News of Jiraiya's return reached Uchiha Rokuro quickly. However, he did not go to visit him immediately. Instead, he sent word to Naruto, telling him to wait for him at the edge of the Forest of Death after school the next afternoon.
"Big Brother Rokuro! Does this mean you've finally agreed to take me as your disciple? That's amazing!"
Rokuro rubbed Naruto's head, then glanced around at his new home.
"Not bad. This used to be property of the Senju clan. Looks like the Fifth Hokage really values you."
Naruto nodded repeatedly, clearly delighted with the place.
"Not just that! Granny Tsunade came to see me yesterday too. She told me to live here with peace of mind, and that if I run into any trouble, I can go straight to the Hokage Tower to find her!"
Rokuro smiled faintly.
"Naruto, what do you think about the Fifth Hokage's actions? Honestly speaking, a house like this already existed back when your father was the Fourth Hokage—and it wasn't destroyed during the Nine-Tails incident. In other words, as his son, inheriting his estate is perfectly reasonable and lawful."
Naruto thought for a moment, then spoke calmly.
"Big Brother Rokuro once taught me that relying on others is never as good as relying on yourself. Even if my father was the Fourth Hokage, if I didn't have real ability, I wouldn't be able to protect anything. Granny Tsunade treating me so well now is because she believes I can become someone strong—someone like my dad."
"So I'm grateful to her. As for my parents' inheritance… I believe that in the future, I can earn even more through my own strength."
"Well said!" Rokuro laughed. "Relying on yourself—that's exactly right. Remember those words. Being my disciple is no easy thing. Without ironclad willpower, you won't even survive the training. Since you want to surpass your father and become an even stronger ninja, then be prepared to train until the brink of death."
With that, Rokuro vanished in a flash, leaving Naruto behind, shouting excitedly at the top of his lungs.
The next day, Rokuro maintained his usual rhythm—researching the Six Paths runes during the day, while also taking time to craft a gravity ninja tool.
This tool resembled the gravity space of the Mountain and River Diagram, though far less advanced. Once activated, it could alter gravity within a certain range, making it extremely useful for training. It was much like the gravity chamber Vegeta had his father-in-law build in Dragon Ball—except far less extreme, with gravity increasing up to a maximum of thirty times.
Just as the time approached, Uchiha Setsuna suddenly paid him a visit.
Rokuro invited him into the living room. The moment they met, Setsuna brought up the matter of Jiraiya's severe injuries and lost arm.
"One arm gone, and the severed limb wasn't recovered. With injuries like that, even Tsunade can't do anything."
"That's right," Setsuna said grimly. "From now on, Jiraiya is crippled. Even though one-handed seals are possible, both speed and precision will plummet. His combat strength has unquestionably fallen."
The old man's face flushed with excitement.
Rokuro immediately understood his meaning.
"Clan Head, you're not still coveting the Hokage seat, are you?"
Setsuna shook his head.
"After our last discussion, I've lost interest in the Hokage position. But now that Jiraiya is crippled, the force restraining the Uchiha has been cut in half. The Hokage faction is no longer worth fearing."
"Rest assured," Rokuro replied calmly. "Even if Jiraiya were unharmed, he wouldn't be able to stop the Uchiha's rise. Frankly, if it weren't for stronger external enemies, I alone could remove him."
Setsuna's expression turned solemn.
"Then the rumors… about the Rinnegan. They're real?"
Rokuro nodded slightly.
"To defeat Jiraiya in Sage Mode—there's no doubt it could only be the legendary Rinnegan. The eye of the Sage, superior even to the Mangekyō Sharingan. It's not something to take lightly."
Seeing Setsuna's concern, Rokuro waved his hand dismissively.
"Relax. Unless the Sage of Six Paths himself resurrects, no one in the current shinobi world can match Izumi and me together. That Akatsuki leader in the Rain Village—no matter how strong he is, he's no match for us as a pair. There's nothing to worry about."
"For now, the Uchiha's most important mission is simple: have more children and cultivate the next generation. Everything else can be ignored."
Setsuna had come seeking reassurance. With Rokuro's guarantee that he could handle a Rinnegan wielder, the old man finally felt at ease.
After seeing Setsuna off, Rokuro sighed quietly.
