After all the disruptive work was done, evening had fallen. Jiraiya told Naruto to go rest, then headed into the kitchen.
Naruto went out onto the balcony and watched the sun sinking toward the horizon. No one knew what he was thinking.
After a long while, Jiraiya called from downstairs. "Naruto, come down and eat."
Naruto answered and quickly got up. When he reached the dining table, he was stunned by all the food laid out before him.
The table was covered with all sorts of appetizing dishes: grilled meat, roast fish, crab, curry, sushi, and more.
Seeing this, Naruto couldn't help saying, "Pervy Sage, I never knew you could cook."
"Haha, there's a lot you don't know about me," Jiraiya said with a laugh.
As an orphan, Jiraiya had lived on his own from a young age. Unlike Naruto, he could buy food as long as he had money. Over the decades, he'd learned many things, and cooking was one of them.
On top of that, he'd spent years traveling around the Shinobi World and had tasted almost every kind of food it had to offer. His cooking skills had improved tremendously as a result.
Then Jiraiya said, "Go ahead and sit down. Just think of this as payment for helping me clean."
Naruto didn't waste time replying. He sat down at once, said, "Let's eat," and quickly began wolfing down the food.
Since he was little, Naruto had eaten expired food or things like fish he'd grilled himself. The best food he'd ever had was Ichiraku Ramen, and some of the dishes on the table were things he'd never even seen before.
Seeing him, Jiraiya sighed inwardly, then laughed and began competing with Naruto for the food.
After the meal, Naruto took it upon himself to clear the table and wash the dishes. Jiraiya didn't stop him, just watched with a smile.
After washing the dishes, Naruto came over and sat beside Jiraiya. Seeing him sitting there, looking thoughtful, Naruto asked, "Pervy Sage, what are you thinking about?"
Jiraiya came out of his thoughts and looked at Naruto. "Naruto, would you like to visit your home?"
"My home? Didn't you destroy it?" Naruto asked, looking aggrieved as soon as Jiraiya brought it up.
Jiraiya coughed. "Ahem, not that one. I mean the house where your parents used to live."
"Oh, is that house still there?" Naruto asked.
Jiraiya smiled. "Of course. After I returned to Konoha, I got the key back from the Third Hokage. I put a sealing barrier around the house and told him not to touch anything inside. If you want to go, I can take you there."
"Sure. Let's go now," Naruto said, standing up.
Jiraiya led Naruto outside. Before long, they arrived at a house that had clearly been specially built.
It had been abandoned for many years, and there were no other houses nearby. After Naruto sensed that no one was around, Jiraiya quickly formed Hand Seals and released the seal.
"Come on. We can go in now," he said.
He walked up the steps and opened the door. Inside, Naruto found that the small house wasn't very big, but it was furnished warmly. Photos of Minato and Kushina hung on the walls.
After looking around the first floor, Jiraiya took Naruto upstairs. Then, with Jiraiya leading the way, they went to the study.
Naruto opened the study door and went in. Every shelf was full of books, but because no one had been inside for so long, they were covered in dust and cobwebs.
A stand sat on the desk, holding a strangely shaped Kunai.
Just then, Minato's voice sounded in Naruto's ear. "Naruto, take the Kunai on the desk with you later."
It was the first Kunai Minato had made after learning the Flying Thunder God. After using it for a while, he'd placed it there as a keepsake.
Naruto answered, then put the Kunai away and continued looking around the house.
When he opened one of the rooms, he saw it was full of baby supplies: a stroller, formula, clothes, and all kinds of toys.
He knew Minato and Kushina had prepared them for him. What a pity...
He closed the door and left, but left a Flying Thunder God Mark on it.
After looking through all the rooms, Naruto said to Jiraiya, "Pervy Sage, let's go back."
Jiraiya nodded and led Naruto outside. After putting the barrier back in place, they returned to Jiraiya's home.
At that moment, several people were carefully searching the ruins of the Land of Whirlpools. The two at the back each carried a naked, entirely white person over their shoulder.
This was Orochimaru and his group, sent by Naruto to capture White Zetsu and give them a wash.
Under Orochimaru's leadership, they quickly caught two White Zetsu and then hurried to the Land of Whirlpools.
Though it was called a country, it was really just a somewhat large island, so finding the Land of Whirlpools' clan grounds wasn't difficult.
In situations like this, secret structures were usually located at the center of the clan's territory. They soon reached the ruins of the Land of Whirlpools.
They could still make out traces left behind by the great battle. Once they arrived, they quickly split up to search.
