Your Teacher Likes Visiting Bathhouses

"A receipt? That's a bit of a hassle!"

Katsuki sat on the large blue stone, rubbing her chin in distress, pondering how to prove her identity as Konoha Ninja.

A bolt of Heavenly Thunder struck, nearly electrocuting him completely. His clothes, including the short sword Sakumo had given him, were also destroyed in the lightning.

Thinking of this, Katsuki's heart ached. Damn it, that was a famous sword, and he hadn't even had a chance to use it properly!

"Hey, say something! Don't play dumb with me, or I'll get rough."

Yahiko glanced at the distracted Katsuki, his eye twitching involuntarily, and couldn't help but utter a threatening remark.

"Were you really struck by lightning? How did you survive?" Konan Yahiko's attempts to stop her, Konan curiously peeked out at Katsuki, her bright eyes full of curiosity, and a barrage of questions came out of her mouth.

"Konan, we don't even know this guy's real identity, don't talk to him." Yahiko angrily pushed Konan back down.

His gaze swept back and forth between Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan before settling on Nagato. A flash of inspiration struck him, and he immediately had an idea.

"Cough cough!"

He loosely clenched his right fist and coughed twice, drawing the attention of all three of them.

"I am Uzumaki Katsuki, a Chunin Konoha. I've suffered some misfortune this time, and all the tokens that could prove my identity have been destroyed," Katsuki said slowly. Looking at Yahiko, who was about to lash out, he raised an eyebrow and added, "However, there is still a way to prove my identity. You can look at my hair."

He reached up and picked up a strand of hair that had fallen from his temple; its crimson color had not faded at all.

Before being struck by lightning, his left arm had been severed by Kumasaburo, but now both arms are intact, strong and powerful, without any abnormal sensation. He drifted along, and while unconscious, his body slowly healed itself. Even his severed arm regenerated, not to mention the hair and eyebrows that had been burned off by the lightning.

However, it seems quite a while has passed.

"What's wrong with your hair?" Yahiko, staring at him.

"Red hair, the same red hair as Nagato. He's only the second person I've ever met with red hair," Konan said, revealing the truth.

Nagato raised his head, and even through the layer of crimson hair, Katsuki could sense the scrutinizing gaze, as if she had taken an interest in his red hair.

"Red hair is the mark of my Uzumaki Clan, and the Uzumaki Clan is also an ally of Konoha. Hmm... this red-haired person should be a member of my clan. I wonder if that's a good reason?"

"Of course not! What kind of bullshit reason is that? It's far too far-fetched. I completely don't understand your logic. Even if you're making it up to deceive people, you should at least come up with a more reasonable excuse. Do you think you can fool anyone with something like this?"

As expected, Yahiko exploded, stunned by Katsuki's bizarre logic.

A cold wind was blowing along the riverbank, and the raindrops swayed in the wind.

The cold rain lashed against his shoulders, but Katsuki seemed oblivious. He was currently racking his brains about how to communicate with these three children. He hadn't considered resorting to violence, after all, with Nagato's Rinnegan, he wasn't confident he could subdue them without taking their lives. From the powerful Chakra flow he sensed within them, it was clear they had already become Jiraiya's disciples.

Besides, it was Yahiko and the other two who saved him; he couldn't possibly repay kindness with enmity.

"However... you claim to be of the same clan as Nagato, what evidence do you have besides your hair?"

Yahiko hesitated.

There are many different colored hairs in the Shinobi World, and there are quite a few people with green hair. Yahiko has orange hair, while Konan has light blue hair. However, red hair is extremely rare. As Konan said, Nagato was the only one they had ever mentioned with red hair, and Katsuki is the second one now.

"Yahiko, don't be fooled by him. I've never heard of any clan members existing." Nagato suddenly spoke, his hostility towards Katsuki becoming all too clear.

Psychological trauma?

Katsuki sighed inwardly. He knew Nagato's inner turmoil very well. If it weren't for him, the troublemaker, years later, Nagato would have frankly revealed the two great sorrows in his heart: the death of his parents and the death of Yahiko.

Yahiko is still alive and well. Nagato's only unresolved issue is his parents, who died at the hands of Konoha Ninjas. This has instilled in him a deep hatred for Konoha Ninjas, and even with Jiraiya's guidance, it is difficult to extinguish the hatred in his heart. Hatred is one of the most intense human emotions.

He didn't have the skill of verbal persuasion, nor was he very interested in healing psychological trauma. His immediate priority was to get a set of clothes and some food, otherwise, being hungry and naked was not a pleasant situation at all.

"Oh, I forgot to ask, are you ninjas?"

"Uh... I guess so."

In response to Katsuki's question, Yahiko gave a vague reply.

Whether they were ninjas or not is a really hard question to answer. They studied Ninjutsu under Jiraiya, but they didn't belong to any faction, and they weren't even considered wandering ninjas. If you really want to be precise, there's really no way to say for sure.

"Since you are ninjas, who is your teacher?" Katsuki asked knowingly.

"What's it to you?" Yahiko glared at him warily.

"Judging from your demand that I prove my identity as Konoha Ninja, you probably have some connection with Konoha. Perhaps your Ninjutsu was taught to you by one of our people..." Seeing Yahiko's slightly changed expression, Katsuki lightly and continued, "It seems I wasn't wrong. Tell me, who taught you Ninjutsu? If I know them, I should be able to prove my identity."

Yahiko narrowed his eyes, glanced at Nagato and Konan behind him, and then said, "In that case, tell me about Jiraiya- sensei. Don't tell me you don't know Jiraiya- sensei's name."

"He's a lecherous man who enjoys spying on women in bathhouses."

"It seems it's true!"

In just two short sentences, Katsuki's identity as Konoha Ninja was confirmed.

Yahiko and Konan looked at Katsuki with a hint of affection in their eyes.

······

Using Jiraiya as a pretext, Katsuki gained the trust of the three and returned to their base with Katsuki.

After taking a shower and changing her clothes, Katsuki ate a large meal without any hesitation to fill her empty stomach and replenish her depleted energy.

They drifted for an unknown amount of time, and their bodies had consumed a lot of energy to heal themselves. As they walked with Yahiko and the others, they felt weak and powerless, unable to exert any strength. This time, their bodies were severely depleted.

"Hey, hey, you said you were struck by lightning, is that true?" Konan knelt across the table, her elbows resting on it, her curious gaze fixed on Katsuki.

"It's true. When I was fighting the Sand Ninja, I accidentally attracted lightning. There was a loud crack, and my head was throbbing. I was almost struck by lightning and burned. I still feel lingering fear when I think about it..."

Katsuki filled his belly with food, and now that he had nothing else to do, chatting with pretty young girls was a pretty good pastime.