After hearing the white-haired man's self-introduction, Shinju and Naruto both fell silent...
"So the threshold for becoming a sage is this low now?"
Shinju scratched his head, face full of confusion and doubt.
Still, the name Jiraiya sounded a little familiar...
"You dare call yourself a sage?!"
Naruto, full of righteous indignation, was furious.
"I am Jiraiya, the Toad Sage of Mount Myoboku. I'm not the same as you mere mortals."
The white-haired man spoke with pride.
Then, turning away, he clearly didn't want these two brats disturbing his "research" mood for the day.
After all, not every bathhouse had a little gap in the fence like this one...
"Don't lie! You're just a pervy creep spying on women in the bath!"
Naruto shouted with full momentum.
As the man who would one day become Hokage, he had to uphold justice and stop all evil acts that harmed the people of Konoha!
That included this lecher who peeped at women in the bath!
With that, Naruto formed hand seals.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!!"
"Whoosh, whoosh!"
In an instant, two shadow clones split from his body.
Then, with the help of his clones, Naruto began forming a Rasengan!
This was a method Shinju had taught him just two days ago—perfectly suited for Naruto, whose chakra control was still sloppy!
Across from him, Jiraiya froze when he saw Naruto forming a Rasengan!
(´°Δ°`)
Why was this kid using the Rasengan?!
Though it was obvious he was struggling to control it, that was definitely a fully formed Rasengan!
The Rasengan was an A-rank jutsu developed by his own student, the Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato.
It might sound simple to use—no hand seals, just molding chakra—but the actual process required extremely fine chakra control!
This kid was barely ten years old… where did he learn it?!
And more than that—he even had the cleverness to use clones to stabilize the chakra's turbulence!
From that alone, Jiraiya could tell there had to be a teacher behind Naruto who truly knew ninjutsu.
No way the kid figured it out himself.
Especially since this blond boy was clearly a total knucklehead!
"Kid! Who taught you the Rasengan?" Jiraiya asked with sudden interest, a curious expression on his face. "The Third? Or maybe Kakashi?"
"Neither."
Naruto shook his head.
Jiraiya's curiosity grew. "Oh? Then who?"
But just then, Naruto completed his Rasengan!
Right hand shaping the sphere, left hand supporting to stabilize it, he charged straight at Jiraiya!
"Quit asking questions! Just take my Rasengan first!"
As Naruto's Rasengan pressed down on him, Jiraiya calmly sidestepped.
"Boom—!"
The violent chakra turbulence slammed into the wall beside Jiraiya!!
"Crash!"
The wild chakra tore a massive hole straight through the wall!
Through it—women wrapped in towels bathing on the other side came into view!
Jiraiya turned his head—and instantly couldn't look away!
(´◊ω◊｀)
W-wow! Wow, wow, wow!!!
So soft… so bouncy!!
The very next second—
An ear-splitting chorus of women's screams erupted from the bath!
Jiraiya frantically took the chance to sneak a few extra glances, then hurriedly threw on his clothes to bolt!
Naruto, seeing his Rasengan blast through the wall, also caught sight of the women bathing. His face went scarlet and he froze in place, not knowing what to do.
At that moment, he noticed Jiraiya trying to escape—so he quickly grabbed some clothes, created a few clones, and gave chase!
"Don't run, you pervy sage! I'm definitely catching you today!"
Naruto yelled as he ran.
...
Shinju was still soaking in the bath, watching Jiraiya run off with a thoughtful look.
This man had deliberately hidden his chakra, blocking Shinju's sensing.
But from his mysterious summoning technique, and the way he dodged Naruto's Rasengan with skilled taijutsu, it was clear he wasn't ordinary!
Seeing them run off, Shinju rose to dress.
Just then, the men's bath door swung open.
A staff member entered, first checking the hole blasted through both baths, then turned to Shinju, who was putting on his clothes.
"Sir, sorry, but please come with us."
Shinju: "Huh?"
⊙▽⊙
"Hey, that hole wasn't my doing, you know. _"
The staff member politely said,
"Let's not get into that now. You came with that blond boy, right? Since he ran off, we'll need you to cover the repair costs."
"And one more thing. Given the… negative impact this incident has caused, we've already reported it to the Konoha Military Police. Please wait for their investigation..."
Shinju: Σ( ° △ °|||)︴
So Naruto ran off—and the blame landed on him?!
Didn't that make him the pervert who punched a hole between the baths?!
How was he supposed to face anyone after this? He'd never be able to show his face in Konoha again!
"...Fine, I'll pay the compensation, but there's no need for an investigation—because I wasn't the one who did it."
Saying that, Shinju pulled a wad of cash from his pocket, counted out several bills, and handed them to the staff.
These were all earned in the Forest of Death—and every extra bill he gave out made his heart ache!
"I'm sorry, but the investigation procedure is mandatory."
The staff insisted, sticking to principles.
Shinju said no more, just shoved the bills into the man's hand. "Take it."
The staff shook his head, refusing. "No need to pay now—we'll calculate the exact damages first…"
But mid-sentence, when he looked up, Shinju had vanished!
Σ(っ °Д °;)っ
Wha—?!
He was just here a second ago!!
...
In the forest outside the bathhouse.
Jiraiya stopped, and Naruto also came to a halt.
Jiraiya said, "Kid, you just chased me all the way out here, not caring what happened to that red-haired friend of yours?"
"Having a friend like you must be real unlucky for him."
Naruto grinned proudly.
"Don't worry, Shinju will never get caught. That guy has teleportation, the Flying Thu—"
Before he could finish, Shinju appeared behind Naruto, hand clapping down on his shoulder.
The moment he appeared, Shinju smacked Naruto on the head.
"You idiot! Charging in like that—do you know I nearly got hauled off to the Military Police for tea?! (▼ヘ▼#)"
Naruto clutched the lump swelling on his head, sulking.
"But you're fine, aren't you? You've got the Flying Thunder God Jutsu—there's nowhere in Konoha that could hold you."
Jiraiya: (๑ʘ̅ д ʘ̅๑)!!!
The old man nearly dropped dead from shock!
Did this blond brat just mention that technique?!
The Flying Thunder God Jutsu?!
He couldn't have misheard!!
"Ahem!"
"Well, since we met at the bathhouse, I'd say fate brought us together."
Jiraiya suddenly spoke up, trying to fish for information from the kids.
"You two clearly have a strong sense of justice. I, Jiraiya the Toad Sage of Mount Myoboku, truly admire that. So—what are your names?"
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