"Uchiha Seiryu?"
The moment Obito heard that name, his expression darkened.
Back when he was still in the village, although Obito didn't fight on the Uchiha clan's front in the Mist due to the Fourth Hokage's arrangements during the Third Great Ninja War, he had still heard of this younger clan member's legend.
To say nothing of the rest, even now in the Mist, where he's stirring up trouble, the name Uchiha Seiryu is still a nightmare for the veteran Mist ninja who survived the Third Ninja War. Under that Mist-dubbed "Bloodless Blade," the sword Kiburi, countless Mist ninja fell.
But Obito never expected that this clansman, who had made such a name for himself on the battlefield, would have this kind of hidden ability.
He had already, through his manipulations, pushed the entire Uchiha clan to the brink of explosion. Yet, just because he'd taken his eyes off the village for a short while, Uchiha Seiryu had managed to unite the Uchiha's power—a reality Obito simply could not accept.
As a fellow Uchiha, he knew all too well the clan's terrifying potential. Even with normal ninja talent, the Uchiha already ranked among the top in the ninja world; let alone the Mangekyō Sharingan, which defied all logic. This was a huge unstable factor for his Eye of the Moon Plan.
So, in Obito's mind, the only good Uchiha is a dead Uchiha.
"What exactly happened in the Uchiha while I was away?" Obito took a deep breath and asked Black Zetsu beside him.
"I'll have White Zetsu fill you in on the details later. But as for Uchiha Seiryu, even White Zetsu hasn't gathered much intel."
"Even White Zetsu hasn't gotten enough information?" Obito frowned beneath his mask. After all, White Zetsu's intelligence gathering was a key reason he'd been able to stir up so much trouble in the ninja world all these years.
"Uchiha Seiryu's Lightning Release is special. There's a strange magnetic field within several meters around him. Under that interference, White Zetsu's spores can't even sprout, let alone gather intel directly." Black Zetsu explained.
Obito's exposed eye flashed with a strange light at this explanation.
"So, Obito, are you going to deal with this unstable element?" Black Zetsu slowly approached as he asked.
"To ensure the Eye of the Moon Plan's success, any unstable factor must be eliminated," Obito said coldly, then glared at Black Zetsu. "And call me Uchiha Madara."
…
After Seiryu and Kakashi returned to the village, things were peaceful for a while.
During this time, Hiruzen Sarutobi attended various public events—like shop openings and ribbon cuttings—and often brought Jiraiya with him.
Though Jiraiya was famous as one of the Sannin, he'd been away from the village for years. Most villagers only knew of him by name, not by face. Hiruzen's intention was to familiarize the villagers with Jiraiya.
Recently, tales of Jiraiya's heroics in the Second and Third Ninja Wars had begun circulating in the village again.
All this effort was to pave the way for Jiraiya, and Hiruzen spared no effort.
But after actually taking up the position of Hokage advisor, Jiraiya found things weren't going smoothly.
Though Hiruzen gave him authority over the ANBU and the jonin squads, Jiraiya discovered that aside from members of the Ino-Shika-Cho trio and the Sarutobi clan, the other ninja weren't enthusiastic about his commands.
While tasks assigned would always be completed, there was a marked difference in enthusiasm compared to when the police force requested cooperation—the latter always saw ninja scrambling to volunteer.
It was only natural—participating in police tasks earned extra pay, plus perks like group meals. Jiraiya's missions, issued by word of mouth, lacked such appeal.
What frustrated Jiraiya more was how poorly his attempts to recruit Minato's old team (like Genma Shiranui) were going.
He thought, as Minato's teacher, he should easily be able to take over his student's old team. Yet, after he approached them about promoting them to jonin, they filed for transfer to the police force that very afternoon.
Despite their close ties to Minato, it seemed that in their eyes, Kakashi, Minato's student, was preferable to Jiraiya, Minato's teacher.
After all, Minato had lifted Genma and the others up, and Kakashi had fought alongside them. But what had Jiraiya been doing? Roaming the world for book material, not even present the night the Fourth died.
And after the Fourth's death, Jiraiya never once visited Naruto, the Fourth's only child. Now he expected their allegiance?
Additionally, Jiraiya noticed that most ANBU and jonin had received favors from Seiryu or Kakashi; they spoke of them with great admiration, which worried him.
"Looks like it's time to have a good talk with Kakashi," Jiraiya thought at his desk. "And maybe check in on Naruto too."
…
While Jiraiya was troubled by things he wasn't good at, Kakashi was doing just fine.
