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Chapter 163n
🕑 Added 2025-09-17 21:31:39 +0000 UTCChapter 163n
2-in-1-chapter
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“Naruto, let’s chase them.”
Watching the toad fleeing through the sky, the girl refused to give up.
“Really chase them? That old man looks dangerous.” Just seeing that huge toad made it look like a formidable opponent, and the white-haired old man riding its back was clearly no easy target.
“Why say such discouraging things? This is Konoha. Since I caught him committing a wrongdoing, we have to teach him a lesson today.”
The trouble-loving girl was brimming with zeal and righteous anger, and she genuinely wanted something exciting to do. She twisted her body, pushed off with one foot, and sprinted toward the place where the toad had landed. The blond-haired boy showed a rueful expression, sighed, and hurried after her.
By the time the group of girls and women from the bathhouse, each carrying wooden basins and stools, finally rushed out in a flurry, the peeping intruder could no longer be found. They cast a few annoyed glances at passing men and returned to the bathhouse with sulky faces.
On the rooftop, Kimimaro scratched his head and asked, “Fujika and Naruto… what should we do? Do we intervene?” He was lodging at Rēn’s house for the night, and although Elder Genshi had objected to his being near the clan’s precious granddaughter because of his dangerous reputation, they had actually met on the way to Konoha.
Of course, they merely knew each other.
They were about the same age, but they did not play together and were not close.
“They won’t be in any real danger.” Uchiha Itachi watched the two children run off and then added, “Still, we should follow them and take a look.” Since they had already encountered the situation, pretending nothing had happened would be inappropriate. Whether it was the clan head’s sister or the Nine-Tails’ jinchūriki, both warranted attention.
He cast his gaze toward a nearby shadow and noted that the ANBU assigned to protect the Nine-Tails’ jinchūriki were not doing a good job.
They could not even conceal their own movements.
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In the park’s wooded area, Jiraiya had not traveled far, his only concern being that the bathhouse victims might catch up to him. He had noticed the two children trailing him and felt conflicted and uneasy. After hesitating, he chose to wait.
Over the past few days he had thought of many ways to meet Naruto, but he could not decide how to approach him, which left him troubled. He had come here today for inspiration and to clear his mind, and he had not expected to run into Naruto by chance. Such an accidental encounter was not part of his plan, but perhaps it was better than a deliberate approach.
“I’ve got you now, you pervert!”
The energetic girl took the lead in the chase.
“No, no, no!”
Jiraiya waved his hands from the toad’s back to deny the label, striking an exaggerated pose like a stage performer and intoning in a drawn-out voice, “I am the toad sage from Mount Myōboku, known as the Toad Hermit!”
“Toad hermit?”
Naruto’s face registered confusion when he heard Jiraiya’s self-introduction, and the word slipped out instinctively, “Perverted hermit?”
“Well said, Naruto.”
Uchiha Fujika applauded Naruto’s remark, slapping his shoulder with approval. “You’re usually a bit slow, but your head can be sharp sometimes. ‘Perverted hermit’ is spot on.”
“Hey, kids, listen up. It’s toad hermit.” Jiraiya attempted to correct the misnomer.
His effort had no effect. Fujika would not accept it. “We saw you peeking at the women in the bathhouse. Surrender quietly now, perverted hermit. This is Konoha, you can’t escape.” She shouted the term Naruto had coined at the top of her lungs.
“Who are you calling a peeper? I’m an author. I was collecting material for my writing, you see?”
Jiraiya loudly defended his actions.
“An author?”
Fujika and Naruto exchanged skeptical looks. The children were young and might not fully grasp why peeking was wrong, but they knew it was forbidden. “Even if you’re an author, you’re an indecent one. My brother says peeking is a crime, Naruto, right?”
“Yeah, that’s right!”
Naruto nodded in agreement.
“What a headache. Dealing with kids is such a nuisance.”
“Hmph. Stop making excuses. I think you’re trying to run away. Naruto, let’s go. This time we won’t let him escape.” Fujika declared with conviction, clenching her small fists and running straight at Jiraiya. Naruto followed reluctantly, although he did not believe the white-haired old man would be their match.
Still, Jiraiya gave off no sense of malice. On the contrary, Naruto sensed a warm, comforting kindness like the spring sun, and he instinctively felt no danger. He went along with Fujika’s antics because she was right: this was Konoha.
“Oh, jumping in already?”
Jiraiya watched the rushing children with interest, hopped down from the toad’s back, and inspected their movements personally, focusing mostly on Naruto. “No good. Kid, your footwork is unstable. Your punches lack proper force. Little girl, don’t put everything into your punch.”
Suddenly inspired, Jiraiya parried and dodged the children’s blows while offering pointers on their punches and kicks.
“You’re so annoying, perverted hermit!”
Fujika felt a headache coming on.
She already had enough people at home telling her what to do, and now, after finally catching a wrongdoer, she was being lectured. Annoyed, she launched a flurry of punches and shouted, “Naruto, I’ll hold him. Use that move of yours.”
