Konoha Dragon God

After the old man ordered a bowl of ramen to go, Sasuke looked casually in the direction the old man had left and asked, "Sakura, do you know that old man?"

"Yes." Sakura nodded and said, "Before my dad retired, he was teammates with Maruboshi Kosuke many times. Maruboshi Kosuke doesn't live far from my house either, and when I was little, my dad took me to visit him a few times."

Naruto asked with a puzzled look, "Sakura, are you saying that old man is a ninja?"

Carrying a large pot, he looked much more like a chef.

Sakura replied, "Of course. Although Maruboshi Kosuke is only a genin and his strength isn't high, my dad said that Maruboshi Kosuke has a wealth of ninja experience."

"Sakura!"

"What is it, Sasuke?"

Sasuke withdrew his gaze and said indifferently, "Since you have that connection, you should ask such a senior for advice more often in the future."

"Eh?"

Sakura was stunned.

Although Maruboshi Kosuke is, um...

But come to think of it, he is just a genin, and even her own deadbeat dad is much stronger than him.

"Just as you said, since this senior has been a ninja for decades, even if he is a genin, he must have his own merits. You will be graduating in two years, so asking such a senior for advice will certainly be of great help to you."

Maruboshi Kosuke—this was a man who had been personally taught Water Release ninjutsu by the Second Hokage; a man whom the Third Hokage wanted to promote to jonin and teach advanced ninjutsu (though he declined the title); a man whose wounds were personally bandaged by the Fourth Hokage.

His swordsmanship and shuriken-throwing techniques were outstanding even among the jonin of Konoha.

And as for his Water Release, in Konoha, aside from the Third Hokage—a grand master of all five elemental transformations whose level was hard to judge—Maruboshi Kosuke could be called the number one practitioner of Water Release in the village.

"Is that so?"

Sakura nodded thoughtfully.

Sasuke-kun is so smart; what he says must be right!

After the three of them finished their ramen and chatted for a while, they went their separate ways.

Should I listen to Sasuke-kun and ask Maruboshi Kosuke for advice more often?

On the way home, Sakura thought to herself while manipulating the water-shaped doll on her body.

It wasn't that she looked down on Maruboshi Kosuke's strength, but rather that she was afraid of disturbing him.

Maruboshi Kosuke was rarely home; he was either patrolling around Konoha or on his way out of the village to carry out missions.

She heard from her dad that Maruboshi Kosuke was a ninja who was very willing to take responsibility and possessed a strong Will of Fire. Most people retired from their ninja duties around the age of fifty.

Even her own unreliable dad had ended his ninja career before he was thirty.

Yet Maruboshi Kosuke was already over sixty and still contributing to Konoha. Regardless of his strength, he was truly a man who loved the village deeply.

If such a person finally returned home to rest for a few days, wouldn't it be rude for her to go and bother him?

The current Sakura presented a ladylike and proper side to outsiders, and only revealed her true personality in front of the few people like Sasuke, Naruto, and Ino.

Thinking of this, Sakura sighed and muttered, "I'll ask my dad when I get back. If... then forget it..."

After leaving Ichiraku Ramen, Naruto walked toward the training ground with a troubled look on his face; he had extra training to do today!

Because Sasuke had long ago told him the principle that one shouldn't engage in strenuous exercise immediately after a meal, he didn't choose to run, but walked there at a leisurely pace.

He had lost to Sasuke again today, and although it wasn't the first time, it still left Naruto feeling very unwilling.

For the past two years, their relationship had been that of both teacher and friend, but he had never given up on the idea of defeating Sasuke.

From the moment he first met Sasuke, there seemed to be a voice in Naruto's heart telling him to be friends with Sasuke, but while he could be friends, he absolutely could not lose to that guy.

Yet it seemed he was always losing and had never won a single time.

"Is there any other way for me to get stronger quickly and beat that guy Sasuke?"

Naruto scratched his hair in frustration and muttered.

He felt that his current strength had entered a bottleneck period. Although the daily increase in training could slowly improve his strength, it didn't have the same effect of rapid progress as when he first started training in earnest.

He had completely mastered the Ninja Academy's taijutsu curriculum, and he even knew the basics of Sasuke's Uchiha Style taijutsu.

"Is the only way really to read books?"

Naruto showed a guilty expression.

Although his superior taijutsu ability had allowed him to leap up in the class's practical assessments, rising to second place only behind Sasuke, for someone like him who got a massive headache the moment he looked at a book, he was still dead last in theory.

The best way to eliminate difficulties is to face them; persistence is victory!

At a street corner, Naruto stopped in his tracks. He suddenly remembered a sentence Sasuke had once said to him. Gritting his teeth, he turned around and headed toward the village library, walking further and further away.

And on a rooftop at the corner Naruto hadn't passed, a tall, white-haired middle-aged man wearing a red coat was lying on the roof, intently peeping at the hot spring inn in the distance.

Konoha Library.

Walking into the library, Naruto steeled himself and headed toward the front desk, ignoring the cold, disgusted, and curious gazes of the people around him.

He asked the smiling receptionist for a catalog, took a hurried glance at it, and then headed deep into the library.

He scanned it very roughly, closing the catalog as soon as he spotted the location of the taijutsu section.

For him right now, what he craved and wanted most was a new taijutsu technique.

Walking into the taijutsu section and looking at the rows of bookshelves and the vast sea of books upon them, Naruto swallowed hard before trembling as he pulled out the first book to read.

Ninja Academy Basic Taijutsu?

This won't do; I've already learned this.

Key Points for Taijutsu Training?

This won't do either; Sasuke already taught me this.

Hardcore Fitness?

I already know this too.

Men, How Should You Train Your Waist?

How Can Men Last Longer?

What kind of messy nonsense is all this?

Naruto speechlessly put the books back; the books here were either things he had already learned or things he had absolutely no need for.

There were simply no high-end taijutsu training techniques like the ones he wanted.

Naruto patiently continued to browse, and just as he pulled out the next book, a green scroll fell out, which he hurriedly picked up.

"Konoha Dragon God?"

Seeing the name on the scroll, Naruto's expression turned to one of pleasant surprise, and he quickly opened the scroll to read it.

"Konoha Dragon God is an S-rank taijutsu ultimate technique created by Chen Baojun, the ninja with the strongest taijutsu in Konoha..."

The ninja with the strongest taijutsu?

Naruto was instantly filled with excitement, pulling the scroll open further to check the training method for Konoha Dragon God.

"Eh!?"

"It's actually missing a piece!?"

Note: Chen Baojun is an original character from the Naruto anime.