Naruto looked left and right.
"There's nobody else named Naruto here."
"My name really is Naruto. Naruto Uzumaki."
He stared at the white-haired man for a while, then something clicked.
"Hey, mister."
"If you're that surprised... are you looking for someone else named Uzumaki?"
Jiraiya: "..."
He coughed twice, cleared his throat, and decided to dodge the question with a proper, dignified introduction.
He hopped back a step, bit his finger, and slapped his hand against the ground.
"Summoning Technique!"
White smoke billowed up, and a huge toad as tall as a person landed solidly on the ground.
Jiraiya tossed his long hair, stepped forward with his right foot, and spread the fingers of his left hand, striking an imposing pose.
"An excellent question!"
"I am none other than the toad Spirit Immortal Su Daoist of Mount Myōboku!"
"Better known as the Toad Sage, Jiraiya! At your service!!"
The night breeze swept through the woods.
The huge toad and Naruto stared at each other.
At the edge of the woods, Hayashi watched the man and toad posing in the distance and fell silent for three seconds.
...No matter how many years passed, that entrance was still pretty baffling.
Naruto watched the entire performance without expression.
"...Toad Sage? More like Pervy Sage."
"You little brat!!" Jiraiya nearly fell off the toad's back. "How am I pervy?! Which eye of yours saw that?!"
"Both of them!"
The huge toad glanced at Jiraiya, then disappeared with a poof, returning on its own.
Another Uzumaki.
Doubts began stirring in Jiraiya's mind.
What other Uzumaki?
In his earlier letter, the old man had only said that a kid who could use Sage Mode had appeared in the village and told him to hurry back. He had never once mentioned an "Uzumaki clansman."
Besides.
*There