A Hero's Story: Ninja Tales of the Gusty Shinobi ~ Prologue

The Gutsy Shinobi prologue adapts Jiraiya's own novel, the in-universe book that named Naruto. The episode frames a story-within-a-story — Jiraiya's writing, the hero modeled on his ideals, the connection to the boy he named after the protagonist. It's a reflective canon-adjacent piece deepening the bond between Jiraiya and Naruto, the literary origin of Naruto's name and nindo. The Gutsy Ninja, the book that made Naruto who he is, gets its spotlight, enriching the master-student relationship the series treasures.