Hokage, I Choose Orochimaru, Ten Years to Ascend the Moon

Furthermore, Uchiha Gin had already discussed this possibility with him.

"Hmph, although I don't have absolute certainty of victory, if Tsunade were here, you wouldn't be able to compete with her at all!"

Jiraiya felt a bit annoyed and spoke directly.

"As long as the Third Hokage is still around, it is impossible for Tsunade to return."

"After all these years, have you still not understood this point regarding Tsunade?"

Orochimaru did not refute this; if he were to compete for the position of Hokage against Tsunade, he would have no advantage or chance of winning.

Although the Senju clan had vanished from the village, the name they left behind remained the faith of all people in Konoha; this was also the reason why Sarutobi Hiruzen had been so wary of the Senju clan back then.

Jiraiya fell silent.

He exchanged a few more words with Orochimaru before leaving. He could now confirm that Orochimaru indeed intended to vie for the position of Hokage, though he likely wouldn't resort to forceful means. However, he knew that becoming Hokage would bring about significant changes, and he couldn't determine whether those changes would be for better or worse.

Nevertheless, the ninja education he had received since childhood made him feel that the current state of Konoha was already excellent; compared to those wandering ninjas and small ninja villages, it was a world of difference, not even on the same level.

However, he believed that what Orochimaru said was not wrong.

Above a stream, two figures, one large and one small, were engaged in a fierce battle.

The small Sasuke kept launching attacks at Uchiha Gin, his feet treading on the water's surface with great agility and speed.

However, every punch he threw was caught by Uchiha Gin with his palms. When Sasuke attempted a sweeping leg kick, Uchiha Gin leaped into the air and dodged it with ease.

Sasuke performed a series of backflips to put some distance between himself and Uchiha Gin, his small body panting heavily.

"I have no choice but to use this technique!"

Sasuke's eyes were resolute. He pulled three Shuriken from his ninja tool pouch and launched them in an arc toward Uchiha Gin's left, right, and front at three different heights, intending to force him into a specific retreat path.

While Uchiha Gin used a Kunai to deflect the three Shuriken, Sasuke completed the hand seals for the Great Fireball Technique.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"

A fireball two meters in diameter surged directly toward Uchiha Gin.

Uchiha Gin used a Kunai infused with magic to slash downward, splitting the fireball in two. He controlled his strength perfectly; after splitting the fireball, the remaining momentum did not reach Sasuke, dissipating three meters in front of him.

Sasuke felt a wave of darkness before his eyes. Seeing his attack fail, he felt a sense of unwillingness, and his feet, unable to maintain the chakra required to tread on water, slowly began to sink.

"Using so much chakra to release a two-meter-wide Great Fireball—that's already quite impressive."

Before Sasuke could fall into the water, Uchiha Gin grabbed him by the collar and lifted him up as if he were a kitten.

Having only started training for a month, Sasuke had already mastered treading on water and climbing trees, and had learned a C-rank Fire Style jutsu. In his spare time, he had also practiced with Shuriken and mastered the basics of the Three Body Technique.

This level of strength was already enough to graduate as a Konoha Genin, yet Sasuke was only four years old.

"But I couldn't even touch the teacher's clothes once."

Sasuke felt a bit dejected.

Ever since Fugaku had been praising Itachi at home lately, Sasuke had wanted to earn his father's praise, which made him train even harder.

He had made a bet with Uchiha Gin earlier: if he could touch any part of Uchiha Gin other than his hands, he would be rewarded with a stronger ninjutsu. It was also around that time that he changed how he addressed him, officially calling Uchiha Gin his teacher.

"Hey, it's not just you who is improving; my daily training is also very rigorous. If you want to pose a threat to me, you need to train at least as hard as I do."

"However, you did very well. At the very least, I wasn't as capable as you when I was your age."

Uchiha Gin told Sasuke the truth while offering him a word of praise.

"Really?"

Sasuke hadn't really listened to the first part, but upon hearing that he was more capable than Uchiha Gin had been at his age, he became happy.

"Does that make you happy?"

"Go catch some fish for today's lunch."

Uchiha Gin set Sasuke down on the bank, giving him no time to rest.

He was only responsible for Sasuke's training in the morning; in the afternoon, Sasuke was free to act on his own. However, Sasuke would continue to push himself even at home. If his chakra was exhausted in the morning and his body was fatigued, he would practice Shuriken.

Even so, this was better than being a wage slave; he trained for less than ten hours a day and still had time to rest.

"Okay."

Sasuke gave a silly grin. He knew his teacher was very petty.

A few days ago, he had talked back once and suffered quite a bit for it. Even at his young age, Sasuke already understood the cruelty of society.

Uchiha Gin found a suitable large rock and lay down on his side, waiting for Sasuke to catch the fish. This was merely a Shadow Clone; once Sasuke caught the fish, he would dispel the clone and the original body would arrive.

The original body was still undergoing physical training, but he had split off this Shadow Clone to work on the basic construction of a Mystic Code, using Mithril he had prepared in advance.

Uchiha Gin considered the Shadow Clone technique to be incredibly powerful—it was a cheat code for training. At the very least, it provided double the experience, and if one's body could handle it like Naruto, it could serve as a foundation for ten or twenty times the progress.

Sasuke tied a Kunai to a steel wire and stood motionless, waiting for the fish to appear.

Not far away, another figure appeared: it was Naruto, who was focused intently on trying to catch fish by the stream.

"Why do we always end up running into each other?"

Kakashi felt a headache coming on; he couldn't understand why Naruto always managed to run into Sasuke.

