"Bang!"
A dull thud, accompanied by a short, sharp cry.
The soap, infused with Naruto's Chakra and thrown with standard shuriken technique, arced in a perfect parabola, accurately striking Jiraiya's back of the head.
The impact wasn't strong, but the insult was profound.
Jiraiya felt a tingle at the back of his head, his wooden clogs slipped on the ground, and he lost his balance. He tumbled down from the partition wall like a large bird shot down by a slingshot, flailing his limbs, and landed with a "splash" in the men's bath, sending up a huge spray.
"Cough, cough, cough... Who? Who's attacking me?"
Jiraiya emerged from the water in a disheveled state, wiped the water from his face, and angrily looked around.
Naruto had already unhurriedly put on his training attire, a black short-sleeved top and long pants, which perfectly accentuated his lean physique. He stood expressionlessly by the edge of the bath, looking down at the white-haired man in the water.
"Pervert."
His voice wasn't loud, but it pierced Jiraiya's ears as clearly as an icicle.
Jiraiya froze. He clearly saw the young man in front of him: golden hair, blue eyes, and six whisker-like markings on his cheeks. Isn't this Minato's son?
He had expected the child to be surprised, curious, or to shout like a normal kid upon seeing him. But the other party's reaction was as calm as still water. That wasn't how a child should react.
Jiraiya tried to regain his composure. He stood up from the water, puffed out his chest, struck what he considered a dashing pose, and pointed his thumb at himself.
"Kid, watch your tone! I am the famous Jiraiya-sama, one of the Konoha's Three Sannin, the legendary Toad Sage!"
He expected the other party to show an expression of adoration.
However, Naruto merely tilted his head, his ice-blue pupils devoid of any emotional fluctuation, as if analyzing an unknown object. He spoke again, uttering the exact same words as before.
"Still a pervert."
Naruto paused.
"Given your rank, you could be called the Pervert Sage."
Jiraiya's smile froze on his face.
He felt like he had punched cotton, no, like he had punched a block of ice. What was wrong with this child? Where was Minato Namikaze's sunny and cheerful personality? Where was Uzumaki Kushina's fiery and passionate temper? How come none of it matched up with him?
Jiraiya's heart was in turmoil. He suddenly realized that he, this irresponsible godfather, might have missed too much... Over the next few days, Jiraiya launched a "gentle offensive" against Naruto.
He felt that the child must have lacked affection to become so "unlovable." He was going to melt this little iceberg with his fiery heart!
Day one, outside the training ground.
"Yo, Naruto! Hard training, huh? I'll treat you to Ichiraku Ramen! Extra large bowl with extra char siu!" Jiraiya enthusiastically waved.
Naruto stopped, glanced at Jiraiya, then at the sky.
"Alright. I still have five minutes until my dinner time, so the timing is perfect."
At the dining table, Jiraiya enthusiastically recounted his "heroic deeds" from his travels, trying to make Naruto laugh. Naruto, however, ate his noodles in silence, not saying a word.
Ten minutes later, Naruto put down his chopsticks. His bowl was spotless, even the soup was finished.
"Thank you for the meal." He stood up and bowed slightly. "My eating time is over; I need to return for night training."
With that, he turned and left without a hint of lingering. Only Jiraiya was left, staring blankly at the empty bowl.
Day two, at the street corner.
"Naruto! Look! New limited edition popsicles, soda flavor!" Jiraiya ran over, holding two popsicles like a child presenting a treasure.
Naruto took the popsicle and glanced at the ingredient list.
"High sugar content, not recommended for non-training days. But as an energy supplement, it's acceptable."
He finished it expressionlessly, then accurately tossed the stick into a nearby trash can.
"Thanks. My patrol route still has 1.2 kilometers; I need to continue."
With that, his figure disappeared around the street corner.
Jiraiya stood in the wind, disheveled, holding his rapidly melting popsicle. This child, why is he like a robot? Even eating is like performing a mission?
He felt a deep sense of frustration and sadness.
At the Ichiraku Ramen stand, he once again "coincidentally" encountered Naruto eating alone. This time, he didn't go up to talk, but merely sat at a distance, observing silently.
He noticed that every movement Naruto made while eating noodles seemed precisely calculated. The height at which he picked up the noodles, the speed at which he brought them to his mouth, the number of chews, the angle at which he drank the soup... Everything was efficient to the extreme. There was no enjoyment, no savoring, only the fastest possible energy intake.
This wasn't eating; this was clearly refueling a precise killing machine.
Jiraiya's heart sank little by little.
What had this child gone through all these years to be so harshly molded into this state? Third Hokage, is this how you took care of Minato's child?!
...Training Ground No. 17.
Naruto gripped the ferocious Chainsword, Chakra surging through his body.
"Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
He let out a low cry, injected Chakra into the Chainsword, and swung it forward fiercely!
Whoosh--!
Over a dozen illusory images of the Chainsword appeared in the air, but as soon as they emerged, they flickered and distorted violently, like a TV screen with bad signal, then "poof," like popped soap bubbles, they all vanished.
Failed again.
Naruto stopped his movements and began to review.
The core of this jutsu is to shape Chakra into clones identical to the original body. Shuriken are small in volume, light in weight, and simple in structure, so they are easy to succeed.
But the Chainsword is different.
Its weight, complex mechanical structure, and irregular center of gravity all presented exponentially greater challenges for Chakra molding and maintenance. The Chakra output just now was too concentrated at the hilt and became sparse towards the end of the saw teeth, leading to an extremely unstable clone structure.
"Requires more precise Chakra control, and a deeper understanding of the weapon's essence..."
He had to be as familiar with every part and every inch of the sword's center of gravity as he was with his own body.
As he pondered, an extremely subtle sound of fabric rubbing came from behind a nearby tree.
Naruto didn't turn around.
His senses had long since locked onto that position.
A faint but continuous Chakra signature. The person had been there for over ten minutes. Similar peeping behavior had also occurred over the past two days.
He slowly slid the Chainsword back into the scabbard on his back, turned around, and his ice-blue pupils looked towards the large tree.
"Hyuga Hinata."
His voice was devoid of any warmth, as if he were delivering an unquestionable report.
"What is the purpose of your surveillance? Three consecutive days of stalking behavior requires an explanation."
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