Shinigami in the Ninja World

The response was too straightforward.

Upon hearing the title "Fourth Hokage," he immediately agreed.

This means...

He probably already knows that his father was the Fourth Hokage.

Did the Nine-Tails tell him?

Sarutobi Hiruzen took a deep drag from his pipe and recalled the Mizuki incident.

Including the conversation that followed.

At that time, he thought Naruto was utterly loyal to the village.

But now it seems...

Did he know before that incident?

He felt a twinge of regret.

Maybe he should have told the truth back then, leading to a prickly feeling now.

Letting Naruto discover the truth himself and having the village tell him are not the same.

Developing into the current situation is really terrible.

But fortunately, despite so many unexpected events, Naruto still stands here safely.

And not as an out-of-control, frenzied Nine-Tails.

He turned his head and gave Jiraiya an encouraging look.

The white-haired man felt a tingle on his scalp, raised his hand to scratch his head, and sat on the toad. "Naruto, Sarutobi-sensei roughly told me about your abilities."

"Your swordsmanship is good, and you know many ninjutsu."

"What do you want to learn next?"

"Or should we spar tomorrow so I can give you some pointers?"

Naruto nodded. "I have discussed this with Karin, next we will learn the Uzumaki clan's secret Sealing Techniques."

"Sealing techniques?" Jiraiya mused, his gaze falling on Naruto's stomach.

This choice was not surprising.

Since he could already "transform into the Tailed Beast," he must have felt the strain of controlling the tailed beast.

Solving this problem is imperative.

"Then sealing techniques it is." He agreed immediately, "Speaking of which, I had quite a bit of interaction with the Uzumaki clan in the past and know many of your clan's sealing techniques."

"I will teach you well."

"As for tonight..."

"You just finished the second exam, so get some rest."

"I urged Sarutobi-sensei to come over. I originally just wanted to see you from afar, but I didn't expect to disturb your rest."

Jiraiya jumped off the toad and gave Naruto's head a vigorous rub. "You are really outstanding, Naruto."

"See you tomorrow."

He waved his hand and left with Sarutobi Hiruzen.

Naruto watched their departing backs.

It was praise...

One of the few praises he received in Konoha.

And it was sincere.

Not to placate him, not to gloss over that sensitive topic, he just wanted to say it, "outstanding," from the bottom of his heart.

Naruto grinned and went home.

Karin had already laid out the futon, and she tilted her head, staring at the bright smile on Naruto's face. "Why are you so happy coming back? Who did you meet?"

Naruto shook his head, his voice crisp and filled with joy. "Feels like a close elder."

"Though he came back at this time."

"But he seems like a good person."

He went to wash up and went to bed.

Tonight was a sweet dream.

The next day.

Jiraiya came to visit, and Naruto brought Karin along to the training ground with him.

Last night's feeling was not an illusion.

Jiraiya indeed was a great person and an excellent teacher.

He could explain every key point of the sealing technique in simple terms and identify the reasons for Naruto's failures immediately.

He could always pinpoint Karin's mistakes when she performed sealing techniques.

It's just...

Sometimes he wasn't very serious.

He even borrowed money from Naruto, a kid.

Sometimes he would drink and stay out late, then be late the next day.

But these little flaws did not diminish Naruto's fondness for Jiraiya.

After reaching a certain level in their sealing technique studies, Jiraiya taught Naruto and Karin their first sealing technique.

"The Tail Restraining Seal."

This is a highly targeted and difficult-to-learn sealing technique that is almost useless.

It is only for Tailed Beasts.

Moreover, it only targets those tailed beasts that have escaped from the "jinchuriki" and are in an uncontrolled state.

Naruto learned it very seriously.

All of this can be handed over to Urahara Kisuke.

After mastering this technique, the second sealing technique Naruto learned was the "Adamantine Sealing Chains" taught by Karin.

The Nine-Tails had a strong reaction to this "technique."

When he saw Naruto starting to learn it, he cursed loudly.

Saying things like, "All you Uzumakis are like this."

And things like, "Mito was like this, Kushina was like this, and now Naruto, you're the same."

This reaction confirmed to Naruto that he was learning the right technique.

During this period, Naruto also went to the hospital to visit Rock Lee.

The injuries of this bowl-cut boy were severe; his arms and legs were cruelly broken, with bone fragments deeply embedded in his central nervous system. With the current capabilities of the Konoha medical ninjas, there was no way to heal him.

Naruto's current medical abilities were also somewhat helpless against such injuries.

Although he had been learning Kaido under the guidance of Captain Unohana, that was not his main area of study.

The bowl-cut boy did not yet know the severity of his injuries.

He was very optimistic. Even though the doctor told him he would have to stay in bed for at least three months, he had no regrets about not surrendering in time.

Naruto made a silent determination.

To return to the Soul Society...

He needed to allocate more time to learn "healing."

Until the end of almost a month,

Naruto had mastered both sealing techniques.

Sitting on a tree branch, the three of them gazed into the distance.

"Jiraiya-sensei, I don't think I've ever seen you in Konoha before," Naruto's eyes stayed on the "Oil" forehead protector, "and it doesn't look like you're wearing a Konoha forehead protector."

Jiraiya raised his hand and touched his head: "Oh, this?"

He was silent for a moment before slowly speaking, "I once had a very good friend who did some bad things and defected from Konoha..."

"Was it Orochimaru?" Naruto interjected.

Jiraiya nodded: "Yes, it was him."

"I always wanted to bring him back to the village, but unfortunately, I never succeeded."

"Our other friend left Konoha a long time ago and never returned."

"By then, I was already a famous novelist, so I focused on my career, traveling the world to gather material."

"Of course, I also collected intelligence for the village."

"It's perfectly normal that you haven't seen me in the village."

"As for this forehead protector, don't you think it suits me well?"

Karin nodded in agreement, her tone somewhat disdainful: "It really suits you, you pervy old man."

"油(Oil)" not only means "Oil" but also has connotations of "lazy" or refers to a "bathhouse."

She and Naruto had already noticed.

Sometimes when Jiraiya said he was going out to gather material, he looked serious.

In reality...

He was peeping at women's baths or going out drinking, etc.

At first, Jiraiya knew to avoid people, but now... after being caught so many times, he acted openly and unashamedly.

Karin's comment made Jiraiya scratch his head and laugh.

Naruto stared into the distance, deep in thought.

From Jiraiya's words, it seemed that Konoha ninjas could leave the village?

And it wasn't just him.

~~~

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