~ Every 100 Power Stones = Bonus Chapter! Your votes keep this climbing. Thanks!
Naruto had been moping ever since returning to the village.
"What's up with him?"
On a bustling Konoha street, Kiba watched a dazed-looking Naruto shuffle past, his expression puzzled. If you asked who the most energetic person in Konoha was, it was Naruto, no contest. But ever since returning from his last mission, he'd been shrouded in a heavy cloud of gloom.
Hinata, walking beside Kiba, glanced back at Naruto's retreating figure, her eyes full of worry.
Back home, Naruto gave Hanzo a half-hearted greeting before flopping onto the sofa. He lay there, staring at the ceiling with dull eyes.
Hanzo, knitting a sweater on the opposite sofa, glanced up. She sensed his mood. "Moping won't solve anything," she said, her needles clicking without pause.
Naruto sat up straight, looking at her miserably. "Why am I so weak?"
Hanzo's hands stilled for a second. "That's what's bothering you?"
Naruto nodded.
Hanzo let out a soft sigh. "How do you judge the gap between strong and weak?" Without waiting for an answer, she continued, "To me, someone with a heart that never admits defeat, that never gives up—that's a strong person. Someone who shrinks back from difficulty, who gets stuck wallowing in it… that's a weak person."
Naruto froze. He stared at her, speechless.
"And there are plenty of ways to fix this, aren't there?" she went on, her needles moving again. "If you think you're not strong enough, go train. Learn a new jutsu, isn't that right?"
She finished the final stitch, stood up, folded the sweater neatly, and held it out to him. "For you. This winter's sweater."
Naruto took it, stunned. Hanzo smiled, then turned and walked into the kitchen.
Alone in the living room, Naruto held the soft, warm wool. It felt comforting.
A flame of conviction blazed to life inside him, growing fiercer by the second. His gaze sharpened, turning resolute.
Sister Hanzo was right. He shouldn't be wallowing in the mud of his own weakness!
He, Naruto Uzumaki, wasn't someone who whined about fate!
Naruto shot up from the sofa. He carefully placed the sweater in his wardrobe, then vaulted onto the windowsill and vanished.
"Pervy Sage!"
"Pervy Sage!"
Naruto's voice echoed through the streets of Konoha.
"Lord Jiraiya, have another drink!"
"It's been so long since you visited, Lord Jiraiya!"
Meanwhile, in a small tavern at the end of a side street, Jiraiya was comfortably nestled on a plush sofa, a beautiful woman on either side of him. He wore a constant grin, tossing out the occasional joke that sent the women into fits of charming laughter.
Suddenly, a very familiar voice wormed its way into his ear.
His smile stiffened. He rubbed his earlobe.
Damn it. He was hearing things now. Naruto's voice.
"Pervy Sage."
Naruto stood right behind him, a friendly, beaming smile on his face.
Jiraiya's whole body went rigid. His body moved faster than his brain. He grabbed Naruto and vanished from the tavern in a blur.
"Lord Jiraiya! You haven't paid!" The two women's sweet voices turned shrill behind him.
Jiraiya: "…"
As much as he hated to leave the ladies, if Heshu found out he'd brought Naruto to a tavern… he was a dead man.
"Life's treating you well, Pervy Sage!" Naruto narrowed his eyes, teasing. Women on both arms? A man's paradise!
"Ahem!" Jiraiya let out a dry cough, changing the subject. "What do you want?" He eyed Naruto suspiciously. After three years traveling and training with the kid, he'd seen Naruto's true nature. Innocent on the outside, a little schemer on the inside. How had Heshu raised him like this?
"I want to learn stronger jutsu!" Naruto declared seriously. "I want to protect Sister Heshu!"
Jiraiya's eye twitched. He dug a finger in his ear. "If I had a jutsu strong enough to let you protect Tsukimi Heshu, I'd be the strongest shinobi in the world right now."
Did Naruto even hear the nonsense coming out of his own mouth? Jiraiya rolled his eyes.
Naruto froze. Huh. The Pervy Sage had a point.
"Then I want to learn jutsu that'll make me stronger!" Naruto amended, dialing it back a notch.
Jiraiya didn't answer immediately. His eyes swept over Naruto, sizing him up, considering something.
Naruto grew nervous but didn't push.
"…Fine," Jiraiya finally said, relenting.
Naruto let out a huge sigh of relief.
"I'll teach you Sage Mode, then," Jiraiya stated calmly.
"Sage Mode? Sage Mode!"
Having traveled with Jiraiya for three years, Naruto had witnessed the old man in Sage Mode. Excitement lit up his face. He punched Jiraiya's chest. "You're the best, Pervy Sage!"
Jiraiya gave a satisfied grunt. He had to admit, the kid's praise hit the spot.
Under Naruto's relentless, eager urging, Jiraiya had no choice but to take him to Mount Myōboku that very day.
Back in the Hokage's conference room, the atmosphere was its usual brand of oppressive tension.
"We can't let the Akatsuki keep going like this!" The Fourth Raikage's fist slammed down, shattering the brand-new table Yamato had just replaced.
