Konoha Dragon God

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

"Mm." Sakura nodded. "Before Dad retired, he teamed up with Grandpa Kosuke on many missions. Grandpa Kosuke also lives close to my house. When I was little, 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 too?"

With that huge pot on his back, he looked far more like a chef.

"Of course," Sakura replied. "Although Grandpa Kosuke is only a genin and isn't very strong, Dad said he has a lot of ninja experience."

"Sakura!"

"What is it, Sasuke?"

Sasuke withdrew his gaze and said flatly, "Since you have that connection, you can seek advice from a senior like him more often in the future."

"Huh?"

Sakura froze.

Although Grandpa Kosuke, um...

But when all was said and done, he was only a genin, right? Even her useless dad was much stronger than him.

"Just as you said, since this senior has been a ninja for decades, even if he is only a genin, he must have something exceptional about him. You'll graduate in another two years. Asking a senior like him for guidance more often will definitely help you a great deal."

Maruboshi Kosuke—he was someone the Second Hokage had personally taught Water Release ninjutsu; someone the Third Hokage had wanted to promote to jonin and teach ninjutsu to, though Kosuke had refused the jonin title; someone the Fourth Hokage had personally bandaged.

His swordsmanship and shuriken-throwing skills were outstanding even among Konoha's jonin.

As for his Water Release techniques, aside from the Third Hokage—the great professor of all five natures, whose skills were difficult to judge—Maruboshi Kosuke could be called Konoha's number one Water Release user.

"Is that so?"

Sakura nodded thoughtfully.

Sasuke was so smart. What he said had to be right!

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

Should I listen to Sasuke and ask Grandpa Kosuke for guidance more often?

On her way home, Sakura manipulated the water doll on her body while thinking to herself.

It wasn't that she looked down on Grandpa Kosuke's strength. She was simply afraid of disturbing him.

Grandpa Kosuke was often away from home, either patrolling around Konoha or on his way out of the village to carry out missions.

According to her father, Grandpa Kosuke was a ninja with a strong sense of responsibility and an intense Will of Fire. Most people retired from being ninjas around the age of fifty.

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

Yet Grandpa Kosuke was already over sixty and was still dedicating himself to Konoha. Regardless of how strong he was, he truly loved the village.

When someone like that finally came home to rest for a few days, wouldn't it be terribly rude for her to visit and disturb him?

The current Sakura always presented herself as a poised young lady before others. Only in front of the few people closest to her—Sasuke, Naruto, and Ino—would she reveal her true personality.

Thinking of this, Sakura sighed and murmured, "I'll ask Dad when I get back. If... well, then forget it..."

After leaving Ichiraku Ramen, Naruto walked toward the training ground with a troubled expression. He was going to do extra training today!

Since Sasuke had long told him that he shouldn't exercise intensely right after eating, he chose not to run there and instead walked at a leisurely pace.

He had lost to Sasuke again today. Although it wasn't the first time.

It still left Naruto deeply unwilling to accept it.

Over the past two years, they had been both friends and teacher-student figures to each other, but he had never given up on the idea of defeating Sasuke.

Ever since he first met Sasuke, it was as though a voice in his heart had told him to become friends with Sasuke. But making friends was one thing—he absolutely could not lose to that guy.

Yet he seemed to have been losing all along. He had never won even once.

"What can I do to get stronger quickly and beat that guy Sasuke?"

Naruto scratched his head in frustration and muttered to himself.

He felt that his strength had reached a bottleneck. Although his steadily increasing daily training could slowly improve him, it no longer had the explosive progress he had experienced when he first began training seriously.

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

"Do I really have to read books?"

Naruto looked guilty.

Thanks to his exceptional taijutsu ability, Naruto had shot up through the class's practical combat rankings and become second only to Sasuke.

But for someone who got an awful headache the moment he opened a book, he was still dead last in theory classes.

The best way to overcome a difficulty was to face it. Perseverance meant victory!

At a corner, Naruto stopped. He suddenly remembered something Sasuke had once told him. Gritting his teeth, he turned around and headed toward the village library, walking farther and farther away.

On a rooftop above the corner Naruto had not passed, a tall, white-haired middle-aged man in a red coat lay sprawled across the roof, intently peeping at the hot spring bathhouse in the distance.

Konoha Library.

After entering the library, Naruto braced himself and walked toward the front desk beneath the cold, disgusted, curious, and various other gazes around him.

He asked the smiling receptionist for a catalog. After hurriedly skimming it once, he headed deeper into the library.

He had only looked over it roughly. Once he found the location of the taijutsu section, he closed the catalog.

Right now, what he wanted most was a new taijutsu technique.

Upon entering the taijutsu section, Naruto stared at the rows upon rows of bookshelves and the vast sea of books upon them. He swallowed, then tremblingly pulled out the first book and began reading.

Ninja Academy Basic Taijutsu?

This won't do. I learned this ages ago.

Key Points for Taijutsu Training?

This won't do either. Sasuke taught me this long ago.

Hardcore Fitness?

I know this one too.

Men, How Should You Train Your Waist?

How Can Men Last Longer?

What kind of random nonsense is this?

Naruto put the books back with a speechless expression. The books here were either things he had already learned or things he had no need for at all.

There were no advanced taijutsu training techniques that he wanted.

Naruto patiently continued searching. Just then, when he pulled out the next book, a green scroll fell out. He hurriedly picked it up.

"Konoha Dragon God?"

Seeing the scroll's title, Naruto's face lit up with delight. He quickly opened the scroll and began reading.

"The Konoha Dragon God is an S-rank taijutsu ultimate technique created by Chen Baojun, Konoha's strongest taijutsu ninja..."

The strongest taijutsu ninja?

Naruto immediately became incredibly excited. He pulled the scroll open farther, wanting to see the Konoha Dragon God's training method.

"Huh!?"

"A piece is missing!?"

Note: Chen Baojun was an anime-original character from Naruto.