Humans are creatures with short memories, especially when excited.
Indeed, Naruto got so excited he forgot about his group of little ancestors.
Having his clone send Shunfeng to the Land of Snow and retrieve the two cats and one weasel, Naruto placed Ginger on his lap and pulled out a mirror to examine his first-person FPS game perspective.
Hm, a game perspective.
Naruto now felt as if he were playing a VR shooting game; a crosshair floated before his eyes, and most amazingly, he could control its size by adjusting the focal length.
It was like the bright spot left after a laser pointer shone on your eye; it was always there, but didn't affect his vision much.
Moreover, this crosshair could be adjusted, so overall, it wasn't a big problem, just a bit strange.
And then there were the dark eye-rings and scarlet pupils...
Naruto was so angry he almost dropped the mirror. "I came here to learn Sage Art, not to stay up all night playing CS! What's with this crosshair? Are you messing with me, Natural Energy?!"
While Naruto examined his eyes, Jiraiya observed him. The strength augmentation from Natural Energy depended on the amount of Chakra. With this kid's Chakra reserves, enough for an entire division, how much stronger he could become was an unknown. And now he could even use Tailed Beast power; was he going to let anyone else live?
If it weren't for the vast difference in combat experience, Jiraiya felt he might not even be able to defeat him.
No, wait, he has fear perception. I actually might not be able to beat him.
Then he started worrying again: "What exactly am I afraid of about him?"
On the other side, Naruto put down the mirror. Once he accepted this premise, it actually felt quite cool.
It's just a crosshair, right? After playing so many shooting games, what's wrong with accepting a crosshair? At worst, I'll get a chicken dinner tonight.
Naruto thought his adaptability was quite strong. He'd accepted transmigration, and with so many mind-boggling things in the shinobi world over the years, he could calmly accept even Hatsune Miku killing Jang Geun-suk with a leek right in front of him, and might even pick up the leek to dip in soy paste and eat it.
These were all minor matters. The major matter was, "Sage Art: Wind Release: Die-and-Revive Rasenshuriken!"
Jiraiya was still fretting when, out of nowhere, that long and convoluted name reached his ears. He roared, "You ungrateful disciple, what are you doing!!"
Naruto, halfway through his Rasengan-throwing motion, was interrupted. He said, "I was thinking this thing should be throwable now."
The Die-and-Revive Ball could float, but not be thrown; not even with Wind Release. But adding Sage Art was different: it could be thrown. "This is a Naruto setting; if you don't like it, don't play."
Jiraiya was furious. "Even if it can be thrown, look where you are! Is this a place for you to throw it?!"
A wave of dread washed over him. I wasn't paying attention for a second, and he almost blew up Mount Myōboku.
"It's alright, little Naruto, you can throw it towards the sky," Fukasaku said with a smile. He understood this excitement of a beginner in Sage Art. Jiraiya had been even more rambunctious when he mastered it back then.
Naruto was about to throw it, but Jiraiya interrupted him again: "Not even towards the sky! What if you disturb the Great Lord Elder Toad's rest!"
He absolutely couldn't let him throw this thing. Once was enough for two; if he allowed this, sooner or later, Naruto would accidentally blow up Mount Myōboku.
"Oh," Naruto said, dejectedly dispersing the Wind Release, leaving only a Rasengan. Then, Jiraiya exploded again.
"What is this again?"
"This is...." Naruto held the Rasengan up to his eyes to observe it. A multi-colored Rasengan?
Thinking of a possibility, Naruto couldn't help but ask, "Ero-Sennin, what do you see?"
"A messy, colorful ball," Jiraiya grumbled.
No, no, no, it's more than that.
Naruto picked up Ginger, who had fallen motionless on the ground, and placed her back on his lap. He held the Rasengan in one hand and petted the cat with the other, hoping to stimulate his thoughts.
Although it looked like a messy, multi-colored ball to him as well, in his perception, its colors had fixed areas: half white, half yellow, with a few patches of blue-green and red.
Naruto had previously speculated that the Rasengan was a mixture of seven forces, and it was a single color, moving according to his will, though sometimes he would forget what color it was.
Now it was a colorful ball. Did that mean, after adding the power of Sage Art, it could express all his emotions?
Human emotions were definitely not as singular as the Rasengan used to express. Some people could be happy and sad at the same time, and even force a wry smile and rub their nose to show awkwardness. With so many emotions, it definitely couldn't be represented by just one color.
So, the reason it looked like a colorful ball visually was probably that it was spinning too fast?
The human eye's capture frequency has its limits; Naruto knew this from when he spun Alpenliebe lollipops as a child. And the Rasengan's rotation speed was much faster than that candy. The human eye couldn't capture it and automatically made it into a colorful ball; this was a common optical illusion.
Naruto was a little excited. Didn't this mean that his Slapstick Release: Slapstick Chibaku Tensei was now a possibility?
Even if others couldn't see it, it was fine as long as he could perceive it. Why bother with them?
Then Naruto thought of Sasuke. If others couldn't see it, what about the Sharingan? If it could see it, then one "funny face" wouldn't be enough.
Sasuke's personality was awful; Naruto knew this firsthand. He spoke as little as possible, impossible to get a peep out of him.
If the Sharingan could see it, then as long as he could draw more content on the Rasengan, he could transmit information, and others wouldn't understand, effectively preventing tactical leaks.
At this moment, Naruto was full of motivation, recalling the emotions he'd recorded when he last released a yellow Rasengan, and began to control the Rasengan's color change.
Since you won't talk, I won't either. Let's both stay silent. We'll communicate with emojis.
