At night, Mutsuki was interrogating Anrokuzan alone.
"Tell me the secret method of absorbing the Dragon Vein's power, and I can make your death easier," Mutsuki said calmly.
Anrokuzan's value to him was only this.
"Hahaha, so you also want the power of the Dragon Vein," Anrokuzan laughed.
Having fallen to such a state, he was already resigned to his fate, thinking he was doomed. He never expected to have a chance for a miraculous escape.
Although Mutsuki's words were harsh, Anrokuzan didn't mind. He understood people like Mutsuki, who were obsessed with gaining power.
"Release me, and together we can kill the Roran Queen. Her daughter can also control the Dragon Vein's power, and she's even better at it. Then, I can give you sixty percent of the Dragon Vein's power, and I'll take forty percent," Anrokuzan proposed in a tempting tone.
"With your strength, if you absorb that much Dragon Vein power, you'll definitely become invincible in the ninja world. At that point, you'll be the only king of the ninja world, and calling you the second Six Paths Sage wouldn't be an exaggeration."
If Mutsuki agreed to his terms, Anrokuzan would indeed teach him the secret method of absorbing Dragon Vein energy.
Of course, Anrokuzan wasn't so kind. Only half of his words were true. If Mutsuki dared to use the secret method to absorb Dragon Vein energy with his normal body, it would only end in him absorbing himself to death.
At that time, Anrokuzan wouldn't need to do anything. He would simply wait for Mutsuki to die and then take the Dragon Vein energy from his body.
"You still want forty percent?" Mutsuki smiled at Anrokuzan.
He thought Anrokuzan was quite the dreamer, daring to ask for a sixty-forty split in this situation.
"Then you get eighty, I get twenty. It can't be any less, that's my bottom line," Anrokuzan said in a low voice.
Actually, he would have been fine with just half a percent, since after Mutsuki died, he would still have to return it. But he was worried Mutsuki would notice the flaw.
"I don't have time to play games with you. If you won't speak, I'll have to use Ninjutsu to search your memories myself," Mutsuki said, putting away his smile and looking at Anrokuzan with a cold expression.
Mutsuki could never trust Anrokuzan. With the huge advantages he had, there was no reason to waste time pretending to be diplomatic with him.
While grinding for mid-level rewards, Mutsuki had once come across the Yamanaka clan's secret technique. However, due to his low proficiency level, he wasn't confident he could extract the information he needed accurately.
Moreover, Anrokuzan's current state was a bit unusual. Strictly speaking, Anrokuzan was no longer human, and Mutsuki wasn't sure if Secret Jutsu would still work on him.
"If you can do it, then go ahead," Anrokuzan said, refusing to back down.
Directly extracting information from a ninja's mind was a very rare Secret Jutsu. He didn't believe Mutsuki would happen to know it, and whether it would even work on him in his current state was another question.
Mutsuki didn't waste more words with Anrokuzan. He left after setting up some torturous arrangements.
If Anrokuzan was willing to speak, that would be great. If not, Mutsuki would wait until he became mentally weakened and then use Secret Jutsu to invade his mind.
In the following period, Mutsuki's activities were similar to those in Konoha, either teaching or researching.
However, due to time constraints, Mutsuki temporarily abandoned Sealing Jutsu and focused on studying Yang Breathing.
With the boost from the classes and Mutsuki's full dedication to development, Yang Breathing progressed rapidly, and he could already see a tangible path for practical training.
At this point, Jiraiya arrived in Roran.
After Mutsuki's Shadow Clone brought Jiraiya's Shadow Clone into Roran, he immediately dispelled the clone, leaving behind only a Flying Thunder God Kunai on the ground.
Of course, Mutsuki wouldn't personally go to meet Jiraiya. After Naruto made his request, Mutsuki immediately sent a Shadow Clone to find Jiraiya.
This way, it wouldn't interrupt his progress on Yang Breathing and would allow Naruto to meet Jiraiya more quickly.
After receiving the memories from the Shadow Clone, Mutsuki immediately used Flying Thunder God to teleport in front of Jiraiya.
"Jiraiya-sama," Mutsuki greeted with a warm smile.
"Mutsuki, you've learned Flying Thunder God Jutsu?" Jiraiya looked at Mutsuki in surprise.
Flying Thunder God was no ordinary Ninjutsu; its difficulty was off the charts. In Jiraiya's memory, since its development by the Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama, only Minato Namikaze had mastered it. He didn't expect Mutsuki to become the third person to do so so quickly.
