"Kid, what's your name?"
At this moment, Jiraiya no longer regarded Naruto as an ordinary Genin kid, but as a promising rising star worth paying attention to.
After all, not everyone could send him, Jiraiya the Toad Immortal, flying.
Noticing that Jiraiya didn't want to continue fighting, Naruto was happy with that; it wasn't him who suffered the loss anyway.
Walking closer, when he heard Jiraiya's question, for some reason, the scene of Jiraiya's self-introduction earlier instantly appeared in Naruto's mind.
That exaggerated introduction, at first, felt very over-the-top and awkward, but after a little reflection, it actually gave Naruto an inexplicable sense of awe.
Thinking of this, Naruto felt that he also needed a special self-introduction to distinguish himself from ordinary Ninja when traveling the Ninja World.
He, Uzumaki Naruto, was a man destined to become Hokage. Having a special self-introduction wasn't too much, was it?
"Ahem, listen closely."
After a moment of thought, Naruto created several Shadow Clones and, under Jiraiya's bewildered gaze, introduced himself.
Main Body: "I am..."
Clone Number One: "The son of the Fourth Hokage..."
Clone Number Two: "The Nine-Tails Jinchuriki..."
Clone Number Three: "The survivor of the Uzumaki Clan..."
Clone Number Four: "Konoha's future Hokage..."
Clone Number Five: "And also the dead last of the Ninja Academy..."
'Pop~' Clone Number Five vanished in a puff of smoke.
Main Body: "Ahem, I am Uzumaki Naruto."
"Idiot~ Idiot~"
After Naruto finished his self-introduction, a crow suddenly flew across the sky, seemingly cawing, "Fool~ Fool!"
Little friend, do you have many questions?
Jiraiya didn't know about others, but his mind was indeed full of questions right now.
Putting aside the various flaws in this self-introduction, are you really okay with exposing yourself as the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki like this?
Has Konoha Village become so open-minded in the few years I've been away?
He originally left the Village because he couldn't stand the various darknesses within it, and even his teacher, the Third Hokage, turned a blind eye.
But what's the situation now?
The Nine-Tails Jinchuriki just openly revealed his identity! Isn't he afraid of the villagers' hatred anymore?
Also, where are the Anbu and Root Ninja?
The Nine-Tails Jinchuriki is openly revealing his identity like this; where are you 'protecting' (monitoring) Ninja?
Has Danzo, that guy, also turned over a new leaf and become a good person?
Jiraiya's mood was very complicated. On one hand, the Village seemed to have undergone some changes in the years he was away, and on the other hand, it was because of Naruto's identity.
Jiraiya wasn't too concerned about the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki part.
But the identity of the Fourth Hokage's son had to make him care.
Speaking of which, the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, was his Disciple. As Minato's son, Naruto calling him 'Grand-teacher' was perfectly acceptable.
However, the same question remained: How did Naruto know his own identity?
If he knew he was the Fourth Hokage's son, did he know his relationship with him?
Naruto's self-introduction revealed too much information, causing Jiraiya to start getting a headache.
"How about it? Now that you know my identity, are you scared?"
Seeing Jiraiya's bewildered expression, Naruto put his hands on his hips, looking very smug.
"Scared, very scared."
Jiraiya snapped back to reality with a jolt. Seeing such a'simple and unpretentious' Naruto, he couldn't think of anything to say for a moment and could only go along with him.
"Oh, right, I suddenly remembered I have something to do, so I'll be going now, bye-bye!"
Jiraiya didn't know how to face Naruto, and he also wanted to find out what changes had occurred in Konoha, so he directly ran off.
Naruto didn't stop him. After seeing him disappear from his sight, Naruto suddenly dropped his silly grin, revealing a mysterious smile.
Actually, after learning his own identity, Naruto had thoroughly investigated his father Minato Namikaze's social connections.
Well, 'investigated' actually meant asking Ge Liang.
This was also to avoid Hiruzen Sarutobi's suspicion.
Through Ge Liang's narration, he learned that his father was a Disciple of Jiraiya, one of the Sannin, that Kakashi was once his father's subordinate, and that his father died under the Masked Man's scheme, and so on.
After hearing the information, Naruto was naturally very curious about the Masked Man's identity. In his opinion, Ge Liang, being so omnipotent, surely knew who this person was.
Indeed, Ge Liang did know, but he didn't tell Naruto the Masked Man's identity, only informing him that the Masked Man was from the Uchiha Clan, and that they should investigate the specific person themselves.
Not getting specific information, Naruto was naturally a bit disappointed.
However, getting the identity was still good; at least he could check the Uchiha Clan's genealogy with Sasuke to see if they could find this person.
As for why Sasuke would agree to Naruto looking at their genealogy, it was because Ge Liang had also told Sasuke that the Masked Man was one of the culprits behind the Uchiha Clan's downfall.
Sasuke and Naruto had a good relationship, and now with a common enemy, Sasuke would naturally agree to Naruto examining the genealogy.
Returning to the main topic.
Jiraiya's appearance this time gave Naruto an opportunity to probe Hiruzen Sarutobi.
He still remembered Ge Liang's evaluation of Jiraiya back then.
'Although Jiraiya is a lecherous, unrestrained person who likes beautiful women and enjoys peeping.'
'He was almost beaten to death by Tsunade, one of the Sannin, for peeping.'
'But even so, he possesses a kind and reliable heart.'
Naruto believed Ge Liang wouldn't lie to him. Since Ge Liang said Jiraiya was reliable and kind, he believed it.
It was precisely because he knew Jiraiya's personality that Naruto would 'foolishly' 'expose' his own identity.
Upon learning his identity, Jiraiya would surely go to Hiruzen Sarutobi first thing.
He wanted to see what Hiruzen Sarutobi would do after learning about this matter.
Would he continue to put on the facade of a kind old grandfather and deceive him, or would he have an open and honest conversation?
Hiruzen Sarutobi's attitude this time would influence Uzumaki Naruto's attitude towards him and even Konoha.
If Hiruzen Sarutobi proactively approached him, confessed everything, admitted his mistakes, and apologized to him, then he would forgive the Third Hokage. After all, when he was a child, when everyone around him was hostile, it was the Third Hokage who gave him a touch of a grandfather's warmth.
But if Hiruzen Sarutobi remained unrepentant, then he wouldn't mind playing along with them.
The emergence of the internet cafe gave Naruto the capital to play with them.
What, you say Naruto doesn't have this capital?
Well, you probably forgot that Sasuke's house still has four bundles of gold, silver, and jewels, right?
Given Naruto and Sasuke's relationship, if he really fell out with Konoha, he believed Sasuke would definitely help him.
"It's good to be rich!"
On the way to the internet cafe, Naruto thought about the four bundles at Sasuke's house and couldn't help but exclaim!