Jiraiya sighed, looking at Naruto and saying, "You really know everything."
"I don't want to talk about this today. If you don't want to eat, you can leave."
Jiraiya laughed heartily and said, "How could I not want to eat! It looks so appetizing."
After Jiraiya sat down, Naruto went to get him a pair of bowls and chopsticks.
With Jiraiya joining them, Ino and Shikamaru ate much more properly, not as unrestrained as when they ate with Naruto.
After finishing their meal, Shikamaru and the others bowed to Naruto in unison and said, "Thank you for the meal! We have things to do, so we'll be heading back first."
Naruto nodded and said, "Alright, come over and gather when you have time!"
Shikamaru, Ino, and the others nodded, then turned and left.
Naruto created a Shadow Clone to clean up the messy table, then brought out a pot of tea. After pouring a cup for Jiraiya, he said, "Speak your mind!"
"How much do you know about your parents' affairs?"
"I know more than you do. Everything that can be known and everything that cannot be known, I basically know."
"You've met your father?"
Naruto glanced at Jiraiya, was silent for a moment, then nodded.
Seeing Naruto nod, Jiraiya sighed and said, "It seems the Nine-Tailed's seal was indeed undone by your father. Alas! Danzo is truly a scoundrel, but he was also wholeheartedly devoted to Konoha. I hope you don't resent him."
Naruto frowned, looking at Jiraiya and saying, "Do not persuade others to be good without having endured their suffering. If you had endured my suffering, you might not be as good as I am. My affairs do not require your interference."
"Do you hate the Village?"
Hearing Jiraiya ask the same question, Narutoshook his head and said, "Someone asked a similar question before, and my answer was 'it's quite good'."
Naruto was referring to Uchiha Shisui. Life in Konoha Village was indeed much better than in other small Villages. He couldn't really say he hated the Village; it was just some ignorant villagers.
"Someone asked you that before? Who? Ino–Shika–Chō?"
Naruto shook his head, looking at Jiraiya and saying, "Not them, it was Uchiha Shisui."
Jiraiya frowned at Naruto upon hearing Uchiha Shisui.
"Uchiha?"
When Naruto mentioned Uchiha Shisui, Jiraiyaindeed thought of many things, but since the Uchiha clan had already been annihilated, he no longer dwelled on it.
"Here are 1.55 billion Ryo, and the deeds to two streets. This is the inheritance your parents left you. Another 500 million Ryo was used by the Villageto rebuild Konoha after the Nine-Tails Rampage, considered a loan from you. For the next ten years, you can collect 50 million Ryo annually from the Hokage Building."
"Got it! Anything else to tell me?"
"Also, people are currently living in your parents' house. The Old Man has already asked them to move out as soon as possible."
"Anything else?"
Jiraiya shook his head and said, "That's all!"
Naruto glanced at Jiraiya, slightly annoyed, and said, "My parents didn't even leave a single Ninjutsu scroll, did they? And I suppose there are no notes on their Ninjutsu either?"
"This...! I forgot about that. I'll go ask the Old Manfor them."
Naruto sighed, lowered his head, and said to Jiraiya, "No need! I've long seen through what kind of people they are. That's why I like living on the Village's outskirts."
"Naruto...!"
As Jiraiya called out Naruto's name, Naruto raised a hand, stopping Jiraiya.
"Don't make excuses for them anymore. I don't want to hear it, and I'm unwilling to hear it. They only returned the inheritance to me because they couldn't hide it anymore. If they could have hidden it, do you think this inheritance would have ever reached my hands?"
Jiraiya understood what Naruto meant and even more so, Naruto's feelings.
Just as Jiraiya was about to say something more.
Naruto looked at Jiraiya and said, "You should leave! You've been searching for the child of prophecy, so don't come back. Your return has stirred up many people's nerves."
Jiraiya frowned at Naruto's words and said, "What do you mean by that?"
"What do I mean? Isn't it simple? Besides the four top clans in Konoha, which clan doesn't wish for Hiruzen Sarutobi to die sooner? Which clan doesn't wish for those three Advisor Elders to die sooner? You don't even see how Hiruzen Sarutobi and those three Advisors have ruined Konoha. The geniuses of the Great Clans are either taken away by Danzo or they dare not show their brilliance, staying quietly in their clan compounds, afraid of being assassinated by others. Who do you think they're afraid of?"
"Nonsense! The Old Man isn't like that, those were all Danzo's doings."
Naruto looked at Jiraiya without saying anything. He now understood what it meant that you can never wake someone who pretends to be asleep.
Jiraiya's expression clearly showed that he knew everything, but he simply refused to accept Hiruzen Sarutobi's misdeeds.
Jiraiya saw Naruto's calm and composed demeanor and knew that he had been a bit too hasty. He could also tell from Naruto's attitude that Narutotruly had no good feelings for Konoha's four high-ranking officials.
"Leave! And don't come back once you've left."
Jiraiya hadn't expected Naruto, at only fourteen, to possess the composure of an adult and the bearing of a clan head.
"Is the Third Hokage really that bad?"
Naruto took a sip of tea and remained silent.
Seeing Naruto's attitude, Jiraiya knew that Narutowas unwilling to say anything more to him.
Jiraiya stood up and said to Naruto, "I'll come looking for you again. Don't open this Genjutsu Barrier anymore."
Naruto didn't know what Jiraiya meant, but after thinking about it, there really was no need to keep the Genjutsu Barrier open. The only ones who would come looking for him were Ino–Shika–Chō, Hinata, Shino, and then Kakashi, Sakura, and Sasuke's team, plus Jiraiya now. It seemed whether the Barrier was open or not didn't make much difference.
As for the Anbu surveillance, don't be silly. Naruto's current strength was evident; for them to go undetected by Naruto, they would need Kakashi's level of skill.
Having figured this out, Naruto returned to his room to continue training.
Two more days passed like this. Jiraiya also observed Naruto for two days, finding that Naruto's daily routine was just training and eating; he seemed completely uninterested in anything else.
So Jiraiya sought out Naruto again, trying to sell him his icha icha paradise.
Naruto rubbed his temples and said, "What's so good about this trash? It's completely just you writing about your peeping experiences. I could write something casually that would be better than this garbage you wrote."
Jiraiya got a bit angry hearing Naruto's words and pointed at Naruto, saying, "You can insult me! But you absolutely cannot insult my work. This is something I wrote after traveling the entire Ninja World and gathering countless materials