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Probably not!
Did I do something to offend him?
Probably not either. Tsunade was still an "unblemished" older single woman, cough cough!!
"Kid, you're Uchiha Rong Lin!!"
Jiraiya approached him, looking thoroughly displeased.
Although Rong Lin, who was a few days shy of eight, was developing well and quite tall, he was still a bit short compared to Jiraiya. He immediately tilted his head back and said in astonishment:
"That's me, but Lord Jiraiya, is there something you need?"
Subconsciously, Rong Lin wanted to distance himself from him, lest Jiraiya really do something untoward, like beat him up. His current self was no match for him.
But to Rong Lin's utter amazement, what he imagined didn't happen. Jiraiya threw an arm around his shoulder, so fast that Rong Lin had no chance to react.
Almost instantly, Rong Lin's Sharingan, Byakugan, and Time Power all activated simultaneously. But while his eyes saw it, his speed couldn't keep up, and he was directly pulled into an embrace.
"Huh!"
He felt something resisting him, but Jiraiya still boisterously pulled him in, giving Rong Lin a solid hug.
"Kid, how about we make a deal?"
"..."
"You just need to go a little easy during the exam, and don't be too hard on the others, how about it?"
Suddenly, Jiraiya, still hugging him, gave a sly grin, leaving Rong Lin dumbfounded. What's going on?!
"Hahaha, just kidding! Don't worry, kid, I'm not that bored. It's just because of the bet with Tsunade, feeling a bit emotional, that's all. Care to have a drink with me?"
Pointing to a nearby tavern, Jiraiya asked with a smile.
"Sure."
Rong Lin nodded blankly, then quickly added: "Although I don't drink."
"Well, that's no fun then."
Jiraiya showed a strange expression: "How can a man not drink? You know, wine is as memorable as women."
Without giving him a chance to refuse, he directly pulled Rong Lin into the tavern. Sitting on a chair, looking at Jiraiya who was boisterously seated opposite him, his mind was still a bit muddled. What's going on?!
Seeing Rong Lin's utterly bewildered face, Jiraiya laughed heartily: "Tsunade must have told you something, right? Don't take it to heart, kid, these are all our adult matters. Oh right, boss, get me some wine, and some tasty side dishes too."
After calming down for a few seconds, Rong Lin suddenly came to his senses: "A bet? The stake is..."
"Tsk tsk, no drinking for a year, no looking for..."
Jiraiya took a sip of wine, then suddenly stopped, his eyes widening: "Why does a kid need to know so much? Right, aren't you having a drink? The wine here is very pure."
"Alright, you enjoy your drink then."
Rong Lin felt the muscles on his face twitch a few times.
How old am I? And he's already thinking about drinking. Rong Lin wanted to drink, but his body was too young; drinking would affect his development!!
As for women, don't even think about it.
What Jiraiya left unsaid, one could guess with their thigh what it was—nothing more than chasing women, frequenting brothels, peeping, and the like.
He couldn't drink, so he could only watch Jiraiya entertain himself. As for women, forget it. He could look but not touch. With his current small frame, even if he developed quickly, he'd have to wait at least two more years. Right now, it was basically hopeless.
So, Jiraiya was basically left to entertain himself, while Rong Lin could only stare intently. As for topics like wanting to cultivate a friendship, Rong Lin found them most uninteresting.
Once your strength increases, and you possess overwhelming power and a decent appearance, will you still be afraid of not attracting beautiful women?!
Therefore, he found Jiraiya and the Third Hokage's so-called peeping on beautiful women bathing incomprehensible. Was it really necessary...
"What's wrong, not feeling the atmosphere?"
Suddenly, Jiraiya slapped Rong Lin's shoulder hard and laughed loudly: "Oh, I forgot, did you bring money?"
"..."
Rong Lin swore, if he were possessed by God at this second, he would definitely smash the vegetable platter in his hand onto Jiraiya's face. This was too damn infuriating! Coming in to drink without money?
"Haha, don't worry, don't worry, I'll pay you back."
Jiraiya smiled and waved his hand. Rong Lin sighed. How did he end up in this situation?
He didn't think he and Jiraiya could develop any good friendship, or something akin to a master-disciple bond.
This felt more like... a setup!!!
A con, a big con!
Taking out some money and placing it on the table, Rong Lin watched as dishes kept arriving. He had no choice but to pick up his chopsticks and start eating. As for drinking, forget it. He'd think about it after his body fully matured.
Rong Lin didn't want to grow up with his body having problems here and there.
Seeing Rong Lin seemingly having no intention to continue chatting, just focused on eating, Jiraiya smiled, slowly sipping his wine and nibbling on the side dishes.
"Hic~ Why do you think I agreed to it? Kid, tell me honestly, can you really do it?"
Gradually, Jiraiya had a few more drinks, and thus started talking more. Unfortunately, his drunken appearance made it hard to tell if he was being genuine or not. If it were an ordinary eight-year-old, they probably would have been fooled.
But trying to fool Rong Lin? Not enough!
"Isn't that simple? Since you're not allowed to frequent brothels, not allowed to look for women, not allowed to peep on others, it just says you're not allowed to initiate it. If you think about it differently, wouldn't that work?"
Rong Lin yawned out of boredom and said.
If it were an ordinary person, they might get very excited seeing Jiraiya, but Rong Lin wouldn't.
Firstly, he could be sure Jiraiya wasn't interested in him; that was certain, even though the Sannin had a good relationship!
Since Jiraiya wasn't interested in him, and he couldn't gain any benefit from him, why get excited? Just a waste of expression.
It was enough to know he held no ill will towards him.
By the same token, Tsunade wasn't interested in Jiraiya's disciple, Minato, either. As for why...
One could discern some clues from their bet.
Fortunately, Rong Lin had never been a particularly curious person. The ins and outs of that were best left for others to dig up.
"..."
Jiraiya, holding his wine cup, suddenly froze. That's right, why hadn't he thought of it that way? Tsunade said he wasn't allowed to actively seek it out, she didn't say others couldn't throw themselves at him! While they're throwing themselves at him, if they also bring some wine, wouldn't that be perfect?
That way, he wouldn't be considered to have broken his promise, right?
"Hahaha!!!"