Chapter 226: Kakashi: The "Yellow Moonlight" Is Gone
It could be seen that although Orochimaru did things involving bonds, in reality he didn't care much about that aspect at all. In fact, from a rational standpoint, he was even opposed to bonds.
While Jiraiya and the others were still immersed in the shock of Jiraiya being restrained by the Shukaku Sand, destined to transform from a "perverted sage" into a gentleman, Orochimaru had already thought of another possible development.
What if Jiraiya, restricted on the front battlefield, became psychologically twisted and decided to open up a rear battlefield instead?
That wasn't impossible at all.
At that point, Jiraiya could even inject himself with a bit of the "little blue pills" that every good man supposedly needs, perfectly bypassing the frontal seal.
To prevent something like this from happening, Orochimaru very cautiously sealed the rear battlefield as well.
The method to undo the rear seal was also very simple. It only required another person with Wind-nature chakra to use Wind Release mixed with senjutsu chakra, and then perform extremely precise cutting operations, and the seal could be undone.
Otherwise, you could only go in, not come out.
Oh no, that was backwards.
You could only come out, not go in.
If you tried otherwise, not only would Jiraiya himself suffer intense pain, he would also turn into a "pencil sharpener". The curse mark would generate tiny Wind Release blades to perform cutting.
Giving that thing a fancy knife cut.
Don't forget, Orochimaru was also a Wind Release ninja, and he quite liked using Wind Release.
After everything was done, everyone returned to the Amegakure Village with the help of the Second Hokage's Flying Thunder God.
Tsunade came back as well.
Although what she had said earlier was essentially an attempt to avoid a terrifying reality, her words weren't wrong.
To ensure absolute safety, leaving a medical ninja at the scene was indeed necessary.
As for Konoha?
This concerned the safety of the entire ninja world. What was a mere Konoha worth?
If the ninja world was gone, could Konoha exist alone?
After Shiromo and the others left, Kakashi and Naruto returned to Jiraiya's hospital room.
Jiraiya's constitution really was something else. He had already woken up again.
Lying on the bed, he helplessly shed two lines of tears.
Orochimaru was actually so vicious that he even helped him remove his "wisdom window".
"Kakashi, you'll never be able to see the 'Icha Icha' series again. The 'Icha Icha' series… is discontinued from now on."
Jiraiya weakly raised his hand, wanting to grab onto this loyal fan of his.
"What?!"
Kakashi was struck as if by lightning. His legs went weak, and he collapsed to his knees.
Although his childhood sweetheart had lost to a sudden newcomer, and Kakashi now loved reading the "Buff Man" series more, he had never given up on the "Icha Icha" series. That was his yellow moonlight!
They are all his wings!
And now one of his wings had actually withered!
If anyone breaks his wings, he'll destroy their entire heaven~ woo woo.
At this moment, Kakashi's heart was filled with sorrow.
"Kakashi, don't be sad. Actually, it's not necessarily hopeless. As long as we work hard to teach Naruto, there's still a chance. Before my creative inspiration completely disappears, we can nurture Naruto."
Jiraiya patted Kakashi on the shoulder.
"Eh? Me?"
Naruto pointed at himself, not quite understanding what was going on.
Even though he didn't fully get the situation, it seemed like both the perverted sage and Kakashi-sensei were preparing to seriously teach him things. That was a good thing!
Before this, he had tried every possible way and still couldn't get Jiraiya to give up "collecting material" and teach him properly. Who would have thought that Orochimaru showing up would solve it so easily?
This Orochimaru was actually quite an honest person!
"That's right, Naruto. My future is all in your hands."
Jiraiya let out a deep sigh and placed both hands on Naruto's shoulders.
Some old men inside rings had no choice but to place their hopes of reconstructing their bodies on the protagonist, and for that, they had to teach everything they knew.
Jiraiya…
He was pretty much the same now. For the sake of his body, he had no choice but to teach Naruto with all his strength.
Jiraiya didn't hide anything and directly told Kakashi about what had just happened, as well as the method to undo the seal.
"Kakashi, you're known as Konoha's number one technician, and you're also Naruto's squad leader. Where do you think we should start now?"
Jiraiya asked.
"Uh, I think… we should directly let Naruto try to master Wind-nature transformation."
Kakashi was startled.
When he saw Jiraiya speak, he thought Jiraiya wanted him to replace Naruto.
He wasn't good at Wind Release nature transformation. Most of the time when he used Wind Release, it was copied with the Sharingan.
"Nature transformation… Wind Release ninja are relatively rare. By the way, who in the village is particularly good at Wind Release?"
Jiraiya thought for a moment and asked.
"A—Asuma."
Kakashi showed an awkward expression.
"..."
Jiraiya's mouth twitched as well.
Asuma had been killed early by Naruto's son, Boruto.
Not only did that cause the "future sister" in Boruto's mouth to disappear, it also indirectly caused Naruto's path to improving his strength through training Wind-nature transformation to get stuck. That really was a filial son.
"Anyone else?"
Jiraiya asked.
"Orochimaru seems to be quite good at it too?"
"..."
"Right!"
Kakashi's eyes suddenly lit up. He excitedly grabbed Jiraiya's arm.
"The Third Hokage!"
"That's right! The old man is proficient in all five natures! Quick, quick, let's go find the old man. Don't let him help with any administrative work. Just dump it all on that little girl Shizune."
Jiraiya also seemed to find hope and see sunlight. As he spoke, he climbed out of the hospital bed.
(Shizune: How can you be so selfish, you bastard!)
Jiraiya and Kakashi took Naruto to find the Third Hokage.
Jiraiya first recounted everything with tears streaming down his face, accusing Orochimaru of being cruel and heartless.
But this kind of thing was only cruel when it happened to oneself. When others heard it, especially someone like Sarutobi Hiruzen, who was both a fellow traveler and Jiraiya's teacher, all he wanted to do was laugh.
If not for considering Jiraiya's feelings, Hiruzen would have wanted to say, "This is a good thing."
"Old man, from today on, stop handling administrative affairs. Together with me and Kakashi, fully devote yourself to teaching Naruto to train. We must make him capable of standing on his own."
"Otherwise, when the Ōtsutsuki clan appears again, we might be able to save him once, but not for a lifetime!"
Jiraiya's words sounded very noble.
"Alright then. It seems this old man's Impure World Reincarnation body can still serve another purpose."
Sarutobi Hiruzen stroked his beard and agreed.
After handling administrative work for so long, even though there was no physical exhaustion, mentally he had become a bit stifling.
Teaching Naruto was indeed both important and a good way to relax.
And also…
Sarutobi Hiruzen thought of Kushina, who had been resurrected through Impure World Reincarnation.
To avoid being scolded in the future, it was better to hurry up and do more good deeds now to make up for things.
While Naruto was being jointly taught by the Third Hokage, Jiraiya, and Kakashi, Sasuke was practicing swordsmanship in some remote corner of the Otogakure Village.
That's right. After defecting to Orochimaru, Sasuke had been thrown back to the former Otogakure Village base.
In this chaotic region, Sasuke trained in the sword techniques taught by Orochimaru, beginning to accumulate real combat experience.
(End of this chapter)