Naruto: The Teaching System - 204

Chapter 204: Preparation for Yin Seal Analysis

It was a Saturday evening. Sawada had told Naruto and the others they could rest the next day, then share a meal together on the last day of the weekend.

The reason for this break sat before him now, a middle-aged man drowning his sorrows in alcohol.

Jiraiya sighed deeply, then raised his cup and took another long drink.

"Jiraiya-senpai, drinking like this will easily get you drunk," Sawada couldn't help but advise, watching Jiraiya's deteriorating state.

"You're still a child. Don't underestimate me," Jiraiya glared at Sawada with obvious annoyance, then poured himself another cup.

"Then, Jiraiya-senpai, can you first tell me why you're looking for me? After all, if you get drunk later, wouldn't I be wasting my time here?" Sawada said helplessly. Dealing with someone already showing signs of intoxication was truly troublesome.

However, whether Jiraiya was actually drunk or simply acting remained another matter entirely.

"Speaking of which, your strength is quite impressive, kid," Jiraiya said to Sawada in a half-drunk, half-awake state.

Here it comes...

"It's nothing special. At least I can protect myself," Sawada answered conservatively.

Hearing this response, Jiraiya couldn't help but show a dumbfounded expression. Did this mean he had no dignity left whatsoever?

Whose idea of "self-protection" was sufficient to defeat the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki?

"I understand now how you managed to escape from Orochimaru," Jiraiya had to admire this cautious attitude.

Which young elite would be like Sawada, completely without a trace of youthful arrogance or boasting?

Sawada didn't respond, simply smiling as he picked up his cup to drink tea.

That's right. He was drinking tea in a tavern. The owner's surprised expression earlier had been impossible to hide. If Jiraiya hadn't ordered multiple bottles of alcohol, the tavern owner might have assumed Sawada came to cause trouble.

"Well then, how is Naruto doing?" Jiraiya stopped playing word games with Sawada and got straight to the point.

"Hasn't Jiraiya-senpai been secretly observing him for several days already?" Sawada asked casually.

After all, Sawada had easily noticed Jiraiya's undisguised surveillance these past few days.

"I think it would be better if Jiraiya-senpai went to see Naruto directly," Sawada slowly set down his teacup and suggested.

He genuinely didn't understand why Jiraiya was being so awkward about this. The man would rather hide in shadows than meet his godson face to face.

"Forget it. Naruto... anyway, I temporarily can't go see Naruto yet," Jiraiya shook his head, still unwilling to accept that option.

It wasn't that Jiraiya didn't want to see him. He simply believed that if he had been present at the time, perhaps some tragedies could have been prevented. At least Naruto wouldn't have grown up so alone.

Sawada gave up on persuading him. Although Jiraiya's outward image appeared bold and carefree, who could truly understand the complex psychology behind it?

"However, you've taught Naruto exceptionally well," Jiraiya changed the subject.

"Teaching seems to be my forte," Sawada replied with a modest smile.

"Indeed..." Jiraiya fell speechless, thinking of his own disciples.

Minato Namikaze was dead, while his other students' whereabouts remained unknown.

"By the way, Jiraiya-senpai, what do you plan to do after this period?" Sawada deliberately guided the conversation to ask.

"Continue tracking a certain organization. They seem quite active recently, so they've revealed some useful clues," Jiraiya answered vaguely without revealing too much detail.

Sawada nodded thoughtfully. In the original timeline, Jiraiya seemed to have been tracking Orochimaru initially, which led him to learn about the Akatsuki Organization. From that point, he began conducting targeted investigations.

After all, an organization that his genius teammate Orochimaru would join naturally couldn't be underestimated.

"Alright, enough talking," Jiraiya stood up directly after this declaration. "I haven't found anything suspicious in Konoha these past few days either."

"That's why I focused my attention on you, but... whatever." After speaking, Jiraiya waved his hand dismissively and walked out of the establishment.

Sawada couldn't help but frown. Had he missed something important?

"Uh... customer, could you please settle the bill?" The tavern owner appeared before Sawada at precisely the wrong moment, holding an impressively long receipt.

Sawada: ???

Wait, did he have to pay for drinking tea as well?

He looked up, but Jiraiya was nowhere to be seen.

On the rooftop outside the shop, Jiraiya couldn't help but smirk with satisfaction. After successfully conning some money from Sawada, he felt considerably better about the evening.

However, his amusement didn't last long before his expression gradually became serious.

That day in the Hokage's office, he had clearly felt the Third Hokage's meaningful gaze linger on Sawada for several moments. But despite secretly observing for several days now, he couldn't discover anything particularly different about the young man.

Actually, he should say the biggest change was that in less than a year and a half, Sawada's strength had undergone tremendous transformation.

Either Sawada had always been concealing his true capabilities, revealing absolutely nothing. Or Sawada was genuinely a once-in-a-generation prodigy.

However, the Third Hokage provided almost no direct answers to his questions, simply telling him to observe and judge for himself.

Jiraiya shook his head and leaped away into the night.

What could he realistically observe? At most, he could infer from various details that many of Konoha's current positive changes were actually initiated by Sawada's influence.

It was just that the Third Hokage's prominent position drew everyone's attention away from the young teacher.

Otherwise, based solely on the disciples Sawada had taken under his wing, it would be sufficient to make all the ninja clans in the village take serious notice.

"What game is the old man playing exactly?"

The evening breeze was gentle. Sawada slowly walked out of the tavern and glanced up at the rooftop where he'd sensed the brief presence.

He shook his head, ignored the lingering surveillance, and turned toward the Hokage Building.

He planned to ask his sensei about the Yin Seal technique. After all, this particular jutsu wasn't included in the standard sealing jutsu scrolls.

His current Yang chakra reserves weren't sufficient to maintain long-term activation of his enhanced mode. So he needed to reference Tsunade's Yin Seal, or use it as a foundation to develop a similar technique.

However, the Yin Seal seemed to require extensive medical knowledge to master properly. So far, he had only obtained rewards for Mystical Palm jutsu and some basic medical ninjutsu.

This was still far from sufficient to understand the Yin Seal's complexities.

Additionally, advanced sealing jutsu remained a significant problem. With the loss of Kushina and Minato Namikaze, Konoha's existing sealing jutsu knowledge only led the other major ninja villages by a modest margin.

Should I seek out Minato Namikaze directly?

Sawada couldn't help but consider this option, but when he had last encountered Minato's chakra imprint, the former Hokage's condition had been clearly deteriorating.

If he approached now, Minato would probably agree to help but wouldn't be able to accomplish much in his current state.

Sawada was deep in thought when he suddenly stopped walking.

If Minato couldn't teach personally, he should still be able to compile reference scrolls, right?

Thinking of this possibility, Sawada couldn't help but change direction and head toward Naruto's house instead.

First, he would work on improving his sealing jutsu expertise. Perhaps that advancement would make his research more effective. As for medical knowledge, he could trouble his sensei about accessing those resources later.