In the Land of Fire, a figure slowly approached the Hidden Leaf Village.
"These days, it feels like time just keeps passing faster and faster."
Looking at the Konoha Gate he had been away from for so long, Jiraiya sighed from the heart. "It's been... about two and a half years since I left."
"To be exact, two years, six months, and five days."
Naruto appeared at the gate and greeted Jiraiya. "Hey, welcome back, Grandpa Jiraiya!"
"How did you know I was back?"
Jiraiya smiled as he walked up to Naruto. Seeing that the boy was almost as tall as he was, he patted Naruto on the shoulder. "You've grown a lot."
"Heh, not bad~"
Naruto grinned proudly. "My strength has improved even more than my height!"
"Seriously?"
Jiraiya paused, clearly surprised. "Minato said you'd already surpassed him and Kushina back then. At this point, are you almost as strong as the First?"
"I don't know. Maybe?"
Naruto and Jiraiya headed toward the Hokage Building as they talked. "I don't know much about the First. I only fought the First Orochimaru brought back with Impure World Reincarnation. But Orochimaru suppressed his consciousness, so he acted almost entirely on instinct. He was pretty weak."
"That's because you're strong enough."
Jiraiya said, "Even reduced to instinct, the First and Second Hokage could easily defeat an elite jonin."
"I'm an elite jonin too."
Naruto said, "But Grandma Tsunade says I don't think things through carefully enough, so she won't let me become a team leader."
"Tsunade was probably just making up an excuse."
Jiraiya laughed. "You're strong enough to be Hokage. But your growth so far has been completely different from that of an ordinary ninja. When you face the problems ordinary Genin encounter, you might not be able to give them