Reflection for Three Days

Chiyu and Kushina Uzumaki followed Jiraiya and Tsunade to the Hokage Office.

Jiraiya did not even knock. He pushed the door open and shouted, "Old man, Tsunade and I are back!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi wore a kindly smile as he took a puff from his pipe. "It's good that you're back. Good that you're back."

Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at Chiyu and Kushina Uzumaki behind Jiraiya and Tsunade in surprise. "Chiyu, Kushina, why are you here too?"

Chiyu glanced at the crystal ball on Hiruzen Sarutobi's desk.

The last time he had come to the Hokage Office, he had not seen the crystal ball. Now that it was there, it meant Hiruzen Sarutobi must have just used it to observe Konoha.

That meant Hiruzen definitely already knew what had happened.

Heh, and now he was putting on an act.

Chiyu took the initiative and said, "Lord Hokage, Lord Jiraiya and Lady Tsunade brought me here to answer for my crimes."

The moment Chiyu mentioned "answer for his crimes," Kushina Uzumaki grew anxious. "Lord Hokage, Chiyu didn't do anything wrong! He only wanted to help me!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi raised a hand. "Take it slowly. Tell me what happened first."

Chiyu, Jiraiya, and Tsunade explained the entire sequence of events.

Hiruzen Sarutobi set down his pipe. The kindly expression vanished from his face as he stared sternly at Chiyu.

Kushina Uzumaki was about to speak up for Chiyu, but Chiyu tugged her hand and stopped her.

Chiyu shook his head at Kushina Uzumaki.

Kushina Uzumaki looked at Chiyu with a conflicted expression. Her lips moved, but in the end, she said nothing.

Just as Chiyu was about to speak, Tsunade unexpectedly said, "Old man, Chiyu knows he was wrong. Besides, those two brats were at fault first, and nothing serious came of it. Let's just put this matter to rest."

Hiruzen Sarutobi stared intently at Chiyu and asked, "Chiyu, do you know what you did wrong?"

Chiyu stepped forward and answered firmly, "Lord Hokage, I don't think I did anything wrong!"

Jiraiya and Tsunade looked at Chiyu in astonishment.

They had already given him a way out, yet Chiyu refused to take it. Was he really that gutsy?

Kushina Uzumaki was panicking too. Given the situation just now, if Chiyu had simply admitted his mistake, the matter might have been over!

Hiruzen Sarutobi's presence erupted, and his voice deepened. "You don't think you did anything wrong?"

Bearing Hiruzen Sarutobi's pressure, Chiyu stubbornly said, "That's right. I don't think I did anything wrong. I once told you, Lord Hokage, that I wanted to protect Konoha..."

Before Chiyu could finish, Hiruzen Sarutobi interrupted, "But your actions have already gone against protecting Konoha!"

Chiyu argued his case. "I want to protect Konoha because I want to protect the people and things worth protecting, not people who attack their comrades!

Konoha has strict rules forbidding anyone from attacking their comrades, yet that person had already broken those rules! So I don't think what I did was wrong!

Someone who can bully the weak with his strength, a Genin who used a real Kunai against Kushina, a student who had only just enrolled—I don't think someone like that needs protecting!

In my eyes, someone like that is a cancer upon Konoha! If he could attack Kushina today, then he could attack others in the future. No one would want to entrust their back to someone like him.

Everyone calls me Two-Five-Boy, but no matter how much they cursed or humiliated me, I never once thought of attacking them, because they were comrades in my eyes. I would never attack my comrades.

I would use my actions to earn their trust and recognition. Therefore, what I did did not go against my original intention of protecting Konoha!

On the contrary, those who betray others' trust and attack their comrades are the most despicable!"

Jiraiya and Tsunade were deeply surprised by Chiyu's words.

A nine-year-old child actually possessed such awareness.

Hiruzen Sarutobi's imposing presence also faded away.

Chiyu's explanation was exceptionally persuasive.

Over the years Chiyu had spent in Konoha, he had indeed constantly suffered curses and humiliation, yet he had never truly fought back.

More importantly, Hiruzen Sarutobi had seen through the crystal ball that Chiyu had awakened the Sharingan.

Not only was Chiyu gifted in Nintaijutsu, but he had also awakened the Sharingan.

In Hiruzen Sarutobi's memory, no one from the Uchiha Clan had awakened the Sharingan at such a young age.

He had mastered an A-Rank Nintaijutsu, awakened the Sharingan at the age of nine with half the bloodline of the Uchiha Clan, and possessed utterly monstrous talent.

With such talent, he was almost certain to become one of Konoha's top ninjas in the future, a pillar of Konoha.

Moreover, Chiyu's character seemed beyond reproach.

Judging from his current behavior, Chiyu could be considered utterly loyal.

After pondering for a while, Hiruzen Sarutobi said, "Even if they did something wrong, the Konoha Military Police Force should enforce the law. You had no right to lay hands on them and administer private punishment.

"However, they were indeed at fault first, and you had only wanted to help Kushina when she was being bullied. How about this? Go home and reflect for three days. Then this matter will be over."

Kushina Uzumaki's face immediately lit up, and she promptly thanked Hiruzen Sarutobi. "Thank you, Lord Hokage!"

Chiyu also bowed. "Thank you, Lord Hokage."

In Chiyu's view, admitting fault just to put the matter behind him was a choice he would make only when there was no other option.

The best choice was to make this matter prove his loyalty to Konoha.

Even if Hiruzen Sarutobi knew he had selfish motives, so what? Everyone had selfish motives. As long as he did not touch Hiruzen Sarutobi's taboos, it was fine.

Hiruzen Sarutobi waved a hand. "All right, you can go back now."

Chiyu and Kushina Uzumaki left the Hokage Office hand in hand.

Watching their departing backs, Jiraiya sighed. "Kids these days are more monstrous than the last. He mastered such a fast Nintaijutsu and even awakened the Sharingan."

Tsunade agreed, "I heard that members of the Uchiha Clan need intense emotional stimulation to awaken their eyes. Chiyu awakened the Sharingan because Kushina was being bullied. It seems Kushina is very important to him."

Hiruzen Sarutobi gloomily took a puff from his pipe.

He had wanted Minato Namikaze, Jiraiya's future disciple, to become the bond that would make Kushina Uzumaki acknowledge Konoha. But seeing how close Chiyu and Kushina Uzumaki were, why did it feel like Minato Namikaze had no chance?

After leaving the Hokage Office, Chiyu brought Kushina Uzumaki back to his home.

Kushina Uzumaki breathed a sigh of relief. "That's great, Chiyu. As long as you stay home for three days, everything will be fine."

Chiyu had Kushina Uzumaki sit on the sofa, then said to her with a serious expression, "Kushina, I don't want to lie to you..."

Kushina Uzumaki tilted her head and looked at Chiyu in confusion, not understanding what he had lied to her about.

With Jiraiya and Tsunade, who had not returned for many years, now in the Hokage Office, Hiruzen Sarutobi would surely be catching up with them and would not use the crystal ball to spy on them.

So Chiyu candidly told Kushina Uzumaki, "Kushina, everything I said in the Hokage Office was a lie."