Chapter no.99 Keep your Friends Close and your Enemies Closer (Patreon)

The smell of food drifted through the air. Naruto wrinkled his nose, half awake, and stretched out an arm. His hand found Oscar's tail, and without much thought he scooped the little lizard up like a stuffed animal. Still dragging his companion, he stumbled toward the source of the smell.

The sight that greeted him almost made him laugh out loud. Jiraiya stood in the kitchen wearing a bright pink apron with the words Give love to this chef across the front. Plates of food covered the table: rice balls stacked like a small mountain, grilled fish, miso soup, eggs, and bowls of pickles. Jiraiya was carefully arranging the last plate as if he had not spent the night writing smut in secret.

"Clean up first," Jiraiya said over his shoulder when he saw Naruto, his voice gruff in the way of someone pretending he had not just cooked enough food for twenty people.

Naruto yawned, rubbed his eyes, and trudged to the bathroom while Oscar dangled lazily from his hand. A moment later Jiraiya heard the sound of running water. That was normal enough. Then, without warning, the entire house shook with a dull boom. Dense chakra flared in every direction, and a wave of heat rolled through the walls.

Jiraiya dropped the chopsticks he had been holding and sprinted for the bathroom. He kicked the door open to find the shower curtain in flames, the walls scorched black, and the bathtub hissing as water boiled furiously. Steam filled the room so thickly that it blurred his vision, but there in the middle of the ruined tub sat Naruto while Oscar floated on his back like a smug little king.

"What the hell did you do, brat?" Jiraiya shouted, his jaw slack.

Naruto blinked at him as if the answer were obvious. "I wanted a hot bath, so I filled the tub and used Fireball Jutsu on it."

"You destroyed the bathroom just to warm up some water?"

Naruto grinned. "It was worth it."

As if to mock that statement, the cracked tub gave a final groan before splitting into several pieces. Water spilled across the tiles, and Naruto and Oscar landed flat on the floor in a heap. The boy was stark naked, the lizard still sprawled proudly across his stomach.

Jiraiya pinched the bridge of his nose. "Still worth it?"

"Get out, you damn pervert!" Naruto barked, turning red.

Rolling his eyes, Jiraiya muttered, "Fine, but clean it up and come eat before everything gets cold." He shut the door, shaking his head.

Naruto sighed as he stood, dripping water everywhere. "Guess I need to work on chakra control more. But once I get it right, hot baths every day."

Oscar chirped approvingly.

Naruto crouched beside the shattered remains of the tub and reached into his bag. His sorcerer's catalyst shimmered into his hand, humming faintly with energy. "A repair spell should do the trick," he said, tapping the broken porcelain.

The lizard let out another small sound.

"Patience, buddy. You will get your hot bath," Naruto replied. He closed his eyes, focused, and began to chant softly.

Fifteen minutes later, the boy emerged from the bathroom wrapped in a steaming towel, with a smaller towel draped over Oscar like a miniature turban. Both looked immensely satisfied.

Jiraiya glanced up from the table and nearly dropped his tea. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of the bathroom. It looked pristine. The walls gleamed, the tub shone, and there was no sign of flame, scorch, or shattered porcelain. It was as if the whole disaster had been a dream.

Jiraiya pointed with his chopsticks. "How?" It was the only word he managed.

Naruto smirked. "Magic." He clapped his hands together, shouted Itadakimasu! and dove headfirst into the mountain of food.

The old sage wondered if Naruto had used the word magic to hide some secret, but remembering what Kakashi had said about the boy's honesty, he considered it might simply be another skill.

"So, did that place called Lordran teach you how to fix things like that?" Jiraiya asked.

Naruto nodded quickly, his cheeks puffed out with food.

Jiraiya leaned back with a sigh, rubbing his temple. "Being with you is like an acid trip," he muttered, then reached for his own bowl of rice.

The next few minutes passed in quiet as Naruto and Jiraiya ate. Chopsticks clicked softly against bowls, soup steamed in the air, and Oscar tried sneaking bites whenever Naruto was not looking. The little lizard made a face at pickled radish, spat out a piece of grilled fish, then gave up entirely and went back to chomping on the broken sword.

Naruto stuffed rice into his mouth at a speed that made it clear he was racing against no one but himself. He reached for a third rice ball before Jiraiya even finished his first bowl. The older man watched him for a while, then shook his head with a small chuckle.

"You know, you eat like your mother."

Naruto blinked, halfway through chewing. "Huh?"

"She was the same way. Always trying to cram down as much food as she could, as if every meal was her last. She said she needed the energy before she threw herself into training. Back then, she had only one dream. She wanted to become Hokage."

Naruto froze with chopsticks still raised. His blue eyes widened. "Mom… wanted to be Hokage?"

"That's right. She was from Uzushiogakure. When she first came to Konoha, she didn't fit in. Too different. Too loud. Too stubborn. So she made a vow: she would stand out on her own terms. On her very first day of class, she stood up in front of everyone and declared that she would become the first female Hokage. The other kids laughed at her. They called her Tomato, because of her round cheeks and bright red hair. They teased her mercilessly."

Naruto's fists clenched slightly, but Jiraiya kept going.

"Instead of letting it break her, she fought back. And once her fists started flying, that red hair of hers floated around like fire. That is how she earned her true nickname. The Red Hot-Blooded Habanero."

For a moment Naruto could almost see her, a younger version of himself but as a girl and a ferocity that demanded respect. He felt his lips curve into the brightest smile he had worn in days. "She sounds amazing."

"She was."

"What about my dad? What was he like?"

"Your father," Jiraiya said with a sigh, "was a prodigy through and through. Born to a civilian family that was wiped out during the Second Shinobi War, he had nothing to lean on but his own ability. He entered the Academy and rose through the ranks faster than anyone expected. Minato was the kind of natural genius that shows up only once in a generation. But the thing about him was that he never acted like it. He was humble, kind. Annoyingly so, actually. And he had this irritating habit when it came to naming his techniques."

"What do you mean?"

"He came up with long, drawn-out names that made no sense. I'll give you an example. The Rasengan. Do you know what he first wanted to call it?"

Naruto leaned forward, curious.

Jiraiya groaned. "Halo Frozen Dessert Hair Whorl Jiraiya Twin Formula Sphere."

Naruto almost fell over laughing.

"I am not joking. That was the actual name he wanted. Your mother threatened to beat him if he didn't change it. She was the one who finally convinced him to just call it Rasengan."

Naruto chuckled so hard tears pricked the corners of his eyes. Oscar chirped and nudged him with his snout as if egging him on.

"What's with the lizard?"

"Oh, nothing," Naruto said, grinning. "Oscar's just pointing out how I'm my father's son."

"And how exactly are you like him?"

Naruto tapped his chopsticks against the table with a smug look. "Whenever I create a new jutsu, I always pick a name that's long and complicated. A name that explains exactly what it does. That way, when someone hears it, they immediately know what kind of power they're up against. It's like strategy. A long name intimidates the enemy, makes them hesitate, makes them second-guess. And besides," he added with a proud nod, "it sounds cooler that way."

For a moment, Jiraiya stared at him. The way Naruto argued, the tone of his voice, the conviction in his eyes. It was like watching Minato all over again.

Then the old sage burst out laughing. "Gods, your father gave the exact same ridiculous excuse."

Naruto puffed out his chest. "Great minds think alike."

"Keep telling yourself that, brat," Jiraiya said, still chuckling. He started gathering the dishes and carried them toward the sink.

Naruto leaned back and rubbed his stomach, but then his expression grew thoughtful. His voice softened when he asked, "Hey, Pervy Sage… how close were you to my parents?"

