While Naruto was recovering with the others Kakashi and Jiraiya met in the Hokage office, leaving Tsunade to perform her check ups in the hospital.
"Isn't it a little early to be telling him he can be Hokage?" Jiraiya asked once they were both seated.
"Naruto surpassed me, so not really no." Kakashi answered flippantly with a shrug that startled the older man across from him.
"Is that something the Godaime Hokage should be saying about his thirteen year old student?" Jiraiya asked with wide eyes.
"Naruto is not a child." Kakashi said firmly, "He's reckless and he can be immature and bullheaded, but he's powerful and legally speaking an adult of this village who militarily outranks many who are older than him." he explained calmly.
Jiraiya narrowed his eyes, "We may run on a meritocracy but he's still only-" he began to try and argue.
"The boy can kill, he can drink, and thanks to your advice he fucks too." Kakashi snapped, "I know he's young but he's powerful, and he's not the unrefined brat you started with." he added with more calm, "He learned the Hiraishin, he's allies with Daimyo and village leaders alike, and he completed the Rasengan by adding his affinity." he explained his reasoning, "Would you like to know what he did as soon as he finished the Futon: Rasengan? He started working on Suiton chakra."
Jiraiya wasn't entirely surprised by the last part, "Alright alright, you made your point." he said, not wanting to be reminded that Katon: Rasengan was still outside of his own grasp, "In that case there's only one thing left for me to teach him besides refining his fundamentals."
Kakashi raised an eyebrow, "What?" he asked.
"Senjutsu, I'm taking him to Gama no Kuni." Jiraiya answered bluntly, looking the Hokage in the eye and daring the man to argue.
Kakashi didn't like it, "Mount Myoboku?" he asked, "No." he denied, surprising the Sennin, "Naruto-kun is one of my strongest jonin, we'll need him for Kirigakure and Sasuke-kun wants his help dealing with Itachi." he explained.
"The village will be fine without us for at least a few months, when we get back we can go on the offensive, retake Kirigakure and probably fight Itachi at some point." Jiraiya reasoned.
Kakashi glowered but relented, "Fine, but you're convincing him and Haku-san to be separate if you want to do it that way." he agreed, "I'll convince Sasuke-kun to wait for Naruto-kun to get back, and Zabuza-san too." he finished, dismissing the Sennin.
Jiraiya figured it was as good as he was going to get and accepted the dismissal, deciding he'd check out the hot springs while Naruto recovered.
Naruto recovered first, unsurprisingly considering he hadn't taken a hyorogan and his natural Uzumaki vitality. The fact had still clearly bothered Sasuke who wanted to get back to training as soon as possible.
As soon as Naruto returned to training he was visited by Jiraiya, "I heard you finished the Rasengan." the Sennin told the boy who was working on turning his chakra into water and holding it more efficiently still.
Naruto grinned and had two kage bunshin help him form a Futon: Rasengan while the rest continued working on Suiton chakra, "You know it, I tore that immortal bastard to shred!" he bragged cheerfully.
"Well, with how you've been training I'd guess that you're finally ready to learn Senpo." Jiraiya declared, enjoying the stunned look on the boys face.
"Seriously!?" Naruto asked in an excited tone as he carefully let the ninjutsu in his hand die hard, impressing his mentor with the control.
"Yeah, I already got permission from Kakashi." Jiraiya confirmed with a nod, "Once you pack up we'll be ready to go." he said.
Naruto surprised the old man by laughing, "Don't be silly Ero-Sennin, Haku-chan still needs to recover." he reminded, thinking his sensei had simply forgotten.
"Haku isn't coming." Jiraiya said bluntly and the boy stopped grinning, "No distractions for this training, I won't even be peeping on girls while we're there." he explained when he noticed the young jonin seemed less interested at the news that Haku would not be coming.
Naruto scowled as he considered it, his bunshin dispelling around him, "Why do we need to leave? And why can't Haku-chan come?" he asked, narrowing his eye.
Jiraiya sighed and crossed his arms, "I know you two love each other, but this isn't a vacation, we're going to the homeland of the toads, one of the only three places in the world to learn Senjutsu. This training will require absolutely no distractions." he reasoned.
Naruto crossed his arms right back, "I have responsibilities in the village old man, I can't just run off and leave my vassals like some creepy old hermit." he shot back, being surprisingly responsible despite his insulting words.
