Jiraiya's POV (Forest of Death - Hidden Leaf Village)
Jiraiya had intended to leave the boy to his thoughts. A young man should be encouraged to reflect, or so he had been told. He found it hard to understand young people. Ironic since most referred to him as childish, but he struggled to relate to them or understand their thinking. He had expected Naruto to scream, cry, rage, or grieve, but instead, he seemed to meditate while holding a leaf. He had always been interested in his godchild, but seeing him act like his father was odd. Let's start the training early. He was sure Kushina wouldn't mind.
He crept closer to the blonde. He noticed he was aware of the area around him. But no mere rookie could detect him! He silently walked behind the blonde, preparing to poke him.
"How did you get so close to me?" Naruto asked, sounding somewhat annoyed. Also, why are you back?"
"Not bad, brat; still would've died, but at least you would've gotten to scream out! HA!" Jiraiya belly laughed at his own joke.
"Great… is there something you want?" Naruto posed indignantly.
"Ungrateful little… patience sage… Mhm," Jiraiya cleared his throat. "I'm here to offer you a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! The chance to be the student of the Great Sage Jir-"
"I'm already the star pupil of Kakashi, the copy ninja," Naruto replied blandly. "I wouldn't betray sensei like that."
"He's merely your Jounin sensei; it's not unusual to have multiple of them. Besides, Kakashi is alright… But can he do this? Rasengan!" Jiraiya roared as he formed a ball of swirling chakra in his hand and raced forward. He slammed the ball through one, two, three trees. He spun to face the blonde as it dissipated in his hand, with a smirk and a raised brow.
"Ok, that is undoubtedly cool, but I'm busy." Naruto countered as he focused on the leaf in hand, and suddenly, his chakra flared. The leaf was cut from the middle of the leaf. "Dammit, I'm trying to do something specific. I don't have time to learn that move." He then discarded the leaf and grabbed another from the ground. Now, focusing on the leaf again.
Jiraiya had to stop himself from gritting his teeth. This was oddly familiar to him somehow. "What are you working on that could be more important than my Rasengan?"
"I want to make my own technique. Besides, I feel I might need it for this guy." Naruto started picturing Gaara unharmed by a technique that could cut a boulder in half and was strong enough to take on Genin. "I need to win these exams."
"So you're thinking of a wind technique, hmm." Jiraiya let his mind drift when he saw a younger Minato who was also focused on making his own technique. It led to the creation of the Rasengan. It could wait for now. "How about I help you?"
"What's to say you'll be any help?" Naruto posed, wishing the man would leave.
"Come on, squirt, think about it; my Rasengan is a pure Chakra Shape Manipulation technique. If you're gonna make your own jutsu, you need someone well versed in Chakra Manipulation." Jiraiya boasted subtly, standing taller, as he talked himself up to his unknowing grandson. "The first question is, what do you intend for this jutsu to do?"
Using my Wind Element would be a good idea since it lends itself well to strong offensive jutsu. It must be able to bypass a massive amount of defense nearly instantly. And I can't afford for it to miss." Naruto explained as he struggled to slice the leaf again.
"Wise to use your own element. It always uses less chakra and has more of a punch. Something that can't be missed might be best to be close range then. But to bypass a massive amount of defense?" Jiraiya asked confusedly. "We're talking about Genin here. You're not trying to kill anyone, are you squirt?"
"No, I used an attack against him. I've seen people cut in half. He tanked it and was unharmed. I need something to set him up," Naruto explained.
"Set him up? Wouldn't want to smash through his defenses and him before he had time to counter? Setting him up suggests another step."
"Yes, he seems too good to promise a clean hit. So this first one is gonna be kinda like swordplay. It will smash his defenses and counters, leaving him open to my final hit." Naruto finished grasping his sheathed tanto on his back.
"Are you sure you have another technique to finish him off?" Jiraiya posed.
"Yes. I haven't found all the secrets of my blade here, Riptide." Naruto explained as he unsheathed the blade in question. "But I discovered a while ago that Riptide can store chakras inside it. Once full, I can unleash an attack using most of my chakra without actually using my current chakra. Figure it will be the perfect way to finish him off. My Uzumaki Style: Raging Wave hits hard."
"Ok then, so either cut it or smash through it…" Jiraiya pondered.
"What if I could crush it?" Naruto asked.
"What?"
Kakazu's POV (Nearby Samurai Camp - Land of Iron)
He watched emotionlessly as his cords tore into the new corpse, seeking his heart. He was a good replacement water heart. The rookie had gotten lucky and killed his Water Heart and beheaded Hidan for being careless. He was an odd redheaded man with a mohawk. They would've let him go who had run into them, but upon seeing their cloaks, he attacked. Screaming something about avenging his master's honor. Initially, he assumed he meant Orochimaru, but now he was confident it was the mysterious Uzumaki Ikam. Both are enemies of their little collective and will aid them if it hurts them.
Furthermore, the man wielded axes with absurd cutting ability. His cords could resist chakra-enforced steel, even elemental flow, yet somehow, they cut through them once the man activated his seals. Turning him into a jutsu-proof man with blades that could cut them in half. Certainly impressive in its way, he supposed. He was happy to see he would make some profit from this. But he had not been near enough to kill him nor Hidan. He did hope, though death did stick with his infuriating partner.
"Damn it, you old bastard, reattach my head!" Hidan roared as he carried his head over. "Do you know how freaky it is to talk without a throat? It makes no sense?!"
"If I do reattach your idiotic head, will you be silent? Or will I have to shut your lips shut?" Kakazu asked angrily.
"Fine, but just know one day your ass is going to Jashin."
"Only if I'm unlucky," Kakazu complained as the threads grabbed the head and quickly sewed it back on. The skin, once fastened together, seemed to simply heal instantly. The threads of Kakazu released themselves from him once they did. Before it suddenly shut Hidan's mouth while lifting him in the air so he couldn't fight back. "Hopefully, that works for a while."
Hidan was let go once the job was done. The man painfully grunted as he attempted to free his lips from one another.
"The grunts are just as annoying, but at least it sounds like it hurts." Kakazu marched forward a bit, forming a hand sign as he felt for chakra signatures on the level of the tailed beast. Only to discover the Five had become Three. Those three were relatively powerful and well-guarded as they were all together. As the leader cautioned, Hidan and he would likely have to leave them be. The leader would want to know of this and Ikam's meddling.
This wasn't going to be good for business.
Leifazu had no response, his soul long having left his body.