Chapter 415: Questions
"Is power really that important, Pervy Sage?"
Naruto was filled with confusion.
He wasn't the boy in the original story who had experienced Sasuke's defection for power, so his feelings about certain things were naturally not that deep. With Naruto's identity—son of the Fourth Hokage, disciple of Jiraiya, Nine-Tails Jinchuriki... it was also hard for him to empathize with those who lacked power. It was hard to understand why some people whose countries were destroyed and families ruined would do whatever it takes to gain power, and he didn't understand why the weak would rather pay such a price to obtain power.
Just as others found it hard to understand why Jinchuriki, who were discriminated against invisibly by the whole village and even subjected to soft violence, were so eager to gain others' recognition and respect.
Jiraiya put away the smile on his face, and his eyes became serious.
"Naruto, in the two years you've been training with me, you've seen it too, right? The people of small countries affected by war and invaded by great nations. They might have lived peaceful and happy lives, but because of the lack of power to resist, their countries were invaded, economies collapsed, and cities were dilapidated. In war, relatives died miserably, and those who survived struggled on the line of life and death, suffering from hunger and cold... Many people's fates are even more miserable than yours. Both parents died, and they live lives worse than death. In comparison, you now are already very happy!"
Naruto was stunned.
"So, that's why they desire power so much..." He lowered his eyelids and said heavily, "Is it to resist this miserable fate?"
Jiraiya nodded: "The surroundings of Hoshigakure have been relatively peaceful in recent years, but no one knows when war will come... As long as they don't want to end up like the Land of Rain, the Hoshikage must find ways to make Hoshigakure strong. On this point, whether it's Akahoshi or Natsuhi, or the previous, and the one before previous Hoshikage, they all agree."
Naruto frowned and thought deeply for a while (this was a rare occurrence).
Then he suddenly threw out a sentence—
"Then if I take the Star meteorite, wouldn't I be harming them?"
Jiraiya laughed involuntarily: "How could that be? Don't worry, the Fifth Hoshikage will have her ways!"
After all, even Akahoshi, whose ability didn't match his ambition and suffered the consequences, was consistent with successive Hoshikage on the goal of making Hoshigakure strong; his divergence with Natsuhi was only about whether to use the Star meteorite for cultivation or not. That is, a divergence in path.
However, the struggle over the path is sometimes crueler than the struggle between enemies... I won't go into details here.
Orochimaru's defection, speaking of which, could also be seen as a struggle over the path between him and the Third Hokage. The result was that the Third almost cleaned up the mess himself. Jiraiya had a deep impression of this matter, but there was no need to explain such things to Naruto.
"I also know a little about the Mysterious Peacock Method." Jiraiya added and explained, "In fact, ninjutsu that condense chakra into substance are not particularly rare. Your Tailed Beast Cloak and the Raikage's Lightning Style Mode are just types of it. I've seen records in the Toad Clan's library. The history of the Mysterious Peacock Method is much longer than Hoshigakure. Before the Star meteorite fell, this ninjutsu already existed."
"In other words, the original Mysterious Peacock Method did not require the Star meteorite for cultivation. It is an extremely powerful ninjutsu, and at the same time, an extremely difficult ninjutsu, comparable to your Wind Style: Rasengan! However, the radioactive function of the Star meteorite can efficiently activate chakra and help Star Ninja lower the difficulty of entry, making a difficult ninjutsu that only a few elites could practice become a ninjutsu popular among the masses."
"However, advantages come with disadvantages. While the Star meteorite lowers the difficulty of the Mysterious Peacock Method, it seems to also lower the upper limit of the Mysterious Peacock Method... At least as far as I know, Hoshigakure hasn't produced any famous experts over the years! That's why Natsuhi plans to abandon the Star meteorite and restore the traditional way of cultivation. Perhaps she believes that power obtained by taking shortcuts is unreliable and won't go far."
Speaking of this, Jiraiya patted Naruto's shoulder and turned to leave.
"Let's go, Naruto!"
"Wait for me, Pervy Sage!"
Naruto shouted.
