Goodbye, Teacher Jiraiya!

Konoha Ninja Village.

Bang, bang!

Shadow Clone Naruto opened the door and paused slightly when he saw the white-haired middle-aged man before him.

"...I thought a person living alone would leave behind some strange smells." Jiraiya poked his head inside and sniffed, looking mildly surprised.

"Come in." Naruto gestured for him to enter.

After all, he was about to leave the place where he had lived for seven or eight years. Since he had not dared to wander around these past few days, he had thoroughly cleaned the house inside and out.

"There's nothing to offer you." He set a cup of plain water before Jiraiya.

"Want to go out for a walk?" Jiraiya took a sip and suddenly asked.

"I can go out anytime now." Naruto glanced out the window, where an ANBU stood watch.

"I can take you out."

Jiraiya looked into his eyes and spoke seriously.

"...No need, Teacher Jiraiya." Naruto gently shook his head.

"Is that so?"

Jiraiya drained the water in his cup, rose to his feet, and said, "If you change your mind before tomorrow, you can still come find me."

Naruto nodded and saw him to the door. Standing in the shadow cast by the doorway, he watched the figure outside bathed in sunlight and softly said:

"Goodbye, Teacher Jiraiya."

With that, he slowly closed the door.

Jiraiya stared at the tightly shut door, his expression unreadable.

"Has Naruto done anything unusual these past two days?" Jiraiya found one of the ANBU assigned to watch him and asked.

The ANBU naturally knew Jiraiya's identity and gently shook his head. "He's been very obedient these past two days. He's stayed in his room the whole time."

Obedient.

For some reason, hearing that word made Jiraiya feel a trace of sorrow.

"Besides that, he cleaned the house again," the ANBU continued.

Jiraiya's pupils contracted as he turned to look at the tightly closed door. This behavior...

Night fell.

A bright moon hung high in the sky, while the stars were dim.

For most people, Konoha tonight was no different from any other night.

After dinner, families sat together, chatting about the events of the day and teasing one another from time to time. It was ordinary, yet warm enough.

"Shikamaru, this is for you." Shikamaru's mother handed him a letter. "A child asked me to give it to you during the day."

"A letter? Who would write me one?" Shikamaru took it doubtfully and opened it.

"To Shikamaru:

It has been a great honor to know you. I vaguely remember that it was a cold winter, when all things withered, that we first met..."

Shikamaru's pupils shrank. He immediately skipped to the signature at the end of the letter—"Naruto Uzumaki." Thinking of Naruto's recent circumstances, his expression changed.

He hurriedly got to his feet and ran out of the room.

"Slow down!" Shikamaru's mother called after him.

On the cliff above Hokage Rock, Shadow Clone Naruto looked down at the brilliant lights below. That afternoon, he had already entrusted farewell letters to all the companions he knew.

From today onward, the old story was over, and a new chapter had begun!

"Goodbye, Konoha!"

Poof!

His figure turned into a cloud of smoke and vanished from the spot.

A town in the Land of Wind.

Inside an inn.

Naruto, lying on the bed, opened his eyes and sat up cross-legged.

"From now on, you're a Rogue Ninja. Are you prepared?" Kurama naturally understood what had happened and asked softly.

"Of course." Naruto smiled.

From the moment he had made his decision, he had already been prepared.

Looking at the empty, tidy room before him, Shikamaru let out a soft sigh. It seemed Naruto really had left.

He felt no distress or dissatisfaction over his friend's sudden departure. All he had was sincere blessing.

Because of his family, Shikamaru knew more or less about Naruto's identity as a Jinchuriki.

Now that the situation had changed so abruptly, it was better to fly far away than be imprisoned in Konoha.

He believed that with Naruto's strength, once he left Konoha, he would be like a dragon entering the sea, free to go anywhere in this vast world.

"The advisors wish to see you." An ANBU wearing a white cat mask appeared behind him.

Shikamaru seemed to have expected this. He set down the cup in his hand and followed behind the ANBU without haste.

"Go in." The ANBU pushed open the office door and gestured for him to enter.

Shikamaru walked in. Inside the fairly spacious office, three elderly people sat or stood about. He knew all three of them.

Advisors and elders Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura; elder and Root leader Shimura Danzō.

"You seem to know why we summoned you?" Utatane Koharu sat in the central armchair and studied the unflappable child before her.

"Yes." Shikamaru nodded.

"Is that so?" Thinking of his surname, Utatane Koharu nodded faintly, then asked, "Where do you think Naruto Uzumaki went after leaving?"

Shikamaru shook his head.

"How did you know Naruto Uzumaki was leaving?" she continued.

"Naruto gave me a letter. It's at my house."

Shikamaru answered truthfully. He did not think he could hide such things from these people.

In fact, he had reason to believe that before he entered this room, that letter had already fallen into the hands of these three elders.

"How long have you known Naruto Uzumaki?" Mitokado Homura, who stood by the window, asked.

"Almost eight years."

"Why do you think Naruto Uzumaki left?" Mitokado Homura asked.

"...I don't know." After a long silence, Shikamaru shook his head again.

Some things were understood by both sides without being spoken. They could say them, but he could not.

Words were not weightless. On the contrary, they carried immense weight—heavier than anything else.

"Is that so..." Mitokado Homura seemed to believe that he truly did not know. "You may leave."

Watching the door close once more, Utatane Koharu looked at her old comrades and asked, "We've asked everything we needed to ask. What do we do next?"

In truth, the best way to find Naruto Uzumaki's whereabouts was to have the Interrogation Department handle it, rather than asking foolish questions like they had just done.

Or rather, if any of Naruto's playmates had been commoners, the Interrogation Department would have taken over long ago.

But unfortunately, not a single one of the people close to Naruto was easy to deal with.

They were all children of great clans. None of them could be handled recklessly.

But it made sense. Other than those people, who else would dare ignore their orders and approach the Jinchuriki?

"That Uchiha Sasuke..." Utatane Koharu seemed wary of something. After hesitating for a moment, she finally said, "Should we increase surveillance?"

According to intelligence received not long ago, Orochimaru seemed to have designs on the last descendant of the Uchiha Clan.

"...Increase surveillance. We cannot lose the Uchiha Clan again." After a long silence, Mitokado Homura said.

"Leave the matter of the Jinchuriki to Root." Shimura Danzō, who had remained silent all this time, suddenly spoke.

Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura gave him a deep look, but said nothing more. There was no other choice.

"Root will bring back the Nine-Tails as soon as possible."

After saying that, Shimura Danzō rose to leave.

"Danzō..." Utatane Koharu suddenly called out to him. "If possible, spare Naruto Uzumaki's life..."

"After all, he is Minato's child..."

"I understand." Shimura Danzō slowly walked into the darkness.

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