Want Me to Eat Dirt? No Way! [Please Bookmark and Send Flowers~]

Even the aloof Orochimaru was no longer aloof. The world had become a wondrous place.

Hikaru's mouth twitched. Grilled meat again?!

It was not that Hikaru was unwilling to pay, but he did not have much money left. Now that he had graduated, he could basically forget about subsidies from the village and clan. From now on, he could only rely on himself.

Before he started taking missions, Hikaru had no source of income.

If he treated them to grilled meat now, would that not mean he would have to go hungry for a while afterward?

"Cough, cough!! The weather is pretty nice today."

Hikaru raised his head blankly and looked at the sun in the sky, then nodded with certainty. "Yeah, the weather really is nice."

After saying that, Hikaru turned and left, leaving Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru standing there with stunned expressions.

"Uchiha Hikaru!! Stop right there!!!"

It took Tsunade and the other two a while to come to their senses. Hikaru was clearly messing with them. What nice weather? Tsunade shouted, and Hikaru immediately took off running!!

As he ran, Hikaru muttered speechlessly, "A bunch of bastards. Don't you know I'm broke right now? I have no income above and haven't started taking missions below. Are you trying to make me eat dirt for the next while? No way."

"Hikaru, why did you think of hiding it?"

Inside the grilled meat restaurant, Hikaru, Tsunade, Orochimaru, and Jiraiya sat together eating grilled meat. Tsunade and Orochimaru kept directing most of their attention toward Hikaru.

Tsunade barely touched her chopsticks, while Hikaru and Jiraiya ate quite a lot.

After all the commotion, the four of them still came to the grilled meat restaurant. However, the person treating them was a huge surprise—it was Orochimaru!!!

Hikaru was completely broke, while Jiraiya and Tsunade simply could not save money. In the end, the usually quiet Orochimaru stepped forward and offered to pay, so the four of them made their way to the grilled meat restaurant.

At that moment, Orochimaru felt that Hikaru was hiding countless secrets. He wanted to uncover every last one of them. Only then could he set his goal—surpassing Hikaru.

At this point, Orochimaru was not yet as evil and sinister as he would become in the future. He was still quite a pretty little boy!!

As for pretty, with Orochimaru's face and skin even fairer than Tsunade's, handsome did not suit him at all. Pretty was the best description.

That day's assessment had dealt Orochimaru, Tsunade, and Jiraiya a fierce blow. No one had expected the gap between themselves and Hikaru to be so great. Especially after Hikaru used the Sharingan, they had been completely defeated.

Although they had been caught off guard, could anyone else have done the same?

Would Orochimaru, Tsunade, or Jiraiya dare face three others alone?

Orochimaru might have been arrogant, but he had no desire to do something so foolish. Otherwise, he would be the unlucky one within two exchanges.

"Because I'm from the Uchiha!!!"

It was not an easy question to answer, so Hikaru could only give Tsunade a brief reply, and even then, he phrased it rather subtly. Walls had ears. Certain things absolutely could not be said carelessly in a place like a grilled meat restaurant, or they would cause major trouble.

When that time came, even with the Third Hokage protecting him, the Uchiha would still cause Hikaru plenty of trouble.

"?!!" Tsunade's eyes widened, unable to understand. Orochimaru gave her a faint look and said, "Some things are better left unsaid. Otherwise, the consequences will be severe."

Tsunade did not understand, but Orochimaru saw things more clearly than she did. Hikaru smiled and nodded, glancing at Orochimaru. Sure enough, you're the one I can least afford to let my guard down around.

However, judging by this, neither Tsunade, Orochimaru, nor Jiraiya had spread the news that Hikaru had awakened the Sharingan. Even Jiraiya, who had the biggest mouth, showed no intention of doing so.

As for that news, Hikaru could only hope that it would be best if it did not spread. If it did, he could only accept it. With the Third Hokage standing in front of him, that was his greatest support.

"Jiraiya!!!!"

A sudden shriek rang out inside the grilled meat restaurant, nearly blowing the roof off.

After Tsunade shifted her attention away from Hikaru, she discovered that all the cooked meat had gone into Jiraiya's stomach. His mouth was glistening with grease, while Orochimaru and Tsunade had barely eaten anything. Hikaru had managed to get some at least.

"Help, cough cough!!! Help!!!"

In the end, Jiraiya, who had kept hogging all the food, was taught a lesson by Tsunade. Orochimaru did not seem angry in the slightest. Food had limited appeal to him; as far as he was concerned, as long as he was not hungry, that was enough.

Hikaru, Jiraiya, and Tsunade, on the other hand, were rather fond of food.

The thing Hikaru worried about did not happen. Neither the Third Hokage nor Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru spread the news that Hikaru had awakened the Sharingan. The Anbu naturally kept their mouths shut. If they could not even manage that, they might as well be removed from the Anbu.

The news had not spread, which was exactly what Hikaru wanted. The fewer people who knew, the better.

However, Hikaru's troubles began to arrive. First, he had gained three little followers.

When I told you to train before, one of you was busy reading, one was busy sleeping and peeping at beautiful women bathing, and one was busy gambling. Now you're practically inseparable from me. Is this really necessary?

Looking at the three working hard nearby, Hikaru complained inwardly in exasperation. The three of them truly did not know how to work hard unless they were provoked.

Tsunade and Jiraiya were one thing, but Orochimaru, why were you joining in too?

Complaints aside, Hikaru still hoped the three of them could keep this up. After all, they would be in the same squad in the future. It would not be good if anyone was too weak and held the others back.

This was only a minor issue. Training alone was training, and training as four was still training. They did not interfere with one another except during sparring sessions. The real trouble was still waiting for Hikaru.

Because the four of them had applied to graduate early, unlike those in the Advanced Class, they could not simply receive their Headbands from their teacher. They had to go to the Hokage Office Building to collect them.

Hikaru brought Tsunade, Orochimaru, and Jiraiya to the Hokage Office Building and entered the Hokage's Office.

"Teacher."

"Third Elder!!" x3

"..."

Both Hikaru, who had called out "Teacher," and the Third Hokage, who was about to speak, were left speechless. Those three were far too in sync—opening their mouths and calling him Third Elder!!!