The Toad Sage Makes a Grand Entrance

Ichiraku Ramen

"Not bad, not bad, Teuchi—oh, no, Uncle Teuchi. Your skills have really improved." The ramen from another world had a flavor all its own, and Genichi didn't hold back his praise.

"I'm glad you're satisfied, but you don't look familiar. Have you visited Konoha before?" Teuchi was pleased that his customer enjoyed his cooking.

"I'm an old Konoha hand. What do you think, Toneri? Are you getting used to the food here?"

Toneri nodded in agreement. "I never expected the natives of the Ninja World to have such high standards for food. It's certainly much better than puppet cuisine."

Genichi reached out with his chopsticks and gently tapped the top of Toneri's head with their backs. "Stop calling everyone natives of the Ninja World. Do you want everyone to know where you're from? You need to learn to fit in here."

Though their real bodies were enjoying the food, all four had sent out shadow clones to gather information.

"I can't believe the Uchiha Clan has already been wiped out—and by one of their own, no less. Just what kind of demon is that Itachi?" Mikoto pouted, looking troubled.

Genichi found Mikoto's expression adorable. Since he still planned to approach Sasuke later, there were some things he couldn't hide. So, with an awkward tone, he said outright:

"I heard Itachi's father was Fugaku Uchiha."

Mikoto hadn't learned the details, and she was astonished. "What? Could he be the child of Clan Head Fugaku and Sister Hanazuki? What should we do? When we get back, do we have to—"

"His mother's name was Mikoto Uchiha."

"Huh?" Everyone was stunned.

Mikoto's pout deepened. Her eyes reddened, and she looked ready to cry.

Seeing that, Genichi hurried over and clasped Mikoto's little hand. "I told you, people from different worlds are different people. Don't take it to heart. Do you think I wouldn't trust you?"

Hana added, "That's right. I asked around for ages, but nobody had heard of Genichi. There probably isn't even a Chiba Genichi in this world."

"What happened? How did the Hyuga Clan fall so far?" Toneri suddenly exclaimed, interrupting Genichi and the others.

Hyuga Clan Compound

Inside the clan head's courtyard, Hyuga Hiashi stepped out of the house and suddenly spotted a boy dressed in white, with tomoe patterns around his neck. He had slender, willow-leaf eyebrows and delicate features.

Most striking of all were his eyes, which had no pupils.

Though he had no eyes, it felt as if he were staring right at Hiashi. In broad daylight, Hiashi broke into a cold sweat. This was the heart of the Hyuga Clan compound—how could an outsider have gotten in?

"Child, who are you? What are you doing here?" he asked cautiously, activating his Byakugan.

But the person before him gave no reply and vanished in a puff of white smoke.

"Strange. I've never seen him before, so why does he feel familiar?" Hiashi wondered, standing frozen in place.

With no acquaintances in the Ninja World, Toneri had sent out a shadow clone and come straight to his relatives' home. He hadn't paid attention when he visited as a child, but after looking around carefully this time, he couldn't believe there wasn't a single strong person worth taking seriously.

Toneri felt like he could wipe them all out with a pair of Byakugan.

Genichi comforted him. "You're just more talented. Don't dwell on strength. It can distort everyone's efforts."

After all, Toneri was special. He had been born with a pure bloodline and no eyes. Later, he would merge with pure Byakugan to awaken the Tenseigan. Even the later Urashiki Otsutsuki acknowledged his identity after defeating him, sealing him on the grounds that members of the same clan must not kill each other.

"Clack, clack."

Wooden sandals clicked against the ground. A middle-aged man with white hair entered, an oil-symbol Forehead Protector tilted across his brow. "Well, well—looks like I arrived just in time for the fun! Don't be shy, young people!

"Sure, this old face is a little weathered, but my name is famous!

"Listen closely." He suddenly rapped his knuckles on the table, kicking up a few specks of dust. "I'm the most dashing of the legendary Sannin, a handsome man whose fame can even silence a crying child—Jiraiya!"

"Wait up, you pervy bastard!" Naruto rushed into Ichiraku Ramen, panting. "Big Brother Genichi, you like Ichiraku Ramen too?"

Genichi and the others hadn't made much effort to conceal their identities after entering Konoha, and now someone had finally come looking for them.

Nobody paid Jiraiya any attention. Mikoto was still upset, and Hana was comforting her. Toneri, meanwhile, wasn't interested in these natives.

"Naruto, what do you want? It's on me," Genichi offered generously.

Naruto jumped for joy. "All right! That's awesome, Big Brother Genichi! I want an extra-large bowl of Tonkotsu Ramen. Uncle Teuchi, please!"

After hearing about Naruto's strange experiences—and especially learning that people from other Ninja Worlds might come to Konoha—Jiraiya had rushed over at once to gather information.

"There's another blind kid. Whatever, I'll ignore that for now. Assuming the three of them are Konoha Ninja, the one in white looks like a Hyuga Clan ninja. The one in black—is that an Uchiha? Why does he look a bit like Mikoto Uchiha? The one leading them is called Chiba Genichi. I don't remember him, but why does he seem familiar? How strange."

"Jiraiya, what are you looking at?" Genichi asked directly.

"Oh? You've heard of the Toad Sage?" Jiraiya decided to build some rapport before slowly getting answers out of him.

Genichi spoke slowly. "Heh. I once warned Minato that you seemed like the kind of teacher who'd sneak a student into the women's bathhouse to peep."

"Right, right! The Pervy Sage is exactly that kind of person." Naruto nodded repeatedly beside them.

Ignoring Naruto, Jiraiya's pupils contracted. He hadn't expected to hear Minato's name here, and he blurted out, "Minato's alive?"

"How could he be dead? With the Flying Thunder God, what danger could he not avoid?"

Jiraiya's expression darkened. He had once believed Minato would be the child of prophecy who changed the fate of the Ninja World, but fate had played a cruel joke on him. When Minato needed him most, he hadn't been in the village.

With a sigh, Jiraiya finally said, "An enemy unleashed the Nine-Tails inside the village. Minato had no choice but to sacrifice himself to seal the Tailed Beast."

Naruto sensed the mood turning gloomy, so he stood up and tried to cheer everyone on. "Ha ha! I'll become the strongest Hokage. If it were me, I'd not only beat the enemy so badly he'd be running for the hills, but I'd protect the village and come out completely unscathed!"

Genichi chopped Naruto on the head. "Still laughing? The Fourth Hokage who died was your father."

"How do you know?" "What? The Fourth Hokage was my father?"

"Isn't it obvious? That blond hair, your name is Naruto, and you have the Nine-Tails inside you." Genichi's calm tone was in sharp contrast to the two excited men.

"How could this happen?" Seeing that Jiraiya wasn't denying it, Naruto realized it was true. "If the Fourth Hokage was my father, if I'm the child of a hero, then why does everyone call me the Demon Fox? Why does everyone hate me?

"Pervy Sage, tell me this isn't true."

There was no hiding it now. Jiraiya slowly nodded, choosing to trust Naruto. "It's true. You're the child of the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze."

As Naruto stared in disbelief, Genichi looked into his eyes with a hint of meaning and spoke softly. "Then, Naruto, would you like to meet your parents?"