Chapter 390: Unexpected Effects of Dragon Vein Energy
Naruto stood rooted to the spot for a long time, unable to react. When he finally moved, he wandered the streets of Roran without any direction.
He kept wishing it had all been a joke.
That Jiraiya had not really left, and was only hiding somewhere nearby with ninjutsu, waiting to jump out and laugh at him.
"Why did he do that…" Naruto muttered, looking completely lost. "Wouldn't it have been better to just know the future?"
In Naruto's eyes, changing Jiraiya's fate should have been simple. He knew the full chain of cause and effect, and even the exact time Jiraiya would die in battle.
"He just needed to not go investigate the intelligence…"
"Want some ramen?"
Mugetsu suddenly appeared beside him, voice gentle.
"Yes," Naruto answered on instinct, turning toward him.
Mugetsu immediately led Naruto back to the rented house.
The moment Naruto stepped inside, a rich aroma hit him. He looked toward the dining table and froze.
Two large bowls of steaming ramen were already waiting there.
Drawn in by the smell, Naruto walked closer and saw that it was exactly his favorite.
Pork miso chashu ramen.
"I wasn't sure if the ramen here in Roran tastes the same as in Konoha," Mugetsu explained as he sat beside him. "So I made it myself."
Mugetsu's smile was gentle, and Naruto felt warmth rise in his chest. Even indoors, it felt like he was standing under sunlight.
Naruto thanked him, then said, "Itadakimasu," and picked up his chopsticks.
The first bite was so good it almost hurt.
As the ramen slid down his throat, Naruto felt like he was lying on a beach with clean wind and bright sun, warmth sinking into every bone. After a few more bites, he sipped the broth, and that warmth only spread deeper.
Normally, Naruto would have shouted praise on the spot.
But the thought that Jiraiya might still die made even something this delicious lose its shine.
"Big Brother Mugetsu…" Naruto said suddenly while eating. "Ero Sennin is really strange, right?"
He did not wait for an answer. The words poured out.
"He always brags about his reputation, but he never stops being a pervert. When he teaches me ninjutsu, he makes me practice alone and then runs off to play around. He knows something is dangerous, and he still insists on investigating intelligence by himself. And he even said he was treating me to ice pops that I bought with my own money…"
Naruto complained nonstop, as if he had a grudge that had been building for years.
But his eyes were slowly turning wet, betraying what he really felt.
Mugetsu sighed softly. He reached out, placed a hand on Naruto's head, and gently patted him twice. He did not say anything.
Reality was cruel.
Even if Naruto told Jiraiya everything, and even if the Jiraiya of this world survived, the Jiraiya from Naruto's world would not come back.
They were not standing in different times.
They were standing in different worlds.
After Naruto finally emptied everything out of his chest, his breathing eased. The ramen regained its full taste, as if the world had color again.
"This is really the best ramen I've ever eaten," Naruto said after finishing, still savoring the flavor. "It's even better than Ichiraku."
Naruto loved Ichiraku, but he had to admit it. The ramen Mugetsu made felt like the peak of ramen itself, as if nothing could possibly surpass it.
"As long as you like it," Mugetsu said with a smile.
Naruto looked at that smile, then remembered what Yamato had guessed earlier about Mugetsu, and his heart sank again.
It felt unfair.
Why could people like Jiraiya and Mugetsu not live to the very end?
"Big Brother Mugetsu," Naruto asked quietly, "when we go back, is it possible to come back again?"
Naruto did not understand the mechanism behind their travel, but after returning, he desperately wanted another chance.
He wanted to find Kakashi sensei, get a clear explanation, bring every cause of death back into the past, and make sure Mugetsu and the others lived.
"It's possible," Mugetsu answered after thinking for a moment. "But it should be very difficult."
It was hard to answer with certainty. Mugetsu himself still did not fully understand how the Dragon Vein could send people across time and between worlds.
If Naruto triggered the Dragon Vein again, maybe it would only send him to another parallel world. Or maybe he would truly return to the past of his own world.
Naruto's gaze hardened.
Since it was possible, he would try.
"Big Brother Mugetsu, let's continue the lesson," Naruto said.
There were things he needed to settle in the past, and there were still countless problems waiting for him in his own time.
Akatsuki.
Sasuke, who had gone rogue.
To solve them, he needed more strength.
Mugetsu smiled and nodded, then led Naruto back to training.
Even if Naruto only needed to follow the path laid out for him to become the savior of the ninja world, mastering Yang Release Breathing would make that road less brutal.
Naruto did not mention his meeting with Jiraiya.
But Yamato noticed that Naruto felt different after returning.
He did not ask for details. He simply trained as usual.
Yamato knew Naruto's mood was not good.
