A Brief Discussion on the Child of Destiny

"Jiraiya-sensei, you were only injured in the chest yesterday, so why are your limbs all bandaged today?"

Looking at Jiraiya, who was wrapped up like a mummy, Shimura Kentei couldn't figure out what that woman Tsunade had done to him.

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

Lying on the hospital bed, Jiraiya coughed dryly, indicating it was all an accident. Then, his expression turned serious, and he asked, "How did you perform today?"

He was quite satisfied with this cheap disciple; he was exactly to his liking.

Absolutely one of his own!

"It wasn't satisfying at all. As expected, everyone trained by the Ninja Academy these years is just trash. I took them all down without even lifting a finger."

With a look of dissatisfaction, Shimura Kentei expressed that he was quite unfulfilled.

To be honest, he was very disappointed with this year's graduates. They couldn't even break a single hair on him, making them the worst graduates in the history of the Ninja Academy.

No wonder Senju Nawaki died so early in the original work. With such trash-level strength, who else but him would die?

"Are you that strong?"

Jiraiya was stunned. Although he had seen that Shimura Kentei's Taijutsu, which resembled the Monster Strength Technique, was not bad, and he should have the combat power of a Chunin, it shouldn't be enough to completely overwhelm all the graduates.

"I haven't been idle all these years. I've learned a few tricks!"

Smiling humbly, Shimura Kentei extended ten Chakra Threads, indicating that this was his trump card.

Currently, he could only maintain fine control over four threads, but if he didn't need such precise control, managing over a dozen would be no problem at all.

Curiously, Jiraiya tried manipulating his hair to test the Chakra Threads in front of him. Their toughness surprised even him.

"The strength of your Chakra Threads is already comparable to that of Sasori of the Red Sand's Chiyo!"

He had fought against Chiyo of the Sand Village last year and had a deep memory of those Chakra Threads. If it weren't for Tsunade and Orochimaru helping him, he might have fallen to that woman.

"It's just that the strength has met the standard. In terms of fine control, I'm still far behind Senior Chiyo."

Shimura Kentei spoke humbly again, having a clear understanding of himself.

Perhaps the training with the Sealing Crystal had made his Chakra Threads very strong, but in terms of fine control, he was still far behind Chiyo.

After all, controlling puppets was quite complicated and difficult, much more so than multitasking and writing as he did.

Not to mention, in the original work, Chiyo had once used Chakra Threads to control Haruno Sakura's body, performing exquisite movements to perfectly dodge Sasori of the Red Sand's attacks. Such a technique could be described as divine.

"Your situation is quite suitable for the Puppeteer path, but unfortunately, our Konoha has no Puppeteer heritage."

Sighing regretfully, Jiraiya admired this cheap disciple and knew about his physical shortcomings. Taking the conventional ninja path was clearly not an option. He had previously thought about having him find a way to pursue the Puppeteer path.

With his financial power, this kid could at least quickly craft some high-quality puppets.

Unfortunately, puppetry was exclusive to the Sand Village, and their Konoha had no heritage in that area. The Sand Village would absolutely never leak it.

"I should be discharged from the hospital in about a month. I'll take you on a mission then!"

Retracting the white hair wrapped around the Chakra Threads, Jiraiya didn't ask Shimura Kentei how he had cultivated such strong Chakra Threads.

The ninja's own techniques were important intelligence. Even the closest people were not allowed to inquire about them; it was a taboo.

"No need. Senior Tsunade has already taken me as her disciple, and we've formed the Tsunade Squad!"

Displaying a hint of gloom, Shimura Kentei shook his head slightly, while also contemplating how to gain some benefits from Jiraiya, this useful tool.

Those Yellow Volumes from Master Yunzhongniao weren't given for free; they were enough to make Jiraiya feel a certain sense of guilt.

This would create room for manipulation.

However, did Jiraiya have anything good on him right now?

"What? Tsunade took you as a disciple? Wasn't she uninterested in being a squad leader?"

His eyes widened. Jiraiya hadn't expected his teammate to intercept him. Then, as if understanding something, he felt guilty.

"I'm sorry. It's probably because of me that that woman took notice of you."

Honestly, Jiraiya felt very guilty at this moment. If it weren't for him, Shimura Kentei wouldn't have chosen to meet him in the bathhouse, leading to their conversation, and finally drawing Tsunade's attention.

Most importantly, this cheap disciple had paid a high price to invite Tsunade to treat his injuries. Tsunade probably took notice of this cheap disciple at that time.

He knew how much that woman needed money now, so it was normal for her to notice this rich guy. No wonder she had knocked him out and severely injured him again before.

It was all his fault for harming this cheap disciple!

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

"It seems we have no master-disciple fate. Take this gift for becoming my disciple and go back!"

Despite his immense reluctance, he was a man of principle. It was one thing not to take him as a disciple, but to inadvertently cause him to be noticed by Tsunade was another.

Based on his first impression in the bathhouse that day, Tsunade would definitely not let this kid off easily. He had really gotten the kid into trouble.

"Jiraiya-sensei, you don't need to blame yourself. Master Yunzhongniao wrote a very good sentence in his work: 'Once a teacher, always a teacher.' Jiraiya-sensei, you are my teacher for life, and that won't change for any reason."

Firmly pushing back the Sealed Item Scroll, Shimura Kentei stated his position righteously.

What a joke! He was still counting on this relationship with Jiraiya to get closer to Nagato Uzumaki, Minato Namikaze, and others in the future to gain some benefits!

