Naruto: Passerby and Returnee

Chapter 286 Convergence

This seemingly ordinary mud house actually has a stove and a table. Although everything is made of earth, the surfaces of these things are very smooth and hard, and they don't crumble easily.

The atmosphere became noticeably warmer after the three children reunited. Food is essential for life. Even while chatting, they didn't forget about cooking.

Sasuke remained as taciturn as ever, but his knife-cutting skills were quite proficient, leaving afterimages as he swung it.

Sakura was complaining about the recent surge in disputes with medical staff, probably due to the hot weather. Everyone seemed quite irritable and lacked patience. The scarcity of medical ninjas had always been a problem in the ninja village, and with the high temperatures, all sorts of minor and major illnesses surfaced. Patients were exhausted from waiting in long lines, while the doctors were already working overtime. Couldn't they be a little more understanding? At her most agitated, the potato she was peeling shattered into pieces, showing just how furious she was.

Naruto, while listening and chiming in, talked about his recent situation, his hands still busy flipping through the pot with a spatula. However, being busy didn't stop him from making some shocking remarks, and Jiraiya, who was just watching the drama unfold, heard something outrageous again.

"Speaking of which, Granny Tsunade has started having me organize the top-secret files that only Hokage-level people can access."

No, is this something to say?! Has Tsunade already taken such good faith in the child? This is way too early!

"So many files, from the village's founding to the present... I seriously suspect that she didn't want to look at them anymore, so she dumped the work on me."

...This does fit his stereotypical image of Tsunade...

“I did a quick sorting and found that the order of the files was not continuous, with many missing. There was also a batch that was not numbered at all, mainly old files from the early days of the village’s establishment. The paper was almost brittle and urgently needed to be rewritten. There was also a scroll that was made of pure cloth, and the seal on it was completely different from the other files.”

Is there a difference between the highest level of file sealing? I've never heard of that.

"I racked my brains and went through countless documents, but I couldn't find any information about the seal at all. Then I calmed down and carefully sensed it, and found that the chakra on it was actually somewhat similar to yours, Sasuke."

Things have gotten...out of control.

"I guessed it was something from the Uchiha clan, so I brought it over to show you."

That's even more outrageous! Those are classified files at the level of a Naruto! How can they just be taken out like that?!

Jiraiya screamed inwardly, but maintained a calm facade, never taking any action to stop Naruto. He absolutely refused to believe there was no hidden story behind the Uchiha clan massacre, and what happened after the massacre? The Uchiha were a large clan with nearly a thousand years of history, possessing countless secret techniques passed down through generations, and he was certain that none of these remained in Sasuke's possession. Even if they couldn't break the seals or unlock the scrolls, they would surely divide everything that belonged to the Uchiha, rather than letting the most deserving heir reclaim these things.

However, this obviously important secret scroll was less important to Sasuke than a kitchen knife. He slowly grunted in agreement, washed the knife after chopping the vegetables, wiped his wet hands on his pants, and then picked up the scroll.

As Naruto had predicted, it was indeed something belonging to the Uchiha clan. After Sasuke activated his Sharingan, he easily broke the seal and opened the long-sealed scroll. As he looked at it, he frowned, his eyes filled with doubt, seemingly pondering the scroll's authenticity.

Is there a problem?

"No, I was just wondering, would anyone really sacrifice a Sharingan to bring another person to their senses?" Sasuke offered a sharp critique of his own secret technique, then turned and stuffed the scroll that had been unsealed back into Naruto's pocket.

...I don't understand, I really don't understand kids these days. That's an Uchiha secret technique! He was so eager to see it, and this guy just... casually shoved it into Naruto's hands?!

"Aren't you going to take it? Anyway, it's something without a serial number, it wasn't registered at all."

"It's inconvenient for me to hide things over there, so it's the same if you take them. Anyway, you can't use them without the Sharingan."

"...Okay, I'll try to find some more of these kinds of things."

"No need to look for it specifically, it's nothing important."

"This is your family's secret technique..."

"Even without the family heirloom, I will still defeat that man and exact my revenge."

There was a brief awkward silence. Although Class 7 seemed perfectly fine, there were still some things standing between them. But the grown-up teenagers had learned to tolerate them and continue to get along despite the disharmony.

"Looks like I'll have to give you a powerful ninjutsu scroll next time," Naruto said, breaking the awkward silence. He was always the most optimistic one.

"Then my improved emergency hemostatic pills might come in handy." Sakura quickly followed and handed over a glass bottle containing dark red pills.

"I thought you were going to send me super soldier rations."

"Do you want me to bring a basin over? The expiration date of those pills is still being verified. We'll consider it after the verification is complete."

"Does the hemostatic pill no longer need to be verified?"

"It's for external use! And it's an improved version! An improved version! It's just that the original formula has been modified a bit to reduce the toxicity of the medicine. The effect is still very good, there's no problem!"

The two chatter quickly drowned out Sasuke's earlier remarks. They set out the dishes as if nothing had happened, served the soup they had cooked, and placed a bowl of noodles with minced meat sauce in front of Sasuke that looked incredibly appetizing.

"Congratulations Sasuke, you've grown another year older!" Naruto led the applause and called on everyone to sing the birthday song.

Now Jiraiya finally understood why Naruto and Sakura were so determined to get on their way, carrying so many pots and pans, building a house so early, gathering firewood and fetching water—it was all for Sasuke's birthday party! Oh no, Naruto didn't even remind him! Didn't that make him look like a terrible teacher?

This can't be blamed on Jiraiya. The main reason is that he didn't celebrate Sasuke's first birthday after taking him in. There were a lot of messy things going on back then, and after Sasuke left, he couldn't access the files anymore, which would only increase suspicion among the higher-ups. So, he really didn't know when Sasuke's birthday was. But it doesn't matter. As one of the Legendary Sannin, he could still offer something good, and this "good thing" was definitely not "Icha Icha Paradise."

"Although I can't offer guidance on Lightning Release, I do have quite a bit of experience with Fire Release, especially the Fire Release techniques used in conjunction with the toads of Mount Myōboku. I'll take this opportunity to practice them, specifically the ten uses of Summoning Technique."