Naruto: Imitation Ninja

Looking at Jiraiya, who appeared to be lost in thought, Xing Liu knew he had successfully been tricked.

So, Xing Liu decided to add fuel to the fire.

"Don't you want to avoid this tragic scenario of killing your own master?" Xing Liu continued, trying to entice him further.

"As long as you take Naruto as your disciple ahead of time, wouldn't you be able to prevent the loss of your life?"

"This..."

To say that Jiraiya wasn't scared upon hearing Xing Liu's words would be a lie.

After all, who wouldn't cherish their own life? But subconsciously, he didn't like the idea of choosing a disciple this way.

Thus, Jiraiya froze, standing motionless.

"Ugh... has this old man gone stupid after hearing that he's going to die?" Xing Liu poked Jiraiya, who was still unmoving, and then sarcastically commented, "You're dumb, but I'm not!"

Perhaps hearing someone insult him made Jiraiya glare at Xing Liu, who was scratching his head and giving him an awkward smile.

"The thing you just mentioned, I agreed to it."

"What?!"

Jiraiya's sudden words caught Xing Liu off guard, and he nearly couldn't process what Jiraiya had just said.

"You mean you're going to take Naruto as your disciple?"

Jiraiya gave him a disdainful look and said, "Look at you, acting all clueless. Just now, it was you who asked me to take him in, and now you look like an idiot."

"One thing, though—are you still going to let me take him as a disciple or not?"

This sentence from Jiraiya made Xing Liu stop fooling around. If he angered him, the entire ninja world would truly require his intervention.

"Fine, fine, fine! You absolutely must take Naruto as your disciple!"

"And he is one of the children of prophecy, as spoken by the Great Toad Sage..."

"Don't you want to fulfill the task entrusted to you by the Great Toad Sage?"

Hearing that Xing Liu was now trying to provoke him, Jiraiya could only scoff and reluctantly agree.

"Kid, didn't I already agree to you? Why are you still talking so much nonsense?"

"However, there is something I need your help with, concerning another one of my disciples."

Upon hearing Jiraiya's words, Xing Liu immediately knew what he wanted to do. He nodded and readily agreed.

"Isn't it just accompanying you to the Hidden Rain Village again? I'll take care of it."

"But Nagato and the others aren't in their original location anymore. If you want to find them, you'll have to go to the Akatsuki's main camp, since Yahiko is already dead."

"What?! You mean Yahiko... he's dead?"

After the end of the Second Great Ninja War, Jiraiya had stayed alone in the Hidden Rain Village for three years, teaching a few of the young ninjas. He vaguely remembered that two of the boys were named Nagato and Yahiko.

"That's right. Because of the actions of the Hidden Rain Village leader, Hanzo of the Salamander, and Danzo, all three of them were trapped in a scheme, and Yahiko died while saving Konan."

Xing Liu, recalling what he had seen in the manga, recounted part of the story to let Jiraiya know what had happened.

"Hanzo and Danzo, huh? After this, I'll make them understand why flowers are so red!"

Hearing the names of the two men who had caused the death of his disciple, Jiraiya finally released his pressure as one of the Legendary Three Ninjas. The floor beneath him cracked under the intensity of his aura.

"I said, you lecherous sage, can't you just wait quietly for me to finish speaking?"

Xing Liu helplessly patted Jiraiya on the shoulder, then began to use the pressure he had copied to slowly neutralize Jiraiya's spiritual energy, calming him down.

"Those two will definitely meet a tragic end. Forget Hanzo, who, according to the timeline, has already been killed by Nagato himself, even Danzo will be killed in a few years when that fool leads a team to take him down."

What? Who was this "fool" the kid was talking about? How could he possibly have the ability to take down Danzo? Did he and Danzo have some kind of deep grudge?

Watching Jiraiya's expressions change multiple times in just a few minutes, Xing Liu put on an air of mystery and turned his back.

"You don't need to worry about these things. After all, everyone's fate is already predestined. Your primary task now is to focus on teaching Naruto."

"Tch... fine, fine," Jiraiya muttered, though he wanted to punch the person who kept speaking in riddles. But after seeing how easily Xing Liu had calmed his enraged state, he didn't feel like resisting anymore.

"Alright, it's about time we get going. Otherwise, the situation over there will really get out of hand."

With that, Xing Liu slung an arm over Jiraiya's shoulder and walked into the suddenly appearing twisted space.

"Wait..." Jiraiya hadn't reacted in time before he was taken inside.

...

Time rewound back to the moment when Itachi Uchiha had just taken Kisame Hoshigaki and left, and the group was gathered around Kakashi, who was trapped in a genjutsu, discussing how to save him.

"Jiraiya-sama, Xing Liu-sama, can you two please help out with Kakashi?" The ever-concerned Guy, Kakashi's best friend, looked at the two suddenly appearing figures with a worried expression.

"Hey, don't look at me, I'm completely useless when it comes to genjutsu." Jiraiya decisively refused when the group turned to him for help.

"What about Xing Liu-sama? I remember your Sharingan once controlled the Nine-Tails. Can you help save Kakashi?"

Seeing Jiraiya back down, everyone turned their hope toward the young man who had once saved the village before reaching his twenties.

"Hmm... I can save him, but I can only help him break free from the Tsukuyomi [Moon's Reading] technique. I can't heal his mental wounds..."

When the group heard that Xing Liu had a way to save Kakashi, they almost shouted with joy, but when they heard the last part of his statement, the previously hopeful atmosphere grew heavy again.

"Truly like you... just a few words and you can change everyone's emotions so quickly," Jiraiya jabbed at the one who had once again turned the mood heavy.

"Shut up, you clueless weakling who doesn't understand genjutsu," Xing Liu snapped back.

Then, he stood forward and spoke to the group again: "Although I can't save Kakashi completely, I know someone who can save him..."

---

Enjoying the story? Want to read ahead?

Get access to all 50+/116 Chapters and faster updates (12+ chapters everyday) by getting the whole collection for just $9.99! Note: You need a "Naruto: The Copy Ninja" $5 membership.You can choose to support me on :

P@treon : https://[email protected]/KZ478

Your support helps keep this story alive, and I deeply appreciate every contribution

Thank you for reading and supporting my work.