The clink of porcelain stopped.

"You know," Jiraiya said after a long stretch of silence, "before I wrote my Icha Icha novels, I tried something else. Something different."

Naruto raised a brow, still chewing.

"It was a simple story. A novel about a wandering shinobi who dreamed of bringing peace to a world torn apart by war. Nothing flashy, no steamy romances, just one man carrying his ideals wherever he went. I called it The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi."

There was a faraway look in the sage's eyes as he spoke. "It didn't sell. Hardly anyone cared about it. But I always held onto it, even when I pretended I didn't. It was… important to me."

Naruto wondered. Why bring this up now? What does it have to do with my parents? Was it because that book is the reason they started talking in the first place? Either they bonded over it, or…

"What was the name of the main character?"

Jiraiya hesitated for the briefest moment, then answered, "Naruto."

Oscar let out a little squeak that almost sounded like a gasp.

"Wait. My parents named me after your book's protagonist?"

"Yeah," Jiraiya said quietly. "Kushina and Minato both hoped their son would grow up with the same determination as the character. The same guts. And… maybe the same heart as the man who wrote him. I tried to talk them out of it. Told them that if they did, it would make me your godfather. But Minato and Kushina were stubborn. They said it was perfect. They said it was meant to be."

The room went still.

"With how close you were to my parents… why didn't you ever try to be there for me?"

The question hung in the air like a blade. If not for the silence, Jiraiya might have missed it altogether.

"Come on, Naruto. I'm a hermit. Not exactly the fatherly type."

"Please," Naruto pressed. "Don't dodge it. I want a real answer."

Jiraiya's shoulders stiffened. For a long moment, he said nothing. Finally, with a heavy sigh, he began to speak. "I'm not just a wandering sage. I'm the head of Konoha's spy network. Every week I move from village to town to city. Sometimes I sleep under bridges. Sometimes in enemy territory. My life has been nothing but danger. Every step I take, there's a chance I won't come back. You think that's the kind of life I could drag a child into?"

"I don't get it. You're the great Toad Sage, right? Couldn't you have done something?"

Jiraiya clenched his hand. "The world sees Jiraiya the Gallant. One of the Legendary Sannin. But when I look in the mirror, I don't see that man. I see someone who never got over his first love. Someone who was too much of a coward to settle down because he knew he couldn't love anyone else the same way. Someone who watched his students die while he lived on. Someone who wasted ten years chasing a monster that used to be his best friend."

His voice cracked on the last words. "And someone who has failed… time and time again."

The silence was suffocating.

"I'm sorry… alright?" Jiraiya's voice cracked as his eyes were glassy, and for once, the great Toad Sage looked like nothing more than a tired old man. "I couldn't do it. I couldn't take on another child when I already knew I would fail. I've failed too many times… Nagato, Yahiko, Konan… even Minato."

Without a word, Naruto picked up his empty cup and carried it to the sink. He placed it down gently, the sound soft but deliberate. Then he turned the faucet on, letting the running water break the heavy quiet.

He didn't look at Jiraiya. "Sponge is here. You wash. I'll rinse."

Jiraiya blinked, surprised, but slowly reached for the sponge. Wordlessly, they began working side by side. Naruto rinsed each dish and set it on Oscar's back, the little lizard chirping as if proud to serve as a moving dish rack.

"You know… whenever I was in a bad mood from school, when the teachers scolded me or the kids bullied me, I'd come home and do the dishes. Don't ask me why. I just… felt calmer afterward. Like the world made a little more sense when the sink was empty."

Jiraiya didn't respond. He just kept washing, his big hands scrubbing slowly, carefully, until the sink was bare.

Naruto grabbed a towel and held it out.

The sage accepted it, drying his hands in silence.

"Did you ever think of me? On your travels?"

The question hit heavier than the last. Jiraiya froze, staring at the towel in his hands.

"Whenever I saw little children playing," Jiraiya admitted, "my mind always wandered to you."

"Then couldn't you have at least visited? Once. Just once. To let me know that I wasn't completely alone?"

Jiraiya hesitated before nodding slowly. "I tried once. You were five years old. I remember this little kid who had wandered off from the orphanage. He was staring at a frog-shaped wallet like it was the most amazing thing in the world."

Naruto's eyes widened. "No way."

The memory hit him like a hammer. He could see it clearly now: a giant of a man looming over him, kind eyes that he couldn't quite place, buying him that silly frog wallet and then walking him back to the orphanage. A core memory he had buried deep because the man's face had slipped away with time.

"That was me," Jiraiya said, confirming it. "And when I handed you back to the matron, I thought about taking you with me. I really did. But in that moment I knew something… I knew that if I became part of your life, I wouldn't be able to leave. I'd want to watch you grow up. I'd want to see every step you took, every stupid mistake you made, every little victory. I'd want to… be there. And I was terrified, Naruto. Terrified that if I made that choice, I would fail you the same way I failed everyone else."

Naruto sighed, reaching into his pocket. He pulled out a smoking pipe from his inventory, packed with a faintly glowing green blossom. He lit it with a snap of fire chakra, inhaled deeply, and then exhaled a slow plume of shimmering emerald smoke. The cloud curled in the air like drifting leaves, carrying a faint floral scent that clung to the room. His eyes half-lidded, his face calmed.

Jiraiya's nose twitched as the smoke brushed against him. His eyes narrowed. "You shouldn't smoke. That's not some normal herb, brat. I can feel the rush of chakra rolling off it."

"So now you want to be part of my life, huh?"

The sage scratched the back of his head, suddenly awkward. "It's your choice, brat. If you don't want me around, I'll disappear and you'll never see me again. But…" His voice paused, not sure if he should say it.

"You know, pervy sage, you can just say you want to be in my life."

Jiraiya's lips trembled. "Do I deserve it?"

"No." Naruto didn't even hesitate.

Jiraiya's head dropped, his heart sinking like a stone.

"But…" Naruto added, his tone gentler, "I'm the one who decides if I want you in my life. And I do."

"Why? After everything?"

Naruto leaned back, blowing another plume of green smoke toward the ceiling. "Just because I want to. That's it. No grand reason. No big philosophy. I just… want you around."

Jiraiya rubbed at his eyes, chuckling bitterly before shaking his head. "Thanks, kid. Honestly, you're more mature than me. If our places were swapped, I would've kicked the current me out the door."

Naruto grinned faintly. "Oh, I'm definitely considering it. Unless you teach me a jutsu."

"Really? Didn't I already teach you the Rasengan?"

"You didn't teach me," Naruto corrected smugly. "I figured it out myself. You just stood there and looked impressed while my high intelligence worked."

"Oi, I helped you stabilize the technique!" Jiraiya shot back.

"Doesn't count. You still owe me a proper jutsu."

Jiraiya groaned. "Fine, fine. But first, what's the plan for that hair of yours? You gonna cut it?"

Naruto shook his head, brushing a hand through his wild crimson locks. "No way. I like my long hair. Besides, I'm wondering if I can use it like you described my mom's hair. Red and fierce, flying around like fire. That would be cool."

Jiraiya's grin stretched ear to ear. "Then I have the perfect jutsu for you."

"Perfect, huh?"

Without warning, Jiraiya's hair began to writhe and grow, thick strands spilling down his back like a mane. The locks twisted and lengthened, until they fanned out wildly around him. He stomped once, spreading his arms in a dramatic pose, and struck a stance. His voice boomed with theatrical pride.

"Jiraiya the Gallant's ultimate art of the Raging Lion's Mane!"

The Art of the Raging Lion's Mane was not a technique that could be explained with a few casual words. At least, not the way Jiraiya did it.

