An hour and a half later.
Naruto decided they'd done about enough.
"All right, that's it for today's training."
You've got to be kidding!
He still had to go distribute Jiraiya's great work.
He had to let Konoha's blossoms... the village's man-eating flowers bask in the influence of spiritual culture.
"Huh? So soon? Big Bro, I've still got plenty of energy. I'm not afraid of hardship. I can keep training!"
Konohamaru, now transformed into a girl, said reluctantly.
Konohamaru's transformation technique wasn't very refined, so the girl he'd turned into was only average-looking.
Ahem, ahem...
Don't get the wrong idea, everyone.
He was properly dressed.
"Sorry, Konohamaru. See you next time."
Naruto reached out and flicked little Konohamaru on the forehead.
The action was directed by Itachi Uchiha.
It had to be said.
This move really was satisfying.
At least, flicking him felt great.
"Oh, right. Here, take this and bring it home to study."
Naruto handed over the book he'd already read.
He gave it to Konohamaru on a whim.
Konohamaru took it, puzzled. "Big Bro, what do you mean? Could there be some powerful training method inside?"
Who said he couldn't give it to just anyone?
The system hadn't said he had to give it to someone his own age.
Besides, ninja had to be trained from childhood!
That was the only way they'd get the chance to shine in the future.
Naruto grinned and spoke earnestly.
"Exactly. This is one of Jiraiya's life's works! Jiraiya is one of the legendary Sannin from our village, famous for his influence in the field of culture."
"Not only is he skilled at ninjutsu, he's also a first-rate writer."
"Does any of that matter? No. What matters is that he poured all the ninjutsu knowledge he'd learned in his life into this book."
"I think we were meant to meet, so I'm giving you this book, originally worth 648 gold coins, for free."
"You'd better train hard and not let all my effort go to waste."
Konohamaru's eyes sparkled.
His little hands clutched the book tightly.
It was as if he'd seized the future in that instant!
"Big Bro, I definitely won't let you down!"
"Good! That's the spirit! Keep practicing! Once you reach a certain level, you'll be able to wear girls' clothes to school without anyone noticing. Then you can seize the future—the future Hokage will be you, Konohamaru!"
"I'll definitely seize the future!"
"..."
The Anbu members hiding nearby, their wounds only just staunched, were dumbfounded.
They looked at one another.
The looks on their comrades' faces were full of shock and bewilderment.
"Holy crap! The Third Hokage's grandson is going to train in girls' clothes from now on?"
"Captain, should we report this to the Third Hokage?"
"Get out of here... Report what, exactly?! Didn't you hear Naruto? Wearing girls' clothes is to help him train better. Get your damn minds out of the gutter."
"Captain, we weren't thinking anything weird... But the young master's performance just now was great."
"Shut up! Only we few know about this. Don't tell anyone else, got it? The young master is going to seize the future and become Hokage! We have to support him unconditionally!"
At that moment, one of the younger Anbu members awkwardly scratched his head.
He pointed toward Konohamaru.
"Captain, I've read the book by Lord Jiraiya... The stuff written in there..."
"You think you're the only one who's read it? As soon as Lord Jiraiya released a book, we skipped work to buy it!"
"Heh heh heh... Lord Jiraiya's writing is as sharp as ever. The story really hits the spot."
"That's not it... That's not what I meant."
After hesitating for a while, the young squad member
finally decided to voice his concerns.
"The young master's still so young. Isn't it a little too early for him to read Lord Jiraiya's books?"
Everyone fell silent for a moment.
The Anbu squad captain slapped the young member on the back of the head.
"Too early, my ass! I knew about this stuff before I was out of diapers!"
"Captain, you're awesome! No wonder you're our boss."
"Show me the ropes, old hand."
The squad captain cleared his throat twice.
He addressed the member he'd just hit with righteous indignation.
"Naruto already said that Lord Jiraiya's book contains insights and techniques related to training in the Rasengan."
"Like the Fourth Hokage, Lord Jiraiya can use the Rasengan too."
"There might be insights into ninjutsu hidden between the lines."
"We're just not skilled enough to understand them."
One of the squad members opened his mouth and said,
"Captain, we're High Shinobi, after all. If we can't see it, how did Naruto figure it out?"
Another member retorted irritably,
"Are you an idiot?! If Naruto couldn't see it, how did he use the Rasengan just now? He couldn't have figured it out on his own without anyone teaching him, could he?"
"Huh? That's true."
"No, when we get off work, I'm going to read the book carefully too!"
"The old man at home confiscated my copy. Lend me yours first."
"Get out of here! You think I'm stupid enough to lend you mine when it has secrets for learning the Rasengan?"
"Hand it over. Be a good boy."
"Brother Jie, nooo!!!"
"Let me have a look!"
"..."
Before you continue