"Huff…"
Hiruzen blew out a ring of smoke and looked at the shameless duo of Jiraiya and Naruto standing before him. The wrinkles on his face were tight enough to squeeze a mosquito to death.
Ten minutes ago, he learned from the Anbu that these two troublemakers had gone to the cemetery to steal offerings left for the fallen heroes of Konoha Village.
When he first heard the news, Hiruzen nearly passed out on the spot, almost joining his old friend Danzo in the hospital.
What kind of place was the cemetery?
It was the resting place of heroes who had died for the village!
And what did these two do?
Not only did they go to the cemetery and cause a ruckus, but they also went so far as to steal the deceased's offerings.
What if the families of the deceased found out about this?
Moreover, many of those buried there were entire families who had perished in battle.
When he thought of those families who died in the war and had their peace disturbed by these two bastards, Hiruzen's blood pressure soared rapidly.
Naruto was one thing, as he has been causing trouble in the village for a long time anyway...
But Jiraiya, this guy is already an old man and yet he could still do such a thing, which really infuriated Hiruzen.
"What the hell were you two thinking!?"
"How could you act so disrespectfully in a place where Konoha's heroes rest!?"
Facing Hiruzen's questioning, Jiraiya turned his head to the right, while Naruto turned his head to the left. Both of them had an attitude of 'you can say whatever you want, but I just don't intend to admit my mistake'.
Seeing this, Hiruzen tremblingly took out the medicines from the drawer, swallowed them quickly, and took a few deep breaths to avoid passing out from sheer rage.
"Those were offerings!"
"What kind of twisted logic led you to do this!?"
Hiruzen spoke in a hoarse voice, sounding like a man on the verge of collapse.
Naruto picked his nose, his eyes wandering, and tried to argue before the white-haired old man could.
"Offerings are merely tokens of remembrance for the departed..."
"Rather than letting them rot here, it's better for a young man like me to enjoy them."
"That's what this old man taught me, anyway."
Naruto threw Jiraiya under the bus without hesitation, and Hiruzen immediately glared at Jiraiya upon hearing this.
Even the thick-skinned Jiraiya felt a little embarrassed when he heard these familiar words.
He turned and glared at Naruto.
"Brat!"
"When the hell did I ever teach you that?!?"
"Old man, don't listen to this kid's nonsense!"
"I've been framed!"
Jiraiya dodged the blame thrown by the yellow-haired delinquent like a Shinobi dodging a flying kunai.
"Oh?"
"White-haired old man, just admit it… you did say that to me."
"You brat!!"
Naruto's words instantly aroused Jiraiya's anger.
The atmosphere in the room grew explosive, and it looked like the two were about to throw hands right in the Hokage's Office.
Bang…
Hiruzen slammed his desk angrily, then stood up and roared at the two of them.
"ENOUGH!"
"Do you two even respect me as Hokage anymore?!"
"If you want to fight, get the hell out of my office!"
The two, who were on the verge of a fight, shrank their necks at the same time when they saw Hiruzen so furious.
The two looked at each other, snorted coldly, and turned away from each other.
Jiraiya felt that this kid and he couldn't get along at all.
If it weren't for Hiruzen's presence, he would've taught this brat a lesson on respecting his elders.
After a long silence, Hiruzen rubbed his temples and sighed.
He then looked at Naruto and said, "If you continue to cause trouble like this..."
"Forget about the Scroll of Seals!"
Hiruzen tried to use this method to keep Naruto quiet for a while.
However, Naruto just glanced at Hiruzen and looked completely unfazed.
After all…
After the Chunin Exams, Hiruzen won't be around anymore. Whether the new Hokage will recognize him or not is another matter.
However, considering that Hiruzen didn't have much time left, Naruto decided to humor him with a half-hearted nod.
'Fine...'
'Just let the old man Sandaime have a few peaceful days.'
"And you!"
"Jiraiya, didn't I ask the Anbu to notify you to come see me?"
"Why are you still taking so long to come to the Hokage Tower?!"
"If you hadn't been caught by the Anbu today, would you have avoided an old man like me forever?"
Hiruzen turned around and started attacking Jiraiya.
He had been waiting eagerly for Jiraiya's return.