Jiraiya hadn't been expecting that line of argumentation, "Kid I can't fault you for acting responsible, but if you want to be responsible you need to be even stronger, and Senjutsu will allow that." he explained.
"I killed an immortal!" Naruto shot back, "My affinity is Futon but I'm already on the verge of mastering Suiton and I have enough chakra to throw ninjutsu around! Why shouldn't I just stay here and get stronger with my friends?" he asked.
This was what Jiraiya had been worried about, the boy was strong but he still had childish notions, it was actually dangerous, "I'm sorry." the man said, surprising his apprentice, "You are strong, achieving the level of Seishitsu Henka you have at your age is basically unprecedented." he confessed, "However the fact those two monsters were in Akatsuki should tell you how much you need to focus and get even stronger, what if Zabuza hadn't shown up?" he asked.
Naruto frowned at the implication that they'd been saved by Zabuza but he knew it was true, "Well I still have responsibilities, let me tell them I'm going before I get ready." he said, turning to go visit the hospital. Jiraiya hadn't been expecting to need to convince the boy to learn Senjutsu but he really was attached to Haku.
Ibiki had noticed that all his most annoying prisoners were brought in by Naruto in some way. First was Pachi, the Oni no Doken, who revealed nothing and insisted on being killed. Then there had been Tayuya, a foul mouthed girl who he was glad to be rid of. Finally now he had to deal with Hidan, an immortal loud mouth.
"I hate torturers! You bastards cause pain and suffering, Jashin-sama will punish you!" Hidan shouted, lively for someone with no legs and missing his hands. It seemed his immortality gave his body some sort of healing factor since when he'd been brought in he was charred from some kind of Katon no Jutsu and now his flesh was pale.
"I actually don't engage in physical torture." Ibiki said, wondering how in the world he was supposed to break a religious fanatic who was apparently immortal. He'd never even heard of this Jashin deity, but there in T&I was a follower who had been made immortal by the grace of such an evil god.
"Wait you don't?" Hidan asked, clearly confused, "How do you get information out of people?" he asked in confusion.
"I try to get inside their head, get to know them." Ibiki answered, "So, how about you tell me more about this Jashin of yours?" he asked in turn, wondering how the man would react to him being this blatant about his methods.
"Jashin-sama!" Hidan corrected, "Jashin-sama requires the death and destruction of all," he began and Ibiki thought that sounded like quite the evil deity the name implied, "by doing so he frees you from the fear of death."
"By making you immortal?" Ibiki asked, raising an eyebrow since it seemed contradictory to require death yet grant eternal life.
"Not me!" Hidan corrected to his interrogators surprise, "You! Everyone! Even heathens are saved from the fear of death by dying!" he explained loudly, "It's a public service really, but you damned heathens are never grateful, always causing pain and suffering to each other without truly sharing in it."
Ibiki realized how twisted this faith truly was but wondered how he was supposed to use this to his advantage, "Well I've never heard of your god until now, but I can assure you I prefer to interrogate without causing pain or suffering." he said, figuring that might get him on the fanatics good side.
"What the fuck do you know about pain and suffering you conceited heathen!?" Hidan asked angrily.
Ibiki took off his bandana, "I've suffered plenty." he answered, showing his scars to the zealot who paused and seemed to appreciate the patchwork of scars, "Personally I'd prefer to avoid causing the pain I've felt, but I'm not really here to debate your religion with you, I was just curious." he said and Hidan raised an eyebrow, "My job is to learn what I can about Akatsuki from you." he explained.
"Oh, well," Hidan said, surprisingly calmed by Ibiki's scars, "sorry then but I was a fairly new member. They put me with that bastard Kakuzu because he kept killing his other partners, and since I can't die he could just throw those ridiculously powerful ninjutsu around without worrying about me getting caught in them." he answered, stunning Ibiki with his honesty, "Let me think for a moment."
"Take your time." Ibiki acquiesced, not having expected the grey haired immortal to become so cooperative.
"Well, I don't really like them, but they gave me the opportunity to gather sacrifices for Jashin-sama. They're a bunch of greedy sadists, I like you better I think." Hidan began, "Even though you're not letting me get sacrifices you seem like you'd make a fine sacrifice and a good neighbor." he continued to confuse the head of T&I, "I don't know much about the leader or the other members, but the leader is the worst kind of conceited heathen, just as greedy for money as Kakuzu in my opinion. He doesn't even work for the highest bidder, just anyone who is willing to pay."
