Fire Temple, located on a small mountain five kilometers outside the capital of the Land of Fire, has a long history and a grand temple, making its incense offerings quite prosperous.
"Your Highness, we will be proceeding on foot from here!"
At Kinoe's reminder, Li Chuan dismounted the carriage, and a long staircase leading to the mountain peak appeared before him.
Unlike the deserted temple he saw in the anime when he was a child, the stairs were now filled with ordinary people from the Land of Fire going up and down, making it very lively.
He supposed that at that time, Chiriku might have temporarily closed the Fire Temple due to a tomb-robbing incident.
"Let's go!"
Without further ado, Li Chuan waved his hand and led Kinoe, the servants, and guards up the stairs towards the mountain peak.
Because his body had now recovered to its peak level from his previous life, and upon entering this World, his body was instantly endowed with the physique of humans in this World, with a significant increase in cell count, he clearly felt his body had become much stronger.
So, when he climbed to the main gate of the Fire Temple at the peak of the mountain, he did not feel any fatigue, unlike Kinoe and other ordinary people who were already panting.
"I didn't expect Your Highness's body to be so good!"
In the eyes of Kinoe and the other servants, their King was the type who stayed indoors for many years, rarely went out, and rarely exercised, yet they never expected his physical fitness to be so much better than theirs.
"Is this the Sealing Iron Wall?"
The main gate of the Fire Temple was estimated to be over five meters tall, made of cast iron, and coated with gold paint on the outside, while on either side of the gate stood two huge stone statues.
According to his vague memory, Li Chuan remembered that this gate and the statues were not just decorations, but also a powerful defensive barrier created by the Fire Temple using barrier Ninjutsu and Sealing Technique, enveloping the entire Fire Temple.
Once activated, it required the unique Sage Art Chakra of the Fire Temple monks to pass through, and was known as a defense that could never be breached.
However, it seemed that besides being broken once by the rampaging'Sora' who possessed Nine-Tailed Chakra, it was also forcibly broken once by the Immortal Duo of the Akatsuki organization.
"Your Highness, should I go inform the head monk of the Fire Temple to receive you?"
Seeing Li Chuan standing motionless at the temple entrance, Kinoe softly inquired.
In Kinoe's view, although the Fire Temple was famous, it was still just a temple, and when a noble King arrived, the head monk of the Fire Temple should personally come out to receive and accompany him.
Li Chuan, however, shook his head upon hearing this:
"No need, let's go inside and look around first."
He was here to seek a master to learn Ninjutsu, not to show off, so his attitude naturally had to be better, otherwise, even if he truly became a disciple of the Fire Temple, if Chiriku was unwilling to teach him true skills, there would be nothing he could do.
Although the status of the Land of Fire's royalty was high, they did not have absolute control over Ninja villages and Ninja temples.
Let alone him, a powerless King, even if the Daimyo came, he could not force the Fire Temple to hand over the Ninjutsu that had been passed down within the temple for so many years.
After touring the temple with his attendants and burning a few sticks of incense, Li Chuan discovered that the Fire Temple primarily worshipped two Buddhas: one was Guanyin, and the other was Fudō Myōō.
"This is quite fitting for the Fire Temple's famous Ninjutsu, Welcoming Approach: Thousand-Armed Murder and Wrathful Vajra."
After touring the Fire Temple, he no longer wasted time and directly found the manager monk in the front hall, who seemed to hold a significant position, and politely said:
"I am Enkawa, and I have something to discuss with Head Monk Chiriku; please inform him."
"Is it Your Highness?"
The monks in charge of the front hall were all shrewd individuals. As soon as they heard Li Chuan's surname was En, which was the royal surname of the Land of Fire, they instantly thought of the rumored King who rarely left his residence.
"Precisely."
Li Chuan nodded.
The manager monk immediately smiled and respectfully performed a Buddhist salute:
"This humble monk will inform the head monk now. Your Highness, please follow this humble monk to the guest room in the back courtyard to rest first."
Unlike the bustling front hall, the back courtyard of the Fire Temple was forbidden to tourists, so besides the monks practicing taijutsu in the open space, no other people could be seen.
"Oh, is that young man also a monk of the temple? Why hasn't he shaved his head?"
Walking with the manager monk towards the guest room in the back courtyard, Li Chuan saw a long-haired young man, and with a thought, asked the manager monk.
The manager monk followed Li Chuan's gaze, a hint of disdain appearing on his face:
"Your Highness, that is Sora, a child brought into the Fire Temple by Head Monk Chiriku. He is a lay disciple, so he does not need to shave his head."
"How old is he this year?"
Li Chuan asked casually.
The manager thought for a moment:
"He should be eleven years old."
Li Chuan nodded upon hearing this and did not ask further.
In reality, he guessed who the young man was at first sight. Asking the manager was mainly to know the young man's age, to roughly determine the time he entered this World.
Although he still had an impression of the main plot of Naruto, it was an anime he watched as a child after all, and he wasn't very clear about which specific events occurred in which year of the Naruto World.
However, he remembered that Sora's age was not much different from Naruto's. Since Sora was eleven now, Naruto should also be around eleven, and Naruto graduated from the Ninja Academy at what seemed to be twelve.
With this calculation, he had a general understanding of the timeline he was in, and at the same time, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
This timing was actually quite good. The plot had not yet unfolded, and he wouldn't encounter the awkward situation of the Immortal Duo coming to destroy the temple right after he became a disciple of the Fire Temple.
"Kinoe, you all wait outside!"
After instructing Kinoe, Li Chuan entered the guest room guided by the manager monk, and while sipping the hot tea from the Fire Temple, he waited patiently.
After waiting for about five minutes, a bald monk who looked to be in his thirties and was wearing a monk's robe knocked on the door and entered the guest room.
"Chiriku, head monk of the Fire Temple, greets Your Highness."
"Head Monk Chiriku, no need for formalities."
Li Chuan quickly stood up and returned a Buddhist salute.
"May I ask what Your Highness wishes to command of this humble monk?"
After sitting cross-legged on the meditation cushion, Chiriku's face showed a puzzled expression.
Chiriku had no idea why the noble King would suddenly come to the Fire Temple to see him.
Although he was one of the 'Twelve Guardian Ninja' of the Land of Fire in his youth, his tasks at that time were to secretly protect the Daimyo. He had only met this reclusive King a few times and had never even spoken a word to him.
"Head Monk Chiriku, this King's main purpose in coming here this time is to become a monk at the Fire Temple and become your disciple!"
Li Chuan did not beat around the bush and directly stated his purpose for seeking Chiriku. With his status as a King, he did not need excessive probing words.
Chiriku's eyes widened instantly upon hearing this, revealing a look of disbelief.
"Your Highness, are you sure you are not joking with this humble monk?"
The dignified King of the Land of Fire, whose status was so noble, actually wanted to become a monk at the Fire Temple and even take him as a master. This truly caught him off guard and was somewhat difficult to comprehend.