Three months ago, Jiraiya received a message from the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen.
He was summoned back to Konoha to serve as Naruto's guardian.
Once Naruto graduated from the Ninja Academy, Jiraiya would be permitted to take him out traveling.
Jiraiya had had that idea two years ago, but unfortunately, Sarutobi Hiruzen had firmly refused him.
And now, the other man had suddenly changed his mind, leaving Jiraiya overjoyed.
At the moment, he was tracking Orochimaru's whereabouts. After receiving the summons, he did not linger for long.
After spending some time wrapping up the matters at hand, Jiraiya made his way back toward Konoha, stopping and starting along the road.
Although Jiraiya, as a ninja, was very fast and would not have needed long to hurry back to the village if he truly wanted to, various "research" delays along the way took up quite a bit of time, causing Jiraiya to return to Konoha only today.
He did not rush to look for Naruto. Jiraiya first confirmed Naruto's current situation with Sarutobi Hiruzen.
He learned that this junior of his had been working hard at training over the past few years, had even mastered the Nine-Tails' power, could now successfully enter Nine-Tailed Chakra Mode, and had recently been constantly developing and testing new S-Rank Ninjutsu.
Not only that, the Third Hokage had also announced Naruto's true identity and clarified the rumors that had circulated over the years.
This situation made Jiraiya extremely happy. He was proud of Naruto's progress, and relieved by the change in Naruto's circumstances.
But it was precisely because of this that Jiraiya, who had originally been happy because his teacher had changed his mind and allowed him to look after Naruto, turned cold-faced.
"So, you messed things up yourself and called me back to clean up