"Yes, and I owe a lot to Minato's guidance. Without him, I definitely wouldn't have mastered Flying Thunder God Jutsu so quickly," Mutsuki nodded with a smile.
After some small talk, Mutsuki didn't waste time. He immediately used Flying Thunder God to teleport to Naruto's side and brought him to Jiraiya.
"Big brother Mutsuki, what's...?" Naruto was about to ask Mutsuki what was going on with this sudden change, but when he saw the familiar yet strange figure ahead, he was speechless.
It was familiar because the white hair, the marks on his eyes, and the aura around him all proved that this was the perverted Sage he missed so much.
But at the same time, Naruto felt it was strange because the perverted Sage before him wasn't wearing the usual red cloak; instead, he was dressed in gray plate armor, and there were no wrinkles on his face. He looked quite different from the perverted Sage he remembered.
Looking at the younger version of Jiraiya, Naruto felt a sense of dissonance. He was a traveler from a different timeline.
Realizing this, Naruto tried to control his emotions, preventing his eyes from getting too watery and his voice from breaking.
This version of the perverted Sage didn't know him, and if he got too emotional, he would cause trouble for him.
"You're Naruto? Such poor manners. Either call me Jiraiya-sama, or call me the Toad Sage," Jiraiya said, sizing up Naruto.
"Indeed, he does resemble Minato somewhat, and being the Nine-Tails' Jinchuriki and the Uzumaki surname..." After a few glances, Jiraiya confirmed Mutsuki's guess in his heart.
"But aren't you the perverted Sage?" Naruto wiped his eyes and said confidently.
"Forget it, I'm too lazy to argue with you, little brat." Naruto's behavior reminded Jiraiya of someone.
"Mutsuki told me you wanted to see me," Jiraiya said as he walked down the main street of Roran.
Naruto's gaze flickered, and he clenched his fists, nodding heavily.
"I'm a Ninja from the future," Naruto said, catching up to Jiraiya.
"So? What exactly do you want?" Jiraiya asked, his eyes widening as he saw a beautiful woman in traditional Roran attire on the street.
Seeing Jiraiya's nonchalant reaction, Naruto scratched his head. This response was way too calm.
"Don't you want to ask me about the future? About yourself?" Naruto couldn't help but ask.
Obito and the others knew he was from the future, but they had rushed to his room at night to ask questions.
"I don't want to," Jiraiya answered bluntly.
"If you know everything about your future life, then life would lose a lot of its fun."
Although Jiraiya was willing to travel long distances for the Great Toad Sage's prophecies, that was a different matter from knowing his own future.
"Also, if you directly tell me about the future, aren't you worried about changing history? You might even disappear." Jiraiya looked at Naruto seriously.
"As long as history moves in a good direction, what does it matter if things change? Even if a good future doesn't include me, I'll still be happy," Naruto said, meeting Jiraiya's gaze with solemnity.
If in the future Mutsuki, the Fourth Hokage, Obito, Jiraiya, and the others all survived, Naruto thought it would be worth it even if he disappeared.
"Who do you think you are? A little brat who hasn't even reached adulthood, and you dare to speak so arrogantly? No one needs you to sacrifice yourself, and no one needs you to save them," Jiraiya raised an eyebrow and said.
After talking to Naruto, Jiraiya could roughly guess that his future wouldn't be too bright, but Jiraiya still didn't want to know about it.
What nonsense! He was Jiraiya, one of the Three Sannin, the Toad Sage of Mount Myoboku. Did he really need a Ninja from the future to sacrifice himself to save him?
"Damn it, don't underestimate me! The missions I've completed and the opponents I've defeated are countless!" Naruto said defiantly.
When he first saw Jiraiya, Naruto thought Jiraiya looked young enough to feel unfamiliar, but after talking, he was sure this was the perverted Sage he knew.
He spoke so irritably and was so perverted—who else could it be if not the perverted Sage?
"Really? I see you don't even have a Chunin vest. Could it be that you're still not even a Chunin?" Jiraiya teased.
The Chunin vest wasn't mandatory; some Chunin didn't wear it.
Naruto was about to argue back, but after thinking carefully, his face stiffened. He really was still a Genin.
Naruto's reaction made Jiraiya laugh heartily. It was quite rare for someone at his age to still be a Genin.
Naruto showed an indignant expression on his face, then his eyes moved as he thought of a good idea.
"Ninja rank doesn't matter. I have a very powerful Ninjutsu to teach you, really strong, with tremendous power," Naruto said, pulling Jiraiya to a corner.
"Rasengan!"
Naruto gathered a large amount of Chakra in his palm, then formed a high-speed rotating Chakra ball.
