Being a rogue ninja is worse than being Hokage.

"The qualifiers are over, we're going to eat, want to come along?"

Shikamaru picked up where he left off and answered Naruto's question.

"Of course, no problem!"

The one who answered Shikamaru's question was not Naruto, but Jiraiya, who had been listening attentively the whole time.

Jiraiya casually put his hand on Naruto's shoulder and said, "Let me, Naruto's teacher, treat you all to a meal!"

Clearly, Jiraiya wasn't planning to let Naruto off so easily today, and intended to continue to pester Naruto under the guise of dinner.

Where are you planning to eat?

Jiraiya asked curiously.

"The bullfrog restaurant called 'Bullfrog Immortal' that's not far away."

Sakura answered, looking curiously between Naruto and Jiraiya.

"Oh."

Upon hearing the name of the restaurant, Naruto let out a soft laugh that sounded extremely grating to Jiraiya.

"..."

Jiraiya remained silent.

Chapter 54 Countdown to Defection

Inside the Bullfrog Fairy Shop.

"Didn't you say you didn't like toads?"

Jiraiya first looked at the large pot of steaming bullfrog hot pot on the table, then focused his gaze on the bowl full of bullfrog meat in front of Naruto.

"Didn't you say first that toads and bullfrogs can't be confused?"

Naruto glanced at Jiraiya, then stuffed a piece of bullfrog meat into his mouth.

After savoring the bullfrog's deliciousness for a few moments, Naruto waved his chopsticks at Jiraiya: "It's pretty good. You're paying for it, why aren't you eating? Choji's a member of the Akimichi clan, you'd be missing out if you didn't eat any!"

"I have plenty of money, I can afford to lose it!"

Jiraiya glared at Naruto; how could he not hear the sarcasm in Naruto's words?

In order to persuade Naruto, who was not interested in the title of the Legendary Sannin, to become his disciple.

Jiraiya eventually followed Naruto to the bullfrog restaurant, but decided to skip eating there, as he knew he would face their scolding if the toads of Mount Myōboku found out.

"Give."

Naruto had no intention of letting Jiraiya off the hook. He took out a new bowl and chopsticks, filled it with bullfrog meat, and handed it to Jiraiya: "This is... a gift for becoming his disciple."

"I appreciate your understanding."

"It's no use to gain an advantage verbally; if you eat it, I'll become your disciple."

"My heart is filled with your respect for teachers."

Jiraiya and Naruto whispered amongst themselves, exchanging barbs.

"Naruto, who is this middle-aged man?"

Ino, sitting opposite Naruto, watched Jiraiya and Naruto making all sorts of little gestures while eating and asked curiously.

Jiraiya previously called himself Naruto's master, but judging from Naruto's behavior, he clearly didn't consider himself a disciple.

Besides, Naruto only left the Forest of Death not long ago, and he's already got a master or something so soon...

"Jiraiya".

Naruto continued putting meat into Jiraiya's bowl, and casually replied to Ino.

So his name is Jiraiya. That's a really strange name...

Ino nodded, unconvinced.

She asked Naruto for Jiraiya's name simply because he was paying for the meal, and it would be extremely impolite not to know Jiraiya's name.

"..."

Ino picked up a piece of bullfrog meat from her bowl.

"?"

Ino paused in her action of picking up the meat.

"!"

Ino suddenly realized the name Jiraiya and her eyes widened in shock.

Ino's Team 10, consisting of three members including the team leader, Jonin Sarutobi Asuma, all come from prestigious ninja clans in Konoha.

Of course, they had been told the names of the three legendary Sannin of Konoha by their elders. The three Sannin were all disciples of the Third Hokage.

Aside from Orochimaru, who has already defected, Tsunade and Jiraiya, even though they are not in Konoha for many years, are still high-ranking figures in the Konoha political center.

"Jiraiya!!!"

The crowd gasped in surprise.

"Could it be Jiraiya, one of the legendary Sannin?!"

Jiraiya remained calm and composed in the face of the surprise shown to him by the crowd.

That's more like it. Naruto's previous reactions made him lose confidence.

I'm starting to doubt myself, wondering if I'm out of touch with the times, a relic of an old era...

