____________ POV Narration ____________

"Hey... Do you need help with that?" The Assassin's question seemed to take just about everyone present by surprise.

Jiraiya himself hadn't even noticed him approaching, which startled him and made him almost fall into the Oil Fountain.

Shima, or Ma, was thankfully there to catch and berate him for his stupidity.

The oil was apparently dangerous for humans, which made sense. It seemed to naturally attract Nature Energy, they were most likely using it for training, but in very small doses.

And to someone that couldn't even control Nature Energy normally, using such a thing was almost suicidal. At the very least Ma had a stick that repelled the Nature Energy out of Jiraiya.

Still, that stick begged the rather obvious question of how exactly did so many people fail at becoming sages...

Why were there so many toad statues around? Were the Toads purposefully not assisting the trainees perhaps?

It was hard to tell, but it was better to not make assumptions randomly, hell, Ken knew he needed to stop just assuming the worst of people.

Unfortunately, that habit was going to take a while to get kicked out. But that was fine, Ken was still young in that life, and he still had time to grow as a person.

Ma eventually finished berating the Sannin for his clumsiness, and the sage apprentice was now able to look at Ken and ask for clarifications.

"Y-you want to help me with mastering Sage Mode?" Jiraya's voice was still stunted, his mind startled, either because he didn't expect Ken to offer such a thing, or because he had almost died by falling into oil.

"Well, I don't know about mastering Sage Mode... But I can help you regulate and control Nature Energy..."

Ken's answer seemed to confuse Jiraiya even more, but the Sannin still seemed to be truly considering it.

Ma also rubbed her chin.

"I mean, with your level of control I guess you could stop his absorption before he loses control over it...

But can you claim to be able to manipulate Nature's Energy while it is within someone else?"

The small grandmotherly toad seemed to be intrigued as well.

She could tell that Ken's control over Nature Energy far exceeded even her own. The only being she knew that she could compare it to was the Grand Toad Sage, and even then, she had no way of telling who was better.

This was a good chance for her to test Ken's limits in a sense. She wasn't worried about Jiraiya as she was still there, Nature Energy dispelling stick in hand.

"Well, I've never tried it before, but trying now can't be that harmful. I can at least assure you that he won't be turning into a Toad Statue in my hands..." Ken tilted his head to the side as he spoke, somewhat bluntly referring to the meditating statues that surrounded them.

"Well then, feel free to try." Shima crossed her small toad arms and huffed. Certainly not appreciative of the small jab Ken took at the results of their past training methods.

Jiraiya looked back and forth between Ma and Ken, unsure if he even wanted to accept the Blind Assassin's help anymore.

There was, after all, a rather dangerous possible result of him just dying in Ken's hand.

The Sannin doubted Ken had such intentions, but this was his first time teaching someone Senjutsu, so it wasn't like he couldn't make a small mistake to cost his first student's life...

"Nature Energy seems to be an extremely fickle thing... That oil helps you attract it in your body at first right?" Ken pointed towards the fountain before walking to it and reaching for it.

"W-wait it's dangerous!"

Jiraiya immediately reached over to stop him, but couldn't do so in time. He watched the assassin's hand sink into the oil, then he watched the assassin's muscles bubbling strangely.

'Shit, he's turning into a toa-... What?'

Instead of the image he expected, Ken didn't grow into a toad at all, instead, his muscles seemed to try and grow, then compress.

His body entire hand and every visible part of the Assassin's body was also covered in azure scales, shining a deep green in the sunlight.

"Hmm... An interesting liquid, what is this exactly?" Ken turned his head towards Ma, still clenching his hand within the Toad Oil.

"It's called the sacred fountain for a reason... I cannot tell you what it is exactly, but it can only exist in this environment, in Mount Myōboku, it can't be taken outside..."

Shima was also somewhat taken aback by his transformation, but she seemed to have expected something similar at the very least.

Meanwhile, Gamambunta didn't even react, the giant toad just started smoking a bit, going further away from the Fountain to not bother Ma.

Ken only nodded before slowly standing up and flicking the oil in his hand back into the pond.

In less than a second after that, his body seemed to turn to normal, surprising Jiraiya once more.

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'Such unprecedented control!? Maybe he really is qualified to teach...' The Sannin's mind was immediately filled with thoughts of that nature.

"Figures, this place is essentially a treasure trove of Nature Energy..." 'I guess I'll have to make do without it for any future Senjutsu Student I might take in.'

It was a shame, as it seemed to help others sense Nature's Energy as well. It seemed like an essential tool for a training sage.

'Maybe I can replicate that...'

"Ok, let's get on with this, Jiraiya, sit cross-legged in front of me." The Assassin's tone was determined, commanding. The Sannin looked over at Ma, who simply nodded before he followed instructions.

"We won't be using the oil. Instead, I want you to focus on the inside of your body, feel your chakra pathways properly, visualize them if you will..."

Ken sat down right behind Jiraiya on the cold ground, adopting a meditative position as he placed both of his palms on Sannin's back.

Jiraiya's lower lip trembled slightly as he felt the assassin's cold palms on his hair and back, he nodded before he turned his focus inward, as instructed.

At first, he couldn't feel anything different. He started wondering if Ken expected him to be able to feel Nature's Energy by himself.

'But I've not reached that stage yet...' The Sannin felt dejected for a second.

Then, just as he relaxed and was about to tell Ken he couldn't sense anything, he felt a very warm and familiar energy enter his body.

'T-this? A strand of Nature Energy?!'

It was the furthest from what he had expected.

Every time he used the Toad Oil, he was able to both perfectly feel the energy around him, and to attract it towards him.

But the energy that entered his body was always abundant, always too much for him to manage.

