The Point Is, You Can't Handle Little Hanabi. Leave Her to Me!

"Can't little Konohamaru come out today?"

Another one of Naruto's Puppet Shadow Clones.

It lay beneath a large tree, resting with its eyes closed.

Every now and then, it lifted an eyelid to glance around.

This was where he had run into Konohamaru yesterday.

The hidden Anbu Ninja's presence had vanished completely.

Looks like quite a few Anbu Ninja supported him after all.

Naruto planned to wait another two hours.

If Konohamaru still didn't show up,

he'd make this Puppet Shadow Clone disappear.

"Waaah... The boss lied to me..."

A little kid's sob rang out.

It was Konohamaru.

His face was bruised and swollen.

He was crying up a storm,

as if he'd suffered some terrible injustice.

Naruto opened his eyes.

When he saw Konohamaru beaten into a pig's head,

he was instantly displeased.

Who was the idiot who'd laid a hand on his little bro?

Naruto got up and walked over to Konohamaru.

"Who hit you? Tell me, and I'll go teach him a lesson."

Konohamaru sniffled, looking heartbroken enough to make anyone cry.

The poor kid—

he'd been beaten badly.

"I... My uncle Asuma."

Naruto was stunned for a moment.

It wasn't that he couldn't beat Asuma as he was now.

He could easily wipe the floor with him, couldn't he?

The question was, why had Asuma beaten Konohamaru?

"Can you tell me why?"

Wiping away his tears, Konohamaru said miserably, "It's because of that cultivation book you gave me yesterday, boss."

Naruto understood.

Kid, you should've hidden it better.

You took that little book home in plain sight.

Of course you got beaten.

If I were your uncle, I'd have hit you even harder.

It was hard to judge another family's affairs.

He wasn't about to meddle in someone else's family business.

"I don't remember telling you to go around telling everyone about it, did I?"

At that, Konohamaru

felt even more wronged.

"I... Waaah..."

His face was swollen and bruised in places.

Naruto asked curiously, "You didn't rat me out, did you?"

Konohamaru wiped his tears and shook his head like a rattle.

"No... No, I didn't rat you out, boss. I said I found the book myself."

"Pfft... Hahaha... All right, stop crying. Today, your boss is going to teach you some real skills."

Naruto laughed without an ounce of shame.

But he really did intend to teach Konohamaru something useful.

Konohamaru paused, a snot bubble forming at his nose.

His eyes filled with anticipation!

"Okay... Okay!"

"Show me the Sexy Technique I taught you yesterday. And this time, transform into the woman in this magazine."

Naruto pulled out a copy of Teen Girl Magazine he'd picked up along the way.

He pointed to a sexy photo of a woman.

She wore a white sailor uniform.

She was beautiful, with a curvy figure.

Everyone knew—

anyone who'd watched the Naruto story knew

that Konohamaru had actually figured out the Rasengan himself.

Naruto had only told him that the Rasengan existed.

Then Konohamaru had gathered information with his friends

and eventually figured it out on his own!

As the saying went: Naruto had two true geniuses. One taught a fool the Rasengan, and the other learned the Rasengan from that fool.

Naruto wasn't the fool he used to be anymore.

He had the system.

He could just get it handed to him.

Why bother learning?

"Ninja Art: Sexy Technique!"

Konohamaru formed a random hand seal with practiced ease.

For some reason,

he found Naruto's original technique

very easy to relate to.

It didn't take long before he'd mastered it.

Poof—

Konohamaru's transformation succeeded!

It wasn't exactly identical to the picture,

but it was at least seventy or eighty percent similar.

Konohamaru was a genius ninja who might one day become Hokage, just like Naruto.

Learning the Sexy Technique

was as easy as breathing!

But... the bruises on his face were still there.

They'd faded a little,

but they were still obvious.

It looked ridiculous.

"Pfft..." Naruto laughed again, shameless as ever.

Transformed into a beautiful woman, Konohamaru puffed out his cheeks and snapped, "Boss, you've been laughing at me this whole time! Have you ever stopped? Is it really that funny?"

"I just thought of something a little funny. Quit messing around. Your hell training starts now."

Naruto took out a water balloon with his left hand.

He'd never formally studied the Rasengan,

but he understood its teaching method inside and out.

He was sure nobody in the world understood the Rasengan better than he did.

"Watch closely and don't blink. Make the water balloon in your hand explode with a bang. That's the first stage of learning the Rasengan. There are three stages in all."

"This is the first stage."

Konohamaru opened his eyes wide and stared intently at the water balloon in Naruto's hand.

There was a pop.

The water balloon burst.

A spray of water hit his face.

"Whoa... Boss, that's awesome!"

Konohamaru cried out in amazement and clapped again and again.

"Here, try it."

Naruto tossed him a water balloon.

Konohamaru stumbled, hurriedly reaching out with his little hand to catch it.

"Follow the details I just showed you."

"Okay."

Konohamaru stared intently at the water balloon in his hand.

His face turned red from straining.

The balloon didn't change at all.

After five minutes,

Konohamaru let his shoulders droop and said in defeat, "Boss... I-I can't do it."

"That's right. You haven't found a method that works for you yet."

"A method that works for me? How am I supposed to find one?!"

Everyone had a way of learning that suited them best.

If you were left to grope around blindly on your own,

the chances of success were tiny.

It would take far too long.

But... Naruto didn't think that was a problem at all.

"Here, take this..."

"Ah... O-okay."

Konohamaru held out his other hand and took the pink hula hoop.

Naruto spoke with great seriousness. "Technique! Pay attention to the technique! The trick is to find the feeling of your energy!"

"Once you find that feeling, learning the Rasengan will be twice as easy!"

"Think carefully about what I just showed you. Wasn't it like this?"

Konohamaru thought back.

The water balloon had spun wildly in Naruto's hand

before bursting open.

Just as Naruto had said.

"Boss, what's the hula hoop for?"

"To help you understand the feeling of your energy. Spin the hula hoop while sensing the flow of energy inside your body. You'll feel it. I carefully studied your situation and came up with this method just for you."

"Boss..."

Konohamaru was deeply moved.

Naruto's words

were so warm and considerate.

If only he'd really been a girl.

He could marry such a wonderful man

and give him a hundred little monkeys.

Naruto's original, most fundamental plan

was simply to teach Konohamaru the Rasengan

so that he could teach his own kids someday.

Teaching his own kids would be too much trouble.

Little kids might not listen to their dad.

They'd respond differently if someone else they knew taught them.

Once Naruto became Hokage, he'd have plenty of work to deal with.

The more capable Konohamaru became,

the easier it would be for Naruto to coast as Hokage.

The point is, you can't handle little Hanabi. Leave her to me!