Naruto: The Hidden Shadow Style

With Jiraiya's help, Haseo quickly found a suitable place to live on this street. After all, his requirements weren't demanding at all. To describe it simply, the place he chose was pretty similar to where Naruto would later live—high in elevation, quite out of the way, isolated from surroundings, and spacious enough for one person.

"Want me to help you move?" Jiraiya asked Haseo after they'd found the place.

This kind of independent living environment made Jiraiya somewhat envious. Kids his age generally longed for "independence"... Currently, Jiraiya lived with the Sarutobi clan. As the Third Hokage's disciple, naturally he was under all kinds of discipline and restrictions.

"That would be great," Haseo happily accepted the offer.

He had very few personal belongings—so few that both Haseo and Jiraiya could make just one trip to bring everything over.

Thus, the two returned to Haseo's room at Konoha's Relief Infirmary and soon came back to the Hot Spring Town carrying two small packages. After a simple arrangement, this place became Haseo's new "home."

Now that he had his own private space, Haseo finally felt like he was truly settling into life in Konoha.

"You know what? I really like this spot. The natural view looking down is genuinely nice," Jiraiya said while leaning by a window inside Haseo's room, gazing at the streets and river below.

"I get it, but what's more attractive and profound than natural scenery here would be the cultural landscapes," Haseo replied.

Jiraiya pondered thoughtfully, then nodded vigorously. The two exchanged glances, an unspoken understanding forming between them... If they were in a different setting, their eyes might well have spelled out something along the lines of "naked, chubby, watching, all done."

The crowd walking along the street below consisted largely of young and beautiful women.

In truth, though, Haseo wasn't quite as smitten with these so-called "cultural landscapes" as Jiraiya was. In some sense, he genuinely considered this street extremely pleasant.

Through this interaction, Haseo also realized that this version of Jiraiya before him differed from what he'd imagined. Previously, he thought Jiraiya would be loud and overly energetic, but actually, that wasn't quite the case. You could say "sunny" was the best word for Jiraiya's vibe at this age—if you could ignore this kid's questionable gentlemanly tendencies, that is.

Just as Jiraiya carefully observed the people below, a head suddenly popped through the window, startling him.

"Jiraiya, there you are? What about our training session this afternoon?"

How the hell did Tsunade find this exact spot?

"Huh? Training? I forgot completely," Jiraiya smacked his own forehead—he had genuinely forgotten.

So, both Orochimaru and Tsunade had waited pointlessly for him the entire afternoon. That didn't look good.

Tsunade had a bit of a temper ever since she was a kid. Now, she figured it was high time this idiot learned a hard lesson.

However, Haseo stepped forward just then and stopped her. "Tsunade, it's already this late. Given the current situation in the village, you shouldn't be wandering around carelessly."

To avoid criticism and blame, of course one must seize the moral high ground before speaking... But on the other hand, Haseo was genuinely somewhat concerned. When the village had become chaotic like this, someone with Tsunade's status shouldn't be walking alone around the village, especially now that darkness had already fallen.

Leaving Jiraiya aside for a moment, Tsunade's identity made her easy to exploit. Who knew how many abduction plans targeting her might've already been created within the village just now?

Tsunade looked up at Haseo. She naturally understood the village's current situation, but she also believed she had the ability to protect herself. "Do you know how old I am?"

"How old? How could you be any older? At most AA." Haseo replied with a shrug. Seven-year-olds often seemed overly confident about themselves.

"Let me check... Yep, AA indeed." Jiraiya tiptoed slightly, trying to get a better downward glance from an angle before murmuring softly.

In reality though, such a description wasn't appropriate at all… Not in that way. She was only seven.

Well then, they clearly weren't talking about the same thing. In terms of age, Tsunade was currently only seven years old. And precisely because she was still very young, unlike Jiraiya who had taught himself, she actually didn't understand what Haseo and Jiraiya were referring to.

Since he'd spent quite some time with Sansho previously, Haseo naturally knew about Tsunade's actual age.

Tsunade shot Jiraiya a confused look, then decided not to dwell too much on things she didn't quite grasp. She turned toward Haseo and said, "Of course I know that I shouldn't wander about alone inside the village at times like these, but if I'm going to your place, then I'm not violating the rules... That's permitted."

Haseo secretly shook his head. If what Tsunade said was true, then apparently he really was being trusted extensively.

"Alright then, it's getting pretty late. Let me treat you two something to eat... As gratitude for helping me today, and then I'll send you both back home."

Jiraiya's eyes immediately lit up as he began to speak, "Then..."

"That definitely can't be here on this street. We need to go somewhere else," Haseo quickly interrupted. He could guess exactly what he was suggesting.

Could he really take Tsunade to eat at a shop in the pleasure district? If something like that ever happened, even Sansho—being Haseo's own mother—would beat him to death.

Jiraiya wouldn't last more than three seconds after him.

Tsunade also tried to speak, but Haseo cut her off as well. Therefore, the trio left from where Haseo lived and walked out of the hot spring town—the busiest street at this time of night—and found a small stand on another slightly quieter street.

This place sold things like oden stew and various types of dango sweets—fairly appropriate kid-friendly food. Then the three sat down in front of the stall and started eating… No need to be too formal since it was just a cheap eatery.

"By the way, how is the current situation at the front line?"

While eating, Jiraiya kept chatting casually with Haseo. He knew a lot about what was going on at the Front Line, but without seeing things for himself, he couldn't really say for sure what was true.

"Who knows? I didn't stay at the Front Line long enough — I left right when things were getting critical and went back to the village. Now it all depends on the Third Hokage's ability to handle the crisis."

As he spoke, Haseo extended one finger and gave the table in front of him two light taps. After catching Jiraiya's and Tsunade's attention, he kept talking casually, all while secretly sending them coded signals with his hand:

"There's someone secretly watching us."

Jiraiya and Tsunade exchanged glances. They hadn't sensed anything at all. But as soon as they heard what Haseo said, Jiraiya immediately tried to stand up — only for Haseo to quickly press him back into his seat.

"Oh, you should really try this dish. I think the flavor is top-notch."

He pushed Jiraiya back into his chair and continued sending covert signals as he spoke: "Don't act rashly and scare them off."

"Could it be one of the Anbu assigned to guard you?" he quietly asked Tsunade next.

Tsunade gave an almost imperceptible shake of her head.

So his suspicion was confirmed — whoever was watching was way too careful. Definitely not someone from a standard protection detail. Haseo let out a quiet sigh. As if he hadn't seen this coming all along.

That just goes to show — one should never go wandering around at night, especially not a reckless kid like you.

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