"Can you recall anything at all about the other members?" Ibiki asked, pressing for information and baffled by the honesty of the man. Usually fanatics and zealots were hard to work with but it seemed Akatsuki themselves had nothing to do with Jashin.
"Well there's this freak named Sasori who is partnered with this wimp Deidara, the leader calls himself Pein and is followed around by this bitch named Konan, then there's that Uchiha, Itachi, I like him, I heard he slaughtered his whole clan, he's partnered with that freaky looking bastard Kisame, then there was this other weirdo named Zetsu." Hidan answered, clearly struggling to remember actual details about the members.
Ibiki wondered if the lack of memory was a simple lack of knowledge or if being speared through the skull with a blade of lightning had fried certain memories, "Well I'll pass this information on, you try to think of anything else." he said, writing down the names his prisoner listed.
"Alright Zabuza-san, first of all we're going to have to wait before we assist with Kirigakure." Kakashi began, sitting in his office across from the bearer of the Kubikiribocho and steeping his fingers in front of him.
"Why?" Zabuza asked, the man wasn't exactly fully recovered but he could move around, "More importantly how long?"
Kakashi shrugged, "Jiraiya-sama is taking Naruto-kun to train him in Senjutsu. I have no idea how long it will take, but when they return we'll be able to bring two Sennin to bear." he explained.
"The other Kiri rebels aren't going to want to wait too long." Zabuza spoke up, "If we let them know we're waiting for a pair of actual Sennin they might stay in hiding though. I guess I'll go and tell them then make my way back. Damn, I didn't think I'd be a messenger boy." he grumbled the last part.
"I'd like to send Konoha shinobi with you in a cell to help in case you're attacked on the way there." Kakashi offered.
"Who the hell do you think you're talking to?" Zabuza asked with an annoyed look leveled at the Hokage, "I'm the Kirigakure no Kijin, I'm not some flashy brat with a big sword. I'll be faster on my own." he said bluntly.
Kakashi still wanted to send assistance, "In that case, are there any supplies the rebels could use?" he asked, prompting a raised eyebrow from the other masked ninja, "I want to show that Konohagakure is indeed willing to help, if they aren't desperate they're more likely to wait, right?" he asked.
Zabuza nodded, "You have a point, any food you can spare would help. Save the weapons for when it's time to attack, those guys will get antsy if you arm them." he explained and Kakashi nodded.
Haku looked up when Naruto entered the hospital room, Sakura was basically recovered but was there visiting Sasuke anyway so he was glad to see the blonde. He was even more glad when the young jonin came over and hugged him.
"Haku-chan I have to go on a training trip." Naruto said once he pulled back from the still bedridden teen.
Haku frowned, "What?" he asked, concerned immediately.
"Ero-Sennin wants to teach me Senjutsu on some toad mountain." Naruto answered with a frown of his own, "He insists you can't come so I'll just try to master this Senpo thing and get back to you as soon as I can." he explained.
Haku didn't like the sound of that at all, "How long will you be gone?" he asked.
"No idea, but you know me, I'll work hard at this and get back as soon as I can!" Naruto promised, unaware that the others in the hospital room were looking at them in surprise.
"Oh for fuck sake," Sasuke said, surprising his teammates with his choice of language, "that does it I'm inventing my own damn jutsu that'll put everything you've learned to shame!" he declared in an annoyed tone, "Stronger than whatever Senjutsu you learn too!"
"Oh yeah?" Naruto asked with a smirk, "Then I'll just invent an even stronger ninjutsu!" he shot right back.
Sakura sighed at the rivalry between her two teammates, "You two are both insane." she groused, but neither of them seemed to care.
"It's probably why they're so strong." Haku pointed out and Sakura just sighed louder.
Karin and the others who lived with Naruto wished him well for the trip, except for one, "If you die can I leave?" Tayuya asked.
"Why would he die?" Kin asked, confused.
Tayuya shrugged, "Fuck if I know, but I remember Orochimaru mentioning how dangerous learning Senjutsu is." she answered, "You know, the same guy who performs human experiments." she pointed out, worrying Haku greatly.
"Oh yeah, you guys don't know." Jiraiya mused, "Those juin he put on you have some aspects of senjutsu involved. That's probably why most people he put them on died." he explained which only worried Haku even more.
