Jiraiya Returns to the Village

Scorching mist filled the streets.

At Konoha Hot Spring Street, several women frolicked in a hot spring.

"My, I haven't soaked in a hot spring in ages. Why does your skin seem so much better lately? Let me feel it for myself."

"Stop fooling around, that tickles. You've got some nerve talking about me—you've gotten quite a bit bigger than last year. I want to know how you did it. Let me squeeze them. Are they fake?"

The women's movements sent splashes of water everywhere.

Yet, on a wall not far from the hot spring, an almost imperceptible hole revealed a lecherous eye peeping in from outside.

Outside the wall stood a tall man with long, spiky white hair. He wore a red-and-gray robe, a forehead protector marked with the character for "oil," carried a huge scroll on his back, and wore red wooden clogs.

Suddenly, an Anbu appeared beside him.

"Lord Jiraiya, Lord Hokage knows you have returned to the village. He wants you to go to the Hokage Building and see him at once."

"Ah, what a buzzkill. It was just getting to the best part, and I still needed material for my writing. That old man, honestly. He must have been using the Telescope Technique to peep too, or how else would he know I was here?"

Jiraiya turned around, his resolute face wearing an expression of regret and disappointment.

If anyone else had spoken of the Hokage that way, they might have been dragged into the Police Force. But the man before him was Jiraiya of the legendary Sannin, the Hokage's disciple, so the Anbu did not dare say much.

Seeing how reserved this Anbu was, Jiraiya found it boring. He merely sighed, lamenting the beautiful sight he had just missed.

"All right, I understand. I'll go to the Hokage Building later. You may leave."

"Yes."

The Anbu ninja vanished.

Jiraiya rose from beside the wall. He had only returned this time because of the old man's orders. Unfortunately, the lead he had painstakingly found regarding Orochimaru had ended there. Something major must have happened in the village recently.

Otherwise, the old man would not have ordered him to return to Konoha.

As usual, Jiraiya intended to use his own methods to learn about the village's current state before going to see what the old man wanted.

That evening, inside a Konoha izakaya.

Jiraiya had transformed into an ordinary man and sat in the izakaya drinking while gathering information about recent happenings in the village.

After downing several cups of sake and growing friendlier with the owner, Jiraiya decided to get to the point.

"Boss, I only got back today after finishing business over in the Capital of the Land of Fire. It feels like the village has changed quite a bit recently."

After clearing away the dishes left by customers who had departed from beside Jiraiya and wiping sweat from his bald head, the owner readily gave him an answer:

"Oh, Raino, you haven't been back for quite a while either. It's getting late, and there probably won't be any more customers. Let's have a good chat."

Raino was the alias Jiraiya used when gathering intelligence in the village. He often came to this izakaya to drink under that identity, and after enough visits, he had naturally become acquainted with the owner.

The owner sat down beside Jiraiya, and Jiraiya promptly poured him a cup of sake.

The owner was equally straightforward. The two clinked cups and drained them in one gulp.

"Phew—ahh."

"Boss, tell me if anything interesting has happened in the village recently. It might help a businessman like me find a way to make money later."

The owner waved his hand.

"Haha, Brother Raino, quite a few major things have happened in the village lately. But whether any of it will help your business, I can't say."

"That's fine. I haven't been back to the village in a long time, so I want to know how it's doing. After all, I'm still one of Konoha's people. I'll never forget that."

Jiraiya's casual remark touched the owner's heart. That was right—they were all people of Konoha, and none of them had ever forgotten it.

"Good, Brother Raino! Tonight's drinks are on the house! Let your big brother tell you all about the recent major events in the village. My information is sharp as can be!"

Jiraiya drank and talked with the owner for over two hours, until the owner slumped over the table and fell asleep.

Jiraiya placed the money for the drinks on the table with a sake cup holding it down, then closed the door for the owner.

He released his Transformation Technique and stretched his body.

Once outside, he looked up at the moon and only then remembered what he had told the Anbu that afternoon.

"Oh no, I forgot about the old man. He's probably still waiting for me at the Hokage Building. I'd better hurry over. I can't avoid a scolding from him this time."

Just as Jiraiya was about to head for the Hokage Building, he suddenly noticed that Ichiraku Ramen beside the izakaya was still lit.

After drinking so much, a steaming bowl of ramen would help sober him up. The old man had waited so long already; surely he would not mind waiting a little longer.

He lifted the curtain and went inside.

"Brother Teuchi, you're still open this late? Give me a large bowl of chashu ramen."

The middle-aged man in a white chef's uniform and white chef's hat paused his work and turned around.

"Jiraiya, I haven't seen you in a long time. Wait a moment, the ramen will be ready soon."

While waiting for his ramen, Jiraiya curiously asked a few questions.

"Brother Teuchi, why haven't you closed up at this hour today?"

Teuchi continued working as he spoke.

"Ah, because of a child."

"A child?"

Jiraiya looked puzzled, unable to understand why a child would make the shop close later.

"Yes. His name is Naruto. I don't know when it started, but the people in the village began saying he was the incarnation of the Demon Fox. Nobody likes him. Only late at night does he sometimes come here. I can't do much for him, but I can at least treat him to a bowl of ramen."

"Naruto!?"

Jiraiya cried out the name.

At that moment, a young boy's voice came from outside.

"Who!? Why are you calling me?"

The little boy walked inside.

Jiraiya turned around and looked at the boy before him.

He was young, seemingly only five or six years old, with short golden hair, three even lines resembling fox whiskers on each side of his face, and azure eyes.

He wore a worn yellow-green shirt with a red spiral pattern in the center of the chest, along with battered blue shorts. His clothes looked filthy, covered in wrinkles and stains of dust.

Though the boy's voice was full of energy and spirit, his thin limbs and slightly sallow complexion made it easy to see that he had clearly suffered from long-term malnutrition.

The moment he saw Naruto, a familiar feeling came over him. Perhaps it was the alcohol, but Kushina and Minato's figures seemed to suddenly overlap with Naruto's before his eyes.

Memories flooded his mind, and tears shimmered at the corners of his eyes.

"Naruto? Jiraiya-sensei, I've decided. I'll use that name for the child Kushina and I will have someday!"

"Haha, is that okay? It's a name I came up with while eating ramen..."

Suppressing the emotions in his heart, he looked at Naruto before him.

Jiraiya was about to speak, but Naruto beat him to it.

"Did I scare you, mister? I'm sorry..."

Naruto's words were filled with grievance and self-blame. Jiraiya froze. He did not know how much hurt and prejudice Naruto had endured over the years for him to instinctively say something like that.