"Naruto, I never imagined that you would become Jiraiya-sama's disciple in the blink of an eye!"

After learning Jiraiya's identity, everyone remembered how Jiraiya had addressed Naruto as his master and congratulated Naruto.

"Mmmmmmm..."

Naruto gave these congratulations a perfunctory response.

"Speaking of which, who are the people who qualified for the third test?"

Naruto changed the subject, glancing at the three members of Team 10 whose clothes were covered in noticeable dust.

Of the eight qualifying spots, he only knew Sakura, Sasuke, and Gaara.

"Of the remaining five qualifying spots, Konoha has Hyuga Neji, Tenten, and Aburame Shino, while Sunagakure has Kankuro and Temari."

Sakura, sitting next to Naruto, answered.

Who will Shikamaru's opponent be in the preliminary rounds?

Upon hearing the names of the candidates in the third exam, Naruto was slightly surprised that Shikamaru had not made it through.

"Aburame Shino from Class 8."

Shikamaru replied that none of the members of their Team 10 actually qualified for the next round.

"Shikamaru initially used the Shadow Imitation Technique to control Shino, but suddenly a large number of insects sprouted from Shino's body, parasitized Shikamaru, and absorbed his chakra."

Sakura recounted to Naruto the events of Shikamaru and Shino's battle.

Shikamaru's Shadow Imitation Technique can indeed control his opponent, but unfortunately Shino's attack method is never himself, but the parasitic worms in his body.

She did take Naruto's words to heart and seriously analyzed the information revealed by the other candidates in the preliminary rounds.

The preliminary rounds were held without the participation of Kabuto Yakushi's team and the three Sound Ninja.

The opponents of the five groups of candidates have mostly changed.

Sakura skipped the preliminary rounds and directly qualified for the third round of the exam.

Uchiha Sasuke VS Rock Lee;

Naruto Uzumaki VS Gaara;

Nara Shikamaru VS Aburame Shino;

Kankuro VS Inuzuka Kiba;

Temari vs. Yamanaka Ino;

Tenten vs. Choji Akimichi.

These are all matches that changed the original opponents in the story.

Knowing the match schedule, Naruto could deduce the reasons for the outcome of each match simply by looking at the characteristics of their ninjutsu.

Sakura's descriptions of each match confirmed Naruto's guess.

Kankuro used a puppet to engulf Akamaru, restricting Akamaru's movements. Almost all of the Inuzuka clan's ninjutsu are combination ninjutsu paired with ninja dogs. In addition, fearing that Kankuro would use the puppet to strangle Akamaru, Kiba Inuzuka voluntarily conceded defeat and gave up the match.

Temari is the strongest of the five female ninjas in the preliminaries. She can limit Ino, who uses the Mind Transfer Technique which requires aiming to be effective, with just her ninjutsu strength.

Choji's defeat, like Shikamaru's, stemmed from his attack methods being countered by Tenten. The human bomb-like fighter, using his body for close-range attacks, was simply a sitting duck for Tenten, who specialized in ninja tools.

Of the seven matches, the only opponent that was the same as in the original work was the main and branch families of the Hyuga clan.

Neji Hyuga's opponent remains Hinata Hyuga.

Neji Hyuga won without any doubt, but Hinata fared slightly better – she gave up the match after exchanging blows with Neji for a few rounds.

Similar to the original story, Neji at this time still considered his status as a member of the main family and a branch family.

He only used taijutsu to seal Hinata's chakra pathways and verbally threatened her to withdraw from the match; he did not kill Hinata.

Everyone listened quietly as Sakura recounted her experiences in each of the preliminary matches.

Even Jiraiya has started to pay a little attention to Sakura; this girl's observation skills are really sharp.

Sakura analyzed all the methods used by the ninjas who won the preliminary rounds, but perhaps due to her own lack of ninjutsu skills, she couldn't find a way to counter these attacks.

Sakura also realized where her problem lay.

Her participation in the third Chunin Exam was purely by luck; she was simply not on the same level as the other seven opponents who had fought their way through the exams on their own merits.

"Naruto, does our agreement to train together still stand?"

Sakura tentatively asked Naruto.