"The trick," Jiraiya began, standing tall with his hands folded behind his back, "is to enhance the metabolism in your scalp with chakra. The follicles speed up, the hair grows rapidly, and at the same time chakra is threaded through every strand. That chakra hardens it, turning hair into something like steel wire. Tough enough to shred wood, pierce stone, and maybe even stop blades. And when you bundle it together…" He snapped his fingers and his mane rippled, twisting and swelling into a thick, bristling mass. "...the strength multiplies. Destructive power and defense in one package."

They had wandered to a lonely training field, an open plain where the grass swayed and the air smelled faintly of pine.

Jiraiya's hair began to writhe. With a sharp motion of his neck, he flung his mane forward. The white locks surged like a living beast, weaving themselves into the snarling visage of a lion. Its massive jaws clamped down on a nearby tree with a crunch, splitting it clean in half before tossing the top portion aside like a discarded toy.

Naruto rubbed his chin, his mind already racing in directions Jiraiya could never predict. "Okay, pervy sage, I've got a serious question. Could you… maybe… use this jutsu to make a bald guy not bald anymore?"

"What kind of question is that?"

"It's important!" Naruto insisted.

"I—no… maybe? How should I know!" Jiraiya barked, rubbing at his temple. "That's not what this jutsu was made for, so quit wasting my time with dumb questions."

"Okay, another question. Can I use this jutsu to style my hair?"

Jiraiya lowered his eyelids and gave the boy a flat stare. He pinched the bridge of his nose as if the question alone was giving him a headache. "In theory, sure. If you manage to get enough control over it, you could use the technique for styling. But that is not what it was meant for."

Naruto shot his fist into the air. "Yes!"

"Alright, brat. What exactly are you planning?"

Naruto leaned forward, rubbing his palms together with a conspiratorial smirk. "Picture this. I'm talking to someone, and every time they blink, my hair is different. Spiky one second, straight the next, then maybe a bowl cut or even a ponytail. Just small changes at first. They keep blinking, the styles keep changing, and I keep acting totally normal like nothing's wrong. Before long, they start wondering if they're losing their mind. It would drive them crazy."

His laughter came out in a sly chuckle, as though he had just crafted the perfect prank in all of shinobi history.

Jiraiya stared at him in disbelief, his mouth twitching between a frown and a smile. Finally, he shook his head. "That is really your grand plan for a jutsu this dangerous? Hairstyle pranks?"

"Yep!" Naruto said brightly, his face full of pride and not a hint of shame.

"You really are something else, kid. If that's what you want to do with this jutsu, you're going to need a lot of practice. A prank like that takes more control than you think. But before you start driving people insane with your hair tricks, let's actually go over the basics."

The Sannin pressed two fingers against his scalp. "Step one, you have to stimulate the follicles directly with chakra. You're telling your body to grow hair faster and harder than it ever should. That means you need to know exactly how to flow chakra into your skin without wasting energy."

Naruto nodded.

"Step two," Jiraiya continued, drawing his fingers apart, "is learning to channel chakra through each strand. Watch closely."

Between his fingers, thin filaments of light appeared as chakra strings.

Naruto snapped his fingers. "Oh, I get it now! I'll be channeling chakra into strings and weaving them into my hair. Then I can move each strand however I want!"

Jiraiya nodded slowly, pleased that the boy had grasped the core idea so quickly.

But Naruto's thoughts were already racing far beyond the basics. "Wait a second. If that's how it works, then couldn't you use this jutsu to make a ton of other jutsu? You could make your hair into a third hand! You could stretch it out into ropes to grab people! Or turn it into spikes to pierce through enemies! Or maybe even…."

"Hold it, brat." Jiraiya raised a hand, cutting off the stream of wild ideas before they could multiply any further. "What you're describing are derivatives of the Lion's Mane. And yes, theoretically, you could do all that. But the level of mastery required is beyond insane. Do you know why you can't just start shaping your hair into whatever you want?"

Naruto was eager for the answer.

"It goes back to that prank idea of yours," Jiraiya explained patiently. "The human head has between eighty thousand and a hundred fifty thousand hairs on average. That means, in order to move every strand individually, you'd need to make thousands of chakra strings. Not thick ones either. Thin, precise, delicate threads of chakra, each tied to a strand of hair. The control required for that level of manipulation would make most shinobi give up before they even started."

"So that's why you bundle the hair together, right? To make it easier to control?"

"Exactly. But even then, the kind of control I'm talking about is brutal. I would wager that even the best puppet masters in Suna would throw up their hands and quit before trying to pull it off."

Naruto's eyes gleamed with challenge. In a puff of smoke, the field was suddenly filled with hundreds of shadow clones. "Alright, guys, are we about to give up?"

The clones all shouted in unison, "No!"

"Are we going to let anyone deny us our right to prank?"

"Never!" the clones roared, their voices shaking the open plain.

Naruto thrust his fist into the air. "Then we will train like we have never trained before! We will master this jutsu! We will make the impossible possible! And we'll do it together!"

"Dattebayo!" the sea of Narutos bellowed, their cry echoing across the field like a battle chant.

The original Naruto turned to Jiraiya with a satisfied nod, patting him on the shoulder as though the old sage were simply a bystander in some grand revolution. "All yours, sensei. Teach us everything."

Jiraiya stood frozen for a moment, completely stunned at the sheer madness of what he was witnessing. Hundreds of Narutos, all burning with determination, all fired up to master a jutsu… just for a prank.

"All this… for a prank. Can you believe it?"

From his perch on Naruto's shoulder, Oscar chirped once, a sound that clearly meant yes.

"Fine. Have it your way. Listen up, you knuckleheads! If you're serious about this, then we start with the fundamentals. First, the hand signs. Second, the chakra flow. Third, control. Without those, you'll never manage even a single hair spike."

The training field had turned into chaos. Clones darted in every direction, hair sprouting and whipping around like a storm of red ropes. Each success was met with thunderous cheering from the duplicates, the sound rolling across the plains until it felt like an entire stadium had come to watch. Jiraiya rubbed his head, muttering about headaches. He raised his voice above the noise and began directing the army of Narutos like a conductor leading an orchestra.

The sun climbed higher, turning the open field into a blazing oven. Clones winked out of existence in rapid succession, puffs of smoke rising and dissipating as they collapsed from mistakes in chakra control. The stubborn ones pressed on, hair quivering, stretching, or tangling into awkward knots before failing. Jiraiya barked corrections, adjusted postures, and occasionally rapped a clone on the skull when it lost focus.

By late afternoon, the battlefield looked like a warzone. Stumps were hacked apart, branches hung broken, and stray tufts of crimson hair littered the dirt in soft piles.

Finally, the original planted his hands together and growled through clenched teeth. "Okay, Pervy Sage, this is the last time I'm doing this today!" He surged with chakra, sending it flowing into his hair. The strands lengthened and writhed, lashing out with force until they thickened into a mane. With a final roar, his hair took the form of a lion's head and slammed into the ground, gouging a deep scar into the earth.

Naruto collapsed onto one knee, chest heaving, but a grin spread across his face. He had done it.

Oscar and Jiraiya clapped in approval.

"I have to hand it to you, brat," the old sage said. "I didn't expect you to pull off that technique in one day. But your Shadow Clone method and that sharp intelligence of yours… that's a dangerous combination."

Naruto flashed a shaky thumbs-up before flopping flat onto his back beneath a broad oak. His arms stretched out as though he were making an imprint in the dirt, his chest rising and falling with exhaustion.

"I'm curious about something," Jiraiya said after a pause.

"Too tired."

