Naruto Dream Fulfillment Master

Page 102

At least for now, Karin is still willing to stand by his side and support him.

Thinking of this, Naruto felt a little better and forced a grateful smile at Karin.

The atmosphere eased a little.

Seeing this, Kakashi breathed a sigh of relief and took out a document and a set of keys from his pocket, handing them to Naruto.

He pointed to Karin and said reassuringly, "Oh, right, there's one more thing. The village has already taken care of this girl's identity. From now on, Karin is a member of Konoha. You don't need to worry about the Land of Grass; they won't cause any more trouble."

"Really...really?" Karin covered her mouth, her voice trembling with excitement.

Kakashi nodded.

"Okay. From now on, you can stay in Konoha with peace of mind."

Upon hearing this, Karin felt a surge of emotion welling up in her eyes. She clutched the document that proved her identity tightly, as if afraid that this was just a dream and she would wake up at any moment.

Naruto, who was standing nearby, was genuinely happy for Karin, but he was still somewhat downcast.

After taking the documents from Kakashi, he simply handed them to Karin for safekeeping and then said nothing more.

Kakashi saw everything, sighed silently, and then placed the bunch of keys in Naruto's palm.

"And this too," Kakashi smiled. "With Karin by your side, you can't keep letting girls squeeze into your little apartment, can you? This is the key to your new house."

Naruto paused, then instinctively opened his palm to examine it closely.

It was a string of old copper keys, covered with mottled patina.

"What kind of key is this... for the new house?" Naruto scratched his head, looking puzzled.

Kakashi's lips curled up slightly upon seeing this: "That's right. From today onwards, you won't have to go back to living in that cramped and dilapidated studio apartment anymore."

He patted Naruto on the shoulder, a hint of reminiscence in his eyes, "This house... was specially secured for you by the person who will be guiding you next."

"As for the address..." Kakashi paused, then chuckled, "I think you should be familiar with it."

A sudden thought flashed through Naruto's mind, as if he had realized something.

His body jolted violently, and he stood frozen in place. After a long while, he stammered, "Could it be...?"

"Okay, let's stop here for now."

He waved to the three of them, then turned and left the training ground with Sasuke and Sakura.

Before leaving, Sasuke glanced calmly at Naruto and said in a deep voice, "Naruto, don't let me leave you behind."

Sakura raised her fist to cheer him on, saying, "That's right! Naruto, you do your best too! See you in the finals!"

In the empty training ground, only Naruto and Karin remained.

Even after Kakashi's figure disappeared from sight, Naruto remained standing there, stunned and unable to come to his senses.

Naruto lowered his head, looking at the cold key in his hand, his heart filled with mixed emotions.

The cold, bronze key lay in his palm, but Naruto could inexplicably feel a faint warmth emanating from the metal.

Just then, a strange "thump, thump, thump" sound came from not far away, as if some wooden object was hitting the ground.

Naruto suddenly looked up and gazed in the direction from which the sound came.

A tall figure was walking slowly toward us, with his back to the light.

The man had long white hair, a strong and slender build, and wore a pair of tall wooden clogs.

The golden sunset cast its glow on his back, gilding him with a dazzling golden edge...

Chapter 106 Karin, you can sleep in this room.

From a distance, two figures, one in yellow and one in red, came into view.

Jiraiya paused slightly, as if he thought he was seeing things, but when he got closer and saw clearly, he couldn't help but shudder.

Golden hair, fiery red long hair...

In a daze, he seemed to see a scene from many years ago...

"How can this be?"

Jiraiya was lost in thought, his heart skipped a beat.

The blond boy and red-haired girl instantly reminded him of his deceased disciples, Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki, and for a moment he was lost in thought.

Just then, Naruto also saw what the person who had come looked like.

He paused for a moment, then pointed at Jiraiya and shouted, "Ah! You're the lecherous sage who spied on girls bathing at the bathhouse that day!"

Karin looked at Naruto blankly, then at the white-haired man who had suddenly appeared: "Perverted... Sage?"

Jiraiya blushed and quickly coughed twice: "Ahem, it's the Toad Sage! It's the Toad Sage of Mount Myōboku!"

As he spoke, he strode forward, grabbed Naruto's neck, and covered his mouth with his large hand, forcefully silencing Naruto's next words that would reveal his secret. With an awkward and stiff smile on his face, he said, "What nonsense are you talking about, kid? Haha!"

Karin gave a skeptical "Oh," her gaze shifting back and forth between Jiraiya and Naruto, sensing something odd about the two.

Naruto finally broke free of his restraints, puffed out his cheeks, and jumped back two steps, wiping his mouth angrily: "Ptooey! You almost suffocated me."

