Isamu, who had been sleeping on a rock, finally woke up.
"Yo, already finished? Not bad speed," Isamu said as he looked at the three of them sitting on the ground, completely exhausted.
The three ignored him and continued resting, thinking, If it weren't for you, would we be this tired?
Seeing that they didn't respond, Isamu continued, "Since you're done, let's go turn in the mission. Once we do, I'll let you relax a bit."
Hearing they could finally rest, the three of them immediately jumped up and ran toward the Mission Hall to submit the mission.
At the entrance of the Mission Hall, Isamu pulled out some banknotes and counted them.
"Getting paid just for taking a nap—this mission isn't bad. Though the pay is a little low."
Jiraiya and the others looked at him with complete disdain. We did all the work while you slept—of course you think it's good.
"Come on, I'll take you to the back mountain to relax." After saying that, Isamu led them toward a small stream behind the mountain.
The three of them looked around curiously.
"Big Brother Isamu, how exactly are we supposed to relax here?" Tsunade finally asked.
"Oh, you don't know? Today I'm going to teach you how to climb trees."
Before Isamu could finish speaking, he saw Orochimaru casually walking up a tree using only his feet.
"Like this?" Orochimaru asked calmly from the tree trunk.
"…Uh… yes. Exactly like that."
Seeing Orochimaru do it so easily, Isamu suddenly felt extremely awkward.
"Big Brother Isamu, this is too easy." While Isamu was still feeling embarrassed, Tsunade also walked straight up a tree with ease.
Cold sweat appeared on Isamu's forehead.
I haven't even explained the rules yet and you've already finished. Are you two here just to embarrass me?
Only when he looked at Jiraiya did Isamu finally feel a bit relieved.
Jiraiya was trying to imitate Orochimaru and Tsunade by climbing the tree with his feet, but the moment he stepped on the trunk—
Bang.
He fell straight to the ground.
"Ouch! What's going on? Why did I fall immediately? Tsunade, Orochimaru, how did you guys do it?" Jiraiya asked in confusion.
"Idiot Jiraiya, don't you even know the basics of using chakra to climb trees?" Tsunade looked at him with clear disdain.
"Use chakra? How do you use it?" Jiraiya asked loudly.
"Alright, Jiraiya. Practice here by yourself for now. I'll take these two to the riverside." Isamu said before bringing Orochimaru and Tsunade toward the river.
"Do you know why I brought you two here?" Isamu asked.
"Probably to practice walking on water," Orochimaru replied.
"That's right. We're going to practice water walking."
As soon as Isamu finished speaking, Orochimaru calmly stepped onto the water and stood there without sinking.
Damn it… are you here just to slap me in the face today?
"Orochimaru, very good. You have excellent talent in this area," Isamu said, suppressing the urge to curse.
Some people simply perform better when they receive encouragement and recognition. Isamu firmly believed in that.
"Tsunade, your turn. Go try it."
Tsunade was destined to become a famous medical ninja in the future, so her chakra control had to be excellent.
As expected, when she stepped onto the water she wobbled slightly at first, but she quickly stabilized herself and began walking across the surface.
"This is amazing! It's my first time standing on water. This is really fun!" Tsunade ran around excitedly like a child.
"Alright, since you both already understand it, go wait for me in the clearing over there. I'll go teach Jiraiya first."
With that, Isamu returned to where Jiraiya was training.
Jiraiya was still repeatedly attempting it.
Climb—
Bang.
Fall.
Climb again—
Bang.
Fall again.
Watching him continue stubbornly, Isamu called out.
"Jiraiya, stop for a moment and come here."
"Big Brother Isamu… am I really worse than them? I can't even do something as simple as climbing a tree," Jiraiya said gloomily.
"Why would you think that?" Isamu replied.
"Everyone has their own strengths. You can't compare your weaknesses to someone else's strengths."
"Besides, tree climbing is actually very simple. You just don't understand the principle yet. Once I explain it, I believe you'll be able to do it easily."
Isamu patiently explained while demonstrating.
"Tree climbing is simple. You just need to concentrate chakra into your feet. By using chakra as an adhesive, you can stick to the surface."
"Do you understand, Jiraiya?"
After saying that, Isamu demonstrated once in front of him.
"Let me try."
Following Isamu's explanation, Jiraiya slowly approached the tree and carefully gathered chakra in his feet.
Step by step, he walked upward.
"Hahaha! Big Brother Isamu, I did it! I did it!" Jiraiya shouted excitedly from the top of the tree.
Seeing him succeed on his first proper attempt, Isamu nodded in satisfaction.
As expected of the future legendary hero, Jiraiya. He understood it after hearing the principle just once. Even Sasuke took quite a while to master this technique. Jiraiya's talent definitely isn't low.
"Very good, Jiraiya. You did great. I knew you could do it."
"It's all because Big Brother Isamu taught me well." Jiraiya scratched his head shyly.
"No need to be modest. You accomplished this yourself. I didn't really do much."
"Come on. I'll take you to the next training spot."
Isamu led Jiraiya to the river.
"Next is water walking. Same process—I'll explain the principle, demonstrate it, and then you try."
"Mm-hmm." Jiraiya nodded eagerly, curious about how someone could actually walk on water.
"Water walking is different from tree climbing."
"For tree climbing, you just concentrate chakra in your feet and maintain a fixed amount, because the tree doesn't move. As long as the chakra sticks you to it, that's enough."
"But water is different."
"To stay on the water's surface, you must continuously release the correct amount of chakra beneath your feet—just enough to support your body."
"The difficulty is maintaining a stable amount of chakra. This trains your ability to precisely control chakra output according to the situation."
"I'll demonstrate."
Isamu stepped onto the water and stood firmly on the surface.
"Now gather chakra under your feet, release an amount proportional to your body weight, and you'll stay afloat."
"Jiraiya, give it a try."
Jiraiya nodded and began his first attempt.
His first foot stepped onto the water—and it held.
But when his second foot landed—
Splash.
He fell straight into the river.
At this point, Isamu stopped guiding him. Everything necessary had already been explained.
The rest depended on Jiraiya himself.
After falling into the water more than ten times, Jiraiya finally managed to walk across the surface successfully.
Only then did Isamu bring him back to the clearing where Orochimaru and Tsunade were waiting.
"Jiraiya, how did you turn into a drowned rat?" Tsunade burst out laughing when she saw him soaked from head to toe.
"You flat-chested woman! So what if I'm soaked? I like swimming! I chose to do it, okay?" Jiraiya immediately shot back.
"Jiraiya! It seems like it's been a while since I beat you up. Are you asking for another beating?" Tsunade cracked her knuckles threateningly.
"Big Brother Isamu, save me!"
Knowing he couldn't beat Tsunade—and that even if he could, he wouldn't hit a girl—Jiraiya immediately hid behind Isamu.