Chapter 297: Iruka is Going to Die
"Pervy Sage, I can participate in the Chunin Exams this time, right? Hehehehe, I'll definitely become a Chunin and then make Sakura-chan acknowledge me!" Naruto beamed, overjoyed.
Hearing that the Sand Village was hosting the Chunin Exams, the thought of becoming a Chunin and seeing Gaara again felt like double happiness to him!
His heart was filled with joy, so much so that he was about to jump up and down.
Unfortunately, his eager anticipation to register for the Chunin Exams with Jiraiya was met with a heartless refusal.
"No, you cannot go to the Sand Village."
"Why?" Naruto asked, puzzled.
Jiraiya definitely couldn't let him go to the Sand Village, fearing that the ugly truth of the adults' actions would harm Naruto's innocent heart. In this matter, Konoha was by no means playing a glorious role.
Let alone Naruto, even young ninjas of his age group weren't really suitable to participate in this affair.
As for whether this operation would harm Ino's "fragile" inner world? Would it shatter her outlook on life and values? There was nothing to worry about there. Seriously, weren't you the one who proposed this plan in the first place?!
Jiraiya put on a stern face and said nothing. Naruto, unsettled by his gaze, also grew tense, not knowing what he had done wrong.
Jiraiya's thoughts were simple.
Naruto absolutely could not meet Gaara. And within this short month, the issue of Naruto and Minato's father-son relationship had to be thoroughly resolved.
This matter could not be delayed any longer!
Otherwise, when Minato Namikaze was resurrected and saw how the village had treated his son, how his teacher, his student, his closest people, had mostly just been stringing his son along, what would he think? You still want me to go fight the masked man? Heh, I'll just join the Akatsuki directly and let you all feel my pain!
Jiraiya was so anxious about this that he couldn't sleep night after night. He asked Kakashi to talk to Naruto, hoping to gradually reveal this identity issue through conversation.
Kakashi just played dumb. "Hmm? Ah? What? Naruto? Who's Naruto, I don't know him!"
Jiraiya then sought Iruka's help.
Iruka was also completely bewildered. Boss, I'm just a Chunin, a small fry, I can't carry such a huge burden! What if the Fourth Hokage finds out the truth and kills me? Please find someone more capable!
"Pervy Sage! Why exactly can't I participate in the Chunin Exams?!" Naruto frowned deeply. He had to know the answer today.
All his classmates were Chunin now; he was the only Genin left. It was embarrassing; he had his pride too.
During this period, he had studied hard, reviewed his lessons, truly giving his utmost effort. A few days ago, he even strained his eyes from reading so much they became nearsighted. It was only thanks to his strong recovery ability that his vision slowly returned after putting down the books; otherwise, he would have had to become a ninja who wore glasses.
Jiraiya had a splitting headache. He had a bellyful of words but didn't know where to begin. This was all the Third Hokage's fault!
He could only shoot glances at Iruka, who had come with Naruto. He signaled. And signaled! Signaling frantically!
His pupils contracted, dilated, contracted again, then dilated again! Under his "hint" that almost looked like he was about to activate the Sharingan, Iruka had no choice but to step forward and help placate Naruto.
"Naruto, ah."
"Mr. Iruka?"
Iruka racked his brains. He really couldn't bring himself to talk about Naruto's parentage. For now, it was best to just muddle through the Chunin Exam issue.
Naruto had been working hard recently, so he couldn't use exam results as an excuse anymore. He had to think of something else.
"...Naruto, ah, I..." He thought for a long time, then finally gritted his teeth and decided to go for a drastic measure.
"Naruto, I really didn't want to tell you this news... but I'm afraid I won't be able to accompany you for ramen anymore, because... because... because I'm not going to make it! ...If you go to the Sand Village, you might not see me... you might not see my final moments!"
"Huh?! How did this happen? Is it from eating ramen, so you got diarrhea?" The silly boy Naruto was flabbergasted. He completely hadn't expected this outcome.
"No."
"Then was it from drinking expired milk?"
"That's not it either..." Iruka really didn't want to deceive the naive Naruto; it filled him with guilt. But Jiraiya kept signaling him. For the sake of the village, for the Hokage, he could only bite the bullet and continue fabricating.
"It's a terminal illness... there's no cure."
Naruto was thunderstruck.
Mr. Iruka, who had been so good to him, who had always treated him to ramen, the Mr. Iruka who acknowledged him the most, was going to die?
"You're lying! This isn't true!"
He immediately forgot all about the Chunin Exams, forgot all about Gaara. When couldn't he take the Chunin Exams? Right! Missing Gaara for a bit wouldn't kill him, but Mr. Iruka, who was like a father to him, was the most important!
"Mr. Iruka, I... I'm sorry, I didn't know! I really didn't know! I'll take you to the hospital right now!" Naruto frantically rushed Iruka to the hospital. While he went to find a doctor, Iruka quickly conferred with Shizune, who worked at the hospital.
"I'm not sick right now, won't it be obvious during the examination? How can I pretend to be sick? Can we use some makeup?"
Shizune was dumbfounded. After understanding the whole story, she also felt the matter was serious, but she was in a difficult position. "The head of herbal medicine, Director Hanpō, is probably not easy to communicate with. He's a very serious person and unlikely to help you cover this up."
Iruka was extremely anxious. "Then just get me some poison, let me just get through this immediate crisis!"
Shizune was skilled at healing and saving people, but harming someone? She genuinely couldn't do it.
She could only call her junior apprentice to help...
"Huh? Mr. Iruka, you're saying you want to inflict a serious injury on yourself? A terminal illness?" Ino was called over in a daze, finding the situation rather bizarre.
Iruka hastily urged her, "Yes, yes, that's right! Quickly, quickly, give me a serious illness, preferably the kind that makes me faint immediately."
Ino looked at Shizune. Is this the first time I've heard such a request?
Under Iruka's anxious urging, she raised her palm. "I just recently learned the Mystical Palm Technique, Mr. Iruka. Let me give you a taste of it!"
Isn't the Mystical Palm Technique a healing ninjutsu? Are you bullying me because I'm a Chunin and don't understand medical ninjutsu? Just as Iruka was about to speak, he saw dark energy emanating from Ino's palm. She struck his lower abdomen, and an intense pain shot through his chakra pathways. Then, his heart suddenly stopped, his vision went black, and he fainted instantly.
"Is... is Iruka alright?" Shizune asked, a little worried.
Ino's reply was also particularly vague, "...He should be fine, right? I... I... I still have class. Today I'm teaching the kids about chakra nature transformation, the theory lesson is very important. Well, I'll be going then!"
She teleported away using the Flying Thunder God Technique.
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