Rasengan

Early morning, on the way to the mission briefing center.

Akiyama Shun and Tsunade were suddenly called out. Turning around, they saw a white porcupine head and a yellow hedgehog head.

The white-haired one was naturally Jiraiya, one of the Sannin and a lecher.

He was also an S-rank ninja in the Naruto mobile game, a classic example of a man who, like fine wine, only grows more mellow with age.

He possessed the invincible form [Intelligence Jiraiya].

The yellow-haired one was Namikaze Minato.

It is worth mentioning that the current Namikaze Minato was not yet at the [Namikaze Minato (Youth)] stage seen in the mobile game; the [Namikaze Minato (Youth)] version had already mastered the Rasengan.

The current Namikaze Minato had yet to develop the Rasengan and only knew the Flying Thunder God.

Just like his teacher Jiraiya, he also possessed an invincible form: [Homecoming Minato].

"Yo~ if it isn't Tsunade. And this little brat... you must be Akiyama Shun, right? I've heard your name quite a bit in the few days since I returned to the village."

Jiraiya walked up to Akiyama Shun with practiced familiarity, leaning in close to observe him intently, as if trying to discern something special.

"Lord Jiraiya, Lord Minato."

Akiyama Shun greeted them politely.

Jiraiya seemed particularly interested in Akiyama Shun; while Tsunade and Minato were exchanging greetings, he pulled the boy aside.

"I hear you're quite skilled at gambling, too. Along the way, I heard you've cleaned out almost every casino in the vicinity. To think you could actually fund that big fat sheep Tsunade's gambling habits—that's truly impressive!"

Jiraiya didn't bother to lower his voice at all, even breaking into loud laughter as he spoke.

Tsunade, who had been chatting with Minato nearby, saw her face darken instantly upon hearing this. She walked over to Jiraiya and hammered his head straight into the wall with a single punch.

"Haha~"

Minato stood to the side, offering an awkward laugh; even he didn't know what to say at that moment.

Jiraiya was clearly used to being beaten by Tsunade. He recovered quickly, and seeing that Tsunade had returned to her conversation with Minato, he pulled Akiyama Shun aside again to whisper, though his voice was less boisterous this time.

"Young geniuses like you usually have more flexible minds. Why don't you help me come up with some inspiration?"

Akiyama Shun looked at Jiraiya, puzzled: "Provide inspiration?"

"That's right. You've probably heard that I'm an author. I'm currently writing a book called Tales of a Gutsy Ninja. I expect to finish it soon, so I've started looking for inspiration for my next book," Jiraiya explained.

The next book?

Icha Icha Paradise?

Akiyama Shun looked at Jiraiya, unsure of what expression to wear.

"Isn't Lord Minato a young genius as well?"

Namikaze Minato, who was chatting with Tsunade, suddenly noticed Akiyama Shun pointing at him, his face filled with confusion.

"He won't do. He's far too serious when it comes to these things. You're different; since you can handle casinos, you certainly wouldn't look at this kind of thing with prejudice," Jiraiya shook his head.

"..." Akiyama Shun was speechless.

"Come, take a look at these two books first and just tell me what you think," Jiraiya said, pulling two books from his robes and handing them to Akiyama Shun.

Akiyama Shun took the books and glanced at them. Well, just looking at the covers, he knew these weren't books meant for someone his age.

"Lord Jiraiya!"

"Jiraiya! What have you done!"

At this moment, both Tsunade and Minato noticed the situation and hurried over.

Tsunade snatched the two books from Akiyama Shun's hands, slapped them against Jiraiya's face, and followed up by smashing him into the ground with a punch.

"What kind of filth are you showing my student!"

With that, Tsunade landed another punch for good measure before leading Akiyama Shun away.

Six o'clock in the evening.

Today's missions consisted of miscellaneous tasks within the village, so Akiyama Shun finished them quickly.

After submitting his missions, Akiyama Shun returned home. Seeing he still had [4153] gold coins, he decisively began a draw.

Having met Jiraiya today, his luck should be pretty good!

[Summoning Animal]

[Hawk Fragment X1 (1/100)]

[Secret Scroll]

[Forbidden Technique: Yin Healing Wound Destruction Fragment X1 (3/5)]

[A-rank Ninja]

[Gaara (Shippuden) X4 (4/40)]

[Dan Katō Shards X4 (4/40)]

[B-Rank Ninja]

[Kimimaro Shards X8 (20/40)]

[Orochimaru (Konoha Sannin) Shards X4 (4/40)]

[C-Rank Ninja]

[Uzumaki Naruto Shards X1 (10/10)]

[...]

Kimimaro's count continued to increase steadily.

For Akiyama Shun, it didn't matter if the next B-Rank ninja was Kimimaro or Haku; both possessed a Kekkei Genkai.

Among the C-Rank ninjas, he had accumulated quite a few more shards.

Furthermore, he finally had enough to synthesize Uzumaki Naruto!

The [Uzumaki Naruto] of this period was different from [Uzumaki Naruto (Ninja Academy)]; the latter didn't have a single useful skill.

However, the [Uzumaki Naruto] of this period was in the state he had achieved after completing his training with Jiraiya.

This ninja brought Akiyama Shun two ninjutsu.

First was the lethal skill, Rasengan!

An A-Rank ninjutsu on par with Chidori, it was also the core ninjutsu of Uzumaki Naruto in the original work, and its power was beyond question.

Second was the Multi Shadow Clone Technique!

After finishing the draw, Akiyama Shun immediately set his sights on another task.

Writing a book!

As for what kind of book, it was naturally the one Jiraiya needed.

He would certainly not pass up this opportunity to quickly build a relationship with one of the Sannin, Jiraiya.

Having an extra high-level figure looking out for him would not only prevent that old geezer Shimura Danzō from going mad, but it would also make it easier to survive during the Ninja World War.

As for the difficulty of writing a book, he hadn't considered it at all; he had read far too many books in his past life. Simply copying one would be more than enough to crush the competition!

"Poof!"

Following Akiyama Shun's release of the Shadow Clone Technique, three shadow clones plus his original body began to write furiously.

A ninja's hand speed was naturally fast; Akiyama Shun and his three clones finished one hundred chapters in just over an hour.

Since it was the first time showing it to Jiraiya, there was no need to write that much; it was enough to pique his interest first.

After finishing the book, Akiyama Shun left his home and, after making a few casual inquiries, found Jiraiya's residence.

When Jiraiya opened the door and saw it was Akiyama Shun, he was stunned for a moment.

"Kid... Oh!!!"

Jiraiya, who had been wondering why Akiyama Shun was there, saw the book in his hand and his mood immediately soared.

"Lord Jiraiya, I tried writing a little bit. It should be enough to keep you occupied for a while. See if you can draw some inspiration from it; I'll head back to rest now."

After Akiyama Shun finished speaking, he turned and left.

"I'll be sure to thank you, kid."

After Jiraiya expressed his thanks, he closed the door, went into his room, and crawled under the covers, intending to savor the work and see what this genius who had shaken Konoha could possibly write.

Given Akiyama Shun's age and experience, Jiraiya didn't actually expect it to be very good; as long as it could provide a little inspiration for his new book, that would be enough.

Jiraiya flipped open the book.

Young A-Ye

A-Ye? That name is somewhat interesting.

Is it based on my name?

A smile tugged at the corners of Jiraiya's mouth as he continued to turn the page.

Chapter One.

A-Ye's grades at the Ninja Academy were not ideal...