The Man Who Had Lechery Written into His Genes

Zixiao helped Duke to his feet and looked around at the endless expanse of white, overcome with mixed emotions. As a teacher, there was little left he could teach Duke. As a guardian, even less so. His child had already surpassed him. In truth, Zixiao was not entirely right. Duke and he were different types of ninja and could not be compared so simply.

Against a hundred people, Duke only needed one ultimate move, but if he had to fight them one by one, he would be done for. Likewise, against a hundred people, Zixiao could win one-on-one fights, but in a brawl, he would probably die horribly. Put plainly, Zixiao was like Hatake Gojūgo-kai in the future: a player with too little Chakra and no mana. They relied on technique and excelled at fighting with their brains. Under normal circumstances, they did not use ultimate moves because the risk was too great. If the enemy dodged their ultimate, they would have no Chakra left and could only wait to die.

With his enormous Chakra reserves, which would only grow larger in the future, Duke had never considered pinching pennies with his Chakra or relying on analysis to fight his enemies. If words failed, he would unleash an ultimate move. That was his ninja way, and the path he had chosen for himself.

There were many ninja like him in the Shinobi World. Famous examples included one of the future Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist—Kisame Hoshigaki, wielder of Samehada. His fighting style was as wild as his shark face. He was the very embodiment of the go-big school, the type to throw out an ultimate move without a second word. Then there was Konoha's First Hokage—Hashirama Senju! Once this man went all out, even the tailed beasts had to bow before his destructive power. He sat firmly at the top of the ultimate-move world, chaining one ultimate after another in battle. He was Konoha's village-level weapon, and the children of the Shinobi World he had beaten up called him the 'God of Shinobi.'

"Are you okay?" Asuma and Kurenai arrived and took Duke from Zixiao's hands, asking with concern.

"I just used up too much Chakra. I'll be fine after resting for a while!" Duke was somewhat weak. Chakra was formed from physical energy extracted from the body's 130 trillion cells combined with spiritual energy. Running out of Chakra meant both energies had been depleted. His head felt heavy and his legs light, like he was carsick.

The four of them did not dare linger. Asuma carried Duke on his back, crossed the ice, and continued toward Konoha. Such a large-scale ninjutsu would definitely draw a swarm of onlookers. If they were Konoha ninja, that would be fine. If they were ninja from another country, things would be dangerous.

"Can ninjutsu really cause something like this?"

Standing on the thick ice, Kurenai could hardly believe it. Even now, her jaw had yet to close. A basin had become a lake, then turned into an ice field. Duke had completely shattered her worldview.

"Even if ninja can't be judged by common sense, this is way too exaggerated!" Asuma voiced his disbelief as well. "Can Ice Release really be this powerful? How did Konoha defeat the Hidden Mist Ninja in the past?"

"The Hidden Mist's Ice Release does not have such terrifying destructive power. Duke is somewhat special. His Chakra reserves are immense. Even I, a Jonin, am ashamed to compare myself to him," Zixiao explained. He needed to make things clear now, or the two might easily lose confidence in themselves as ninja. At the same time, Zixiao became even more convinced that Duke definitely possessed Uzumaki Clan blood, or perhaps he was a member of the Senju Clan who had been lost outside the clan.

"Didn't you say you wanted to surpass Naruto? You're scared already?" Duke lay limply on Asuma's back. Why wasn't a cute girl carrying me?

"What are you talking about? I didn't make a move earlier because I was afraid of scaring you!" Asuma deliberately bounced across the trees a few times, jostling Duke on his back until he became dizzy and nauseous, howling miserably.

"My head's spinning. I'm going to throw up."

"Ah—don't throw up on me."

Konoha Hospital. Under Zixiao's insistent demands, Duke underwent an examination and stayed in the hospital for two days as well. Faced with Zixiao's goodwill, Duke could not refuse and could only go along with him, lying in the hospital for two days.

After completing his discharge procedures, Duke had just stepped out of the hospital gates when he ran into Zixiao. Behind him stood two conspicuous figures, one blond and one red-haired.

"You've already finished the paperwork? Didn't I tell you to wait for me?" Zixiao rubbed Duke's hair and pointed at the two. "These are Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki. They are both Konoha's elite Jonin. Hurry and greet your seniors."

"Hello, seniors. I'm Duke." Duke narrowed his eyes and smiled sweetly, acting cute. Even without an introduction, he had guessed their identities. Tomato and scrambled eggs... ahem, a blond-and-red-haired couple was quite famous in Naruto. Extremely famous!

At this time, neither of the couple was yet twenty. They were in the prime of their youthful years, a handsome man and a beautiful woman, a match made in heaven. It was said that when Kushina was ten, the warm and gentle Minato had already charmed her head over heels. From then on, she had fallen deeply into the web of love and could not pull herself free, creating one of Naruto's classic scenes. Clearly, if you wanted to pick up girls, you had to start early. If you waited too long, it would be too late.

Because of this, the single Jiraiya had taken a liking to Minato at first sight and accepted him as a disciple upon his graduation. Jiraiya believed the boy was intelligent and gifted, definitely the best candidate for the Child of Prophecy. In truth, Jiraiya merely wanted to ask Minato how to flirt with girls, especially hot-tempered ones. Taking him as a disciple was only incidental. In the end, Minato truly lived up to expectations, rising from a civilian background all the way to become Naruto.