"How could a shinobi like Jiraiya sama accept that kind of help?" Yamato sighed inwardly.
From the moment Naruto said he wanted to see Jiraiya, Yamato had already guessed how it would end.
But he could not stop Naruto. With that opportunity placed in front of him, not trying would never be Naruto's style.
During break time, Yamato racked his brain for jokes, trying his best to cheer Naruto up.
Unfortunately, Yamato's face was not suited for jokes. Even the funniest line sounded like ice when it came out of his mouth.
"Does Wood Release mess with your humor cells?" Obito thought seriously.
"I don't think so," Kakashi replied. "He's just bad at telling jokes."
"Kakashi, how can you say that?" Obito protested, as if defending Yamato. "He's your future junior."
"All right," Kakashi said. "Then it's probably because he doesn't have many friends. No one to tell jokes to. So his joke skills are terrible."
Yamato went still.
His fist tightened. Then tightened more.
He really wanted to hit both of them. How could they team up on him like that?
"Don't say that, Captain Yamato," Naruto stepped in, trying to defend him.
Then Naruto added, completely serious, "He's just a bit dull, that's all."
Yamato covered his face.
"Oh no," he groaned. "I turned myself into the joke."
His face flushed, and he muttered a string of hard to understand words like "my face isn't my choice" and "ANBU," which made everyone burst out laughing. The atmosphere finally loosened.
Even if Yamato had sacrificed himself, seeing Naruto smile made it feel like it was not a total loss.
After a short break, they returned to training.
"The key to Water Release is nature transformation," Mugetsu instructed Yamato. "Don't trap yourself in a single shape."
"Use Water Formation Wall."
Yamato nodded, formed hand seals, gathered chakra, then rapidly transformed it into Water Release chakra. A wall of water surged up from the ground, forming a barrier in front of him.
"That can only block attacks from one direction," Mugetsu said. "But if you use it like I do, it can block attacks from all directions."
Mugetsu began to form hand seals and demonstrated.
"Water Release: Water Formation Wall!"
A massive stream of water burst from his mouth. It spun in a circle around him at high speed, quickly forming an impenetrable dome of water that enclosed both Mugetsu and Yamato.
Yamato tried to follow the same process, but failed because his nature transformation was not yet strong enough.
Mugetsu was not surprised. This was not something a person could grasp instantly. It demanded long practice and real talent.
Ninjutsu was not clay that could be shaped into anything on a whim.
Just like Yamato did not use Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence. It was not because he disliked it. It was because he could not.
"Try to use Water Breathing while using Water Release," Mugetsu continued.
Yamato had only trained Water Breathing for a short time. His proficiency had only just passed ten, so he could barely use it.
He performed Water Formation Wall again as instructed. He still did not succeed, but something felt different compared to before.
[Lecture Completed]
[Evaluation: S]
[Reward: Yang Release Chakra Nature Transformation +8, Yang Release Breathing +3, Water Release Chakra Nature Transformation +2, Water Breathing +1, Chakra nature transformation ability slightly increased]
When the day's lesson settled, new insights about Yang Release Breathing crowded Mugetsu's mind.
Maybe Naruto's hidden potential had surged, because the experience gained for Yang Release Breathing was higher than usual. Normally it stayed at a stable two points, and the other aspects did not change.
As Yang Release Breathing gradually approached a trainable prototype, Anrokuzan finally could not endure Mugetsu's torture any longer and revealed his secret method for absorbing the Dragon Vein.
"All the Dragon Vein power is yours," Anrokuzan pleaded. "Just let me go."
Mugetsu looked at him with indifferent eyes, then began reading the method Anrokuzan had personally written out.
"It seems I was too kind to you," Mugetsu sighed.
He walked out of the confinement area and intensified the torment.
In truth, Mugetsu did not know whether what Anrokuzan wrote was real. This was not an area Mugetsu excelled in. But that did not stop him from being suspicious.
Against someone like Anrokuzan, Mugetsu would show no mercy. Even if his suspicion was wrong, he would not feel guilty.
"This guy hasn't even become a rogue ninja yet, and he's already scheming?" Anrokuzan was dumbfounded, staring at Mugetsu's ruthless back.
Mugetsu did not feel like a steady, honest shinobi at all.
After leaving the detention area, Mugetsu went to see the Queen of Roran.
Because Mugetsu had helped Roran resolve a massive crisis, the queen agreed to let him research her ability to control the Dragon Vein.
However, this time was different from Anrokuzan.
The queen would only guide a tiny amount of Dragon Vein power to Mugetsu's side for him to study.
If Mugetsu had not already known of the Dragon Vein's existence, the queen truly would not have wanted to agree. She feared Mugetsu could become the next Anrokuzan.