Jiraiya grew curious.
He allowed himself to be pelted by Fujika’s flurry of wild punches, deliberately holding back to see what other trump cards Naruto might have hidden.
“I got it.”
Without hesitation, Naruto broke away from the mock battle with Jiraiya. From his ninja pouch he pulled out a blank scroll and an ink-loaded brush. Under Jiraiya’s watchful gaze, he began to paint.
The Sannin’s interest grew stronger. He had secretly observed Naruto’s daily life these past few days and had indeed seen him drawing more than once. At the time he had assumed it was just a hobby, but now it seemed there was more to it.
Ninja Art: Super Beast Imitating Drawing.
After months of hard practice, Naruto’s artistic skill was still far from mastery, but he had at least reached the threshold of technique. He clearly had some talent in this field. On the scroll, vivid little snakes came to life, leaping from the paper and rushing at Jiraiya under Naruto’s command.
“This is… a secret technique?”
Startled, Jiraiya watched the ink-black snakes slither rapidly across the ground toward him. He offered no resistance at first, letting them coil around his legs in an attempt to bind them, while others darted toward his arms.
Feeling the surprising strength contained in the snakes’ pull, Jiraiya gathered a bit of chakra and suddenly released it in a burst.
Having been Tsunade’s classmate and comrade for so long, he had picked up some fragments of her monstrous strength. Though he could not hope to match her ability to split the ground barehanded, breaking free from Naruto’s conjured snakes was trivial.
The ink snakes shattered under the violent release of power, splattering black liquid across the ground.
“Damn it… why’s he so strong?”
Fujika, who had been ready to cheer, pouted instantly, unclenching her small fists. She had thought this lecherous hermit would be easy to handle, yet he turned out to be so formidable.
“Fujika, that won’t do.”
Naruto came over, scroll in hand, scratching his head as he looked at the spilled ink. As expected, he still had a long way to go.
“Haha! To defeat a Sannin, you two little brats will need another ten years of hard training!” Jiraiya planted his fists on his hips, laughing heartily. “But you’re already doing very well for your age. Take it as recognition from a Sannin himself.”
“Tch! What’s with the act, you’re just a Perverted hermit.”
Fujika stuck out her tongue.
“...”
Jiraiya held his breath. So that nickname wasn’t going away after all.
“Kid, where did you learn that technique you just used?” he asked Naruto.
“Perverte hermit, what do you want to know for?” Naruto eyed him warily. Though he did not sense any malice from Jiraiya, the man was still a stranger he was meeting for the first time, nowhere near the point of open trust.
“Oh, sharp instincts, huh?”
Jiraiya stroked his chin with a grin, then raised his head and looked toward the trees nearby. “Come on out. You’ve been watching long enough, haven’t you?”
Two seconds later, Uchiha Itachi and Kimimaro appeared.
“Lord Jiraiya.”
Itachi stepped forward and bowed in greeting.
“A boy from the Uchiha clan, eh? But… since when did the Uchiha have a child with white hair?” Jiraiya studied the two, both clad in Police Force uniforms. The white-haired, green-eyed Kimimaro in particular left him puzzled. White hair could be inherited, perhaps, but what about the green eyes? Was the Uchiha bloodline so easily diluted?
“Kimimaro of the Kaguya clan, currently residing in Konoha,” Kimimaro said simply by way of introduction.
“Kaguya?”
The name rang faintly familiar to Jiraiya, but he did not dwell on it. Uchiha or Kaguya, it was none of his concern. His eyes turned further into the distance. “Hey, don’t make me say it twice. The show’s over—come out already. Or do you want me to come and drag you out myself?”
Itachi and Kimimaro froze, exchanging shocked looks. Someone else had been shadowing them this whole time?
“I thought I was hidden well enough.”
Rēn emerged slowly from behind a tree.
“Uchiha Rēn?” Strictly speaking, this was Jiraiya’s first time meeting him. But he had already seen the young clan head walking beside Torifu upon his return to the village, so he recognized him now.
Surprise flickered across his face before he smiled. “Forgive me. I should be addressing you as Clan Head Uchiha.”
“Just call me by my name, Jiraiya-senpai. In front of a great senior like you, I can’t really put on the airs of a clan head.”
Rēn replied with an easy smile.
“Brother?”
Fujika’s mouth dropped open. Her astonishment made it clear she had not expected his appearance at all.
“Fujika, if I recall correctly, the academy isn’t dismissed at this hour yet, is it?” Looking at his surprised little sister and the grinning Naruto beside her, Rēn sighed. “You already took quite a long leave of absence. If you keep cutting classes like this, the academy might just expel you.”
“Hmph! Who are you trying to scare?”
Fujika showed no fear of her brother’s threat. “If they really did expel me, all the better. I’d rather study at home like Yakumo. The academy’s classes are boring. There’s nothing interesting at all. Even in the practical sessions, the shuriken aren’t even sharpened. It’s completely dull.”
