Chapter 162: Chapter 164: Hanabi—Hey, Naruto, Give Jiraiya the Treatment!
After arriving in Konoha, Kushina had been lonely too.
But unlike Naruto, Kushina was well protected. Very few people knew she was the jinchūriki, and no one discriminated against her for it.
Naruto was a different story.
That kind of childhood—isolated by nearly every adult around him—was suffocating.
—The Nine-Tails had held something back. When showing Kushina the memories, it had made sure she didn’t see Umino Iruka.
"But at the very least, Naruto needs to get a handle on this side’s Nine-Tails first."
"—He can’t use the Nine-Tails on that side anyway, right?"
Right now, Naruto’s Nine-Tails was effectively "wrapped" inside "Kushina" through the Spirit Descent Technique.
Which meant Kushina was the Nine-Tails’ jinchūriki, and Naruto was Kushina’s jinchūriki.
Russian dolls, basically.
So the current Naruto had no way to draw on the Nine-Tails’ power directly.
Moments like in the original story—the Nine-Tails stepping in to help during a crisis—were simply off the table. The only one who could step in to help was Kushina.
That was part of why Hanabi had come here.
And hearing Hanabi say it, Sasuke had more or less pieced it together.
This woman currently occupying Naruto’s body—she probably wasn’t the Nine-Tails.
All of a sudden, Sasuke thought of how Kushina Yuki had a child called Naruto.
——There was no way Naruto’s mom was also called "Kushina-something," was there?
"That’d be too much of a coincidence," Sasuke muttered.
[It really is that much of a coincidence]
[Sasuke called it exactly]
[God-tier prediction]
[Sasuke actually got it right—how come I still kind of want to laugh?]
[Sasuke has real comedy talent, honestly]
[Confirmed now, just like the top analysts in the comments said—the Nine-Tails really did get confiscated by Naruto’s mom]
"There are actually people who figured that out?"
This comment section was full of genuine talents.
And right now, that was exactly how things stood.
With the Nine-Tails around, it would obstruct Naruto—but without it, Naruto was missing a trump card.
"Mm—?" Just then, Kushina suddenly sensed something.
Someone was approaching.
"Well, let’s leave it here for tonight. Get Naruto back out already, or we’ll be spotted."
Hanabi didn’t press further either.
Because someone really was drawing closer.
The person was watching from a distance—and was about to get a clear look at the situation here.
Kushina disappeared.
"What? What’s going on?"
Naruto reclaimed control of his body. He looked completely baffled.
Even though he was the one at the center of all this, he’d been entirely out of the loop—no idea what had actually happened. And even less idea why the conversation had cut off so abruptly.
"Is it an enemy?" Sasuke asked, on guard.
"No—more like an interesting person."
The one approaching was none other than Jiraiya, one of the Legendary Sannin.
After meeting with Kakashi and requesting that Kakashi hand Naruto over to him for training, the two had been talking when they heard that Naruto had been brought by Hanabi to the Uzumaki Clan’s Mask Storage Temple—so Jiraiya had come to observe.
"An interesting person?" Naruto tilted his head, then suddenly felt a prickling chill run down his spine.
Hanabi, looking through her Byakugan, already had the full picture: Jiraiya hadn’t come close. He’d parked himself at a distance and pulled out binoculars to watch them from afar.
And Naruto sensed the chakra signature too.
—He didn’t have the Mind’s Eye of the Kagura yet, that broken ability, but—
"That said, someone who peeps like that does need a lesson." Hanabi looked at Naruto, an impish grin on her face. "Naruto—give him the treatment!"
"Oh yeah yeah yeah!"
The situation on this side was still unclear, but faced with this rude intruder, Naruto was more than happy to teach him a lesson.
"Naruto—use your Sexy Jutsu!"
"You got it!"
Naruto formed the hand seals immediately, then transformed into a twin-ponytailed girl.
"Guh-heh——!"
A sound drifted over from a distance.
It was faint, but in the silence of the night it rang out crisp and clear.
[Hahahahaha, I’m dead]
[So he’s a perv after all]
[You can’t even type the word "pervert" anymore—the censors are getting more timid]
[There’s something almost kabuki about this]
[Too bad we couldn’t see clearly enough]
The Stage gave Jiraiya a few frames, but from the audience’s angle they could only make out a blurred silhouette toppling into the bushes.
Unlike the Third, Jiraiya didn’t keel over with a nosebleed—he just went glassy-eyed, a dopey grin spreading across his face.
"Heh, looks like it worked pretty well."
Naruto had heard the sound too. He was in high spirits.
"Well—regarding the Nine-Tails, we can discuss that later. But as long as the Nine-Tails’ chakra isn’t obstructing Naruto, it won’t affect his abilities or development."
Kushina said nothing.
"You’re scared, aren’t you, Kushina."
The Nine-Tails’ voice reached her again.
"You’re scared of affecting Naruto. Even more scared of the choice the Fourth would make if he could see what you are now—what Naruto is now. You’re afraid of the future."
For the Nine-Tails right now, this was like eating a mint ice cream bar in an air-conditioned room in the middle of summer.
It couldn’t stop riding this high.
It just wanted to watch the jinchūriki’s wretched expression.
As for serving the jinchūriki?
Please. Who in their right mind would bother with that?
Only an idiot would go and open their heart to a jinchūriki.
Still—that girl named Hanabi knew a few things. Whether she’d reasoned it all out herself or actually had some information, that was unclear.
"Aren’t we going to confront that person?" Sasuke asked.
"He’s already gone."
Jiraiya had left with obvious reluctance.
Naruto’s twin-ponytailed form was squarely in Jiraiya’s zone.
"So what exactly happened?" Naruto still hadn’t figured any of it out.
"Some things don’t need to be fully understood." Hanabi said. "In any case—the Nine-Tails’ power is a conversation for later. But Naruto, you’d better get a grip on that power sooner rather than later."
Otherwise how the plot unfolded afterward would have to fall back on Plan B.
Of course, you never prepare only one script.
"But what about my training? It’s not like Kakashi-sensei has a great answer either." Naruto raised what felt like an important problem.
Kakashi could help with Naruto’s training, but even Kakashi himself had said it—while he could make Naruto stronger, the "finishing move" needed to beat that eyebrow-less guy still fell just a little short.
"If you could use the Adamantine Sealing Chains, you’d have a complete counter to him." Hanabi said. "Also—the reason that person is so strong is because he has a monster inside him too. Just like you."
"Is that right—so he—?!"
Naruto suddenly wondered: had that eyebrow-less kid named Gaara been through something similar to what he had?
And why did he look like that—cold and vicious all the time?
On the strength of Hanabi’s single sentence, Naruto found himself curious about Gaara.
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