Though officially working in the police force, his department—a special unit for detaining and investigating those with unusual status, jokingly called the "Nankaw Grand Hotel" by Seiryu—was currently only holding Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado. Kakashi's daily work was light; just a round of the interrogation rooms and checking their progress.
The Uchiha clan members assigned to help him were respectful, dragging those two elders out for a beating each time Kakashi visited—something Kakashi was more than happy to see.
It had already been confirmed, under fist and Sharingan genjutsu, that the rumors about Kakashi had been spread by those two. With this new perspective, Kakashi realized they'd played a dirty role in the incident regarding his father.
So, making the rounds to see them get beaten had become part of his daily work routine, along with reading Jiraiya's novels in his office.
At five o'clock, the clock in Kakashi's office chimed. He closed his "Make-Out Paradise" and got ready to leave.
Remembering he hadn't checked in on Naruto lately due to nightly banquets, he decided to pick up the boy from the ninja academy.
When he arrived, the students were filing out. Soon, he saw Naruto walking out, arm-in-arm with Sasuke, Shikamaru, Choji, and Kiba.
"Naruto," Kakashi waved for him to come over.
"Big Brother Kakashi?" Naruto looked surprised to see him.
After saying goodbye to his friends, Naruto ran over with his backpack.
"What brings you here? No banquet tonight?" Naruto asked.
"I got off work early, so I came to pick you up. Or do you not want me to?" Kakashi teased.
"N-no, it's not that…" Naruto stuck his tongue out, a little guilty.
Before Kakashi started caring for him, Naruto had envied classmates who were picked up by parents. After moving in, being picked up by Kakashi was the highlight of his day.
But after the initial excitement, he started seeing walking home alone as a grown-up thing, especially since every night he could eat as much ramen as he liked without Kakashi making him eat his hated green peppers. He almost wished Kakashi had banquets every night.
But Kakashi saw right through this, and said nothing—just strolled home with Naruto.
Once Naruto let his guard down, Kakashi suddenly remarked, "I heard the new Dream Soy Sauce Ramen isn't that good."
"No way! I've been eating it every day! It's great!" Naruto blurted out.
Realizing he'd said too much, he saw Kakashi's dead-fish stare.
"Naruto, haven't I been having dinner delivered for you every night? So you've just been eating ramen?" Kakashi asked.
"Sorry…" Naruto hung his head.
"Naruto, I know you love it, but only eating ramen isn't healthy. You won't grow tall." Kakashi sighed. "Alright, I'll try to come home for dinner from now on."
When they got home, they found Jiraiya at the door, holding a gift and peeking inside.
Jiraiya turned at the sound, seeing Kakashi and Naruto together.
"Kakashi, you're back." He greeted Kakashi, but his gaze lingered on Naruto's blond hair—a mirror of his father's—and his eyes flashed with emotion.
"OId Man, who are you? Are you Big Brother Kakashi's relative? You're both white-haired!" Naruto asked curiously.
"Good question!" Jiraiya, as if activating a switch, stepped back, formed a hand seal, and with a puff of smoke, summoned a giant toad wearing a necklace marked "Loyalty." Standing atop the toad, Jiraiya struck a dramatic pose.
"I am the Toad Sage of Mount Myoboku! Jiraiya has arrived!"
Naruto was stunned, finally muttering, "Amazing!"
Another puff, the toad vanished, and Jiraiya landed with a big laugh.
"Lord Jiraiya, have you eaten? Want to join us?"
Kakashi invited, knowing Jiraiya likely had other motives, but as his teacher's teacher, he was polite.
"Sure, thanks." Jiraiya smiled, handing his gift to Kakashi. "This is for you. I think you'll like it."
Kakashi's eyes lit up—it was the latest volume of "Make-Out Paradise."
"I wrote this while holed up in the police force. It might be my last book—hope you enjoy it!" Jiraiya said.
Kakashi calmly stored the book in a sealing scroll.
Jiraiya then handed a gift to Naruto. "I heard from the Third you love ramen. These are special ramen varieties I've collected from all over the ninja world."
Naruto's eyes shone—many were types he'd never seen.
Seeing Naruto pleased, Jiraiya was relieved; he hadn't known how to face Naruto, so chose to use ramen to break the ice.
Kakashi invited Jiraiya in and ordered a banquet to be delivered from the village.
After dinner, once Naruto went to bed, Kakashi sat down, poured Jiraiya a drink, and asked, "Lord Jiraiya, did you need something?"