"Then Naruto-sama will be fine." Kimimaro declared confidently, "I may not know exactly how the juin work but I know how Orochimaru developed it, if Tayuya survived the juin then we have nothing to worry about."
Jiraiya hadn't thought to ask the Kaguya about the juin until right then, but they needed to get going, "Well, I left a toad with Kakashi, if you seriously need us," he began before turning on Haku, "and not just because you miss your boyfriend," he added and the dark haired teen scowled but blushed contritely, "then send the toad home to explain the situation." he finished.
"So which way is Mount Myoboku anyway?" Naruto asked, having finished storing what he was bringing, apparently leaving his half of Kiba behind for Haku to use in case something happened.
"Don't worry about it." Jiraiya answered and the two disappeared. Haku frowned, having wanted to give Naruto a kiss for good luck.
"Eh?" Naruto asked, looking around at his new surroundings in confusion, "What happened?" he asked, confused. They were in the mountains but he had no idea where, there was plenty of plants, rivers, ponds, lily pads, and giant statues of toads.
"You were brought here with kuchiyose, you didn't think the contract was one way, did ya boy?" Fukasaku asked, curious as to why Jiraiya wanted someone this young to learn the secrets of Senpo.
"Huh, I never thought of that." Naruto confessed with a shrug, "So who are you, Gama-jiji? I thought Gamabunta was boss, are you the old boss or an advisor or something?" he asked, crouching down to be closer to eye level. Jiraiya noted that while he was still unrefined and didn't use honorifics like he should the boy was at least making attempts at being more polite.
"Jiraiya didn't tell you about me?" Fukasaku asked with a frown, the old toad sending a side eyed glare at the Sannin when Naruto shook his head, "Bah, very well, I suppose introductions are in order then even though I already know your name. I am of of the Nisengama, Fukasaku." the toad introduced.
"Nice to meet you, Fukasaku-jiji!" Naruto stated with a wide grin and Jiraiya suppressed a sigh, "I guess you know me already then, Naruto Uzumaki, future Hokage y'know!" he introduced boisterously.
Fukasaku laughed, "You're even more unrefined than that brat Jiraiya was when he first came here." he announced, more amused than offended, "Anyway, I'm the one who originally taught Senjutsu to the boy you call sensei." he informed.
"Huh, so you're helping Ero-Sennin teach me?" Naruto asked and the toad laughed again.
"Ero-Sennin? What a fitting title for Jiraiya!" Fukasaku declared through his laughter, "Ah, but yes, I'll be assisting. Jiraiya never fully mastered it himself after all." he said and the white haired old man in question bashfully scratched the back of his head.
Naruto looked at Jiraiya in surprise and the man shrugged, "Hey cut me some slack, I wasn't joking about this being hard." the old man excused.
"Well that aside," Fukasaku began, "first thing is to explain the difference between senjutsu and ninjutsu. While ninjutsu takes uses your own internal energy, senjutsu involves taking in outside energy for your use." he explained.
Naruto looked completely lost, "Outside energies?" he asked.
"Well, I believe you should already know this but ninjutsu is done with chakra created by internally mixing physical and mental energies." Fukasaku began his explanation, "Senjutsu involves taking that internally generated chakra and adding natural energy to it from the outside, resulting in more powerful chakra." he continued as Naruto just stared in confusion, "And that leads to all your ninjutsu, genjutsu, and taijutsu getting a real power boost. Mental energy, physical energy, and natural energy, jutsu born from the chakra created by these three energies being mixed is known as Senjutsu." he finished.
Naruto looked lost for a moment before he punched his palm as a look of realization came over him, "Oh! So it's like how ramen is already delicious but Haku-chan hides vegetables to add nutrition!" he exclaimed and both the human and toad stared at the boy in exasperation, "So what's this natural energy stuff?" the aspiring young Sennin asked his teachers.
"External energy, from the atmosphere and terrain." Fukasaku answered plainly, frowning when Naruto looked like he was thinking about it again.
"Like from the air and the earth." Jiraiya simplified before the boy could come up with another weird analogy.
"Bah, enough words I'll just show you." Fukasaku decided, hopping over to one of the giant statues nearby. The small but old toad made a hand seal before lifting up the statue and holding it over his head with one hand, "This is the power of senjutsu!" he announced before dropping the statue, sweating slightly and clearly tired from the exertion.
