Chapter 57: Granny Tsunade is the Real Masterpiece!
Early morning, Uzumaki Naruto carried a small travel bag, looking back every three steps, lingering and constantly glancing toward the Village gate.
"Hey, kid, hurry up!"
Jiraiya, walking ahead, couldn't stand it anymore. He shook his white hair and turned his head to urge, "We're going on an S-rank mission! It's also for your training. Can't you show some manly spirit?"
Naruto sighed, kicking small stones on the roadside with his toes.
[Spirit? What kind of spirit can I have following a peeping tom like you?]
[I haven't kissed Hinata enough, and Big Sister Yūgao is still waiting for me to visit her...]
[Sigh, leaving all the beauties in the Villagebehind to run off with an Old Man is simply a waste of life!]
Thinking this, Naruto put on a curious expression on his face.
"Pervy Sage, is that Granny Tsunade we're looking for really that powerful?"
Hearing that name, Jiraiya's eyes flickered for a moment, then he puffed out his chest and put on the air of someone who had seen it all.
"Of course! She's a Medical Ninja who, along with me, is known as one of the Legendary Sannin. More importantly... cough, cough, her figure... one look and a kid like you would have a nosebleed."
Naruto curled his lips.
The two headed north. Jiraiya thought he should let this inexperienced kid see the world and decided to show off a few tricks.
When they stopped to rest by a stream, Jiraiyamysteriously extended his right hand.
"Naruto, you're not particularly talented, but since you're following me, I can't be too stingy. Watch closely; this is a Ninjutsu higher than the Summoning Jutsu, and it's a secret technique developed by your father, the Fourth Hokage!"
Pale blue Chakra spun rapidly in his palm, quickly condensing into an irregular sphere, making the air vibrate.
"Rasengan!"
Boom!
Jiraiya slammed his palm against a tree trunk. The massive tree, which would take three people to encircle, was instantly snapped by a swirling force, wood chips exploding everywhere.
"How's that? Stunned? This is the pinnacle of Chakra shape transformation..." Jiraiya withdrew his hand triumphantly, preparing to enjoy his disciple's admiring gaze.
However, when he turned around, he found Narutotaking a balloon out of his bag.
"Huh? Are you talking about this?"
While munching on a compressed biscuit, Narutocasually extended one hand.
Pop.
He didn't even use a Shadow Clone. A ball of blue light surged from his hand, and without much effort, a Chakra sphere—rounder and spinning faster than Jiraiya's just now—simply hovered quietly in his palm.
Zzzzt—
The Chakra sphere spun at high speed, emitting a piercing hum.
"..."
Jiraiya's jaw nearly hit the ground, and his eyes almost popped out. For a moment, he even suspected he was under a Genjutsu.
This is A-rank difficulty! The Fourth took three years! He took a year! This kid learned it in one glance?
"You... you..." Jiraiya pointed at Naruto, his fingers trembling.
Naruto pressed the Rasengan in his hand against a nearby small tree. With a snap, the tree was severed cleanly. He clapped his hands and blinked his large blue eyes, looking completely innocent.
"Is it hard? I practice this in my dreams all the time."
Naruto had already thought of an excuse.
[Sigh, although this is a move I overused in my past life, I still have to act a bit to scare this Old Man.]
[I can't exactly say the system gave it to me, right? So I'll just blame it on a 'dream.']
"In a dream?" Jiraiya frowned, his expression turning a bit strange. "What kind of dream?"
The corners of Naruto's mouth curled up slightly, revealing a "pure" smile that any man would understand.
"It was a very beautiful big sister. In the dream, she held my hand and taught me over and over how to spin it, how to apply force... Her hands were so soft, and she smelled so good. To not disappoint her, I practiced very hard."
"Hiss—"
Jiraiya gasped, his shock instantly turning into a sort of lecherous appreciation.
So that's how it is! Lessons from a beauty in a dream? Is this also a privilege of adolescent boys?
"Good lad! I knew you had talent! The motivation to show off in front of a beauty is indeed an excellent shortcut to improving one's strength!" Jiraiyaslapped Naruto heavily on the shoulder, feeling like he had found a kindred spirit.
Two days later.
The two arrived at a bustling town named Shukuba-machi. It didn't belong to any NinjaVillage and was a gathering place for merchants and wandering Ninjas.
