One week later.
By the river outside the training grounds, the setting sun cast a layer of shattered gold upon the water’s surface.
Gekko Ryun wore a black trench coat, a short sword hanging at his waist.
In his hand, he held a Chakra test paper, which successively showed signs of tearing, dampening, and burning.
“Your Chakra attributes are Wind, Water, and Fire.
You can indeed learn the Great Fireball Technique.”
Kushina asked curiously, “What about yours?”
“Wind and Fire.”
He walked to the riverbank, intentionally slowing down his hand seals.
“Watch my movements closely.”
Snake – Ram – Monkey – Boar – Horse – Tiger
Kushina’s small face turned serious as she firmly committed the hand seal gestures to memory.
“After completing the seals, focus on the sensation of Chakra gathering in your chest, and then…”
He couldn’t accept his uncle’s teaching methods.
So, based on his own training experience over the past week, he summarized it and taught it to Kushina.
A week had passed since he gave himself the name “Toad Literary Master.”
During this week, he had worked diligently on many manuscripts, negotiated a favorable profit-sharing ratio with the Ninja Literature Society’s boss, and signed the contract.
Now, it was just waiting for typesetting and proofreading before publication within one to two months.
The first batch would be five hundred copies, with additional printings determined by market response.
Apart from that, he spent each day practicing swordsmanship and the Great Fireball Technique.
Since Kushina had invited him to train together several times only to be stood up, to make up for it, he arranged to train with her after school today and teach her a Ninjutsu along the way.
Kushina nodded.
“I remember.”
She stood at the edge of the riverbank, forming hand seals with both hands, somewhat awkwardly.
Snake – Ram – Monkey – Boar – Horse – Tiger
“Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!”
After a spirited shout, her chest swelled.
In the next instant, a massive fireball erupted.
An enormous orange-red fireball, over ten meters in diameter, soared through the air.
Kushina was startled, her body swaying slightly.
The fireball skimmed across the river’s surface and crashed directly into the forest on the opposite bank.
“Boom!
Boom!
Boom!”
Flames exploded.
Several large trees were shattered by the colossal fireball, their branches ablaze, leaves turning to ash under the intense heat.
Gekko Ryun stared at the devastation in the forest across the river, his mouth half-open, frozen in place.
He rubbed his eyes, wondering if he had seen incorrectly.
A fireball over ten meters in diameter right from the start?
Over ten meters!
Is this still the Great Fireball Technique?
Is this still that familiar benevolent technique?
His uncle’s Great Fireball was about three meters in diameter, and his own barely reached half a meter…
He fell silent for a few seconds, then suddenly smiled with relief.
‘Damn!’
Kushina still held her hands in the seal-forming posture, her face flushed red from the fire’s glow.
She looked at her hands, then at Gekko Ryun.
“…Did I succeed?”
“Yes, you succeeded, but now we have to put out the fire.”
“Oh, right.” Kushina glanced at the spreading flames in the forest across the river, as if waking from a dream.
Gekko Ryun stepped onto the water’s surface and swiftly ran to the opposite bank.
Kushina couldn’t walk on water, so she could only swim across.
…
In the dense forest.
Minato Namikaze practiced swordsmanship with a wooden sword.
Jiraiya sat on a tree branch, biting a pencil, his brow tightly furrowed.
He glanced down.
“Good swordsmanship.
Who taught you?”
Minato Namikaze sheathed his short sword and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
“Sword techniques?
My classmate taught me.”
“Oh?” Jiraiya said in surprise.
“It seems you have a good classmate.”
In the Ninja World, it was much more difficult for commoners to learn Ninjutsu and systematic sword techniques.
Either one had outstanding talent and found a good teacher, or they risked their lives on missions, exchanging contributions for knowledge.
Jiraiya, also coming from a commoner background, deeply understood this struggle.
Minato nodded.
He thought of Gekko Ryun, who had never beaten him but persistently challenged him time and again.
A smile touched his lips as he silently vowed: I will work twice as hard and make good use of the sword techniques you taught me!
“Senior, what were you writing just now?”
Minato asked curiously.
Jiraiya laughed heartily and replied casually, “My first book.”
“A book?
That’s amazing, Senior.” Minato blinked; writing a book was something completely unfamiliar to him.