"So Jiraiya still lost an arm… As expected, his Sage Mode is unstable—far inferior to Naruto's later version. Otherwise, with Mount Myōboku Sage Mode's perception, there's no way he'd have been ambushed and crippled."
"But… this might actually be a good thing."
"Tsunade… your pressure just increased. Are you still not going to study Hashirama Cells? That's the only way to heal Jiraiya."
Indeed, Rokuro taking Naruto as a disciple wasn't just about researching Asura's chakra—it was also about pressuring Tsunade, forcing her to walk the forbidden path under overwhelming stress.
In the original timeline, Danzō dared not oppose Tsunade precisely because Jiraiya stood behind her as Konoha's strongest force.
And when did Danzō finally step into the spotlight?
Exactly when Jiraiya died—and when Danzō himself was incapacitated after the Six Paths of Pain invasion.
As long as Jiraiya lived, Danzō could only cower in the shadows like a rat.
Now, though Jiraiya wasn't dead, he was crippled. His combat power had plummeted—and with Rokuro far surpassing Danzō, the pressure on Tsunade was greater than ever.
"Whether you choose the forbidden path or not," Rokuro murmured, "my pressure isn't stopping."
Checking the time, he picked up a sealing scroll and headed out.
At the meeting point he'd agreed on with Naruto, three figures were already waiting.
Besides Naruto, the other two kids were locked in a fierce fight, while Naruto stood to the side, waving his arms frantically.
"Stop it! Both of you, stop!"
Useless.
The blows only grew heavier—blood had already been drawn.
Bang!
With a dull impact, Sasuke was sent flying by a palm strike. He tried to retaliate, but suddenly his chest tightened. His face changed color as his breath caught.
"Hmph. Uchiha Sasuke, the so-called top student of the class—this is all you've got? You're no match for me."
The one who had sent Sasuke flying was Hyūga Neji. Being a year older than both Sasuke and Naruto, Neji clearly held the advantage in raw strength at this stage.
"You bastard! I can still fight—come on!"
Sasuke coughed violently until the pressure in his chest eased, then rushed forward again.
Neji waved his hand disdainfully.
"Forget it. I was only using basic Gentle Fist—no tenketsu strikes, no Eight Trigrams techniques. Otherwise, you'd already be on the ground. If we keep going, I won't hold back."
His expression hardened as he pointed at Sasuke.
"Listen carefully, Uchiha Sasuke. I don't care what grudge you have with Sensei—but he's the benefactor of the entire Hyūga clan, and my personal idol. I won't allow you to insult him again."
"He forced my father to die! I'll curse him all I want—what are you going to do about it?!"
Sasuke shouted furiously.
Neji's face darkened as he assumed the stance of the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms.
"If you keep that attitude, I won't mind putting you in the hospital so you can cool your head!"
Naruto rushed in between them.
"Stop it! If we're all Big Brother Rokuro's disciples, then we're comrades now! Sasuke, just give in a little! If you're going to become his student too, how can you insult your own master?"
"Get lost, dead last!" Sasuke snapped. "Say one more word and I'll beat you too!"
He began forming seals, preparing a Fire Style: Great Fireball, intent on blasting both of them away.
At that moment, Rokuro walked over unhurriedly.
"Oh? I was delayed by something. Looks like you've already started forming bonds. As your teacher, I'm deeply gratified."
"Big Brother Rokuro!"
Naruto ran over excitedly.
Neji bowed respectfully, perfectly polite.
Only Sasuke stood there with a dark expression, stiff as a pole, saying nothing.
Rokuro ruffled Naruto's hair, told Neji not to be so formal, then turned to Sasuke.
"Sasuke, not going to greet me?"
"Hmph. You're only taking me as a disciple to fulfill your promise to my brother. I won't respect you."
Neji was about to explode again, but Rokuro laughed.
"You're right. I am taking you in to honor my promise to Itachi. And your father's death does have a great deal to do with me. I understand your desire for revenge."
"But tell me—if you oppose me at every turn and refuse to listen, will you learn anything real? Without real power, how do you plan to take revenge?"
"Don't tell me you're relying on your brother? I hear Itachi practically raised you since you were weaned—no wonder you're used to depending on him. What is this, a brother complex?"
Sasuke's face turned pitch black.
"Bastard! I'll take my revenge myself—I won't let Itachi interfere!"
