"From today onwards! Konoha Village will be governed by me! Lord Jiraiya! Listen! I — am the Fifth Hokage of Konohagakure!!"
His loud and boisterous voice clearly echoed throughout the entire plaza in front of the Hokage Building.
"Oh—!!!!!!"
In response, deafening cheers and applause from the vast crowd below surged towards the high platform like a tide.
On the top floor terrace of the Hokage Building, Jiraiya stood in full military attire—wearing the Hokage's hat, symbolizing the Hokage, squarely on his head, and a white robe of the god of war (robe of the god of war) draped over his shoulders.
Jiraiya laughed heartily, waving his arms vigorously at the crowd below. Behind him stood Hiruzen Sarutobi, whose injuries had finally healed, a relieved smile on his Face.
Although Jiraiya usually appeared carefree, lecherous, and unconventional, his popularity and prestige in Konoha were undeniable.
His title as one of the "Three Sannin," his immense strength, and his contributions in various major wars had earned him the respect and trust of many.
Now that he had become Hokage, for most villagers and ordinary Ninja, it meant a reliable and familiar "insider" had ascended to the Hokage position, naturally stirring up strong emotions.
Naruto also stood in the crowd, looking up at Jiraiya on the terrace, a bewildered and confused expression on his Face, trying to comprehend this scene that had completely deviated from the "script."
Where was Tsunade? What went wrong? Was it his "butterfly" flapping its wings again?
What had he done? Naruto quickly traced back. Could it be because he had abducted some members of the Akatsuki Organization, causing the Akatsuki Organization not to be as active as before?
So Jiraiya didn't have to leave the Village to investigate the Akatsuki Organization as he originally did, but stayed in Konoha?
However, even if Jiraiya stayed in Konoha, with his habitually carefree and freedom-loving personality, would he really be willing to take on the "Hokage" job, which required him to bury himself in piles of documents all day and handle endless political affairs in the Hokage Office?
Naruto was completely perplexed. But the undeniable fact was right there before him—
Jiraiya was currently wearing the Hokage's hat and the robe of the god of war (robe of the god of war), basking in the cheers of the crowd. Although the next second he revealed his true nature, striking a cool pose towards certain areas below where female villagers seemed to be gathered...——————
"Mr. Jiraiya... or should I say 'Hokage-sama' now? The inauguration ceremony just ended, there should be a lot of things waiting for you to handle outside, right?"
Inside Naruto's small apartment, Jiraiya, who had just sworn in as the Fifth Hokage under everyone's gaze, hadn't even taken off the white robe of the god of war (robe of the god of war) symbolizing supreme power. As soon as the ceremony ended, he skillfully followed Naruto here and sat casually opposite him at the dining table.
"Seriously, you've been acting strange ever since!" Jiraiya reverted to his usual carefree demeanor, showing no trace of a Hokage's formality. He stroked his chin, observing Naruto.
"What? Is it that unbelievable for me — the Mount Myōboku Toad Immortal, Lord Jiraiya, one of the legendary Sannin, to become the Hokage of Konoha?"
Without waiting for Naruto's answer, he immediately cleared his throat, trying to compose his expression. "Ahem! Of course, the Hokage's work... it should be fine to put it aside for a bit. I didn't just come here to visit."
He leaned forward slightly, his tone suddenly becoming formal, despite the decidedly informal setting.
"Uzumaki Naruto! I, in the name of the Fifth Hokage of Konoha Village, officially announce — that your Ninja Rank will be exceptionally promoted to 'Jonin'!"
Before he finished speaking, he pulled out a brand new green Jonin vest from behind him as if by magic, identical in style to the one Kakashi wore.
"...Jonin?" Naruto was a little surprised, but not overly shocked.
"That's right!" Jiraiya placed the vest on the table. "Although you didn't go through the regular Jonin selection exam, you — became the 'Konoha Hero' who saved the Village during the recent crisis. Your achievements and strength far exceed the standard assessment for ordinary Jonin. Of course..."
He changed the subject, "The theoretical exam process still can't be completely omitted, that's the rule."
"...Such a thing," Naruto looked at the vest on the table, then at the robe of the god of war (robe of the god of war) Jiraiya was still wearing, which hadn't even cooled down yet, and couldn't help but retort, "Shouldn't this be announced in the Hokage Office?"
"Hey, hey! You brat!" Jiraiya feigned displeasure. "Isn't it honorable enough for me, the Hokage-sama, to personally come to your door to issue your promotion order and uniform? Don't be so rigid. Although there are several Chunin promoted in this batch, you're the only one exceptionally promoted to Jonin."
"So," Jiraiya pulled out an exam paper from his pocket without warning and slapped it on the table. "The promotion theory exam starts now! No cheating! Otherwise, your promotion qualification will be immediately revoked!"
"...Now? At home?" Naruto looked at the suddenly appearing exam paper and his teacher, who was wearing a Hokage robe but proctoring an exam in his own apartment, feeling a strong sense of absurdity.
"Anyway, it's just a formality."
Jiraiya shrugged. "If it weren't for the rigid rules set by those old geezers, I think this exam wouldn't be necessary at all. Don't you know, with your current popularity and prestige in the Village, once you're a bit older and have more experience, you could directly take my place as the Sixth Hokage!"