"What a cute little girl!" Kushina grabbed Duke and rubbed his cheeks, her hands rather... rough.

"I'm a boy." Duke refused to remain silent on matters of gender.

"Huh!?" Kushina was startled. She pulled Duke over and examined him carefully for a while, then began kneading his cheeks again. "What a cute little boy!"

"..." Duke groaned inwardly. As expected of the Red Hot Chili Pepper who gave birth to the strongest Naruto. Her grip was really strong.

Minato Namikaze hurriedly pulled his silly wife aside and apologized to Duke. "Kushina is only trying to show friendliness. She didn't hurt you, did she?"

"It's fine. People pinch my cheeks all the time. I'm used to it." Duke raised a hand and used Medical Ninjutsu to reduce the swelling on his red cheeks... They really were swollen.

"By the way, Senior Minato, we've met before." Duke lowered his hand and said politely, "Obito was in your squad during the graduation team assignments. How is he doing now?"

"Obito often mentions you. You two must be quite close!" Minato recalled the troublesome friend Obito often talked about. Sharp-tongued, scheming, skilled at deceiving people with his beautiful appearance, and always fond of putting him down. If this had been Zixiao, he definitely would have repeated Obito's exact words, then brought over a small stool and sat down to watch them fight. But Minato was Minato. His character was impeccable. He polished Obito's words a little and expressed them in another way.

"Yeah!"

"If that's the case, you can call me Teacher Minato. As for Obito, he's always cheerful and often helps lonely elderly people. He's a kind ninja," Minato said with a smile. His words and actions were incredibly infectious. He was confident without the slightest arrogance, making people naturally want to draw close to him. He was strong, kind, and possessed an exceptional aura. He also loved the village deeply. All that could be said was that Snake Uncle's defeat in the battle for Naruto was not undeserved.

"So he's still late all the time, then?"

"On that point, that is indeed true."

The three chatted for a while before Zixiao used having business to attend to as an excuse and left first, entrusting Duke to the two of them. Before leaving, he shot Minato and Kushina a meaningful look. Seeing it, Duke suddenly understood. He had wondered why Zixiao had introduced the two to him, but now it all became clear. His enormous Chakra reserves had made Zixiao suspicious. Since Konoha happened to have a member of the Uzumaki Clan, she could determine whether he possessed Uzumaki blood.

"He could've just said so. Why make it all so mysterious? I thought some treacherous commoner was plotting against me," Duke muttered. Ninja were always sneaking around when they did things. It had become an occupational habit. Even a sunny guy like Minato was already beyond saving.

"As a meeting gift, how about Minato and I treat you to ramen?" As she spoke, Kushina grabbed Duke and dragged him toward Ichiraku Ramen, giving him no chance to refuse.

Along the way, Kushina tried every possible way to feel Duke up. Duke knew perfectly well that she was probing for bloodline-related matters, yet he still felt as though he were being harassed by a female hooligan.

Between teasing and being teased, the three arrived at Ichiraku Ramen. Kushina ordered three bowls of ramen and started eating enthusiastically. Sharp-eyed Teuchi recognized Duke and brought him a bowl of 'the day's most exquisite flavor.' Having been teased all the way here, Duke did not refuse the outrageously expensive ramen. Someone else was paying, so there was no reason not to eat.

"Minato, I finally found you!" A delighted voice came from outside the shop. It was deep and rich without lacking vigor, full of mature charm.

That voice... a member of the Yato Clan from Gintama? Duke chewed his ramen and turned to look behind him. The newcomer was tall and broad, wearing a forehead protector with the character for "oil" written on it. His white hair reached his waist, and red markings lay beneath his eyes. He wore a red outer robe over brown clothes, wooden clogs on his feet, and armor-like equipment on both hands.

"I knew I'd find you here eating ramen with Kushina." The newcomer was Jiraiya, one of Konoha's Sannin and known as Konoha's great teacher.

"Teacher Jiraiya, your timing is perfect. Let me treat you to ramen!" Minato said politely.

"No!" Kushina stood up and blocked Minato, glaring furiously at Jiraiya as she shouted, "Don't even think about taking Minato with you to peep!"

"Kushina, what are you talking about?" Jiraiya widened his eyes and pointed at himself in confusion. "Do you really think Teacher Jiraiya can't do anything besides peeping?"

"Is there anything else?" Kushina asked as though it were only natural. It was clearly a question, yet she said it with absolute certainty. In her eyes, Minato was perfect. His only flaw was having a teacher like Jiraiya, who had lechery written into his genes. Still, that also proved how strong Minato's will was. Not just anyone could remain unstained after being influenced by Jiraiya.

"Besides peeping, I have plenty of serious business too," Jiraiya said weakly. Duke could hear his lack of confidence.

Jiraiya was a ninja whose lechery ran in his bones and had seeped into his soul. That might be hard to understand, so put more simply: from age five to fifteen, people called him a lecherous brat. From fifteen to thirty, they called him a lecherous youth. From thirty to forty-five, they called him a lecherous uncle. After that, he became a lecherous old man. He marched bravely down the path of peeping without regret. If he could choose how to die, Jiraiya would definitely choose to drown in a women's bathhouse. Of course, he really had nearly died at the entrance to one. He had been caught peeping on Tsunade, and that time, one foot had already stepped through death's door.