He actually didn't fully understand Jiraiya's long speech; but at least Naruto realized one point: trying to gain power easily by taking shortcuts would mostly likely pit oneself in the future. The growth of power tolerates no trickery or luck!
So, I have to work harder! Naruto said to himself secretly.
He clenched his fists tightly and quickened his pace to catch up.
Under the same starry sky, illuminated by the same moonlight, while Naruto was traveling hard under the stars and moon, in Konoha, the young ladies were still comfortably soaking in the hot spring.
Hinata and Ino had a happy conversation—mainly finding common language when despising a certain person's regrettable part.
It made Haruno Sakura look angry—although she didn't desire to grow big like authentic girls, nor did she care much about her slightly meager assets, being dissed repeatedly would make anyone unhappy. Haku also laughed dryly, because she was only slightly better than the pink-haired girl, and inevitably got hit by the AOE words of the two naturally gifted girls.
However, Sakura also had her counterattack means: It doesn't matter if I don't have it, as long as you guys have it!
She transformed into a female hooligan and pounced on Hinata, sticking to those two masses of white, soft, tender flesh: "Hinata, I'm your ball fan!" (Note 1)
That feel, that touch, felt like saying one more word would be censored at any time... Speaking of which, the biggest benefit of transmigration with gender bender is probably being able to enjoy such benefits openly and righteously.
"Go away, go away, go away," Hinata pushed her away with disgust, "Go hug Ino, she's the biggest!"
The girls' gazes subtly swept across the fronts of Hinata and Ino. Ino even lifted her chest, gestured twice, and then said modestly: "No, no, I still can't compare to Hinata."
Then the two began various mutual business blowouts, praising each other on the surface while secretly comparing. After comparing Sakura and Haku down, the two who were united against the outside just now began infighting, wanting to determine who was superior.
Heh, women.
Haruno Sakura knew this pair of plastic sisters would be like this. However, objectively speaking, according to her field investigation, Hinata should be slightly bigger—Ino expressed respect for Sakura-chan's view.
It seemed that the hot spring water and the frank environment made it easier for people to open their hearts. The topics discussed by the girls were quite large in scale and deep, giving Haruno Sakura's pure soul a considerable degree of cleansing and education.
Using "pure" here is because Haruno Sakura really heard a lot of knowledge for the first time—including both this life and the previous life.
For example, girls like Hinata and Ino must wear special sports bras during daily exercise and missions. Otherwise, a high-intensity battle could cause severe damage to the ligament fibers in the chest—there are no muscles and bones supporting that area—and then wait to be scolded by medical ninja after returning to the village...
For example, how to deal with the monthly visit of relatives: in special circumstances (mainly when facing battle), it can be delayed or paused by means of medical ninjutsu, with minor side effects; but generally, it is better to let nature take its course. Sanitary napkins are much better than disrupting body functions with medical ninjutsu. "But I use tampons." Hinata said as an experienced person, "You'll know once you use it."
Things like that.
These topics were boring and not cute, but just as beautiful girls' poop would never be pink fragrant blocks, girls in the Naruto world also had many awkward and unbeautiful troubles to face and overcome by themselves.
Fortunately for the pink-haired girl proficient in chakra manipulation, most of these problems could be easily solved with ninjutsu—so they couldn't be called troubles for her.
Haruno Sakura could listen silently to the girls' communication and complaints with a relaxed mentality of it being none of her business.
Actually, there was nothing to complain about, right? Compared to the suffering civilians entangled by parasitic diseases, compared to the people of small countries whose homes were destroyed by war and lived precariously, compared to the Star Ninja encountered by Naruto who made themselves sick to gain power... The fact that they could still sit here soaking in the hot spring discussing who was the most beautiful and could still have a happy life meant there was really no need to complain about anything!
"Peaceful days make people melodramatic." Haruno Sakura covered her eyes with a towel, sitting aside and thinking silently, "If they fought to the death with strong enemies from Akatsuki every once in a while like me, they definitely wouldn't care about these small problems!"
The night grew deeper.
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