Chapter 87: I, Uzumaki Naruto, Will Never Cause Trouble

Creak, creak...

The sound of wooden clogs echoed as Jiraiya appeared in front of the daydreaming Naruto, a plastic bag swinging from his hand.

"Naruto, here."

Jiraiya tore open an ice pop wrapper, split it in half with a gentle snap, and held one piece out to Naruto.

Naruto took it, staring at Jiraiya for a long moment before finally speaking.

"Thanks... Jiraiya-sensei."

The ice pop entered his mouth, and though it didn't taste that great—definitely no match for the treats in his system—somehow, with his mentor's gesture, it felt different. Naruto's mood lifted, and the grumpy old man with white hair didn't seem quite so annoying anymore.

Hmm…

Maybe he wouldn't call him the "old pervert" so often from now on.

Seeing Naruto like this, Jiraiya reached out, ruffling his hair with a warm chuckle.

"Haha, you silly kid."

This time, Naruto didn't dodge, letting Jiraiya's big hand muss his hair however he liked.

"Naruto, how about I teach you a powerful new jutsu?"

"Even stronger than the Summoning Technique."

Over the past few days, this was the first time Jiraiya had seen Naruto so quiet. It reminded him of Naruto's late father—the sight of the Yellow Flash, wielding his Rasengan, flashed through his mind.

Jiraiya decided it was time to pass on the jutsu Naruto's father had created.

"Hmm..."

"Meet me at the training field tomorrow."

Jiraiya stood, tossing his trash aside carelessly, and looked back with a grin.

Naruto's eyes widened after a moment.

"Hey, old perv!!"

"Pick up your trash!"

Jiraiya: ...

Damn it!

This kid was nothing like Minato!

Jiraiya's eye twitched, and with a sigh, he bent down, picked up the trash, and obediently tossed it into the trash can.

"Alright then, see you tomorrow."

He waved, turning without looking back as he walked away. He wanted to keep the atmosphere they'd built between them intact.

"See you tomorrow," Naruto murmured, noticing that Jiraiya had left a bag of snacks next to him.

He stared at it for a while, a bit lost in thought.

"That's... surprising..."

"It's the first time anyone's ever bought me snacks like these."

Naruto sat alone for a few minutes, glancing at the time—it was already midnight. He grabbed the bag of snacks, opened a portal, and headed home.

---

The Next Day

Naruto was up early and already at the training field, waiting. Upon arriving, he saw Jiraiya sitting on the ground, chuckling to himself while holding a crystal ball. Around him lay a bunch of balloons.

Even though that old perv had clearly been peeping from early morning, Naruto still appreciated the fact that Jiraiya wasn't late.

Hmm...

At least he was better than a certain silver-haired guy.

When Jiraiya noticed Naruto emerging from a glowing portal, his face showed utter shock, and he pointed at Naruto, stammering.

"You... you...!"

"That's a space-time jutsu?!"

"Huh?"

"Didn't the Third Hokage tell you?" Naruto replied casually.

Jiraiya's face froze; just thinking about that old man made him irritated. He hadn't seen much of the Hokage since returning to the village. Both times they'd met had been brief, and each time it felt like the Hokage was trying to avoid him.

How was he supposed to know the specifics of Naruto's abilities?!

This was Jiraiya's first time witnessing Naruto's jutsu, and his interest was instantly piqued. Putting away the crystal ball, he stood up and said, "Let me see it again."

"Sure."

Naruto casually threw out a couple of portals, stepping through them, appearing here and there.

After a few repetitions, Jiraiya let him stop.

"It's... similar to the Flying Thunder God technique, but not quite," Jiraiya murmured, stroking his chin in thought.

He observed Naruto's jutsu for a while, roughly figuring out its mechanics. In essence, it was a solid space-time jutsu, but the portals required a bit of time to form, unlike the instantaneous teleportation of the Flying Thunder God technique.