Naruto stared in wide eyed shock, "That was amazing, but I didn't get anything. I just saw you make a sign at the start." he said, wondering if he should have looked with Sharingan.
"Well of course not." Fukasaku said while panting, "Right now you aren't able to sense natural energy or take it in yourself." he explained.
Naruto frowned, "Well then how do I do it?" he asked, crossing his arms.
"You become one with nature." Fukasaku answered with a smirk, which quickly turned to a frown as he watched the boy pull that confused face that indicated he was thinking hard, "To take natural energy into oneself is to be able to become able to sense it, attract it and absorb it through your skin." he started another explanation, "In addition, by becoming one with nature you also gain full control over the natural energy entering and leaving your body. Practically speaking, in terms of your training, don't move." he continued, pointing at the young ninja who just looked confused, "We animals can only appreciate and sense natural energy when we stop our own movements and synchronize outselves with the flow of nature." he finished, lifting his hands to gesture to the world around them.
"I just have to sit still?" Naruto asked rhetorically before grinning, "Isn't that a little too easy?"
Jiraiya sighed, "Damn, you really don't get it, huh?" he mused out loud, crossing his arms and letting the toad handle things.
"The hardest thing for an animal to do is to be absolutely still." Fukasaku warned the boy as he hopped over to a pond of what looked like oil that was filled by a waterfall from one of the toad statues.
"I've done all kinds of training." Naruto said with a shrug, "But never not moving, so I guess I don't really get it but that's what I need to do to take in natural energy right?" he asked.
"It's not instinctual." Fukasaku added quickly, "This kind of training takes time. It's high level stuff." he warned, stating the words Jiraiya had been worried about.
"Well I want to get back to Haku-chan as soon as possible, is there a quicker way to learn?" Naruto asked with a perturbed frown on his face.
"Well it's not that there isn't..." Fukasaku confirmed mysteriously.
"What is it?" Naruto asked eagerly, face lighting up.
"This waterfall behind me... the secret toad oil of Mount Myoboku." Fukasaku answered, gesturing to the pond of oil.
"Toad oil?" Naruto asked, only more confused by the explanation.
"Come here and hold out one hand." Fukasaku ordered and the confused blonde moved to obey, crouching next to the oil and offering his right hand to the toad. The old toad scooped up a little bit of oil with one finger and rubbed it onto the arm of the young ninja while Jiraiya watched with a concerned look on his face.
"What now?" Naruto asked as he watched the oil make his skin shiny where it touched.
"This toad oil has the property of attracting natural energy, it helps with training." Fukasaku explained as he continued to rub the small amount of oil into the offered arm.
"Woah!" Naruto exclaimed, "That's useful." he mused with a grin, "I think I feel something." he informed them, feeling something besides the air entering his energy from the air itself where the oil touched.
Fukasaku smiled at the boy, "Wherever you rub this oil on your body, nature energy can enter through there." he began yet another explanation, "Gradually you'll gain the ability to sense natural energy. It is a tool to help grasp the concept, and although you'll eventually be able to do without it, it's not without it's risks." he continued as he narrowed his eyes, watching Naruto's arm become toad-like and the right side of his face droop as the pupil in his right eye became a horizontal oval, "If a neophyte who cannot use natural energy uses it, they start to transform into a toad." he finished as the morphing ninja started to panic.
To the shock of both Fukasaku and Jiraiya the transformation suddenly reversed and the boy stopped freaking out, "Huh, is it only temporary?" Naruto asked in confusion, "You scared me!" he accused the old toad before noticing the perplexed looks he was being given.
"It's not supposed to be temporary." Fukasaku said bluntly, "I have a tool to reverse it by beating the natural energy out of you, but you got control over the natural energy somehow." he explained, rubbing his chin as he eyed the young blonde.
Naruto frowned, "I did?" he asked, "I mean, I guess I think I can sense the natural energy now." he mused, closing his eye to think, "Hm, I felt the natural energy flowing into me, and then it reached Sasuke's eye and-" he suddenly stopped and lifted up his forehead protector, startling both Jiraiya and Fukasaku, "Ah, my Sharingan isn't draining my chakra!" the young blonde exclaimed but his left eye was not the Sharingan, "Did I break it?" he asked worriedly.
Jiraiya gawked at his student openly, namely at the entirely purple eye with concentric rings circles, "You have got to be kidding me..." he said in a stunned voice.
