Hagoromo froze at the request.
Was this a pillow arriving just as he was getting sleepy?
The Third Hokage saw Hagoromo freeze and thought he was unwilling. Just as he was about to speak,
Hagoromo spoke.
"Hiruzen, Naruto Uzumaki is my student to begin with, so it's not impossible for me to do that."
As Hagoromo spoke, he showed some hesitation.
Hiruzen was a little curious at Hagoromo's response.
He said nothing, but his eyes told Hagoromo to continue.
"After all, you mentioned Naruto's other identity as well."
"As his teacher, I have every reason to help him with his studies, so I'll teach every student equally."
"But if I get involved in his personal life, I'm afraid it will invite criticism."
Hagoromo said no more. After all, it was true.
He couldn't get rid of Danzo outright at the moment, and if he let him keep watching him from the shadows,
let alone taking Naruto and Sasuke as disciples, his every other move would be known in detail.
Hiruzen narrowed his eyes slightly, looking at the young man before him with an inscrutable expression.
After all, Hagoromo had made it clear that it wasn't that he couldn't do it, but that he was afraid someone behind the scenes would object.
"As I thought, you're very perceptive, Hagoromo."
Hiruzen chuckled, his words carrying an underlying meaning.
"Please forgive me, Hiruzen. I noticed it on my way home last night."
Hagoromo put on a deeply respectful expression, then spoke with apparent reluctance.
"At first, I thought it was a sudden accident, but I felt that same prying gaze again while I was teaching today."
"And then you came to see me, Hiruzen. Putting all that together, even if I were slow on the uptake, I should have understood the reason by now."
When Hagoromo finished, he put on an aggrieved expression.
In front of an old fox, unless you had the brains of that Nara father and son, you were better off honestly telling a half-truth.
It would be more believable that way.
Hiruzen took out his pipe, lit it, and drew a deep puff.
The next instant, a masked figure with silver hair appeared beside Hagoromo.
Hagoromo flipped his hand, a Kunai appearing in it, and stepped in front of the Third Hokage as he shouted:
"Who's there?!"
"Hiruzen, please step back!"
The Anbu, who had been about to drop to one knee, paused. Hiruzen behind Hagoromo was a little dumbfounded too.
After a moment, Hiruzen smiled broadly and patted Hagoromo, who was standing in front of him.
"Good boy, don't worry. Step aside. This is an Anbu guard of mine."
"Anbu?"
Hagoromo looked as though he had never heard of them before. He scratched his head and stepped aside, moving to Hiruzen's side.
Only then did the Anbu, whose cat-face mask had catlike ears, red markings on either side, and a downward-curving mouth, hand Hiruzen the bottle.
The Anbu then vanished with another Body Flicker Technique.
"Hiruzen, I acted rashly!"
Only then did Hagoromo speak, a slightly panicked expression on his face.
Hiruzen waved a hand, signaling that it was nothing, and looked at the two insects in the bottle.
After a long while, the Third Hokage spoke.
"Hagoromo, just do as I asked. I'll arrange the rest."
"Yes, Hiruzen."
Having quietly put Danzo in a bad light, Hagoromo naturally agreed at once.
As for how Danzo would retaliate against him later, having been subtly rebuffed?
What a joke. Unless Danzo truly wanted to defect from Konoha or carry out a Konoha Spring operation in the village,
he could only lie low for the time being.
By then, Hagoromo was confident he would have at least some ability to protect himself.
After listening to a few more instructions from Hiruzen, Hagoromo took his leave and exited the office.
I've... gotten past this hurdle for now.
Hagoromo's expression remained natural, but inwardly he relaxed a little as he headed downstairs to the teachers' office with steady steps.
Hagoromo could more or less tell what Hiruzen was thinking in the office behind him.
Leaving aside the strength that had once arguably put the Third at the peak of the Shinobi World, even if his strength had declined somewhat with age,
the members of the Hokage Guard Platoon at Hiruzen's side were all top-notch.
The insects following Hagoromo had probably been discovered long before he entered the office.
By bringing it into the open, he had also expressed himself in a different way.
He could do the work, but he needed at least some protection.
As for finding someone else to do it, Iruka probably wasn't an option. Otherwise, Hagoromo wouldn't have ended up as homeroom teacher.
And arranging for someone else would affect everything else.
Otherwise, Naruto wouldn't have had such a miserable life in the original story.
Those elders were no mere figureheads. All these years,
apart from the year the Fourth Hokage took office and upset their original balance, they had simply kept one another in check.
Power really did change people beyond recognition.
Hagoromo felt a little rueful, but in this world, power alone couldn't necessarily accomplish everything.
The elders from Hiruzen's generation, however, were sinking ever deeper into this quagmire.
When he walked into the teachers' office, it was empty.
Hagoromo glanced up at the clock on the wall. It was almost five thirty.
He gathered his things and prepared to go home. Just as he was about to push open the door,
the office door swung open, and Iruka walked in, rubbing his nose.
Iruka looked surprised to see him. "Hagoromo? You haven't gone home yet?"
"Yeah, I just came from the principal's office. I gathered my things and was about to leave."
Hagoromo lifted the things in his hand.
"In that case, let's go together. I just finished checking the school."
As Iruka spoke, he put his flashlight back in the cabinet.
Hagoromo leaned against the doorway and glanced outside. Apart from the lights in the corridor, the school was practically silent.
"Have all the students gone home?"
Hagoromo waited until Iruka came out and shut the door before asking.
"Yeah. I have to say, those kids have plenty of energy. I just saw Shikamaru and Choji from your class up on the roof."
"Oh? What were they doing?"
Hagoromo was curious too. Given Shikamaru's personality, he would probably have gone straight home after class.
How could he still be hanging around school?
"Shikamaru said his dad was out on a mission, so his mom was the only one home. He was afraid she'd nag him if he went back, so he tagged along while Choji wandered around."
Iruka spread his hands, looking a little helpless.
Hearing that, Hagoromo had to admit it did sound like something Shikamaru would do.
"Come on. We'd each just be cooking for ourselves at home anyway, so how about eating out?"
Hagoromo nodded and extended the invitation to Iruka.