Toad Sage, Grand Entrance

Ichiraku Ramen

"Not bad, not bad. Little Teuchi—oh, excuse me, Uncle Teuchi—your skills have really improved." The ramen of this world had a unique flavor, and Chiba Genichi did not hold back his praise.

"As long as the customer is satisfied, though you don't look familiar. Have you visited Konoha before?" Teuchi was also pleased that his guest enjoyed the food.

"I'm an old-timer when it comes to Konoha. How about it, Toneri? Is the food here to your liking?"

Toneri nodded in agreement. "I didn't expect the natives of the Ninja World to have such high standards for food. It's certainly much better than the craftsmanship of puppets."

Genichi reached out with his chopsticks and tapped the back of Toneri's head. "Stop calling them 'natives of the Ninja World' every other sentence. Are you afraid people won't know where you came from? You need to learn to blend in."

Although the four of them were enjoying the meal in their true forms, they had all dispatched Shadow Clones to gather intelligence.

"I never imagined the Uchiha Clan had been wiped out, and by one of their own, no less. What kind of demon is this Itachi?" Mikoto pouted, looking quite distressed.

Genichi found Mikoto's expression adorable, but knowing he intended to approach Sasuke later and that some things couldn't be hidden, he spoke up in an awkward tone:

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

Mikoto hadn't looked into the details and gasped in shock. "What? Could he be the child of Clan Head Fugaku and Hanazuki? What do I do? Does this mean when we go back, I have to..."

"His mother was named Mikoto Uchiha."

"Ah?" Everyone was stunned.

Mikoto's mouth turned down even further, her eyes reddening as if she were about to cry.

Seeing this, Genichi hurriedly stepped forward and squeezed Mikoto's small hand. "I told you, different worlds mean different people. Don't take it to heart. Do you really think I wouldn't trust you?"

Hana added, "That's right. I've been asking around for a long time and haven't heard anything about Genichi. I'm afraid there is no such person as Chiba Genichi here."

"What is going on? How has the Hyuga Clan fallen to this state?" Toneri suddenly exclaimed, interrupting their conversation.

Hyuga Clan Compound

Inside the clan head's courtyard, Hyuga Hiashi stepped out of the house and suddenly saw a boy dressed in white with magatama patterns around his collar. He had slender, willow-leaf eyebrows and a delicate, refined face.

Most striking of all were his eyes, which lacked pupils.

Even without eyes, it felt as if he were constantly staring at him. In broad daylight, Hiashi broke into a cold sweat. One had to remember that this was the interior of the Hyuga compound; how could an outsider be here?

"Child, who are you? How did you get in here?" he asked tentatively, activating his Byakugan.

The person before him did not respond, instead dissolving into a puff of white smoke.

"Strange. I've clearly never met him, so why does he feel somewhat familiar?" Hiashi was deeply puzzled, standing frozen in place.

Toneri, having no acquaintances in the Ninja World, had headed straight for his relatives after splitting off a Shadow Clone. He hadn't paid much attention when he visited as a child, but observing closely this time, he wondered why there wasn't a single powerhouse worth taking seriously.

Toneri felt he could slaughter his way through with just any pair of Byakugan.

Genichi comforted him, "It's just that your talent is superior. Don't obsess over strength; it tends to alienate everyone's hard work."

After all, Toneri was special—born with ancestral blood and no eyes, he would later fuse with pure Byakugan to ascend to the Tenseigan. Even the later Otsutsuki Urashiki had acknowledged his status after defeating him, sealing him away on the grounds that members of the same clan should not kill one another.

Clack, clack.

With the sound of wooden sandals hitting the ground, a middle-aged man with white hair and a forehead protector inscribed with the character for "Oil" hanging askew walked in. "Yo-shi, yo-shi—isn't this just in time for the fun? Don't be shy, young people!

My face might be a bit weathered, but my name carries plenty of weight!

Listen closely (he suddenly tapped the table, shaking up a few specks of dust): I am the most dashing of the legendary Sannin, the handsome man who can make even crying children stop in their tracks—Jiraiya is the name."

"Wait for me, you damn Pervy Sage!" Naruto also rushed into the Ichiraku Ramen shop, panting as he said, "Big Brother Genichi, you like Ichiraku Ramen too?"

Genichi and his group hadn't made a special effort to hide their identities after entering Konoha, so it was only a matter of time before someone came knocking.

No one paid any attention to Jiraiya; Mikoto was still feeling upset while Hana comforted her, and Toneri had no interest in these "natives."

"Naruto, what do you want to eat? My treat," Genichi offered generously.

Naruto jumped up in joy. "Yo-shi, that's awesome, Big Brother Genichi! I want a super-large bowl of Tonkotsu Ramen. Please, Uncle Teuchi!"

Having heard of Naruto's bizarre experiences, especially the news that people from other worlds were coming to Konoha, Jiraiya had rushed over immediately to gather intelligence.

A blind kid has been added to the mix, but whatever, ignore him for now. Assuming the three of them are Konoha ninja, the one in white should be a Hyuga, and the one in black is an Uchiha? Why does she look a bit like Mikoto Uchiha? The leader, this Chiba Genichi, I have no impression of him, so why does he feel familiar? How strange.

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

"Oh? You kid has heard of the Toad Sage's reputation?" Jiraiya intended to close the distance before slowly fishing for information.

Genichi said slowly, "Heh, I once advised Minato that you seemed like the kind of teacher who would take his students to peek into the women's bathhouse."

"That's right, that's right! The Pervy Sage is exactly that kind of person!" Hearing this, Naruto nodded repeatedly from the side.

Ignoring Naruto, Jiraiya's pupils constricted. He hadn't expected to hear Minato's name here and couldn't help but ask, "Minato is still alive?"

"How could he be dead? With his mastery of 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 would change the Ninja World, but fate had played a cruel joke on him; when Minato needed him most, he hadn't been in the village.

Sighing softly, Jiraiya said slowly, "The enemy released the Nine-Tails inside the village, and Minato had to sacrifice himself to seal the Tailed Beast."

Naruto sensed the atmosphere turning heavy and stood up to cheer everyone on. "Haha, I'm going to become the greatest Hokage! If it were me, I wouldn't just beat the enemy to a pulp, I'd protect the village without a scratch!"

Genichi delivered a hand-chop to the top of Naruto's head. "Still laughing? The Fourth Hokage who died is your father."

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

"Is it that hard to guess? This yellow hair, his name is Naruto, and the Nine-Tails inside him," Genichi's tone was calm, a stark contrast to the excitement of the other two.

"How could this be?" Seeing that Jiraiya-sensei didn't refute, Naruto knew this was the truth. "If the Fourth Hokage was my father, if I was 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."

With things having come to this, Jiraiya could only nod slowly, no longer hiding the truth. He chose to believe Naruto. "This is true, you are the child of the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze."

Under Naruto's disbelieving gaze, Genichi looked into his eyes with a hint of depth and said lightly, "So, Naruto, do you want to meet your parents?"