Furthermore, they weren't in a position to reveal themselves. Although they had caused a few disturbances, they hadn't been entirely successful, so they had no choice but to let Naruto pass. Fortunately, Kakashi had also discovered that Uchiha Gin's appearances were basically all Shadow Clone, which relieved much of the pressure.

"Caught it!"

Naruto grabbed a fish longer than his own face with his small hands, looking incredibly excited.

He tossed the fish onto the bank and continued fishing. He had run out of money and was hungry, so he had no choice but to catch his own food.

Suddenly, however, Kakashi felt a chill down his spine. He leaped backward to put some distance between himself and the source, turning around to find Jiraiya standing there.

"Lord Jiraiya!"

Kakashi was somewhat surprised.

"Shh!"

"Is that the child?"

Jiraiya held up a finger to signal for silence, standing behind a tree trunk while watching Naruto by the stream with a complex expression.

Kakashi fell silent for a moment before nodding; he naturally knew what Jiraiya was asking.

Jiraiya's face darkened and his fists clenched, but his expression immediately turned dejected.

He couldn't even imagine how Minato and Kushina had died.

Suddenly, however, both of them sensed a figure approaching rapidly, causing Jiraiya and the Anbu squad to go on full alert.

"It's Gin."

Kakashi spoke up.

He had sensed the Uchiha Gin Shadow Clone vanish, so this familiar chakra had to be Gin's true form.

"The wielder of the Uchiha Mangekyo?"

Jiraiya frowned deeply. It didn't seem appropriate for such a person to be getting close to the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.

Kakashi then explained the situation to Jiraiya. Once Jiraiya understood that the other party wasn't intentionally approaching Naruto, he didn't say anything more.

On Sasuke's side, he had finished fishing and had already started a fire.

After catching two fish, Naruto noticed the smoke from Sasuke's fire. Curious about who it might be, he hesitated for a long time before deciding to go take a look; a child's curiosity is always impossible to suppress.

"He's going over there."

Jiraiya looked at Kakashi, wanting to know how the Anbu usually handled such situations.

"Gin has no ill intentions, but we can't let the Jinchuriki approach him alone. I'll reveal myself and go over."

Kakashi said.

He then prepared to change his disguise to follow.

"Leave this to me."

Jiraiya stopped Kakashi, using a Body Flicker technique to follow behind Naruto himself.

Seeing this, Kakashi had no choice but to take the other three Anbu members and follow.

"Ah, it's the big brother who treated me to ramen last time!"

Naruto had intended to sneak a peek, as he was always ostracized by others in the village and was somewhat fearful of outsiders.

However, he recognized Uchiha Gin at a glance; after all, Uchiha Gin's silver, spiky hair was quite rare in Konoha.

"The one who treated you to ramen was the big brother with the bowl cut, not me."

Uchiha Gin shook his head and said.

The honor of being the one who treated someone to a meal could not be stolen.

"Big brother, are you guys here to catch fish to eat too?"

Finding someone he knew who shared the same hobby, Naruto asked happily, walking directly toward Uchiha Gin and Sasuke.

"We were tired from training and just happened to be here, so I'm catching fish to fill my stomach!"

Sasuke shot him a hostile look.

He felt like this kid was a shameless fox spirit trying to latch onto them.

Naruto's skin had long since thickened; being ostracized and cursed at by villagers every day, he could put on a carefree, indifferent expression at any moment.

"Can I join you guys?"

Naruto had more social experience than Sasuke and didn't care about Sasuke's glare at all. In his eyes, it had no offensive power whatsoever—it was pathetic.

At the same time, he asked Uchiha Gin.

"These fish were all caught by Sasuke. If he doesn't have an objection, then you can."

Uchiha Gin still valued his own child's feelings and didn't agree casually, instead making Naruto seek Sasuke's opinion.

"I caught two fish myself, so I won't eat yours. Can I stay with you guys?"

Seeing this, Naruto looked at Sasuke with a pitiful expression.

Sasuke couldn't help but take a step back under that gaze; how could this guy be so thick-skinned?

"Fine."

Unable to bring himself to refuse, Sasuke could only agree with a sour expression.

He felt he couldn't let Uchiha Gin lose face; after all, how could the Uchiha Clan be short of a couple of bites to eat? They couldn't be looked down upon by others.

"Hahaha, then would you mind adding one more?"

Jiraiya walked toward them with a hearty laugh.

However, Sasuke and Naruto both wore expressions of confusion, as if questioning who he was.

The two children looked at Uchiha Gin first, as he was the adult.

"It's up to you two."

Uchiha Gin didn't agree directly; so what if it was Jiraiya? He didn't need anything from him.

The lewd books he wrote held no temptation for him; in his past life, he had read through all the classics, so he had no interest in Jiraiya's books.

Naruto loved a lively crowd, but he knew that here, it depended on Uchiha Gin and Sasuke. Now that Uchiha Gin had no objections, it was up to Sasuke. He didn't speak, simply looking at Sasuke.

Sasuke was very satisfied with Naruto's self-awareness.

"Fine."

He then said perfunctorily to Jiraiya.

This guy looked flashy and gaudy, like the wandering performers he had seen in the village before. He probably performed acrobatics, hadn't made any money, and was reduced to catching fish to eat.

As a member of the Uchiha Clan, he should be more magnanimous.

"Then many thanks!"

Jiraiya smiled, completely unaware of what Sasuke was thinking about him.

"Watch the fire and don't let the fish burn; I'm going to catch a few more."