c14 – Jiraiya Who Fainted
It was another bright Konoha morning. After a full night of rest, Naruto felt completely recharged and instantly began pestering Jiraiya to teach him new ninjutsu the moment the sun came up.
Jiraiya, however, had gotten almost no sleep he had spent half the night writing draft chapters for the next volume of Icha Icha. With his two dark eye bags looking like he had been hit by the Shadow Possession Technique, he clearly wanted to stay in bed. But the moment Naruto mentioned wanting to "review" yesterday's training, Jiraiya sprang up like he'd been shocked by a Lightning Release and dragged Naruto outside in a panic to start the next lesson.
As usual, they headed to the riverbank. Jiraiya formed a crackling orb of blue chakra in his palm the unmistakable spiraling Rasengan Minato had created and slammed it into a nearby boulder, shattering it exactly as shown in the manga. Even though Naruto already knew the technique, he still admired the destructive force.
Then Jiraiya began his explanation.
"The difficulty of this technique is A-rank. In simple terms, it's pure chakra rotation and chakra control no hand seals. To master it, you need to work through three stages." While speaking, he lifted a water balloon, infused just a hint of chakra into it, and it burst with a sharp pop.
Then he tossed the water balloon to Naruto. "Alright. Start with stage one. Come find me again once you've popped it."
With that, Jiraiya turned, intending to sneak off and gather "material" for his novel.
But just as he took one step away
Bang!
Followed immediately by Naruto's voice:
"Like this?"
Nani?!
Jiraiya spun around to see the water balloon already in tatters. He forced his face to remain calm, but inside he was reeling. Even accounting for talent, this is too fast! Could he really surpass the Fourth Hokage at this rate?
The great Jiraiya of the Sannin nearly fell over. Compared with his own struggle when Minato first invented the technique, Naruto's ability was unbelievable. So, flustered and unwilling to be outdone, he raised the difficulty.
"Fine then. Skip all other exercises. Maintain chakra in your palm and release it at full power. Once you manage that, you'll have completed the Rasengan."
Hearing the flimsy excuse, Naruto instantly understood Jiraiya wanted to escape to "collect inspiration." Naruto let him go and pretended to struggle, letting the chakra ball crackle unsteadily. As expected, Jiraiya told him to practice slowly and sprinted away like a criminal fleeing Anbu.
Once Jiraiya disappeared, Naruto began thinking ahead. If the manga timeline didn't shift too much, Orochimaru would attack Konoha during the Chunin Exams. That would mean destruction across the village, and most importantly the Third Hokage's death. Naruto wanted to prevent that, but if he interfered too much, Sasuke might be killed by Gaara, and Sakura could be in danger as well. In situations like this, strength alone wasn't enough; choices mattered.
Since Jiraiya clearly wasn't returning to teach further ninjutsu today, Naruto decided to practice basic chakra control, then headed back to their lodging.
Meanwhile, Jiraiya was wandering around for inspiration, humming happily clearly having found something entertaining. But as he neared their residence, he suddenly sensed danger.
"Rasengan!"
Jiraiya froze as a spiraling sphere of chakra exactly like Minato's original shot toward him from the darkness. Shocked, he nearly took it straight to the face. Normally, he could have used a defensive technique or simply swatted Naruto aside. But the chakra density was extraordinary far beyond what a novice should release and he couldn't even see who was attacking in the shadows. Instinct took over, and he leapt backward.
Naruto's Rasengan missed him and smashed directly into the wooden floor of the inn's entrance, carving a hole deeper than a man's height. The impact shook the building's foundation, and the entire inn rumbled before collapsing under its own weight. Jiraiya just barely escaped being crushed, but before he could fully exhale, he sensed a massive shadow falling toward him.
Of course, as one of the Sannin, such hazards were trivial. He and Naruto jumped out of the wreckage in a blur of movement. Standing beside Naruto, Jiraiya wheezed, "Did you… finish mastering the Rasengan?"
"Mastered… mastered…" Jiraiya muttered weakly, realizing his student had surpassed every expectation.
"Good!" Naruto nodded. "Then let's leave quickly before anyone comes."
Just as Jiraiya was preparing to slip away, the furious voice of the hotel owner echoed behind him: "Which shinobi is practicing ninjutsu around here again? Get out here immediately!"
"That perverted white-haired guy over there the one who spies on the women's bathhouse, it has to be you! You got away last time thanks to the commotion during the Chunin Exam visitors arriving, but this time we won't let you escape!"
Within moments, the inn's staff and several angry guests formed a full circle around Jiraiya and Naruto. Because of the Third Hokage's standing village regulations strictly limiting destructive ninjutsu use inside civilian areas they had no choice but to surrender without resistance.
The hotel owner, a round middle-aged man whose clothes smelled heavily of cigarette smoke, stomped toward them. He slapped a thick receipt onto the table, shouting, "This here includes the damage from this time, the damage from last time, the damage from the time before last, and the time before that… You slipped away those times because we couldn't catch you, but today you're paying everything!"
Jiraiya looked at the bill, then at the horrifying string of numbers more zeroes than what he earned from a full release of Icha Icha: Paradise. Thinking of the disasters Naruto had triggered in the past two days, combined with the accidental hotel demolition earlier, he swayed on his feet and completely fainted. Fortunately, Naruto caught him before he hit the ground.
"Jiraiya-sensei! What's wrong? Wake up! I don't have money!"
Shinobi mental fortitude was far higher than that of civilians, so after a short while Jiraiya regained consciousness. With the expression of someone who had aged ten years in ten seconds, he whispered to Naruto, "Naruto… from now on, all our training will be done outdoors. Far away from buildings."
This outcome surprised Naruto. He merely wanted to show Jiraiya that he had mastered the Rasengan and was ready for the next step in training. He never expected such catastrophic results.
Early the next morning, Jiraiya took Naruto out of the village outskirts to camp. Judging by the dark circles under Jiraiya's eyes, it was obvious he'd barely slept probably haunted by the memory of the bill.
Next, Naruto would begin a new training he was genuinely excited about. Unlike the Rasengan, this was something he had never practiced before, and unlike the Summoning Technique, it required releasing a massive amount of chakra in a single instant. High-output, high-control training something only a few shinobi in the manga ever mastered.
Practicing such techniques would normally be extremely difficult, but Naruto could use his signature Shadow Clone method first discovered during tree-climbing training with Kakashi to accelerate the process tremendously.
When Jiraiya saw Naruto's training method for the first time, he couldn't help but express genuine admiration. It wasn't a technique just anyone could replicate; very few in the ninja world possessed enough chakra reserves to withstand dozens of clones learning simultaneously, something even elite jonin struggled with.
Naruto found he preferred this lifestyle.training in the wilderness, occasionally roasting the game he hunted with his own fire-style attempts, and sparring with Jiraiya whenever possible. Training against a Kage-level shinobi like Jiraiya helped him refine not only ninjutsu but combat instincts. Having such a teacher was undeniably advantageous. Naruto could only sigh at how quickly time passed, especially when training alongside Jiraiya. As his strength steadily grew, he drew nearer and nearer to the Chunin Exam showdown.
How would Naruto transform during the Chunin Exam? What new, extraordinary performance would he display? And what difficult choices would he have to face afterward?
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