A Brief Discussion of the Child of Destiny

"Jiraiya-sensei, weren't only your chest injuries yesterday? Why are even your limbs wrapped up today?"

Looking at Jiraiya, whose entire body was wrapped like a mummy, Shimura Kentei truly could not understand what Tsunade had done to him.

"Cough, cough, I fell. Accidentally fell!"

Lying on the hospital bed, Jiraiya gave a dry cough and claimed it had all been an accident. Then his expression turned serious as he asked, "How did you do today?"

He was quite satisfied with this unofficial disciple of his. The kid suited his tastes perfectly.

He was absolutely one of their own!

"It was really boring. As expected, the Ninja Academy graduates trained over the years were all just trash. I didn't even have to make a move before I knocked them all down."

With a dissatisfied look, Shimura Kentei said he had found it thoroughly unenjoyable.

To be honest, he was quite disappointed in this year's graduates. They had not even damaged a single hair on his head. They were arguably the worst batch of graduates in the Ninja Academy's history.

No wonder Senju Nawaki had died so early in the original story. With that pathetic level of strength, if you didn't die, who would?

"You're that strong?"

Jiraiya was stunned. Although he had seen that Shimura Kentei's Nintaijutsu, similar to the Monster Strength Technique, was quite formidable and should have given him Chunin-level combat strength, he should not have been able to crush every graduate so easily!

"I haven't been idle these past few years either. I practiced a few little tricks!"

Smiling modestly, Shimura Kentei extended ten Chakra Threads, indicating that these were his trump card.

At present, he could only maintain four threads with precise control. But if that level of precision was unnecessary, controlling more than ten was no problem at all.

Curiously using his hair to test the Chakra Threads before him, Jiraiya was astonished by their toughness.

"The strength of your Chakra Threads isn't any weaker than Chiyo of the Flower of Shinobi!"

He had fought Chiyo of Sunagakure last year and remembered those Chakra Threads vividly. If Tsunade and Orochimaru had not supported him, he might have fallen at that woman's hands.

"The strength is merely up to standard. My precise control is still far inferior to Senior Chiyo's."

Shimura Kentei spoke modestly again. He knew his own limits very well.

Perhaps training with the Sealing Crystal had made his Chakra Threads exceptionally strong, but his fine control was nowhere near Chiyo's level.

Controlling puppets was exceedingly complicated and difficult, far more challenging than writing while dividing his mind four ways.

Not to mention that in the original story, Chiyo had once used Chakra Threads to control Haruno Sakura's body, executing exquisite movements to perfectly evade Sasori of the Red Sands' attacks. Such skill was practically miraculous.

"Your circumstances are quite suitable for becoming a puppeteer. Unfortunately, Konoha has no puppeteer inheritance."

Jiraiya sighed regretfully. He greatly appreciated this unofficial disciple and knew about his physical shortcomings. Taking the conventional ninja path was clearly impossible for him, so Jiraiya had previously considered finding a way to set him on the path of a puppeteer.

With this kid's Money Power, he could at least quickly produce some high-quality puppets.

Unfortunately, Puppet Technique was exclusive to Sunagakure. Konoha had no inheritance in that field, and Sunagakure would never leak it to outsiders.

"I should be discharged in about a month. When that happens, I'll take you on missions!"

Retracting the white hair wrapped around the Chakra Threads, Jiraiya did not ask how Shimura Kentei had cultivated Chakra Threads of such strength.

A ninja's methods were important intelligence. No matter how close two people were, they could not inquire about them. It was taboo.

"No need. Senior Tsunade has already accepted me as her disciple and formed Tsunade Squad!"

Putting on an appropriately gloomy expression, Shimura Kentei shook his head slightly while considering how to get some benefits from Jiraiya, this useful pawn.

Master Yunzhongniao's Yellow Volumes had not been given away for nothing. They were enough to make Jiraiya feel a certain amount of guilt.

That gave him room to work with.

But did Jiraiya have anything valuable on him right now?

"What? Tsunade accepted you as her disciple? Didn't she have no interest in becoming a squad leader?"

Jiraiya's eyes widened. He had not expected that teammate of his to steal his disciple. Then, as though he had understood something, guilt rose in his heart.

"I'm sorry. That woman probably set her sights on you because of me."

To be honest, Jiraiya felt truly guilty at that moment. If it had not been for him, Shimura Kentei would not have chosen to meet him in the bathhouse, leading to those exchanges and ultimately attracting Tsunade's attention.

Most importantly, this unofficial disciple had paid a high price to invite Tsunade over to treat his injuries. Tsunade had probably set her sights on the kid back then.

He knew exactly how badly that woman needed money right now. It was perfectly normal for her to target such a wealthy local. No wonder she had knocked him unconscious earlier and seriously injured him a second time.

He had ruined this unofficial disciple's life!

The more he thought about it, the guiltier Jiraiya felt. Finally, he hardened his heart and used his hair to retrieve the Sealed Item Scroll from beneath his pillow.

"It seems we were never meant to be master and disciple. Take this apprenticeship gift back!"

Though he was immensely reluctant, he was a man of principles. It would have been one thing if he had not accepted the kid as his disciple, but he had even caused him to be targeted by Tsunade.

Based on his first impression of her in the bathhouse, Tsunade definitely would not let this kid off easily. He had truly dragged him into a mess.

"Jiraiya-sensei, there's no need to blame yourself. Master Yunzhongniao wrote a very good line in his works: once a teacher, always a teacher. Jiraiya-sensei, you will be my teacher for life. That will not change for any reason."

Firmly pushing the Sealed Item Scroll back, Shimura Kentei made his stance clear with righteous conviction.