With the queen's help, Mugetsu's research progressed much more smoothly.
"The chakra problem still needs more reward farming, and developing the Yang Seal," Mugetsu thought as he dug deeper into the Dragon Vein.
The more he studied it, the more he realized Dragon Vein energy could not simply be placed inside the body like a tailed beast and used as a power bank. It was far too dangerous.
However, he did discover another use for it.
Strengthening chakra armor.
After Mugetsu sealed Dragon Vein energy into the chakra armor from the Land of Snow, the armor's amplification of ninjutsu power received a massive boost.
But even that boost had a limit. Mugetsu tested it by unleashing a perfect level nature transformation Fire Release, and the armor's amplification became almost negligible.
Even so, it was a valuable discovery.
Mugetsu might not need it, but he could give it to Kakashi and the others.
…
"Big Brother Mugetsu, I think I can feel the difference you mentioned," Naruto said with joy around noon on the first day he officially began practicing Yang Release Breathing.
Mugetsu used the Appraisal Technique on him.
[Name: Uzumaki Naruto]
[Skills: Yang Release Breathing (1/100)]
Maybe it was because he had studied theory for so long, or because of Naruto's own talent, but his progress was fast. He gained proficiency in only a few hours.
Once Naruto found the correct training path, he immediately used his shadow clone method. He split into more than twenty shadow clones and had them all practice Yang Release Breathing together.
After training for a period, Naruto dispelled the clones to consolidate the memories. Under Mugetsu's appraisal, Naruto's breathing proficiency jumped rapidly to six points.
More than twenty clones did not give Naruto twenty times the speed, but the efficiency was still absurd.
Mugetsu had expected it.
In the original timeline, Naruto had gone from knowing nothing about Wind Release nature transformation to developing an S rank Wind Release in a very short time. Compared to ordinary shinobi, Naruto's growth truly was like a cheat.
On the second day of Naruto's official Yang Release Breathing training, his proficiency had already surpassed Yamato's Water Breathing, even though Yamato had started earlier. Naruto could now initially use the breathing to enhance his strength in combat.
Around four in the afternoon, Mugetsu called a halt to Naruto and Kakashi's training and told them to do combat practice.
Kakashi, Obito, and Rin were full of enthusiasm.
It had been a while since their first battle. They might not be able to beat Naruto, but they were sure they would not lose as badly as before.
Naruto was also eager.
During lessons, besides Yang Release Breathing theory, Mugetsu had given him many pointers in taijutsu. This was a perfect chance to test the results.
This time, Naruto did not open with a shadow clone swarm. Instead, he faced all three head on first.
Over this month, Obito's Flame Breathing chakra mode had improved greatly. He could even clap his hands like Mugetsu and use whatever ninjutsu he wanted.
In battle, Obito turned into a Fire Release turret, firing off several powerful Fire Release techniques and giving Naruto plenty of trouble.
Kakashi's speed had become even faster. His lightning slashes forced Naruto to create a large number of shadow clones just to distract him.
Rin's monstrous strength reminded Naruto of Sakura.
Watching the fight from the side, Yamato could not help nodding. Everyone's progress was obvious.
Yamato glanced toward Mugetsu, full of awe at Mugetsu's teaching.
Then that glance made Yamato freeze in confusion.
"Two Mugetsu, senpai?" Yamato realized there was a man standing beside Mugetsu who looked very similar to him.
Noticing Yamato's gaze, Minato Namikaze turned and smiled at him.
The moment Yamato saw Minato's face clearly, he instantly confirmed it.
This was the Fourth Hokage.
Mugetsu wore black framed glasses. Minato did not. With that alone, Yamato could still distinguish them.
Now Yamato finally understood how Obito felt. With how similar they looked and how similar their temperaments were, if someone called them biological brothers, no one would doubt it.
"Should I call a stop?" Mugetsu asked.
"No need," Minato replied, smiling gently as he shook his head. "The fight is almost over."
Even if Obito with Flame Breathing chakra mode and Kakashi with Transparent World were not weak, they could not maintain it for long.
Naruto was different.
As long as he did not use Rasenshuriken, his chakra reserves were massive.
And Naruto definitely would not use Rasenshuriken in sparring. That would actually kill someone.
"Big Brother Naruto, you're still stronger," Obito admitted wholeheartedly.
Kakashi took a few heavy breaths, thinking they were still a long way from that level of powerful jonin.
"After all, I'm way older than you guys," Naruto said with a chuckle, scratching the back of his head.
After their surprisingly harmonious post battle discussion, Naruto turned toward Mugetsu, wanting to hear his thoughts.
Then he saw Minato standing beside Mugetsu, smiling gently at him.
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