"Hey, Jiraiya, how are you feeling? Are you okay?"
A rather young voice sounded beside his ear, unfamiliar yet carrying a subtle hint of familiarity.
Jiraiya felt someone touch his hair. He immediately looked up, only to see a child who appeared to be five or six years old.
The child wore loose adult clothes and looked down at his hand, which Jiraiya's hair had pricked red, with an expression that suggested he was questioning his entire existence.
But the change in his expression was slight. Compared with most people, he was a little too impassive; anyone who didn't know him well might not even notice.
"You... you're...?"
Jiraiya stared, speechless. This was clearly-clearly a miniature Big Brother Leaf Dragon.
"Ah, it's me, Leaf Dragon... Maybe my soul couldn't support an adult body? Or perhaps something went wrong along the way... Anyway, this is what I looked like when I woke up."
Little Leaf Dragon straightened his badly fitting clothes, looking rather helpless.
"There are benefits, though. My bodily functions seem to have returned to a childhood state, and all my lingering injuries have healed..."
He was examining the various readings on his body when Jiraiya pulled him into his arms and hugged him tightly before he could finish.
"Thank goodness, Big Brother Leaf Dragon. Really, thank goodness..."
Jiraiya sniffled, his hoarse voice thick with a nasal undertone.
Unused to such closeness, little Leaf Dragon awkwardly turned his face aside.
After hesitating for a moment, he put his arms around Jiraiya's neck, rubbed the back of his neck, and patted his back, soothing this sensitive, anxious adult before complaining quietly.
"Jiraiya, your hair really is prickly."
"Teacher Yilong, it's been such a very, very long time."
Dan Katō nodded in greeting to Tobirama Senju, then slipped into Uchiha Ichiro's