Naruto was even more worried and checked his reflection in the oil, "Aw crap! I did break it! Sasuke is going to kill me!" he panicked.
Fukasaku blinked as he looked between the two, "What just happened?" he asked, not recognizing the eye.
"Naruto you didn't break it." Jiraiya said, "Calm down." he ordered and Fukasaku was surprised he wasn't being answered directly, but could tell the white haired old man was shaken, "That's the Rinnegan." the Sennin answered both of them.
Fukasaku's jaw dropped, "What?" he asked, staring at the purple eye the boy had.
"Yeah, what?" Naruto agreed, confused before frowning and closing his right eye, then opening it and closing his left eye, "Sasuke's eye absorbed the natural energy, I think? It feels more like a battery of chakra than a drain now." he mused in confusion.
Jiraiya was as lost as the blonde but he remembered the message from Orochimaru, "I think I know." he said, sitting cross legged and putting his hands on his knees, "I think Orochimaru knew too, the note he sent Tsunade-chan with Kimimaro alluded to it." he explained.
"Your old teammate knew how to create the Rinnegan and hasn't done it yet?" Fukasaku asked with a raised eyebrow as the blonde boy gawked at his sensei.
Jiraiya nodded, "I think so, but I don't think he can awaken it himself. Orochimaru had an Uzumaki and wanted an Uchiha, and his juin introduced natural energy into the body." he began, "He also experimented with Senju cells in the past, the Uzumaki are said to be related to the Senju distantly, and the Uchiha and Senju are both said to be descended of the Rikudo Sennin, the original creator of ninjutsu and the first bearer of the Rinnegan." he explained.
Naruto blinked a couple times before he beamed, "Now that you mention it, I can still see chakra, I think this eye is actually better." he said with a grin, "Now I can totally kick Akatsuki's ass right!?" he asked boisterously.
"Maybe, I've seen it once before, you'd be the third person I know of in total who has ever had that eye, and I have no idea what it's actually capable of." Jiraiya explained, "However the other two still died, it doesn't make you invincible." he insisted, not wanting his student to get a big head and make a stupid mistake by being more reckless than normal.
"You've seen it before?" Fukasaku asked in surprise.
"I trained a kid with it once, I wonder if that kid was an illicit child of an Uzumaki and an Uchiha himself, he did have the red hair for it." Jiraiya answered with a nod, "From what I recall he had a natural affinity for all Godai Kihon Seishitsu." he explained, "Are there any Doton no Jutsu you copied that you haven't tried yet?" he asked.
Naruto made the snake hand seal and his skin darkened as Doton chakra flowed throughout his body, "Woah!" the blonde exclaimed, dropping the jutsu instantly, "Holy crap this is awesome!" he declared happily with a laugh.
"Well isn't that something." Jiraiya mused with a smile, "Alright, Fukasaku-sama I'll trust you to continue teaching him Senjutsu, that combined with the Rinnegan should make him more than a match for Akatsuki when they show up, I should report this to Kakashi." he said before standing up, surprised that the boy would be returning even sooner than expected.
Sasuke and Sakura still weren't cleared for training, so they were surprised to see Jiraiya was already back in the village, "Aren't you supposed to be training Naruto?" the pink haired girl asked.
Jiraiya looked at the two with an unreadable expression, "You two should come with me as well." he said, gesturing the confused young teens to follow him to the Hokage tower.
Kakashi seemed as surprised to see the white haired Sennin as his students, "Did something happen with Naruto-kun?" he asked, concerned.
Jiraiya sighed, "Oh boy, you bet your ass it did." the man said in an exasperated tone that helped alleviate some of the Hokage's concerns with his levity, "I'd say to dismiss your Anbu, but no one will believe it if this leaks anyway." he mused.
"What happened?" Sakura asked, confused as to what the old man could be talking about.
"Naruto awoke the Rinnegan." Jiraiya answered and Sasuke stared in shock while Sakura blinked owlishly, the girl assuming it was some sort of code since the only other option was that her blonde teammate had awakened mythical powers.
"Are you serious?" Kakashi asked in a disbelieving tone, thinking the Sannin was pulling his leg for a laugh.
"Yeah, I think Orochimaru suspected this might happen actually." Jiraiya answered, surprising them further, "When he started making Senjutsu chakra it interacted with the Sharingan and turned it into the Rinnegan." he explained.
