"Oh?"
Hearing Naruto's question, Jiraiya's interest sparked immediately.
In truth, Jiraiya was deeply interested in everything about Naruto. For twelve years of the boy's childhood, he'd known nothing about his life. Now, Naruto was voluntarily sharing his dream, clearly happy to discuss it. The gesture pleased Jiraiya tremendously.
Even more, the two of them had only just reconciled. If he could help fulfill Naruto's dream, it might make their relationship even more harmonious.
Jiraiya straightened in his hospital bed, his expression turning serious. "So, Naruto—what is your dream?"
What Jiraiya didn't realize was that Naruto became incredibly talkative whenever the subject of his dreams came up, regardless of who he was speaking to. Seeing Jiraiya's earnest expression, Naruto's own face grew equally serious.
"Jiraiya-sensei, my dream is to make friends. Many, many friends. I don't just want to befriend everyone in Konoha—I want to befriend people throughout the entire ninja world."
Hearing Naruto's dream, Jiraiya's upright posture faltered. His mouth fell open in surprise. But after a moment of thought, understanding dawned. He remembered Kakashi's description of Naruto's childhood—a brutal existence with no friends, ignored and shunned by the villagers at every turn. No one had wanted to acknowledge his existence.
Someone who grew up in that environment would naturally hunger for friendship, wouldn't they?
Seen in that light, such a dream made perfect sense.
After working through this reasoning, Jiraiya felt his heart ache. He swallowed hard, his voice coming out rough. "Naruto, your dream is truly great. Far greater than any dream of becoming Hokage."
Sensing the bitterness in Jiraiya's tone, Naruto shook his head. A sunny smile spread across his face. "Jiraiya-sensei, don't worry about the past. Those hardships are over. Right now, I'm living very well. I have family like you and Kakashi-sensei. I have many friends. And I'll have even more friends in the future."
His voice dropped, becoming firm and absolute. "That lonely, solitary world will never appear in my life again."
Jiraiya felt infected by Naruto's conviction. He drew a long breath, then nodded heavily. A genuine smile appeared on his face. "Naruto's right. In the future, our lives will keep getting better. Naruto's dream is magnificent. I even want to be Naruto's friend myself."
Instantly, Naruto's eyes lit up. He asked with visible excitement, "Is Jiraiya-sensei really willing to be my friend?"
To the excited Naruto, Jiraiya nodded without hesitation. "Of course. Anytime. Even right now."
Naruto glanced at Jiraiya lying in the hospital bed, unable to move his entire body. A trace of regret crossed his face. "Let's wait until Jiraiya-sensei recovers. Making friends now wouldn't be sincere enough."
Jiraiya hadn't considered the matter of sincerity. Right now, he just wanted to support Naruto. "Alright. Then I'll become friends with Naruto after my body recovers. That day won't be too far off."
"Jiraiya-sensei, come look for Tsunade with me tomorrow," Naruto said.
"Looking like this, how can I go with you?" Jiraiya glanced down at his immobilized body with questioning eyes.
"Don't worry about that, Jiraiya-sensei. I'll call Kakashi-sensei and have him push you in a wheelchair." Naruto proposed the solution confidently.
With the problem solved, Jiraiya had no objections. He nodded. "Okay, I'll go with you."
In truth, Jiraiya missed Tsunade very much.
"By the way, Naruto—after finding Tsunade, once you're no longer Hokage, what are your plans?" Jiraiya asked.
Naruto's response came readily. "After I bring Tsunade back, I'll leave Konoha. After all, Konoha is too small. The outside world is vast. I want to experience different cultures and customs in other places, and be friends with people there."
"Oh!" Jiraiya's eyes brightened. "Naruto, when that time comes, I'll go with you."
"Of course, no problem." Naruto agreed readily. After exchanging a few more words, Naruto excused himself. He still needed to visit Kakashi-sensei and inform him about tomorrow's plans to search for Tsunade.
When Naruto arrived outside Kakashi's house, he found all the doors and windows tightly shut despite the early hour.
"Did he go to bed this early?" Naruto fell into contemplation. Then he listened carefully, trying to determine if Kakashi was actually inside. Suddenly, he heard Kakashi's irregular, heavy breathing reaching his ears.
"His breathing's so erratic. Sinus arrhythmia. Could Kakashi-sensei be sick?" Naruto immediately activated his ki and blood sensing. After probing the interior, he detected expanding ki and blood being suppressed and entangled by five separate ki and blood signatures...
