When Naruto tried to snatch food for the third time, Jiraiya's hand suddenly accelerated, grabbing the perfectly marbled meat first and blocking Naruto's chopsticks. Naruto, however, didn't sense it.
His newly awakened ability was very weak, only manifesting once every few minutes. Naruto didn't mind; he would just go to the Pure Land a few more times in the future.
Although the ability wasn't very effective, he still had to practice it.
Naruto retracted his hand, grabbed the chopsticks at their base, pinched them into a cone shape, inserted them between Jiraiya's chopsticks, and forcefully pried them apart.
Jiraiya naturally released his grip, the chopsticks flew off, then his hands blurred into two afterimages, catching the spinning chopsticks, and counterattacked.
The small dining table became a sparring ground for master and disciple. Around a single piece of meat, the two snatched back and forth.
Naruto's raw strength was inferior to Jiraiya's, but when it came to using chopsticks, he truly wasn't afraid. This simple chopstick technique, passed down for at least three thousand years, was longer than the history of the ninja world. How can you fight me?
This was taught to me by my own mother since childhood. Can you really beat me? Just kidding.
If this were a real battlefield, Jiraiya would have a hundred ways to kill Naruto, but he wanted to know why this was happening, so he didn't mind playing along with Naruto.
Wind Release (Fuu-ton) watched from the side, drooling. You guys aren't eating? Give it to me!
"Thump." Jiraiya, with a powerful horizontal chop, broke one of Naruto's chopsticks.
"Old man, do you even know how to play?" Naruto slammed the table. We were playing so well, why are you cheating?
"I never agreed to play."
"Continue." Naruto, unwilling to admit defeat, attacked with his chopsticks again. Against a normal Jiraiya, even with broken chopsticks, he could hold his own.
Three minutes later, Naruto roared in his mental space: "Kurama!"
"Huh?" The Nine-Tails, who was scratching its ear with two mithril skewers, looked back doubtfully. The skewers dropped.
The Nine-Tails watched the entire fight. Seeing the two snatching food back and forth was very entertaining. It felt like a time-saving and effort-saving tool, comparable to its cola cup. It wanted to try, but then it found that this thing didn't seem to work well with claws.
While Naruto wasn't paying attention, it used its chakra claws to catch the two skewers, put them back into the roasted meat pile, pretending nothing happened.
If this brat saw it, wouldn't he mock this old man for a lifetime?
"Big fox, don't just stand there. I can't hold on anymore."
"Oh, uh..."
"Forget it, I'm done fighting." Naruto said gloomily, looking at the two broken chopsticks in his hand.
He tossed the meat to Wind Release. Jiraiya broke off the broken teeth of his chopsticks, picked his teeth, and asked, "How did you do that?"
"It relies on emotions. It might be due to the Box of Ultimate Bliss. I can sense emotions like fear and terror, and use them to predict actions," Naruto explained, then poured him a cup of tea and began cleaning up the mess.
He threw the tableware into the small spatial trash can, buried the scattered debris with earth, finished everything, washed his hands, and took out his sealing textbook.
Jiraiya picked his teeth, pondering.
These past two days, he had gone to Mount Myōboku to inquire about the Box of Ultimate Bliss. The answer he received was: it began with Wu, and it ended with Wu.
Each time a wish was made, a monster named Wu, who could foresee human hearts, would emerge from the box. But this time, Naruto made a wish, and no Wu emerged. Could it be that this child replaced Wu?
Wait, he just said he relies on emotions like fear and terror. Does that mean I'm afraid of him?!
Feeling unconvinced, Jiraiya adjusted his state and waved his hand in a non-standard motion around Naruto: "Try again."
Naruto looked at him with an expression of concern for the mentally challenged. After a few minutes, he suddenly intercepted Jiraiya's hand.
"That doesn't make sense." Jiraiya muttered, then sat cross-legged on the ground, clasped his hands together, held his breath, and entered Sage Mode. He said, "Again."
I still don't believe it.
Another few minutes passed.
"Slap."
His hand was intercepted again. Jiraiya slumped to the side and reflected.
Naruto secretly chuckled. He didn't know what Jiraiya was afraid of him, but he was definitely afraid. Although this move wasn't perfect, he was still happy to be able to stump Jiraiya.
Actually, Naruto also knew that even if this move was perfected, it wouldn't be invincible. Firstly, the enemy must first have fear of him for it to be effective. In other words, it was ineffective against ordinary people who hadn't heard of Naruto.
Or it was ineffective against someone like Madara, who didn't care about anyone but Hashirama. Of course, it would also work if Naruto beat him until he was afraid.
But if I can make Madara afraid, why would I need this ability?
Oh, right, it was also ineffective against Lee, who was unconscious but still able to fight. After all, he was unconscious; what could he perceive?
That evening, Jiraiya challenged many times, all ending in failure. He even pulled his hair out in his sleep.
The next day, October 10th, Naruto's birthday.
Konoha, Naruto's house.
Hinata draped a rag over the edge of the sink, wiped away her sweat, and looked at the tidy room, feeling greatly satisfied. But one thing was still missing.
She picked up the quilt from the bed and walked to the balcony. Hinata looked up at the cotton-like white clouds in the sky, lost in thought. Where should I go on a date with Naruto-kun this afternoon? Oh, no, I should first think about what to wear.
Which one should I wear today? What if he doesn't like it? If he likes it, what if he makes some bold moves? Should I refuse? Today's his birthday. Refusing would hurt him. But if I don't refuse...
"Hey, Hinata!"
"Ah." Her teammate's call startled Hinata. She quickly buried her face in the quilt. The expression I had just now, thinking about things, was it seen? How embarrassing...
Downstairs, Kiba was puzzled. He continued to shout, "Hey, come down. We'll be late for the meeting."
"Coming." Hinata pulled away the quilt, lifted the curtain blocking Kiba's view, and ran down the stairs.
"So slow." Kiba twitched his nose. "Shino isn't here? I clearly smelled him."
"Woof!"
"Then I'll look for him."
"Actually, I've been here all along, but you didn't see me. Speaking of which..." A resentful voice came from the corner of the wall.
"Oh, come on. Why are you wasting your breath? We're going to be late." Kiba led the way. He pulled out a small bottle and gave it to Hinata: "Looking at your appearance just now, you have a date today, don't you? This is an ointment he asked me to get for treating hair loss from dogs soaking in seawater. It's just right for you to take to him."
"Ah..." Hinata was instantly stunned.
Kiba ignored Hinata's expression and continued, "I don't know where he went. The aftereffects of soaking are so severe. Hinata, do you know? Hey, Hinata, are you listening?"
"Ah, oh, I don't know." Hinata replied after a few seconds. My previous expression... was seen after all.
"Even you don't know."
In fact, not only Hinata didn't know, but Jiraiya also didn't know where Naruto was. However, according to the saying of North-South, East-West, Naruto should be in the North.
Standing at five thousand meters high, Naruto stroked the pure white clouds around him, looking at the white-wave-like sea of clouds in front of him, excitedly wanting to jump down.
He could fly!
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