The following 5 days were filled with intense training, with Kakashi using his Haki to constantly help Jiraiya, but as the days dragged on, Kakashi had to use less force to push back the natural energy. Jiraiya continued to improve, and on the fifth day, a little over a week later, he achieved it: he perfected sage mode, and without the help of Kakashi's haki, no less.
Jiraiya stood from his crossed-legged position and walked up to a toad statue, easily lifting it, feeling the difference between the form of sage mode he had previously and the complete one now.
Giddy, Jiraiya balanced the statue on his index finger and spun it with a flick of his other hand.
Fukasaku let Jiraiya have his fun for a bit before waving his stick.
Jiraiya promptly set the large toad statue down as if it were a newborn, giving it a light pat and scooting a few steps away.
"Congratulations, Jiraiya-boy."
Fukasaku smiled with genuine happiness, glad that his student had finally returned and continued his training.
"And now that your Sage mode has caught up."
Fukasaku threw his cloak off.
"We can resume your training in Frog Kumite, come!"
Kakashi gave Jiraiya a wave, then left to check on Naruto and Karin. As he walked away, the sounds of rapidly exchanged blows sounded out in the clearing.
Walking through the tree line a few minutes later, Kakashi paused to observe Naruto train with the help of Karin.
Naruto would teleport between the 6 kunai spread around the training ground, working on his reaction time when he teleports by having five of Karin's shadow clones next to each kunai and trying to attack him, a sort of whack-a-mole exercise that Naruto only had a split second to react before he teleported and had to react again, rapid teleportation and dodging each attack to do it over and over.
'Not a bad idea.'
Kakashi watched the exercise, idly realizing that Naruto must have taught Karin the Shadow Clone jutsu, a jutsu that fit just about anyone with Uzumaki blood.
Karin reached into her pouch and pulled out dull training Kunai, her clones following along and speeding up her strikes when Naruto flashed to their location.
Unlike before, Naruto was forced to dodge some strikes before flashing away in a streak of yellow, ducking, side-stepping, pivoting, and rolling to dodge a couple of really well-timed strikes while making sure he didn't fall into a pattern of his teleporting, doing his best to give Karin no chance to predict which kunai he'd appear by.
Smirking, Naruto rapidly flashes to each kunai, picking them up in between his fingers, popping the last clone he appeared next to before the five started to fan out around him. Two flanking from behind and three charging straight for him.
Flicking two kunai behind him when the clones got close, Naruto smirked as the attention of the clones immediately went to the kunai, throwing both of his legs back and dispelling the clones before flipping forward and vanishing to his two kunai to reclaim them, watching the three remaining be more cautious as Naruto slipped all of his kunai into his pouch.
The two on the side spread out and ran at either side of Naruto, while Karin ran straight at him.
Naruto kept his eyes on the real Karin, catching the punches from the two clones, and crossing his arms in a hard tug, making the two clones disperse by headbutting each other.
Karin raised her hands, breathing a bit heavy from the physical and mental exhaustion.
"I give up, you win."
Kakashi took that time to show himself, clapping softly as he came into the clearing, handing Karin a pouch of water he unsealed before stepping up.
"You're progressing fast, Naruto. When you first started your training, your speed between kunai wasn't nearly as fast as it is now. You're now good enough to safely use the Flying Raijin in combat."
Naruto spun the regular kunai around by the ring.
"Thanks, I can't wait to get back to Konoha. I want to order a set of my own personalized kunai like my dad."
Kakashi hummed.
"If I remember correctly, Sensei had a supplier in the village who made him sets of kunai regularly. If you're lucky, he may have some in storage that he's willing to sell to you at a discounted price."
Naruto's eyes shone.
"When are we going back?"
Kakashi chuckled as Naruto's body language was calm, but his eyes gave him away.
"We shouldn't spend much longer here. Jiraiya managed to master sage mode as well, and he's working on refining his Frog Kumite. That shouldn't take more than 3 to 4 days. I want you to relax and take a break. Stick around and give Karin some advice on the training I'll be giving her."
Kakashi replies to Naruto before looking to Karin.
"Now, are you ready to start your training?"
Karin handed the water pouch back to Kakashi.
"Yes, sensei, I'm ready. Where do we start?"
Kakashi pulled out a chakra paper from his vest, one of the few pieces he had left, handing it to Karin and explaining the reactions that correspond to the 5 elements.
Karin poured her chakra into the paper, and it became wet, the paper falling apart in her hand.
"Water, and it's very strong."
Kakashi nodded.
"This element is good; all elements have their purpose, but it's harder to use water jutsu in certain environments. Whereas wind style is flexible, and earth style jutsu doesn't require you to create the element in most cases in the same way as one would with the fireball jutsu. If you're near a water source, the water element is excellent; if you're in a desert, it's much harder and likely not worth the chakra to perform. Only someone who truly masters water can overcome this. This is not to discourage you, but I just want you to be aware. Once your training in the water element is done, we'll likely move on to an element like earth or maybe wind."
Kakashi gestured for Karin to follow him to a pond, creating four shadow clones. Kakashi showed the exercise he taught Naruto before the Chunin Exams, explaining the goal, and left her to try her best, only occasionally offering advice after she had done so and wasn't seeing any results.
"Relax, this isn't something you master in a day. When we return, you'll have something to work on. But I want to make something clear. You're to take appropriate breaks and never use the same clones for more than an hour at a time. Always dispel and create new ones, understood?"
Kakashi made sure she knew how serious he was about this, not wanting the girl to hurt herself.
Satisfied with the serious nod along with "Yes, sensei", Kakashi gestured to Naruto, who had been standing a step behind them.
"Naruto here went through this exercise, and he'll be here to make sure you don't go overboard. He'll assess your limit and make sure you don't stubbornly cross it and hurt yourself. If he, at any time, says to stop, you stop, no questions, no arguments. If you do not stop, he can and will stop you for your own good. I'm not saying this to be mean, just so we're clear, but I know how stubborn you teens can be."
Karin nodded, not being upset about the reminder to be careful once more, instead feeling warmth at being cared for so openly, nothing like what she had when she was a Grass genin.
"I'll stop when Naruto says to, I promise, and if I don't, then Naruto has the permission of my past self to stop my future self from doing anything stupid, from here on out, and in the future training sessions."
Kakashi's piercing stare held hers for a few silent moments before it softened into his neutral look.
"Good, I'll be around."
Kakashi vanished in a body flicker, leaving to have a look around and possibly talk to some toads.
- Chapter End -
Hello everyone, here's another chapter for you. Though this one might seem pedestrian, I'm working on ramping up the plot while staying true to character development. Hope you enjoyed, regardless of not much happening.