Chapter 42: Naruto, You Should Respect Your Elders and Care for the Young
Hokage’s Office.
Hiruzen Sarutobi was puffing on his smoking pipe, eyes fixed intently on the crystal ball in front of him.
Even at his age, he had his vices—pretty faces and eye-catching scenes. It was harmless entertainnt, or so he told himself.
"Hey, old man!"
Just as he was fully engrossed, an untily voice broke through, startling him. He quickly grabbed a cloth and threw it over the crystal ball.
Turning around, he saw Jiraiya’s head poking in through the window. The next mont, the man swung his whole body inside.
"You’re back?"
Hiruzen took a few calming puffs before speaking, sowhat exasperated.
"There’s a perfectly fine door. Why do you insist on using the window like so kind of delinquent?"
"Don’t sweat the small stuff," Jiraiya grinned, brushing it off. He quickly stepped inside, face already wearing that mischievous expression.
"What, caught you peeking again—?"
"Cut the nonsense! I was rely monitoring the village’s peace and stability."
Hiruzen’s old face flushed a bit. Sure, his student shared his bad habits, but that didn’t an he liked being called out.
"Alright, let’s get down to business. What did you find on this mission?"
"We got sothing. Turns out, this situation is a lot more complicated than we thought."
Jiraiya scratched his head, but he quickly got serious.
"Luckily, things went smoothly in the Land of Hot Springs. Didn’t take long before we started uncovering stuff..."
He gave a summarized version—omitting the less important details but emphasizing Kitagawa Gen’s contribution and the intel they wrung out of Orochimaru.
Hiruzen listened silently, pipe in hand. Once Jiraiya finished, he furrowed his brows.
"It’s troubleso, that’s for sure. But the intel lines up with what Danzo reported... Still, do you trust Orochimaru’s words?"
The fact that the Mizukage had hired that mysterious organization hinted at serious internal chaos—bad news for the Mist, but good news for Konoha. Nobody in the Leaf liked the Mist Village anyway.
But when it ca to investigating that mysterious organization... that was another story.
Especially with Uchiha Obito—his heart full of hate, wielding the Mangekyou Sharingan and Wood Release.
This matter couldn’t be ignored.
"I think it’s mostly reliable," Jiraiya nodded seriously.
"Even if Orochimaru left things out, that’s expected. At the very least, we’ve gotten so key information."
Hiruzen didn’t respond imdiately. He knew Orochimaru well. The man was a liar, yes—but he was also prideful. He wouldn’t give out fake intel just for fun.
"...I see. Looks like I’ll have to pay the Mist a visit myself."
He sighed. Taking such risks wasn’t his preference, but that shadowy group truly unsettled him.
"Alright, old man. Don’t overthink it," Jiraiya said, seeing his teacher’s troubled expression. "So obstacles just have to be faced. That organization’s one of them, right? We’ll handle it."
"You brat, since when did you start comforting ?"
Hiruzen chuckled, shaking his head.
"Oh, and make this one an S-rank mission," Jiraiya added casually. "That kid, Gen—he wants to make Chuunin soon. Buffing his mission record a bit wouldn’t hurt."
"He still needs to pad his resu?"
At the ntion of Kitagawa Gen, Hiruzen’s mood lightened.
That kid hadn’t done many missions since graduating, but every one of them had been tough—and his performance? Stellar.
From facing Jūzō Biwa to Uchiha Itachi, and now this... He was impressive.
He might just beco Konoha’s next Minato Namikaze...
But Hiruzen kept his thoughts to himself.
"Alright, I’ll consider it," he said at last.
"Great," Jiraiya grinned, and then—like the rascal he was—sidled up next to Hiruzen and reached for the cloth over the crystal ball.
"Hey! You bastard, what are you doing!?"
Startled, Hiruzen slapped his hand away.
"Co on, the serious stuff’s over. Let’s relax a bit. Don’t hog the view, old man."
"I was working, thank you very much. It’s called official duty!"
"Yeah, yeah. Let’s just take a quick peek."
"You damn brat—get out of here!"
---
Konoha Hospital.
"Thanks for the help, senpai. I’ll be heading off now."
"No problem."
Kitagawa Gen smiled as he bid farewell to the hospital staff and walked out the door—only to find himself a little annoyed.
"Kakashi’s already discharged? Guess he’s doing better than expected..."
Per Jiraiya’s tip, Gen had headed straight for the hospital to check on Kakashi, but the man had already left.
"Well, that’s good. Better recovered than stuck in bed."
Since there was nothing else to do, Gen decided to rest for the day and catch up with everyone tomorrow.
He still had a lot to think about—like Uchiha Obito.
After ssing with Obito last ti, things had spiraled into chaos. And with Jiraiya now looped in, Gen had stirred things both in the open and behind the scenes.
Now he needed to plan his next moves carefully.
He already had ideas—but they needed polish.
After all, there was still Kakashi’s personal quest, Phase Two. And that was not sothing he could afford to let slide.
Obito had way too much valuable stuff on him. Even if it wasn’t complete knowledge from Madara, he still had it.
And if Gen could get it, there was no way he’d let it go.
"Hey, Gen! You’re back?"
Lost in thought, Gen was startled by Naruto’s voice behind him.
"Yeah."
Turning around, he saw Naruto jogging over—one hand holding a bag, the other a basket.
"What’s all that?"
Gen raised an eyebrow. But when he peeked inside the bag, his mouth twitched.
"More of that cup ran from Ichiraku? Haven’t you had enough? Why’d you buy so much?"
"Because it’s limited edition!" Naruto bead.
"I was fast enough to snatch them before they sold out. Lucky, huh?"
"It’s not so rare delicacy. You already have tons at ho, don’t you?"
"Yeah, but these are limited! Miss ’em, and they’re gone!"
"..."
Gen had no words. He’d never understand how cup noodles could sell at a premium—or why Naruto was so obsessed.
Still, he chose to ’respect his fate’ and didn’t say more. His attention drifted to the basket.
"What’s that, then?"
"Oh, this? This is the real treasure!"
Naruto’s tone turned conspiratorial as he looked around like a thief. Then he leaned in and whispered:
"I found this aweso spot filled with free food! Totally up for grabs!"
"...You an you stole it?"
"Hey! I’m not a thief!"
"Then what happened to your allowance?"
"Spent it all on the ran!"
Seeing how proud Naruto was, Gen felt utterly defeated.
It seed the Third Hokage hadn’t taught Naruto how to budget—or maybe he just hadn’t had ti. Being Hokage probably kept him busy... right?
"Heh, how about dinner tonight? My treat," Naruto grinned.
"You’ll finally get to taste my special recipe! Oh, and that jutsu you told to work on? I think I’m almost done."
"Really?"
That caught Gen’s attention. He thought about grabbing his cara to docunt the mont. But his curiosity turned back to the basket.
"What’s actually in there?"
"Check it out!"
Naruto lifted the cloth with a flourish—and Gen’s face imdiately turned green.
The basket was filled with mushrooms—colorful, shiny, and suspiciously gourt-looking.
He shivered, then slowly looked back up at Naruto.
"...Naruto."
"Yeah?"
"You should learn to respect your elders... and care for the young."
"...Huh? What do you an?"
"Take those mushrooms... make a nice stew... and bring it to the Hokage’s office."
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