The answer came too quickly.
As soon as he heard the words "Fourth Hokage," he agreed without hesitation.
Which meant—
He most likely already knew that his father was the Fourth Hokage.
Did the Nine-Tails tell him?
Hiruzen Sarutobi took a deep drag from his pipe. His mind wandered back to the Mizuki incident.
And also to the conversation that followed.
At the time, he thought Naruto was simply loyal to the village.
But now it seemed—
He might have already known the truth before that incident even happened.
A pang of regret struck his heart.
Maybe he should have revealed the truth back then, instead of now… when everything felt like a thorn pricking his back.
There's a world of difference between Naruto discovering the truth himself and the village taking the initiative to tell him.
The way things have developed is really quite terrible.
But fortunately, despite all the unexpected turns, Naruto still stands here, safe and sound.
Not a rampaging, out-of-control Nine-Tails.
He turned and gave Jiraiya an encouraging look.
The white-haired man scratched his head, sitting atop the toad. "Naruto, Lord Hiruzen gave me a rough idea of your abilities."
"Your swordsmanship's good, and you know quite a few jutsu."
"So—anything in particular you want to learn next?"
"Or should we spar tomorrow, and I'll give you some tips?"
Naruto nodded. "Karin and I discussed it—we'll be studying the Uzumaki clan's secret sealing techniques next."
"Sealing jutsu, huh?" Jiraiya seemed thoughtful, his eyes drifting to Naruto's stomach.
It wasn't a surprising choice.
Since he could already partially transform into a tailed beast, he must've felt how hard it was to control it.
Solving that problem was a top priority.
"Then sealing jutsu it is," he agreed immediately. "Speaking of which, I've worked with the Uzumaki clan quite a bit before—I know quite a few of their techniques."
"I'll teach you well."
"As for tonight—"
"You've just finished the second round of the exams, so get some rest."
"I asked Lord Hiruzen to come because I just wanted to catch a glimpse of you from afar—didn't expect to disturb your rest."
Jiraiya hopped off the toad and gave Naruto's head a good rub. "You're really impressive, Naruto."
"Let's meet again tomorrow."
He waved and left with Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Naruto watched their backs as they disappeared.
That was… praise.
One of the rare bits of praise he received in Konoha.
And it was sincere.
Not just lip service, not an attempt to dodge sensitive topics—he truly meant what he said. "Impressive."
It came from the heart.
Naruto grinned and went home.
Karin had already laid out the bedding. She looked at his bright smile and tilted her head. "Why so happy? Did you meet someone?"
Naruto swayed his head and replied cheerfully, "Feels like someone I could get close to."
"Even if he's only come back now."
"But he seems like a pretty decent person."
He went to wash up and got into bed.
That night, he had a sweet dream.
The next day—
Jiraiya came to get him. Naruto brought Karin along, and the three of them went to the training field.
Last night's impression wasn't a fluke.
Jiraiya really was a great guy—and a great teacher.
He could explain every point of the sealing techniques in a simple, easy-to-understand way and immediately spot why Naruto couldn't succeed at certain parts.
When Karin made mistakes, he pointed them out precisely, too.
Though—
He wasn't always that serious.
He even had the nerve to borrow money from Naruto, a kid.
And sometimes he'd go out drinking, visit hostess bars, then show up late the next day with a hangover.
But those small flaws didn't lessen Naruto's admiration.
After reaching a certain level of mastery, Jiraiya taught Naruto and Karin their first sealing technique:
"Tail Lock Seal."
It was highly specialized, difficult to learn, and almost never useful—
Except against tailed beasts.
More specifically, it was used to subdue a tailed beast that had broken free from its Jinchūriki and gone berserk.
Naruto studied it seriously.
All of this could be passed on to Kisuke Urahara.
He checked every detail—no mistakes.
After mastering that, the second technique he learned was "Adamantine Sealing Chains," taught by Karin.
The Nine-Tails had a visceral reaction to that one.
The moment Naruto started learning it, the beast started cursing loudly.
Things like "You Uzumakis are all the same,"
And "Mito was like this, Kushina was like this, and now you too, Naruto…"
That reaction confirmed for Naruto—this was the right technique to learn.
During that period, Naruto also visited Rock Lee in the hospital.
The bowl-cut boy had been severely injured—his limbs shattered, bone fragments lodged deep into his central nervous system.
With Konoha's current medical jutsu, it was impossible to heal him.
Even with Naruto's current medical skills, he was at a loss.
Though he had trained under Captain Unohana in healing arts (Kaido), it wasn't his main focus.
Rock Lee didn't yet realize how serious his injuries were.
He was optimistic—even when told he'd be bedridden for at least three months, he had no regrets about not surrendering.
Naruto silently made a vow.
When he returned to the Soul Society, he'd devote more time to studying Kaido (healing techniques).
By the end of the month—
Naruto had mastered both sealing techniques.
One day, the three of them sat on a tree branch, gazing into the distance.
"Jiraiya-sensei, I don't think I've ever seen you in the village before," Naruto said, his gaze lingering on the forehead protector with the kanji for "Oil." "That doesn't look like Konoha's forehead protector."
Jiraiya raised a hand to rub his head. "Oh, that?"
He paused for a while before answering slowly, "I once had a very good friend who did some terrible things and defected from Konoha."
"Orochimaru?" Naruto inserted.
Jiraiya nodded. "Yes, him."
"I've always wanted to bring him back to the village, but unfortunately, I've never succeeded."
"We had another friend who left Konoha long ago and never returned."
"And by then, I was already a famous novelist. I focused on my career, traveling the world, gathering stories and inspiration."
"Of course, I also collected information for the village."
"So it's completely normal that you haven't seen me around before."
"As for this forehead protector—don't you think it suits me?"
Karin nodded in agreement, though her tone was a little disdainful. "It does suit you… you pervy old man."
The character "油" (oil) didn't just mean oil—it could also imply laziness or even reference hot springs.
She and Naruto had already figured it out.
Sometimes when Jiraiya claimed he was "gathering inspiration," he looked very serious.
But in reality—
He was peeping at women's baths or out drinking at hostess bars.
At first, he tried to be sneaky. But now? He got caught so often he just owned up to it like it was no big deal.
Karin's comment made Jiraiya laugh and scratch his head.
Naruto kept gazing into the distance, thoughtful.
From what Jiraiya said—it was possible for Konoha ninja to leave the village?
And apparently… he wasn't the only one who had done it.
(End of chapter)