His chakra reserves weren't meagre either, it was just that Nature Energy was too demanding.

At first, the strand of Energy was controlled by an external force, Jiraiya could feel that it wasn't moving of its own volition.

'So this is the power of a true sage?! Bending nature to his will? That's not what the Toads taught me...'

"I'll leave you to play around with it... Be careful."

As soon as the Assassin mouthed those words, Jiraiya panicked, he braced himself, expecting Nature Energy to flood into him like it usually did during his training.

Every time there was Nature Energy within him, he couldn't help but try and attract more and more, his lack of control was what drove him to do that, he couldn't even judge his limits properly yet.

But to his surprise, he wasn't even able to attract any Nature Energy, not even by mistake.

He sweated a bit as he finally noticed it... A vortex of Nature energy surrounding him, even Ma had taken a few steps back and covered her eyes from the dust storm that was rising up around him and Ken.

It was a Vacuum of Nature Energy, a bubble revolved around the two of them constantly, keeping all Nature Energy at bay, even in the energy-rich Mount Myōboku.

And then he felt that hair of energy within him wriggling uncontrollably, it was now in his hands.

It was just as wild as he remembered it to be, Nature Energy was never going to not be volatile and dangerous for a human unless they were somehow monsters with infinite chakra... Or like Ken.

"Feel that strand of energy within you, get used to it, learn to control it." His new Senjutsu teacher had a calming voice, its tonality helping the Sannin's mind relax.

Ken sighed internally as he stood behind Jiraiya, his hands still stuck to the man's back to make sure he wouldn't hurt himself or something.

Jiraiya's control over Nature Energy was pitiful in Ken's lack of eyes. He had more control over Nature Energy as a toddler.

Then again, it was a wholly unfair comparison since he was apparently closer to a calamity-causing Tailed Beast than a human...

From the way Ken felt things progressing, Jiraiya would need at least another year or two to master and control Nature Energy.

He was struggling to control a strand properly, Ken had planned to slowly increase the amount of Nature Energy and let him gradually get used to it at every stage, before helping him balance out his Chakra and Nature Energy.

But he had underestimated the difficulty of Senjutsu for the common man, so at most, the Blind Assassin would only be able to give Jiraiya a taste of it.

'I didn't anticipate how long this might take... But at least I understand how I would be able to teach someone Senjutsu.

It's something I'll have to do personally, for each student I decide to take in.'

Ken and Jiraiya stood like that for an hour.

Ma had already retreated into Gamabunta's palm, waiting for the training to be over. It was already obvious that Ken wasn't going to allow Jiraiya to overflow and turn into a toad statue.

After a while, Ken tapped the Sannin on the back and sighed.

"That's going to be the end of it for now... It was a nice experiment." Ken then forcefully extracted the Nature Energy from Jiraiya's body, much to the Sannin's surprise.

The student sweated heavily as his eyes were wide and staring at the ground as if he had just been awakened from a nightmare.

His mind was reeling, trying to understand what had just happened.

'H-he can extract Nature Energy out of someone...'

It was a frightening thought, Jiraiya had absolutely no power to even resist it.

Even Ma from a distance seemed to have noticed what had happened, and she decided to make her way over alongside Pa, her lifelong companion who had arrived at some point in the training.

Jiraiya continued staring at the ground for a while, still trying to remember that lingering and weak feeling of control he had over Nature Energy.

He did so while ignoring what was happening around him. He tried to remember and revisualize that small strand of energy within him.

He started thinking of more ways he could have improved, of ways he could also try to get any semblance of control over it.

At the same time... He felt weird.

'Does Mastering Sage Mode really make a difference if you run into an opponent that can instantly ruin your perfected Sage Mode?'

It was a foolish thought. Both because there was only one person like Ken in the world from the way it seemed, and because he had no way of knowing if Ken would even be able to do the same thing to an experienced Sage Mode practitioner.

Eventually, Ma tapped him on the back, taking him out of his thoughts.

"What's wrong Jiraiya? You've not said anything for a while..."

"Huh? No nothing... I was just wondering about some stuff." The Sannin shook his head and slowly stood up, when he turned around he noticed that Ken was no more.

"He left already... Pa and Gambunta helped him with a reverse summon after he chose his gift." Ma sighed as she jumped and stood on Jiraiya's shoulder.

"Now now, no need to feel too discouraged Jiraiya. Ken's control over nature is not natural, he's simply a monster, don't compare yourself to him.

He is also unique, so I don't think there's any use in worrying about running into people like him..."

Her words were certainly comforting, but Jiraiya still felt weird hearing them.

As always, Ma was great at reading his thoughts and mood, she was able to tell what bothered him instantly.

"I hope not. He seems relatively peaceful, but if someone with a more hostile mindset was to have that kind of power..." Jiraiya shuddered just thinking about the possibilities, what one could do with that much power.

The number of lives that would be in the palm of his hand if he so wished.

"It's better not to think about that Jiraiya. I'd recommend trying to not make an enemy out of him anyway." Shima shook her small head while looking at Jiraiya's face with a smile.

"Hmm... He's certainly not enemy material... But if possible, I'd want him to teach me again..." Jiraiya then looked in the distance, a smile rising on his lips.

"Well, that's a conversation you'll have with him, not with me... Hurry up, maybe you'll catch up to him." Ma then jumped down and took one last look at Jiraiya, before she started making a few handsings.

"I don't think I'll catch him. But it's worth a try!" The Sannin smiled widely as he quickly started stretching, while Ma tapped him one last time on the shin.

The Sannin then disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving Ma alone in the field of Toad statues.

"... I should inform the Gamamaru how Jirayia's training went..."

Ma only sighed before she hopped off.