“Yeah, I thought of a story while training at Mount Myoboku and have been writing bits and pieces of it.”
“What kind of story is it?”
Jiraiya’s lips curved into a smirk.
“A story about a ninja.”
Minato listened quietly to Jiraiya’s ideas, then asked in a very earnest tone, “Does the book have a name yet?”
“…..Not yet.
I’ve thought of a few, but none of them really satisfy me.”
Jiraiya scribbled a few titles on the blank manuscript.
“At first, I wanted to call it Legend of the Hero, but that name might sound like bragging.
Then I changed it to Jiraiya’s Adventure, but using my own name didn’t seem quite right either.”
Minato’s young face turned serious as he pondered for a long time.
Suddenly, his eyes lit up.
“Senior, I’ve thought of a great name!”
“Oh?
Let’s hear it.”
“Super Ninja Way Flash Heart Ultimate Resonance Free Adventure Travelogue Zero-Type!”
Jiraiya’s forehead wrinkled with question marks.
“…..Say that again?”
“Didn’t you hear it clearly, Senior?
It’s Super Ninja Way Flash Heart Ultimate Resonance Free Adventure Travelogue Zero-Type!”
“…..What does that name mean?”
“Transcending the Ninja Way, holding oneself to a higher standard, shining brightly, with unwavering determination, making the entire Ninja World acknowledge one’s beliefs!”
Jiraiya looked at him for a long time, as if seeing him in a new light.
“And what does ‘Zero-Type’ mean?”
“It means it’s even more powerful than ‘Type One.'”
“Why would a book have ‘Zero-Type’ and ‘Type One’?”
Minato scratched his head, puzzled.
“Senior, don’t books usually have several parts?
The textbooks at the Ninja Academy are all like that.”
Jiraiya: “..”
“Oh, right, Senior, have you decided on the main character’s name in the book?”
“No….
No, wait, it’s already decided.”
“Already decided?
As expected of you, Senior.
What is the name?”
Jiraiya’s body trembled slightly, nearly causing him to fall from the tree branch.
“Boom!
Boom!
Boom!”
Several explosions suddenly sounded in the distance, shaking the ground.
Minato’s hand instinctively went to his sword hilt, his guard up.
“Senior, what’s that?”
Jiraiya looked toward the source of the noise, his expression turning serious in an instant.
“It’s coming from the direction of the village, not too far from us.
Let’s go check it out.”
As the Hokage’s disciple, he was privy to many confidential pieces of information.
He knew that while the Ninja World appeared to maintain peace on the surface, turbulent undercurrents were swirling beneath.
The explosion coming from the village direction made his heart tighten involuntarily.
Without another word, he leaped from the tree branch and vanished into the depths of the forest in an instant.
Minato Namikaze dared not delay.
He quickly grabbed Jiraiya’s outer robe and similarly sprang into motion, chasing after Jiraiya’s figure.
….
After much effort, they finally managed to extinguish the fire.
The two of them lay sprawled on the ground in a star shape.
Kushina’s red hair fanned out behind her head, a few strands curled from the heat.
Panting heavily, she tilted her head to look at Gekko Ryun, whose face was now smudged like a tabby cat.
Suddenly, she let out a soft laugh.
The crisp sound of laughter echoed through the woods.
Gekko Ryun glanced at Kushina, who was equally covered in soot, then turned his gaze back to the sky.
He felt more exhausted than after casting the Great Fireball Technique twice in a row.
His mind was blank, not wanting to think about anything.
“Sorry~”
“Hmm?”
“If I hadn’t aimed in the wrong direction…”
He yawned, resting his hands behind his head, watching the sky painted with crimson clouds, his emotions complicated.
“It’s fine.
I underestimated the power of your Ninjutsu.”
He felt a bit sour—Chakra reserves lived up to their reputation.
Damn, he really wanted one just like hers.
Envious tears almost dripped from the corner of his mouth.
He also wanted to achieve Chakra freedom.
“Really?” Kushina’s gaze seemed locked onto his profile.
“How big is your Great Fireball Technique?”
“Well…
this…
a little smaller than yours.”
“Whoosh!
Whoosh!”
Two sharp sounds of something cutting through the air echoed through the forest.