Jiraiya ignored the complaint. "Why are you so obsessed with jutsu?"

Naruto cracked one eye open, confusion etched into his expression. Oscar climbed onto his chest and then to his face, the cold body pressing against Naruto's skin.

"Kakashi says he owes you a couple, you swiped one from the Hyūga clan, and now you have mine."

"…And?" Naruto's reply came muffled with Oscar pressed against his face.

"Kid, having more jutsu doesn't automatically make you strong."

Naruto shifted Oscar to the side and stared up at the swaying branches above him. "It's not about being strong. In Lordran, I collected so many swords, shields, and pieces of armor I never actually used. Sometimes I'd find something and feel like I had to grab it, even if it went straight into storage."

"So you're just hoarding techniques the same way you hoarded weapons?"

Naruto hesitated. "I can't really explain it. When I see a jutsu, something in me screams that if I don't take it, if I don't make it mine, I'm failing somehow. It feels like it'll matter down the line, even if I never use it once. Call it instinct, call it kleptomania, call it whatever you want. But after Lordran, that feeling has been carved into me. I can't ignore it."

Jiraiya studied him for a moment, then sighed. "Alright, alright. I'll get you something to cool off."

He disappeared into the village and returned a few minutes later holding a pale blue twin-stick popsicle, the kind that shimmered in the heat. He stopped when he saw Naruto still sprawled beneath the oak, Oscar perched on his head.

"You're still not sweating," Jiraiya remarked as he broke the popsicle cleanly in two. His voice was casual, but his eyes lingered on Naruto's skin, dry and strangely calm despite the hours spent training under the merciless sun.

Naruto cracked an eye open just as Jiraiya snapped the ice pop in two with an easy twist. He handed one half to the boy.

"Thanks, Pervy Sage. You're a lifesaver," Naruto said gratefully. He bit into the frozen treat with enthusiasm, chewing quickly until nothing was left but the smooth wooden stick. He handed the cool stick to Oscar, as the chill seeped into his scales.

"Normally, people sweat to regulate body heat. Your body seems to have skipped that step entirely."

"Yeah. I think my sweat glands stopped working after I became half dragon."

Jiraiya tilted his head, intrigued. "Half dragon. Kakashi mentioned that before, but never explained it in detail. Tell me more."

Naruto explained the hawk eyes and applied the same concept to the dragon scale, with the curse mark playing only a minor role.

Jiraiya listened carefully, his gaze narrowing. "So do you believe it was fate that made you this way?"

"If it was fate, then nothing I did would matter. But that's not how it happened. There are so many moments where things could have gone differently. I could have rung the First Bell of Awakening. I could have met Oswald and had him fix my cursed arm during the Wave mission. If I had taken just one different path, I would not be sitting here like this. It is not fate. It is more like a series of dominoes falling. One thing led to another, and here I am."

For a moment, silence hung between them.

"So. Lordran has dragons?"

"Used to," Naruto corrected. "A long time ago, before the Four Lords of Lordran went to war with them. The everlasting dragons were wiped out. What remains are only lesser versions. They are dangerous, but they are not true dragons. Those are gone forever."

Jiraiya drew in a slow breath, the sound heavy in the still air. His eyes stayed fixed on the boy in front of him. "Naruto. Is there a possibility you could stop going to Lordran?"

Naruto laughed immediately, the sound bright and careless. Oscar joined in with a chirp that almost sounded like a giggle. The boy wiped his eyes as though Jiraiya had told a joke. "That's a good one, Pervy Sage."

But Jiraiya did not laugh.

Naruto's laughter faltered. He glanced at Oscar. The bird turned its head to meet his gaze, and the two shared a moment of puzzled stillness.

"Wait," Naruto said at last, his voice uncertain. "You're serious?"

"Yes, Naruto. I am completely serious."

The boy blinked, the smile vanishing from his face. "Well, I am not going to abandon Lordran. That is just not happening. But fine. I will listen to what you have to say."

"Good. Then let me explain it in a way that will make sense to you."

"Go ahead," Naruto said, settling himself more firmly against the tree trunk.

"My very first novel… the idea for it did not come from my own imagination. It came from a prophecy that I once received from the Great Toad Sage."

Naruto tilted his head in confusion. "Okay, hold on. Who is this Great Toad Sage you are talking about?"

"He is one of the most ancient beings in this world," Jiraiya replied. His tone was filled with respect, the weight of countless years pressing against his words. "He personally trained the Sage of Six Paths himself."

"Seriously? You are telling me this old toad trained the Sage of Six Paths? That makes him a pretty big deal then. Alright… so what exactly did he prophesy?"

"He told me that I would one day train a student who would change the entire world. That student would either bring about great peace… or they would cast everything into destruction." He let out a long sigh. "For many years, I believed that student was Minato. After Minato, I believed it was Nagato. But Minato is gone. And Nagato… Nagato also died."

"Okay, hold it right there. You are going way off track. What are you even talking about anymore?"

Jiraiya winced. "You are right. I am rambling. The point is this: I have always trusted the visions of the Great Toad Sage. I shaped much of my life chasing this prophecy, believing I would find the so-called child of destiny."

Naruto scoffed, waving his hand as if brushing the words away.

"What was that for?"

"I honestly think the whole prophecy is flawed," Naruto said. "You are putting the weight of the world on a single person's shoulders, and that just does not make sense. No matter how strong someone is, they cannot change human nature by themselves. People fight because they want different things. Even if one person managed to force peace, what happens after they are gone? What happens when the next generation disagrees, or when someone stronger shows up and decides to take advantage? One person cannot control greed, fear, or hatred forever. If peace is real, it has to come from everyone working for it, not from some chosen hero who fixes everything on their own."

"It is a dream, I know. But it is one I desperately wanted answered. How do you bring true peace to a world that has always been torn apart by conflict? That is the question I have carried with me through every war, every mission, every loss. But perhaps… perhaps I will never discover the answer."

"Why not?" Naruto asked.

"Because the Great Toad Sage has spoken again," Jiraiya said, his face solemn. "He told me that the first prophecy may still come true, but the future is shifting in ways that even he cannot clearly see. What he gave me this time was not a prophecy, but a warning. He said that a dragon will attack Konoha."

Naruto's entire body tensed. His mind flashed to Lordran, to the skeletal remains of undead dragons, the lightning-coated body of Stormrend, and the lesser dragons that had survived. The idea of one of those monsters descending upon the village sent a chill crawling up his spine.

But he forced himself to stay calm. "This dragon," he asked carefully, "is it supposed to come from Lordran?"

"I do not know," Jiraiya admitted. "It may not be connected at all. But the possibility is there. And knowing that dragons once lived in Lordran makes it feel like too much of a coincidence. In fact… it feels like the most dangerous coincidence I have ever heard."

"So what you are saying is… if I stop going to Lordran, that might stop this dragon from attacking Konoha?"

"That is right," Jiraiya said gravely.

Naruto immediately shook his head. "No way. I am not going to stop just because of a possibility. You yourself said the future can change. That means the very moment you told me about this warning, the timeline already shifted. You said it was dim, right? Well, I just made it dimmer by knowing."

Jiraiya's jaw tightened as though he wanted to argue.

Naruto leaned forward, his eyes blazing with determination. "Listen. If you are really that worried about a dragon attacking Konoha, then I will tell you this. It is my duty as a knight to slay it. That is why knights exist. To fight against dragons. To stand between monsters and the people they threaten. If a dragon comes for the village, then I will face it head-on, and I will protect Konoha. That is my answer."

