Chapter 171: Chapter 173: Learning Makes Me Happy!
After chatting for a while, the break was over.
Second class began.
Ulen and Via didn’t seem to take what Hanabi had said too seriously—they probably figured she was a chuunibyou type, or just someone with an inflated sense of self.
After the second period, the first session-hour ended.
Hanabi returned to the dormitory, shifted back into her real appearance, then stepped back through into the Naruto world.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu."
Back on this side, Hanabi immediately ran the jutsu again.
The textbooks and course materials couldn’t be brought back from that side.
But reviewing them could be done here.
While the memories were still fresh, Hanabi deployed a Shadow Clone and used it to compress and summarize everything from the class session in the shortest time possible.
"I was over there for a little over a hundred minutes."
One session-hour was two class periods. It wasn’t a lot of time. If Hanabi attended two session-hours per day, she could finish in about two weeks. Four session-hours per day and she could wrap it up in a week.
Shadow Clones couldn’t be used on that side—but on this side they could, which meant the moment she returned, she could quickly consolidate everything from the lesson.
Her memory was excellent. That wasn’t a problem.
"Then go in again..."
On the second visit, Hanabi wanted to see how the situation over there had developed.
On entering, she changed into the uniform for that side.
The transformation only covered her face, so she still had to wear the clothes. The Stage had thoughtfully stocked a wardrobe here with a selection of "modern" uniforms.
Zhuixia couldn’t operate in this world either, so it stayed in its unequipped state—just the rope itself, draped against her skin.
"Hmm. It’s already the next day. So time does jump ahead."
She’d spent barely more than half an hour in the Naruto world, but this side had already advanced to the following day.
"So when I’m here the timelines stay synced, but the moment I leave and come back—it jumps directly to the next scheduled class period."
Today in class, Ulen didn’t come over to find her.
The two of them didn’t have much to talk about anyway.
Some overconfident boys did come over, each taking a turn at demonstrating their appeal.
They all retreated in turn, met with a politely smiling refusal from "Mana Ouma."
And it was around this point that Hanabi learned: "Mana Ouma," a strikingly beautiful Natural, had apparently become notable around campus.
Hanabi didn’t particularly care.
Teasing the male lead’s father was one thing—random background characters were a different matter entirely. This was a training session, nothing more.
Hilarious. I can’t slack off studying and end up losing money on this deal.
If she could pass the academic assessment, she’d get another thirty session-hours for free. Wasn’t that worth it?
Learning makes me happy!
Hanabi threw herself into studying with complete abandon.
Unlike a typical university, the first-year course load here was not light—most first-years didn’t have schedules this dense. But Mendel University’s first semester content was complex, and even with her focus solely on biology, Hanabi was working at her limit.
She also noticed that genuine Coordinators did attend this university.
They were young—some as young as eleven or twelve.
That was quite young.
But it was only a fact, nothing more. What Hanabi needed to do now was simply study.
She was a learning machine devoid of all emotion.
And since the textbooks were available, she took the opportunity to read ahead on supplementary material.
Organ transplantation, for instance. Transplant rejection and immune responses.
These were the most practically useful topics for the Naruto world.
While Hanabi operated as an emotionless learning machine in the training world, Naruto’s Summoning Technique training had begun on the other side.
Hanabi hadn’t missed it.
Her main body was in the "other world" studying, but she still had several Shadow Clones running in the Naruto world.
Shadow Clones could hold their form for a long time under low-intensity conditions—especially when no combat was required.
So on this side, Hanabi had been continuously keeping an eye on Naruto’s progress.
The third exam is coming up. I still need to arrange Naruto’s big moment.
"Summoning Technique!"
Poof!
A tadpole appeared on the stone slab.
"Heh heh, heh heh... just like heaven~"
Naruto wheezed, flat on his back. The two water balloons on the mesh undershirt bobbed up and down with each breath.
"Hmm." Jiraiya felt that malicious presence thickening again—this time almost tangible.
"Is this Summoning Technique even working?!"
Naruto was not happy.
Jiraiya had made him write his name on some scroll, then told him to start practicing the Summoning Technique.
But after multiple attempts, every single summoning had produced the same tadpole.
Possibly the same individual tadpole, in fact.
That was a little awkward.
"I suppose I really do need him to use the Nine-Tails’ chakra after all."
Jiraiya was thinking.
"Naruto—do you know there’s another kind of chakra inside you?" Jiraiya asked.
"Hmm..."
A beat of silence—then Naruto released the transformation and fixed Jiraiya with a look of wary assessment, like he’d just identified an infiltrator.
Jiraiya caught on immediately: "...So you already knew about the Nine-Tails."
"Jeez—so you know about the Nine-Tails too, Pervy Sage. That caught me off guard." Naruto relaxed.
"Your wariness really isn’t bad," Jiraiya said. "I figured you’d just look clueless all the time—but you come through when it matters."
"I’m not clueless!"
Naruto kept yelling. "This is what Hanabi told me—when someone who’s been treating you really well might actually be eyeing something you carry, that’s exactly when you need to stay on guard. She called it ’when the dagger finally comes out.’"
"That girl again."
Jiraiya was increasingly aware of living in Hanabi’s shadow.
"So—can you tap into the Nine-Tails’ chakra? Or even communicate with it?"
If his natural output wasn’t enough, then the Nine-Tails’ power would have to fill the gap.
Even though it contradicted his original strategy—though come to think of it, wasn’t this actually the original strategy? He’d only reconsidered after seeing how well Naruto was developing.
"I’d advise against it, Jiraiya-sama."
Hanabi’s Shadow Clone stepped out.
"Hanabi!" Naruto was immediately energized.
"You know about the Nine-Tails too?" Jiraiya’s curiosity sharpened.
The Hyuga clan didn’t have any particular connection to the Nine-Tails that he was aware of.
"Naruto’s situation is somewhat unusual. Please set aside the Nine-Tails’ power for now. If you want Naruto to use it—then at least wait until Naruto has learned the Adamantine Sealing Chains."
This wasn’t actually Hanabi’s own requirement. It was Kushina’s.
The Nine-Tails was currently sealed inside Kushina.
Until Naruto had the power to truly master the Nine-Tails’ strength himself, Kushina wasn’t going to let go.
"Well now, you’ve set me a difficult problem." Jiraiya sank into thought.
(Very nice Hinata)
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