"That day's melancholy, getting melancholy... hm?"
On the streets of Konoha, Naruto hummed a tune from another world, a toothpick dangling from his lips.
He had just finished his daily training guidance for Sasuke and was taking a break to grab something to eat in preparation for the upcoming Chunin Exams.
Besides continuing to teach Sasuke about Haki knowledge and techniques, Naruto was also cramming by teaching him various moves he'd learned from his "drinking buddies."
With Sasuke's comprehension ability, it shouldn't be too difficult for him to understand, right?
"Excuse me, excuse me!"
After letting someone squeeze past from behind, Naruto clicked his tongue at the dense crowd on the street.
There had been too many outsiders in the village these past two days. The shop owners were too busy to discriminate against him.
This gave Naruto the opportunity to try all the notable cuisine in Konoha Village.
His final conclusion:
Except for Yakiniku Q and Ichiraku Ramen, the other shops' cooking could only be described as mediocre.
Yakiniku Q had the advantage of being all meat, which raised Teacher Uzumaki's rating slightly.
Speaking of which, Boss Teuchi's cooking skills were really impressive, managing to make even a carnivore like Naruto love it so much.
Even setting aside childhood nostalgia, Ichiraku Ramen was truly excellent in terms of taste alone.
It was good enough to serve as a proper meal even at the sea restaurant Baratie.
Considering this was the ninja world, it was truly outstanding.
In terms of personal feelings, Naruto also had more fondness for this good boss who always treated customers equally.
Thinking of this, Naruto suddenly had a somewhat fantastical idea.
He happened to have some inheritance from well-meaning people on hand. Why not invest and let Boss Teuchi open several branch stores?
I want the entire ninja world to eat Ichiraku Ramen!
Interesting...
Lost in these wild thoughts, Naruto arrived at Konoha's public bathhouse, planning to enjoy a nice hot bath.
Tomorrow would be the Chunin Exams. After this busy period, who knew when he'd be able to return to this village again.
...
Meanwhile, the great literary figure of Mount Myoboku, Jiraiya, who had been busy gathering material everywhere, had temporarily received a message from the sages.
But the Great Toad Sage's prophecy was too abstract to provide him with any real guidance.
The prophecy Jiraiya had received earlier was that a disciple he would take in the future would become the "Child of Destiny" who would bring change to the ninja world.
Out of personal feelings, he didn't want to bring those children from the Land of Rain back to Konoha and involve them in political struggles.
Nagato, who possessed those legendary eyes, would likely end up as a "weapon" if he came to Konoha.
No one knew better than Jiraiya what the higher-ups of Konoha were really like.
This was one of the reasons he was reluctant to return for years.
So much so that Jiraiya hadn't contacted them in a long time.
But he believed the three of them could grow strong in the Land of Rain. Perhaps they were already powerful figures by now.
Jiraiya was quite confident in Nagato, Yahiko, and Konan's talents.
He'd visit them when he had the chance.
For now, the priority was gathering material.
Setting aside his title as one of the Legendary Sannin, Jiraiya was also a famous bestselling author.
Besides tracking Orochimaru's trail, his return to Konoha also included the idea of revisiting old places for inspiration.
Thus, Naruto, wearing a yukata and looking up, made eye contact through the displaced roof tiles with the great literary figure Jiraiya, who had confused the men's and women's baths.
The air froze for a moment.
Jiraiya remained expressionless, naturally replacing the tile, then seized the opportunity to escape before the other party could react.
Seeing boys didn't matter to Jiraiya, but if others in the bathhouse discovered someone peeping from the roof, wouldn't it be harder for him to gather material here next time?
Moreover, this would cause destructive damage to Jiraiya's already precarious reputation.
—Though he didn't really care about that.
But Jiraiya had barely run far when Naruto's voice sounded beside him.
"'Icha Icha Violence'... strange title..."
Naruto had somehow taken the notebook Jiraiya kept at his waist for recording inspiration and was reading it with interest.
As a "pseudo-youth" with a mental age of thirty-seven and a physical age of twelve, Naruto became somewhat absorbed after seeing the book's contents.
Unlike typical youngsters who would blush at the explicit surface content, Naruto could sense the delicate descriptions of male-female emotions between the lines. This made him, who normally didn't enjoy reading, unusually reluctant to put the book down.
Icha Icha Violence... Icha Icha Violence...
Ah, the book Kakashi-sensei usually read was called "Icha Icha Paradise." Could it be by the same author?
Meanwhile, Jiraiya was startled by Naruto's ghostly speed and nearly released a jutsu.
Although he was completely relaxed in Konoha Village, as one of the Sannin, he felt he shouldn't be approached so easily.
His wariness toward Naruto immediately increased.
"Hey, hey, don't touch other people's livelihood!"
Though he said this, Jiraiya was actually prepared to act if the person in front of him had ill intentions.
But when Jiraiya saw Naruto's face clearly in the sunlight—somewhat similar to someone in his memory—he unconsciously lowered his guard.
"You... what's your name?"
"Naruto Uzumaki."
Naruto continued reading line by line, answering casually.
So it really is Minato's son... but he's grown too fast.
In Jiraiya's memory, Naruto should only be twelve this year.
But looking at Naruto's current physique...
He looked at least sixteen or seventeen.
Did I remember wrong?
Jiraiya wasn't to blame.
After "returning" to the ninja world, Naruto's twelve-year-old body had been growing rapidly every few days.
This might partly be due to his own training, but according to his analysis, it was likely related to his already-adult body from the other world.
It might be caused by the mysterious force that allowed him to travel between worlds.
The notebook's content wasn't finished, so Naruto quickly skimmed to the end and solemnly returned it to Jiraiya.
Then, under Jiraiya's somewhat stunned gaze, Naruto bowed slightly to him.
"I was truly impolite..."
"Oh, ah, it's fine, it's fine."
Jiraiya was momentarily confused, not understanding what Naruto meant.
But Naruto's next words answered his confusion.
"I originally thought you were just a pervert who liked to peek at little boys from bathroom roofs, but I didn't expect you to be such an excellent author."
"This book has high artistic value. Please be sure to complete it."
With that, Naruto solemnly grasped Jiraiya's hands.
Jiraiya, pleased that his work was appreciated, initially bowed back to Naruto, but when he realized what Naruto had said, he immediately flung his hands away.
"I don't like peeping at little boys! What I like to see is..."
"Bah! I wasn't peeping at all! That was research! Just research!"
Faced with Jiraiya's vehement denial, Naruto just smiled without speaking, his eyes full of understanding.
Mm, I believe you.
Someone who could write such an artistic work—even if he were a pervert, it would be understandable.
"Hey! What kind of look is that!"
"Didn't I say it was research?!"
In the Hokage Building, Hiruzen Sarutobi, who had whimsically decided to observe what Naruto was doing, happened to witness this scene.
Hearing Naruto's words and Jiraiya's feeble rebuttals, Hiruzen had the illusion of being indirectly criticized.
The pervert who likes peeping at little boys that Naruto mentioned... surely he wasn't referring to this old man...
Definitely not!
[Chapter Complete]
***
Want more? Check out my Patreon for:
✓ Advanced chapters of all my stories
✓ Exclusive novels & fanfics
✓ Early access content [email protected]/meowthtl
💪 Community Goal: 500 Power Stones unlocks a bonus chapter!
Thanks for reading and supporting the story!