Konoha Village.
Two travel-weary figures arrived here.
Two Konoha Chunin responsible for guarding the gate approached, and when they invited them to register their information, they saw them take off their cloaks and reveal their true identities.
"Lord Jiraiya!"
"Chunin Akihara Kagura!"
The two Chunin's faces immediately showed a touch of surprise.
"Has anything major happened in the village?"
As Jiraiya raised his hand to write down his and his disciple's names, he casually asked, hoping to glean some information from these two Chunins.
"No major events, right?"
"Seems like indeed nothing major..."
"But a lot of Jonin on missions have come back lately..."
The two gate-guarding Chunins shook their heads.
"Jiraiya-sensei, let's go have a bowl of ramen first."
Akihara Kagura felt that after being away from here, out training for nearly two years, this village still seemed unchanged.
"Okay."
Jiraiya furrowed his brow and followed behind Akihara Kagura, walking towards Ichiraku Ramen: "If nothing's happened, why did the old man have us come back so early?"
"I only know how to kill."
Akihara Kagura, seemingly having made no progress, casually replied, "Perhaps the Third Hokage wants me back to help with killing."
"You haven't made any progress at all, kid!"
Jiraiya rubbed his forehead, thinking that the road to correcting this child's mindset was still long: "At least, curtail it a bit for me!"
On Konoha Village's commercial street.
A young couple, looking about thirteen or fourteen, were shopping, holding food bags.
This couple was wearing crewneck long sleeves with the Uchiha Clan Emblem on the back, and they both wore Konoha ninja headbands on their heads; it was Uchiha Itachi and his girlfriend Uchiha Izumi.
Uchiha Izumi, holding a food bag, seemed to notice that her boyfriend had something on his mind and didn't chatter much about the products sold in the roadside stores, carefully asking, "Itachi-kun, you seem quite tired! Is it because the recent mission was tough?"
"It's okay."
Uchiha Itachi shook his head.
Lately, the Uchiha Clan's actions have become increasingly radical, and Uchiha Itachi couldn't stop it all, not even his father, Uchiha Fugaku, could influence the situation.
A few days ago, Uchiha Itachi reported the Uchiha Clan's intelligence to the Konoha higher-ups, hoping that they were unwilling to wage war and were willing to loosen the restrictions on the Uchiha Clan.
Perhaps due to reasons Uchiha Itachi couldn't articulate, or perhaps because even if he was willing to tell, the Konoha higher-ups wouldn't want to heed the words of someone of low status like him.
The Konoha higher-ups...
Have become more vigilant against the Uchiha Clan.
The Uchiha Clan has also become more hostile to the Konoha higher-ups.
If things continue like this...
It will inevitably lead to internal conflict eventually.
While Uchiha Itachi was contemplating, Uchiha Izumi's voice once again reached his ears: "Hey, has that guy named Akihara Kagura returned to the village?"
"What?"
Uchiha Itachi was still somewhat lost in thought.
When Uchiha Itachi clearly heard Akihara Kagura's name, he saw his former opponent walking towards them along with a tall, white-haired man.
"Lord Jiraiya..."
Uchiha Itachi politely greeted.
"I heard you two were rivals in the past?"
Upon seeing Uchiha Itachi, Jiraiya didn't harbor any hostility and even teasingly commented about his disciple with a smile: "Kagura, this time you've lost to him; he already has a girlfriend at thirteen, and you're still single!"
"Some people are almost fifty and still single..."
Akihara Kagura's words pierced Jiraiya's defenses.
Jiraiya angrily clenched his fists, ranting about how charming he was in his younger days: "When I was thirteen, the stack of love letters I received was taller than you, kid! A bunch of little girls chased me with love letters!"
"What's there to brag about..."
Akihara Kagura furrowed his brows, seemingly finding his teacher's words a bit dull: "Then why are you almost fifty and still single?"
"Didn't you say we were going to eat ramen?"
Jiraiya, full of rage, dragged Akihara Kagura away.
After the mentor and student left, Uchiha Izumi curiously said, "Their relationship really seems great..."
"Izumi, let's go back first."
Uchiha Itachi's expression turned serious.
This matter has to be reported to his father.
Anyway, it was impossible to hide this matter from Uchiha Fugaku, and he believed his father would certainly realize the Konoha higher-ups' attitude and suppress the Uchiha Clan's rebellious thoughts.
Ichiraku Ramen.
When Akihara Kagura arrived here.
There happened to be a female ninja with two kids here, eating happily and still cursing: "Naruto, you little fool, finally passed, not wasting all my hard work tutoring you!"
"How did Karin do on her exam?"
Akihara Kagura conveniently sat beside them.
"Lord Kagura!"
Karin, who had been quietly eating ramen, suddenly got excited, lifting her head abruptly and widening her eyes at the sudden appearance of Akihara Kagura!
"Mmm mmm... mmm mmm mmm..."
Naruto Uzumaki was still busy devouring ramen, unable to speak, and could only wave his chopsticks to indicate he was saying hello!
"How come you're back?"
Mitarashi Anko looked at Akihara Kagura and grumbled angrily: "Karin still got second place. I knew I shouldn't have agreed to help these two brats with tutoring. If you want revenge, take it on me! I finally understand why Ninja Academy teachers are always angry..."