"Alright then..."

  Kyoichi didn’t refuse.

  Exgi teiques was a on practice among ninja. Of course, family-specific teiques were rarely shared. Instead, this type of exge usually involved self-developed teiques, like Jiraiya's hair-based ninjutsu.

  "Needle Jizo" was quite practical, so there was no reason to dee.

  Kyoichi expihe principles ahods of his "Seven Heavens Breathihod," as well as some localized applications he had developed using skin respiration:

  Enhanced leg strength for increased speed.

  Enhanced haerity for quicker hand seals.

  Eventually, he even hoped to achieve one-handed seals, allowing him to bine ninjutsu and swordsmanship seamlessly.

  Jiraiya listened ily.

  As one of the Sannin, he had vast knowledge and quickly grasped the cept of localized enhahrough skin respiration. This effect, more than the full "Seven Heavens Breathihod," was what truly captured his i.

  After experimenting a bit, Jiraiya said, "This teique is incredibly useful. Even though its difficulty is S-rank, I think it could be promoted as a learnable forbidden jutsu with some adjustments."

  "Really? I was hoping to lower its difficulty further..."

  "That’s going to be tough!"

  Jiraiya uood Kyoichi’s iion. If the teique’s difficulty could be reduced to A-rank, it would be accessible to many Jonin ae in, signifitly improving survival rates otlefield.

  But cellur stimution was a delicate process. Without exceptional chakra trol, mastering it was impossible. Kyoichi's ongoing researto skin respiration made it even harder, let alone redug it to A-rank.

  Kyoichi sighed regretfully.

  "Now it's my turn to teay teique is called 'Needle Jizo...'"

  With guidan hand seals and chakra manipution, learning the teique wasn’t difficult.

  Kyoichi quickly mastered it but couldn't help w what had motivated Jiraiya to create such a jutsu. Was it to avoid gettien while peeking at women in hot springs?

  After exging teiques, Jiraiya bid farewell with a chuckle, disappearing swiftly—perhaps to "get lost" again.

  Kyoichi shook his head.

  The Sannin each had their quirks.

  Gng at his system panel, he notiew updates:

  [Secret Teique Exge pleted]

  [Evaluation: Average]

  [Reward: Fire Sealihod]

  "Average?"

  Kyoichi was initially surprised but soon uood.

  Jiraiya hadn’t needed his instru. Iy, after Kyoichi expihe principles, Jiraiya had already learhe activatiohod but was too polite to ht "freeload."

  As a result, the system categorized it as an "exge" rather than teag, leading to a lower evaluation.

  Still, the "Fire Sealihod" was highly practical—it could evehe Amaterasu fmes. If the Fourth Raikage had known this teique, he wouldn’t have o sever his arm.

  Valuable teiques like this were always worth learning, no matter how challenging.

  With that in mind, Kyoichi felt tent.

  As for Jiraiya...

  Justice wouldn’t let Kyoichi tolerate what was about to happen.

  Leaving the forest, Kyoichi ran into a female instructor from the academy. Casually, he mentioned seeing someoing suspiciously nearby.

  Moments ter, a scream echoed through the area, followed by angry shouting.

  Kyoichi cleared his throat a quietly, taking no credit for what had just occurred.

  A while ter, Jiraiya appeared before Kyoichi, looking aggrieved.

  "Kyoichi, the moment I hid, someone came by. You must’ve ratted me out!"

  "Lord Jiraiya, I didn’t do a thing. It ure ce. By the way, didn’t I hear you nearly died for simir reasons in the past?"

  Kyoichi chuckled.

  Jiraiya gritted his teeth, but both khe truth.

  Then, recalling Kyoichi’s status, Jiraiya shivered.

  If Tsunade found out he had nearly dragged her younger cousin into his escapades, she would beat him half to death.

  "Ahem, I must’ve been mistaken. This misuanding is getting out of hand. Drinking has dulled my judgment. Alright, I’m off!"

  Awkwardly, Jiraiya left in a hurry.

  Ba the vilge, a thought struck him.

  Why did the name Kanda Kyoichi sound so familiar?

  Then it hit him—Minato had mentioned him numerous times iers, describing him as a young genius with innovative ideas, particurly adept at education. Kyoichi had reportedly introduced several novel cepts to the vilge.

  "Minato is too young to see through him," Jiraiya muttered.

  This kid seemed i on the surface but was as scheming as Orochimaru deep down.

  That said, Jiraiya didn’t see any issue with Kyoichi’s character.

  He was innovative, dedicated to the vilge, and willing to share his teiques tthen Konoha. His work at the academy was outstanding, and this year’s graduates were shaping up to be one of the most well-prepared cohorts i history.

  In Jiraiya’s eyes, Kyoichi was a younger version of Orochimaru—brilliant and driven.

  Kyoichi, unaware of Jiraiya’s high opinion of him, headed straight to the Hokage Tower after parting ways. He o fulfill his promise by submitting his progress oivation teique.

  However, the Third Hokage had something else in mind.

  "Asuma came back asking for a B-rank mission to prove himself. Did you put him up to this?"

  "That’s a misuanding!"

  Kyoichi coughed nervously.

  Asuma actually went through with it? He had only been joking!

  "Enough with the excuses. I know your capabilities, and Asuma has shown siderable improvement. Here, take a look at this..."

  The Third handed Kyoichi a mission scroll.

  Kyoichi’s expression grew serious as he read it.

  The mission was in the Land of Rivers.

  The intelligence came from captured bandits who had inally been wandering samurai from that region. Normally, they wouldn’t have dared to ehe Land of Fire, but ret sweeps by shinobi in the northern Land of Rivers had driven them across the border.

  Northern Land of Rivers... ninjas...

  Could it be Akatsuki?

  Kyoichi sidered the possibility gravely.

  "Lord Hokage, this doesn’t sound like a B-rank mission."

  Such a mission could easily escate to A-rank or even S-rank, depending on the circumstances. It was beyond Shisui and his team’s capabilities.

  "I know," the Third Hokage nodded. "But that’s not the main issue. Minato’s team left for the Land of Rivers on a k mission three days ago. While they shouldn’t enter much danger, I want you to provide backup just in case. This is Minato’s kunai."

  "A Flying Thunder God marker?"

  "Yes. If things go south, Minato teleport everyoo your side. All the other avaible shinobi are occupied elsewhere, so this task falls to you. The vilge will cover the mission expenses."

  The Third Hokage sighed.

  With the Land of Wind, Land of Earth, and Land of Lighting under surveilnd Orochimaru warning about the Mist vilge, there simply weren’t enough hands to go around.

  "I uand. I’ll leave immediately."

  Gcell