Naruto's face darkened instantly. He called out, "Kakashi-sensei!"
Under his sensing, the swelling ki and blood suddenly withered dramatically, as if dying.
A moment of silence followed. Then the lights inside flickered on. The courtyard door opened. Kakashi appeared, looking extremely frustrated. "Naruto, what are you doing here?"
"Kakashi-sensei, I came to tell you we're gathering at the hospital gate tomorrow. We have to go out for something." Naruto gave Kakashi a meaningful look.
"Oh. Is there anything else?" Kakashi's tone carried zero interest, almost as if he were trying to usher Naruto away.
Naruto smiled knowingly. "Nothing else. Kakashi-sensei can continue your... work." He vanished in a flicker.
The next morning, after breakfast, Naruto didn't wear his Hokage robes. Instead, he dressed in casual traveling clothes. Kurama perched comfortably on his shoulder.
Beside him walked Sasuke, maintaining his usual cool expression.
Together, they set off toward the hospital.
When they arrived, they found Jiraiya already sitting in a wheelchair, waiting at the hospital entrance.
It seemed Jiraiya had asked the hospital staff to wheel him out. Otherwise, alone, he'd never have managed. Naruto had put him through the friendship process himself—he knew the results intimately.
After meeting with Jiraiya-sensei and waiting a short while, Sakura arrived as well. She carried a pack on her back and shouted from far down the street: "Naruto, Sasuke! I'm here!"
Seeing Sakura rushing toward them, Sasuke turned to look at Naruto with a cold face. "Why did she come?"
Kakashi, who had just arrived in front of Sasuke, immediately wilted when he heard this sentence. His visible eye drooped with disappointment.
Naruto smiled. "Don't underestimate Sakura. She's part of Team Seven, of course."
"Naruto's absolutely right!" Sakura immediately raised her hands in enthusiastic agreement.
Finally, Kakashi appeared at the hospital entrance, his face carefully neutral.
"Okay, everyone's here. Let's go. Kakashi-sensei, please take care of Jiraiya-sensei along the way." Naruto addressed Kakashi with a cheerful smile.
Kakashi's face beneath his mask collapsed. The moment he'd seen that Jiraiya was part of the traveling group, he'd wanted to retreat. With Jiraiya present, he couldn't read Icha Icha Paradise.
After all, Kakashi had 'borrowed' the book from Jiraiya originally. If Jiraiya found out, things would get awkward. Konoha's dignified Copy Ninja might become known as "Konoha's Technician" instead.
However, Kakashi couldn't back out now. Naruto definitely wouldn't agree. His visible eye moved to Sasuke. Under his stare, Sasuke grew visibly uncomfortable. "Kakashi-sensei, why are you looking at me like that?"
Kakashi spoke dryly. "I'm asking Sasuke to help with Jiraiya-sama."
Without waiting for a response, Kakashi fell into step behind Naruto.
Sasuke remained frozen in place for a moment. After all, Kakashi was his sensei. It would be bad not to listen. But if he did listen, he'd become a glorified tool.
"Sasuke, let me do it!" Sakura came over and positioned herself behind Jiraiya's wheelchair, taking hold of the handles.
Sasuke glanced at the scene, then nodded reluctantly. "Thank you, Sakura."
Jiraiya felt thoroughly unhappy being pushed around by others, but what choice did he have? He could only sit in a wheelchair right now.
At this point, their group of five people plus the Tailed Beast Kurama embarked on their journey to find Tsunade. They walked out of Konoha Village and began searching through small towns with casinos outside the village.
Of course, according to the information Naruto had obtained from the Boruto timeline, they wouldn't be searching blindly.
Several days passed quickly. While searching and traveling, they soon found Tsunade in a casino in a small town.
At that moment, Tsunade sat in front of a slot machine, yelling enthusiastically. Standing next to her was a young woman holding a pig.
"That's Tsunade. She still looks so young." Jiraiya spoke from the doorway, gazing at the scene inside. "The girl next to her holding the pig is Tsunade's student, Shizune."
Tsunade was having a fantastic time gambling at the moment, completely unaware that Naruto and his party stood watching from the entrance.
"Should we go say hello now?" Sakura asked Naruto.
Naruto waved his hand dismissively. "Don't worry. Let's observe for a while first. Let's go up to the railing on the second floor. Sasuke, quietly place a Flying Thunder God mark on Shizune's body. Make sure she doesn't notice."
