Chapter 37 – Jiraiya
Only the achievements came back, no memories; proof his Shadow Clone hadn't kicked the bucket.
Reason to celebrate.
Naruto naturally wanted as many achievements as possible.
The last clone had fooled around for ages and netted a single achievement.
This one had only been out a few days and already matched it.
Truly my good so— ahem, good clone.
For a moment he forgot the clone was literally himself.
Sigh… he kind of missed his roommate.
After all, they could call each other "son" without messing up seniority.
Naruto went to the stream and splashed his face.
Time again for the nerve-racking, heart-pounding card draw.
[Drawing card… Congratulations, host: one item card acquired.]
[item card: Blessed Fishing Rod.]
[Description: Permanent item; anglers never return empty-handed!]
Bronze-grade item.
Naruto found it utterly dull.
Its only perk might be free fish dinners later.
But striking it rich with it? Impossible.
He glanced at the sky—nearly noon.
Perfect for fishing and a grilled lunch.
He produced the rod, dug up some worms, picked a deep stretch of river, sat down and cast.
Moments later he felt like an idiot.
Why not just blast the fish with Ninjutsu?
Right then the rod dipped sharply.
He hastily reeled in.
Soon the hook surfaced.
"What the heck?"
He stared, baffled, at what looked like a card.
He rinsed it in the river.
"Konoha Hot-Spring One-Time Coupon?"
Reading the text, he blinked—then understood the rod's description.
Eyes lighting up, he grew interested.
Over the next hour he fished up what felt like a general store: noodles, toilet paper, bandages, coupons, torn talismans, cracked mussels, a chipped wakizashi…
Utterly ridiculous.
He felt like he was scavenging trash.
The apocalypse wasn't even here, yet he already tasted the wasteland vibe.
He tossed the junk back, kept six fat fish, and left.
"Sasuke, fetch Neji and Hinata."
No way the two of them could finish this haul.
Each fish had to weigh twenty pounds—enough for a dozen people.
Except Hinata was the wildcard.
Naruto set up a grill.
Sasuke nodded, pausing his dog food snack.
With his Sharingan active his Chakra had grown, but Chidori drained him; he had to rely on Naruto's kibble.
In the grove he found Hinata and Neji meditating—no surprise; he'd seen it before.
Unaware of Sage Mode, he assumed it was a Hyuga secret art.
Minutes later the trio returned to the Treehouse.
"Sasuke, give me a hand."
"Doing what?"
He walked over, eyeing the grill in confusion—cooking wasn't his forte.
At home Itachi handled the meals.
With Amaterasu scrambled eggs, no less.
"Keep the heat up with Great Fireball."
Naruto said it so casually.
Six big fish, ordinary flames would take forever and constant kindling.
"???"
Sasuke wondered if he'd misheard. "Our Great Fireball Technique is for killing, not cooking."
Naruto shot him a look.
He'd never actually seen it kill anyone.
"It's Chakra training, not fish-roasting,"
Naruto grinned. "Feel better now?"
"…"
Sasuke was speechless.
He'd have preferred the first half of that sentence.
He formed seals and spat a blazing sphere.
Thanks to recent growth his Great Fireball was the textbook C-rank version; he was basically Chuninlevel now.
One more tomoe and he'd be Jonin.
A huge leap from canon.
Naruto knew why: brutal training, daily dog food, and that Magical Girl card.
With Sasuke's help the grilling time shrank by two-thirds.
Naruto seasoned the fish; aroma filled the air.
Mealtime.
First portion to Hinata—future wife.
Then, after brief debate, to Neji; Sasuke came last.
By the end Hinata had polished off half.
"Naruto-kun."
little loli Hinata, cheeks crimson, pulled him aside.
"What's up?"
He was puzzled—wasn't she used to eating freely in front of them?
"I… I can draw Natural Energy into my body."
"You succeeded?"
Naruto blinked.
She nodded softly.
Worthy of the Hyuga princess with the purest Byakugan.
"Any changes?"
"It's cool… feels nice."
She pressed her abdomen, ears scarlet.
Naruto started.
So her spot was the same as Neji's.
Wait, that wasn't the point.
"I mean, what changed inside?"
"My Chakra doubled."
He gave a soft grunt—different from what he'd expected, but good.
Next, blend Chakra and Natural Energy one-to-one for Sage Chakra.
Then Gentle Fist becomes Sage Gentle Fist—double counter to a Ten-Tails Jinchuriki.
If back then Guy had Sage Mode with Eight Gates, one kick would've ended the war.
Second-year flew by.
To Naruto's amazement the clone had lasted over half a year.
Attaboy!
It had inherited his core philosophy: survive.
Survive the hardest, rise the highest.
"Today is the last day of second year."
Iruka smiled from the lectern, gaze lingering on Sasuke, Naruto, and Hinata.
Their brilliance gave him bragging rights over other teachers.
"This term's final uses a new format."
He turned and chalked two words on the board: What is Hokage? What is the Will of Fire?
"Pick one, write at least a thousand words; hand it in next week. No copying, no ghostwriters. I'll grade and rank them."
He was puzzled; the new format came from Hokage-sama himself.
He doubted seven-year-olds could grasp the lofty Will of Fire.
Night.
Naruto absorbed the clone's memories.
Easy—he'd aced political essays in his past life.
The Will of Fire just sounded loftier.
He dipped his pen.
"On the Essence of the Will of Fire through the Words of the 'Great' Third Hokage."
Those quotation marks were deliberate.
A week later, Hokage Building.
"Haha, worthy of Minato's boy!"
A white-haired middle-aged man laughed in front of Hiruzen Sarutobi.
His pupil, one of the Legendary Sannin—Jiraiya.
"Old man, relax. Naruto won't betray your Will of Fire. Let him train with me this summer. You've seen his record; the Academy's useless to him."