Her long golden hair danced in the wind, making her look every bit the valiant heroine.
Hiruzen Sarutobi shuffled forward, trembling as though his body could barely hold up. "Cough... Tsunade, you're back too..."
"Tch, what are you doing here, old man?!" Unfortunately, no one bought his act. Tsunade even stepped back in disgust... The meaning was obvious: Don't try to scam me!
"Hey, that one over there... Oh, Fugaku..." Tsunade's wild, unrestrained voice dropped several notches as she reined in her emotions. "Is the kid Jiraiya is testing today from the Uchiha clan?"
Fugaku Uchiha's expression turned somewhat unnatural. "He's my son..."
Whether it was because of the natural opposition between the Senju and Uchiha clans, or because she had remembered her wife's former classmate—the little brat who had always followed behind him and Mikoto...
"In the blink of an eye, you and Mikoto's son have grown up too..." After sighing with emotion for a moment, Tsunade turned and spotted the panting girl behind her. "Shizune, go see whether that idiot is dead yet."
"...Yes, Lady Tsunade!"
This encounter had been entirely accidental. Tsunade had returned to Konoha to get money... She had traveled for too long, and her funds had run into a little trouble. She also had a bit of personal business to handle.
The moment she arrived in the village, she heard that Orochimaru had defected and Jiraiya had returned to Konoha. She hurriedly asked around the Hokage Building for news of Jiraiya... She knew that idiot's mindset better than anyone...
As their teammate, she understood both of their temperaments. Jiraiya and Orochimaru were both stubborn people. Once they came into conflict... especially over a defection, something Jiraiya could never tolerate!
A battle was inevitable...
Jiraiya was definitely afraid of killing him, while Orochimaru was certainly afraid he would fail to kill him... Did the outcome even need imagining? That idiot would most likely end up dying at Orochimaru's hands, so she had to come stop him.
Elsewhere.
Jiraiya sat up while holding his forehead. He looked at the stunned Itachi beside him, and his tone immediately turned displeased. "Kid, don't you know to come over and help me up?"
"Sorry..."
Jiraiya noticed the crow that had suddenly appeared on his shoulder and casually advised him, "Huh? You keep a Ninja Crow too... Those kinds of summoned beasts aren't very useful... Why does it suddenly feel a little cold..."
"Caw!"
Kitahara barely resisted the urge to form a Tailed Beast Ball. There was something wrong with this man's way of thinking...
"Lord Jiraiya, he's my friend..."
"You should call me Sensei from now on..."
"Yes!"
Seeing the little boy's obedient appearance, Jiraiya seemed to see the shadow of another blond boy through him. He lowered his voice and spoke beside Itachi's ear. "That question I asked you just now..."
Shizune stood before them with a pink piglet in her arms and asked worriedly, "Lord Jiraiya, are you all right?"
"Ha, it's Shizune!" The white-haired old man glanced at the blond woman chatting with Fugaku in the distance, then gritted his teeth. "Tsunade threw one punch at me. Tell me, how am I supposed to be all right?!"
"...Then... is your life in danger?" the young girl asked timidly. She was only fifteen, and her medical ninjutsu was far from exceptional. And as for Tsunade...
"Even if it is, it's not something a washboard can heal!"
"Hmph!"
Uchiha Itachi could only watch his newly appointed teacher clutch his foot and howl in pain... He recalled another of his father's comments: his personality was bad. Extremely bad...
After the test ended, everyone present had more or less something to do.
The Third Hokage was still busy... And his two disciples clearly had no intention of showing him any filial piety. They had plenty to discuss, so he could only return to work by himself.
Fugaku Uchiha took Itachi to register as a ninja and collect his forehead protector and the like.
After watching them leave, Tsunade asked, "You took that Uchiha kid as your disciple?"
"The old man couldn't find anyone suitable... Besides, that child doesn't have the darkness of the Sharingan in him. He seems to live more openly and honorably than anyone else..."
"That's because the disciples you took in the past were all war-orphaned children..." Tsunade rolled her eyes at him.
After hearing Tsunade's words, Jiraiya felt somewhat strange. Having a student like this, whose parents were still alive and whose family was happy, really was unfamiliar... He even felt a little envious himself.
"It's because of peace..."
If they knew that Uchiha Itachi had killed on the battlefield of the Shinobi World War at the age of three... what expressions would appear on their faces? Would they be shocked by his chillingly mature mind?
That evening, the Fugaku household was unusually lively.
Fugaku Uchiha broke precedent and took out a small bottle of sake. Since getting married, he had rarely drunk at home, and he had kept that habit for many years.
"I never expected Itachi to become a ninja so quickly!" Uchiha Mikoto had specially prepared a whole table of Itachi's favorite dishes. "He only attended school for one day before graduating directly..."
Fugaku's face was flushed red. "Hahaha... As expected of my son!"
The old father's alcohol tolerance... seemed a little lacking!
"It's still rather regrettable, though... After all, the Academy teaches a lot of ninja knowledge..."
"Itachi! Don't regret those things. They're useless!" Fugaku knocked on the table, emphasizing, "Lord Jiraiya is an outstanding ninja. There isn't even a better ninja anywhere in the entire shinobi world..."
After graduating from the Ninja Academy, Fugaku had begun looking up to the achievements of Konoha's Three Legendary Sannin. Through two Shinobi World Wars and numerous S-rank missions, there was almost nothing that could stump Jiraiya.
Throughout the shinobi world, Jiraiya was undoubtedly one of the most respected ninjas... Aside from his lecherous nature, which people often criticized...
Most importantly, Jiraiya wielded tremendous influence over the Hokage. He was probably the kind of person who could become Hokage with a mere crook of his finger, and that was indeed the case.
Honestly, this guy was quite infuriating... From the oldest to the youngest in Konoha, who did not hope to have their own statue on the Hokage Rock? Yet Jiraiya treated it as though it were nothing.
He had even trained a Hokage before. The Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato, was Jiraiya's only disciple in the village... Uchiha Itachi would become Jiraiya's second publicly acknowledged disciple.
"Itachi! My son! Congratulations on becoming a ninja!" Fugaku Uchiha raised his cup and shouted, "From today onward, act according to your own will! Change the Uchiha! Change Konoha!"
"Fugaku, you've had too much..." Uchiha Mikoto revealed a bitter smile, quietly turning aside to wipe away her tears... The pressure on him was too great...
Uchiha Itachi frowned. "Dad, drink less..."
Sasuke clung to his brother's arm beside him and babbled noisily. He probably did not know that it would become difficult for him to see his brother in the future... The dining table immediately became lively.
After the other three people in the house had fallen deeply asleep, Itachi and Kitahara stood in the courtyard, gazing up at the night sky. "Kitahara, what do you think of Sensei Jiraiya?"
"Caw..."
Meeting him was a good thing.
However, once Uchiha Itachi entered Jiraiya's tutelage, the Fugaku family would have no way to stop the student from going out to train with his teacher. And with Jiraiya's teaching methods, he definitely would not take Itachi on low-level missions.
Uchiha Itachi had finally, in the truest sense, left the Uchiha. Perhaps that was Hiruzen Sarutobi's purpose... Uchiha Itachi would be more easily immersed in the Will of Fire.
If, in the future, the Uchiha clan produced a clan head who openly supported Konoha, then that would truly mean... assimilating the Uchiha, wouldn't it?
If I'm not too tired tonight, I'll see whether I can post an extra chapter...
Before you continue