You're Already a Mature Chunin

Minato and his group arrived in Kyoto, where there was an office building specially established for Konoha's Kyoto Advisors.

The moment Jiraiya entered Kyoto, he vanished. This was the most prosperous city in the entire Ninja World, and Jiraiya loved it here—entertainment venues were everywhere.

Sitting on the first floor of the advisor building, Minato watched the captain of the Guardian Ninja Twelve, a Hyuga Clan ninja, head upstairs to meet Senju Takeoto.

"Shinmen, that's the Hyuga Clan of Konoha. They possess the Byakugan, an ocular technique that can see through things from several kilometers away. They're Konoha Village's strongest intelligence ninjas.

"So, do you know why the Hyuga Clan is always unhappy?"

Uzumaki Shinmen shook his head. He did not know much about Konoha Village.

"Because when they go home, their family always gives them the cold eye! Their entire family has Byakugan!"

Haneina lowered her head to look at her feet, while Akimichi Jirokuma looked up at the ceiling.

Minato was becoming harder and harder to understand.

Minato laughed a few times, then realized Uzumaki Shinmen was not laughing and regretfully shut his mouth.

The four of them sat in the lobby, waiting for the advisor building staff to arrange their accommodations.

A few minutes later, Uzumaki Shinmen suddenly chuckled twice.

"Kid brother! Did you just laugh? Is your reaction time really that slow?"

Uzumaki Shinmen said nothing. If he had an older sister, and if she were Minato's girlfriend, then she probably would not be lonely.

After their lodging had been arranged, Minato took Shinmen and began sightseeing around Kyoto.

Shinmen needed treatment physically, and mentally as well, because he was somewhat withdrawn.

Before long, Minato finally discovered one of Shinmen's hobbies and immediately wrote Kushina a letter that night.

"Kushina, your little brother likes ramen just like you do. He especially loves it—he drinks every last drop of the broth every time."

Minato wondered, Do lonely Uzumaki Clan children all like ramen?

Kushina Uzumaki, Uzumaki Shinmen, Naruto Uzumaki—they all liked ramen.

Wait. Minato suddenly remembered something. He could not let his son take the Uzumaki surname; he had to take the Namikaze surname.

He did not care what the original owner of this body had been thinking. In this life, I, Minato Namikaze, will never marry into a woman's family!

Kyoto was enormous, nearly three times the size of Konoha. Minato and Shinmen had only explored it for four or five days before they had to stop.

In an office on the third floor of the advisor building, Minato met Senju Takeoto.

There were four Hyuga Clan ninjas in the office, including Hizashi Hyuga, whom Minato had fought before.

Fearing the loss of the Byakugan bloodline, the Main Family generally rarely left the village. Those who carried out missions for the Hyuga Clan were all from the Branch Family.

Like the village's other high-ranking advisors, Senju Takeoto could assign missions, determine their ranks, and distribute mission rewards.

Senju Takeoto said, "Minato, the Bumper Guard General's Residence has suddenly brought up the matter of the Hyuga Clan's fief again. The Hyuga Clan are not merely ninjas; they were once landed nobles under the daimyo.

"The Bumper Guard General is young, so the affairs of the General's Residence are managed by his Grand Minister, Jiu Hui. For some reason, that Grand Minister has once again applied to the daimyo to reclaim the Hyuga Clan's land.

"According to the agreement between the Land of Fire and Konoha Village when the village was first founded, the major ninja clans gave up their scattered clan lands. They retained only ancestral graves, urban commercial properties, and similar estates, while returning the rest to the daimyo in exchange for his support of Konoha Village.

"However, the Hyuga Clan is rather special. The previous daimyo granted them special permission to retain their land.

"The Bumper Guard General's Residence has never been very willing to leave the land of those three towns to the Hyuga Clan, and it has once again requested negotiations with Konoha Village and the Hyuga Clan.

