Omni-Anime: I Stand at the Forefront of Popularity

Chapter 177: Chapter 178: Jiraiya: Go Ahead and Give Me All You’ve Got! Wait—No!

Elsewhere, Naruto had been on Gamabunta’s head for an entire day—and finally, inevitably, ran completely dry. He simply dropped.

But Naruto’s sheer stubbornness had earned Gamabunta’s acknowledgment. After Naruto lost consciousness, Gamabunta even carried him to the hospital himself.

”My, my—Naruto picked that up fast. I figured it’d take a whole month to get there. Didn’t expect him to crack the Summoning Technique in just two days.”

Jiraiya had watched from a distance all day. He’d been about to leave—but then he thought about it, and realized he still hadn’t gotten any material since arriving in Konoha.

Worse: right as he was finally about to slip away, Hyuga Hanabi of the Hyuga Clan had come to personally block the exit.

”Ah-hem.” Jiraiya cleared his throat. ”You there—from the Hyuga clan. Something you need?”

[He’s attracted to Naruko, so why not my waifu?]

[Honestly the phrasing of that sentence is a bit weird?]

[There’s a distinctly suspicious vibe here]

[There he goes with the horns again!]

[Hey, that’s my wife you’re talking about—back off!]

”Is there something you need?” Jiraiya managed a strained smile.

Hanabi had a lovely figure—but she had never once shown it in front of him. Always bundled up, everything covered.

”There is. I’d like Jiraiya-sama’s help with something. And—just to make sure Naruto doesn’t wake up and find his teacher gone.”

Jiraiya’s expression twitched. She’d hit exactly on the truth. ”I’m not that kind of person, really—but I can help you out, sure. Ha ha ha ha... hmm?”

Hanabi had started moving toward him. Slowly. The restraints of Zhuixia made it almost a shuffle.

But the movement was very cute.

What surprised Jiraiya, though, wasn’t the charm of it—it was the speed.

She was barely moving, and yet she was covering ground faster than a normal person walking.

And those shoes had been modified.

Every step rang out a soft, clear bell tone. Pleasant. Musical.

”Are those... blades?”

Jiraiya wore geta himself and naturally noticed what was different about hers.

Her geta were black—lacquered over, he guessed, with metal underneath—and the heels were sharpened blades.

But those blades, pressed against the earth, hadn’t sunk in at all.

The cutting edge drove straight down into the soil without biting.

”Chakra?”

How remarkable. And every time this Hanabi girl got close, there was always this sensation—chakra faintly diffusing into the air around her, like a natural emanation. So that’s it. That’s how she reads the environment.

Using chakra to sense one’s surroundings—that technique wasn’t original to Hanabi.

In the original story, Neji had used something like it: to compensate for the Byakugan’s blind spot.

Incidentally—the Byakugan’s blind spot had nothing to do with the main house, the branch house, or the Caged Bird Seal. That rumor had somehow spread across Chinese internet circles and been stated with great authority—something about the spine blocking some vital point or other—when in reality, it was exactly as much of a myth as the ”Hyuga genius ninja” story. In the original manga, it was always ”the Byakugan’s blind spot,” never ”the branch family’s blind spot.”

Neji’s method and Hanabi’s were different, in any case. Neji actively pushed his sensing outward, which was physically taxing. Hanabi let a thin layer of chakra diffuse naturally, like an ambient field—more efficient, less costly.

As for the shoes themselves, Jiraiya had no strong reaction. He filed it mentally under ”training equipment.” Some ascetics put themselves through extreme measures—single-tooth geta, balanced like stilts. Moving through the world in bladed footwear wasn’t so different.

Which, in fact, was accurate.

There was just one difference: Hanabi’s choice to physically constrain herself was for Curse Bind.

These unstable ice-blade geta—by stripping away any possibility of stable, level footing—constantly refined her body’s moment-to-moment posture control, conditioning her so that no opponent could knock her off balance when it counted.

The bells followed the same logic.

A ninja infiltrating had to move silently. The bells on Hanabi’s body would ring and give away her position—give the enemy a sound target to track. But in a real fight, Curse Bind would render her nearly perfectly silent.

Hanabi couldn’t pull a Sukuna and take out a power ”loan.” All she could do was grind hard and ”save up” ahead of time. Save long enough, and she could eventually buy the whole ”house” outright—permanently hers.

”Here’s the situation.”

Hanabi walked up to him.

Her hands were folded in front of her—but three pairs of Puppet Arms floated in the air around her.

”I’m developing a new jutsu and I can’t move forward on my own. I’d like Jiraiya-sama’s assistance.”

”Oh ho ho, that is impressive.” Jiraiya’s interest was piqued. ”Sure, let’s see what you’ve got.”

”This way, please.”

”Hmm, here won’t work?”

Jiraiya looked around. They were near the hospital—not a person in sight.

But if Hanabi said so, they could move elsewhere.

”Oh, using the wire to pull yourself along?”

Hanabi was already moving. Her method of travel was interesting—she used steel wire to draw herself forward. He’d been so absorbed in watching Naruto earlier he hadn’t noticed how she arrived or left. Now he could see it: wire, pulling her through the air in controlled bursts.

Jiraiya followed her out to the grove outside the annex.

”All right—let’s see what you’ve got.” Jiraiya rolled his shoulders.

”Are you sure, Jiraiya-sama?” Hanabi asked.

”Of course! Even a Rasengan wouldn’t scratch me—bring it!”

She was supposed to be some kind of genius, sure—but he was one of the Legendary Sannin, wasn’t he?

Let this little prodigy see what real strength looked like.

”Really?”

Hanabi tilted her head.

”Ha ha ha—go ahead and give me all you’ve got!”

[That has to be the most reckless request I’ve ever heard]

[Oh no, my boomerang~]

[I don’t know what’s about to happen but I’m already laughing]

[This man’s had a great time all day. About time for a dose of reality]

[Naruto’s mom: Hanabi—for my sake—hit him with Fire Punch]

No Fire Punch.

She did, however, have large-scale destructive ninjutsu.

And by then, Hanabi had already raised four of her Puppet Arms into position.

”Oh? A jutsu that uses the Puppet Arms? My, my—still got a ways to go. So it’s puppet-style ninjutsu after all.”

Jiraiya felt that was fully within his ability to handle.

”Well then—my apologies in advance.”

Hanabi smiled.

And at that moment, Jiraiya felt it—a colossal surge of chakra gathering in those Puppet Arms.

Wait—hold on—!

Jiraiya didn’t get the words out. Hanabi had already spoken.

”Mechanical Illusion—”