"What's he doing?" Fukasaku asked, puzzled. "Didn't he want to test his skill just now? Why is he sitting still again?"
"Don't mind him, he's got a screw loose, one idea after another," Jiraiya explained, while enviously gazing at Naruto's seemingly unchanged appearance.
Fukasaku saw his mood and said, "Perfect Sage Mode. If you calmed down and studied for a few more years, you'd be there too."
Jiraiya waved his hand, chuckling awkwardly, "No thanks, I'm already this old. In a few years, I'll find a place to retire. Where would I find the time to learn this? Besides, I won't need it anymore, hahahaha."
"I think you're just untalented and lazy. Would I ask you to learn something if it were to harm you?"
"Yes, yes, you're right," Jiraiya listened to the admonition like a student, but his gaze unconsciously shifted to Naruto. Just give him a little more time to gain experience, then I can retire, right?
Minato, your child has already surpassed both you and me.
"Sage Art: Slapstick Release: Slapstick Rasengan!"
Jiraiya's expression was even worse than when the Fourth Hokage ignored him demonstrating the Rasengan. It was hard to say about other aspects, but his naming talent had certainly surpassed everyone. What in the world was 'Slapstick Release'? Did such a thing even exist in the shinobi world?!
"Sage Art: Slapstick Release: Rasenshuri—"
"Get out!" Jiraiya roared again, interrupting Naruto's jutsu.
Ten minutes later, Naruto was kicked out of Mount Myōboku by Jiraiya. Jiraiya had figured it out: Naruto was too hyper today. If he stayed any longer, he might actually blow up Mount Myōboku.
Returning to the Box of Ultimate Bliss, Naruto, as usual, took a sip of Karin's vital essence, still maintaining his cross-eyed mode. He hadn't even expended a tenth of his Chakra; it was too early to exit.
Bundling two weights with chains, Naruto called back, "Old man, keep up!"
Then he lowered his head into a starting position. They were now within the Land of Fire's borders, and he wanted to test his current strongest state, to see how long it would take him to run back to Konoha.
He took out a stone, tossed it into the air, and counted down in his mind. The instant the stone hit the ground, he bolted, dragging the weights, the Box of Ultimate Bliss, and the Moye Treasure Brick like an arrow released from a bow, charging straight for Konoha.
"Cough, cough, cough..." The dust was too thick. Jiraiya coughed a few times. After it settled, he looked at the Box of Ultimate Bliss bouncing wildly in the distance due to its excessive speed and muttered, "That's... a Tailed Beast, isn't it?"
Because someone held grudges and had a large Sage Mode sensing range, Jiraiya forcibly swallowed the word "monster."
Even in Sage Mode, he could pull those two things, but he wouldn't be able to run that fast even if he killed himself, let alone snap trees that several people couldn't encircle.
Five hours later, at one of Konoha's outer wall defense towers, a ninja shielded his eyes with his hand and shouted, "What's coming this way!"
Actually, he didn't need to shout; anyone who wasn't blind could pretty much see it.
In the distance, the forest appeared as if a giant beast was charging straight for Konoha, leaving a long trail of smoke, with trees collapsing one after another.
Just as the group was about to report, a kunai flew over and pinned itself into the wood beside them. A paper slip was tied to the kunai's hilt, and on the slip was the character "Case."
He picked up the slip to examine it, then took up his binoculars and watched for a moment. The squad leader exclaimed in surprise, "It's Master Jiraiya!"
Naruto, dragging the weights, had to slow down as he approached Konoha, otherwise he would have plunged straight into the village. That's why Jiraiya arrived a little earlier than him.
But he wasn't feeling great either. Normally, it would take an ordinary ninja a full day to run this distance. Reaching it in five hours was largely thanks to those two times he had chased after Naruto and gained some training.
Behind him, Naruto gradually decelerated, finally stopping in a small clearing. He skillfully pulled out a rope and tied the Box of Ultimate Bliss to a tree.
The squad leader was completely dumbfounded. Who in their right mind would try to steal such a huge box? Even if they did, what good would tying it to a tree do!
Standing outside the wall, Naruto looked at the Hokage Rock faces. "Konoha, I'm back again!"
"I'm telling you, next time you go crazy, can you send me over first?" Jiraiya walked over, breathing heavily.
Seeing Jiraiya approach, Naruto remembered the issue they had discussed on the Hokage Rock before he left.
Dusting off the uniform he was wearing, Naruto released a clone.
His last uniform was damaged in Cloud Village, so these two were new purchases. And with his growth in height, this one would also need to be replaced soon.
Red giant claws emerged from the clone's body. Naruto transformed into the appearance of Hydrangea, jumping onto the claws, and with his outfit, it was a pure, replicated version of Pain's invasion of Konoha.
It was specifically the Hydrangea form of the Animal Path. If he hadn't seen it before, Naruto wouldn't be able to transform into it. Just like he wanted to transform into a swimsuit Granny Chiyo to "open Jiraiya's eyes," but he had never seen Granny Chiyo, so he couldn't. Hydrangea was different; he had seen her, not only during the Chunin Exams but also in photos from the files Jiraiya had shown him, so he didn't need to fear exposure.
"What are you doing!?" Seeing his actions, Jiraiya knew disaster was about to strike. Just as he tried to stop him, Naruto was already thrown.
With a whoosh, he sliced through the air and shot towards the skies above Konoha. Naruto's voice also reached Jiraiya's ears.
"Teach them a lesson."
"I already told you where the problem with this barrier was, and you still haven't changed it. Do you have to wait for me to personally demonstrate how Konoha can be invaded like this before you understand?"
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