For a moment, Jiraiya simply saw the face of Minato on Naruto's body because of those words. Then the older man let out a heavy sigh and pushed himself up to his feet. "I hope you are right about this, Naruto."

"So… is this goodbye for now?"

"Yes," Jiraiya said. "I need to return to the Hokage and make my report. After that, I will begin searching through my network for any information about Tsunade." He reached out and placed a large hand on Naruto's head, ruffling his hair. "Take care of yourself, Naruto."

"I will, Pervy Sage. Goodbye."

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

By the time the sun began to sink toward the horizon, Naruto and Oscar were making their way back home from the library.

Naruto carried one open in his hands as he read aloud while walking. Oscar trotted beside him, the second book clutched carefully in his gleaming jaws.

Naruto squinted at the pages. "And so the utterly gutsy ninja managed to bring peace to the world," he read aloud, his tone flat with disbelief. "The end."

He snapped the book shut and glanced at Oscar. "So, what did you think?" He reached down and plucked the second book from the lizard's mouth.

Oscar let out a series of metallic chimes and chirps, the sound sharp and unimpressed.

"Harsh," Naruto said with a short laugh. "I'd call it… okay. It's a bit shallow, doesn't really explore the world, but I guess it was fine for killing time on the walk."

Oscar trilled again, his notes higher this time.

"Oh, agreed. The romance was awful. Seriously, how the hell does Pervy Sage write smut if his romance in normal stories is this lame?"

They were still chuckling between themselves when they rounded the corner and froze. A crowd had gathered outside Naruto's house, men and women packed shoulder to shoulder, their faces bright with curiosity and awe. Some carried flowers, others just craned their necks to get a glimpse. It was as though a celebrity had returned home after years abroad.

Naruto's smile vanished. A dry, humorless chuckle escaped him instead. "What a joke. I was the demon to these people for years, their favorite scapegoat. And now, all of a sudden, I'm worth celebrating… just because they know who my dad was."

Oscar pressed close to his leg, trying to calm Naruto's rising temper.

Naruto didn't waste time. He took out the massive Tower Shield from his inventory and summoned a dozen Shadow Clones in a burst of white smoke. The clones rushed forward, shields in hand, shoving and muscling their way through the crowd. Yells and gasps erupted as people stumbled back, the makeshift phalanx clearing a direct path to Naruto's door.

Murmurs rippled through the gathering. Oscar shifted uneasily, his eyes darting back and forth. He did not like the way they stared at him.

Naruto ignored them. He reached into his pocket for his keys, but before he could fit them into the lock, a voice rose from the crowd.

"Hey! Are you Naruto Uzumaki?"

Another voice chimed in right after. "We came here just for you! The least you could do is greet us properly."

Naruto froze, his fingers tightening around the key. His grip became so strong that the metal doorknob crumpled and shattered in his hand. The sound of breaking metal made the nearest villagers flinch back, fear flashing in their eyes. Naruto stared down at the fragments, his expression blank but his heart burning with anger.

The audacity of them. These were the same people who had turned their backs on him, sneered at him, cursed his name, and spat when he walked by. For most of his life, he had been nothing but the container of a monster to them. Now, because of a title, because of bloodline and legacy, they gathered here to smile at him.

Naruto understood in that moment that he had never truly been human in their eyes. Not before, and not now. To them he was not a boy who struggled, bled, and endured but a symbol to cheer for when it suited them, and a scapegoat to despise when it did not. It was no different from the way people worshipped celebrities from a distance, praising the mask on stage while dismissing the person behind it.

A pulse of killing intent rippled out of him, laced with his draconic presence that hissed at the edge of perception. The crowd recoiled, gasping, as though a predator had just stepped into their midst.

Oscar chirped softly, concerned.

Naruto shook his head. "I am fine."

He brushed the bits of shattered metal from his palm as though they were only dust and pushed his door open. Without another glance at the villagers lingering behind him, he stepped inside. Oscar scurried close at his heels.

Naruto lowered himself to the couch and opened the second book to a section marked with a wooden slip of paper. The heading read Foundations of Konoha: The Deeds of the First Hokage. His eyes sharpened.

"Hey, Oscar. Look here," Naruto said, holding the book where the lizard could tilt his head to see. "Apparently the first homes in Konoha were not built by hand at all. They were created by Hashirama Senju's Wood Release. I thought it was just walls and trees, but he made houses. Real houses. Whole streets." His lips curved slowly into a smile.

Oscar lowered his head, as if considering the possibilities.

"You know what that means?" Naruto's smile widened. "Even though my parents' house is gone, the land is still there. What if I learned how to do that too? What if I used Wood Release not just for fighting, but for building?"

The crystal lizard gave a little gasp.

"Yeah," Naruto said, eyes bright now. "What if I built my own castle? Not just a house. A fortress, right there on my family's land. Wouldn't that be something?"

Oscar bounded in a circle, clearly delighted by the thought.

"And I could convince Anastacia, Andre, Siegmeyer, Rickert… and Sunbro to come live with us. A place for all of us. Not just me."

Oscar leapt straight into the air with a sharp chiming cry. Naruto grinned at the display, but the moment was interrupted by a knock at the door.

He sighed. "Never a moment's peace." Rising, he crossed the room and pulled the door open. On the other side stood a civilian woman with a young girl, perhaps six years old, clutching at her skirt.

Naruto's hand tightened on the edge of the door. He was ready to close it in their faces when the woman raised her hand.

"Please. Just a minute."

Naruto's mouth twitched with irritation, but he stepped back and nodded once. "One minute."

The woman exhaled in relief. "Thank you. You do not know me. There is no reason you should. But I was among the many civilians who survived the Kyūbi attack only because of the Fourth Hokage. He gave his life that night, and because of him, I was able to raise my daughter." She drew the girl closer, her voice trembling with emotion.

"Not to be rude, but why are you here?"

The woman swallowed. "Because I was also among those who turned my fear into cruelty. I was one of many who looked at you and saw only the beast, not the child who bore it. But with the truth revealed when the Third Hokage confirmed who your parents were, and the radio broadcast explaining the meaning of a jinchūriki… I realized what I had done. You were never the demon. You were its cage, its warden, and because of that, you have been the unsung hero of this village from the start." She bowed her head so low her hair brushed the floor. "And I am sorry."

Naruto froze in the doorway. He almost shut the door on it anyway, unwilling to let her spill tears across his floor. Then the girl stepped forward, holding out a wicker basket with small hands.

"I know an apology is not enough. And a basket of sweets is not enough. I do not even know what could be enough. But it is all I can offer."

Naruto took the basket. "Thanks for the treats. I was hungry anyway," he muttered. His words were flat, but inside him emotions stirred in ways he did not want to examine.

The little girl stared up at him. "My mom says you are a hero."

Naruto shrugged, his face unreadable.

"How did you become a hero?" she asked. "I want to be one too."

Naruto let out a sound halfway between a sigh and a laugh. "I ate a lot of vegetables and listened to my mom," he said, the bitter edge of his smile betraying the weight behind the words.

The girl gasped as if he had handed her a great secret. She turned to her mother. "Did you hear that? I am going to eat lots of vegetables when we get home. Then I can be a hero too."

Her mother nodded, voice thick. "Yes. Let us go home. Say goodbye to the hero."

The girl waved energetically. "Bye-bye!"

"Naruto-san, I know it is not my place to speak so boldly, but many people in Konoha are beginning to see you for what you truly are. A hero. Not only because you are the son of the Fourth, but because you bore the burden of being the cage to the Kyūbi and still lived. You carried something no one else could have."

"I honestly could not care less."