"Teach me Senjutsu!" Sasuke demanded suddenly.
"First of all no," Jiraiya answered and the young Uchiha scowled, "second of all I'm pretty sure there's more to it than just Senjutsu chakra going into the Sharingan." he explained, "If it was as simple as that the dojutsu would have shown up throughout history more. I think it's a result of you both technically being descendants of the Rikudo Sennin, when you gave him your eye he started getting stronger much faster right?"
Sasuke didn't look happy about it still but nodded in agreement, looking thoughtful.
"Now what?" Kakashi asked, "I mean, what does the eye do for him?" he clarified, looking confused.
"I have no idea, but he's got a natural affinity towards pretty much every Seishitsu Henka, hell he might even be able to make his own ice now." Jiraiya answered with a shrug, "He still needs training, but he'll probably pick certain things up even faster now."
"I need to go train." Sasuke said, turning to leave.
"We're still on bed rest." Sakura reminded the Uchiha, earning a scowl and a dirty look that made her feel guilty.
"Well, I guess we'll have the toad you left summon you guys if Akatsuki attacks again?" Kakashi asked and Jiraiya nodded before leaving to check out the hot springs before he returned to Naruto, the old man needed a break.
Haku blinked at Jiraiya in surprise, then his expression became exasperated since the man was peeping on women instead of training Naruto, "What are you doing?" he asked.
Jiraiya jolted slightly in startled surprise, "Oh, hey kid. I'm doing research." he answered with a thumbs up when he realized who had asked.
"Aren't you supposed to be training Naruto-kun?" Haku asked dangerously.
"He's training with the one who trained me, don't worry about it." Jiraiya answered flippantly, "Oh yeah, his Sharingan evolved into the Rinnegan by the way, so he should actually be back sooner than expected." he informed, hoping the good news would get the kid off his back.
Haku blinked owlishly at that, wondering how the old pervert expected him to believe something as outrageous as that. Then he frowned as he considered what it would mean if Naruto really did have that kind of mythical ability.
Haku decided to leave the old man to his research and keep quiet about the Rinnegan since it was probably just Jiraiya pulling his leg. The dark haired boy hoped it was true though as he missed Naruto, it hadn't even been that long since he was gone but he really wished bathing and sleeping with his energetic lover.
As soon as Sasuke was cleared for training he started trying to think of a new ninjutsu, figuring he would need something to surpass the Amaterasu if he wanted to defeat Itachi. The Uchiha considered it while he kept his eye closed and ran through shurikenjutsu kata.
Although the Uchiha was proud of his Sharingan the fact it would fail the more he used the Mangekyo Sharingan had given him pause and he wondered just how far Itachi's sight had fallen. The fact such a thing happened gave him pause when it came to practicing with the Mangekyo Sharingan, even if his sight would be restored when he took Itachi's eyes for himself he had intended to give Naruto the other one as payment for helping, but now the blonde probably wouldn't even need it.
The idea his teammate had evolved his eye even further troubled him. Sasuke worried what could happen if Itachi managed to get his hands on the Rinnegan, and then he recalled what Jiraiya said about Naruto making his own ice.
The boy remembered the ninja from Yukigakure, and what he'd heard about Renga of the Janin, then he considered the Mokuton. Only the Shodaime Hokage had wielded it, no Senju before or since had done such a thing, yet there was currently a jonin in the village who could do it and wasn't a Senju.
Sasuke considered his own affinity and created sparks of electricity in his hand with Raiton chakra, then he created Katon chakra in his other hand to ignite the oxygen near his hand. Without thinking he clapped his hands together and winced as he electrified and burned himself at once, shaking his hands and blowing on them.
He knew it wouldn't be that easy, but he was curious and determined, so he started meditating, working on trying to blend Katon and Raiton chakra perfectly. The boy yelped in pain as he burnt his hands again, frowning as he realized this was not going to be easy.
Sasuke narrowed his eye as he realized that Naruto would probably learn it from him after watching it with the Rinnegan, but he'd never heard of a blend of Katon and Raiton before and he wanted to be the first. Actually he didn't know all the different combinations but he was still determined to figure it out.
He was proud of his heritage and his dojutsu, but he decided he'd surpass them both with his own ability. The Uchiha clan had been proud of their dojutsu and they'd been laid low by their own kin, if Sasuke wanted to surpass Itachi he couldn't just rely on his ocular abilities.