The real Shinobi World...
The waterfall's mist refracted into a rainbow of colors under the sunlight. Jiraiya sat cross-legged on a rock smoothed by the water, the scroll in his hand having long since slipped to the ground.
In the Heavenly Screen, Kai's muttered words, "I'm used to it," caused the pupils of one of the legendary Sannin to contract sharply.
"Are you kidding me..." Jiraiya's Adam's apple bobbed, his large hand unconsciously touching the abdominal scar where an enemy had once pierced him. "This level of pain... can it be described as 'habit'?"
The shockwave from the Evening Elephant pierced through the Heavenly Screen, and even across dimensions, Jiraiya felt a tightness in his chest.
He recalled the days when he fought alongside Orochimaru and Tsunade in his youth, when they were known as the invincible "Sannin." But now, the pure power displayed by the Taijutsu ninja burning with life force in the scene made even this Sage Mode user feel a chill.
"The old man is right..." Jiraiya shook his head with a wry smile. "The leaves of Konoha have long since grown taller than us old trees."
"So handsome!"
Naruto's scream startled a flock of birds in the forest. He stood in the middle of the rushing stream, oblivious to the water splashing onto his trousers, his azure eyes burning with intense heat.
"When I get back, I'm definitely going to ask Bushy-Brow Sensei to teach me this move!" Naruto waved his fist, imitating Guy's movements in the Heavenly Screen.
"Then Sasuke..." His expression suddenly turned sly, imagining himself opening the Eight Gates and beating that arrogant Uchiha to a pulp, and he couldn't help but laugh loudly, "Hahaha, let's see if you still dare to call me a loser!"
Karin sat cross-legged on the shore, pushed up her red-rimmed glasses, and the lenses reflected a helpless white light.
She watched the blond fool dancing and waving his arms in the stream, her thoughts drifting back to the night that changed her destiny—the night when the Heavenly Screen first displayed the scene of Naruto fighting Pain. Naruto's eyes were resolute, his speech calm, and his attitude of not giving up hope even in the face of despair gave her the courage to escape from the Grass Ninja.
(He's completely different now from the one shown on the Heavenly Screen...)
Karin's gaze fell on Naruto's mud-caked trouser legs and his perpetually ill-tied Forehead Protector, and her temples throbbed with pain.
Is this hot-blooded idiot who shouts "Behold my new technique— the Super Invincible Great Vortex Rasengan!" during combat training really the Child of Prophecy uttered amidst the ruins, "Peace is not built on hatred"?
"But..." Karin's lips unconsciously curled into a smile, a strand of red hair twirling between her fingers. "This Naruto... isn't bad either."
The sound of Guy's leg bone breaking in the Heavenly Screen sent a shiver down Karin's spine. As medical-nin, she knew better than anyone what such an injury meant. But before she could analyze it from a professional perspective, Naruto started yelling again:
"Wow! Bushy-Brow Sensei is still fighting even with a broken leg! That's a true ninja!" Naruto excitedly slapped the water's surface. "I've decided! I'm going to use the money I saved to buy new weighted gear!"
Karin's forehead veins bulged. She suddenly remembered the Jiraiya, and the description in it, "A man is a boy until he dies," seemed tailor-made for Naruto.
(No, this guy is basically a child who never grows up!)
The Heavenly Screen shifts to a close-up of Rock Lee crying his heart out, but Karin's thoughts drift in another direction.
She remembered the first time she watched the program on the Heavenly Screen, the scene where a girl named Hinata Hyuga stood up to protect Naruto. The girl's trembling yet determined back, and her confession, "Because I love Naruto-kun the most," made even her, an observer, feel her heart race.
(He has such a great girl who likes him...)
Karin stole a glance at Naruto, who was practicing his punches and kicks against the Heavenly Screen. He was completely absorbed in the intense battle, muttering nonsense like, "This move needs to be used in conjunction with Shadow Clones."
(What a blockhead!)
"Hey, Naruto." Karin suddenly spoke, her voice sickeningly sweet, "You know Hinata likes you, right?"
"Huh?" Naruto froze in mid-air, like a fox being grabbed by the scruff of its neck. "Hinata? That... uh... the young lady of the Hyuga Clan? Likes me?"
Jiraiya's cough came from behind, clearly indicating he was trying to suppress a laugh.
A cold glint flashed behind Karin's glasses. She slowly stood up, her fists clenched so tightly they cracked. "You looked at the Heavenly Screen and still don't understand?"
"I-I understand!" Naruto waved his hands frantically, his cheeks slightly flushed. "But Hinata is the eldest daughter of the Main Family, and she's so shy... Wait, what are you doing with that Kunai?!"
"Acting on behalf of Heaven." Karin smiled and took out a scalpel from her medical kit. "Don't worry, I'm a professional. I guarantee it will only cause superficial wounds."
"Pervy Sage, save me!!"
Jiraiya pretended not to hear, focusing intently on writing something on the scroll, though his shoulders were suspiciously twitching.