The words struck her like a slap. Her shoulders hunched as though she had been expecting it, yet the sting still landed. "I see," she said softly. "Then Konoha has long since failed you. Is there… is there any way the villagers could ever apologize to you properly? Any way to make it right?"

Naruto lowered his eyes. He stared at the basket in his hands, at the woven reeds and carefully wrapped sweets inside. For a long moment he did not speak. "I do not know," he admitted. His voice was low, almost weary.

The woman nodded, as though she had expected no other answer. She turned, taking her daughter's small hand in her own. They began to step away, but Naruto's voice stopped them.

"You know," he said. "When I was younger, I used to pull pranks. Loud, stupid things. I told myself I did it so the whole world would acknowledge me. I thought if everyone shouted my name, even if it was out of anger, it meant I was real to them. That I was not invisible."

The woman and her daughter turned back to him. The girl blinked up at him, wide-eyed, while the woman's face trembled with sorrow.

"But now that the village finally does acknowledge me," Naruto continued, "I have realized what I actually want. I do not need apologies. I do not need forgiveness. What happened to me in the past cannot be erased with words, and words alone mean nothing." His fists clenched at his sides, and he forced himself to meet the woman's eyes. "All I want is to be treated like a normal person. Not the Hokage's son. Not the Kyūbi's jailer. Not a demon. Just a guy. Just someone who can walk through the village and not feel the stares burning into him. If the people of Konoha want to make it right, then treat me like I am human."

His voice cracked faintly at the last word, but he held himself steady.

The woman covered her mouth with one hand, tears welling up again. Then she bowed deeply, pulling her daughter closer with the other hand. "I understand," she whispered. "I run a bakery near the south market. If you ever come by, I will treat you as nothing but a customer. I will tell you about our special taiyaki, the way I would tell anyone else. That is the only way I know how to begin doing what you asked."

For the first time in the entire conversation, Naruto's lips curved into a small smile.

The woman straightened, squeezed her daughter's hand, and began to walk away. Naruto stood in the doorway, watching them go. The little girl skipped beside her mother, chattering about vegetables and heroes. And in that moment, Naruto imagined what it might have been like if his own mother had been there to hold his hand, to listen to him blabber on about nothing and still smile as though it were the most important thing in the world.

At his feet, Oscar let out a soft sound. He pressed his glasslike head against Naruto's shin, as if to remind him he was not entirely alone.

Naruto reached down, absently brushing a hand across the lizard's faceted back. "Yeah," he murmured. "I guess that is a start."

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[ Item: The Red Letter ]
[ Description: A letter said to come from a friend. Within its words lies the promise of treasure, yet every boon bears a burden. To trust its sender is folly, yet to ignore it may be costlier still. ]

Naruto stared at the description as it hovered before his eyes. The phrasing was deliberately vague, but the malice was clear. Said to come from a friend. That alone set his teeth on edge. Whoever had sent this was hiding behind pretenses. He had already suspected as much. The Hawk claimed to have known his parents, claimed to have done what others could not, but nothing he said had matched what Jiraiya, Kakashi, or even the old man had told him. Those three actually knew Minato and Kushina. They had scars, regrets, and memories that bore weight. The Hawk's words had been too easy, too rehearsed, too convenient.

If it had been up to Naruto, he would have tossed the letter into a fire pit and scattered the ashes. But the system's warning sat heavy in his mind: Do not ignore it.

He turned the folded parchment over in his hands, thumb brushing against the wax seal.

"Should I open it?"

Oscar tilted his head and then resumed gnawing at a muffin. Somehow, that indifference eased the tightness in Naruto's chest.

"…Yeah, you're right. No use dragging it out."

He tore the seal and unfolded the letter. The inked words seemed almost too steady, too careful.

[ Naruto,

I see that you have upheld your end of the promise. It must not have been easy, but you did it. That shows strength… the strength of an Uzumaki. And as I swore, I return something precious to you. A picture of your mother. The woman who gave you life, who loved you more than anyone else in this world. Naruto, you deserve to know her face. To know her name. To know the bond that Hiruzen and the others have tried so hard to bury beneath lies. ]

Naruto's hands moved faster than thought, channeling chakra into the attached storage seal. The seal glowed and released its contents across the table in a neat cascade.

A few photographs. Another sealed letter. A scroll marked with the kanji for wind. Another unmarked scroll.

But Naruto saw none of it at first. His eyes locked onto the photo on top.

A woman stared back at him. Fair-skinned, slender, with the unmistakable shade of Uzumaki red falling straight down to her shins. Her violet eyes were bright even through the faded photograph, framed by shoulder-length strands tucked aside with a simple black clip. She wore a high-collared blouse under a long dress, a wristband at her arm, and shinobi sandals.

"…Mom's so pretty."

He held the photo toward Oscar. The crystal lizard paused in its endless chewing and gave a single solemn nod.

Naruto's hands trembled as he sifted through the rest. Another picture of Kushina in her academy days. One with her team, all standing stiff and proud in their old uniforms. Another, swollen belly cradled beneath her hands, joy blazing through the grainy black-and-white image.

Even through the old film, the love poured out like sunlight.

Naruto pressed the picture of her to his chest, eyes squeezed shut. "Thanks for having me, Mom."

Oscar rustled, then pushed the last piece of the muffin toward him. Naruto managed a small laugh as he ate the piece.

Then his gaze landed on the final photo.

This one showed both his parents. Minato's easy smile, Kushina's radiant warmth. But behind them stood another man.

His hair was shaggy and long, falling around eyes that were still normal brown in the picture. He wore the standard armor of the Second Shinobi War era: plates across chest and abdomen, shoulders bare, bandaged arms, kunai pouch at the waist, a Konoha forehead protector gleaming. He looked like any other veteran of that bloody time. Yet the way he stood behind them felt… off.

"…Is this the Hawk?"

Naruto studied the photo closely, his hawkeyes picking up details most would miss. At first it looked normal, but the longer he stared the clearer the trick became. Someone had spliced another picture over the original, hiding the truth beneath careful edits. Whoever did it wanted the lie to last. Naruto turned it over once more, then slipped it into his inventory as the system confirmed what he already knew.

[ Item: Altered Photo ]
[ Description: A photograph, marred and reshaped by unseen hands. Its distortion hides a truth, or perhaps forges a lie. Whatever purpose it serves, it is unlikely to be a kind one. ]

Whoever had planted this was playing a dangerous game.

The next thing Naruto opened was the unmarked letter. Most of it told him things about his mother he already knew, and he was ready to toss it aside until one line stopped him. Kushina had loved ramen. Really loved it. A small smile tugged at his lips. Looked like he had gotten more from her than just her temper and stubbornness.

He picked up the scroll with the wind kanji on it and unrolled it. Inside was an A-rank jutsu called Blade of the Wind. It was a short-range jutsu, basically an invisible blade that could slice through almost anything. Naruto ran his fingers over the parchment with a grin before tucking the move away in his mental arsenal.

"Now what exactly are you planning with all of this?"

The last item, a red envelope, pulsed faintly with chakra. The moment he cracked it open, a fuinjutsu seal flared. Smoke hissed into the air, and from it emerged something utterly unexpected.

A small creature stood where the letter had been, its form swaying with life. It was an elephantine chimera, no taller than his companion Oscar. Its skin was mostly pink, soft-looking and round, but its trunk and legs were darker, and stripes marked its feet like the paws of a tiger. Tiny tusks curled from its mouth, and intricate rings of color traced around its eyes.

The system's prompt followed.

[ Name: Munna ]
[ HP: 150/150 ]

The creature blinked up at him with wide eyes before its voice rang clear in his mind. "Hello."

"Yo."

