Chapter 161 Extraordinary Talent

Because he now helps people braid cherry blossom-shaped braids every morning, makes breakfast for four people, reads ancient introductory books on military tactics and sealing techniques, steals techniques and training codes from the Anbu Alliance archives, expertly packs away empty ramen bowls, and soothes the scarlet eyes that wake up from nightmares.

Jiraiya watched as Naruto drew intricate patterns on the ground, wondering if the two boys actually realized what a miracle they had created.

"Is that so?" Naruto asked, drawing Jiraiya's attention back to his latest earth escape pattern.

Jiraiya followed the pattern, trying to understand Naruto's train of thought.

He could understand some of it, mainly the beginning and the middle, some of the symbols he recognized, some looked familiar and he could guess the meaning, but there were others he couldn't understand at all.

The boy's train of thought was unpredictable - some of his deductions were simple enough for a Genin to understand, while others made him feel inferior. If Minato were still alive, he would surely faint with pride when he saw this.

But the thought was too sad, so Jiraiya quickly shifted his attention to the unfolded scroll at Naruto's feet.

There were several Flying Thunder God techniques drawn on it - none of them looked like Minato's.

In fact, many of them look a lot like the Second Hokage's Flying Thunder God - complex scripts made up of fine concentric circles and contrasting lines of symbols.

Minato had never successfully used this style of technique before; it was too complicated and tedious for him to focus on the basics.

Jiraiya was even more confused than his student, and as he looked closely at the characters, they seemed to be floating from the ground.

"Uh…I might be asking a dumb question, kid, but where did you get these?"

Naruto blinked, as if he heard some strange question.

"What do you mean? Isn't this the way you taught me to connect the anchors?"

Jiraiya frowned and blinked blankly. Anchor point? Minato had always described the Flying Thunder God Jutsu as a punch in space, a one-way pull between him and his chosen mark or target.

Jiraiya stood up and walked over to Naruto, carefully avoiding the patterns on the ground while rubbing his chin.

Suddenly, Jiraiya's eyes widened, his mouth opened, and then closed again.

Because he was quite sure that it was the prototype of the universal teleportation seal.

Screw his self-esteem, Jiraiya thought for a minute and finally gave in.

"Wait, explain this to me." He pointed to the top few lines of the scroll. "What do these circles mean? What about the hyphen at the end?"

Naruto paused for a moment, then hesitantly began to explain, pointing out different glyphs and symbols, explaining how they changed the way energy moved through space, how some runes remembered chakra's characteristics better than others, how the layout of the lines could focus that memory onto a single point, with enough force to recall a being with the same characteristics.

Jiraiya found that once the kid started talking, it was difficult to stop.

He didn't remember when he took out the notebook, but he knew that when Naruto finished speaking, he had already filled the last page.

"Okay, I think I know what our earlier problem was," Jiraiya muttered as he traced the pattern with his finger.

Memories came flooding back to him bit by bit; how many hours he and Minato had spent studying the precious notes left by the Second Hokage, deciphering the words and formulas, while Kushina ate her ramen nearby, laughing and commenting, occasionally throwing a few crumpled papers at Minato's head.

She always liked to tease Minato with his poor knowledge of sealing techniques, but in the end, it was she who helped them solve the mystery.

Jiraiya motioned for Naruto to come closer and the blond boy knelt down beside him, handing him a branch.

Jiraiya took the branch and drew two familiar seals next to the pattern on the ground.

He pointed to two seals on the ground representing the Flying Thunder God Jutsu, one from the Second Hokage and one from Minato.

Naruto studied the two seals carefully, his eyes wide and awe-filled, lingering for a long time on Minato's seal, which was much simpler compared to the complex characters next to it.

"But they're so different." Naruto whispered, "How can they achieve the same effect? ​​It doesn't make sense."

"Ah, ah, ah! I have an idea!" Jiraiya said quickly, fearing to dampen the child's enthusiasm. "We initially thought it was because of the different nature of Minato and the Second Hokage's chakra, but what if it's not just because of this?"

Naruto looked at him blankly.

"I don't know."

Jiraiya rubbed his head and made a face.

"Well, let me rephrase that. What I mean is that what works for one ninja might not work for another."

Naruto looked even more confused.

Jiraiya sighed, picked up the branch again, and started drawing on the ground.

"The power of value." Naruto suddenly said.

The boy's voice wavered, as if he saw something in Minato's scribbled markings that Jiraiya hadn't yet discovered.

He suddenly moved, pulled out a thick book from the sealed scroll, and flipped through it quickly, finally stopping at one of the pages. He snatched the branch from Jiraiya's hand and wrote a Chinese character next to Minato's mark with clear, exaggerated strokes, as if writing calligraphy.

His eyes danced across the page, jumping from one line of text to another, and then he began to write something beside it, the tip of the branch drawing smooth lines beside the imprint.

Jiraiya recognized the kanji immediately.

Uzumaki Kushina.

Jiraiya stood beside him, staring down at the pattern on the ground, stunned.

"Child, this..."

"Certain types of sealing techniques can also be expressed with words," Naruto explained softly, "You can use it to write messages, or instructions, or...names."

Naruto's voice was choked with sobs, and Jiraiya's heart suddenly shrank, as if Orochimaru's giant python had wrapped around his heart. "I've used it before - incorporating the name of the thing you want to seal into the spell can make it more powerful and so on - so I thought maybe..."

Naruto's voice trailed off, and Jiraiya got the feeling that the boy's understanding of sealing techniques was far more than what he let on.

He tentatively placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder and Naruto's head snapped up, his blue eyes sparkling with tears.

Jiraiya hesitated for a moment, not knowing if this was the right thing to do, but then he thought, screw it.

He gently put his arm around the child's shoulders, and Naruto froze for a moment, his body stiffening and his eyes widening, but this seemed more of surprise than resistance, so Jiraiya patted his shoulder gently.

Naruto relaxed a little, which made Jiraiya feel like maybe he did the right thing.

"You know, this doesn't surprise me at all," Jiraiya said softly as Naruto secretly wiped away his tears.

"Ok?"

Jiraiya pointed at Kushina's name.

"The Second Hokage had many things that connected him to the real world, but to Minato... Kushina was his entire world. Everything else, the village, duty, victory... all came after her."

Naruto raised his head, glanced at him, then lowered his head again and looked at the mark on the ground.

"He really loves her, doesn't he?"

Jiraiya's eyes were a little moist, he blinked, trying hard not to let the tears flow down.