Becoming Chiriku's Disciple

The Fire Temple sat on a small hill five kilometers outside the capital of the Land of Fire. Thanks to its long history and grand halls, its incense offerings were still quite thriving.

"Your Highness the Prince, we'll have to proceed on foot from here!"

At the reminder from the steward Kino, Li Chuan stepped down from the carriage, and a long staircase leading to the summit appeared before him.

Unlike the desolate temple he remembered from watching the anime as a child, the stairs were now crowded with ordinary folk of the Land of Fire coming and going, making the place seem lively.

He figured that back then, the temple had likely been closed off by Chiriku due to the grave-robbing incident.

"Let's go."

Without wasting words, Li Chuan waved his hand and led Kino, the servants, and the guards up the stairs toward the top.

His body had now recovered to the peak of his previous life, and after entering this world, it had been instantly endowed with the physique of this world's humans. His cell count had greatly increased, and he could clearly feel that his body had grown much stronger.

So when he reached the temple's main gate at the summit, he felt no fatigue at all—unlike Kino and the others, who were already panting for breath.

"I never imagined His Highness the Prince's health would be this good!"

In the eyes of Kino and the other servants, their prince had always been a shut-in who rarely went out or exercised. They never expected his physical condition to far surpass theirs.

"Is this the Sealing Iron Wall?"

The temple's main gate stood about five meters tall, forged from raw iron and coated in gold lacquer. On either side of the gate stood two massive stone statues.

From his hazy memories, Li Chuan recalled that the gate and statues weren't just decorations. They were part of a powerful defensive barrier created by the temple's barrier ninjutsu and Sealing Technique, enveloping the entire Fire Temple.

Once activated, only the unique Sage Art chakra of the temple's monks could pass through it. It was said to be an impregnable defense.

But as he remembered, it had been broken once by the rampaging Sora wielding Nine-Tails Chakra, and then forcibly shattered again by the Immortal Duo of the Akatsuki.

"Your Highness the Prince, shall I summon the temple's head monk to receive you?"

Seeing Li Chuan standing still at the temple gate, Kino asked softly.

In Kino's view, though the Fire Temple was famous, it was still just a temple. A prince of noble rank should be greeted and accompanied by the head monk himself.

Li Chuan shook his head at that:

"No need. Let's go in and look around first."

He was here to apprentice and learn ninjutsu, not to show off his status. He had to keep a good attitude. Otherwise, even if he did join the temple, Chiriku might not be willing to teach him the real skills, and there'd be nothing he could do about it.

Though the royal family of the Land of Fire held high status, they didn't have absolute control over ninja villages or temples.

Even if the Daimyō himself came, he couldn't force the Fire Temple to hand over the ninjutsu passed down through generations.

After strolling through the temple with his attendants and burning a few sticks of incense, Li Chuan noticed that the main enshrined figures were two buddhas: one was Guanyin, and the other was Acala.

"That fits perfectly with the temple's famous techniques, Raijin - Thousand-Armed Killing and Wrathful Vajra."

Having finished his tour, he didn't waste any more time. He went straight to a steward monk who seemed to hold a high position in the front hall and spoke politely:

"I am Yuan Chuan. I have a matter to discuss with Head Monk Chiriku. Please trouble you to announce me."

"Is it His Highness the Prince?"

The steward monk in charge of the front hall was sharp as a tack. As soon as he heard the surname Yuan—the royal family name of the Land of Fire—he immediately thought of the rumored prince who rarely left his home.

"That's right."

Li Chuan nodded.

The steward monk broke into a smile and respectfully performed a Buddhist greeting:

"This humble monk will have someone notify the head monk at once. Please, Your Highness, follow me to the rear courtyard guest room to rest first."

Unlike the bustle of the front hall, the rear courtyard of the Fire Temple was off-limits to visitors. Apart from monks training in Body Technique on the open ground, there was no one else to be seen.

"Oh, is that young man also a monk of the temple? Why hasn't he taken the tonsure?"

As he followed the steward monk along the path to the rear courtyard reception room, Li Chuan spotted a long-haired youth. His heart stirred, and he asked the steward monk.

The steward monk followed Li Chuan's gaze, a trace of disgust flickering across his face:

"Your Highness, that's Sora. He's a child brought into the Fire Temple by Head Monk Chiriku. He's a Lay Disciple, so he doesn't need to shave his head."

"How old is he this year?"

Li Chuan asked casually.

The steward thought for a moment:

"He should be eleven."

Li Chuan nodded and didn't press further.

In truth, he'd guessed who the youth was at first glance. Asking the steward was mainly to confirm the boy's age, so he could roughly gauge what point in time he'd entered this world.

Though he still remembered the main plot of Naruto, it was an anime he'd watched as a child. He wasn't entirely clear on which specific events happened in which year of the Naruto World.

Still, he recalled that Sora's age wasn't far off from Naruto's. If Sora was eleven now, then Naruto was probably around eleven too, and Naruto graduated from the Ninja Academy at about twelve.

With that calculation, he had a rough idea of where he stood on the timeline, and he breathed a quiet sigh of relief.

This timing was actually pretty good. The plot hadn't unfolded yet, and he wouldn't have to face the awkward situation of just joining the Fire Temple only to have the Immortal Duo show up to destroy it.

"Kino, wait outside."

After instructing Kino, Li Chuan followed the Steward Monk into the guest room. Sipping the hot tea of the Fire Temple, he waited patiently.

After about five minutes, a bald monk in his thirties, draped in a kasaya, knocked and entered the guest room.

"Chiriku, abbot of the Fire Temple, pays respects to Your Highness the Prince."

"Abbot Chiriku, no need for such formalities."

Li Chuan quickly rose and returned a Buddhist greeting.

"May I ask what matter Your Highness the Prince wishes to discuss with this humble monk?"

Sitting cross-legged on a cushion, Chiriku wore a puzzled expression.

The esteemed prince's sudden personal visit to the Fire Temple left Chiriku utterly clueless. Though he had once been one of the "Guardian Shinobi Twelve" of the Land of Fire in his youth, his duties back then involved secretly protecting the Daimyo. This prince, who always kept to himself, he had only seen a handful of times, never even exchanging a single word.

"Abbot Chiriku, I have come this time primarily to take monastic vows at the Fire Temple and become your disciple!"

Li Chuan did not beat around the bush, stating his purpose for seeking out Chiriku directly. As a prince, he had no need for excessive verbal probing.

Chiriku's eyes went wide with disbelief at the words.

"Your Highness the Prince, are you certain you are not jesting with this humble monk?"

A prince of the Land of Fire, of such exalted status, actually wished to become a monk at the Fire Temple and take him as a master—this truly caught him off guard and was difficult to comprehend.