"What?!"
Tsunade's little face flushed red. She stamped her foot in annoyance. Who talked about people like that?
Standing to the side, Orochimaru merely glanced at the two of them indifferently, showing no reaction at all.
This did not seem to be the first time such a scene had happened. Only when she was around Hikaru did Tsunade show the qualities a girl should have. Normally... she was far too violent.
Even if he did not say it aloud, Orochimaru would add that line in his heart.
"Cough, cough!"
Hikaru coughed and held back his laughter, refraining from making fun of Tsunade lest she fly into a rage and challenge him to a fight. He was not afraid of her, but there was no need for it.
"But Jiraiya seems to be late today. Did he oversleep?"
Jiraiya had indeed overslept. Not only was he still snoring away at home, drooling as he slept, he was also shouting things like, "I'll definitely graduate smoothly!"
"Isn't that idiot oversleeping the most normal thing ever?"
Hikaru had very successfully shifted Tsunade's attention straight to Jiraiya.
"He should be here soon."
Hikaru replied, then said nothing more. In his opinion, Jiraiya would not be late at such an important moment.
"I wonder who our teacher will be."
With nothing else to do, Tsunade began guessing who their teacher might be.
"I don't know."
Hikaru shook his head, indicating that he had no idea. No one could guarantee that there would not be an unexpected change. What if the Third Hokage did not come personally? Who could guarantee something like that one hundred percent?
Even though Hikaru was a transmigrator and knew what would happen later, he still could not be certain.
Even if he were one hundred percent sure, he could not say it outright. Otherwise, he might get chopped into pieces. How could a child know such classified information? That would cause quite a commotion.
Jiraiya had not really overslept, had he?
As the sun slowly rose and the appointed time arrived, there was still no sign of Jiraiya. Hikaru did not even have the strength to complain.
If the teacher came late, that was the teacher's right. But you were a student, one who had not even passed the assessment yet, and you were already late. Wasn't that the same as going against the teacher?
Still, the Third Hokage probably would not care about something like this.
"Ah! I'm late!"
Inside an apartment building somewhere in Konoha, a piercing wail suddenly erupted, startling everyone nearby.
Bang! The door was smashed open. Jiraiya ran toward the academy while putting on his clothes, not even having time to close the door.
"It's over, it's over, I'm late."
He muttered to himself as he ran.
"Pant... pant..."
Jiraiya rushed into the academy, gasping for breath, and arrived at the training field. He hurriedly looked around, then saw that only Hikaru, Tsunade, and Orochimaru were there. He let out a huge sigh of relief and collapsed onto the ground.
"I'm exhausted. I thought the teacher had already arrived."
"..."
Hikaru and Orochimaru looked at Jiraiya speechlessly. To be late at such an important time, they truly admired his nerve. Had he been out stealing last night?
"Idiot! You're the only one who could be late at a time like this!"
Tsunade scolded him furiously, hating that he could not live up to expectations.
Seeing how disheveled Jiraiya looked, with messy hair and two clumps of eye gunk still hanging from it, it was obvious that he had overslept. He had rushed over in such a panic that he had not even had time to wash up.
"Well, uh, hahaha, haha..."
Jiraiya hurriedly wiped his face and scratched his head, laughing awkwardly. Though he wished he could crawl into a hole, he still tried to laugh it off and muddle through.
Thank goodness the teacher had not arrived yet. Sitting on the ground and gulping for air, Jiraiya had truly been afraid that the teacher was already there. That would have been embarrassing.
In fact, the teacher had arrived long ago. No one had noticed him, though.
Not even Hikaru could detect him.
"This child..."
In the woods beside the training field, the Third Hokage stood atop a large tree. He had arrived shortly after Hikaru and wanted to observe the children's reactions. Orochimaru was still the same as ever, without the slightest hint of nervousness.
Hikaru and Tsunade chatted from time to time. All three of them were confident that they could pass the test, so what was there to worry about?
The Third Hokage was quite satisfied by this. But soon, he was left speechless because Jiraiya had actually overslept on such an important day!
Before you continue