He put his hands on his hips, looked the strange old man up and down, his face full of doubt and displeasure. "Hey, you lecherous immortal, what are you doing here? Could it be...?"

Naruto suddenly remembered what Kakashi-sensei had said earlier.

The village arranged for him to have an even stronger mentor.

Thinking of this, Naruto's expression turned strange. "Could it be that the person who's going to guide me next... is it you?"

Jiraiya breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Naruto had finally stopped digging up his past.

He released Naruto, smiled arrogantly, put his hands on his hips, and said loudly, "That's right! Hahaha, it is indeed me. For the next month, I will be in charge of guiding your training."

As soon as he finished speaking, he struck what he thought was a cool pose.

He pointed his right thumb at the tip of his nose, a confident smile on his face, waiting for Naruto to show a look of surprise and admiration.

However, Naruto did not cheer as he had hoped. He looked Jiraiya up and down a few times, and curled his lip with a suspicious look: "You? Can you be as good as Kakashi-sensei?"

"What?" Jiraiya's smile froze, and he almost doubted that he had heard correctly.

He is one of the legendary Sannin, Lord Jiraiya!

He's renowned throughout the ninja world, yet they're comparing him to Kakashi?

Kakashi wasn't even born when he became famous!

Naruto narrowed his eyes, thoughtfully stroking his chin. "I remember Kakashi-sensei saying that you and Orochimaru were both legendary Sannin, right? So your strength should be about the same as Orochimaru's?"

Jiraiya paused for a moment upon hearing this, then nodded: "Hmm, that's barely acceptable... Actually, Orochimaru isn't as good as him either..."

Before he could finish speaking, Naruto scoffed and waved his hand dismissively, "Tsk, that's settled then! You're on the same level as Orochimaru, what level could you possibly be at?"

Sasuke doesn't even like Orochimaru, so he definitely wouldn't like this lecherous sage either.

Upon hearing these words, Jiraiya felt as if he almost spat out a mouthful of blood.

His eyes almost popped out of their sockets.

What did that kid say?

When did the value of the Legendary Sannin become so low?

Why would someone refuse to take on an apprentice?

Seeing Jiraiya frozen in place, Naruto couldn't help but scoff, "Hey, that's so unreliable. Karin, let's go."

After saying that, he couldn't be bothered with this lecherous immortal anymore. He grabbed Karin's arm, turned around, and ran away.

Karin stumbled as Naruto pulled her along, her face slightly flushed as she followed in his footsteps.

Two figures dashed toward the exit, their shadows stretched long by the setting sun.

Naruto muttered to himself as he ran, "Let's go, let's go. I'll just go see Kakashi-sensei tomorrow. Honestly."

Jiraiya stood there, stunned, watching Naruto lead Karin away quickly, unable to come to his senses for a long time.

His outstretched hand froze awkwardly in mid-air, and all the grand words he had prepared were swallowed back.

After a long while, he scratched his head, both amused and exasperated.

He had thought that Naruto would be pleasantly surprised by his personal involvement, given his reputation, but the result was unexpected.

Although quite annoyed, Jiraiya did not chase after Naruto.

He stood there with his arms crossed, watching Naruto and Karin run off into the distance, a slight smile creeping onto his lips: "That kid's got some interesting..."

……

On the other side, Naruto pulled Karin along and jogged away from the training ground.

He still felt a surge of resentment in his chest: "What kind of lousy sage is this? He's not even as good as Kakashi-sensei! Humph, they made me abandon my companions to train alone, and this weird old man is the only one they send?"

Karin, standing beside him, whispered, "Naruto, actually, that Jiraiya-sama from earlier... I heard he's a very famous ninja, and he seemed quite imposing. Why don't you reconsider—"

"Let's not talk about him anymore!"

Naruto pursed his lips, clearly not wanting to talk about Jiraiya.

He shook the keys in his hand, both expectant and nervous. "Let's go, Karin, let's go see my house first!"

Seeing Naruto's excited expression, Karin said nothing more and let him pull her along as they ran through the streets of Konoha.

The evening breeze brushed against their faces, Naruto's heart raced, and his palms sweated slightly.

The closer he got to the place he remembered, the more nervous he became.

Before long, they arrived at a quiet residential area.

As Naruto turned a corner, he slowly came to a stop.

He looked up and stared ahead, holding his breath for a moment.

The house that came into view was exactly the same as the house his parents had seen in his dream.

Behind the courtyard fence, a two-story building stands quietly in the afterglow.

The exterior walls of the house have a slightly aged look, but the outline and details completely overlap with the scene in Naruto's memory.

However, the actual courtyard appeared somewhat desolate, with bare flower beds under the wall, lacking the neat and vibrant atmosphere of the courtyard in my dream, where people regularly tended to it.