"My name is Munna. I am a baku summon." The little chimera stepped closer, trunk reaching out to nudge his hand. The gesture was almost demanding, as if she expected him to pat her head. Naruto obliged with a single stroke, though his gaze slid to the side where Oscar crouched slightly, openly glaring at the new girl.

Naruto cleared his throat. "Right. And why are you here?"

Munna swayed on her feet. "My father told me I was to use our clan's dream jutsu on you."

"Dream jutsu? What's that supposed to do?"

"It is the signature technique of the baku," Munna explained in a sing-song tone. "Through it, one may enter a dream. In that dream, they can speak with others of the clan across any distance. It is how we carry words from one mind to another."

"So, the Hawk wants to talk to me."

Munna bobbed her head. "Yes. Shall I begin?"

Her small body began to sway, trunk curling in a rhythmic motion like the start of a dance. Pink light shimmered faintly at the edges of her form.

Naruto glanced toward Oscar. The crystal lizard clicked its jaws and flexed its claws against the tabletop. Naruto reached into his inventory and produced a blade, setting the Balder Side Sword onto the wood.

"Eat it," he ordered. His voice carried a quiet weight.

Oscar's eyes flashed as it nodded, lowering its head to the weapon, understanding that if Munna tried anything, the lizard would act without hesitation.

"Alright, Munna," Naruto said at last, turning his attention back to the chimera. "Go ahead."

A haze poured from her, rich and pink, spilling outward in curling tendrils. The mist wrapped around Naruto's body, sinking into his skin, seeping through his lungs. The edges of reality softened as if sleep had been forced upon him, and the last thing he saw was Oscar's silhouette, watching carefully as the world dissolved into dream.

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The dream unfolded around Naruto in a way that was both strange and unsettling. It was not a landscape in the usual sense, not trees or mountains or rivers, but a vast sea of drifting colors. Streaks of red rippled like paint spilled across water, gold shimmered in curling arcs, and violet clouds rolled lazily overhead. The ground beneath his feet had no texture at all, only shifting hues that pulsed faintly like a heartbeat. Every step seemed to ripple the entire world as if the colors themselves were alive.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" a voice called out.

Naruto looked up sharply. Standing before him was a man. At first glance, he seemed almost familiar. The features were clean, sharp, and strikingly similar to the hawk from the altered photo of his parents. He looked younger than Naruto expected, with only faint hints of age around his eyes, as if time itself had softened him.

That was what made Naruto's stomach twist. Normally, he would not question someone's appearance too harshly, but after everything he had seen, it was impossible not to notice the obvious. This man looked like someone lifted straight out of his parents' past, and Naruto knew why. Making himself appear young, trustworthy, almost nostalgic, was not an accident. It was another trick, another layer of manipulation designed to worm into his guard.

"You must be Hawk," Naruto said evenly, forcing his face into neutrality.

"Indeed. You may call me Shimura-san," the man answered with a polite bow.

[ Name: ??? Shimura ]
[ HP: ???? / ???? ]

Naruto raised his brows slightly at the system prompt. That's new, he thought while asking, "So, what's with this dream call?"

"Straight to the point," Danzo observed.

"Honestly, I'm tired. I'd rather be asleep for real," Naruto replied with a yawn, feigning disinterest.

"Then I will not waste your time," Danzo said, folding his hands behind his back. His tone carried the weight of a practiced speech. "With the revelation of your parentage, many shinobi villages are sending teams to the Chunin Exams this year. Most of them have their own agendas. Some plan to assassinate you. Others want to test whether you are worthy of your parents' legacy before deciding how to treat you."

Naruto nodded slowly. He could see the truth in that, though he kept his expression carefully blank.

"And as for Hiruzen," Danzo continued, his eyes narrowing, "he plans to use you as a stepping stone. To him, you are a tool for boosting Konoha's fame and economy. That old man has already stolen your parents' wealth, and now he intends to use your very existence to further his own ends."

Naruto gave a small gasp, but not for the reason Danzo expected. The words themselves rolled off him, but the technique behind them was as clear as day. This man was deliberately setting up a wedge, planting doubt in every corner. He wanted Naruto to recoil from Hiruzen, to feel betrayed, and to turn to him instead. The manipulation was so heavy-handed it was almost insulting.

"So what are we going to do about it?" 

"Going against the Hokage directly would be foolish. The village is his fortress. But I can give you what you need to survive. Strength, knowledge, and techniques that will keep you alive during the exams."

"That's why you gave me the Blade of Wind scroll?"

"Yes, it's a strong jutsu that can catch anyone off guard. Even the toughest shinobi can go down from a kunai in the back, but this jutsu is different. It's meant to push you and see what you're really capable of," Danzo said.

"A test?"

"Learn the jutsu as quickly as you can. Prove yourself. If you succeed, then I will begin granting you access to the Uzumaki clan's jutsu."

Naruto's eyes widened at the bait.

This was a leash being looped around his neck, plain as day. Danzo dangled his clan's legacy in front of him like a piece of meat, waiting to see how fast he would chase after it. Worse, he had not even set a proper deadline, leaving the condition vague on purpose. That way, Naruto would always feel like he was racing against invisible expectations, desperate to please a master who would never be satisfied.

"How do you even have those jutsu?"

Danzo's expression did not waver. "Your mother and father entrusted me with copies of their most precious techniques," he said smoothly, his tone soaked with feigned sincerity. "I am sure you have already asked Hiruzen for them. But he will never give them to you. He will dig into the Senju library, take what Uzumaki scrolls still remain, and claim that they were your parents' inheritance. Convenient, is it not, that the originals were supposedly destroyed during the Nine-Tails' attack?"

Naruto's teeth ground together, anger threatening to spill out, but he pulled it back with a slow inhale. His parents' legacy dangled in front of him, twisted into a bargaining chip. He could not afford to lose his temper here.

"All I have to do is learn this wind jutsu, right?"

"Yes. I expect you will not disappoint me."

Naruto caught it instantly. The subtle push, the framing of expectations. Danzo wanted him to crave his approval, to chase validation as if he were the only one who could grant it. The man was casting himself in the role of a trusted guardian, the one person closest to his parents' memory, the one who held their will.

"I see," Naruto muttered, careful not to give too much away.

"Now then, I am free to answer any of your questions."

Naruto was about to speak when his body began to flicker, his form shimmering like water about to break apart. "What's happening?"

"It seems someone is waking you," Danzo replied calmly.

Naruto let out a short laugh. "Oh, that would be Oscar. That little lizard gets pretty clingy." He gave a mocking grin. "Thanks for the jutsu, Shimura-san."

The dream shattered. Naruto gasped awake just in time to be tackled to the floor by a crystal lizard, Oscar's tail slapping across his face with enough force to rattle his teeth.

"I AM AWAKE, I AM AWAKE!" Naruto shouted, throwing up his hands as Oscar gave him another thwack just to make sure.

Munna cried out in alarm, her small elephant form bouncing on its feet. "What have you done? That could have been dangerous!"

Oscar turned his eyes on her, growling low and threatening.

Naruto pressed a hand gently to Oscar's crystalline back. "Sorry about that. Oscar gets a little unhinged if I don't shower him with love every two minutes." He turned his gaze on the lizard. "Now say you're sorry to Munna."

Oscar dipped his head reluctantly, though his tail slammed down, indicating that Munna had done something.

"Don't worry, buddy. I understand."

His eyes shifted to the status bar flickering in front of him.

[ Status: Memory Invasion (62%) ]

A chill ran down his spine. He did not need genius-level intelligence to piece it together. The dream was never a simple meeting. Danzo had not only been manipulating him with words, but had tried to reach directly into his memories. That explained the sweetness of his tone, the manufactured familiarity, the endless bait.