Rokuro looked at him with open contempt.
"With that half-baked Sharingan? As an Uchiha, you should know—the gap between Sharingan levels is a chasm. Even a three-tomoe Sharingan is nothing before a Mangekyō."
"Do you really think you—and your mother, who's retired to be a housewife—can help you awaken the Mangekyō?"
As he spoke, Uchiha Rokuro activated his Mangekyō Sharingan.
He didn't need to do anything dramatic—just a single glance.
In that instant, Sasuke felt as though ten thousand blades pierced straight through his heart. His body was torn apart, ripped into pieces.
—
The next moment, Sasuke collapsed to his knees, gasping for breath. Cold sweat poured down his back as realization struck him like lightning—
It was an illusion.
"How is that possible…?" Sasuke muttered hoarsely.
"In just an instant… I fell into a genjutsu? And how can its power be this terrifying?!"
He stared at his hands. They were trembling uncontrollably.
His entire body was drenched in sweat, his clothes soaked through in seconds.
"Feel it now?" Rokuro said calmly.
"This is the difference between the Mangekyō and an ordinary Sharingan. And let me give you a friendly reminder—I'm not even a genjutsu-type ninja. For me, illusions are just an occasional hobby."
Not only Sasuke—Naruto and Neji had felt it too.
That overwhelming ocular pressure.
It was like being a young hunter camping alone in the wilderness—waking in the middle of the night with a full bladder, only to find an adult tiger silently passing right beside you.
The beast didn't attack.
But the fear of death—the certainty that you could die at any moment—crushed your heart all the same.
"So terrifying…" Naruto whispered.
"Is this… the true power of the Mangekyō Sharingan?"
As a member of a dōjutsu clan, Neji understood ocular power far better than most. And from his perspective, the pressure Rokuro had just released far surpassed that of any Hyūga he had ever known.
Even his own father, Hyūga Hizashi, didn't come close.
Naruto, on the other hand, had no talent for genjutsu and barely scraped by in ninja theory. But he was a pure instinctual fighter—a feel-it-first type.
And instinct was screaming at him.
What frightened him even more was that, at the very moment Rokuro's Mangekyō power erupted, the Nine-Tails inside him had instinctively recoiled.
Even the Nine-Tails… was afraid.
Rokuro calmly deactivated the Mangekyō, leaving only his three-tomoe Sharingan active.
"Looks like you've all seen my strength," he said.
"But personal power doesn't automatically mean teaching ability. Now I'll show you what it means to teach according to aptitude."
He turned his gaze to Neji and Sasuke.
"To be honest, I originally only planned to take Naruto as my student. I'm usually extremely busy—taking even one disciple is already pushing it. Three would normally be out of the question."
A flicker of jealousy rose in both Sasuke's and Neji's hearts.
What Rokuro said next only made it worse.
"And the reason I chose Naruto is simple—whether in talent or potential, he far surpasses the two of you. If you don't believe me, I'll prove it right now."
He looked at Naruto.
"Stand in front of me."
Naruto obediently stepped forward.
Rokuro pulled out the sealing scroll he had brought with him earlier. As he unfurled it and poured chakra inside, a complex sealing formula leapt out of the scroll and struck Naruto squarely in the abdomen.
Naruto jolted in shock—then felt an intense heat spreading through his stomach.
Moments later, a scorching surge of chakra poured outward, rapidly enveloping his entire body.
"This is…?!"
Naruto stared at himself in disbelief. Raising his hand, he watched as the red chakra surrounding his palm began to solidify.
In the blink of an eye, it reshaped itself into the form of a beast's claw.
"Relax," Rokuro said.
"This is only a small portion of the Nine-Tails' chakra. I opened a controlled gap in the Eight Trigrams Seal your father placed on you—and added a few extra functions while I was at it."
"In short, you can now siphon the Nine-Tails' chakra at will, without any side effects."
Rokuro turned back toward Neji and Sasuke.
"I know you two aren't convinced. So let's settle it properly."
"Both of you—team up and fight Naruto."
"If you win, I'll teach you a brand-new ninjutsu."
He smiled faintly.
"An S-rank one, no less."
"But if Naruto wins…"
"That technique belongs to him alone."
He clapped his hands once.
"Begin."
END OF CHAPTER
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