"Pretty lady, pretty lady don't go, don't leave..."
Lying on the hospital bed, muttering about pretty ladies in his sleep, Jiraiya suddenly snapped his eyes open.
White ceiling and the overwhelming smell of disinfectant filling his nostrils—strange, how did he get from the bar to a hospital?
Recognizing his location from the room's layout at a glance, Jiraiya tried to move his arm, only to be struck by excruciating pain that swept through his entire body.
"Yo, you're awake, Jiraiya-sama."
A boy's voice rang out. Struggling to turn his neck, Jiraiya spotted a somewhat familiar face.
"It's you?!"
The person who could shock Jiraiya like this was naturally Feng Bai.
At that moment, he was sitting leisurely in a chair, using a small knife to peel an apple with practiced ease.
"Don't get so excited. I'm halfway done here—if you keep shouting, you'll make me break the peel." Completely focused on dealing with the apple peel, Feng Bai didn't even spare a glance for Jiraiya, terrified of breaking the continuous strip.
"It hurts, it hurts! Why are you here? No wait—why am I here?!"
Unable to control his body, Jiraiya felt somewhat panicked while also being puzzled by this brat's presence beside him. He struggled desperately, trying to turn over.
"Ah, don't move around! My apple peel!"
Due to Jiraiya's restlessness, Feng Bai ended up breaking the apple peel after all. Frustrated, he nearly threw the knife at Jiraiya.
"You're awake, Jiraiya."
Hearing the commotion from inside the room, Tsunade pushed open the door. Seeing Jiraiya truly awake, she breathed a sigh of relief.
"Tsunade? Why are you here too? Wait—what exactly happened?"
Jiraiya was completely bewildered, unable to comprehend what had occurred.
"You don't remember, Jiraiya-sama? No choice then—let me help you recall. Three nights ago, you secretly escaped from the Military Police Force prison, went to Aunt Keiko's bathhouse to peep, and got punched nearly to death by Lady Tsunade..."
Seeing the apple peel had broken, Feng Bai couldn't be bothered to handle the remainder carefully. While roughly dealing with it, he recounted the events from three nights prior.
"Thanks to you, I had to make another late-night trip to the Military Police Force to explain what happened."
Cutting the apple into neat pieces and arranging them on a plate, Feng Bai used Ice Release to create a senbon and stuck it into the apple.
Just as Jiraiya thought this was prepared for him—already calculating in his mind that even so, he wouldn't forgive this brat—Feng Bai directly popped the cut apple pieces into his own mouth.
Jiraiya: ???
Damn it, I'm the patient here!
Who comes to a patient's room and eats fruit in front of them?
"What's wrong, Jiraiya-sama? Is that how you look at your lifesaver?"
Finding the apple a bit too sweet, Feng Bai frowned and casually grabbed a piece to stuff into Jiraiya's mouth.
"Mmph, cough cough cough—can't you be gentler? And when did you become my lifesaver?"
Nearly choking on the forcibly fed apple, Jiraiya coughed for ages before swallowing it, glaring furiously at this ill-tempered brat.
"Don't believe me? Ask Lady Tsunade."
Regardless of Jiraiya's willingness, Feng Bai stuffed another piece of apple into his mouth.
"That's right, Jiraiya. If this kid hadn't used Medical Ninjutsu to keep you alive, you would have died halfway here."
Under Jiraiya's probing gaze, Tsunade nodded, confirming Feng Bai's words.
"Is that so? Then I really should thank him. No wait—if it weren't for that Uchiha brat beside you making such a racket, how could I have ended up beaten like this?!"
After hearing Tsunade's confirmation, Jiraiya first nodded, then realized something was amiss and roared angrily at Feng Bai.
"Jiraiya!"
Seeing Jiraiya still completely unrepentant, Tsunade's slight guilt instantly evaporated. She strode to Jiraiya's bedside, ready to grab him: "You bastard, do you have absolutely no reflection on your peeping behavior?!"
"I was wrong, Lady Tsunade!"
Seeing Tsunade truly enraged, Jiraiya instantly groveled at light speed. If not for his inability to raise his arms, he would have kowtowed to Tsunade repeatedly.
"Hmph, you apologize every time, but I've never seen you actually change."
Seeing Jiraiya behave himself, Tsunade finally let him off: "Anyway, you need to properly thank this kid called Feng Bai, and your attitude must be sincere. Understand?"
Under Tsunade's "kind and gentle" persuasion, Jiraiya forced an ugly smile and thanked Feng Bai.
"In that case, I'll accept your apology, Jiraiya-sama." Though his expression was somewhat twisted, it was still a personal thanks from one of the Sannin. Feng Bai accepted it with a clear conscience, secretly wondering if he should use this opportunity to have Jiraiya take him to Mount Myōboku to learn Sage Art.
Feeling it would be somewhat abrupt to bring it up now, Feng Bai ultimately abandoned this idea. After flashing Tsunade a sweet smile, he bid farewell and left the hospital room.
"That child has excellent talent—mastering Ice Release and Medical Ninjutsu at such a young age."
Watching Feng Bai's departing figure, Tsunade crossed her arms over her chest, praising his natural gifts.
"Hmph, even Danzo managed to have a good son."
Knowing Feng Bai's background, Jiraiya rolled his eyes. While acknowledging the boy's talent, his mind inexplicably drifted to the Great Toad Sage's prophecy.
"Will bring great change to the ninja world, forced to make a choice..."
If judging by talent alone without considering personality, this child might even surpass Minato...
"What are you muttering about?"
Seeing Jiraiya suddenly acting strange, Tsunade grew nervous.
She should have avoided hitting his head—could he have injured his brain when crashing through the wall?
"Ah, hahaha, it's nothing. Just remembering some old times. Ow ow ow, Tsunade, could I have another piece of apple?"
Snapping back to reality at Tsunade's inquiry, Jiraiya quickly shook his head and used an almost wheedling tone, trying to evoke Tsunade's guilt so he could spend more time with her.
"Apple? Heh, of course you can have one, but I'm not the one feeding you..."
Tsunade gave Jiraiya a look and turned toward the door.
"Jiraiya-sama, you're awake?"
As Tsunade finished speaking, Minato pushed open the door. Seeing Jiraiya had indeed awakened, he spoke with pleasant surprise.
"Oh, it's Minato. Ah, I'm really embarrassed to let you see me in such a disgraceful state."
Not expecting his student to appear here, Jiraiya was unusually ashamed.
"Not at all. Honestly, when I first heard you were seriously injured, both Kushina and I were worried for quite some time..."
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