Tsunade Returns to the Village to Get Money

Her golden hair fluttered in the wind, giving her an imposing and heroic appearance.

Hiruzen Sarutobi walked forward, trembling, looking frail. "Cough... Tsunade, you're back too..."

"Tch, old man, what are you doing here!" Unfortunately, his act went unnoticed. Tsunade even took two steps back in disgust... her meaning was clear: don't try to scam me!

"Hey, you over there... oh, it's Fugaku..." Tsunade's normally unrestrained voice lowered a few decibels, her emotions slightly reined in. "Is Jiraiya testing a brat from the Uchiha clan today?"

Uchiha Fugaku's expression was a little unnatural. "He's my son..."

Perhaps it was due to the natural rivalry between the Senju and Uchiha clans, or perhaps it reminded him of his wife's peer, that little brat who always followed behind him and Mikoto...

"In the blink of an eye, your son with Mikoto has grown up..." After a few sighs, Tsunade turned and saw the panting young girl behind her. "Shizune, go see if that idiot is dead yet?"

"...Yes, Lady Tsunade!"

This meeting was purely coincidental. Tsunade had returned to Konoha to collect money... her travel expenses had become a bit problematic after traveling for so long, and she also had some personal matters to attend to.

As soon as she arrived in the village, she heard about Orochimaru's defection and Jiraiya's return to Konoha. She rushed to the Hokage's office building to get information on Jiraiya... she knew exactly what that fool was thinking...

As their teammate, she understood their personalities. Both Jiraiya and Orochimaru were stubborn individuals. If they got into an argument... especially the defection incident, it was something Jiraiya absolutely could not tolerate!

A confrontation was inevitable...

Jiraiya would surely be afraid of killing the other party, while Orochimaru would definitely be eager to kill him... What else could be expected? This idiot would likely meet his end at Orochimaru's hands, so she had to rush over to stop him.

Meanwhile.

Jiraiya sat up, holding his forehead. He looked at Itachi, who was standing there blankly, and his tone immediately became displeased. "Brat, don't you know to come and help me?"

"Sorry..."

Jiraiya noticed the crow that suddenly appeared on his shoulder and casually remarked, "Hey? You're keeping a Ninja Crow... these kinds of summoning beasts aren't very useful... why do I feel a bit cold..."

"Caw!"

Beiyuan suppressed the urge to condense a Tailed Beast Bomb. This person had problematic thoughts...

"Jiraiya-sama, he is my friend..."

"You'll have to call me 'Teacher' from now on..."

"Yes!"

Seeing the little boy's obedient demeanor, Jiraiya felt as if he could see the shadow of another golden-haired youth through him. He whispered in Itachi's ear, "That question I asked you earlier..."

Shizune stood before them, holding a small pink pig, and asked worriedly, "Jiraiya-sama, are you alright?"

"Ha, it's Shizune!" The white-haired old man glanced at the golden-haired woman standing in the distance, chatting with Fugaku, and gritted his teeth. "Tsunade punched me, what do you think, how could I be alright!"

"...Is... is there a life-threatening danger?" The young girl asked timidly. She was only fifteen, and her medical ninjutsu wasn't exactly superb, and as for Tsunade...

"Even if there is, it's not something a washboard can heal!"

"Hmph!"

Uchiha Itachi could only watch his new teacher clutching his foot and crying out in pain. He remembered his father's other assessment: personality, bad, extremely bad...

After the assessment, everyone present had matters to attend to, more or less.

The Third Hokage was still very busy... and his two disciples didn't seem inclined to be filial. They had a lot to discuss, so he had to go back to work himself.

Uchiha Fugaku took Itachi to register as a ninja and receive his forehead protector and other items.

After watching them leave, Tsunade asked, "You took that Uchiha brat as a disciple?"

"The old man couldn't find anyone suitable... and that child doesn't have the dark side of the Sharingan. He seems to live more openly and upright than anyone else..."

"That's because the disciples you took in the past were all orphans with war trauma," Tsunade retorted with a glare.

Hearing Tsunade's words, Jiraiya felt a bit strange. It was truly unaccustomed to have children from happy families with living parents as disciples... he even felt a bit envious himself.

"It's all because of peace..."

If they knew that Uchiha Itachi had killed people on the battlefield of the ninja wars at the age of three... what kind of expressions would appear on their faces? Would they be surprised by his terrifying mindset?

The Fugaku family was lively that evening.

Uchiha Fugaku, for the first time in a long time, took out a small bottle of sake. He rarely drank at home after getting married, a habit he had maintained for many years.

"I didn't expect Itachi to become a ninja so quickly!" Uchiha Mikoto had specially prepared a table full of Itachi's favorite foods. "He graduated directly after only one day of school..."

Fugaku's face was flushed. "Hahaha... he truly is my son!"

The old father's alcohol tolerance... seemed a bit poor!

"Actually, it's still a bit of a shame... after all, the school teaches a lot of ninja knowledge..."

"Itachi! Don't regret that, it's useless!" Fugaku knocked on the table, emphasizing, "Jiraiya-senpai is an excellent ninja. There isn't a ninja in the entire ninja world more outstanding than him..."

After graduating from the Ninja Academy, Fugaku had always looked up to the achievements of the Konoha Sannin. In two Ninja World Wars and numerous S-rank missions, there was almost nothing that could stump Jiraiya.

In the entire ninja world, Jiraiya was undoubtedly the most highly regarded ninja... apart from his criticized perverted personality...

Most importantly, Jiraiya had a great influence on the Hokage. He was the kind of person who could become Hokage with a mere gesture, and in fact, that was the case.

To be honest, that guy was quite hateful... From the old to the young in Konoha, who didn't hope to have their statue on the Hokage Rock? Yet Jiraiya acted as if he didn't care.

He had also trained one Hokage. 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!" Uchiha Fugaku raised his wine glass and said loudly, "From today onwards, act according to your own will! Change the Uchiha, change Konoha!"

"Fugaku-kun, you've had too much to drink..." Uchiha Mikoto revealed a wry smile, subtly turning her head to wipe away her tear stains... the pressure on him was too great...

Uchiha Itachi furrowed his brow and said, "Dad, drink a little less..."

Sasuke, standing beside them, grabbed his brother's arm and clamored noisily. He probably didn't realize how rarely he would see his brother from now on... The dining table instantly became lively.

After the three members of the family had fallen into a deep sleep, Itachi and Beiyuan stood in the courtyard, gazing at the night sky. Itachi said, "Beiyuan, what do you think of Master Jiraiya?"

"Caw..."

Meeting him was a good thing.

However, as Uchiha Itachi entered Jiraiya's tutelage, Fugaku's family could no longer prevent their student from going out to train with his teacher. And with Jiraiya's teaching methods, it was certainly impossible for him to take Itachi on low-level missions.

Uchiha Itachi had finally, in a practical sense, left the Uchiha. This was likely Hiruzen Sarutobi's objective... Uchiha Itachi would be more easily baptized by the Will of Fire.

In the future, if the Uchiha clan were to have a clan head who openly supported Konoha, that would truly be... the assimilation of the Uchiha?

If I'm not too tired tonight, I'll see if I can add another update