Watching Hiruzen leave the office, Jiraiya remained silent for a long time.
This time, upon his return, he hadn't immediately stepped into the Hokage Building. Instead, he wandered around the village and naturally noticed the differences.
The Konoha Military Police Force was no longer solely staffed by the Uchiha clan, it now involved various Konoha clans.
Even the Konoha Council had disappeared.
Although he had received some news while traveling abroad, the impact of understanding the actual situation after returning to the village was much greater than any news he had heard before.
Danzo was dead, and the other two advisors were effectively under house arrest.
Konoha also seemed to have taken on a different appearance.
"Jiraiya-senpai, do you want to come with me?" Shinji stood up and asked Jiraiya.
"Hm?"
Jiraiya snapped out of his daze, thinking of Naruto.
After a long silence, he said, "Not for now. I'll stay in the village for the next few days."
With that, he walked out of the office with heavy steps.
Shinji rubbed his nose and shook his head internally.
They're all such awkward people. But Captain Kakashi, you're leaving Anbu only to take on another mission like this.
Shinji naturally understood Hiruzen's intentions. Even if Kakashi left Anbu, it wouldn't change him overnight. However, Jiraiya's return gave Hiruzen another way to handle things.
Among the Three Sannin, only Jiraiya's open-mindedness could help some people move on, even if he was unreliable.
Shinji was closing the office door when he suddenly paused, thinking, 'So, Kakashi's habit of never letting go of his little orange book started around this time?'
If Kushina were still alive, Jiraiya would definitely get beaten by her.
Kakashi, who was already a bit weak due to the Sharingan, really couldn't escape this time.
Shinji chuckled softly and turned to walk out of the Hokage Building.
—
At night, above Konoha's Hokage Rock.
Jiraiya was lying on Minato's rock statue, staring blankly at the starry sky. Beside him, a bored toad squatted, occasionally dozing off.
This was probably the first time in a long while that he hadn't gone to investigate hot springs upon returning to the village.
"Jiraiya-sama."
A voice sounded, and Kakashi, wearing a mask, slowly approached and sat beside Jiraiya.
Jiraiya remained lying on the rock statue, only shifting his gaze slightly to look at Kakashi.
"Oh? Kakashi, I didn't realize you'd grown so tall."
Perhaps it was because he was seeing an old acquaintance, Kakashi spoke a little more.
"It's been a long time since I've seen Jiraiya-sama, and he's still so..."
"Hahaha, time flies, and I've already entered middle age." Jiraiya laughed heartily.
Time truly passed quickly. He was once a young man around Kakashi's age.
After exchanging pleasantries, Jiraiya asked, "Did the old man send you here?"
Kakashi nodded expressionlessly in response. "Yes, Hokage-sama said he's relieving me of my Anbu captain position, and I'll be accompanying you from now on."
Jiraiya grumbled, looking up at the sky again. "He's really... quick. He kept looking for me before I returned to the village, and now that I'm back, he can't wait for me to leave."
The two sat on Minato's statue, silent for a long time.
After a while, Jiraiya spoke again, "Kakashi, it's been so long, it's time to let go."
"You didn't have the strength back then, and even I, who had the strength, wasn't there. Everything was arranged that way. So, it's time to move on."
Kakashi listened to Jiraiya's rambling, missing nothing, but offered no reply.
Jiraiya stood up, scoffing at himself, "Heh, I didn't think I'd end up rambling like the old man."
"Jiraiya-sama, where do you think a person's final resting place is?" Kakashi's sudden question startled Jiraiya.
He grumpily pulled Kakashi over and slapped him firmly on the shoulder, saying, "Kakashi, that tone doesn't suit you."
Jiraiya first chuckled, teasing Kakashi, then pointed to Konoha below the Hokage Rock.
"A resting place is where the people who care about you are. From another perspective, it's the same."
With that, Jiraiya stood up, waiting for Kakashi.
After a long pause, a glimmer of light gradually appeared in Kakashi's eyes, and he brushed off his pants and stood up.
"Jiraiya-sama, aren't you going to see him?"
Jiraiya naturally knew who Kakashi was referring to.
He shook his head and said, "Not yet, it's not time. Besides, I heard my junior is taking very good care of him. Come on, I'll take you on a journey this time."
With that, Jiraiya leaped down, quickly heading towards Konoha's main gate.
Kakashi touched his eye mask, took another look at Konoha below, and then followed Jiraiya's footsteps.
—
"Croak—!"
The toad left behind had just woken up when it found itself alone. As it stood there in a daze, footsteps sounded beside it.
Hiruzen, with a pipe dangling from his mouth, slowly walked onto the Hokage Rock, looking towards the direction of Konoha's main gate.
"That brat, still so self-willed."
Saying that, Hiruzen looked down at the toad at his feet and extended his hand.
The toad, which had initially intended to refuse, suddenly seemed to receive some message, then leaped onto Hiruzen's shoulder.
"Shinji." Hiruzen called out.
"Yes, sensei." Shinji, who had been standing beside Hiruzen, responded.
Hiruzen puffed on his pipe, his eyes narrowing slightly as he slowly said, "For the next while, please use a Shadow Clone to help with the Academy's teaching duties."
"I need you to go on a mission."
Shinji thought for a moment, then nodded in agreement. "Understood, sensei."
Even when teaching with Shadow Clones, he could earn rewards based on the lecture's comprehensiveness, though it would be slightly less.
However, at this stage, Hiruzen was clearly setting things in motion.
Shinji naturally agreed. After all, once his Shadow Clones were created, as long as they didn't use Ninjutsu, they could last a long time, and there were also Reverse Summoning scrolls.
—
In the morning, Shikamaru, rubbing his eyes as he left his house, saw Shinji waiting at the intersection.
Shikamaru quickly ran over, asking, "Sensei, why are you here so early?"
Shinji smiled kindly at this and said, "I have a mission recently, so for the next while, a Shadow Clone will be going to school to teach."
"I came here to tell you to remember to arrange for Naruto and the others to train at the training ground after school every day."
"No problem, sensei." Shikamaru nodded in response.
"These three scrolls are about the development of your secret techniques. Just give them to Ino and the others." Shinji said, taking out three scrolls and placing them in Shikamaru's hand.
"If you don't understand anything, you can ask your father. He should be able to explain it to you."
"I'll trouble you for a while, Shikamaru. When I return, I will play shogi with you."
Shinji said, patting Shikamaru's head, then immediately dispelled the Shadow Clone.
"Sensei, he really is..." Shikamaru rubbed his head helplessly.