And now that the man finally came back...
What did he do?!
He goes to a brothel to drink every day, or peeks into the women's bathhouse.
Every time the Anbu came looking for him, he'd just wave them off, saying he was too busy and would visit the Hokage Tower when he had time.
"Ahahahaha..."
"It's just... been a while since I've been back, you know?"
"I really want to see how the village has changed over the years."
Jiraiya scratched his head and laughed sheepishly, then suddenly remembered that Kakashi had come to see him in the morning.
He said that the Hokage wanted him to teach Minato's son.
He felt that if he took the initiative to talk to Hiruzen about this matter now, perhaps he could help him calm down.
"Oh, that's right."
"I heard that you called me back to the village this time so that I could teach Minato's kid, right?"
Jiraiya's expression suddenly became serious when he said this.
'Minato...'
'So many years have passed...'
'His kid must be around the same age as that annoying brat next to me.'
Just as Jiraiya expected, the expression on Hiruzen's face eased a lot when he heard these words.
He didn't say anything, but instead looked at Naruto, who was standing there in a daze.
At this moment, an awkward silence fell over the room.
Jiraiya looked at the yellow-haired brat beside him, then at the stern-faced Hiruzen, and opened his mouth with difficulty and spoke, "Old man..."
"Don't… don't tell me…"
When Jiraiya saw that Hiruzen's eyes were always on that brat, he began to feel something was wrong.
'Impossible!'
'How could Minato's kid be this annoying brat in front of me?'
'Absolutely no way!'
"Yeah."
"That's him. Minato's son, Uzumaki Naruto."
Jiraiya: "!!!"
Upon hearing the devastating truth, Jiraiya was petrified on the spot.
After a few seconds, he finally accepted the fact. Rubbing his face, Jiraiya walked towards the door as if nothing had happened.
"Jiraiya!"
"If you dare to walk out of this office today..."
"Don't ever come back!"
Hiruzen was beyond furious. He had been waiting for years for Jiraiya to return to the village and discipline Naruto.
And now, after finally getting him here, Jiraiya was trying to bail without a word!
How could he accept such a result!
The entire Konoha Village cannot accept it!
Jiraiya turned his head and said with a look of surprise, "Wait, really? There's such a good thing?"
Hiruzen was so angry that he slumped down on his chair, his hands tightly clenched on his chest, and his breathing ragged like a broken bellows.
"Old man!"
"Calm down first!"
Jiraiya knew when things had gone too far. He immediately rushed forward to check on Hiruzen.
On the other hand, Naruto is quite experienced.
He has watched Hiruzen take medicines for so many years that he already knows where the old man put the medicines.
Naruto skillfully opened the drawer, poured a handful of pills from the medicine bottle, and shoved them toward Hiruzen's mouth.
Hiruzen was happy to see that the child cared about him.
But…
'Are you grabbing a handful of medicine because you're worried that I won't die fast enough?!'
Hiruzen glanced at Naruto, who looked well-behaved, pushed the boy's hand away, took two pills from him and swallowed them.
But even after taking the medicines, he still looked like he was about to die.
With a trembling hand, he grabbed Jiraiya's sleeve like a dying man passing on his final wish.
"Jiraiya… "
"I don't have many years left…"
"I just want you to take Naruto as your student so that you can take care of him..."
Jiraiya looked at Naruto, then at the frail Hiruzen, and wrestled with his conscience for three minutes before nodding and agreeing.
"Fine."
"I promise you that..."
When Hiruzen heard this, his eyes suddenly lit up. He shot up from his chair and grabbed Jiraiya's collar.
"NO TAKE-BACKS!!!"
Jiraiya's face twitched, and he felt like he had been fooled by this old man.
In order to ease Jiraiya's doubts, Hiruzen even uttered the biggest lie of his life.
"Don't worry, Jiraiya..."
"Naruto is a very... well behaved kid."
Naruto was shocked.
Even he felt secondhand embarrassment after hearing that.
'How on earth did old man Sandaime have the nerve to say such things?!'
However, when Naruto saw Hiruzen glaring at him, he immediately caught on.
He scratched his head and showed a dutiful, innocent smile.
[Perfectly obedient child.jpg]