"You've only been in office for one day! Isn't it too early to be thinking about retirement?!" Naruto couldn't help but retort again as he took the exam paper.
The questions were not difficult for Naruto now. He calmed down, quickly browsed, calculated, and answered. About ten minutes later, he handed the completed exam paper back to Jiraiya.
Jiraiya took the paper, pretended to push up non-existent glasses, and frowned, as if reviewing it seriously. His gaze fell on one of the questions.
[Question excerpted from the Second Hokage's New Concept Theory Textbook]
[An enemy sensory Ninja moves in a uniform circle at 3m/s from the center of a lake with a radius of 50m, simultaneously throwing three explosive shuriken at you, with an initial velocity of 15m/s and a launch interval of 0.5s.]
[You can only throw two Kunai from a fixed point on the shore to intercept, with an initial Kunai velocity of 20m/s.]
[Known: Explosive shuriken explode upon touching water (killing radius 2m). Kunai and shuriken can cancel each other out upon aerial collision. You must complete the interception before the shuriken fly within 30m of you.]
[Question: Please calculate the optimal launch angles and timings for the two Kunai using trajectory equations to ensure all three shuriken are intercepted, and explain the strategy correction when the lake's wind speed suddenly changes to 2m/s counter-clockwise.]
And Naruto's answer was: [Kunai ID: A Launch Time (relative to the launch of the 1st shuriken): 0.1s Launch Angle (relative to P→O counter-clockwise): 12.5° Interception Target: 1st and 2nd shuriken]
[Kunai ID: B Launch Time (relative to the launch of the 1st shuriken): 1.2s Launch Angle (relative to P→O counter-clockwise): 21.3° Interception Target: 3rd shuriken]
Jiraiya, "... (eyes glazed over)"
Why couldn't he, the examiner, even understand the answer?
If he encountered such a situation, he would either rush over and beat up that circling bastard, or use an area-of-effect Ninjutsu to blow up the lake along with the shuriken! Who had time to calculate all this?!
But he couldn't lose Face. Jiraiya forced himself to remain calm, his brows furrowing and relaxing alternately, his finger hovering over the answer. After a full thirty seconds, he finally said in a solemn tone, as if it were a serious matter.
"Hmm... the problem-solving approach is clear, the calculations... look quite neat. Although some details could still be optimized... well, I'll count it as a pass."
"Now, let's talk about something else."
Jiraiya put away the exam paper that gave him a headache, his expression uncharacteristically serious, devoid of any jest. "Naruto, will you... be my Disciple?"
No sooner had the words left his mouth than he immediately added, as if fearing rejection, "Don't rush to decide! I still have some ultimate techniques I haven't taught you! Those are my trump cards! Even you, if you learn them, will definitely leap up a big notch! How about it? It's definitely a sure bet!"
Naruto was stunned for a moment. He instinctively thought of the etiquette he had heard about for formal apprenticeships. "...Don't I need to prepare anything? Like a master-apprentice ceremony or something..."
"Oh? Hahahaha!" Hearing this, Jiraiya's Face immediately lit up with a smile. "So you agree? Good! From this moment on, you are the Personal Disciple of Lord Jiraiya, the Fifth Hokage! As for those elaborate formalities..."
He waved his hand dismissively. "Forget it, I hate those restrictive ceremonies the most."
Just then, Uzumaki Kushina timely noticed that the teacups in front of them were almost empty. She immediately refilled both their cups with warm tea.
Then, she turned to Jiraiya, her hands gently clasped in front of her, and gave an incredibly gentle smile. "Teacher Jiraiya, this child, Naruto... I'll leave him to your care from now on."
Jiraiya met her gaze, his playful smile fading. He nodded solemnly, "Yes, leave him to me." His voice was unusually firm. "This time... I will absolutely not let what happened before repeat itself."
This was the third. After Nagato, after Minato... this was the third Disciple he had taken under his wing. As long as he had a breath left, he would never allow tragedy to strike again, never again witness a Disciple precede him in death.
"...By the way," Kushina's tone remained as gentle as water. "I naturally trust you to teach Naruto the Ninja Way, and I will never interfere. However..."
A cloudless smile spread across her blue eyes, similar to Naruto's, yet deep within her words, an undisguised "reminder" permeated.
"You should be well aware of Naruto's current age, right? Regarding matters like the 'Three Ninja Prohibitions'..."
"Th-that's a given! Don't worry, Kushina!" A fine cold sweat instantly broke out on Jiraiya's forehead. "I absolutely won't lead him astray! I'll strictly supervise him in this regard!"
Feeling the invisible "pressure" ease slightly, Jiraiya secretly breathed a sigh of relief and quickly stood up. "Alright, alright, now that everything's settled, I have to go. If I'm gone too long, those old geezers will start nagging again."
He gave Naruto a hearty smile. "We'll plan the specific training arrangements in detail later."
Regarding Naruto's career, the two major events of his promotion to Jonin and becoming an apprentice were now settled.
Now, only one last item remained, which was his formal command as the newly appointed Hokage, the Fifth Hokage.
To fully disclose Uzumaki Naruto's identity as "Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage's son," to all of Konoha.
------------------------
I've posted 70+ chapters in advance on Patreon.
Webnovel updates will still be daily, as usual.
It might not seem tempting right nobut who knows what the future holds?
[email protected]/TripleCrown
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"