Chapter 81: The Results
Disclaimer: Naruto and all of its characters belong to Shueisha and Masashi Kishimoto. I own nothing but the original characters I create.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 81: The Results
Three weeks later.
Naruto heard the crunching sound of dry leaves being stepped on and knew that someone was approaching.
He opened his eyes and saw a middle-aged man staring at him with an amused expression on his face.
"Did you have a good nap, Naruto?" the man asked.
"Do we know each other?" He was sure he had never seen this man before.
He would remember meeting someone with such a peculiar appearance. The man had a massive head of pure white hair and wore an old-style kimono in dark green with a red sleeveless jacket on top.
"You really don't know who I am? Do they not teach history anymore at the academy?" he grumbled.
"I don't recall much of my academy days," Naruto told the man. "Perhaps you can tell me your name. That would help."
"Right…Sensei did mention your amnesia… Very well, I will tell you my glorious name!" He struck a dramatic pose.
"What is this?" Naruto wondered if someone had sent a buffoon to bother him during his training. But…something told him that this man was more than he seemed.
"I am the Legendary Jiraiya of the Sannin!" he proclaimed loudly.
Naruto stood up immediately, his demeanor changing to full alert.
"Sannin?...."
Jiraiya noticed this and made a calming gesture with his hands.
"Whoa, calm down. I didn't come here to fight you. I was sent by the Hokage."
"And I'm supposed to trust you just because you mentioned the Hokage? If he really sent you to me, then you must know that I had a recent encounter with one of your friends…and it was not a pleasant one."
Jiraiya's eyes narrowed, and his attitude suddenly changed.
"I can overlook a lot of things, but don't ever call 'that man' my friend again. Orochimaru is nothing more than a stain in Konoha's history… and one day, I will succeed in hunting him down."
"Oh?..." Naruto could not sense any deceit in his words.
"Fine, I can believe you are not allied with that other Sannin…but that doesn't mean I trust you."
"You are a very cautious boy… What the hell happened to you? Last time I saw you…nevermind." Jiraiya decided not to get into that. After all, he had seen Naruto a few times in the past when he had visited Konoha, but he never appeared in front of the boy…he didn't want to get too close.
"You still haven't told me why you are here…I'm sure the Hokage would not have sent a Sannin just to check on me," Naruto said.
"Of course not," Jiraiya replied. The truth was that he had been keeping an eye on Naruto for over a week.
He was truly startled when he didn't see him move from his sitting position for an entire day. But his vitals always seemed to be okay, so he didn't interrupt his meditation.
"But first, I would like to ask you something…what have you been doing for the past three weeks?" the Sannin asked.
"Training," Naruto simply told him.
"That was a very peculiar way of training…" Jiraiya pointed out.
"Everyone has their ways," Naruto answered.
"Tsk…what an annoying brat…" He was getting frustrated by the lack of proper answers, but it was obvious that the boy didn't trust him at all, so he wasn't going to get much from him.
"Fine…I'll tell you why I came to see you. I don't know how much you have been told, but…after your stunt in the Forest of Death, the Hokage sent me an urgent call. He wanted me to check the state of your seal."
"Kakashi did mention a Fūinjutsu master…is that you?"
"Indeed! Among my many incredible talents, I am a master in the art of seals."
"Mmm…" Naruto didn't seem very impressed. There was something about this man that he didn't like but couldn't yet figure out what it was.
"Come on, take off your robes, and let me take a look… Why are you looking at me like that?" Jiraiya frowned.
"I still don't trust you…"
"Oh, for crying out loud! I already told you I am one of the Sannin! If I wanted to harm you, it would be so easy!" Jiraiya exclaimed.
"It wouldn't be that easy…." Naruto muttered.
"But you do have a point…" He opened his robes and took them off, leaving himself in just the shorts he had underneath.
"What the…" Jiraiya stared in disbelief at Naruto's body.
His muscles were all defined to an almost impossible degree.
This was the body of someone who spent most of their waking day doing physical work, not of someone who spent three weeks sitting beneath a tree.
What Jiraiya didn't know was that this was the result of Naruto's major breakthrough.
After completing the Body Forging Stage to perfection, he was left with a body that went beyond what was normally possible to achieve with mere martial training.
Every second he spent refining his body with his chakra was the equivalent of spending hours in intense workouts.
But the external appearance was merely a side effect. The real benefits were his immense improvement in strength and speed, as well as his physical resistance to damage.
His skin was almost as tough as copper and would resist the impact of most normal weapons with no more than some superficial scratches.
His bones were also many times more resistant than before and would be very difficult to break.
His body was now ready to begin the next stage…the Qi Refining.
"Would you stop staring so much?… I'm not interested in old men, you know?"
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