Orochimaru soon found an entrance leading underground. He summoned two snakes and sent them inside.
After confirming there were no special mechanisms within, he led the way in. Before long, they reached a place resembling an Altar.
They searched the Altar carefully. Eventually, Shisui Uchiha activated his Sharingan and spotted a mechanism in an inconspicuous spot. He went over and pressed it.
As the mechanism was triggered, the wall in front of them gave a rumble. They looked up and saw it slowly retracting inward.
Before long, it revealed a passageway, and the lights inside had already come on. The group followed the passage in.
After turning left and right several times, they reached a place surrounded by symbols. This was where the Uzumaki Clan had truly kept its secrets.
Several bookshelves stood there, all filled with books. But instead of reading them right away, Orochimaru looked up at the masks hanging on the wall.
This was the goal of their trip—the Death God Mask. Beneath it stood a table, with a scroll made of hide resting on top.
Orochimaru quickly stepped forward, picked up the scroll, and opened it. After a long while, his hoarse voice rang out. "Kekeke, this is it. I'll soon be able to figure out how to undo the Reaper Death Seal."
Then Orochimaru sat down and began studying the scroll intently. Seeing this, Shisui Uchiha left Kimimaro and Jugo to keep watch, then led the Sound Four outside.
He had another task to complete for Naruto. After emerging from underground, he left Tayuya on guard at the entrance, then signaled the other three.
At the signal, Kidomaru and the other two spread out and headed in different directions. Shisui Uchiha then turned and left as well.
This was the other task Naruto had given him: after finding the Death God Mask, investigate the ruins of the Land of Whirlpools and see if they could serve as a base for the organization.
Now that they'd found the Death God Mask, all that remained was to let Orochimaru study it carefully. He'd left several people on guard in case there were vagrants on the island who might disturb Orochimaru.
Time passed quickly. Early the next morning, the four finished exploring and returned to their starting point.
They exchanged information, and Shisui Uchiha summed up their findings. "We haven't found any vagrants on the island, and we can confirm no one has been to the ruins of the Land of Whirlpools for many years. It's suitable for establishing the organization here."
He then assigned everyone their tasks. He sent Tayuya and Kidomaru to look for food, put Sakon on guard duty, and told Ichirobo to clear the rubble at the edge of the ruins.
They left to carry out their assigned tasks, while Shisui Uchiha went down into the underground passage and joined Orochimaru.
Orochimaru was holding the Death God Mask in one hand and reading the scroll with the other. The excited look on his face showed how well his research was going.
Seeing this, Shisui Uchiha didn't disturb him. He just stood quietly beside him and watched.
After a long while, Tayuya and Kidomaru brought over two roasted wild rabbits and some edible wild
After eating, Shisui Uchiha led them outside, while Orochimaru stayed where he was and continued his research.
Outside, Sakon and Ichirobo had already finished eating and were resting where they stood. When they saw the others come out, they both got up.
Leaving Sakon to guard the entrance, Shisui Uchiha led the others to the edge of the ruins, where they began clearing rubble.
Although the Land of Whirlpools was only an island, it had a great many buildings. They were all shinobi, but there were only a few of them, so the cleanup went slowly.
They piled all the usable materials in an empty space. Ichirobo picked up everything unusable and threw it into the sea.
While clearing the rubble, they found some tools, which helped speed up the work a little.
Meanwhile, Naruto and Jiraiya arrived at the Hyuga Clan Compound early in the morning. Hyuga Hiashi had said he wanted to hold a more formal teacher-student ceremony that day.
Jiraiya knew how the great clans did things, so he could only agree.
The Hyuga Clan was one of Konoha's most powerful families, so Hyuga Hiashi had invited many clans in Konoha, along with well-known shinobi from the village.
The ceremony was to be held at the Training Ground. All the equipment there had been removed the night before and replaced by a raised platform for the occasion. A red carpet covered the platform, with three chairs in the center, while tables and chairs had been arranged below.
By noon, all the invited guests had arrived. Hyuga Shige-kuni, the Hyuga Clan's grand elder, stepped onto the platform.
Seeing him, the guests knew the ceremony was about to begin. They stopped what they were doing and turned to look at Hyuga Shige-kuni.
Once the venue was quiet, Hyuga Shige-kuni announced in a loud voice, "I hereby declare the teacher-student ceremony open. Please, the elders, take your seats."
After he spoke, Jiraiya led Naruto and Hinata's parents onto the platform. Jiraiya sat in the chair on the left, with Naruto standing behind him. Hyuga Hiashi sat on the right, with Hinata's mother, Hyuga Chushin, beside him.
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