Naruto stood slowly, his gaze falling on Munna. The little elephant shuffled back, ears twitching, eyes wide with fear. Her instincts screamed that the boy before her was dangerous, and for a moment, she was not wrong.

But Naruto gave her a small smile and gently patted her head. "Go back to your summoning realm. And thank you for your help."

Munna nodded nervously and vanished in a puff of pink smoke.

Naruto let out a long, heavy breath. His fingers itched for the hilt of his blade, for the satisfaction of hunting down Shimura and cutting the hawk from the sky once and for all. But rage would get him nowhere. His mind returned to the description of the red letter, to the revelation that Danzo held Uzumaki clan techniques. That meant Naruto could not cut ties just yet. If Shimura wanted to play games, then Naruto would play them too.

"A hawk wants to hunt a dragon, huh?" Naruto muttered under his breath. He raised a hand and summoned the light of the Homeward Miracle, the golden glow wrapping around him as he prepared to return to Lordran.

The dragon would let the hawk soar for now, drifting high and proud. But when the sky no longer needed him, Naruto would clip the hawk's wings himself.

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Author Note:

Yay, we are finally heading back to Lordran after what feels like forever. I am honestly so excited to see how everyone is going to react when Naruto returns with red hair. Andre, Siegmeyer, and the rest of that cast are bound to have some priceless reactions, and I cannot wait to write those scenes.

Now, onto the Q and A that so many of you enjoy.

Question: Why did I have Jiraiya give Naruto the hair jutsu?

Answer: The simple truth is that I love Jiraiya. Not just as a character, but as a fighter. Out of all the mentors in Naruto, Jiraiya always stood out to me because of his creativity and versatility. He never fought in a boring way, and his arsenal of jutsu was so varied that every time he appeared in battle, you could expect something wild. That is why I was so disappointed after the time skip in canon. Naruto's growth in jutsu variety felt underwhelming. The kid trained under Jiraiya for years, yet his bag of tricks was incredibly small compared to what Jiraiya himself could pull off.

That is where the hair jutsu came in. Out of all of Jiraiya's techniques, the hair-based jutsu were always my personal favorites. They were quirky, distinct, and unlike the usual elemental ninjutsu we saw from everyone else. They had style. They had flavor. And they gave Jiraiya this strange, almost comical edge that worked perfectly with his personality. So when I thought about how to expand Naruto's toolset, I knew right away that this was the move I wanted to give him.

There was another reason, too. The prankster side of Naruto has been something I feel I have neglected in this story. Yes, I had him use firework science against the first Black Knight, but even then that was less about a prank and more about using a byproduct of prankster knowledge in a deadly situation. It was clever, but it did not capture that mischievous spark Naruto has at his core. With the hair jutsu, I finally had the opportunity to reintroduce that side of him. Because let's be honest, Naruto is exactly the kind of person who would go through all the effort of learning and mastering a jutsu only to use it in a prank. The image of him sweating through shadow clone training for months, just so he can pull off something harmless but hilarious, feels perfectly in line with who he is. That is classic Naruto.

So yes, the hair jutsu is both a combat option and a way to bring his prankster side back into the spotlight. Let me know what you think. Do you feel Naruto, with his determination, intelligence, and creative mind, could realistically pull this off? Or would you have given him a different one of Jiraiya's jutsu instead?

Question: Did Danzo canonically have Uzumaki clan jutsu?

This one is trickier. As far as I know, it has never been explicitly confirmed or denied in canon, but if you have a source that clears it up, let me know. For the purpose of this fanfic, however, I decided that Danzo having Uzumaki clan techniques adds something new and compelling to his role. In canon, he lurks in the shadows, pulling strings from the background, but here I wanted him to have a more direct presence in Naruto's life and story.

Question: How does Danzo have those jutsu in this version?

To me, it was fairly obvious. It was not the Nine-Tails that destroyed Minato and Kushina's home. It was Danzo who saw the chaos as an opportunity to raid their belongings. He would have taken whatever was valuable: scrolls, techniques, heirlooms, anything that could give him more power or leverage. Then he would make it seem as though everything had been lost to the Kyūbi attack. In the aftermath, no one would have questioned it. Everyone would assume it was just another tragedy piled onto that night.

Why did I make this choice? Because it opens the door for Danzo to play a more layered role. He becomes a figure who embodies both past and present corruption. He is the reason so much of Naruto's heritage was lost, and at the same time he positions himself as the only person who can restore pieces of that heritage to Naruto. It makes his manipulation that much sharper, because he is dangling stolen power in front of Naruto while pretending to be a benefactor. To me, that is far more interesting than Danzo staying in the shadows until the story needs him.

Question: What is the Blade of Wind jutsu, and why did Danzo give it to Naruto?

The Blade of Wind is actually one of the very few canon A-rank wind techniques we ever see in the series, and it comes from Baki of the Sand Village. The way it works is pretty straightforward but deadly: the user emits chakra from their fingertips and shapes it into an invisible blade of wind. Because the attack is literally unseen and razor precise, defending against it becomes almost impossible unless you have a perfect counter ready.

The best way to think of it is this: if the Sickle Weasel Technique is like tossing kunai, then the Blade of Wind is like drawing a longsword.

Question: Now, why did I choose this specific jutsu for Naruto when Danzo gave him something to test his ability?

Honestly, it was not an easy call. Danzo's arsenal in canon is full of wind techniques, and I originally toyed with the idea of making up a brand-new, horrifying jutsu for him to hand over. My first concept was a "Vacuum Cube," a technique that would generate a pocket of vacuum so intense that it would cause opponents' bodies to boil from the inside because of how the boiling point of fluids drops in a vacuum. Pretty brutal, right?

The idea behind that was simple: Danzo would be testing Naruto's character. Would Naruto use something that cruel if handed to him? Could Danzo measure the boy's morality through his willingness to wield a nightmare technique?

But as I played around with that thought, it didn't sit right with me. I didn't want to push Naruto down the path of cosmic horror-level jutsu. Instead, I wanted to highlight his creativity. That is where the Blade of Wind clicked into place.

On the surface, it is "just" an A-rank short-range jutsu. Not world-breaking, not overwhelmingly powerful. But that is exactly why it works so well for this story. Because the Blade of Wind is like raw clay. And Naruto's character is all about taking something simple and turning it into something incredible.

Think about it:

• What if Naruto extends its range from close combat to mid-range or even long-range?

• What if he changes its thickness, turning it into something that only makes shallow cuts for non-lethal fights, or into something broad and heavy for cleaving armor?

• Does it have to fire from his fingertips, or could he channel it through a kunai, a sword, or even his shield?

• Could he launch it in multiple directions at once to cover his blind spots?

• Is there a way to fire it from his back as a surprise move?

• What happens if he combines it with Dark Souls mechanics, like Nahr Alma's sigil that induces blood loss? Wind blades plus forced bleeding could be devastating.

Questions like these are where Naruto's intelligence shines. He would not just accept a jutsu as "what it is." He would pull it apart, test it, adapt it, and make it his own.

Question: What's your favorite part of this fanfic?

Honestly, it's the fact that Danzo went through the trouble of photoshopping his own picture just to manipulate Naruto.

I know the chapter explains it as him trying to trick Naruto into imagining a younger Danzo being close to his parents, but I can't help picturing him ordering Root shinobi to edit the photo so he looks younger and more muscular like he's trying to pass as an Instagram model. That image cracks me up every time.

That's it for now!

As always, I appreciate you all taking the time to read, comment, and come along for the ride.

Adam