With a loud bang, Naruto slammed the ball into the ground, creating a crater.
After performing Rasengan, Naruto put his hands on his hips and looked at Jiraiya proudly, saying, "See, I told you it was strong."
He couldn't believe that this wouldn't impress Jiraiya.
Naruto eagerly anticipated the scene of Jiraiya learning Rasengan from him. He was planning to do everything Jiraiya had done to him in return.
"I'll teach you, but you need to give me 150,000 ryo and treat me to ramen ten times," Naruto said.
"The power is indeed impressive," Jiraiya acknowledged the power of Rasengan.
With his keen observation, it wasn't hard to tell that this was a seemingly simple but actually complex and powerful No Seal Ninjutsu.
"But I don't want to learn it." Jiraiya then quickly and decisively rejected Naruto.
"Ah, why?" Naruto's jaw nearly dropped in surprise, looking at Jiraiya in confusion.
"Because you look too arrogant," Jiraiya said, stroking his chin.
Of course, this was a joke. The real reason was that Jiraiya didn't want to alter history.
The reason Jiraiya came to see Naruto wasn't because he was from the future, but because he was related to Minato and to his future self.
He simply came to fulfill Naruto's request, but he didn't want to know about the future, nor did he plan to learn future Ninjutsu.
"Then I don't need the money. Just treat me to ramen once, and that's enough," Naruto thought he had asked for too much, immediately slashing his demands in a panic.
He obviously wasn't after Jiraiya's money; he just hoped that Jiraiya would learn Rasengan earlier and become stronger. The chance to have ramen together was just an excuse to share a meal with Jiraiya once more.
"Ramen isn't cheap, you know," Jiraiya continued.
"Then can I treat you? I'll buy you ramen once, and you should learn Rasengan as soon as possible" Naruto said, growing a little anxious.
Jiraiya scanned the streets of Roran and his eyes lit up when he saw an ice cream vendor.
"Forget the ramen, just treat me to an ice cream," Jiraiya said, pulling Naruto toward the ice cream stand.
"I'll have one ice cream."
The vendor immediately handed Jiraiya two ice creams that were attached together.
Naruto sighed and obediently pulled out some coins to hand to the vendor. Since Jiraiya didn't want ramen, he just hoped that Jiraiya would remember his words and learn Rasengan.
At that moment, Jiraiya broke the ice cream in half and handed one of the pieces to Naruto.
"I'll treat you," Jiraiya said with a smile.
"What do you mean, 'treat me'? I bought it, alright?" Naruto couldn't help but complain.
Even though he grumbled, Naruto took the ice cream Jiraiya handed him and immediately put it in his mouth.
Jiraiya didn't eat right away but instead smiled and asked Naruto, "Is it good?"
"Yeah, it's delicious!" Naruto smiled happily and nodded.
Though it was just the simplest ice cream, at this moment, its taste was so satisfying that it could rival Mutsuki's cooking in Naruto's heart.
"Whatever happens, you have to face it with strength. Don't give up or run away. As long as you stay true to your dreams, you'll always have a chance to make them come true," Jiraiya suddenly said after taking a few bites of the ice cream.
He didn't know exactly what Naruto had been through, but he could tell that this child lacked love and trusted him deeply.
"Thanks for the ice cream, but I'll pass on learning Ninjutsu. This Shadow Clone's Chakra is about to run out anyway."
As the number one Shadow Clone fighter, Naruto knew exactly what Jiraiya meant. He urgently wanted to warn Jiraiya not to investigate the land of Rain in the future.
But it seemed like Jiraiya had already anticipated Naruto's thoughts, as he covered Naruto's mouth with his hand.
Jiraiya didn't use much force, but Naruto didn't dare to struggle too much. He feared that if he hurt the Shadow Clone, Jiraiya would disappear immediately.
Jiraiya quickly finished the ice cream and placed his hand on Naruto's head.
"If I ever take on a disciple again, I'll train him to be as excellent as you," Jiraiya said with a hearty laugh before dispelling the Shadow Clone.
He hadn't spent much time with Naruto, but he was very pleased with what he had seen.
"Perverted Sage, don't..." Naruto reached out, wanting to grab Jiraiya, but all he caught was the wooden stick from the fallen ice cream.
Naruto stared blankly at the ground where Jiraiya had just been standing. If it weren't for the ice cream stick still in his hand, carrying a slight chill, he might have thought it was all just a dream.
At that moment, Naruto could no longer control his emotions. His vision blurred, and tears flowed uncontrollably.
He truly wanted Jiraiya to survive.
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