Novel Material, Jiraiya

"I'll hide up there with Kimimaro. Hinata and Sakura will reinforce the lockdown below. We'll catch whoever's disturbing the peace at Konoha Hospital in one fell swoop."

"Understood!"

"Dismissed!"

Everyone took their positions.

Midnight arrived.

Hinata reported to Naruto that there was nothing unusual so far.

On the second floor of Konoha Hospital, Haku changed into a nurse's uniform in the duty room. With his smooth, long hair let loose, he really did have an added air of beauty.

Karin admired him, but felt a little jealous, too.

Haku was so beautiful, he almost seemed like a girl.

"Listen!" Karin closed her eyes and sensed an inexplicable force opening a window in the corridor.

Haku was a little nervous. He didn't know if he could play the role of a nurse well, or if he'd give himself away.

"Shall we go?" Haku asked softly.

A breeze drifted through the corridor. The lights began to flicker for no reason, their glow making their eyes swim.

Karin clenched her fists and strode forward. "Let's go."

The two of them gradually approached the window. Outside, the sky was pitch-black, and thick clouds hid the moon.

A frog's song came from a nearby pond.

Frowning, Haku rested a hand on the window frame, about to close it.

A mass of white hair dropped from above. In the middle of it was a terrifying red-and-black mask, its gaping mouth lined with fangs.

The target had appeared. Move in at once.

A dense barrage of Ice Needles appeared in front of Haku and shot toward the mask.

"You're not getting away."

Naruto shouted as he launched himself from the rooftop toward the white figure like a cannonball.

His chakra pressure spread out, restricting the target's ability to use the Three Body Technique.

A voice came from beneath the mask. "Oh! Something's not right."

Naruto launched a flying kick. "Take this!"

Kimimaro dropped from above, spinning rapidly as he threw a punch aimed at the opponent's neck.

Below, Hinata and Sakura threw Shuriken at the same time, blocking off every angle.

"This is bad!" the masked man spoke again. "Let's see what the new generation of Konoha can do. I haven't been back to Konoha in a long time, and the changes have left me feeling like a stranger."

"Ninja Art: Needle Jizo."

His long white hair quickly wrapped around his whole body, turning him into a porcupine.

The Ice Needles weren't powerful enough. They struck the hard hair and shattered into ice chips one by one.

Naruto pushed Kimimaro away in midair. "The hair's hard. Don't engage him head-on. Support from a distance."

Kimimaro landed first. "Shikotsumyaku: Bone Chain."

Kimimaro pressed his fingers together and slowly pulled them apart. A bone chain as long as his arm formed, then spun and shot forward, aiming to bind the porcupine.

The hair pierced Naruto's sole, but he still managed to kick the porcupine ball to the planned spot.

"Perfectly calculated."

The Bone Chain bound the porcupine. Kimimaro and Naruto exchanged a smile.

They'd caught the troublemaker.

The masked man's hair returned to normal. He propped himself up with his arms. "Oh, I didn't expect you to be descended from the Kaguya Clan. What hard bones you have!"

Karin angrily rushed toward the masked man, ready to give him a thorough beating, but Hinata stopped her in time.

"Don't hit him. He's covered in spikes. If you hurt your hands, it'll affect your work tomorrow," Hinata explained.

Karin shouted, "You're lucky. We're taking you to the teacher and letting him deal with you."

Naruto walked up to the masked man, put his fingers on the mask, and pulled it down. "I'm curious. Let's see what you really look like."

White hair, a square face, black eyes, and red marks beneath them.

"I feel like I've seen you before." Naruto studied him.

Jiraiya studied Naruto in turn. "They're all willing to listen to you? Are you the strongest among them?"

Naruto couldn't remember where he'd seen Jiraiya before. "They trust me because I'm the most reliable. What you did seriously endangered the nurses at Konoha Hospital. Confess and you'll be treated leniently. Why did you go around scaring people?"

Jiraiya lowered his head, his eyes full of regret and apology. "I'm a writer, and I'm working on a horror novel. I need to describe the expressions and behavior of frightened nurses in a hospital. I got so carried away writing that I did something this foolish."

"What a weirdo," Sakura quipped.

The six of them surrounded Jiraiya. Kakashi, who'd been reading a novel, had only just walked over. A leaf landed on his hair and slid down, making him look a little ridiculous.

"Kakashi-sensei, we caught him!"

Sakura immediately reported how everyone had worked together to catch the culprit.

They'd all done a good job!

When Kakashi saw Jiraiya, he stopped in his tracks and prepared to turn around and sneak off.

Why was it him? I can't handle this. I'll have to go find the Third Hokage.

Whoosh!

Sakura couldn't stop Kakashi in time.

As everyone watched, Kakashi ran off at top speed.

From Kakashi's reaction, Naruto realized the troublemaker was probably someone of high standing in Konoha.

"Even Kakashi-sensei is avoiding him. I'm afraid this will end up being quietly swept under the rug. How about we take him to apologize to the nurses he scared, and make him sign an agreement to pay compensation?"

Naruto explained to the others. This arrangement could ease the nurses' emotional distress.

"Let's escort him over."

The six of them marched in high spirits, satisfied that they'd upheld justice.

Jiraiya had indeed been looking for a chance to apologize, so he went along with it and made his apologies.

Kushina Uzumaki and Minato Namikaze arrived at Konoha Hospital at the same time.

When the two saw Jiraiya, their hearts filled with complicated feelings. They didn't even know where to begin.

Jiraiya said warmly, "Minato, Kushina, you've both grown up so well. I'm really happy for you."

"Back then, Teacher Sarutobi recommended me for Hokage. I was born free-spirited and couldn't be tied down, so I recommended Minato instead. What do you call that? Passing it down from generation to generation."

Kushina said helplessly, "The older he gets, the more he acts like a child. Minato, you need to make Jiraiya-sensei reflect on himself."

Minato gently took Kushina's hand. "Jiraiya-sensei was very sincere when he admitted his mistake. The matter at Konoha Hospital has been resolved smoothly, so let's not make it any bigger."

They still needed to protect the Konoha Sannin's reputation.

"Naruto, come here." Kushina beckoned.

Naruto walked over to Kushina. "Mom, you should be resting at this hour."

"What happened to your shoe?" Kushina asked.

Naruto lifted his foot. No wonder it felt cold beneath him. The sole had been slashed through and was completely full of holes. "I forgot to put a steel plate in the sole. I just fought Jiraiya-sensei, and his hair was like steel needles. It ruined my shoe in no time."

Minato smiled. "Jiraiya-sensei, Naruto doesn't know his own strength. He didn't hurt you, did he? You're not young anymore. It takes a hundred days to recover from an injury to the bones or muscles."

Jiraiya grumbled inwardly, So the father and son are playing good cop and bad cop now? You're blaming me for fighting Naruto just now. If I hadn't defended myself, your boy's kick really could've broken my bones.

Everyone at Konoha Hospital had cleared things up. Only Kakashi, who'd left earlier, didn't know how it had ended. He was still lost in the moving world of his novel.