I founded the "Bragging Cult" in Naruto.

Chapter 61 Crossdressing? Can a ninja's actions be called crossdressing?

"Minato, what happened to your eye? Who hit you? I'll avenge you!"

The next day, around eight o'clock, Jiraiya looked at Minato, whose left eye was bruised and whose nose was stuffed with cotton, and said indignantly.

Even a kind-hearted person like Minato couldn't smile when he heard Jiraiya's words, and even rolled his eyes at this unreliable Jonin leader.

Jiraiya didn't seem to care. He even leaned down and whispered in Minato's ear, asking expectantly, "Where's Tatsuma? Did he get beaten up too?"

Upon hearing this, Minato's aggrieved expression became even more pronounced. Seeing Minato's expression, Jiraiya was somewhat puzzled, but before he could ask further, Tatsuma's energetic voice came over.

"Good morning! Jiraiya-sensei, Minato!"

Jiraiya looked in the direction of the sound and found that Tatsuma was unharmed. In fact, he had even groomed his hair today to make his curly hair less grotesque.

"You weren't beaten up yesterday?"

Jiraiya voiced his question directly, and Tatsuma straightened his back and said, "Haha~ I, Sakamoto Tatsuma, have done nothing wrong, so why would I be beaten?"

"You're lying!" Minato said, feeling wronged. "You transformed into a woman taking a bath yesterday, and in a moment of distraction, you blended in with the people who were hitting me! Maybe you're the one who caused my injuries."

"Minato Namikaze! Don't make false accusations! When did I, Tatsuma Sakamoto, become a woman?!"

Tatsuma spoke righteously, while Jiraiya looked doubtful and said, "Ahem, I believe Minato. Tatsuma, turning into a woman is fine, it's normal for ninjas to do this kind of thing."

"It wasn't me, I didn't do it, don't talk nonsense!"

After denying it three times, Tatsuma abruptly changed the subject, saying, "Jiraiya-sensei, what's our training schedule for today?"

Jiraiya glanced at Tatsuma, whose face was flushed red with embarrassment, but didn't go too far. Instead, he looked at the Senju clan's territory and said, "Tsunade will guide you for a while."

"I need to devise a training plan for the next phase of your training. It's about time I taught you the other chakra nature techniques and some advanced ninjutsu."

"Does that include the Shadow Clone Technique?"

Tatsuma asked excitedly, and Jiraiya nodded and said, "Yes, I can teach you this technique, but you must not misuse it."

During this time, you will learn some basic medical ninjutsu from Tsunade. Also, didn't Lady Mito promise you last time that she would teach you sealing techniques?

Watch carefully and learn well. You'll regret it if you miss this opportunity.

Tatsuma nodded and asked, "Jiraiya-sensei, could you please start..."

"Hmph, you little brat."

Jiraiya ruffled Tatsuma's hair, messing up his carefully styled curly hair, then took out two scrolls and said, "Shadow Clone Technique, I've prepared it for you."

"Once the next phase begins, I won't have as much time to supervise your training every day. You two kids need to start getting more reliable."

Tatsuma and Minato both nodded seriously. It was already quite an achievement for a Jonin, especially one who was rapidly rising in rank, to put aside all his missions and lead the two of them for more than half a year.

The village can't let Jiraiya stay idle like this. Only A-rank or even S-rank missions can make Jiraiya useful. Perhaps the only time they'll have time to take care of them will be when Jiraiya finishes his missions.

Seeing that the two students understood what he was saying, Jiraiya smiled with satisfaction, then turned around and said, "Alright, it's about time you went to meet your new teacher. I also need to go and discuss the matter of Kaneyoshi with Lord Mito."

"Yes!" *2

The two followed Jiraiya to the depths of the Senju clan's territory for the second time. When they were about a hundred meters away from where Tatsuma and Minato had waited before, Jiraiya suddenly stopped.

"Oh right, we haven't given you your payment for the mission yet."

Jiraiya took out 40,000 taels and handed it to Tatsuma. Tatsuma asked in confusion, "Isn't it only 40,000 taels in total? This is yours."

"Sigh~ You can have it all. Once you step through that door, my money will no longer be my money."

Jiraiya gazed ahead with a melancholy expression. Tatsuma looked on with understanding, counted out 20,000 ryo and handed it to Minato. Minato seemed to recall the first time he met Jiraiya two years ago, nodded and accepted the money.

After watching the two put the money away, Jiraiya led the way again, stepping into the porch, when a voice rang out.

"Jiraiya? Long time no see!"

Jiraiya wore an exaggerated expression of displeasure and said, "Nawaki! How many times have I told you to call me 'Big Brother' when you see me? You'll have to change it from now on."

"What's your name?"

At that moment, a very displeased voice rang out. Jiraiya's expression froze, then he shook his head and said, "It's nothing, it's nothing."

Following behind Jiraiya, Tatsuma sized up the boy in front of him, who wasn't much older than himself. He knew who the boy was: Nawaki, the grandson of Hashirama Senju.

Nawaki's talent was not as good as his grandfather Hashirama Senju, nor even as good as his sister Tsunade. Moreover, he died on the battlefield before he could show his talent.

If Tatsuma remembers correctly, Nawaki died on the battlefield at the age of twelve. Judging from his appearance now, Nawaki is about ten years old.

Jiraiya walked up to Nawaki, ruffled his hair, and said with a smile to Tsunade, who was standing nearby looking quite unhappy, "Nawaki just started his vacation, right? Orochimaru didn't train him?"

This skill of changing the subject is only half as good as Tatsuma's. Nawaki, having escaped from Jiraiya's clutches, said, "Orochimaru-sensei is on a mission and won't be back for a few days."

"Hmph! You call me 'Teacher' when you call me 'Stinky Snake,' but when you call me, you just call me by my name. Sigh, our relationship has faded."

Noticing the difference in how Nawaki was addressed, Jiraiya pretended to be sad and said something, but Tsunade and the Nawaki siblings rolled their eyes in unison and ignored him.

After a brief moment of awkwardness, Jiraiya simply chuckled and continued, "Tsunade, for the next while, you'll be helping to mentor Tatsuma and Minato."

"We can bring them, but..."

"I'm going to find Lady Mito now!"

Before Tsunade could finish speaking, Jiraiya headed straight for Mito Uzumaki's residence. Having known Tsunade for nearly twenty years, how could he not know what price Tsunade wanted him to pay?

For the past six months, he has been leading Tatsuma and Minato on D-rank and C-rank missions, but there hasn't been much profit for Tsunade to make.

"snort!"

Seeing Jiraiya escape, Tsunade glared at Tatsuma and Minato, asking, "You two have been on quite a few missions lately, haven't you?"

Minato was about to reply when Tatsumi nudged his sleeve and then smiled at Tsunade, saying, "Lady Tsunade, we don't have much money, but we brought you this."

As he spoke, Tatsuma pulled out a deck of cards. Upon seeing the cards, Tsunade immediately smiled and nodded in satisfaction, saying, "Not bad, not bad, but you have to take them with you every day."

"I understand."

Tatsuma nodded. At this moment, Nawaki looked at the two of them and asked, "You two are the geniuses Grandma always talks about? You look pretty ordinary. How about a spar?"

Upon hearing Nawaki's words, Minato looked troubled, while Tatsuma wore an excited smile, as if he had met a kindred spirit.

"As expected of the First Hokage's grandson, he's incredibly brave and straightforward. I agree!"

(End of this chapter)