to do something like that!"
Naruto waved his hand dismissively. "Then it's useless to me."
Jiraiya was on the verge of tears. This kid was impossible to deal with! He wracked his brain for another way to convince Naruto and finally came up with one last trump card.
"Well, what about Sage Mode?"
Naruto paused, finally showing a flicker of interest.
"Sage Mode?"
Jiraiya nodded eagerly. "That's right! By learning how to harness natural energy, you can achieve incredible power! Enhanced speed, strength, and sensory abilities—it's on a whole other level!"
Naruto tilted his head in thought. He had seen his father use Sage Mode before. But now that he could tap into Kurama's chakra, he felt like his Nine-Tails Chakra Mode was far cooler.
"Tch… still not interested."
Jiraiya's eye twitched. This brat was really testing his patience. Desperate, he turned to Souta Kazuki, who had been silently watching the exchange.
"Hokage-sama! Help me out here! Naruto is your close friend and a member of your Hokage Guard Platoon! Can't you talk some sense into him? He'll get stronger if he learns from me!"
Souta smirked and tapped his fingers on the table. "Jiraiya-senpai… how about the position of Minister of Education?"
Jiraiya blinked. "Huh?"
Souta leaned forward, his smirk growing. "The village needs a proper education system for young shinobi. Someone experienced, someone who has raised legends before. Who better than the great Jiraiya, one of the Legendary Sannin?"
Jiraiya's eyes widened. Then, realization dawned on him, and he burst into laughter. "Hahahahahaha! Hokage-sama! You know me too well! I would be honored to be the Minister of Education! If anyone tries to take this position from me, I'll fight them to the death!"
Souta nodded. "Good. Then let's make it official. As for Naruto…"
He turned to his blond friend, who was watching the exchange with amusement. "Naruto, do you know who Jiraiya trained?"
Naruto scratched his head. "My dad, right?"
"Exactly. Now think about this… if you become Jiraiya's student, that means Minato becomes your senior."
Naruto blinked. Then his eyes widened.
"That means…"
Souta grinned. "That's right. The next time you see your dad, he'll have to call you 'junior brother' instead of 'son.'"
There was silence.
Then Naruto burst out laughing. "Hahahahahaha! Oh man, that's hilarious! My dad, my senior?! Hahahahahaha! I'm in! I'll be Ero-sennin's apprentice!"
Jiraiya stared in shock. "Wait… that's what convinced you?!"
Naruto wiped tears from his eyes. "Hahahaha! Of course! I can't wait to see my dad's reaction!"
Jiraiya sighed, rubbing his temples. "I swear, this kid is going to be the death of me…"
Souta chuckled. "Welcome to the team, Minister of Education."