When Naruto saw Fukasaku and Shima sitting on Jiraiya's shoulders—one on each side—his body instantly froze. What unsettled him even more was the sudden, drastic change in Jiraiya's demeanor, as though he had switched from defense straight into offense.
Naruto knew he absolutely couldn't underestimate any opponent—especially not Jiraiya. But he also didn't want to stand around passively and get beaten up, so he decided to take the initiative.
Holding a kunai, Naruto charged straight at Jiraiya, but Jiraiya stood completely still.
"He didn't dodge? What exactly is he planning?" Naruto thought to himself while aiming the kunai directly at Jiraiya.
"You'd better dodge this, Ero-Sennin—I won't hold back! I'm gonna slice you in half!"
With that, he swung the kunai down at Jiraiya, only to see Jiraiya block the strike with his forearm.
"What?! He blocked my kunai with just his arm?!"
"Can't you feel it, kid? There's no chakra flowing through my arm."
Jiraiya remained in a defensive posture, effortlessly blocking Naruto's attack.
"That's right—there's no chakra in my arm. You won't be able to hurt me at all unless your kunai is infused with chakra."
Without warning, Jiraiya punched Naruto in the face, knocking him flying across the ground. Turning toward the two frogs on his shoulders, he asked:
"What do you think?"
"He's a prodigy," Fukasaku said. "If he learns Sage Mode, his potential will be limitless."
Shima scolded Jiraiya instead:
"Why did you hit him so hard, Jiraiya? Look at him."
Naruto hadn't gotten back up yet.
"That punch must've stunned him."
"He's fine," Jiraiya shrugged. "He's just faking it."
Meanwhile, Naruto pressed his palm to his aching cheek and slowly rose from the ground.
"What the heck happened? What was that punch just now? Did he summon Grandma Tsunade and have her blast me with Monster Power? Man, that was insane! He actually blocked my kunai with just his arm!"
Shaking his head, he stood up and shouted angrily at Jiraiya:
"Hey! What the hell was that?!"
Jiraiya grinned widely and asked:
"Which part—getting punched in the face or blocking your kunai?"
"Both!" Naruto yelled.
His mind raced—could the Four-Tails chakra cloak help? If he powered up and tapped into it, maybe he'd stand a chance against Jiraiya. But he didn't want to fall back on the Nine-Tails' power in a spar with his master—even if doing so would make him stronger.
Even the Sharingan might not help him crack Jiraiya's defense.
Did he really need to become significantly stronger than he already was just to injure Jiraiya?
Jiraiya laughed heartily and asked:
"Are you done with your questions?"
"Not even close..." Naruto grumbled, his gaze shifting to his left arm—specifically, the summoning seal on his left arm.
"I still have one last move, Ero-Sennin. You better watch out."
Jiraiya looked puzzled as Naruto lunged at him.
"I can't promise you'll come out of this unharmed! I don't even know how strong this technique is!"
Naruto quickly formed hand seals with his right hand, stopping at the [Half-Tiger Seal] while pulling back his left arm in preparation for an attack.
"Fire Sealing Jutsu: Release!" Jiraiya had no idea what Naruto was up to until he spoke, and then the seal on his left arm began glowing.
"Amaterasu!" Instantly, black flames engulfed Naruto's entire left arm.
Jiraiya's eyes widened in shock as memories surfaced of those same flames three years ago when Itachi had slipped away right before his eyes.
"How does he know this technique?!" He gasped in shock. Even the two elder frogs perched on his shoulders looked just as bewildered.
"Did he seal Amaterasu inside his body? Is this kid insane?! What in the world was he thinking?"
"It doesn't hurt a bit," Naruto thought, observing the flames sealed onto his arm. The flames hadn't spread across his body. They hadn't even burned him.
"I can't feel any heat. It hasn't even singed me."
"I don't have anything on me that could seal these flames!" Jiraiya worriedly thought. Suddenly, he noticed Naruto had stopped moving, staring absentmindedly at his flaming fist.
"What's wrong? Why aren't you attacking?"
Scratching his head while looking at his black-flame-covered fist, Naruto replied,
"The problem is... aside from punching you with it, I don't know what else to do with it."
He didn't seem to notice Jiraiya's terrified look. "I guess if I punched you with it, you'd be in real trouble, but somehow... there's got to be a better way to use it."
"Enough already," Jiraiya said.
He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Naruto reseal the [Amaterasu] back inside himself.
The two elder frogs jumped down from his shoulders, and Jiraiya reverted back to his normal form.
"You've only scratched the surface of what I'm going to teach you," he said seriously. "Next, you'll be learning Sage Mode. I hope that little spar just now warmed you up, because the training ahead will be extremely tough."
******
Sai and Maki kept a close watch on Tamako as instructed by Naruto.
To Maki, Tamako seemed to be in high spirits, but Sai, who had been with Naruto for many years, felt there was something off about her.
"Tamako, is something bothering you? Ever since we left Kumogakure, you've seemed distracted."
Tamako turned to look at Sai, giving a bright smile, though it didn't quite reach her eyes.
"No, Sai, I'm fine. It's just... things are getting kind of... scary, honestly? We found out so many terrifying things, and now Naruto-sama has to face everything alone. And me... I can't do anything to help."
"Naruto-senpai isn't facing this alone," Maki declared confidently, crossing her arms, her gaze unwavering.
"There's also Senior Sai, Danzo-sama, Master Jiraiya, and Lady Hokage..."
Tamako was silent for a moment before walking over and giving Maki a tight hug. The sudden gesture of affection caught Maki completely off guard—she wasn't used to being hugged.
"Thank you so much, Miss Maki. I'm truly grateful that someone like you is by Naruto-sama's side, watching over him. How did you two meet, Naruto-kun? He's never told me anything about it."
After pulling away from the hug, Tamako quickly recomposed herself and asked curiously.
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