A place like this was naturally a mixed bag, with a rich nightlife.
As soon as it got dark, the red lanterns on both sides of the street lit up. Some women in heavy makeup stood at the doorways, waving handkerchiefs at passing men.
"Yo, isn't this our holy land for research?" Jiraiyarubbed his hands together, his old face glowing. "Naruto, we need to gather information about Tsunade here. You little brat stay at the inn; I'm going into these shops to... conduct a deep investigation."
"I'm going too."
Naruto followed without a second thought.
"Go away, what does a kid know?" Jiraiya tried to shoo him away.
But Naruto stuck his hands in his pockets, his gaze sweeping over the heavily powdered women, and shook his head.
[Common, gaudy women. That makeup is too thick; I'm afraid it'll crack when they smile. The colors of those clothes are too tacky—how can they compare to the impact of Anko-sensei's fishnet outfit?]
[This isn't enjoyment; it's an eyesore.]
"Old pervert, I have no interest in these inferior goods." Naruto pulled a slightly yellowed photograph from his pocket, which he had swiped from Jiraiya before they left.
The photo showed a young blonde woman with a diamond mark on her forehead, laughing freely and boldly.
"In comparison, I still think this Granny Tsunade... has more flavor."
Naruto's fingertips lightly brushed over the magnificent curves that even the flat surface of the photo couldn't hide.
"Hey, hey, although she uses Ninjutsu to stay young, her real age is that of an old woman the same as mine!" Jiraiya was shocked by the kid's taste. "You're ignoring eighteen-year-old girls and having thoughts about a fifty-year-old woman?"
Naruto looked up, a depth beyond his years showing in his eyes.
[Old woman? You don't know jack!]
[It's precisely because she's fifty that she's a masterpiece!]
[Think about it: a devilish body of a twenty-year-old, but with fifty years of experience and charm. That kind of mature aura, that gaze that can easily see through a man's mind yet doesn't care to acknowledge it... can those green little apples compare?]
[This is what you call the ultimate evolution of a legal mature older sister type! Time hasn't left a mark on her; instead, it has aged her like fine wine.]
[If I could get a woman like that to drop her imposing Hokage act, wear a traditional Kimono, and sit on a tatami mat to brew tea for me... or even better, let her use those 'Holy Hands' that win in every Casino to give me a full-body massage... Hiss, and if I were pressed down by that 'justice' sufficient to smother someone...]
[Even if I died right then, I'd go to see the Six Paths Sage with a smile!]
[Ding!]
Just as the thoughts in Naruto's mind were spinning out of control, in a Casino thousands of miles away...
"Crack!"
A blonde woman who was shaking a Dice cupsuddenly saw the steel cup in her hand turn into an iron pancake.
"Achoo!!"
Tsunade let out a thunderous sneeze. She felt the hairs on her back stand up one by one, and a chill of disgust made her whole body uncomfortable, as if someone had licked her from head to toe, even into the marrow of her bones.
"Lady Tsunade? Do you have a cold?" Shizune, holding the little pig Tonton, asked worriedly.
"Cold my ass! Some pervert must be eyeing me!" Tsunade slammed the deformed iron pancake onto the gambling table, nearly scaring the Dealer into crawling under the table.
But strangely, the anxiety that had lingered for years seemed to be diluted quite a bit at this moment by a strange sense of shame and annoyance.
On the streets of Shukuba-machi.
Jiraiya looked at Naruto, who was drooling over the photo with a dazed expression, and couldn't help but take half a step back.
"This kid's taste... no, it's no longer just a matter of taste; it's an appreciation that can see through phenomena to the essence..."
Jiraiya suddenly felt that he might have truly found a suitable successor on some strange path.
"Cough, well... since you have such good taste." Jiraiya lowered his voice and leaned in lecherously, "Then how about we go to that shop that looks the most high-end? My treat?"
Naruto put away the photo and refused with a serious face.
"Not going! I need to save my energy and save my best state for Granny Tsunade!"
[Just you wait, the legendary sucker... your personal bodyguard is arriving soon!]
That night, the Casinos on Tanzaku Street were filled with wails. the legendary sucker who usually lost every bet seemed possessed tonight, winning every single round until her own face turned pale, wondering if she was about to die.