A few days later, the personnel changes within Anbu were completed.
Following this, Sarutobi Hiruzen assigned two Anbu to follow Jiraiya.
True to his word, Jiraiya caused no further trouble.
Instead, he focused on training Naruto and teaching him various fundamental skills.
The location remained in Konoha.
Most of their training sessions took place atop the Hokage Rock.
At Danzo Shimura's direction, rumors about Jiraiya turning against Yugao Uzuki began circulating within small circles.
On top of the Hokage Rock, Jiraiya sat cross-legged, watching the people passing by below.
Behind him, Naruto was diligently practicing hand seals.
Suddenly, Naruto sensed something and sprang out from behind Jiraiya, pointing at a specific direction below.
"They're both here."
Down below, Hiroki Hyuga walked past the Hokage Rock with Hinata Hyuga and Neji Hyuga.
Jiraiya... what exactly does he want?
He eliminated Yugao from The Third's side, yet chose not to pursue her.
By waiting here, who is he targeting? Is it Hinata, or me?
With these thoughts, Hiroki entered Q-Rib Barbecue restaurant with Hinata and Neji.
The three of them sat down around a table.
Hinata and Neji sat across from Hiroki.
"I specially brought you here to celebrate, so eat as much as you like."
Upon hearing this, Neji let out a quiet chuckle and placed plenty of ingredients in front of Hinata.
"Thank you, Neji nii-san." Hinata politely yet awkwardly expressed her gratitude.
"Especially you, Neji. Getting first place in the year?"
"It's nothing really. If Hinata-sama had chosen to display her abilities, she could have easily taken first place in our year—maybe even topped the entire Academy," Neji proudly remarked.
He scoffed disdainfully, "That guy, Sasuke Uchiha, is nowhere near as strong as the young lady."
Hinata shook her head. "Father says you shouldn't rely solely on brute strength to defeat your opponent."
Back on the Hokage Rock, Jiraiya watched the three disappear from view.
"Naruto, have you mastered the Summoning Jutsu I taught you yet?"
"Master Jiraiya, it's not that fast. I'm still working on the hand seals," Naruto replied with an awkward grin while scratching his head.
"...Naruto, write your name on this scroll first."
As he spoke, Jiraiya pulled out a large contract scroll and unfurled it.
"You must use blood to write."
Naruto bit his finger and scribbled his name crookedly and shakily onto the empty space.
Above his name, the names of Jiraiya and Minato Namikaze were already clearly visible.
Satisfied, Jiraiya rolled up the scroll and placed a necklace with a small crystal ball around Naruto's neck. He said, "This is a charm I prepared for you. Take good care of it."
Naruto nodded seriously.
Looking down at the crowd below, Jiraiya narrowed his eyes and continued, "Naruto, now that you've left the Academy, why don't you go say goodbye to your classmates?"
"Master Jiraiya, surely you're not planning to make me a spy?"
"Naruto, you must overcome your fears. Otherwise, you'll always just be weak."
"That's Nine-Tails' fear, not mine."
"..."
"Then you've got even less to be afraid of. Come on."
Still carrying Naruto, Jiraiya leaped down from the Hokage Rock and nudged him persistently toward the streets.
Naruto wore a grimacing face.
Inside a barbecue restaurant.
Separated by a curtain, not far from Hiroki Hyuga and his group, several young ninja around the same age gathered together, sitting around a table.
Yuhi Kurenai, Mitarashi Anko, Kakashi Hatake, Might Guy, Hayate Gekko, Genma Shiranui, and others were all present.
Only Might Guy was eating heartily; the rest of them looked deeply troubled.
Kurenai poured herself a cup of sake and sighed, "Another person who can drink with us is gone."
Hayate's expression turned somewhat gloomy. "How could Yugao Uzuki attempt to assassinate the Hokage? That doesn't make sense at all. She had such a promising future within the Anbu. There was absolutely no need for her to do something like this."
Although he and Yugao Uzuki hadn't progressed much, he always kept close track of her situation.
Now that Yugao had become a rogue ninja, he felt their future together was extremely bleak.
"I don't believe this is true." He repeated these words continuously.
"The outcome has already been decided. Whether you believe it or not doesn't really matter anymore; she has become a rogue ninja," Kakashi replied coolly.
Mitarashi Anko rested her chin on her right palm and murmured, "Hey, did any of you hear about that rumor..."
