"You really aren't worried at all."
Sakumo Hatake glanced helplessly at Arisu beside him.
The two of them were known together as Konoha's twin pillars.
Konoha's two geniuses.
One dominated his generation with unmatched swordsmanship.
The other became famous across the ninja world with perfected elemental techniques.
Aside from the Fifth Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, Arisu was also one of the few ninjas in Konoha who had mastered all five nature transformations.
After finishing today's training, the two walked side by side through Konoha's streets.
"How about we go eat at Ichiraku Ramen later? My treat."
Sakumo Hatake waved two free ramen coupons in his hand, smiling proudly.
"Okay."
A trace of nostalgia flashed through Arisu's eyes.
It was about time to see how Teuchi had been managing the ramen shop.
As soon as the two arrived at the entrance of the ramen shop, they saw Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Tsunade sitting by the window.
"Oh, what a coincidence. You're all here?"
Sakumo Hatake and Arisu smiled as they pushed open the door.
The three turned their heads at the same time. Tsunade and Orochimaru both showed faint smiles, while only Jiraiya blinked blankly with a confused look.
"Oh, isn't this Sakumo and Arisu? What wind blew Konoha's two geniuses here?"
Tsunade smiled and gestured toward Arisu with her chin.
She looked very familiar with Arisu.
Orochimaru also curled his lips slightly into a smile. "Sit. Eat with us."
"You really come to this shop often. I heard your adoptive father was the former owner of this ramen shop?"
Sakumo Hatake pulled over a chair and sat down while casually asking.
Rare traces of genuine nostalgia appeared in Orochimaru's eyes as he nodded lightly.
"Yeah. That's also why after all these years, this is still the only place we come to eat ramen."
"Two bowls of chashu ramen, extra chashu."
Arisu called toward Teuchi behind the counter.
"Oh! It's Arisu and Sakumo! You two have grown taller again. Haven't seen you for a while, good!"
Teuchi smiled and nodded, looking like he had known Arisu for a long time as well.
After that, the four of them started chatting enthusiastically, from bottlenecks in ninjutsu training to interesting stories from recent missions, familiar with each other like old friends who had known each other for years.
Only Jiraiya looked like he had seen a ghost the entire time. His chopsticks hung in midair as he stared at Arisu without blinking.
'Who... is... he!?:
Jiraiya searched through his memories over and over, going through every Konoha ninja he had known since childhood and every talented junior whose name he had heard, but no matter how hard he tried, he could not remember who this person was.
'Who is he?!'
'Arisu? Why have I never heard this name before?'
'When did Konoha produce a genius who could stand alongside Sakumo Hatake?'
'And judging from Tsunade and Orochimaru's reactions, they are obviously very familiar with him.'
'But why don't I know him?'
'Logically speaking, anyone Tsunade and Orochimaru knew, I should know too.'
Alarm bells rang in Jiraiya's mind, and fine sweat appeared on his forehead.
He was certain his memory had absolutely no problems. Konoha simply did not have such a person!
Arisu lowered his eyes, noticing Jiraiya's strange behavior. He lightly moved the chashu in his bowl with his chopsticks, and a dark look flashed through his eyes.
He remembered now.
Back when he used the Eight-Foot Illusion Technique to alter the entire village's awareness, Jiraiya had been training at Mount Myoboku under Fukasaku Sage and was not affected by the illusion.
Arisu did not care much about it anyway.
Just one fish that slipped through the net.
"Who are you?", Jiraiya directly looked at Arisu and asked coldly.
The moment he said this, everyone froze.
Then Tsunade burst out laughing and slapped Jiraiya on the shoulder.
"Hahaha, idiot Jiraiya, did training in the summoning world make you stupid? This is Arisu! We've done missions together so many times. Remember the Land of Rain? He even saved your life there!"
Jiraiya looked at Orochimaru in confusion after hearing that.
He wanted Orochimaru to confirm it.
Orochimaru also looked strangely at Jiraiya and nodded.
"Yeah, that's right. Jiraiya, stop trying to get attention by pretending not to know him."
Orochimaru thought Jiraiya was just deliberately fooling around to liven up the atmosphere.
"Jiraiya, you probably forgot. I enrolled around the same time as you."
Arisu smiled and nodded toward Jiraiya.
Jiraiya still could not remember a single thing about this person, but seeing Tsunade and Orochimaru getting along happily with Arisu...
He suppressed the doubts in his heart.
Laughing awkwardly, he put on an act, "Hahaha, ah, just kidding! Hahaha, Arisu, don't mind it!"
Jiraiya laughed as he placed a hand on Arisu's shoulder.
Arisu also smiled, "Haha, it's fine. We're all friends."
———
During the meal... Tsunade spent almost the entire time talking with Arisu, enthusiastically telling stories from the past years.
Those eyes full of a woman's heroic spirit now held an unconcealable brightness, and even the way she looked at him carried a bit of a young girl's crush.
Arisu casually responded while the smile on his lips gradually stiffened.
Something was wrong.
The way Tsunade looked at him... why was it exactly the same as Kaguya back then?
Arisu's mind was extremely sharp, and he reacted instantly.
Most likely, the illusion used to implant memories had produced "side effects."
His illusion could only create a fake past in someone's mind, but it could not alter a person's true nature or will.
And those carefully woven memories filled with "hero saves beauty" moments and "fighting side by side" experiences had actually made Tsunade fall for him.
After going through those memories, Tsunade really might have fallen in love with him.
Watching Tsunade smiling while chatting with Arisu, Jiraiya felt a little unhappy inside, but this matter still needed further investigation.
After finishing the meal...
"Ahem, you guys keep eating. I'm leaving first."
Arisu immediately wiped his mouth and prepared to leave, not wanting to get too tangled up with Tsunade.
But Tsunade clearly had no intention of ending the conversation.
"Wait! Arisu, I'll go with you."
"Jiraiya, Orochimaru, I'm leaving first. Don't forget tomorrow's mission."
Tsunade left together with Arisu.
Afterward, Jiraiya and Orochimaru also left together.
———
On the road, Jiraiya could not help asking Orochimaru again, "Orochimaru, tell me honestly. Do you really know that person called Arisu?"
Orochimaru's face darkened after hearing that. 'Damn it, was Jiraiya not done yet? Why was he still pretending? What was the point? Was it funny?'
"Jiraiya, stop pretending. I remember back then when you asked Arisu to buy dirty books for you, you didn't pretend not to know him either.", Orochimaru said calmly.
Jiraiya froze, his face turning red.
"That happened?"
"Idiot."
Orochimaru said lightly before walking into the courtyard.
Jiraiya followed closely behind him.
This large courtyard had been left behind by the Shopkeeper as an inheritance for Jiraiya and Orochimaru.
The two of them had always lived there.