Recuperation

Jimo forced himself to attend the Third Hokage's funeral, everyone's faces filled with grief.

After the funeral ended, under Anko's strong insistence, Jimo returned to the hospital to continue recuperating.

"You've crossed blows with that person, haven't you..."

Anko was peeling an apple nearby, dropping the remark casually.

"Yeah... we crossed blows..."

Jimo naturally knew that the person Anko meant was Orochimaru.

"He's strong... even as a clone, he's strong..."

Jimo recalled the scene of his fight with Orochimaru—it was the first time he'd felt the pressure of death since arriving in this world.

"So from now on, you idiot, wake up and think before you act!" Anko suddenly rapped Jimo on the head with a knuckle.

Ever since the Forest of Death, this girl had somehow taken to showing up at his place every few days, claiming she couldn't cook for herself and coming to freeload meals.

At first, Jimo really thought she was just here for the food, until the gifts she brought got increasingly outrageous—from drinks, to sake, and finally to Baijiu.

Sima Zhao's intentions were an open secret...

"I know! But the situation was critical back then..."

"This isn't something a chunin like you should be worrying about! That's one of the Three Ninja... What if you'd died! I finally found someone I click with, someone who doesn't care about my past!"

Anko's tears slid down her cheeks, dripping onto Jimo's bedsheet.

"So... that's what you meant..."

Jimo smiled and smoothed Anko's hair with his hand.

"Then you'll have to wait until I come of age, right?"

Xiao Jue hadn't forgotten that he was only sixteen now... At that age back in his original world... if he wanted to get married, that would be way too criminal...

"I'll wait..."

Anko's cheeks flushed red as she spoke shyly—hard to imagine the usually brash girl making such an expression.

After a few days of rest, Jimo relied on Senzu Beans and his astonishing constitution to recover to a bull-like state.

The death pressure Orochimaru had brought him turned out to be a blessing in disguise, causing the qi within Jimo to surge dramatically...

"Jimo... Ooh la la, am I interrupting you two..."

Jiraiya pushed open the medical office door, just catching Anko cutting fruit for Jimo.

"You... you two talk..."

Anko ran out with a flushed face.

"Not bad taste! Didn't think you had an eye for this kind, kid!"

Jiraiya said with a laugh.

"Lord Jiraiya, don't tease me... If you have something to say, just say it directly..." Jimo had already guessed what he was up to.

Nothing more than the two advisors hounding him every day to take up the position of Fifth Hokage...

"Right, there's something... I need to ask you..." Jiraiya's tone suddenly turned serious.

"What's the deal with that gorilla form of yours!"

The air in the room froze, and their eyes locked.

After a few seconds of staring, Jiraiya sighed.

"If you don't want to say, forget it... I thought you'd be scared out of your wits..."

"It's a kind of... transformation..." Jimo said calmly. "A transformation that multiplies my strength tenfold in a short time... but the side effects are pretty severe..."

"From what Gamabunta and Naruto said, you can keep your sanity after transforming... Maybe it's similar to a jinchuriki..."

"If that's how you want to see it... that works. That gorilla is me, and I am that gorilla... but the transformation requires specific conditions..."

Jimo had prepared a flawless explanation for this matter.

"Alright, enough small talk. I called you along this time to find Tsunade..." Jiraiya said. "As for me, I know myself best—I'm too free-spirited by nature, it won't work... I'm not fit to be Hokage."

"Naruto says you're good at finding people... so I thought I'd bring you along. Also give that kid some training on the way."

Jimo was stunned for two seconds...

He could sense the presence of qi, but he'd never even met Tsunade face to face... He had no idea what her qi felt like...

"Then I'll gladly oblige."

Jimo told Anko about Jiraiya's intentions, then went with Jiraiya to find Naruto.

"Naruto's easy—at this mealtime, if he's not home, he's definitely at Ichiraku Ramen!"

Jimo said.

"You go find him first. I have some things to take care of."

Jimo sensed two very strong presences in the village, and the owners of those presences seemed to be fighting.

On the river surface, Kakashi, Asuma, and Kurenai had already squared off against Uchiha Itachi and Kisame Hoshigaki.

Kakashi had originally thought that with his own Sharingan, dealing with Itachi would be easy, but he was dragged into the mental world of Tsukuyomi...

"No mental collapse... as expected of Kakashi..." Itachi said with admiration.

"You came... to take Sasuke away?" Kakashi knelt weakly on the water's surface, half-collapsed.

"I came for the Fourth Hokage's legacy..."

Kakashi suddenly recalled what Jiraiya had told him about that mysterious organization... it seemed to be collecting tailed beasts.

"Akatsuki..."

Kakashi muttered to himself, a hint of gravity and vigilance showing in his eyes.

Unwilling to expose his identity prematurely, Itachi pondered inwardly: This information cannot be allowed to leak!

So, he decisively ordered the Kisame beside him: "Take Kakashi away, and those two—Kurenai and Asuma—eliminate them as well!"

Upon receiving the order, Kisame excitedly swung his massive Samehada, slashing fiercely at Kurenai and Asuma.

Just as the blade was about to cut them in half, at the critical moment, a black shadow appeared like lightning before everyone's eyes. This figure leaped up and delivered a heavy kick to Kisame's body.

The sudden strike carried immense force, sending Kisame flying dozens of meters away. He barely managed to stabilize himself.

"Konoha Strong Whirlwind!"

The immense force stirred up waves of water.

As Kisame steadied himself, he saw a bowl-cut man in a green tight-fitting jumpsuit.

"Who are you?!"

"The proud blue beast of Konoha! Might Guy!"

Before Guy could finish his introduction, a blue Shockwave trailed a long tail as it arrived.

"It's that kid Jimo..." Kakashi said, looking into the distance at the familiar technique.

A black dot gradually grew larger as Jimo swung his Nyoi-Bo, aiming it at Kisame.

"What strength..."

That was Kisame's assessment...

"Damn... this is getting too big..." Itachi frowned.

"Let's go. We're not here to take them out..."

Two figures dissolved into plumes of smoke and vanished from the river's surface.

"They sure run fast..." Jimo said with a pout.

"You really have no fear of death, kid..." Asuma and Kurenai said with wry smiles. They themselves hadn't lasted a single round against those two, yet this newly promoted chunin brat actually thought about fighting beings like that...

"Forget it, let's get Kakashi-sensei to the Medical Corps first."