Chapter 168: Chapter 170: Jiraiya: Could Hyuga Hanabi Actually Be the Child of Destiny?
Sasuke was learning the Chidori. Naruto was about to tackle the Summoning Technique. Hanabi was grinding through Gaokao-style biology questions. All three had bright futures ahead of them.
"My training speed really has gotten faster!"
Naruko bounced on her feet.
She hopped twice in place, testing herself.
"Bouncing... rippling... heh heh..."
[To think—the fanservice anchor of a long-running shonen series turned out to be Naruko]
[Lmao, the male lead is the fanservice character]
[Hanabi, you did good. You did real good]
[I mean, my wife is also, you know, pretty blessed. Long legs too. There’s even a red rope]
[But Hanabi wears that thick layered kimono every single day]
[You don’t get it. That’s the pipa-half-hidden-behind-the-veil appeal]
[Fair enough—the collar and the red rope have their appeal—but a water balloon bouncing around in a mesh undershirt is a whole different energy. This round I’m siding with Naruko]
[Kushina’s blood pressure is spiking]
[That’s chainmail!! It’s chainmail!!]
[Lmao, it’s a thing, it looks like mesh, it’s worn like mesh—then it’s mesh]
[But it’s metal]
[Then it’s metal mesh]
The exam had no time limit—Hanabi just had to finish it.
So after watching the broadcast for a while, she occasionally glanced over at the danmaku and the video feed.
"Not for nothing that I tweaked Naruto’s design a bit."
The Workshop was absurdly useful.
It was a shame the facility couldn’t be upgraded further—if it could, Hanabi would have maxed out its level without a second thought.
On screen, Naruko had burned through a round of Chakra and was now lying flat on the ground, gasping.
Right beside her, Jiraiya was drooling.
"Hm?!"
Then, without warning, that malicious presence seemed to intensify—a wave of it washing over him, raising every hair on his body.
"That’s not the Nine-Tails’ power, is it..."
Jiraiya muttered to himself.
He looked back at Naruko.
"Huff... huff, huff." Naruko was still flat on her back.
Jiraiya pulled himself together.
Enjoying the view was fine—it helped with inspiration. He hadn’t been planning to touch anything.
"This ninja outfit really does seem to speed up training. That Hanabi really is something. Naruto’s chakra control is already impressive—if I force the Nine-Tails’ power into the picture now, it might end up being a liability instead of an asset."
If Naruto couldn’t wield the Nine-Tails’ power cleanly—if he was just crudely siphoning it—that would actively work against him.
So Jiraiya hadn’t planned to have Naruto tap the Nine-Tails’ chakra at all.
"If Naruto could get his own power to a level where he could actually contain the Nine-Tails... that might be a different story. Hmm... which means the best approach is still to get him to fully master the Uzumaki clan’s Fūinjutsu, isn’t it?"
With a stronger sealing foundation, controlling the Nine-Tails would follow naturally.
"Teach him the Summoning Technique first, then see if he can pick up that afterward..."
Jiraiya left the rest unsaid.
But Hanabi already knew what he meant.
—Sage Mode.
"Uwaa."
That evening, Jiraiya brought Naruto to the hot springs.
Settled into the water, Jiraiya poured himself a small cup of saké.
"Hey, Naruto—why’d you change back?" Jiraiya watched him revert and felt a twinge of disappointment.
"What, you want mixed bathing?" Naruto looked at Jiraiya with pure contempt. "Hanabi said—when dealing with a pervert like you, the last thing you do is give him anything to enjoy!"
[All manner of things: forbidden!]
[Lmao, the two biggest fanservice generators in the whole story are the ones saying 18+ content is banned]
[Then again, cutting off that kind of material is a punishment for this type of old geezer]
[I’m deceased]
[Friendly reminder: please don’t drink alcohol while soaking in a hot spring—it can be genuinely dangerous]
[Drinking sake in a wild outdoor spring—textbook recipe for a bad time]
"I told you—it’s for inspiration!" Jiraiya protested.
"Hmm... this really is warm~"
Naruto stretched out and let the heat soak in.
"Mmm..."
Jiraiya glanced over at Naruto.
Even without the transformation, the kid was pretty cute, honestly.
"The Child of Destiny... could it be you...?"
Jiraiya sipped his saké and stared at the moon. A pleasant evening.
"Oh right, oh right—Pervy Sage, what’s this secret technique you mentioned?" Naruto asked.
"You’ll find out tomorrow," Jiraiya said.
While they talked, a frog poked its head up out of the spring, then spat a stream of water toward the bank.
A summon of Jiraiya’s.
"You’ll turn into a boiled frog if you soak too long," Jiraiya remarked absently.
"Heh heh." Naruto grinned, then something clicked. "Wait—don’t tell me that’s the technique?"
"Oh? Tell me what you think I’m going to teach you." Jiraiya tilted his head toward him.
"The Summoning Technique!" Naruto said.
"Hoh. You don’t look it, but you actually guessed right."
Jiraiya was genuinely surprised.
Naruto looked like the kind of kid who couldn’t think his way out of a paper bag—and yet he’d figured it out.
"Because! Because Hanabi and Kakashi-sensei both know it," Naruto said. "And Hanabi apparently even uses hers to deploy ice somehow."
Hanabi hadn’t shown off her Summoning Technique much in front of Naruto—but she’d mentioned it in passing a few times.
And Naruto had seen Kakashi’s ninja hound summons.
"Heh heh—once I learn the Summoning Technique, Sasuke will be the only one in Team 7 who doesn’t know it~"
[Team 7’s Summoning Technique Gathering, and one person didn’t get the invite. Guess who.]
[The disrespect for Sasuke, I cannot believe this]
[Sasuke is smiling on the outside and screaming on the inside]
[Who’s getting bullied in Team 7? Let’s see...]
[Actually hilarious]
"Heh heh heh heh~" Jiraiya said. "You only got half of it."
The truth was, if given the choice, Jiraiya would have liked to teach Naruto the Rasengan. He’d just never expected that Naruto already knew it—taught to him by a classmate, of all people.
"Wait, unless..."
Someone who could independently reconstruct the Fourth Hokage’s own jutsu without any reference material—and even develop a nature transformation off of it.
—Could that person actually be the Child of Destiny from the prophecy?
Jiraiya had traveled far and wide, partly for research material, partly searching for the so-called "Child of Destiny." He’d had many candidates over the years.
Could it be... Hyuga Hanabi?
She’d already lost her vision. But even so, she wielded a power that defied explanation.
"Oh my, oh my—it seems Jiraiya-sama has developed an interesting misconception about me."
Hanabi set her pen down.
She’d finished the exam. The remaining questions were the kind that couldn’t be answered even open-book.
Conveniently, this arc of Road to Ninja had also wrapped up.
"Then I’ll submit~"
[Exam retrieved]
[Instructor grading in progress]
[Academic ability assessment underway]
[Sending résumé]
[Mendel University, Department of Biology: accepted]
[Issuing admission letter]
[Stage note: After completing thirty session-hours in the first semester, you will undergo a second academic assessment. Assessments may continue until the full university curriculum is completed.]
[Please concentrate—in a private environment, push open the door.]
(Another AI-generated Hanabi)
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