The Four Kage Could Wake Up Laughing in Their Sleep

Jiraiya watched them from the side with a hint of envy.

With a personality similar to Naruto Uzumaki's, Jiraiya only had so much restraint when it came to jokes. Besides, he had been a lecher ever since childhood.

That made him even more annoying than Naruto, so naturally, he did not have many friends.

Hoshiryu Uchiha had actually been watching Jiraiya from the corner of his eye all along.

Not just him, but also a brown-haired girl wearing glasses.

Hoshiryu remembered that during the physical test, this girl had also been one of the last people still able to stand.

Seeing the envious look on Jiraiya's face now, he knew Jiraiya was a sure thing.

So Hoshiryu proposed to Tsunade and the others:

"During the physical test just now, aside from the four of us, there were two others who held out until the end. I'll go invite them over."

Tsunade and the others had no objections to this suggestion.

The strong lived alongside the strong. Their performance during the physical test had just been their ticket into this Small Group.

Seeing that they all agreed, Hoshiryu walked over to Jiraiya and the girl with glasses to invite them.

"Sorry, I got distracted during the introductions earlier."

"Could the white-haired one and the brown-haired girl with glasses come over? I'd like to get to know you."

Jiraiya pointed at himself with an incredulous look. Once he saw Hoshiryu nod, he trotted over eagerly.

His excitement and smugness were written all over his face.

The girl, meanwhile, was far more reserved. After receiving Hoshiryu's confirmation, she simply walked over quietly.

It was as though she felt nothing else at all.

Hoshiryu was actually a little curious. The girl looked familiar, but he simply could not remember who she was.

Judging by her current performance, even if she did not reach the Kage level in the future, she would at least become an elite jonin.

And she was a girl, too. Could she have died in a later war?

As for the rest of the class, although they envied this group somewhat, they had nothing to say about it.

After all, these were the people who had performed best just now.

If they wanted to join them, they would naturally have to be even stronger.

Jiraiya ran up beside Hoshiryu and began introducing himself with feigned composure.

"My name is Jiraiya. There's nothing in particular I like to eat. I like pretty big sisters and peeping... ahem, ahem. My dream is to become Hokage someday."

The moment Tsunade and Uchiha Chiri heard his introduction, displeased expressions appeared on their faces.

Although Jiraiya had realized afterward that he could not openly mention his hobby of peeping, anyone could guess it from what he had said before.

Hoshiryu, meanwhile, gave Jiraiya a thumbs-up inwardly.

When it came to shamelessness, Jiraiya really took the prize.

Peeping was the sort of thing that ruined one's reputation anywhere.

Yet Jiraiya had persisted for decades. His shamelessness was truly unmatched.

Hoshiryu also hated that hobby of his.

A man could be lustful, but he needed to have boundaries.

He could visit pleasure quarters, but he could not do something like peeping.

But Jiraiya's hobby was truly hard to change. It was completely different from Tsunade's love of gambling.

When Tsunade later became unable to pull herself out of gambling, perhaps it was because it numbed the pain in her heart.

But when Jiraiya peeped, Tsunade had nearly beaten him to death.

Even after all that, he still kept doing it as always. That showed just how much he loved peeping.

Combined with his shamelessness, making Jiraiya quit would be an unimaginably difficult task.

For the moment, Hoshiryu had no good way to save—cough, screw over—him.

Seeing Tsunade and Chiri's gazes toward Jiraiya grow increasingly unfriendly, Hoshiryu quickly changed the subject.

"Alright, alright. There's still one person who hasn't introduced herself."

Hearing that, the two girls temporarily spared Jiraiya.

Jiraiya did not feel as though he had just returned from the gates of hell at all. Instead, he cheerfully tried to strike up a conversation with Orochimaru beside him.

"Hello, everyone. My name is Yakushi Nonō. I like cake, and my dream for the future is also to become Hokage."

Yakushi Nonō's introduction suddenly enlightened Hoshiryu.

No wonder she looked familiar. It was her.

Yakushi Nonō was also a ninja who had earned a title. She was the Wandering Miko.

Root's Ace Spy, she had rendered tremendous service to Konoha during the Second and Third Shinobi Wars.

Her exceptional espionage abilities had earned her a title that many powerful ninja did not possess.

It represented the wariness other Ninja Villages held toward her, and it was also a symbol of her achievements.

Although the anime never stated this ace's strength, being able to operate in other Ninja Villages, gather intelligence, and retreat unscathed meant she was at least a jonin.

And that was the result of being trained by a garbage organization like Root.

Otherwise, Yakushi Nonō might well have stepped into the Kage level.

Besides, compared to her espionage skills, her combat strength was practically irrelevant.

If someone born with such talent for public security were put in charge of Konoha's Public Order, what spy could escape safely?

Unfortunately, such an outstanding Konoha ninja had still died at Danzo's hands.

The other Four Kage probably could wake up laughing in their sleep every day.

With leadership like that, how could Konoha possibly avoid destruction?

Moreover, unlike Civilian Ninjas such as Jiraiya and Orochimaru, Yakushi Nonō had a surname.

That meant she had a small ninja clan behind her.

Whether there were others with talents similar to hers in it was impossible to know.

There did not need to be many. As long as there were a few, together with the Nara Clan, they could support Konoha's internal administration.

This made Hoshiryu's gaze toward Yakushi Nonō somewhat fervent.

Under that gaze, Nonō felt a little uncomfortable.

She was not yet the dreaded Wandering Miko. She was merely a child who had just entered the academy.

Seeing the flash of awkwardness on Nonō's face, Hoshiryu knew he had been somewhat rude.

But they had not known each other before, so it was difficult to explain.

Fortunately, no one else noticed the awkwardness between the two of them, allowing them both to breathe a sigh of relief.

Just then, Tsukiji walked in from outside.

Looking at the noisy classroom, he said with a dark expression:

"Brats! Do you want to run more laps? Sit down and quiet down, now!"

In an instant, the previously lively classroom fell silent as though someone had jammed it.

Then the students quickly returned to their seats.

Tsukiji's dark expression eased somewhat. Taking out a textbook, he said:

"Class begins. Today, I'll explain the founding of Konoha."

But before he could finish, Jiraiya raised his hand and said:

"But we don't have textbooks."

Tsukiji froze, then slowly turned his head and asked:

"Didn't I tell you to go get them?"

Seeing this, the students below could not help bursting into laughter.