Orochimaru: It's Not That I Want to Become Hokage; Konoha Needs Me to Become Hokage! (Part 2)

Moreover, Uchiha Gin had told him this was a possibility long ago.

"Hmph. I may not be certain I can win, but if Tsunade were here, you wouldn't stand a chance against her!"

Jiraiya was a little annoyed and said bluntly.

"If the Third Hokage is still around, Tsunade won't come back."

"After all these years, haven't you figured that out about her?"

Orochimaru didn't argue. If he had to compete with Tsunade for the position of Hokage, he had no advantage and no chance of winning.

Though the Senju had disappeared from the village, the name they left behind remained a source of faith for everyone in Konoha. That was also why Sarutobi Hiruzen had been so wary of the Senju Clan back then.

Jiraiya fell silent.

After exchanging a few more words with Orochimaru, he left. He could now confirm that Orochimaru really did intend to contend for the position of Hokage. He probably wouldn't resort to force, but becoming Hokage would bring about major changes. Jiraiya couldn't tell whether those changes would be good or bad.

But the ninja education he'd received from childhood had made him believe that Konoha was already in a very good state. Compared with wandering ninja and small ninja villages, it was worlds apart—they weren't even on the same level.

Still, he thought Orochimaru's words made sense.

On the stream, two figures, one large and one small, were locked in a fierce battle.

The diminutive Sasuke repeatedly attacked Uchiha Gin, moving swiftly and nimbly as he stepped across the water's surface.

But Uchiha Gin caught each punch with his palm. Sasuke followed with a sweep of his leg, and Uchiha Gin simply hopped aside.

Sasuke did a series of backflips to put some distance between them. His small body heaved as he gasped for breath.

"I can only use this technique!"

Sasuke's gaze was resolute. He pulled three Shuriken from his pouch and threw them one after another. They arced toward Uchiha Gin from the left, right, and straight ahead, each at a different height, aiming to cut off his escape routes.

As Uchiha Gin blocked the three Shuriken with a Kunai, Sasuke finished forming the signs for the Great Fireball Technique.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"

A Great Fireball, two meters in diameter, hurtled straight toward Uchiha Gin.

Uchiha Gin infused his Kunai with magic and swung down, cleaving the fireball in two. He controlled his strength so precisely that, after splitting the fireball, the remaining force dissipated three meters in front of Sasuke without reaching him.

Sasuke's vision darkened. Seeing his attack fail left him frustrated, and he could no longer use chakra to walk on the water. The water slowly swallowed his feet.

"You used too much chakra. A two-meter-wide Great Fireball is already pretty impressive."

Just before Sasuke fell into the water, Uchiha Gin grabbed him by the collar and lifted him up like a kitten.

Sasuke had only been training for a month, but he'd already learned to walk on water and climb trees. He'd also mastered a C-rank Fire Release technique. In his spare time, he'd practiced with Shuriken and learned the basics of the Three Body Technique.

He was already at the level needed to graduate as a Konoha Genin, and yet Sasuke had only just turned four.

"But I couldn't even touch your clothes, Sensei."

Sasuke looked dejected.

Ever since Fugaku had recently started praising Itachi whenever he was home, Sasuke had wanted to earn his father's praise too. So he'd begun putting more effort into his training.

He'd just made a deal with Uchiha Gin: if he could touch any part of Uchiha Gin besides his hands, he'd get to learn an even stronger technique. A while ago, he'd also changed how he addressed him and formally taken Uchiha Gin as his teacher.

"Hey, you're not the only one improving. I train hard every day, too. If you want to pose a threat to me, you'll have to train harder than I do."

"But you did well. At your age, I wasn't as good as you."

Uchiha Gin told Sasuke the truth, then offered him a word of praise.

"Really?!"

Sasuke hadn't heard a word of what came before. But when he learned that he was better than Uchiha Gin had been at the same age, he cheered up.

"Does that make you happy?"

"Go catch a few fish for lunch."

Uchiha Gin carried Sasuke to the bank and set him down, not giving him any time to rest.

He only trained Sasuke in the mornings. Sasuke was free to do as he pleased in the afternoons, though he kept pushing himself when he got home, too. With most of his chakra spent in the morning and his body already exhausted, he'd work on his Shuriken skills instead.

Even so, it 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 petty.

A few days ago, he'd talked back once, and he'd suffered for it. Even at his young age, Sasuke had already learned how cruel the world could be.

As for Uchiha Gin, he found a suitable boulder and lay down on his side to wait for Sasuke to catch the fish. This was only a Shadow Clone. Once Sasuke had caught the fish, he'd release the clone, and his real body would come over.

His real body was still training, while another Shadow Clone worked on the basic construction of a Mystic Code, using Mithril he'd prepared in advance.

Uchiha Gin thought the Shadow Clone technique was incredibly powerful—a training cheat that could at least double one's experience. If your body could handle as much as Naruto's, you could use it as the basis for multiplying your gains ten or twenty times over.

Sasuke tied a Kunai to a length of wire and sat motionless, waiting for a fish to appear.

A figure showed up nearby. It was Naruto, focused intently on trying to catch fish by hand at the stream.

