With her blond hair fluttering in the wind, she looked heroic.
Sarutobi Hiruzen stepped forward shakily, looking like his body was falling apart: "Ahem… Tsunade, you're back…"
"Che, why are you here, old man!" It's a pity the illusion didn't work—Tsunade even took two steps back in disgust… The meaning was clear: don't try to fool me!
"Hey, that one over there… Oh, it's Fugaku…" Tsunade's arrogant voice lowered a few decibels and became more subdued: "Today Jiraiya's doing an assessment—is it the kid from the Uchiha clan?"
Uchiha Fugaku looked a little awkward: "He's my son…"
Whether it was the natural opposition between the Senju and Uchiha clans, or memories of his wife and that little brat who used to trail after him and Mikoto back then…
"Yours and Mikoto's kid grew up in the blink of an eye…" After sighing a few times, Tsunade glanced behind and saw the panting girl: "Shizune, go see if that idiot's dead?"
"…Yes, Tsunade-sama!"
This encounter was purely by chance. Tsunade came back to Konoha to pick up some money… After wandering around for too long, she had financial problems, and coincidentally, some personal matters too.
As soon as she arrived, she heard about Orochimaru's defection and Jiraiya's return. Rushing to the Hokage building, she asked around about Jiraiya… She couldn't guess what that idiot was thinking…
As someone who had been teammates with the two, she knew them well. Both Jiraiya and Orochimaru were stubborn. Once there was a rift—especially something as big as defection—Jiraiya wouldn't let it go!
A fight was inevitable…
Jiraiya would be afraid of killing him. Orochimaru would be afraid of not being killed. No need to think hard about the result. That idiot was definitely trying to "talk it out" with Orochimaru, so she had to come stop him.
On the other side—
Jiraiya sat up holding his head, looking at the dazed Itachi standing nearby, and said with annoyance, "Brat, don't you know to help me up?"
"Sorry…"
Jiraiya noticed the crow suddenly landing on his shoulder, and casually pointed at it: "Huh? You keep a ninja crow… That kind of summon is useless… Why does it feel a little cold…"
"Gah!"
Beiyuan held back the urge to form a Tailed Beast Bomb—this man's brain had issues…
"Lord Jiraiya, he's my friend…"
"Call me 'sensei' from now on."
"Yes!"
Seeing the boy's obedient expression, Jiraiya seemed to see a glimpse of another blond-haired kid. He leaned over and whispered in Itachi's ear: "About what I asked earlier…"
Shizune suddenly stood in front of them with a pink pig in her arms, worried: "Lord Jiraiya, are you okay?"
"Ah, Shizune!" The white-haired man glanced at the blonde woman standing in the distance chatting with Fugaku, and gritted his teeth. "Tsunade dropped a punch on me, do I look okay?"
"…Then… is it life-threatening?" the young girl asked cautiously. She was only fifteen, and her medical ninjutsu wasn't exactly top-tier. Tsunade's punches, though…
"Even if it is, a flat chest can't heal it!"
"Hmph!"
Uchiha Itachi could only watch as his new teacher clutched his foot and wailed in pain… He recalled another evaluation his father gave: personality—bad. Extremely bad.
After the test, everyone had their own matters to deal with.
The Third Hokage was still very busy… His two students didn't seem interested in being filial either. They had plenty to say, but in the end, he had to return to his work alone.
Uchiha Fugaku took Itachi to register as a genin and pick up his forehead protector and such.
Once they had left, Tsunade asked aloud, "You took that kid from the Uchiha clan as your student?"
"The old man couldn't find anyone suitable… Besides, that kid doesn't have the dark side of the Sharingan—he seems to live more brightly than anyone else…"
"That's only because the ones you've taken before were all war-torn orphans…" Tsunade rolled her eyes at him.
After hearing that, Jiraiya felt a little conflicted. A child with both parents, growing up in a happy household—it felt strange to take one on as a disciple… Even he felt a bit jealous.
"It's the peace…"
If they knew that Uchiha Itachi had killed people on the battlefield of the Third Shinobi World War at the age of three… what kind of expressions would they make? Would they be shocked by that terrifying mind?
That night, the Fugaku household was unusually lively.
Uchiha Fugaku brought out a small bottle of sake for the first time. Ever since he married, he rarely drank at home. He had kept that habit for years.
"I didn't think Itachi would become a genin so soon!" Uchiha Mikoto made all of Itachi's favorite dishes: "Just one day after entering the academy, and already graduated…"
Fugaku's face flushed red: "Hahaha… As expected of my son!"
The old man's drinking… was not looking good!
"It's a shame, really… The academy still teaches a lot of useful ninja knowledge…"
"Itachi! Don't feel bad about that stuff, it's pointless!" Fugaku knocked on the table and emphasized: "Jiraiya-senpai is a great ninja—there's no one better in the whole shinobi world…"
After graduating from the academy, Fugaku started looking up to the feats of the Sannin. Two shinobi wars, countless S-rank missions—there was almost nothing that could stump Jiraiya.
Among all the shinobi in the world, Jiraiya was undoubtedly the most respected… well, aside from his infamous pervy tendencies…
More importantly, he also had a huge influence on Naruto. He was probably the kind of guy who could become Hokage just by raising a hand. That's really how it was.
Honestly, this guy was super annoying… Who in Konoha, young or old, didn't dream of seeing their own face on the Hokage Rock? But Jiraiya didn't seem to care.
He once trained a Hokage—the Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato, was the only student Jiraiya took in the village… And now, Uchiha Itachi would be the second one publicly known.
"Itachi! My son! Congrats on becoming a ninja!" Uchiha Fugaku raised his cup and shouted, "From now on, do what you want! Change the Uchiha! Change Konoha!"
"Fugaku-kun, you've had too much…" Uchiha Mikoto smiled bitterly, quietly turning away to wipe her tears… He'd been under too much pressure…
Uchiha Itachi frowned, "Father, drink less…"
Sasuke clung to his brother's arm and cried out. He probably didn't understand how rare it would be to see his brother from now on… The dinner table became lively in an instant.
After the three of them fell asleep, Itachi and Beiyuan stood under the night sky in the courtyard.
"Beiyuan, what do you think of teacher Jiraiya?"
"Gah…"
It was a good thing to meet him.
But now that Uchiha Itachi had joined Jiraiya, this Uchiha family could no longer stop their child from going out to train with his teacher. Given Jiraiya's style, there's no way he'd let Itachi just run errands on D-rank missions.
Uchiha Itachi had, in fact, left the Uchiha clan.
Perhaps that was Sarutobi Hiruzen's real intention…
If, in the future, the Uchiha clan had a publicly supportive patriarch of Konoha, then maybe… the Uchiha would truly become part of the village.