Only Tobirama was left, shaking his head helplessly. When would his older brother ever give him a break?
It was about an hour later that the villagers' enthusiasm gradually died down, and Torifu also subtly urged them to disperse. The villagers then reluctantly left Torifu's doorstep and returned to their homes. That short hour felt like a year to Torifu; the questions the villagers asked were almost identical, yet each person had to ask them all over again, leaving Torifu utterly exhausted.
Seeing that the villagers had left, Torifu quickly activated his Chakra Concealment Technique, planning to wander around the village a bit, and then go home to sleep. It seemed the Ninja Academy had just let out, so Amado should be coming home soon. Indeed, after walking for a short while, he saw Amado, head down, fiddling with a small metal box in his hand. Torifu took a glance and saw that it already had some semblance of what it should be, meaning the alarm clock would be finished soon. At that time, Torifu would buy it directly and give it to Naori, as he had promised her at noon. And Sarutobi Hiruzen and the others, each of them would receive one.
He would ask Amado if he could get a discount for ordering in bulk. Even close brothers settle accounts clearly, let alone the two of them who weren't even blood brothers. One alarm clock cost eighty thousand ryo, so six people would be four hundred and eighty thousand ryo; this was no small sum. He had to get a price reduction! Torifu thought to himself that he couldn't let Amado's greedy habits grow; he would only give him twenty thousand ryo for his hard work at most! No more. Of course, this was just a joke; Torifu wasn't short on money.
He walked past Amado without being noticed. Torifu also had no intention of calling out to him; after all, they saw each other every day, so they could talk when they got home later. At the moment, Torifu just wanted to take a stroll.
As he walked, he found himself on the street where Jiraiya lived. He remembered Hatake Sakumo's house was also here. So, he continued walking forward.
When he arrived at Jiraiya's house, he found no one in the courtyard; his parents must be out on a mission again. So, he was probably at Orochimaru's house. Indeed, when he reached Orochimaru's house, he saw Jiraiya and Orochimaru seemingly practicing Ninjutsu in the courtyard. And beside them, a small white-haired boy was also training with them.
"Hey, hey, Jiraiya! You're too clumsy! Hiruzen-sensei didn't teach us like this!" The white-haired boy complained, while Jiraiya chuckled awkwardly. "Hehehe, sorry, I didn't quite remember. Let's do it again!" The white-haired boy was also somewhat speechless, but seeing Jiraiya's enthusiasm, he didn't continue to grumble.
"Hiruko, Jiraiya is just like this. You should be used to it by now."
The white-haired boy, named Hiruko, sighed. "Alright, I haven't been with you guys long enough, but I'll try my best!"
Jiraiya then wrapped an arm around Hiruko's shoulders. "Good brother! From now on, the three of us will be the strongest three ninjas in Konohagakure!"
To his surprise, Hiruko didn't fall for it at all. "Oh, please. No matter how strong you are, can you compare to Torifu-sama? He's only twelve and he single-handedly killed nine thousand enemy ninja. It's questionable whether you'll even graduate at twelve, isn't it?"
Jiraiya wasn't annoyed by this. "Hmph! Of course I know how amazing Torifu Nii-san is. After all, he even flew me around Konohagakure!"
Hiruko now looked at Jiraiya with an expression like he was looking at an idiot, feeling like Jiraiya was still living in a dream. What kind of person was Torifu-sama? He was Konohagakure's only twelve-year-old elite Jonin! And he was also the Shodaime Hokage's disciple! How could a commoner meet him whenever they pleased? "He flew you around?" Why don't you just say he took you to heaven?
Seeing Hiruko's disbelief, Jiraiya said indignantly, "Hmph! Don't look down on me! If you don't believe me, ask Orochimaru!"
Hiruko shifted his gaze to Orochimaru's face, with a questioning look. Orochimaru then nodded. "That's right, Torifu Nii-san flew me too."
Hiruko was utterly heartbroken now. He had always looked up to Torifu as an idol, but he never expected that his two companions were already on such brotherly terms with him! Calling him "Torifu Nii-san" so sweetly. At this moment, he had no interest in training at all; he just wanted to quietly sulk in a corner by himself.
Torifu watched from outside for a long time, and he roughly figured out what was going on. It seemed that this Hiruko had replaced Tsunade's position and become Sarutobi Hiruzen's disciple along with Orochimaru and Jiraiya. He wondered why Hiruko kept calling him "Hiruzen-sensei," as Torifu knew Hiruzen's job all too well. The Hokage's guard; supposedly not busy but busy as hell, supposedly busy but idle as hell. It was always a very contradictory job, and he didn't expect Hiruzen to have time to take on disciples now.
However, it was probably normal to think about it. Sarutobi Hiruzen was not yet Hokage, and his biggest identity was being Senju Tobirama's disciple. However, with this identity, he couldn't take the Senju Clan's princess as a disciple. After all, if Hashirama personally taught her, she would surely have limitless prospects. And his recently proposed three-man squad policy, meant to set an example, included Hiruko.
Hiruko's talent was also very good, just not as outstanding as Jiraiya and Orochimaru. This led to him being ostracized in the original world due to his somewhat introverted personality, with Orochimaru being his only true friend. However, he was unwilling to be mediocre his entire life and secretly researched forbidden jutsu, leading to Hiruzen ordering his assassination. In the end, he could only defect from the village, becoming a rogue ninja. The fact that he single-handedly gained the abilities of four Kekkei Genkai shows that Hiruko was indeed a genius. He was only killed because his Kekkei Genkai, Dark Release (Meiton), couldn't absorb Naruto's Rasenshuriken.
Torifu looked at the three children in the courtyard. In the original world, their backgrounds were all tragic, and their endings were all unsatisfactory. But in this world, their families were happy and harmonious, and they all received their teachers' favor, so they would surely have different outcomes.
"Hey! Can you guys let me meet Torifu-sama next time? He's my idol!"
To his surprise, Jiraiya suddenly chuckled. "I can only say you don't have fate with Torifu Nii-san."
Just as Hiruko was about to get angry, Jiraiya continued, "When we were dismissed from school, Torifu Nii-san just showed up at his doorstep, so I guess it's already over now."
"Who said that!"
"Auntie Zhang. I ran into her on the way home just now."
Hiruko felt his life turn bleak at this moment; he had missed such an important moment! And who knew when he would get another chance to see him!
Jiraiya patted his shoulder, comforting him. "It's no big deal. Torifu Nii-san is in the village; you'll definitely run into him." He added, "Besides, our sensei and Torifu Nii-san are good friends; you can ask him for help."