Kakashi twitched his ear slightly and immediately interrupted her. "Watch your words carefully."
Jiraiya and Naruto walked through the door and entered.
Everyone immediately fell silent.
Jiraiya casually pulled up a chair and sat down.
Feeling the weight of his stare, Naruto forced a smile as he carefully edged toward Hiroki Hyuga's group.
Hiroki shot a glance toward the two newcomers.
What's with Jiraiya's strange behavior?
If not for how inconvenient it would be here, he'd gladly use White Zetsu spores to pluck some Nine-Tails chakra off Naruto.
He suddenly realized—was Jiraiya possibly trying to set a trap?
If they accidentally triggered the Nine-Tails chakra, then Jiraiya would have ample justification to intervene and even arrest them all.
Tch. It's seriously annoying being watched so closely by an expert like him.
As he contemplated these thoughts, Naruto had already taken cautious, small steps forward until standing directly in front of the three young ninja.
Despite feeling anxious inside, Naruto stretched his face into the widest smile possible, trying to look friendly and approachable.
"Hinata! Do you remember me? I'm the genius Uzumaki Naruto—the guy who graduated on the very first day of school!"
"Naruto, you graduated?" Hinata asked in surprise.
"Of course! Because I am an unparalleled genius!"
Flipping over the grilled meat in front of him, Hiroki said, "Ah, so you're Naruto. Why don't you sit down and join us for some barbecue?"
"No thanks, I came here to say goodbye because I'm leaving my home village pretty soon." Naruto said with an inward groan but outward cheerfulness.
"Sit!"
Naruto jumped in shock, and so did the Nine-Tails.
Hiroki softened his tone slightly. "Go ahead and sit, Naruto."
Gritting his teeth nervously, Naruto obediently took a seat, squeezing between Neji and the edge of the seat.
Inside him, the Nine-Tails grew restless.
How many people had Kaguya Otsutsuki planted her "marks" in? It felt like her agents were everywhere.
"Kid, why do you insist on squeezing into this group?" the Nine-Tails grumbled at Naruto.
Neji found himself wedged between Hinata and Naruto, left speechless.
"You can just sit across from us."
"No no no," Naruto shook his head vigorously.
"Well then you get up and let me switch places with you."
"Not that either." Naruto grabbed him by the arm to stop him.
Suddenly, a ninja rushed inside, approached Jiraiya, and whispered into his ear, "Jiraiya-sama, Hokage-sama requests your presence."
Actually, he was an Anbu agent sent by Third Hokage specifically to follow Jiraiya. To avoid causing panic, he wasn't wearing the standard Anbu attire.
"I know exactly what I'm doing," Jiraiya scowled.
"Jiraiya-sama…" the Anbu tried to persuade him through meaningful glances.
Helpless, Jiraiya could only follow him out.
"Ughh, my gut's acting up all of a sudden. Gotta run."
Seeing Jiraiya leave, Naruto spun some story and hurriedly ran out of the barbecue restaurant.
"…" Hinata and Neji looked at each other with confused expressions.
Once they'd finished eating, the three walked home together.
On their way, they happened to run into Uchiha Itachi and Uchiha Sasuke, the two brothers who were shopping for dumplings.
Hiroki silently thought back to the approximate date of the Uchiha Clan massacre.
It should be within one or two years from now.
How long exactly would Jiraiya stay in the village?
With him around, would the Uchiha even dare to rebel?
At seven p.m., Hiashi Hyuga gave Hinata and Hiroki private time alone together.
It was part of the arrangement between Hiashi and Hiroki — a special time set aside for Hinata's training.
Hiroki stood in silence, watching Hinata train. After a while, when she finally stopped, he reminded her, "Hinata, from now on, attend school normally like everyone else. Never leave the village, and definitely don't go wandering off into the middle of nowhere."
"Big Brother Hiroki, why are you suddenly saying these things?"
"There are people after us."
"Should we tell Father?" Hinata became instantly uneasy.
"It's not something I can explain easily in just a few words. Let's not tell him for now."
"Then who is trying to kill us?"
"The white-haired man who was following Naruto Uzumaki earlier."
The next day, White Zetsu Hyuga accompanied Hinata to school.
As they passed by where Naruto was training, he cheerfully greeted him first, "Morning, Naruto-kun."
"…" Naruto's face immediately froze in shock.
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