Yamato's eye twitched. "…" He wordlessly began forming hand signs to create another one.
The Raikage fixed his intense glare on Heshu.
Heshu waited, half-expecting the man to propose some concrete method to curb the Akatsuki's rampant activities.
After a long pause, the Raikage finally spoke. "Hokage. What's your plan?"
Heshu: "…"
Wasted hope.
Killer B: "…"
Nara Sōsai: "…"
Heshu's eyes shifted to Nara Sōsai. The man understood immediately.
"We have confirmed the Akatsuki's goal of collecting the Tailed Beasts," Sōsai began, his tone analytical. "However, their purpose for doing so remains unknown. While the objective is unclear, we can speculate that gathering such power is, to a large degree, a prelude to inciting large-scale conflict." He frowned, continuing. "Currently known members include the Takigakure rogue Kakuzu, the Sunagakure rogue Sasori of the Red Sand, the immortal Hidan, the Kirigakure rogue Kisame Hoshigaki, the powerful and mysterious masked man, and the Konoha rogue, Uchiha Itachi."
When he mentioned "Konoha rogue, Uchiha Itachi," Sōsai carefully watched Heshu's reaction.
Heshu's face remained a blank, impassive mask, as if she hadn't heard a thing.
Sōsai pressed on. "The members we have engaged with possess terrifying strength, and this is likely not their full roster. The leader of the Akatsuki has yet to make an appearance, but someone capable of commanding such a group of powerhouses, their strength is presumably on par with the masked man's."
The Fourth Raikage's face darkened. He had witnessed the masked man's power firsthand. The thought of a second shinobi of that caliber… the future of the shinobi world looked bleak.
"Are we just going to let them start a war?" the Raikage asked, his voice grave. The consequences of war were catastrophic. The world was in an era of fragile peace and development. No one wanted to shatter that calm.
"The best course is to prepare for the possibility of war," Heshu said to the Raikage. "We have no insight into the Akatsuki's timeline. If they launch their offensive before fully gathering the beasts, we'd be caught completely off guard."
The Raikage clenched his fists. "Those damned Akatsuki bastards!" he snarled. "If only we knew what they were planning!"
He sighed, the frustration genuine. If they had that knowledge, they could seize the initiative, turn this passive situation around.
Knock, knock.
The door to the conference room opened.
Jiraiya stood in the doorway.
"Lord Hokage," he said, his expression casual, as if discussing the weather. "I'd like to go gather intelligence on the Akatsuki."
He might as well have dropped a bomb in the quiet room.
The Raikage's head snapped toward him. He couldn't deny it—the idea instantly appealed to him.
"No." Heshu's refusal was immediate, without a moment's hesitation.
"Don't worry, Lord Hokage! I'll come back alive!" Jiraiya replied cheerfully, as if he hadn't heard her rejection.
Heshu looked at him, her expression solemn and strict in a way Jiraiya hadn't seen before. "I am the Hokage. You will not act without my authorization. That is an order."
A wry smile touched Jiraiya's lips. Her refusal was expected.
"Hokage, this is a valuable opportunity," the Raikage began to argue. He knew infiltrating the Akatsuki was incredibly dangerous, but the potential payoff for the entire shinobi world was worth the risk.
"My apologies, Raikage," Heshu said, her voice firm. "This is our village's internal affair. I ask that you not interfere."
The Fourth Raikage: "…"
Killer B patted his brother's shoulder sympathetically. "Yo! Big bro! Stickin' your nose in too far!"
The Raikage took another blow. "…"
For the rest of the meeting, he demonstrated the meaning of 'silence is golden.'
Heshu's stance was unshakable. It was the first time Jiraiya had ever seen her this angry.
Though his proposal had been rejected, as Jiraiya left the conference room, he looked up at the blue sky and chuckled softly. "Sorry, Heshu. Guess you'll have to court-martial me for disobeying the Hokage… after I get back."
He headed for Konoha's main gate. He'd already left Naruto in the care of the toads at Mount Myōboku.
His steps halted just before the gate.
His jaw dropped.
Standing before him were three people, all wearing beaming smiles: Uchiha Masako, Shisui Uchiha, and Uchiha Juri.
The Hokage's personal guard. Their presence here could only mean one thing.
"Lord Jiraiya," Masako said pleasantly. "You have publicly defied the Hokage's direct order. By her command, we are hereby placing you under surveillance for the next month."
Jiraiya: "…"
How had he forgotten? Since when was Tsukimi Heshu someone you could fool?
Shisui and Juri moved forward with friendly efficiency, each taking one of Jiraiya's arms and steering—or rather, dragged—him back into the village. Masako walked alongside, still smiling. "We'd appreciate it if you didn't make this difficult for us, Lord Jiraiya."
Jiraiya: "…"
Like I'd dare? Everyone knew just how strong the Hokage's personal guard was.
Jiraiya sighed, utterly defeated.
───── ⊹ ⊹ ─────
📖 Main story COMPLETED + Bonus Stories ongoing on Patre\on
🔍 Search:p a t r e o n.com/GoldenLong
───── ⊹ ⊹ ─────