"Um, you must be Naruto Uzumaki?"
The three who heard the sound turned around and saw Jiraiya rushing over. However, Sasuke and Hinata did not speak, but waited quietly for Naruto to speak first.
Naruto calmly looked at Jiraiya before him, unsure how to treat his father's teacher.
Naruto, unsure of what to say, could only nod.
Jiraiya, seeing Naruto like this, didn't notice anything unusual about Naruto and continued introducing himself.
"Um, Naruto, you might not know me. I'm Minato, your father's teacher, and one of the Lord Jiraiya Sannin -sama. Of course, I'm also the most handsome one among them. Pretty impressive, huh?"
Watching Jiraiya's exaggerated performance, Naruto's lips twitched; he really couldn't understand what he was doing.
"Oh."
Naruto's curt reply surprised Jiraiya. Was this the right thing to do?
"What? You knew everything?"
"Well, it's not a secret."
"Besides, you're not handsome at all, you're actually quite sleazy."
Crack! It was as if something had petrified and was slowly cracking open. Oh, it was Jiraiya.
After hearing Naruto's words, he felt as if the sky had fallen. Nothing could be more heartbreaking than being outdone by his best friend.
"I don't believe you. Then tell me, which of the three of us is the most handsome?"
" Orochimaru."
"Haha, I knew it was me. Wait, Orochimaru? No, what makes him Orochimaru special? He's just a guy who spits out snakes."
But Naruto didn't want to talk to him anymore and simply left.
"Hey, wait for me!"
Jiraiya the group leave, Jiraiya hurriedly chased after them. Although he was very curious about how Naruto knew about his past, Naruto clearly didn't want to pay attention to him, which made Jiraiya feel a little helpless. He thought that kids these days were too individualistic.
Jiraiya stopped the group, which displeased Naruto. He could see his own reflection in Naruto 'Naruto calm eyes, but he couldn't read any emotion in them.
"What are you up to."
" Naruto, hey, wait for me! I want to tell you, stay away from Orochimaru, he's not a good person."
Naruto, who had already given up on paying attention to Jiraiya, stopped after hearing this. He was now curious about what Jiraiya say.
"Oh? And you? You're a good person?"
Naruto's sudden question caught Jiraiya off guard, and he hesitated before nodding.
"I guess so, but it's definitely much better than that stinky snake."
"Heh, I don't know where you get the confidence to judge others. Does it matter whether someone is good or bad? It's just a matter of different interests and different camps. What's the point of all this useless talk?"
Jiraiya hadn't expected Naruto to say something like that, but he hadn't forgotten his purpose: he had come to see how Minato's son was doing.
On his quest to find the Child of Destiny, he discovered that the Akatsuki wanted to collect the Tailed Beast. This reminded him of the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki from his village, the former Fourth Hokage, his student, and the son of Minato Namikaze.
But Jiraiya didn't know how to face Naruto, simply because he hadn't fulfilled his duty by ignoring his student's son for so many years, which was clearly unacceptable.
So he came to see Naruto today to see how Naruto would treat him.
However, it seems that Naruto has quite a few opinions about him.
"Sorry, Naruto, I'm late."
An eerie silence fell over the scene. Sasuke and Hinata stood silently to the side, watching the drama unfold, so strangely that no one uttered a word.
"Pfft, that's hilarious. What does it matter to me whether you come back or not, or how late you are? Why are you apologizing to me?"
After hearing Naruto's words, Jiraiya fell silent. He felt that things were getting worse. Yesterday, he had seen a child standing next to Orochimaru who looked familiar. After confirming that it was Minato's son, Naruto had already left.
However, since Naruto was going to the Uchiha, Jiraiya easily get in, so he could only wait outside for Naruto. After finally managing to catch him, things took an unexpected turn that spiraled out of his control.
Naruto's mocking tone silenced Jiraiya, who was once again at a loss for words.
The key issue was that he could detect resentment in Naruto's tone, which made him feel uneasy. However, he still decided to bite the bullet and explain, otherwise the consequences would be unimaginable— Naruto, Jinchūriki, had actually ended up associating with a dangerous guy like Orochimaru.
Jiraiya didn't want to see Orochimaru bring Naruto along to destroy Konoha.
"Um, Naruto, I know these past few years haven't been easy for you. I'm sorry, I've just been too busy..."
"Heh, what are you explaining to me? When you were having a good time, why didn't you think of me? Now you know to come looking for me? If I hadn't shown up yesterday, would you even remember I existed?"
Naruto's words were like sharp blades, piercing Jiraiya's heart. Mainly, some of Naruto's words were too fatal. If Jiraiya hadn't seen Naruto yesterday, he might have set off on his journey again after helping Tsunade stabilize Konoha. As for Naruto, the Jinchūriki, he would have just told Tsunade to keep a close eye on him.
But now that Naruto has revealed all of this, Jiraiya is somewhat embarrassed.
" Naruto, it's not what you think. You're Minato's child, how could I abandon you? I was just busy before. But don't worry, I will never do that again."
Naruto didn't take Jiraiya's explanation to heart; he felt it was time to give Jiraiya some juicy gossip.
"You won't anymore? Where were you before? Where were you when I was starving? Where were you when I was bullied and called a fox demon? Where were you when I was plotted against and my life was in danger?"
Naruto pointed to his abdomen.
"Here lies the Chakra left by my parents. They told me that if I was afraid, I should find a white-haired man, my father's teacher, who would definitely protect me. But where are you? I've searched for you in Konoha for so many years, all these years without any support, and I still haven't seen you."
"Do you think you've lived up to my parents' trust?"
Naruto's words exploded in Jiraiya's heart like a thunderclap. He hadn't expected that Minato and Kushina could still talk to Naruto, nor had he expected that Naruto had been looking for him for so long. How anxious and scared he must have been!
Thinking of this Jiraiya felt as if his heart was being squeezed tightly; he had let Minato and Kushina down...