"To… prepare for the Chunin Exams?" Even Naruto himself felt this reason was a bit flimsy.
He clearly perceived the composition of his current strength: Nine-Tailed Chakra Mode, Flying Thunder God Technique, Nine-Faced Beast Summoning Jutsu, Adamantine Sealing Chains, various forms and elemental types of Rasengan Ninjutsu series, and two substitution abilities that were practically bugs in real combat.
Looking at the current Ninja World—Nagato was still half-crippled, Obito only had one Mangekyo Sharingan, Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama had not yet been resurrected by Edo Tensei—Naruto could almost assert that he was pretty much invincible in the Ninja World.
However, Naruto, who was familiar with the "Hokage" world view, knew very well that this so-called "invincibility" was often just the calm before the storm.
The end of Part One was [Invincible in the World], while Part Two was [Enemies from Beyond].
His greatest enemies were always those so-called Ōtsutsuki aliens.
Therefore, Naruto did not slack off in the slightest.
In the days that followed, he regularly alternated between training and life, engaging in high-intensity training with Jiraiya during the day, picking up Satsuki punctually after her training in the evening, and preparing bento for his companions and the newly joined Jiraiya at night, maintaining that precious daily routine.
At the same time, he also noticed that the atmosphere within Konoha Village had quietly become tense.
The number of Ninja patrolling the streets had at least doubled compared to usual.
Most villagers might have thought this was to ensure the safety of the Chunin Exams, but this was Konoha's higher-ups secretly deploying defenses after receiving a warning, to prevent a possible attack by Orochimaru and his cohorts.
Where would Orochimaru be now?
Naruto pondered to himself, according to the original trajectory, he should be in the Land of Wind at this moment... But what if the butterfly effect was strong enough to make things deviate from the original path?
Although Orochimaru's strength was no longer enough to threaten him, Naruto had to stop him from extending his poisonous hands to those around him.
In addition to regular training and developing various elemental variations of the Rasengan, Naruto devoted a lot of energy to adapting to combat techniques in his Nine-Tailed Chakra Mode.
However, he had to face a somewhat awkward situation—he could only spar with his Shadow Clones.
Because even Jiraiya reluctantly discovered that without using Sage Mode, he seemed unable to defeat his future disciple.
The training of Summoning Jutsu ran into trouble again.
Once, after activating Nine-Tailed Chakra Mode, Naruto engaged in a simulated free-for-all with his Shadow Clones, consuming a large amount of Chakra.
Feeling exhausted, he tried to use Summoning Jutsu again, and the result was... as the smoke cleared, he and the dazed Great Toad Sage once again stared at each other.
After this incident, Jiraiya completely dared not let Naruto practice Summoning Jutsu casually anymore, so the training of Summoning Jutsu was temporarily halted, and he focused his energy on other aspects instead.
As for Satsuki, the situation was a bit complicated.
Although learning Lightning Release Ninjutsu with Kakashi benefited her greatly, was the "environmental cost" of acquiring this power a bit too heavy?
Why did that pair of overly energetic beast-taming master and disciple also have to squeeze into this training ground?!
Might Guy and Rock Lee seemed to have perpetual motion machines inside them; from dawn till dusk, those two loud voices shouting "Youth!" and "Passion!" never stopped.
The immense noise even made Satsuki feel her eyes ache.
At this rate, Satsuki would definitely lodge a strong protest—until one time, Might Guy coached her on her Taijutsu movements.
Never judge a book by its cover—Satsuki experienced the true weight of this idiom for the first time.
If she only competed in Taijutsu, and didn't activate her Sharingan to assist her perception, she couldn't even clearly see the movement trajectory of this man in the green jumpsuit?!
His speed, strength, and technique had all reached an incredible realm.
Out of the Uchiha Clan's instinctive respect for the strong, coupled with Guy's genuine guidance in Taijutsu, Satsuki tried her best to suppress her dissatisfaction.
And Might Guy also generously stated that once Satsuki's Chidori training concluded, he would teach her a "super—amazing!" Taijutsu secret technique.
And for the training of this so-called "super amazing technique," Might Guy actually sought out Naruto, who came to deliver bento to Satsuki punctually every day...
All in all, Naruto's current training regimen became exceptionally rich: mastering Nine-Tailed Chakra Mode, developing various elemental variations of Rasengan Ninjutsu, undergoing Might Guy's special Taijutsu training, and... beginning to learn the basics of Eight Gates.
Jiraiya looked at Naruto's terrifying training schedule and jokingly said, "Hey, Naruto, you're not planning to participate in the Chunin Exams in that golden, shimmering form, are you?
I warn you, even using the smallest amount of power might accidentally 'kill' other participants."
Naruto explained, "No, Mr. Jiraiya, don't worry, I won't use that mode.
I plan to use the Flying Thunder God Technique to participate in the competition.
Anyway, not many people know I can use this technique now, so I plan to give everyone a 'surprise' in the official match—you have to help me keep it a secret."
No sooner had he finished speaking than Naruto saw Jiraiya's expression instantly freeze, his mouth wide open, his jaw looking as if it would really drop to the floor.
Only then did he remember—he seemed to have… never found an opportunity to tell Jiraiya that he had already mastered the Flying Thunder God Technique.
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