After Meihui was defeated by Ōtsutsuki Zero, Naruto grew quiet and withdrawn. Even under the influence of being Asura's reincarnation, Naruto did everything he could to restrain himself. The optimistic Naruto was gone.
Seeing Naruto like this broke Jiraiya's heart. He had tried to talk him around more than once, but Naruto's answers were almost always perfunctory.
After all, you could not tell someone to be forgiving when you had never suffered what they had.
Jiraiya found this version of Naruto somewhat hard to get used to, but he still poured his heart into teaching him, guiding him through all kinds of ninjutsu step by step. Naruto did not disappoint him, either. He picked up practically every technique as soon as he was taught it, and even mastered Sage Mode with ease.
In the blink of an eye, the agreed three years were up, and Naruto returned with Jiraiya to a place that felt both familiar and foreign.
Standing at Konoha's entrance, Naruto looked around, and once again, he could not help thinking of his older brother-Meihui.
"Big brother, I miss you."
The two gate guardians, Kotetsu Hagane and Izumo Kamizuki, could not help exclaiming when they saw Jiraiya and Naruto approaching.
"Lord Jiraiya, Naruto, you're back? Where's Meihui?"
Their words made Naruto freeze, his body trembling uncontrollably. The sight gave Jiraiya a fright.
"Ahem, Naruto, come on, let's go. I'll take you to Ichiraku Ramen. You love their ramen, don't you?"
Naruto forced himself to calm down and walked straight past Izumo Kamizuki and Kotetsu Hagane without acknowledging them, leaving just like that.
"Go eat by yourself. I'm not hungry."
With that, Naruto walked away. Seeing him like this, Jiraiya could only apologize to the two gate guardians.
After all, these were the gate guardians. With those two around,