In battle, the first few sneak attacks might catch the enemy off guard. But once they figured out how the jutsu worked, opponents could turn it against Naruto.

After considering this, Jiraiya made a mental note to get a scroll of the Flying Thunder God technique from the Hokage. Naruto might very well surpass his father, becoming an even greater ninja.

Or maybe…

Naruto was the "Child of Prophecy" he'd been searching for all along.

"Jiraiya-sensei?"

"Weren't we supposed to start a new jutsu?"

Snapping out of his thoughts, Jiraiya looked down at Naruto, who was waving a hand in front of his face.

"Right..."

"Watch carefully."

Jiraiya opened his hand, and with a blink, a small, swirling blue sphere appeared in his palm. He yelled, thrusting the sphere toward a nearby tree.

BAM!

A loud crash echoed as wood chips flew, leaving a deep crater on the trunk, spiraling inwards.

"This jutsu was created by your father."

"The A-rank jutsu, Rasengan."

Naruto's eyes lit up; he'd been waiting for this moment. He knew there were countless ways to enhance the Rasengan by adding chakra nature transformations. Even characters in Boruto, like Momoshiki, recognized its power.

"That's amazing!"

Hearing his student's praise, Jiraiya managed to keep a straight face, though inwardly, he was beaming with pride.

"Ahem..."

"Now listen. Here's what you need to do..."

After explaining the basics, Jiraiya handed Naruto a water balloon.

"Try using your chakra to burst this balloon—"

Before he could finish, Naruto had already crushed the balloon, splattering water all over Jiraiya.

"You little punk! What are you doing?!"

"I said use chakra!"

"Not brute force!!"

"I... I lost control for a moment," Naruto scratched his head, looking a bit embarrassed.

Truthfully, it wasn't a matter of control. It's just… holding a squishy object in his hand triggered the urge to squeeze it. And each time he squeezed, the water balloon burst.

Jiraiya took a deep breath, handing him another balloon with a look of resignation. But even after several attempts, the results remained the same.

"You brat..."

"Use chakra! Chakra!"

Jiraiya was on the verge of pulling his hair out. He had even given Naruto a rubber ball this time, but the kid squeezed it just as easily, popping it on the first try.

"One more time!"

"I'll try harder..."

Naruto hadn't expected the first step in learning the Rasengan would be thwarted by his own instincts.

"Sigh..."

"Keep practicing. I need a break."

Jiraiya sighed, convinced that if he stayed any longer, his blood pressure might shoot up. To avoid becoming another casualty of high stress, he decided to leave for a bit.

Before he left, though, he spent a full two minutes warning Naruto, hoping the kid wouldn't pull any more stunts in his absence.

As Jiraiya walked away, Naruto formed a quick hand seal, creating a hundred shadow clones.

"Alright, brothers!"

"Time to grind for experience!"

"Yes, sir!"

With a rousing cheer, all the clones got to work, practicing the Rasengan.

---

Two Hours Later...

With the clones' help, Naruto finally completed the water balloon, rubber ball, and elastic ball stages. Now, he was ready to try forming the Rasengan itself.

Naruto felt confident he didn't need a clone's assistance like in the original method. With his control, creating a Rasengan single-handedly should only take a moment.

"Alright! Let's do this!"

He pumped himself up with a quick pep talk, then opened his palm and began focusing his chakra.

Buzz, buzz, buzz—

Under his careful control, a blue sphere soon took shape in his hand.

But just as Naruto started to celebrate, he noticed something strange...

Unlike Jiraiya's Rasengan, his wasn't swirling. It was a solid orb of pure chakra, and it was getting larger and larger.

"Kid! Stop right now!"

The Nine-Tails, who had been lazily observing, suddenly bolted upright in panic.

What the heck was this brat doing now?!

"Wha—?"

Naruto started to ask, but then felt a massive surge of energy. His ears rang with a deafening sound.

BOOM!

A massive blue explosion lit up the training field, followed by a mushroom cloud that rose high over Konoha…