How could he possibly sever this master-disciple relationship?

It was better to maintain even a nominal master-disciple relationship than none at all.

As for those yellow volumes, to him they were just paper, not worth much money. Even the so-called front-page news was merely a bit of colored ink.

After all, the Xinhua Bookstore was opened by his own fiancée, so he could have as many front-page stories as he wanted. He had even secretly instructed Keiko to produce more front-page articles and auction them on the black market; it was incredibly profitable.

Compared to Jiraiya, this breakthrough, those front-page yellow volumes were nothing.

How could he let such a near-risk-free business fail?

"That's too kind of you!"

Jiraiya was deeply moved and quickly tucked the Sealed Item Scroll back under his pillow.

"This is The Paradise of Passion that I wrote. While it may not be as good as Master Yunzhongniao's yellow volumes, it's still worth a read!"

Feeling guilty, Jiraiya thought for a moment, used his hair to open the nearby cabinet, and rummaged through his clothes to find a pink-covered book, which he handed to Shimura Kentei.

This was his labor of love from the past two years. Unfortunately, it was far inferior to Master Yunzhongniao's yellow volumes, which had led to consistently poor sales.

"The Paradise of Passion?"

Upon receiving the little novel, Shimura Kentei was a bit bewildered.

This wasn't right!

Although he didn't know when Jiraiya started writing The Paradise of Passion in the original story, it was definitely after he met Nagato Uzumaki.

Because Jiraiya's first novel, The Tale of the Enduring Perseverance Ninja, was written with Nagato Uzumaki as inspiration, and only then came The Paradise of Passion, The Paradise of Violence, The Paradise of Tactics, and other similar series of little novels.

Why had The Paradise of Passion appeared now?

Could it be the result of his own actions as a little butterfly flapping its wings?

"It really seems possible!"

Lost in thought, Shimura Kentei felt it was indeed possible that he had caused this butterfly effect.

After all, similar little novels had not appeared in the ninja world before. The yellow volumes he wrote under the pen name Ichikabe Tōkō Yunzhong Niao had pioneered a new path, serving as enlightenment education for giants of the yellow literature like Jiraiya. It was normal for him to write The Paradise of Passion earlier.

"Alas! It's a pity your physical condition is too poor, otherwise, you might have been the Child of Destiny that the Great Toad Sage spoke of!"

Seeing Shimura Kentei accept his masterpiece, Jiraiya suddenly sighed with regret.

He truly admired this cheap disciple, but unfortunately, his physical condition severely limited his future development. At best, he would only become a Jonin in this lifetime, unable to achieve great things.

"Child of Destiny? Rumor has it that the sages of Mount Myōboku have the ability to predict the future. Is it true?"

His heart stirred, and Shimura Kentei seized the opportunity to inquire.

Although he had a lot of knowledge about Mount Myōboku from the original Naruto story, this was, after all, a real world, not something that could be fully depicted by a comic or anime.

It was never wrong to gather more information!

"Of course. The Great Toad Sage has already predicted that I, Jiraiya, will one day take on a disciple who can bring about great change to the ninja world and usher in permanent peace."

Speaking of this topic, Jiraiya's face was filled with pride. He, Jiraiya, was destined to be the teacher of the Child of Destiny, leading the ninja world to achieve permanent peace.

"Is that all? Didn't the Great Toad Sage say anything else?"

Looking surprised, Shimura Kentei asked again, feeling that the Great Toad Sage's prophecy seemed very unreliable.

"What else?"

Now it was Jiraiya's turn to be surprised. Wasn't this enough?

Knowing that a scene was about to unfold, Shimura Kentei transformed into Conan and analyzed seriously, "Since the Great Toad Sage could foresee that Teacher's disciple would bring great change to the ninja world, he must have seen clear images and likely knew the person's identity. Yet, he didn't tell you, Teacher. Could it be that the Child of Destiny was mosaicked in the prophecy?

Even if the Child of Destiny's appearance couldn't be seen clearly, others should have been visible. After all, to change the entire ninja world, one person's strength wouldn't be enough; there must be help from others.

These are all important clues. Also, didn't the Great Toad Sage mention when you, Teacher Jiraiya, would meet the Child of Destiny?

Teacher, you are still young now, and you have decades of life ahead of you. Do you have to spend all this time searching for the Child of Destiny?

Even if none of this is said, at least tell me which village the Child of Destiny is from!

And Teacher Jiraiya, you are a ninja of Konoha. If nothing unexpected happens, your future disciple is likely from Konoha, which would greatly narrow down the scope!"

Jiraiya was completely stunned by Shimura Kentei's fierce analysis. After a long while, he came back to his senses, nodded thoughtfully in agreement.

"It seems to make sense!"

But why wouldn't the Great Toad Sage explain these things?

Could it be a test for him?

"Actually, Teacher Jiraiya, if you have time, you can visit the Uchiha and Senju clan lands. It's most likely that the Child of Destiny will appear there."

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

"Why those two clans?"

Once again surprised, Jiraiya couldn't understand this suggestion.

The Senju Clan was fine, but the Uchiha Clan was absolutely out of the question. They were all lunatics, fanatics, especially those Uchiha who had awakened the Sharingan; they were even more fanatical.

He didn't believe that the Child of Destiny who could bring peace to the ninja world would be born from the Uchiha family. He strongly disagreed with this.