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

Kakashi was a little exasperated. He couldn't understand why Naruto kept running into Sasuke.

They couldn't reveal themselves. Though they'd caused trouble a few times, they'd never quite managed to stop Naruto, so they could only let him go on. Fortunately, Kakashi had also noticed that Uchiha Gin was almost always a Shadow Clone, so he wasn't too worried.

"Got one!"

Naruto held a fish longer than his face in his little hands, looking thrilled.

He tossed it onto the bank and went right back to fishing. He'd spent all his money and was hungry, so catching fish was his only option.

Suddenly, Kakashi felt a chill down his back. He leapt away to put some distance between himself and the presence, then turned to see Jiraiya.

"Lord Jiraiya!"

Kakashi was surprised.

"Shh!"

Jiraiya raised a finger to his lips, signaling him to be quiet. He stood behind a tree trunk, watching Naruto by the stream with a complicated expression.

Kakashi fell silent for a moment, then nodded. He knew what Jiraiya was asking.

Jiraiya's face darkened and his fists clenched, but soon his shoulders slumped.

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

Just then, both of them sensed someone approaching at high speed. Jiraiya and the Anbu squad immediately went on guard.

"It's Gin," Kakashi said.

He'd sensed Uchiha Gin's Shadow Clone disappear, so the familiar chakra signature approaching had to belong to the real Gin.

"The wielder of the Uchiha Mangekyo?"

Jiraiya furrowed his brow. Someone like that probably shouldn't be getting close to the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.

Kakashi explained the situation to Jiraiya. Once Jiraiya understood that the other man wasn't deliberately approaching Naruto, he said nothing more.

Sasuke finished catching fish and had already started a fire.

After catching two fish, Naruto spotted the smoke from the fire Sasuke had lit. Curious about who might be there, he hesitated for a while before deciding to go take a look. A child's curiosity was hard to resist.

"He's heading over."

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

"Gin has no ulterior motive, but we can't let the Jinchuriki approach someone on his own. I'll go out there."

Kakashi replied.

He prepared to disguise himself and follow.

"Let me handle it."

Jiraiya stopped Kakashi and used the Body Flicker Technique to follow Naruto.

Kakashi had no choice but to take the other three Anbu after him.

"Oh, you're the big brother who treated me to ramen last time!"

Naruto had only meant to sneak a peek. The villagers always treated him like an outcast, so he was a little wary of strangers.

But he recognized Uchiha Gin at a glance. Silver-haired, with a spiky hairstyle, he stood out in Konoha.

"The big brother who treated you to ramen was the bowl-cut guy, not me," Uchiha Gin said, shaking his head.

The person who paid for the meal deserved the credit. He wasn't about to steal that honor.

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

Recognizing someone with the same hobby made Naruto very happy. He headed straight toward Uchiha Gin and Sasuke.

"We were tired from training and happened to be here, so I had Sasuke catch some fish to fill us up!"

Sasuke gave Naruto a hostile look.

He felt like this kid was some shameless fox, latching onto them.

Naruto had long since grown thick-skinned. The villagers were hostile and cursed at him every day, so he could always put on a carefree, unbothered expression.

"Can I join you?"

Naruto had more experience dealing with people than Sasuke and didn't care about his glare at all. To him, it wasn't the least bit intimidating—pathetic, even.

He turned to ask Uchiha Gin.

"Sasuke caught these fish. If he doesn't mind, you can."

Uchiha Gin cared about his kid's feelings and didn't agree on his own. Instead, he let Naruto ask Sasuke.

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

Seeing that, Naruto looked at Sasuke with pleading eyes.

Sasuke took one look at him and couldn't help stepping back. How could this guy be so shameless?

"Fine."

Sasuke couldn't bring himself to refuse, so he agreed with a sour look.

He couldn't let Uchiha Gin lose face. The Uchiha Clan couldn't possibly be short of a couple of meals. He wouldn't let anyone look down on them.

"Hahaha! Mind if I join you too?"

Jiraiya walked over with a hearty laugh.

But Sasuke and Naruto both looked confused, as if to ask, "Who are you?"

The two children looked to Uchiha Gin first, since he was the adult.

"You two can decide."

Uchiha Gin didn't agree on their behalf. So what if he was Jiraiya? Gin had nothing to ask of him.

Jiraiya's risqué novels held no appeal for him. In his previous life, he'd read plenty of classics, so he wasn't interested in Jiraiya's books.

Naruto liked being around people, but he knew this was up to Uchiha Gin and Sasuke. Uchiha Gin didn't mind, so now it was Sasuke's turn. Naruto didn't say anything and simply looked at Sasuke.

Sasuke was pleased that Naruto knew his place.

"Fine."

He gave Jiraiya a perfunctory answer.

The guy looked flashy, like one of those street performers he'd seen in the village. Probably did acrobatics and hadn't made any money, so now he had to catch fish to eat.

As a member of the Uchiha Clan, Sasuke should be generous.

"Then I'll take you up on that!"

Jiraiya smiled, completely unaware of what Sasuke thought of him.

"Keep an eye on the fire so the fish don't burn. I'm going to catch a few more."