Kakashi seed interested too; he dragged a stool over, ready to listen.
Natsuki couldn't help laughing and crying. "When I was chasing after Tenten I was only six. What 'experience' could I have? Sasuke, you don't need to pick my brain. With that face, if you decide to pursue a girl, it's basically a guaranteed success. It just depends on whether you actually like soone."
Sasuke wavered at that. He'd never really thought about it, so there wasn't any girl he particularly liked.
And now they suddenly wanted him to find a partner, get married, have kids—way too sudden.
But it was for the revival of the clan. He had to do it!
Seeing his tangled expression, Natsuki suddenly thought of sothing. He fished out an old photo from a corner of the desk and asked, incredulous, "Sasuke, don't tell you're into Naruto—because he stole your first kiss!"
Crack! Kakashi's chair snapped and he crashed to the floor. "Two-four-seven."
Just then Tsunade and Jiraiya pushed the door open. The office froze in a huge wave of awkward.
Sasuke roared despite himself, "No way! Don't talk nonsense!"
He yanked the photo over, ready to rip it—only for Tsunade to snatch it first. She and Jiraiya leaned in, then both widened their eyes.
"Oh! Spicy!"
"Tsk, tsk. Didn't expect the youngsters to be this wild!"
Sasuke reclaid the picture and tore it to shreds in a flash.
He flared Susanoo (skeletal fra) and growled, "We bumped into each other, that's all. Just normal physical contact. It's not what you're thinking. If anyone spreads this outside, I won't hold back—got it?"
Everyone nodded seriously… while trying not to laugh.
Heh. Quite the eventful morning.
Jiraiya even thought to himself: maybe his novels could open a new lane—boy x boy? Bet there'd be girls who'd like that.
Kakashi quickly summarized the situation. Tsunade and Jiraiya both nodded in sudden understanding.
Tsunade patted Sasuke's shoulder. "Natsuki's right. To revive the clan, you have to increase the headcount first. Work hard. As Hokage, I won't skimp on the gift money."
"…"
Jiraiya pulled out an Icha Icha Paradise and shoved it into Sasuke's hands. "Here. You'll find it enlightening."
Sasuke glanced at the Icha Icha cover and instinctively shut his eyes.
He rembered Kakashi loved reading this stuff. Natsuki called it "Liu Bei"—Sasuke had no idea why the 'Imperial Uncle' was called Liu Bei, but it had to be so kind of birds-and-bees prir. If he read it, maybe he'd 'get' n and won.
He decided: Take it ho first. If it helps, I'll do what Kakashi does and buy the whole set. It's not like it costs much.
Soon, Tsunade stamped approval on the Konoha Police Force roster. Sasuke took the paperwork and left.
He also tucked away Icha Icha in his clothes like it was the clan-revival treasure.
"Right—Jiraiya-sama," Natsuki said, rembering the main business. "Have you contacted the Great Toad Sage? Will he agree to hide a few Jinchūriki for a while?"
Tsunade and Kakashi both looked over—clearly concerned too.
Jiraiya hesitated. "The Great Toad Sage naps a lot. I could only reach Fukasaku and Shima. The two of them said it should be okay. So I plan to bring the people over first, and also show the Great Toad Sage the truth about the ninja world."
Oh? Then we're good.
Many had long suspected that the Three Great Holy Lands and the ninja world didn't exist in the sa space-ti.
To reach Myōbokuzan (Mount Myōboku), you sign a summoning contract, then have the toads perform Gyaku Kuchiyose (Reverse Summoning). Maybe there are other routes, but they're clearly hard to find.
If the Jinchūriki hide in Mount Myōboku, not just Nagato and Obito—even Madara—won't be able to find them.
Wouldn't the Tsuki no Keikaku (Eye of the Moon Plan) just collapse?
Still, just in case, the Jinchūriki needed to be stronger. So once they got there, they should intensify training. If each one was powerful enough, they'd be hard to capture—like Sasuke or Killer B. (Well, Bee can be countered by Sahada, but Sahada is currently sealed inside Tenten's gourd.)
And if you wanted a Jinchūriki to grow stronger quickly, the best solution was to beco a perfect Jinchūriki—to perfectly wield a Bijū's (Tailed Beast's) power.
Like Naruto—he used just half the Kyūbi (Nine-Tails) and still defeated Pain.
So Natsuki suggested, "Jiraiya-sama, why not teach them to beco perfect Jinchūriki?"
"Perfect Jinchūriki, huh?" Jiraiya scratched his head. "How do you even teach that? I don't know it. Why don't you do it?"
Arms folded, Natsuki thought it over. "It's basically about mutual understanding with the Bijū. Fū and Chōi (Seven-Tails) did great… The prerequisite for understanding is to know a Bijū's na. They care about that—because those nas were given by the Sage of Six Paths. If you call them by na, it should soften their attitude."
Jiraiya had an aha mont. "So that's it? True, nas matter to people; they should matter to Bijū too!"
Tsunade offered, "Natsuki, you should teach them. Jiraiya's a baka—he'll botch it. You hate sitting in the office anyway. This job's yours."
Jiraiya and Kakashi nodded instantly. "Yes! Let Natsuki do it!"
"…?" Natsuki weighed the feasibility.
It might actually work. If nas didn't do it, he could chat with the Bijū—about the Ten-Tails. They all wanted to live; they'd be reasonable.
He nodded. "I'll try. But since Jiraiya-sama and Kakashi-senpai agreed so fast, all the files on my desk are yours."
He split the two thick stacks of docunts and dropped one each on Jiraiya and Kakashi's desks—then vanished in a flicker.
"Eh? Natsuki, you can't—"
Jiraiya and Kakashi reached out with 'Er Kang hands,' but Natsuki was gone. They could only accept their fate.
Kakashi rembered sothing. "Tsunade-sama, any replies from the other villages about the Five Kage Summit?"
Tsunade stayed calm. "No need to rush, Kakashi. A Five Kage Summit is big. Each village will discuss before replying. Use this ti to prepare. Even if the other villages won't unite—if it's only us—we still have to stop the cataclysm."
Kakashi and Jiraiya both nodded solemnly, but their faces turned heavy.
If it's only Konoha… that'll be rough.
anwhile, Natsuki had already flashed to Sasuke's side—only to find Sasuke standing outside Shueisha, eyes locked on a shelf display of the Icha Icha series.
This brat… in just this short ti, did he already get hooked on "Liu Bei"?
(End of Chapter)
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