Garbage Station of Naruto

A few days ago, Ren had just mentioned this to Jiraiya. He hadn't expected it to be settled so quickly.

Jiraiya said, "Not bad. You were bound to enter the Ninja Academy sooner or later, and your grandfather has already agreed."

Ren was somewhat surprised. He looked at his grandfather in confusion. All this time, his grandfather had opposed him becoming a ninja—or rather, he had never supported Ren becoming one.

Yet now, he had agreed to Ren's request. It left Ren puzzled.

His grandfather said, "Since you've made up your mind, then go. I won't stop you, but I won't support you either."

With that, his grandfather turned and left.

Watching his grandfather leave, Ren muttered, "Neither stopping me nor supporting me? So everything depends on myself. Then I'll carve out a place for myself. Though I still feel traces of fear in my heart—fear of this world—none of it compares to the fear of having no strength!"

Ren's resolve grew ever firmer. In this Naruto world filled with slaughter, surviving well was difficult. But without strength, his chances of survival were zero!

Ren walked over to Jiraiya. "Let's go!"

Jiraiya chuckled. "Come with me. These may be your only peaceful days for a while. The Second Shinobi World War is growing more and more intense, and the Hidden Mist Village has dispatched quite a bit of force. Most of the village's jonin will be heading to the battlefield. In a few days, I reckon I'll have to go too, so I'll get things arranged for you before I leave!"

"War? What an unavoidable melody," Ren said quietly.

In the Naruto world, the one constant was war.

They left the courtyard and headed toward a part of the village.

This was in the center of Konoha, near the left side of Hokage Rock.

This was where the Ninja Academy stood. It was considered one of the safer places in Konoha. The Hokage's office was in front of it, while many major ninja clans lived behind it.

At that moment, Ren was looking curiously at a young boy.

When the boy appeared, Jiraiya's expression became somewhat strange. He asked, "Your sister isn't here, right?"

The boy heard that and said, "Are you looking for my sister?"

As soon as he finished speaking, a roar came from the distance. "Jiraiya... you bastard!"

Following the roar, Ren saw a familiar figure.

Who else could it be but Tsunade?

Ren said, "No way. Not long ago, Tsunade beat you so badly you couldn't even take care of yourself. Why did you go and provoke her again?"

The boy looked at Ren. "You're Ren, right? I've heard my sister mention you. But Big Brother Jiraiya is asking for it. He got taught a lesson for peeping on my sister, and after recovering, he started verbally teasing her again. He's really asking for it!"

As he spoke, the boy raised his hand. "My name is Nawaki, and Tsunade is my sister. She told me about you!"

"My name is Ren." Ren raised his hand as well and shook Nawaki's.

Ren truly hadn't expected to run into Nawaki here. In truth, his good relationship with Jiraiya was entirely due to the tangled connections between Jiraiya and Ren's family. As for Tsunade, they had only met by chance. He hadn't expected their paths to become intertwined like this.

Looking into the distance, Tsunade had already thrown a punch. Her chakra-wrapped fist was terrifyingly powerful. A casual blow could destroy the ground.

Jiraiya laughed awkwardly. "Tsunade... I was wrong, I was wrong. We'll be heading to the battlefield in a few days, so can we not fight?"

Tsunade roared, "No! Go die!"

Seeing this, Ren said, "Uh... your sister is really violent!"

Nawaki shook his head helplessly. "Sigh... she picked up those bad habits from Grandpa. Grandpa's eating, drinking, and gambling—all of it got inherited by my sister. She's been staying out all night these past few days. Apparently, she's been gambling at your family's casino!"

Ren nodded. "I've heard about it from the manager. But no matter how she wins or loses, she ends up losing to the casino. As for those IOUs, I doubt they're of much use. After all, she owes enough money to buy your entire home!"

Nawaki's mouth twitched. "Forget it, let's not worry about them. Jiraiya and my sister have this kind of friendly spar every few days. No one will die. You're heading to the Ninja Academy, right? I'll take you there. If you enroll, you'll be my junior. I'm already a third-year student!"

Ren's mouth twitched too. Why did Nawaki's words sound so wrong? Friendly sparring, and no one would die. It sounded rather strange, but he still followed Nawaki toward the Ninja Academy. As for Jiraiya, who was being brutally beaten by Tsunade, Ren wasn't going to worry about him. Besides, he couldn't do anything about it. Jiraiya had brought it on himself.

As they headed toward the Ninja Academy, Nawaki told Ren what had happened yesterday. Jiraiya had gotten drunk and, in a drunken fit, run to Tsunade's house. Though he hadn't appeared directly before Tsunade, he had stood at the entrance to her home and howled. What he howled was quite something—it was all shameless flirting. Perhaps Jiraiya really did have a natural talent for writing Icha Icha Paradise, because he had vividly described quite a few suggestive scenes.

Tsunade had flown into a rage. If several of Jiraiya's friends hadn't dragged him away in time, he would probably be lying in Ren's home recovering from his injuries right now.

After hearing that, Ren said, "If you don't court death, you won't die. I used to think Sister Tsunade hit too hard, but now it seems Jiraiya completely brought it on himself!"

Nawaki shook his head. "Don't worry... Aside from last time, when my sister had lost too much money and Jiraiya tried to peep on her, so she beat him especially badly, she usually knows her limits. With Mount Myoboku's healing, he's basically back to normal after one night. In fact, after getting beaten up so often, Jiraiya's physique has been steadily growing stronger!"

Ren shook his head. "A body built for self-abuse!"

Nawaki chuckled, then entered the Ninja Academy. "I'll take you to the principal's office and get the paperwork sorted out!"

Ren nodded and followed Nawaki toward the principal's office.

Come to think of it, it was rather amusing. The principal of the Ninja Academy was none other than the Third Hokage himself. Ever since the Second Hokage founded the Ninja Academy, he had served as its principal. After the Second Hokage passed away, the Third Hokage had succeeded him. Basically, every principal of the Ninja Academy was the Hokage.

Of course, while the Hokage served as principal, he did not personally teach. The teachers were all chunin, and they were chunin who had retired from the battlefield. Though Ren could see certain political considerations in it, it was nothing that concerned him.

Just as they entered the corridor, Nawaki stopped and motioned for Ren to keep quiet.

Kushina Uzumaki

Ninja Academy, principal's office.

The moment Ren stepped into the corridor, he saw Nawaki turn back and gesture for him not to make a sound.

Ren silently nodded and looked toward the principal's office in the direction Nawaki pointed.

A familiar figure appeared. It was the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Ren found it strange. Why was the Third Hokage here? Though he was the principal, he normally didn't come to the Ninja Academy!

He walked forward, paying no attention to Nawaki's secretive gesture. Before Hiruzen Sarutobi, he had likely been sensed the moment he entered the corridor. There was no point hiding now.

Inside the principal's office, the Third Hokage said, "I'll leave it to you. Arrange classes for these two children!"

"Third Hokage-sama... please rest assured. I will arrange for these two children to enter Class One!" a teacher said.

Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded silently. "The class does not matter, but their safety must be ensured."

Then Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at two little girls, and Ren followed his gaze to see them as well.

Ren's eyes widened, and a strange feeling welled up in his heart. What's going on? It's actually her!

Nawaki looked at Ren and said strangely, "What's wrong? Don't tell me you've taken a fancy to one of the little girls inside?"

Ren shook his head. "What are you talking about? How old am I? But it's strange—why do both of those girls have red hair?"