"Hey, did you know that a brand-new high-tier banner ninja just dropped in the game today?!"
"What? A high-tier banner ninja?! Why so sudden? There wasn't even a hint of a leak beforehand. Are you messing with me?"
"Damn it, believe it or not, go check the game announcements yourself."
"What the hell, I'm logging in right now. If you're lying to me, I'm playing coffin dance music outside your bedroom tonight and sending you straight to the afterlife!"
...
A moment later.
"What?! A high-tier A-rank ninja, Swimsuit Chiyo? This ninja made it into the high-tier banner? Wait a minute, this ninja was actually made? Can't MF have at least some standards?"
"Still, I love it, heh heh..."
At high noon with the sun shining brightly, Naruto watched the two guys making a fuss and shouting back and forth, the noise giving him a splitting headache.
"Hey, what on earth are you two yelling about over there?" Tapping one of them on the shoulder with a look of annoyance, Naruto asked with a frown.
"Brother, brother, come look! The high-tier A-rank ninja, Swimsuit Chiyo is out!" The guy whose shoulder was tapped immediately leaned in with excitement, practically shoving his phone screen into Naruto's face.
"Huh?" Naruto reacted sluggishly a beat later. "Swimsuit Chiyo? Is this a young version of Granny Chiyo added to the high-tier banner?"
"Wrong, brother, you never know, it might not be the young version," the guy holding the phone laughed slyly.
"Crap, what kind of nonsense is this? It's not actually the old hag, is it?" The phone-holding guy's words made Naruto instinctively recall some parody recruitment images he had seen online before. Suddenly, Naruto's burly physique gave a jolt, and he shuddered. "Stop yapping and hurry up and log into the game to check."
"You got it." The fellow holding the phone was also getting rather impatient, and nodded at those words.
The next second, he tapped the phone screen, displaying the game loading screen. A few more seconds passed, and as the game successfully logged in, a promotional image for the new ninja popped right up.
Early summer in May, Swimsuit Chiyo debuts on the high-tier banner!
Looking at the image of the purple-clad old hag dressed in revealing swimwear, Naruto felt a sharp pain in his eyes. He looked again, and right below the ninja's promotional image hung a line of colorful text.
This summer is the old lady's home turf, please take care of me!
...Naruto froze. Naruto was dumbfounded.
...
Outside the northern border of the Land of Fire, in the Village Hidden in the Rain, inside an unassuming guesthouse on Rose Street.
Naruto, who was fast asleep, suddenly jolted awake from his futon.
Covered in a cold sweat, he panted for quite a while before finally clearing his head.
"Phew, turns out it was just a nightmare." As his consciousness gradually returned to reality, Naruto rubbed his throbbing head and sat up to put on his shoes. "Headache. It feels like I overslept a bit."
Nearly three months had passed since he left Konoha. During these three months, Naruto's mind had rarely had a chance to truly relax. Spending the night here in this guesthouse could be considered a rare moment of relaxation for him.
Perhaps because the environment on Rose Street was very peaceful, most of the residents living on both sides of the street loved planting roses, so the entire Rose Street was often filled with a lingering floral fragrance that involuntarily made people feel mentally relaxed.
Naruto loved the environment here, and if he had time in the future, he would visit often.
As for right now, Naruto needed to leave this place and continue his unfinished training.
Dressed neatly with his ninja pouch strapped to his back, Naruto checked out of the guesthouse and quickly walked out of Rose Street.
By afternoon, Naruto had left the Village Hidden in the Rain and arrived at a secluded stream. The view here was wide open, with a low hill far off in the distance—perfect for camping and fishing, bah, wrong, perfect for quiet and focused training.
Naruto took off his shoes and stepped barefoot into the stream. The cool water made his entire body feel immensely refreshed, and even his consciousness became clear and pure, as if undergoing a sublimation.
Standing right there in the stream, letting the clear water rise above his knees, Naruto raised his right hand and routinely began the training he had kept up for nearly a month now: bringing his mastery of the Wind Release: Rasenshuriken to 100%!
With the assistance of the 'Junior Comprehension' title, after spending the first half-month or so, Naruto had mastered the technique of performing a one-handed Wind Release: Rasenshuriken entirely on his own without relying on Shadow Clones.
Things requiring multitasking were extremely complicated, so even though his comprehension had been greatly enhanced by the title, Naruto still had to put a lot of effort into this.
In the half-month that followed, Naruto had devoted his mind and energy to improving his mastery of the Wind Release: Rasenshuriken. Now, he was just a hair's breadth away from 100% mastery!
In the stream, Naruto stood completely still, as if rooted to the spot. On his right palm, there was now a massive shuriken formed entirely of wind-attribute chakra that had undergone nature transformation. It whirled with a fierce, whirring sound that pierced the eardrums.
This was indeed the Wind Release: Rasenshuriken, and its size was more than double that of the Wind Release: Rasenshuriken Naruto had first used in the original story!
Moreover, not only its size, but its power had also increased more than twofold. This was naturally thanks to the attribute bonuses brought by Naruto's title 'Size Control Expert', which had been upgraded to Lv2.
Currently holding aloft the gigantic Wind Release: Rasenshuriken, Naruto's gaze was sharp as he attempted to use and throw it like a normal shuriken.
This was no simple matter. One had to know that before the completion rate reached 100%, the form of the Wind Release: Rasenshuriken was unstable. It was very likely to burst the moment it left the hand, turning into a merciless chakra storm that would indiscriminately devour everything around it.
What Naruto needed to do now was prevent such an accident from happening and throw the Wind Release: Rasenshuriken perfectly. In the original story, this was something Naruto only managed to do after mastering Sage Mode.
And now, what Naruto wanted to do was achieve perfect mastery of the Wind Release: Rasenshuriken three years early! Furthermore, this was a true one-handed release, completely devoid of any petty tricks like Shadow Clone assistance.
Right now, Naruto had condensed the Wind Release: Rasenshuriken with a single hand—something he could already do half a month ago. Through careful refinement over the remaining half-month, Naruto's release of the Wind Release: Rasenshuriken could now be said to come as naturally as breathing, with absolutely no pressure at all.
The massive Wind Release: Rasenshuriken rested in Naruto's right hand like a materialized blue wind demon shuriken. On the surface, it looked calm and peaceful, but in reality, the wind-attribute chakra inside was already spinning violently, waiting only for the moment of release to mercilessly devour the enemy!
Naruto held the Wind Release: Rasenshuriken like this, drawing his arm back into a throwing stance. Over the past half month, Naruto had attempted this no less than a thousand times!
This time, Naruto could clearly sense that the form of the Wind Release: Rasenshuriken he had released was more stable than ever before.
Deep down, Naruto could feel that this time, it would definitely work!