"Now, the Hyuga Clan intends to first travel to Bumper Guard Road to survey its land and confirm the amount of its farmland with the Bumper Guard General's Residence.

"The Hyuga Clan is too far from Bumper Guard Road, and their management of the land is not as strict as before, so it needs to be surveyed again."

Minato nodded, roughly understanding what he was being asked to do.

The Kyoto Advisor was responsible for liaising between the Land of Fire and Konoha Village. Important demands from the Bumper Guard General's Residence had to be handled by Senju Takeoto first.

It seemed he was being sent with the Hyuga Clan team to Bumper Guard Road. That was perfect—Minato also wanted to see how the Autumn Fruit Organization, which had fled to Bumper Guard Road, was developing.

He had not received any Power of Reformation from the Autumn Fruit Organization these past few days, which worried Minato somewhat.

Senju Takeoto's expression turned serious. "Minato, you must be careful when you go to the Bumper Guard General's Residence. Based on past experience, whether inside or outside the Land of Fire, there will be people with ulterior motives who want to use an opportunity like this to provoke conflict between the Land of Fire and Konoha Village.

"The Bumper Guard General's Residence is near the border and adjacent to River Country. Ninjas from other hidden villages may also infiltrate and take the opportunity to cause trouble."

Minato nodded. "I'll be careful, Advisor Takeoto."

Takeoto had subtly pointed out the risks involved. The danger could come from the Bumper Guard General's Residence, from enemy-country ninjas, or even from within the village.

Disguising oneself as an enemy spy to attack one's own people, then pinning the blame on spies, was a common trick among certain people.

The Hyuga Clan was so special that the daimyo and the six great generals all had Hyuga Clan ninjas by their sides. It would be all too easy to stir up conflict between both sides.

When Minato had read the manga before, the Hyuga Clan had claimed to be Konoha's number one ninja clan. He had thought it ridiculous at the time—the Hyuga Clan was really arrogant.

But after coming here, the Hyuga Clan's Byakugan alone, capable of scouting from kilometers away, had made them unrivaled in the ninja world. Everywhere they went, they were highly sought after.

Every important person feared death, so every important person needed the Hyuga Clan.

The Bumper Guard General's Residence was currently governed by the Grand Minister. If it were the Bumper Guard General himself, he might not necessarily fall out with the Hyuga Clan.

Minato asked, "Advisor Takeoto, should Uzumaki Shinmen come with me, or stay here and continue receiving treatment?"

Takeoto said, "I've taught Haneina quite a lot these past few days, and she can handle some simple treatment. If you want to take Shinmen with you, that would be good too. Letting him see more and travel more will be more beneficial to his recovery."

"Alright. Then I'll take Shinmen with me."

Minato found Jiraiya at a Large Bathhouse in southwest Kyoto.

Jiraiya was soaking in the bath, squinting slightly as his eyes wandered everywhere.

"Sensei, I received a mission from Sister Takeoto. I'm going to Bumper Guard Road. Are you coming too?"

"Me? I'm not going. Kyoto actually has bathhouses where men and women bathe together—how can you expect me to leave? This place is too wonderful." Jiraiya drank a cup of sake, his face reddening a little. "Minato, you're already a mature chunin. You can lead a team and complete missions on your own. You need to learn independence too, right?"

"Heh. If you hadn't found a mixed bathhouse, I doubt you would have made me independent this early."

"Don't worry. If you run into danger, you can summon a great toad. The great toad can notify Mount Myōboku, Mount Myōboku can reverse-summon me, and then the great toad can reverse-summon me from Mount Myōboku. It's a little troublesome, but I'll show up in time."

After listening to the process, Minato decided to give up on Jiraiya.

How was that timely? By the time Jiraiya arrived, who knew how many great toads would already be dead.

"Wait! My good disciple! Give me some more money!"

In the original story, Jiraiya had taken orphan Naruto's money without the slightest psychological burden. Now that Jiraiya was asking his disciple for money, he was just as perfectly justified.