Karin stopped halfway through her chase, looked at Naruto's disheveled figure, then at the fierce battle in the Heavenly Screen, and inexplicably burst out laughing.
(Well, this kind of relationship... is probably the best for them.)
She put away her scalpel, pushed up her glasses, and shouted, "Why are you running away! Come help me start a fire and cook!"
In the distance came Naruto's relieved reply. The sounds of the waterfall, the crackling of the campfire, and Jiraiya's soft laughter mingled together, creating a strange harmony with the epic battle unfolding in the Heavenly Screen.
Karin didn't know what the future held, but at this moment, she truly felt it—this was what it felt like to be alive.
Konoha, Land of Fire
The sand on the Training Ground was stained with dark marks from sweat. Rock Lee knelt on the ground, tears splashing into the sand and leaving small craters. The cuffs of his green bodysuit were completely soaked.
"Teacher Kai!!" His cries startled the sparrows on the branches. "This is... this is the ultimate meaning of youth!"
Tenten, she sighed and rubbed her forehead, almost dropping the scroll in her hand. She had lost count of how many times Rock Lee had had an emotional outburst—ever since Gate of Death Might Guy first appeared, this watermelon-headed teammate had been crying nonstop like a human fountain.
"Enough, Rock Lee," Tenten, gently tapping the back of Rock Lee's head with the scroll. "That's just what's playing in the Heavenly Screen; even if it's real, it's something from the future." She looked up at the figure burning with crimson steam in the Heavenly Screen, her voice softening involuntarily. "But... it's undeniably incredibly powerful."
Neji stood on a wooden stake three meters away, the veins around his Byakugan slightly bulging.
His gaze pierced through the swirling dust in the Heavenly Screen, precisely capturing the details of every muscle Kai used to exert force. When the shockwave of Evening Elephant slammed Six Paths Madara into the ground, Neji's pupils involuntarily contracted.
(This power... is the ultimate achievement purely through the physical body...)
His fingertips unconsciously traced the Forehead Protector on his forehead, where the Cursed Seal of the Hyuga Branch Family — the Caged Bird Seal —was hidden. The 32 Palms Rotation could deflect all physical attacks, but it could not break the shackles in his bloodline.
(If only I had that power...)
The sound of Kai's leg bone breaking in the Heavenly Screen made Neji's body tremble slightly. He recalled the night three days ago when Hyuga Hiashi unusually come to his residence. The clan leader was backlit by the moonlight, and the wrinkles on his face appeared particularly deep in the shadows.
"Neji," Hiashi's voice was hoarser than usual, "I may have to make a decision."
He was kneeling on the tatami mat, his palms sweating profusely. The fact that the head of the Main Family was visiting a branch family member late at night was itself unusual.
"Please speak." Neji lowered his head, his gaze falling on Hiashi's slightly trembling fingers—a detail that startled him; he had never seen the clan leader, who remained unmoved even in the face of a collapsing mountain, reveal such a flaw.
Hiashi remained silent for a long time, so long that Neji thought he wouldn't say anything more. Until the bamboo tube in the yard struck a stone, making a soft "thump" sound.
"Looking at those powerful figures in the Heavenly Screen..." Hiashi turned and gazed at the night sky, "The Hyuga Clan... it's time for a change."
Neji suddenly looked up and met the clan leader's complicated gaze. In those Byakugan, which were exactly the same as his own, emotions that Neji could not understand surged.
"If anything happens to me," Hiashi's voice was soft, yet it struck Neji like a thunderclap. "Hinata and Hanabi... I'm counting on you."
The shock from his memory overlapped with Kai's roar in the Heavenly Screen at this moment. Neji's fists clenched unconsciously, his nails digging into his palms without him even noticing.
(Let the Caged Bird Seal... and become birds that fly freely...)
This crazy thought swirled in Neji's mind. He remembered his father's smile before his death, the image of Hinata trembling as she fought against Pain, projected onto the Heavenly Screen, and Hanabi's innocent smile.
If the patriarch truly intends to abolish the Caged Bird Seal, what kind of backlash will the elders face?
"Neji! Your hand is bleeding!" Tenten's exclamation pulled him back to reality.
Neji looked down and saw that his palm was indeed pierced by his own fingernails, and blood was dripping from between his fingers onto the wooden stake. He expressionlessly shook his hand. "Just a minor injury."
"Why do you Hyuga Clan people all take such care of yourselves..." Tenten muttered as she pulled out a bandage, only to be interrupted by Rock Lee's sudden roar.
"This is the passion of youth!!" Rock Lee had somehow gotten up and was doing one-finger push-ups. "From today onwards, my training volume will double! Neji! Let's fight!"
Neji looked at his teammates' silly grins, then at the figure burning with life in the Heavenly Screen. Suddenly, he leaped down from the wooden stake and assumed the starting stance of Gentle Fist.
"Come on, bottom runner."
"Who are you calling the bottom of the class?!"
Tenten watched the two suddenly start fighting and sighed helplessly. But when she looked up at the Heavenly Screen, the corners of her mouth involuntarily turned up.