Sasuke nodded. The group quietly entered the casino, made their way to the second floor railing, and watched Tsunade frantically playing the slot machine from above.
The entire casino echoed with wild screaming.
"Damn it, I lost again!" Soon, Tsunade had lost all the money on her person. She wanted to keep gambling, but had nothing left.
"Boss! Boss! Where the hell did you go? Get over here!" Tsunade yelled while sitting in front of the slot machine.
In less than a minute, the casino boss appeared before Tsunade. He looked at her with a blank expression. "What do you want? Let me say this first—we won't lend you money again. We've already lent you thirty thousand, and you lost it all. If you don't pay back that thirty thousand, I won't lend you another ryō."
Facing the boss, Tsunade immediately put on a friendly smile. "This time it's not a loan. It's a mortgage. Shizune, come here."
Tsunade waved her hand. Shizune approached reluctantly, hugging the pig in her arms tightly. She said pitifully, "Tsunade-sama, you can't mortgage Tonton! He's been with us for so many years."
"Doesn't matter. Give him here." Tsunade snatched the pig from Shizune's arms. "Boss, just tell me—if I mortgage this pig to you, how much can you give me?"
"Hmph. A pig? How much do you expect? Don't think the price of pork has gone up—there are plenty of pigs out there." The boss spoke disdainfully.
"Let me tell you, my pig isn't an ordinary pig. He has human-level intelligence." Tsunade launched into an elaborate description of the pig's various advantages, praising Tonton until she finally convinced the boss.
"Fine. My wife's been looking for a pet. Name your price."
Tsunade's eyes lit up immediately. "One hundred thousand!"
The boss considered for barely a second. "Fifty thousand."
"Deal!" Tsunade shouted.
"Tsunade-sama!" Seeing the boss take Tonton away, Shizune looked ready to cry.
After obtaining the money, Tsunade continued her gambling journey. But her luck truly was abysmal. Within half an hour, she'd lost the entire fifty thousand ryō.
"Let's go. Time to change towns." Tsunade stood up, stretched her arms above her head, gestured to Shizune, and walked toward the casino exit.
The moment they stepped outside, Shizune urged, "Tsunade-sama, hurry! Otherwise, when Tonton sneaks back out, the casino boss will go crazy looking for us."
"Run!" Tsunade didn't waste words. She took off immediately.
Seeing this scene, Naruto spoke with interest. "Jiraiya-sensei, Kakashi-sensei, you wait here for now. I'm going to take a look."
His figure disappeared. After a moment, Naruto reappeared at a street corner. He looked around and spotted Tsunade walking on the opposite side of the street. Shizune walked beside her, and in Shizune's arms sat the pig.
The pig named Tonton had sneaked back out secretly.
Obviously, Tsunade and Shizune had used this move countless times.
"Shizune, how much money do we have left?" Tsunade asked suddenly.
Hearing Tsunade's question, Shizune became visibly nervous. "Tsunade-sama, we still have one thousand left. You can't gamble with it—this is our meal money."
"I'm not going to gamble. Just show me." Tsunade extended her hand.
"Really won't gamble?" Shizune freed one hand while still holding Tonton, pulling money from her pocket. "Really, there's only one thousand ryō left."
"Let me see it." Tsunade reached out, preparing to take it.
When Naruto saw this, his eyes lit up. His figure flickered. He appeared directly in front of Tsunade, reached out, snatched the money from Shizune's hand, and vanished in a flash.
Tsunade: (⊙_⊙)
Shizune: (⊙_⊙)
Tonton: (⊙_⊙)
After three beats of stunned silence, Tsunade finally came to her senses. She shouted, "The money was stolen! Someone stole our money!"
However, Naruto had moved too fast—only a flash of yellow could be seen. No one had gotten a good look at him. Tsunade could only stare at Shizune helplessly. "That was really only one thousand?"
"Just one thousand." Shizune looked ready to weep.
Tsunade glared at Shizune with an expression of profound frustration. "You know what your problem is? You can't hide anything. I say take it all out, so you take it all out. One day, your honesty is going to get you killed."
"I was wrong, Tsunade-sama! What should we do now?" Shizune hugged Tonton, looking at Tsunade with desperate eyes.
"Let's go. Head to the next town. If we stay here, we'll face debt collectors." Tsunade waved her hand and strode out of the city.
After Naruto snatched Tsunade's money, he reappeared next to Jiraiya and the others. "Let's go. We'll wait outside the city. Tsunade and Shizune are leaving this town."