What a joke. He was still counting on his connection with Jiraiya to get closer to Nagato Uzumaki, Minato Namikaze, and others in the future and obtain some benefits!

How could he possibly erase this master-disciple relationship?

Even maintaining merely a nominal master-disciple bond was better than having none at all.

As for those Yellow Volumes, they were no more than a pile of paper to him. They were not worth much money. Even the so-called first editions only used a little extra colored ink.

After all, Xinhua Bookstore had been opened by his fiancée at his instruction. He could have as many so-called first editions as he wanted. He had even secretly asked Keiko to produce more first editions and auction them on the black market. They made a fortune.

Compared to Jiraiya, this breakthrough point, those first-edition Yellow Volumes were nothing.

How could he let such an almost cost-free deal fall through?

"That's far too embarrassing!"

Jiraiya was deeply moved. At the same time, he hurriedly stuffed the Sealed Item Scroll back beneath his pillow.

"This is The Paradise of Passion that I wrote. Although it isn't as good as Master Yunzhongniao's Yellow Volumes, it's still worth reading!"

Feeling guilty, Jiraiya thought for a moment, opened the cabinet beside him with his hair, rummaged through his clothes, and handed Shimura Kentei a booklet with a pink cover.

This was the painstaking work of the past two years. Unfortunately, it was far inferior to Master Yunzhongniao's Yellow Volumes, so its sales had never been particularly good.

"The Paradise of Passion?"

Taking the little erotic novel, Shimura Kentei was somewhat dumbfounded.

Something was wrong here!

Although he did not know when Jiraiya had begun writing The Paradise of Passion in the original story, it had certainly been after he met Nagato Uzumaki.

That was because Jiraiya's first novel, The Tale of the Enduring Perseverance Ninja, had been inspired by Nagato Uzumaki. Only afterward had there been The Paradise of Passion, Passionate Violence, Passionate Tactics, and the rest of that series of little erotic novels.

Why had The Paradise of Passion appeared now?

Could it be the result of his own little butterfly wings flapping?

"That really seems possible!"

Lost in thought, Shimura Kentei felt that it really might have been caused by his butterfly effect.

After all, no similar little erotic novels had existed in the ninja world before. The Yellow Volumes he had written under the pen name Ichikabe Tōkō Yunzhong Niao had blazed a trail. To a great connoisseur of erotic works like Jiraiya, they were like an enlightenment education. It was perfectly normal for him to write The Paradise of Passion earlier.

"Ah! It's a pity your physical condition is so poor. Otherwise, perhaps you would be the Child of Destiny mentioned by the Great Sage of the Toads!"

Seeing Shimura Kentei accept his masterpiece, Jiraiya suddenly sighed regretfully.

He truly appreciated this unofficial disciple, but the other's physical condition severely limited his future development. At most, he would become a jonin in this life. He could never achieve anything truly great.

"The Child of Destiny? It is said that the sages of Mount Myōboku have the ability to foresee the future. Is that true?"

Shimura Kentei's heart stirred, and he took the opportunity to ask.

Although he had learned quite a bit about Mount Myōboku from the Naruto original story, this was a real world after all. A manga and anime series could never fully show everything.

There was no harm in learning more intelligence!

"Of course. The Great Sage of the Toads has already foretold that I, Jiraiya, will one day accept a disciple capable of bringing enormous change to the ninja world and ushering in lasting peace."

Speaking of this topic, Jiraiya looked proud. He, Jiraiya, was destined to become the teacher of the Child of Destiny and lead the ninja world toward lasting peace.

"Only that? The Great Sage of the Toads didn't say anything else?"

With a stunned expression, Shimura Kentei asked again. He felt that the Great Sage of the Toads' prophecy truly seemed unreliable.

"What else would there be?"

This time, it was Jiraiya's turn to be stunned. Wasn't that enough?

Knowing it was time to put on a show, Shimura Kentei became Conan and analyzed seriously, "Since the Great Sage of the Toads could foresee that your disciple would bring immense change to the ninja world, he must have seen clear images. He likely knew that person's identity, yet he did not tell you. Could it be that the Child of Destiny was censored in the prophecy?

Even if he could not see the Child of Destiny's appearance clearly, he should have been able to see other people. After all, changing the entire ninja world could not be done by one person alone. That person would certainly need others' help.

Those are all important clues. Also, did the Great Sage of the Toads not say when you would meet the Child of Destiny, Jiraiya-sensei?

You are still young, Sensei. You have several decades left to live. Do you have to spend all that time searching for the Child of Destiny?

Even if he did not say any of that, he should at least have said which village the Child of Destiny would come from, right? And since you are a Konoha ninja, your future disciple would most likely be from Konoha. Wouldn't that narrow the range considerably?"

Jiraiya was left utterly bewildered by Shimura Kentei's fierce analysis. Only after a long while did he come back to his senses and nod thoughtfully in agreement.

"That does seem to make sense!"

But why had the Great Sage of the Toads not explained those things clearly?

Could it have been a test for him?

"Actually, if you have the time, Jiraiya-sensei, you could visit the Uchiha Clan and Senju Clan territories. Those are the places most likely to produce the Child of Destiny!"

Seeing that the timing was right, Shimura Kentei offered his suggestion.

"Why those two clans?"

Jiraiya was stunned again. He truly did not understand the suggestion.

The Senju Clan was one thing, but the Uchiha Clan was absolutely out of the question. They were all lunatics and extremists, especially the Uchiha who had awakened the Sharingan. Every last one of them was absurdly obsessive.

He did not believe that a Child of Destiny capable of bringing peace to the ninja world could be born into the Uchiha Clan. He strongly disagreed with that.

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